When you are thinking Wales I am sure surfing, fishing and fine foods do not come into your mind at first but believe it or not all of these can be found here.

Yes Wales has more than just Sheep and Cardiff as it is actually a place to travel to where you can relax and just enjoy the scenery.

The food is also delicious and includes salt marsh lamb, welsh black cattle and various farmhouse cheeses that are unique to the country itself. Of course you could be in to the big cities and when it comes to Cardiff it is no different to any other city on earth. There are hundreds of things to do there from museums to the cheese festival that has been there every year for quite a while now.

So why not take one of those family days out to Wales even if it is just out of curiosity, you might end up actually liking it.

After visiting Paris earlier this year for the first time (not including Disneyland Paris) it was not how I had imagined it to be at all. In fact it was the complete opposite. Sure it can be romantic, when it isn’t raining, when there is no one at all in the city. The restaurants were okay but very expensive for the food that was there. I had a pizza there that really was nothing compared to some of the seafood ones I had experienced for a cheaper price in Spain and even here in the UK yet it cost at least double what I had ever had to pay.  Of course we were staying in the middle of Paris itself and were about thirty seconds away from the Arc De Triomphe but I am sure the Euro hasn’t helped with the costs.

However there is a good reason to visit Paris. The tourist attractions in my mind are very cheap indeed. The Louvre we managed to get in for free only paying a small amount to see an extra display which turned out to be one we had seen the previous year at the O2 back in England. The Eiffel Tower was also very cheap and Notre Dame was free too.

The main thing to remember if you are staying in the centre of Paris is do not trust Traffic Lights or Zebra crossings. The French are not as courteous as the English when it comes to driving. They will often not stop for a red light unless it is necessary and hardly ever wait to let you across Zebra crossings. We even had someone weave in and out of us on a moped when we were crossing a Zebra crossing. The only thing they stop for is a Traffic Police Officer and we only spotted one in our three day stay. So just be careful when crossing any roads out there.

Of course you could avoid Europe all together and go one of those USA tours to really show off to all of your friends.

Everybody loves to go on holiday there is no doubt about that but easily the worst part about the entire trip is the airport.

If only it was this quiet!

9/11 has done us no favours when it comes to the airport as now the delays are even longer and people are even stressier than before. The worst thing about the airport has to be the security checks that must be endured. It is understandable that everyone must put their bags through a scanner as nobody wants something happening to the plane and risk losing their lives but do they have to treat everybody like criminals and be so rude?

On top of this they love to throw your baggage around do they not? Whenever you see your baggage at the airport it is either being thrown by a person or by a machine. There isnt even any padding when the cases come down the belt at your destination meaning any valuables are sure to be broken.

People trying to get onto the plane first are also a big pain. Why even bother? People like to wait even when their row number have not been called which annoys the people who have been called. Why do they do this? The plane will go when everyone is on and not before and surely the less time you spend on the plane the better?

Still it is something that must be endured to get to your favourite destination. If this all happens to you just remember that you are off on holiday whether that is on one of those USA tours or an Alaskan cruise you are sure to have a good time. That is of course if you manage to get through the airport!

At the moment it is understandable that going away for your vacation is going to be tough, this is to be expected in todays current economic climate. But even so, why should you  have to stay inside because idiotic bankers and politicians have screwed up the world and yet are still getting paid more than us! How come they do not take pay cuts, or giant tax increases?

Do not listen to the wife, the work around the house can certainly wait. Just take a nice long break, I am almost sure she would love that too. If you cannot afford to go on a fancy Alaskan cruise then why the hell bother?

Take a couple of days off and just get out there for a bit of fun. Go camping, go hiking, go outside and sit in your gardens for a few days it really makes no difference at all.

If you choose to stay at home and do work on the house you are being stupid. Even better than taking a small trip away to a little camp site is  saving up and visiting somewhere like America. It isnt hard, just slowly build up a saving scheme and you can be anywhere in no time at all.

So take one of those USA holidays and have a fantastic time!

The loss of a Ruthin park’s paddling pool has led to a lively debate about what will replace it. Ruthin resdient Roger Connah, writing in the Denbighshire Free Press, puts forward his ideas about how to develop the park, which he describes as “…one of the best natural and semi-natural spaces in North Wales”.

It goes to show how highly valued our urban parks are by the people who use them. In Wrexham, Val and Mike, members of the Friends of Acton Park describe it as “An oasis amongst all the town’s development and a lovely place to meet and talk to people”. The park is not just a green space but a valuable community resource.

What do you think of your local park and its facilities?

The rest is here:
Park life

2009-09-23 15:44:06

Ok maybe America may not be the sweetest country in the world, but are they going to be overtaking Belgium for the biggest sweet tooth?  A firm in America today has released the biggest Gummy Bear in the world.

The monstrosity is available to buy on the internet for $29.95, making it the most expensive Gummy Bear around.  The gooey lump weighs in at just over 2 kilograms and is available in 3 yummy flavours.  When you consider that it is 9 inches tall and 5 inches wide, it is no surprise that it actually contains around 12,500 calories, 6 times the recommended daily allowance.

When you consider the size that has been mentioned, and the fact that it is 1,400 times the size of your normal Gummy Bear it isn’t all that shocking when you find out it came from America.  America has been famed for coming up with the biggest and most outrageous ideas, and this creation is no different.

This company also held the record for the largest Gummy Bear before this, and it came on a stick, although this one was only 88 times the size of a normal Gummy.  However, this is not the largest sweet in the world, and definitely not in gooey form.  That prize is currently held by a Syrian City called Dera’a for creating the largest block of Raha.  Raha is a semi chewing gum sweet, and the cube that they created was almost 400 kilograms and was 1metre long by 60cm height and width.  It was originally used to supply companies with enough of the semi chewing gum to retail to tourists, and was 1000 times the size of a normal Raha Cube.

So when you next considered Florida holidays or Las Vegas holidays, maybe ou should give the Super Gummy a try!

As a study is under way to come up with ideas to redevelop Rhyl’s visitor attractions, we’re asking what you think the resort needs.

Denbighshire Council, the Department of Economy and Transport of the Welsh Assembly Government have commissioned a report [Redeveloping Rhyl's Attractions] to “investigate the future of all weather visitor attractions in Rhyl and how to reinvigorate the appeal of this important coastal town”.

So what do you think?

Apart from the skytower, the Children’s Village has received lots of criticisms from locals over the years and now with the old fun fair flattened, what could be brought to Rhyl to win back the tourists and complement the new-look Prom, aka the Drift Park, [seen right]?

Planners are certainly thinking big what with the idea for a marina opposite the old former fun fair site and linked via an impressive £5m footbridge.

Look what has been done with Salford Quays, Portsmouth’s Gunwharf, and Brighton Marina.

So, what should we do with Rhyl? There’s no denying you loved the place. But what’s left to try?

Rhyl has had the outdoor pools [old and new], there have been numerous fairs, sideshows, theatres and even a pier.

Any ideas?

Original post:
What should we do with Rhyl?

2009-09-22 11:09:19

Spa holidays are the new way to relax, and with luxury locations all over the world including the Caribbean, Thailand and Sri Lanka.  These locations provide some amazing opportunities for people to relax in phenomenal ways.  So I decided to share with you some of the exotic treatments that you can receive while on holiday in these locations:

Abu Dhabi and the Emirates Palace hotel.  The Ayurveda Spa treatment is a treatment that can be found in most eastern European or Asian Countries.  This treatment is often referred to as the “science of life” which is its literal meaning.  Basically it is a traditional medicine that is native to India.  There is strong belief that this type of treatment, which concentrates on the persons Chakra, can actually complete prevent you from getting any diseases.

India and the Leela Kempneski Resort.  This is a location for Spa treatment called Thalassotherapy Spa treatment.  This treatment is centred on using seawater, to help relieve stress.  The seawater is pumped directly from the sea and cleaned; it is then heated to a temperature that suits the customer.  This treatment has been proven to help rejuvenate skin and cleanse problems like eczema or acne.  It is also a great way to relax and allows muscles to calm.

Fangotherapy in the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa.  This is an interesting therapy, but simply put this therapy is a mud wrap based therapy.  By mixing this mud with thermal or mineral waters, a wrap can be produced that has therapeutic value, with a bong of biological and chemical elements that help to improve body, soul and mind.

Spa holidays are a very good way for you to relax, and with Spa hotels all over the world, there is a lot of choices.  However Caribbean spa holidays have been on the rise lately.

It may be 75 years since the Gresford Disaster but the implications of that day were so great they can still be felt.

Wrexham FC is playing its game on Tuesday – on the anniversary of the accident – in memory of the 266 miners who died at Gresford Colliery on 22 September 1934.

Many had been working a double or extra shift so they could have a day off to watch a Wrexham game the following Saturday.

So, for some on the terraces on Tuesday, the memorial match will have a stronger resonance as they will be relatives – such as grandchildren – of those men who died.

Much has been written and discussed over the years about the accident – caused by an underground explosion and fire [read Real Price of Coal]. We’ve recently uploaded some original BBC news bulletins from that time as well as survivors’ accounts.

And Wrexham Council has in-depth coverage of the disaster online, a memorial gallery and a virtual copy of the Book of Remembrance which can still be viewed in the A.N.Palmer Centre for Local Studies & Archives.

On Tuesday, the air raid siren at Wrexham Museum will sound for two minutes at 11am at the same time as an annual memorial service takes place at Gresford Memorial. Wrexham FC players will take part in the silence at their training ground, Colliers’ Park, on the site of the former Gresford Colliery.

It was at 2am an explosion followed by a fire in the Dennis Section of the mine saw the beginning of the worst mining incident in North Wales. Every man on the shift was killed [Names of the dead] apart from six miners who managed to escape.

By the evening of 23 September three rescue workers had also been killed and the final death toll was 266, leaving 166 widows, 229 children, 194 partial dependants and 130 pensioners.

To commemorate Tuesday’s 75th anniversary Bersham Heritage Centre has installed a plaque made from the same cast as the bronze memorial panel on Pandy Road, Gresford. The memorial and zinc pattern list the names of all the mineworkers who died in the disaster.

There will also be a minute’s silence before the ‘Gresford Colliery Disaster Memorial Game’ – Wrexham v Luton Town, at 7.45pm where Llay Welfare Band will be playing the ‘Gresford Hymn’.

See original here:
Gresford Disaster: A tragedy still being felt 75 years on

2009-09-16 12:11:02

Disney Parks and Resorts president Jay Rasulo officially announced the expansion / makeover of Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland at the Disney D23 Expo on Sept. 12, 2009.

More:
Disney World Fantasyland expansion announcement & makeover concept art