See these beautiful Caribbean sites on a map.

The Caribbean is wonderful place filled with nothing but beauty, and that’s the reason why most people in the world dreams about visiting it at least once in their lifetime. Places like Cancun, the Bahamas, Aruba, Puerto Rico, Panama and Jamaica, as well as all the other beautiful beaches and gorgeous places of the Caribbean, are paradises for those people looking for adventure, perfect places for romance and excellent destinies for an unforgettable vacation.

Cancun, a well known tourist city, is located on the Yucatán peninsula, in Mexico. It is home of many hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities, and one of the most famous and well-visited Caribbean hotspot. It has a beautiful view of the Caribbean sea and Isla Mujeres (Women’s Island). It’s an excellent vacation destination, as the city infrastructure is prepared to host a large number of tourists.

The Bahamas is also a top-pick: beautiful beaches and nights filled with mystique make this place unique, perfect for a dream honeymoon as well as for a romantic vacation with someone special. The Bahamas actually consist on more than seven hundred small islands and almost two thousand keys. Technically, these islands are not part of the Caribbean, but they share the beauty and paradise-like looks of the Caribbean area.

Part of the lesser Antilles, Aruba is an all-time pick for thousands of tourists that rely in its excellent sunny weather. Near Venezuela, Aruba is in fact under the administration of the Netherlands.

Puerto Rico, a history-rich, amazingly beautiful country, is also located on the Caribbean sea. It’s an Island located in the middle of the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico is known for its nightlife and its beautiful beaches, as well as for the kindness of its people.

Panama is not an island, but a continental country. It’s located between Costa Rica and Venezuela, and not only faces the Caribbean sea on one side, but also the Pacific Ocean on the other. It’s a very thin mass of land, which makes it easy to travel from one ocean to the other in a very short time. This is probably one of the reasons why Panama is among the most visited vacational resorts in Central America.

Jamaica, the land of the Rastafarian culture, is a country with a strong religious influence. People live in peace and are very kind, simple and polite. But make no mistake: Jamaica is not only a peaceful place, but also a premier Caribbean destination with a tourist infrastructure that is comparable to the most luxurious spots.

Photo by Oquendo at Flickr.

There are a lot of different people on this planet: different cultures, different religions, and different styles of life. But one of the things they have in common is that everyone likes a good Carnival celebration.

Perhaps the most famous celebration is the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but it’s not the only one out there. In fact, there are carnivals in almost every place on earth, like the most famous carnivals in Salvador de Bahía and Olinda, in Brazil, Venice in Italy, New Orleans in the US, and Oruro in Bolivia.

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the celebration that attracts most tourists in the whole Brazil. It is said that people take carnival so seriously that they begin planning next year’s parades just a couple of weeks after this year’s celebration ends.

The Carnival in Salvador de Bahía (also in Brazil), is mentioned in the Guinness book of World Records for being the largest carnival in the world, with 2.7 million people involved in the planning of the parades, music composition, costumes creation, and all the related activities.

Olinda’s Carnival, although much smaller than those carnivals mentioned above, is one of the most famous ones, because it is celebrated to highlight and respect the ancient African and Portuguese traditions. For this, the city of Olinda was declared “Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Mankind” by the UNESCO.

The carnival of Venice, in Italy, is considered one of the most beautiful celebrations. The quality of the costumes and the spectacular Venice channels create the perfect European carnival feeling.

In New Orleans, the celebration of the Mardi Gras attracts lots of young and not-so-young people every year, as it’s an excellent place to party all day and night long.

The Carnival of Oruro, in Bolivia, has much deeper religious connotations. This celebration is linked with the image of Virgin Mary, and there are several typical dances and costumes that celebrate “victory over the devil”. The most characteristic of these dances is the “diablada”. The Oruro’s Carnival was declared “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Tradition of Mankind” in 2001, by the UNESCO.

These are just a few hot carnivals. Although there are many more, we just mentioned a few of the most important ones, so you have an idea. Keep on coming back, as we’ll list more cool places soon!

Route - Hernán Cortés

Route - Francisco Pizarro

Route - Ferdinand Magellan

They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and certainly the Americas weren’t either. There were a lot of people that got into their ships and sailed off searching for glory, and our continent is what it is today thanks to the adventurers who got here from the old word.

While the English gave birth to what would later be the US, and Portuguese conquerors made their way into the land now known as Brazil, the Spanish conquerors (or conquistadors) were the ones that covered most terrain and conquered most lands in the continent. Santiago de Cuba, Mexico City, Cozumel, Lima, Macchu Picchu were all discovered by these conquistadors. Here are three of these adventurers and their contributions.

Hernán Cortés

Maybe the best-known conquistador was Hernán Cortés, who is remembered as the conqueror of the Aztec Empire. In fact he was in the Americas years before facing the Aztecs, as he was part of the expedition to Cuba and appointed the first Mayor of Santiago de Cuba, a beautiful Cuban city. Years later he effectively left Cuba as the Captain of the Armada, with the mission of exploring the whole Yucatan peninsula.

He first came in contact with the natives in the beautiful Island of Cozumel, which was an important Mayan city back then, and conquered it with words instead of swords. He and his troops continued their journeys gaining friends and enemies, and claiming cities like Tabasco and Veracruz for the Spanish crown, and after several military alliances with native tribes and many battles against the Aztecs, he and his men advanced over Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City, the capital and most important city of the Aztec Empire, finally gaining control of it after a long time. Cortés was also responsible for the discovery of the Baja California Peninsula, when one of his captains arrived there almost by accident.

Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro was an active explorer who was living in Panama when he offered himself for the journeys of conquest and colonization of the land of the Incas. He was given the privilege of leading the Spanish forces into Peru, and when he arrived there he found the Empire in the middle of a civil war: two brothers were fighting for the crown. Pizarro was clever, and soon forged an alliance with the most powerful faction. This made the conquest of Peru easy (and almost blood-less) for him. He took control of the city of Cusco, the capital of the Empire, and when the whole land was under Spanish control he began effective colonization, founding several cities, most notably the “City of Kings” later known as Lima, now the capital of Peru. Nowadays, there is a statue of Francisco Pizarro in Trujillo, Spain (where he was born), and there are two exact copies in the cities of Lima, in Peru, and in Buffalo, USA (the home place of the sculptor who made the statues, Charles Cary Rumsey).

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan started as a Portuguese explorer, but several problems left him without a job. He convinced the Kings of Spain that he was capable of finding a way to reach Asia from Europe without sailing around Africa (this was exclusive to the Portuguese, as stated by the Treaty of Tordesillas). Spain desperately needed a route to China and the “land of the spices” through the sea, so they agreed and soon Magellan was on his way.

He took five ships under his command, and departed from Spain. Magellan was an experienced sailor, and was able to avoid a Portuguese ship which was sent to prevent his mission from being accomplished. He made stops at the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, and finally set his course to South America.Short after crossing the equator, he arrived at Brazilian Waters, and anchored outside Rio de Janeiro. They resupplied the ship, but Magellan didn’t step on firm land because it was Portuguese territory. Then they set course to the south, and soon reached the Rio de la Plata harbor and Port St. Julian a little later. Here, the crew established a settlement. A few days later, they reached Cape Virgenes, and discovered a long canal that seemed to be a passage to the other side of the continent.

After exploring this passage, they found that it indeed was a crossing to the other side, so the mission was accomplished. This passage is known as the Strait of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan is also who baptized the Pacific Ocean, when he found the vast waters calm and quiet enough to be called “mar pacífico”.

For this reason, exotic hotels are built all around the globe, with unique features that make them stand out from the rest while offering their visitors an unforgettable experience.

Ice Hotels

These are buildings almost completely made of ice, real wonders of modern architecture. Due to their unique nature, they must be rebuilt every year, which represents a perfect opportunity for a redesign. In fact, most ice hotels are never rebuilt the same way: they frequently change size, shape, or both.

The first ice hotel was created in Sweden in 1989, and it was named “Icehotel”. Since then, ice hotels have been built all over the world. There are hotels made of ice in places like Norway, Sweden, Canada and other places. The original IceHotel near Jukkasjarvi, Kiruna (Sweden), the Alta Igloo Hotel in the Finnmark region in Norway, the Canadian ice hotel near Montmorency Falls, to the east of Quebec, and the relatively new ice hotel of Balea Lake, in Romania, are among the most visited.

The original IceHotel, Jukkasjarvi, Sweden

A bar at the Alta Igloo Hotel in Norway

The Canadian ice hotel near Montmorency Falls

A church near the ice hotel in Romania

Underwater Hotels

There are other types of exotic hotels, like underwater hotels. These are built using the latest advances in architectural design and construction, and are masterpieces of engineering. Underwater hotels have extraordinarily large transparent walls or windows that allow visitors to witness the wonders of life under the sea. There are underwater hotels in a lot of different places, like the Jule’s Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida (in the US, an underwater research center that has been opened to the public); and the future Hydropolis underwater hotel and resort in Dubai, on Arabian Gulf’s waters.

Jule’s Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida

Hydropolis

Nature Hotels

But my personal favorites are those hotels built on top of trees. These fantastic structures take advantage of existing huge trees, interlinking them and, in some cases, using the inner part of large trees as different sections, like a bar or a restaurant. The world’s most famous tree top hotel is located in the fabulous Amazon rainforest, in Brazil. This hotel complex is called Ariau Amazon Towers, and has a network of catwalks that connect all the different sections. The place is constantly visited by macaws and parrots, animals are happy to entertain visitors for a cookie or other delicacy they may get from them.

Ariau Amazon Towers

Interested in exploring wine? Check out: Wine Regions In France

If you’re like us, you enjoy drinking a glass of fine wine every now and then because it’s nice to take a little time for tasting a good wine with a nice dinner. We’re not talking about those wines that cost a lot of money, but the low-cost options you can find for less than 20 dollars per bottle.

Fine wine is made in a lot of places around the globe, and trying new wines regularly is a fun way to experience the different flavors that make a place distinctive and a wine-making process unique.

Whether it’s red or white, you can find great wines coming from great places. For instance, let’s talk about an old-time favorite: Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine, praised by most sommeliers and wine experts for its complex taste, with lots of different scents and flavors that make this a unique type of wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape is small. It has a tough skin that protects it from the rough weather, but also makes it to take longer to mature. Its origin is the region outside the city of Bordeaux, in the south-west coast of France, but today it’s produced in almost any wine region in the world.

Other red wines include the Merlot and the Syrah. Merlot grape origin is unknown, but it’s planted in places like the Medoc region in France (also famous for its Cabernet wines), Western Australia and from Napa Valley, California. Syrah, called Shiraz by Australians, or Sirah by South Americans, is a robust wine born in the Rhone region in France; today it is produced in Australia, California, France and South America, and in less quantity in Italy and Northern Spain.

As for white wines, Chardonnay is the most interesting. It is know for its mild citrus flavors and a unique texture. Chardonnay grape is grown in almost every viticultural region in the world because it adapts easily to a range of climatic conditions. It was born in the Burgundy region in France; and Chardonnays made in the Burgundy are more delicate and flavor-rich than others.

There are many great wines and great places. Take the time to try these and other excellent wines. You can also take a virtual tour around some of the world’s wine producing regions, like the Napa Valley in California, Mendoza in Argentina, Champagne in France, and many, many more.