San+Diego travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

“Tet”—the Vietnamese Lunar New Year—is an eagerly anticipated holiday that has been celebrated by Vietnamese for thousands of years. “Tet” for Vietnamese is as big as Christmas, if not bigger! It is a time of families and friends, warm wishes, and lavish spending. It is an occasion to celebrate the cultural heritage, pay homage to ancestors, and pray for peace, health, happiness, and prosperity. As we ring in the Year of the Pig, the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance (VAYA) is pleased to announce the second annual hosting of the Tet Festival in San Diego entitled “Spring of Hope”.

Continue reading Dances, songs and gaiety

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia. The city of Sucre is also known as the City of Four Names, being those names La Plata, Charcas, Ciudad Blanca (White City), and Sucre. Founded as Chuquisaca in 1538, the city received its present name in 1840, in honor of the first Bolivian president, Antonio José de Sucre. In 1809 Sucre became one of the first cities in South America to revolt against Spanish rule. On December 13, 1991 UNESCO declared the Historic City of Sucre a “World Heritage Site” in recognition of its rich history and its wealth of colonial architecture. The city attracts thousands of tourists every year thanks to its well-conserved downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th century. Its many well-preserved 16th-century religious buildings illustrate the blending of local architectural traditions with styles imported from Europe. Population is 247,300 in 2006.

Continue reading Sucre – The second capital of Bolivia

1. The Ice Hotel, Sweden
Consistently getting top scores in readers’ surveys, the Ice Hotel is the coolest hotel around (literally). Built afresh every December with ice from the River Thorne in northern Sweden, and featuring specially commissioned artwork each year, this fairytale hotel is a very romantic retreat (you sleep on ice blocks covered in reindeers skins), if you can face the sub-zero temperatures in the rooms. There is an ice bar, a wedding chapel and more traditional cabins for those who don’t like to be quite so chilled. Go now: with the impact of global warming, the option of staying at this amazing hotel might not be with us for long. (website: www.icehotel.com)

Continue reading Top 10 of the most unusual places to stay

Seventy kilometers from the city of Loja in the mountains of southern Ecuador is the town of El Cisne, the site of a much venerated Marian shrine. The basilica of El Cisne was built in 1742 and modeled after a similar basilica in Harlungenberg, Germany. In 1594, the inhabitants of the El Cisne region had desired their own religious relic, similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Continue reading If you are in Ecuador definetely go to Church of El Cisne

Volcan Irazu, Costa Rica’s National Park, is the right place to have a walk along it’s slopes and see how tons of ashes are falling from the sky. You will probvably need an umbrella in order to avoid getting dirty but the feeling is awsome.

The Irazu Volcano (in Spanish Volcán Irazú) is an active volcano in Costa Rica, situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago. Its name is believed to be a corruption of Iztarú, which was the name of an indigenous village on the flanks of the volcano. In Costa Rica it is known by the name of “Colossus” due to the catastrophes that it has provoked in the past. Irazu has erupted frequently in historical times—at least 23 times since its first well-recorded eruption in 1723. Its most famous recent eruption began in 1963 and continued until 1965. It began on the day US President John F. Kennedy began a state visit to Costa Rica and showered the capital San Jose and much of the central highlands of Costa Rica with ash.

Continue reading Want to feel tons of volcanic ash falling from the sky?

Set around a gracefully curving bay, relatively free from smog and Byzantine freeways, sits the beautiful city of San Diego. Although it was the site of the first mission in California, the city only really took off with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1880s, and in terms of trade and significance it has long been in the shadow of Los Angeles. Even in the shadow of Los Angeles, San Diego tourism has something for everyone. Plan out your next trip with one of the many San Diego Vacation Packages or create your own vacation.

With all that San Diego has to offer, your next San Diego Vacation will be filled with many memories. For the art lovers, San Diego, features Balboa Park. Get the feeling of an “old Spanish city.” You’ll find various architecture styles of Spanish Colonial Renaissance and Gothic & Moorish.

Continue reading Your next San Diego Vacation will be filled with many memories