BY: JANET STEINBERG


It’s
a great, wide, wonderful, world out there. So why not explore it to the
fullest? Please allow me to show you some of the best this world of ours has to
offer.  From A to Z, here is how I viewed the world alphabetically.

 ALVEAR PALACE, one of the grandest hotels in all of South
America, is a true palace and undisputed symbol of the Belle Époque. The
Alvear Palace is the jewel in Buenos Aires’ crown. This classic hotel is
recognized worldwide for its unparalleled combination of elegance, hospitality,
personalized service, and high technology.


BREAKFAST BUFFET AT THE ALVEAR PALACE

BARCELONA, offers
the surreal ‘Route Gaudi”, an architectural tour of the works of Antonio
Gaudi.  Not to be missed are Gaudi’s La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Temple
Expiatori de la Sagrada  Familia
, and the surrealistic Parc Guell, an
architectural extravaganza that has been compared to Dorothy’s “Oz” and Alice’s
“Wonderland”.

CIRAGAN PALACE
KEMPINSKI
in Istanbul, Turkey is the only Ottoman Imperial Palace &
Hotel by the Bosphorus.  This 5-star luxury Imperial Palace hotel is
located on the shores of the magnificent Bosphorus overlooking the ancient city
of Istanbul, the only city in the world lying on two continents. 
The hotel provides a one of a kind experience with its historical
ambiance and excellent Kempinski service.

GARDEN OF THE CIRAGAN PALACE
DANUBE RIVER CRUISES glide
their passengers down one of the world’s most famous rivers.  But don’t be
disappointed…the beautiful Blue Danube isn’t blue at all.  It is a
mocha-green ribbon that entwines itself through the rolling hills, vineyards,
vibrant cities, and quaint hamlets of Europe.

EMBASSY SUITES FT.
LAUDERDALE
, located six short blocks from Port Everglades, is the
premier spot from which to begin or end all cruises out of Port
Everglades.  This reasonably priced hotel (that offers complimentary
breakfasts, Manager’s Receptions, business and fitness centers) is also a good
choice for an economical Florida vacation.

FAENA HOTEL, in
Buenos Aires, is a century-old red brick grain silo that France’s super
‘star-chitect’ Philippe Starck turned into an artfully stylish hotel.
Rojo
Tango
, the hotel’s dinner show will seduce you from the moment you enter
the velvety red room. It is the city’s most expensive tango show, but also the
best.

GRAND HOTEL EXCELSIOR
VITTORIA
in Sorrento, Italy, has a history full of superlatives. This grand
hotel has hosted the likes of Richard Wagner and Oscar Wilde.  They
enjoyed the same view of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius that guests enjoy
today.

GRAND HOTEL EXCELSIOR VITTORIA
HARRY’S BAR, the one
and only original Harry’s Bar–is not your ordinary watering hole. It is a
fashionable haunt frequented by celebrities, royalty, locals, and tourists. It
has been said that, in the legendary city of Venice, more tourists ask
directions to Harry’s Bar than to the Piazza San Marco.  Be sure to
sip the bar’s liquid trademark…the Bellini.

INDIANA is the
location of the totally restored French Lick Resort, now the Midwest’s premier
resort and casino destination. A half –billion-dollar renovation restored the
French Lick Hotel and the West Baden Spring Hotel which was proclaimed it the
Eighth Wonder of the World when the hotel first opened in 1902.

JANUARY is the perfect
time of year to visit Antarctica, the greatest show on ice.  This barren,
white continent, that thrills the imagination and overwhelms the senses, is a
continent of superlatives.  While it is the most forbidding, most
inaccessible land on earth, it is also the most majestic and most pristine.

KEMPINSKI Çıragan Palace’s
Tugra 
Restaurant is the place to order Külbastı  Lamb and
 Kebab Testi in Istanbul.  The feast at
Tugra’s Turkish and Ottoman restaurant begins with the ambience
… rich Ottoman décor…live classical Turkish music…and the ever-stirring
backdrop of the Bosphorus. 

LAGUNA SAN RAFAEL
GLACIER
, a Chilean kaleidoscope of the stunning artistry of Mother Nature,
i
s one of the most breathtaking sites in South America. This awesome wall
of ice is a brilliant spectacle played out in hues of blue and white. 


LAGUNA SAN RAFAEL GLACIER IS AN AWESOME WALL OF ICE 

MONACO is home to
Le Louis XV, in Monte Carlo’s Hotel de Paris. One of the world’s most luxurious
restaurants, it is a temple of haute cuisine where table cloths are ironed
on each table, cutlery is polished by white-gloved assistants, silver-filigree
Christofle hedge sparrows peck at imaginary crumbs, and the monthly flower bill
averages in five figures.

NEGRESCO, a Belle
Époque palace, is the Grand Dame of the French Riviera in Nice, France. 
The Negresco is a wedding cake-like confection iced in pink and green. With its
sweeping view of Nice’s Bay of Angels, the Negresco was classified a National
Historic Monument in 1974.

OSAKA, the sushi
restaurant in the W Hotel in Santiago, served the best sushi I have ever eaten.
By all means, treat yourself to a platter of Carpassion…salmon laced with
passion fruit syrup and framed with a shredded phyllo border.

PRIDE, one of Seabourn
Cruise Line’s pride and joys, is a stunning, ocean-going vessel straight out of
James Bond…and 007 would love it. Seabourn Pride served as our luxurious home
away from home for an exhilarating Baltic cruise that took us from Copenhagen
to beautiful Bornholm Island where the rocks form the landscape.


SEABOURN PRIDE IS STRAIGHT OUT OF A JAMES BOND MOVIE
QUEEN MARY 2,
affectionately dubbed QM2, is a name that evokes nostalgia for a more civilized
era. Her
every detail harkens to the Golden Age of Ocean Travel…a time when
passengers like Marlene Dietrich crossed the Atlantic on Queen Mary 1 with 38
trunks.

REGENT NAVIGATOR/ REID’S PALACE is
R&R at its finest.  Regent Seven Seas Navigator, an intimate
all-suite ship began our cruise on the Portuguese island of Madeira in a
little-known town named Funchal.  Our elegant pre-cruise hotel, Reid’s
Palace, perched on a cliff-top overlooking Funchal Bay, is a hotel that should
be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

SYMPHONY, Crystal Cruises’ ultra-luxe ship was our
floating palace for a colorful autumn cruise from Montreal to New York
City.  From the first flute of champagne to the final farewell, there was
little wonder why Crystal
Cruises has received so many prestigious awards.

TAJ MAHAL, a
divine poem in white marble, symbolizes the eternal beauty and purity of
love.  Once you have glimpsed that soaring bubble of marble, you will
never forget it.  Enough said!


TAJ MAHAL…A POEM IN WHITE MARBLE
URUGUAY’S Punta
del Este is South America’s jet-set resort. The 10,500 winter population of
this once sleepy fishing village soars to over
1-million
people during the Southern Hemisphere summer months of December through March.

VENICE’S CIPRIANI
HOTEL
is a paradise of romantic fountains encircled by enchanted gardens,
sea gulls, cerulean waters, green lawns, white awnings, and the mysterious
light of a lagoon. This tranquil oasis in the bustling city of Venice is la
dolce vita…
the sweet life. It is the perfect in perfection…the serene in
serenity…the glitter in glitterati.  In this less than perfect world,
perfection is the Hotel Cipriani.

WHISPER, Silversea’s
luxury vessel that cruised us from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile
afforded us the luxuries of a private yacht, the amenities of a country club,
and the fine services of an exclusive hotel. We were pampered by Silver
Whisper’s butlers, sipped champagne as the sea caressed the ship, and were
wrapped in a warm feeling of home upon the sea.

X-ING (CROSSING) THE
EQUATOR,
while sailing from Rio to Barbados, Silversea’s Silver Wind
threw a memorable Crossing the Equator Party.  King Poseidon initiated
landlubbers (pollywogs) incredibly soaked with the sins of life ashore. 
Having paid their homage to the Ruler of the Sea, those pollywogs were deemed
official experienced sailors (shellbacks).


SILVER WIND’S CROSSING THE EQUATOR PARTY
YOUNTVILLE, the
hub of the Napa Valley, is where the California Wine Country experience begins
to unfold.  Yountville is also the locale of the Vintage Estate, composed
of the Vintage Inn, a charming country-style inn, and Villagio Inn and Spa, a
faux Italian village with soul. 

ZEALAND, as in New
Zealand,
is known to locals as EN-ZED.  A gorgeous, under-populated,
unpolluted country, “Noozillan” is a verdant, pastoral land where the
sheep outnumber the people 25 to 1.


 JANET
STEINBERG is an award-winning Travel Writer, and International Travel
Consultant 
with THE TRAVEL AUTHORITY in Mariemont, Ohio.  She
is the 
winner of 43 national Travel Writing Awards.