Beautiful landscapes, a strategic position in the Ligurian Riviera, mild climate and perfect place where to play outdoor sports all year round. This is Levanto, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terre National Park in Italy, the ideal place where to stay if you are planning your Italian trip.

Levanto, the perfect destination where to stay in Cinque Terre

Levanto is the most requested tourist destination in Cinque Terre due to its strategic position on the Ligurian Riviera. It is easy to reach it by train and by car too. If you land in Pisa and Genoa airports, they are one hour drive far from it.

Thanks to its central position in the Cinque Terre National Park, it is the ideal solution for tourists who want to visit all the five villages of the district. You can choose to reach each one walking on the many CAI trekking paths or you can buy the Cinque Terre Card that will allow you to take several regional trains. They will stop in each one of the five village so, starting from Levanto and traveling to La Spezia you can visit Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore just with one ticket.

But that’s not all. The strategic position is not the only reason why to choose this village for your stay in Cinque Terre. When in Levanto you will be surrounded by the sea on one side, and on the other one by the mountains. This typical geographical conformation ensures a perfect microclimate with mild temperatures even during the winter.

So, you can choose between several activities according to the season. For example, if you are planning a summer holiday, you can relax on the beach. If you love culture and art, you can visit the historic center with its Renaissance palaces set in Via Garibaldi. Are you interest in history? Let’s find out more about the fishermen’s buildings set in Via Guani.

In the end, don’t forget the sports. If you like the outdoor sports, Levanto is the ideal place where to play them all year round. Surfing, hiking, mountain biking, road bikes and many others can be practiced in any season.

Villa Margherita in Levanto

Surely there are several hotels, bed and breakfast and apartments for foreign tourists in Levanto. If you are looking for a place like home where to have an unforgettable stay, we would like to suggest you Villa Margherita.

Set in the beautiful context of the Nation Park of the Cinque Terre, Villa Margherita is a boutique hotel located in an Art Nouveau dwelling built in 1906. It is now owned by the Campodonico family and it was completely renewed in 2006.

You can choose between different type of rooms, small size, standards, superiors and suites. The last two are equipped with a luxuriant private garden where to relax and enjoy the landscape of the Ligurian Riviera. The whole property is surrounded by a park consisting of three large gardens equipped with sunbeds, chairs and tables. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy your breakfast in the morning silence, surrounded by the bucolic nature of the Cinque Terre.

Also, remember that the hotel is opened 365 days a year. So, if you are looking for a beautiful destination for your spring holidays in Italy, or if you are looking for the perfect set for your New Year’s Eve, let’s find out more about Villa Margherita in Levanto.

Congratulations, you’ve gotten off your flight and now have boarded the airport shuttle Galveston TX. While many tourists visit Galveston for the 32 miles of beaches, there will be rainy days when you’re looking to do something indoors. Check out these recommendations for three amazing museums in this island city.

Galveston Railroad Museum

This museum offers the Harborside Express, a two-mile round-trip ride on an open-air caboose along Harborside Drive. Permanent exhibits at the museum include the Santa Fe Warbonnets and the history of passenger railroad cars. You can even see a railroad post office. There is a china collection demonstrating the era of luxury dining on trains. There is a small fee to enter the museum; active military members enter for free. The museum recommends one hour to tour all of the exhibits.

Texas Seaport Museum

This museum is home to the tall ship Elissa, built in 1877. The adjacent museum and theater explains the history of sea travel. There is a database of immigrants who entered the United States through the port of Galveston. You can also learn about the Texas Navies and their role in the fight for independence. The museum is located on Harborside Drive. Current admissions fee information may be found on their website.

Lone Star Flight Museum

The Lone Star Flight Museum, at Ellington Airport, houses the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. On the weekends, you can try a flight simulator for an additional fee on top of regular admission. See old aircraft models. You may even be able to reserve a ride on board a World War II aircraft. Museum galleries review the history of aviation in Texas. A Flight Academy allows visitors the chance to learn about the engineering principles behind flying.

When the sun is hiding behind storm clouds, don’t let the weather ruin your day in Galveston. Instead, check out one of the city’s many museums and learn about its history and culture.

If you have a spouse who travels for business every week, you know how taxing it can be, and not just on the traveler. While frequent business trips can tire your partner, you can feel even more drained back home. Left to tend to children and other home duties alone on top of your own work and personal obligations can put your well-being and sanity at risk. But don’t let the stress of a partner’s frequent travel get the best of you. These nine ideas will help ease your burden and make life with a traveling spouse positive and peaceful for everyone:

Discuss Your Business Travel Concerns

Does your spouse give you enough notice before leaving on a business trip? Do early morning flights disrupt sleep for the household? Has business travel interfered with weekend plans? Having an open discussion with your partner about specific travel concerns can do wonders to lighten your load and resolve conflict. Talk over your frustrations and see if you can come up with solutions that are agreeable and reasonable for both of you.

Plan Quality Time During Off Weeks

Regular business travelers often have periods where they are not required to take a trip. Capitalize on that time together. Make plans to spend the off weeks doing things that benefit your relationship and home life. Schedule family dinners, work on house projects, or just use the downtime to enjoy doing things you both like, together. Quality time with your partner can go a long way in making up for time spent apart.

Find a Support Network

Coping with a spouse who travels weekly is much easier to do when you have a support network. Enlist friends, neighbors, or relatives to be available to help at your request. If you have young children at home, finding support is especially important. You may need a break from parenting duties or someone to talk to and encourage you while you hold down the fort. Seeking out other spouses in your situation can also bring peace and comfort.

Tag Along on a Business Trip

Ever wanted to join your spouse on a business trip? It can be a great way to see a new destination and experience your partner’s business life firsthand. If time allows, you might even extend the business trip a few days for just the two of you to vacation. One benefit of a traveling spouse is you can earn free flights through airline frequent flyer programs, which can make accompanying your partner on a business trip all the more doable.

Take Care of Your Health

While you’re busy tending to home responsibilities by yourself, don’t forget to tend to your health and well-being too. Make an effort to eat nutritiously, even if you don’t feel compelled to make regular meals. Get the exercise you need and plenty of rest too. The last thing you want to do is wind up sick or overly exhausted while your partner is on travel, especially if you have other family members to care for on your own.

Set Up a Time to Talk Daily

Talking with your traveling spouse every day can make the weeks go faster, plus it gives you something to look forward to each day. Set a time to check in with each other, then use the time to talk about your day and discuss any plans or problems that need immediate attention. Avoid complaining or attempting to resolve large conflicts. Keep the mood upbeat and put bigger issues on the back burner for an in-person discussion later on.

Be Empathetic about Frequent Business Travel

Let’s face it; frequent business travel is hard on both of you. Try to be understanding about your partner’s weekly business trips and why they’re necessary. Keep in mind that your spouse would likely prefer to be at home with you if given a choice. The more understanding you are about his or her travel routine, the more apt your spouse will be to reciprocate the sentiment and show empathy and compassion towards you at home.

Live Your Life Too

Just because your partner is away from home doesn’t mean your life is put on hold. Fill your time with activities that you enjoy doing besides the duties you have to do. Go out with friends, take in a movie, plan an outing with the kids, or immerse yourself in an interesting project or hobby at home. Living life independently is empowering and fulfilling, and you’ll appreciate that you, like your spouse, spent the week productively.

Look to a Business Trip-Free Future

Weekly business travel will eventually come to an end, whether it’s through a job change, retirement, or a shift in responsibilities. Keep the light at the end of the tunnel in view; it will help you stay motivated and positive. You might work on long-range plans for when business trips are a thing of the past. In fact, your spouse’s business travel can provide ideas for places to retire or visit together later in life.

Frequent business travel doesn’t have to cause stress between couples and families. By accepting your partner’s travel schedule and integrating these ideas into your routine at home, you can turn the hardship of having a traveling spouse into a way of life that’s peaceful, productive, and rife with opportunity for you.

A great way to begin a visit to Toronto is with a walk along Queen Street West, which starts out more hipster than bohemian artist. Walk a block west of University Avenue along Queen Street West to take in big name clothing stores, snag a south-facing patio table at The Rivoli or local-favourite, The Black Bull, or nosh at the elegant Peter Pan restaurant at Queen and Peter Streets. Toronto’s Textile District is located a block or two west of Spadina. Mixed into this ‘hood, is great value and cuisine at bistros such as Taro Grill, Epicure Cafe, The Red Tea Box, and The Tequila Bookworm.

West of Bathurst Street, Queen Street becomes more eclectic with shops of local up-and-coming and already there fashion designers, cool home accessories, and more restaurants and bars, including new kid on the block, Vdara, and vegetarian foodies’ hideout, Fresh. Head a few blocks west and end up at hipster heaven, The Drake Hotel (a misnomer, it’s really a collection of bars, cafes and lounges although there are a few guest rooms). A table on the rooftop patio where local artsy types hang is a must.

Summer Sounds at The Molson Amphitheatre

The Molson Amphitheatre is one of the best outdoor venues to enjoy a concert, resting on the shores of Lake Ontario and nestled into Ontario Place. Before taking in a top-billing artist, visitors can enjoy the facilities of Ontario Place such as the Cinesphere, or just kick back at a lakeside cafe with a cool drink and watch the boats go by from the National Yacht Club. Scheduled acts at the Amphitheatre this summer include Pearl Jam, Incubus, Beyonce, Rise Against, The Killers and The Offspring.

Toronto’s Cool Jazz Festivals

After an ear-splitting evening, visitors to Toronto can chill and groove to the smooth sounds emanating from Toronto’s two jazz festivals. The  main stage is at Toronto’s City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square while other acts are featured at various venues downtown. Running from June 26 to July 5, 2009, the festival includes big name acts such as Tony Bennett, Sony Rollins, Gary Burton Quartet with Pat Metheny, Branford Marsalis and Kool and the Gang.

For tourists visiting Toronto at the end of July, the Beaches International Jazz Festival runs in July along the eastern lakeshore in the ‘hood known simply as ‘The Beaches’. Jazz acts play the main stage, which is situated in Kew Gardens next to the lake, and local bars and restaurants along Queen Street East. Most events are free.

Adventure travel is becoming more popular all the time. It can be very expensive, though, and even a bit too dangerous for some of us. It doesn’t have to either, though. Here are a few ideas for small adventures you can afford. They are followed by a definition of adventure that will help you add your own to the list.

Try treasure hunting. Rent or buy a metal detector and spend a relaxing but interesting weekend finding coins, jewelry and who-knows-what in the sand at the beach. No beach nearby? Look up the historical records for your town, to see where old picnic grounds were. Treasure hunters regularly find old coins at places like these.

Take climbing lessons. Whether this is on Mount Ranier in Washington, or Mount Washington in New Hampshire, it’s sure to be an adventure. At least it will be more exciting than my trip up a local sledding hill with my ice-axe and crampons.

Travel form monastery to monastery. Make it a spiritual adventure or just relax. Most monasteries take in visitors, and usually have reasonably priced accommodations. The Buddhist ones in particular are most often in beautiful places.

Do a hot springs tour. This is for those who live in the west. Get a guide to hot springs or copy directions off the internet. Bring swimming suits (optional at some, for the more adventurous), towels and a cooler full of refreshments. Want more adventure? Seek out the ones that you have to hike into the wilderness to find.

The Cheapest Adventure Travel

Find and summit the highest peak in your state. This might be less-than-adventurous in some states, but it will at least be an excuse to get outside and get some good exercise. Be sure to bring your camera for the summit shot. You might try the highest point in the next state over for your next adventure trip.

Investigate and find the nearest hidden swimming holes. The best ones are ones that require a hike to get to. Watch for people heading down a trail with swimsuits and a cooler. Nobody hikes in swimsuit and drags a cooler into the woods, unless there is water involved.

Play Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Locate the nearest river that is large enough and has some public forest. Then build a raft from dead trees and float downstream for a day. We usually started by hiking upstream for an hour or more, so we could float back to the car.

A vagabond trip. Pack enough clothing and snacks for several days and just start driving, with no destination in mind. Who knows where you’ll end up, and what you’ll discover. Pack a tent or camp in your car to keep it really affordable.

That last one is a classic adventure trip in my book. Adventure is any activity you engage in that is new to you and doesn’t have a predictable outcome. It doesn’t need to be dangerous to be interesting and fun, and could even include a trip to the nearest large city for a weekend tour of the nightclubs. Of course, depending on the places you choose, this could be fairly dangerous adventure travel.