Don’t be misled with the idea that surfing is the occupation only for the bravest, most daring and the strongest ones. If you think you’ve got no chances, visit one of European Atlantic surf clubs, where they teach anyone how to surf.

Those who are tired of beaches and excursions around the city, but still want to have fun on the sea coast, are ready for anything. For instance, diving and surfing are considered to be ordinary occupations. To catch a heavy and warm wave they often travel to Hawaii, California or Indonesia – but this refers to winter time. If you live in Europe, in summer you can find a closer site for surfing. For instance, water in Bay of Biscay and the Portuguese coast gets really warm in summer. In addition to this, Europe guarantees lots of other impressions.

France, Gironde.

A good opportunity to combine an acquaintance with one of the most famous French wine regions and surfing is to make a trip to Bordeaux suburbs. Beaches that stretch from Royan to Arcachon were the place where half a century ago European surfing culture was born. Having reached Bordeaux, you are recommended to hire a car and go to Lacanau resort town located 30 kilometres to the west. Lacanau is considered to be the best place for surfing: among its advantages are: a long sandy beach, medium waves and lots of hotels and apartments to suite any taste and purse. A week of studies in a surf school (five lessons, each lasting 4 hours) will cost approximately Eur 245. As for cultural attractions - half an hour ride from here there are famous Gironde wine yards and castles. But don’t overdo with wine tasting – don’t forget that you came here for surfing!

France, Cote d’Argent (The Silver Strand)

Cote d’Argent is always associated with active water sports – however, nowadays surfers subdue even the waves of Biarritz grand beaches, which changes the image of this aristocratic city, full of casinos and luxury hotels. A 15-kilometre stretch from Anglais to Saint Jean de Luz contains 17 popular surf spots. If you are not going to stay in a luxurious Hotel du Palais, you can go to Lagoondy Surf Camp on the Côte Basque: here a week of accommodation and surfing lessons will cost less than in other hotels. By the way, you can come here with children – 24-hour tending is guaranteed.

Spain. Basque Country.

In July and August, the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay turns into a real Mecca for surfers. And is it no wonder why: water here is really warm (you can surf without surf clothing), there are surf spots for the beginners as well as professionals, delicious food and rather a cheap living (if to compare local prices with the ones all over Europe). An interesting variant might be to go to San Sebastián and combine language studies with surf practices: a couple of weeks will cost approximately 800-900 Euros, including living in a family or in a hostel. Besides, the Basque Country boasts of its interesting culture, incomparable tapas, museums and a seething nightlife.

Spain. Galicia.

A real edge of the world with wildlife, severe winds and heavy waves. At the same time, in July and August water gets very warm. That is why surfers have long settled in this region, densely populated but still very beautiful. Before you start surfing, you should definitely visit Santiago de Compostela with its grand medieval attractions, and the cities of La Coruna, Pontevedra and Vigo with restaurants serving the best Galician seafood. The most popular surfing spot is Costa da Morte. Surfing studies here are rather cheap – one of the surf schools we can advise you is Surf & Rock 20 minutes from La Coruna.

Portugal. Estremadura.

Even though this is the south of the Atlantic, surfing in Estremadura is an occupation for the daring ones: even in summer water temperatures rise no higher than 20 degrees centigrade. But despite this, long desolate beaches and superb waves attract lots of surfers from all over Europe. You can go surfing just 10 kilometres from Lisbon, but local beaches are rather crowded and water is not that clear. So, another good variant is to go to a surf school about 70 kilometres from the capital - in the Peniche town. A famous Supertubos is found next to this city, but it is suitable for professionals only. As for local culture and nightlife, you will find them in Lisbon.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is part of a chain of beaches that stretch along the coastline of South Carolina – the Grand Strand. Myrtle Beach is known as a popular tourist destination and resport down and is the central focus of the Grand Strand. Over ten million visitors each season make their way to a Myrtle Beach resort not just for the beaches, but for the restaurants, festivals and especially the golf. There are accommodation options for all budgets and all travelers – from family style self-contained apartments to upscale, luxury hotels such as the Horizon at 77th. Opening in June this years, this property is likely to take the title of Myrtle Beach’s top hotel. It offers panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and features a full kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

pening June 2008, the Horizon at 77th is poised to become a Myrtle Beach vacation mecca. The stately ocean view property offers one, two and three-bedroom condos featuring full kitchens with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances; plus over-sized balconies offering the best panoramic northern Atlantic Ocean coastline views you’ll find! Call 1-866-413-8310 for reservations, availability and additional information..

Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach SC The Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach is a popular location for families and Myrtle Beach golf package vacationers. Enjoy outstanding golf course condo with luxury amenities, access to swimming, tennis and hiking trains.
Home to four of the top golf courses in Myrtle Beach , Barefoot Resort is located on the Intracoastal Waterway behind Barefoot Landing which offers many shopping and dining options

What does Santa do all summer? If you have been asked this question one too many times, this year travel to Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada and find the answer. Bracebridge, just north of Toronto, sits on the 45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. Since 1955, Bracebridge has been home to Santa’s Village Family Entertainment Park, Santa Claus’ preferred summer vacation spot.

Not sure what to do first? After being greeted by Santa himself in Santa Square guests can catch a ride around the 50-acre park on the Candy Cane Express miniature train and use it to get your bearings.

Santa is not the only one on vacation over the summer; the elves are too. The park is full of ways to amuse elves (and children). Enjoy net climbing excitement in the Elves Island Play Area. Ride Rudolph’s Sleigh Ride Roller Coaster, the Christmas Ball Ferris Wheel, the Merry-Go-Round, and more.

Children can create customized souvenir crafts in the Elves Workshop and Candy Cane Lane features a variety of skill games to hone hand-eye coordination. Live entertainers perform at the park throughout the season.

Santa’s Village also features a petting zoo complete with goats, sheep, and deer, though not reindeer since Bracebridge is too warm for those hardy animals.

One of the attractions of this summer home away from the North Pole is warm weather and the chance to cool off in Santa’s Splash Zone. Work up a sweat paddling around lemonade lagoon in one of Santa’s Paddleboats or relax and let someone else do the work when you take Santa’s Summer Sleigh Jetboat Cruise.

The park is open 10am to 6pm from June to September. For more specific information about Santa’s Village, or to make reservations, visit the park on the web at http://www.santasvillage.ca .

The bright red uniform jacket and broad-brimmed hat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are a symbol of Canada recognized all over the world. The well-known red serge coat, black riding pants with their yellow stripe, and red-banded Stetson are not part of the regular daily uniform for these police officers. The red, white, and black dress uniform is, generally, only worn for civic ceremonies, public relations events, celebrations and memorials.

The RCMP is a singular organization, since it is simultaneously a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. They provide total federal policing service to all Canadians. They are also under contract to provide policing services to eight provinces (all except Quebec and Ontario), the 3 Canadian territories, more than 200 municipal areas, 165 First Peoples communities, plus 3 international airports and several smaller airports.

The RCMP Academy, Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan has been training “Mounties” for more than 120 years. Despite the fact that they are a national police force, all new Royal Canadian Mounted Police recruits undergo basic training in Regina. At 12:45 each day visitors can witness the daily Sergeant Major’s Drill on the Parade Ground. Incidentally, women have been members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since the first all-female class graduated from the Academy in March 1975.

Until October 2006, the Academy was also home to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Centennial Museum, where visitors could go to get a thorough account of the national police force’s history. The Centennial Museum was closed permanently in October 2006 in order to begin moving its collections and artifacts to the new RCMP Heritage Center.

The $40 million Heritage Center is scheduled to open May 23, 2007. A focal point of the new museum will be a ninety-eight foot (30 m) long three-dimensional sculptural timeline illustrating the roles and tools of the RCMP over the years.

Are you a wildlife enthusiast looking for something a little different? The a trip to Churchill in Northern Manitoba, Canada is just the thing. Indulge yourself in a little retro luxury with a sleeper ticket on VIA Rail’s Hudson Bay, a 2-day and night trip from Winnipeg to Churchill. The indulgence is worth it, since the destination, Churchill, is a no-frills sub-arctic town. This train is another of VIA Rail’s outdoor enthusiast routes and offers their unscheduled stop service to passengers who make advance arrangements for it.

Churchill, a tiny village with a permanent population that fluctuates between 800 and 1100, is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World. The town, sitting between the Churchill River and Hudson Bay, is on the polar bears’ annual migration route. Peak season for polar bear sighting is from mid-October to mid-November each year. Polar bear viewing is best done by arrangement with one of the many tour operators in Churchill who will take out in a tundra buggy, vehicles specially designed for the safety of people, polar bears, and the local tundra.

Manitoba’s beluga whale population migrates to the Churchill River and Hudson Bay every summer during July and August. There are approximately 20,000 whales living in the area, and about 3,000 of them summer in the river estuary to give birth. Visitors have a chance to view, and, with many tours, swim with, these beautiful creatures.

Bird-watching enthusiasts should try to make the trip to Churchill sometime between mid-June and mid-July. According to the Churchill Northern Studies Institute, birdwatchers can expect to see approximately 100 species, easily, over the course of a four- to seven-day trip. For more information on species commonly seen, or at least heard in some cases, check out the birdwatching page on the Instute’s website at http://www.churchillscience.ca/index.php?page=ab_attrac_birds.

Myrtle Beach is the ultimate coastal golfing destination. TtimesOnly is your online guide to tee times throughout the Myrtle Beach resort area. You can choose your preferred gold course from their extensive list of Myrtle beach Golf Courses.

Take a look at their ‘Golf Specials’ as they frequently offer group or course specials. Once you have selected your preferred course, just choose the number of players and your preferred time and make your booking via the secured tee times reservation form. You can also call them directly on 877 238 1975. To make things easy for you, cart fees are included in the quoted price.

You can also check a listing of nearly 1,000 Myrtle Beach golf course rates at around 80 different courses. Rates include an AM rate which covers before noon Thursday to Sunday, a MW rate which the midweek rate before noon Monday through Wednesday and the PM rate which is the afternoon rate that is applicable every day.

There are also a featured range of Myrtle Beach Golf packages, such as the Greg Normal designed ‘Barefoot’ course and the ‘Champions Choice’ package which includes courses designed by the greats of the game such as Larry Nelson, Gary Player and Raymond Floyd

International sports enthusiasts can visit the history of the Olympic Games in Canada, and get a glimpse of the future.Canada hosted its first Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec in 1976. The Olympic Stadium in Montreal features the world’s tallest inclined tower—it is 574 feet (175 m) high. The vision of the architect who planned the stadium was nearly impossible to achieve, however. The stadium’s retractable roof was not completed until 1987, more than 10 years after the event for which it was designed.

The velodrome built for the 1976 Games was re-purposed for education in 1992 and is now known as the Biodôme. Visitors to the museum will experience four typical indigenous American environments: the polar region, a tropical forest, the St. Lawrence marine, and the Laurentian forest.

In 1988, Calgary, Alberta hosted the 15^th Winter Olympiad and profited mightily from it (unlike Montreal, which is still paying for that stadium roof!). The Olympic Oval is a fully equipped training facility used by skaters, runners, hockey players, and athletes of all stripes. Nearby Canada Olympic Park is the home of North America’s largest Olympic museum, the Olympic Hall of Fame. The Park is also home to Canada’s only Olympic bobsled/luge track. Adventurous visitors willing to sign a waiver can even buy a trip down the track in a sled driven by one of the park’s trained drivers.

Canada will again be hosting the Winter Olympics, this time in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010. The city has already begun preparations for the big event. Omega, Official Timekeeper of the 2010 Games, unveiled a three-year countdown clock in downtown Vancouver on February 12, 2007. Construction of the Vancouver Olympic Village will begin in the summer of 2007. The Games facilities will be made available to athletes for training by Winter 2007/2008.

The Empress Hotel sits regally on the Inner Harbor of Victoria, capital of British Columbia, and is a joy to behold for both history and architecture buffs. The Fairmont Empress will be celebrating her one hundredth anniversary in 2008.

The hotel was begun in 1904 after supporters of the city convinced the Canadian Pacific Railroad to establish regular ferry service to Vancouver Island and build one of the railroad’s signature hotels in Victoria. The Empress, named for Queen Victoria, then the Empress of India, and designed by English architect Francis Rattenbury. The original, 116-room Edwardian chateau-style building opened with a great deal of fanfare in 1908.The hotel’s magnificent architecture and opulent décor are legendary. Built at the height of British power in India, it features a number of colonial India-themed areas. Most notable of these is the club-like Bengal Lounge, decorated with objects given to the hotel by some of its notable guests. An Indian maharaja donated the mounted tiger skin on the wall and the murals above the bar were a gift to the hotel from the king of queen of Siam.

To take Afternoon Tea at the Empress is to take a journey back in time. This formal, high tea occurs daily and is enjoyed by over 100,000 people each year. Do not expect to take it lightly, though. High Tea is, in many ways, a meal, and you will pay accordingly.

There were rumors that the owners were planning to demolish the property and build a new resort on the site in the 60’s, but the public outcry caused against this plan led to the $4 million “Operation Teacup” renovation. Another, significantly more expensive renovation took place in the 1980’s.

The hotel is also home to Willow Stream Spa and affiliated with two local golf courses, for guests who want more than art architecture.

Drumheller, Alberta, in the heart of Canada’s prairies, proclaims itself“The Dinosaur Capital of North America”, and has the fossils to back it up.

Just northwest of Drumheller is the Dinosaur Trail, a 32-mile (50km) circular drive along Highway 838 that will lead visitors to, among other things, the Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology, and the World’s Largest Dinosaur.

The Royal Tyrell Museum has a wide array of exhibits. The Hexen Science Hall features an interactive display to demonstrate basic scientific concepts. In the Preparation Lab, visitors can watch scientists prepare fossils for study or display. The Burgess Shale and Devonian Reef exhibits offer a look at life under the waters of Canada’s prehistoric oceans. In the Cretaceous Garden, Museum guests can walk through living history, a garden filled with the same plants the dinosaurs ate.

The main attraction at the Royal Tyrell is Dinosaur Hall. The Hall is full of mounted dinosaur skeletons, and is the largest exhibit of its kind in the world. Walking, swimming, and flying reptiles are all present, including the Albertosaurus, first discovered by Joseph B. Tyrell.

Farther down the Dinosaur Trail visitors will find themselves confronted by the World’s Largest Dinosaur. The Dinosaur is an 86-foot (26.2 m) concrete and steel Tyrannosaurus Rex. He stands four times taller than the real thing did and visitors who climb the 106 steps to the viewing platform in his mouth will enjoy a magnificent panoramic view of the badlands.

For dinosaur lovers, the two-hour trip to the Tyrell Museum’s Field Station at Dinosaur Provincial Park is a must-see. It functions as a base for continuing scientific study in the area and has skeletons on display in an exhibit building. Visitors can also make reservations for a bus tour to areas of the park being excavated, areas not available to the public any other way.

A cruise holiday is the best vacation idea for families, couples and singles. A cruise ship is really a floating luxury resort and there are endless activities to enjoy or you can just relax by the pool, enjoy gourmet meals and explore new vistas during the land stop overs.

Cruisevacationcenter.com has a great range of holiday options for all tastes and budgets. The Azamara Cruise range is for high end travellers looking for personal service and a smaller group. Enjoy the attentions of a butler in each stateroom, in-room spa treatments and fresh flowers delivered daily. With one staff member for every two guests, it’s the ultimate in pampering.

Caribbean cruises are perennial favourites, with their exotic and relaxed stop-overs and weather. The Royal Caribbean Cruises offers active travellers a range of new experiences and delights.

The Panama Canal is another popular cruise destination along with Hawaii and Alaska. Alaska is particularly unforgettable – sail past glaciers, melting ice caps, polar bears, whales and other magnificent sea life.

In Europe, Norwegian Cruise Lines offers travellers a wide range of unique cruising destinations including the Greek Islands, Norway, Denmark, Italy and of course, Monte Carlo.

Princess Cruises are synonymous with cruising vacations and they have 18 ships offering three standards of luxury travel.