Knowing the Market

Hotel Corallo is a few minutes far, from the town centre of Sorrento and it is situated on the cliff above the Marina of Sant’Agnello, with on front the whole Neapolitan bay. It enjoys a charming and quite position with large sunny terraces laden of flowers.
The Gulf of Naples with the sky reflecting on the sea, it seems to enter every room and makes for every Guest a special fascination.

ITS STORY
It was built on the remains of the Nymphs Roman Temple situated next to the historical residence of the Capuchin monks. An elegant patrician house which at the end of the 1920s, became hotel and the name was “Cappuccini”.
The building was kept in its original style. Soon it became a meeting point for Intellectuals and Artists and in 1930 gave hospitality to the writer Luigi Pirandello.
During the following years , the name moved in “Hotel Rex” and in 1960 “Hotel Corallo” definitively

LE TERRACES
On the spacious and elegant terraces, full of flowers, you can relax with a good book or with a drink prepared with great attention by Peppe .
Only the sounds of the seagulls and the voices of the far bathers, they will disturb you. From the balconies of the rooms you admire the splendid Sorrentine Peninsula, from the ruins of Villa Pollio, of “Regina Giovanna”, to Punta Gradelle.
It seems as if you could touch the Bay of Naples from Pompei to Capo Miseno and even Ischia.

THE ROOMS
Every historical residence, dating back to the last century, offers a variety of different rooms in that style. The Corallo has 60 rooms and almost have a balcony with terrace on the cliff above the sea.
The Clients, can spend a large part of their stay, admiring the flowers and Mediterranean vegetation or the sea.

THE SEA - Beach and Pool
The nearby Marinella beach attracts many tourists to its volcanic sands.
Many Clients who love the quite and splendid sights of Capri, Ischia, Procida, Positano, Amalfi and the tiny Galli Islesthey like to spend long lazy days in the sun, either on their own boat or as an organized excursions, sailing the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The use of the nearby pool can be booked at room confirmation

THE RESTAURANT
The traditional Neapolitan specialities of Chef Antonio, change, accordingly to the season.
The Mediterranean style dishes are light, fragrant, tasty and leave you feeling healthy even after a sumptuosus meal. International dishes are also offered on request.
The prestigious wine list, which also changes seasonally, is looked after by Sig. Angelo, who for many years has used his knowledge of Guests tastes to ensure that only the best Italian wines, only, are offered.

If you are interested in a cheap hotel in Sorrento, pls visit our catalogue of Hotels all over Italy, where you can find also a wide range of Bed and Breakfast in Rome and Hotels in Florence, from cheap to luxury, togheter with Hotels all over Tuscany

The historical character of the Artis zoo is quite apparent even before one enters the gates of the zoo. It is the oldest zoo with two golden eagles perched proudly atop the main entrance. One can enjoy the 19th-century atmosphere of the gardens: the winding paths, majestic trees, the fascinating sculptures and the monumental historical buildings.

Artis is not only a zoo but a haven of peace and quiet right in the city centre of Amsterdam. Artis having an area of 14 hectares around with 700 species of animals is a fascinating zoo providing a magnificent overview of the entire animal kingdom. Amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, mammals and insects… all are superbly represented.

The Aquarium at the Artis zoo brings one face to face with the secret life of Amsterdam’s canals! One can find many Dutch and European animal and plant species, along with more exotic species. The Planetarium, the museums and all kinds of smaller exhibitions is there for any person who wants to gain knowledge.

Its atmospheric, 19th century character with ponds, ancient formal gardens and trees makes Artis ideally suited to the casual stroller. Alongside the Predator Gallery, the original design of an English stately home garden gives way to the Classical ‘French Gardens’ (laid out in 1891), called the Dutch Garden. The eight-meter high Westerman monument commemorates Artis’s founder. Marble statues of the Four Seasons border this geometrical garden.

Few zoos are as well endowed with listed buildings as Artis. Twenty of historical monuments bear diamond-shaped plaques with an inscription from a bygone age. Some examples are the Large Museum (1855), the Library building (1867) and the Aquarium (1882). The romantic Masmanhuisje predates the foundation of Artis (1838). It now houses the ibises. The stroll is made even more romantic by a visit to the two, larger than life, 18th century Bodhisatva statues (also known as Buddhas). These were brought to Artis from Japan more than a century ago. These Sculptures which are exhibited all over the park, along with a Japanese garden offers restful moments away from exciting city life.

If you have been thinking about hitting the road in an RV or motorhome whether for just a short vacation or a more long term trip, you probably have come to realize that there are plenty of choices available to consumers these days when it comes to these rolling homes away from home. There are more manufacturers than ever and a dizzying array of sizes and configurations to select from.

But thankfully, the industry has come to recognize a few general classifications to help bring some order to all of this and make your choice a little less confusing. There are four main classifications that we will discuss in this article, and hopefully when we are done you will have a better idea of which type or class of motorhome will fit your needs best.

The first one we will discuss is the Class A motorhome. These coaches resemble a bus in size and shape and are built on their own unique chassis. They can range in length from 30 feet to well over 40 feet. Since they are the largest of the first three classes, they lend themselves to having more and better features and amenities built into them. In fact, many people use them as full-time homes and travel the entire country, while living in them in as their permanent residence. They often come with extras like washer/dryers, satellite TV, large screen TVs, dishwashers and more. This class of RV can easily support a couple for a very long time in complete comfort. One of the drawbacks though is that they are not very maneuverable and don’t handle going off-road very well. But if used for touring, they are hard to beat. New costs range from $75K - over $1 million.

The next on the list is the Class B motorhome. Actually this is the smallest by far of all the classes and is usually built on a truck or van frame. The length of these coaches often fall between only 17 and 25 feet. Obviously, since they are so much smaller than the Class A motorhome, sacrifices must be made when it comes to features and amenities. You usually won’t find many of the high ticket accessories in these RVs as space is at an absolute premium, and they are probably not a good choice for long term use for more than one person. New costs are usually between $45K and $85K.

Next you have the RV class that falls right in between the first two, the Class C. This motorhome is also usually built on a van chassis but it is usually larger than the Class B, but smaller than the Class A. More options and features begin to appear on this size simply because there is more room to make use of them. They can range in length from 20 feet to 35 feet on average and cost new in the area of $50K to $125K. These are often used by families on vacation as they can accommodate 6-8 people at a time. Some couples also use them on a more long term basis.

Finally, you also have the option of looking at the giants of the motorhome industry, the bus conversions. As the name suggests, they are buses that have been converted to rolling homes and because of the extra heavy duty construction of buses these coaches can be very durable and reliable. They are often used by celebrities and corporations as they travel the country in style and luxury. Prices on these RVs routinely go into the millions, and they can be expensive to repair, but they are also a pleasure to tour with.

No matter what needs or budget you have the RV industry has tried to make a product that can suit you, so look over the different classes and decide which will fit your needs best, and then begin the earnest search for the exact manufacturer and floor plan that pleases you most.

Jim Johnson writes on many consumer related topics including motorhomes. You can find out more about rv motorhomes and used motorhomes by visiting our Motorhomes Review website.

The History of Spain, and how it all begun.

The Iberian Peninsula was first inhabited around 8000,000 BC and has long been subject to foreign influences. The history of Spain starts from 11th century BC, it was colonized by sophisticated Eastern Mediterranean civilizations, starting with the Phoenicians then the Greeks and the Carthaginians. The Romans arrived in Spain in 218BC to fight the Carthaginians, this sparked off the Second Punic War. They harvested the peninsulas agricultural and mineral wealth and established cities with aqueducts, temples and theaters.

In the early 5th century AD with the fall of the Roman Empire, Visigothic invaders from the North assumed power. They were off poor political organization but this made it easy prey to the Moors from North Africa. In the 8th century of the history of Spain the peninsula came almost entirely under Moorish rule. Europes only major Muslim territory, the civilization of Al Andalus excelled in mathematics, geography, astronomy and poetry. In the 9th and 10th centuries Cordoba was Europes leading City.

From the 11th century, northern Christian kingdoms initiated a military reconquest of Al Andalus. The marriage of Fernando Aragon and Isabel of Castile in 1469, the so called Catholic Monarchs, led to Spanish unity. They took Granada, the last Moorish kingdom in 1492. In the same year Columbus discovered America, opening the way for the Spanish conquistadors, who plundered the civilization of the New World of the history in Spain.

The succeeding Habsburg dynasty spent the riches from the New World in endless foreign war. Spain’s decline was exacerbated by high inflation and religious oppression. Although, in the history of Spain the enlightenment in the late 18th century created a climate of learning, Spain’s misfortunes continued into the next century with an invasion by Napoleon’s troops and the loss of the American colonies. A new radicalism began to emerge, creating a strong Anarchist movement. The political instability of the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to dictatorship in the history of Spain and a republic in the 1930’s which was destroyed by the Spanish civil war. General Franco ruled by repression until his death in 1975, since then Spain has been a democratic state.

Now you know about the history of Spain, we hope you enjoyed reading this article.
About the Author

Jason Herbert - Webmaster and content writer for the Costa Property Sale website.
Costa Blanca Property and Spanish Property For Sale our specialty.

The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, founded in 1938 and located
just 15 minutes north of downtown Orlando, is one of these
lovely side trips that combine beautiful scenery, a bit of local
history, some close-up exposure to local wildlife and vegetation
with a relaxing outing in a slow-moving 18-passenger pontoon
boat, all complete with expert (and sometimes humorous)
narration provided by the boat’s captain.

The tour takes you through 3 lakes: Lake Osceola, Lage Virginia
and Lake Maitland. On this gorgeous day, with brilliantly blue
skies, the boat whisked us past hundreds of beautiful
water-front estates, many of which were originally built in the
1920s and originally sold for $20,000, while fetching between
$500,000 and several million in today’s booming Central Florida
real estate market. Even boathouses are worth between $30,000
and $40,000.

In Lake Virginia we came up close to the grounds of Rollins
College, one of the top rated private liberal arts colleges in
the South Eastern United States, founded in 1885 by New England
Congregationalists. Rollins College is the oldest recognized
college in the state of Florida with a small student body of
1,700 students, housed on a beautiful 70 acre Mediterraean
Revival Campus. Our expert captain / tour guide mentioned that
tuition at the college is $38,000 and the ratio of students to
professors is 12:1.

Rollins College’s Spanish Revival Campus

Condos are located right next to the college, selling today for
between $450,000 to $1 million. As we approached the narrow
Venetian Canal that would take us from Lake Virginia to Lake
Maitland, our captain made us aware of all the interesting
vegetation growing alongside the canal: Egyptian papyrus,
Spanish moss (an airplant and not a parasite), the Princess
flower, colourful bougainvilleas and resurrection fern. We saw a
variety of birds, including an Osprey eagle, a snake bird, a
great blue heron and a white egret, which used to be the good
luck bird of the Seminole Indians. Some of Winter Park’s
beautiful mansions

On Lake Maitland we learned that there was an alligator cave
from which 150 alligators were removed into the Florida
Everglades to prevent a rather dangerous collision between local
wildlife and civilization.

Along the Venetian Canal we also saw variegated ginger and
banana trees, as we slowly passed under the arched Palmer Avenue
Bridge. Philodendrons, palmgrass, bamboo, a plant called
firespikes and an interesting arrangement of “air potatoes”,
round tubers hanging down from a tree branch, adorned our
journey through the canal. The Venetian Canal The arched Palmer
Avenue Bridge

At 450 acres and 30 feet deep, Lake Maitland is the largest of
the 3 lakes covered by the boat tour. A dam controls the water
level and interestingly, the lakes all drain northwards into the
St. John’s River which flows into the Atlantic near
Jacksonville. The Kraft Azalea Gardens, located on Lake Maitland
on Alabama Drive off Palmer Avenue, feature thousands of
azaleas, tropical shrubs and trees. Azaleas are in full bloom
January through March.

Our expert captain also pointed out various mansions that have
been used as backdrops in various movies and commercials. Lake
Maitland also features several small islands with rather naked
looking trees that house colonies of cormorants, fishing birds
that consume up to a pound of fish a day.

Cormorants, resting for another round of fishing

We slowly made our way back from Lake Maitland to Lake Osceola
where our relaxing and scenic boat tour came to an end. On this
gorgeous day it was a fabulous outing that provided an
appropriate historical context for a further exploration of the
beautiful city of Winter Park.

The Scenic Boat Tour, a Winter Park institution for almost 70
years now, is located at the end of Morse Avenue on the shores
of Lake Osceola. It is a very affordable outing at $8 for adults
and $4 for children (children under 2 ride free). Boat tours run
every day from 10 am to 4 pm (except Christmas). For further
information contact the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour.

History lingers in Freeport’s small town atmosphere. In an area of beautiful beaches, hills and brooks, you’ll find surprises like the large sand dunes of The Desert of Maine (open early May-mid October), or the 1783, Barn Museum that has a World Sand Collection and marked nature trails.

Annually, an estimated 2.5 millions shoppers visit Freeport’s factory outlets and shops that include L.L. Bean, a world renown sporting store that is open 24 hours.

Besides shopping, harbor cruises or whale and seal watching trips are available. Other outdoor activities include hiking through innumerable trails, sailing, kayaking, and canoeing.

A stay in one of Freeport’s bed and breakfast lodgings will be memorable. Several are 19th century mansions set in expansive landscapes with old-world charm. Breakfast is often included and is fabulous. Rooms are available with private balconies, fireplaces and Jacuzzi tubs. Often, the amenities include comfortable beds with homemade quilts and attached bath(some provide organic soap), coffee makers, irons and ironing boards, hair dryers, individual temperature controls for heating and air-conditioning and cable TVs. Some places have common rooms for guests to get together, as well as books, games and a gift shop. They often provide free newspapers, free local and credit card calls and free parking, Internet services, outdoor pools and play areas are often available as well. At certain places, a welcome bottle of wine or a box of chocolates is given.

Rates differ according to location, facilities and season. There are special mid-week and winter rates. One could find a good place for $89(double) upwards. Verify whether tariff quoted is inclusive of lodging tax. An additional charge for an extra person in the room is common - so are cancellation charges. Many allow children under 18 to stay free with parents. Some may not allow children at all. Pet restrictions exist at certain lodgings. Verify check in-check out times and smoking regulations. Advance reservations may be necessary.

Maine Bed and Breakfast provides detailed information about Maine bed and breakfasts, Freeport Maine bed and breakfasts, Kennebunkport Maine bed and breakfasts and more. Maine Bed and Breakfast is affiliated with Alaska Fly Fishing Trips.

Orange County is a county located in Southern California, U.S.A. With a current estimated population of three million, it has the second most people for any county in the state of California, and has the fifth most people for any county in all of the Unites States. Known for its wealth and political conservatism, the county, in actual reality is neither as consistently wealthy or as politically conservative as the stereotypical image it has gained suggests. Famous for tourism, Orange County is home to Disneyland as well as miles upon miles of sandy beaches. Orange County is located right at the center of Southern California’s Tech Coast.

Despite its massive population, Orange County has a total area of 2,455 km which makes it the smallest county in all of Southern California. Four Hundred and Eleven of those square kilometers are also made up of water. The county is bordered on the north by Los Angeles County, on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Riverside County, on the northeast by San Bernardino County, and on the south by San Diego County. The most northern part of the county sits on the coastal plains of the Los Angeles Basin. The southern half sits on the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains.

The majority of the population of Orange County reside in one of two shallow coastal valleys that are in the basin. These two shallow coastal basins are: the Santa Ana Valley and the Saddleback Valley.

The cities in Orange County are connected by a network of freeways. Residents of Orange County typically call these freeways by their route number rather than their formal name. One of the most important Orange County roadways is the Santa Ana Freeway, or Interstate 5, which runs north-south bisecting the length of the county. It is so important as it connects with another key north-south road, the San Diego Freeway. Orange County is often divided into “North County” and “South County” by the residents. This idea is opposed to an East-West ision characterized by coastal and inland cities. There is no actual geographical division of North and South County.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Orange Place - www.orange-place.com, which is the best site on the internet for all orange related information.

If you’re wondering how to find a Beaches Resort on Sesame Beach, sorry the beach doesn’t exist, however, the resort does! Can you imagine while you’re relaxing by the pool, from the corner of your eye you see fuzzy creatures running wild on the property. No, you’re not crazy, or got too much sun. Beaches has launched a new partner program with Sesame Street®, and a number of your children’s favorite characters are on board to offer any family that is interested in the experience of a lifetime!

Kids of all ages will be able to share their Beaches vacation with Elmo & Friends with daily themed activities from: story
time with Elmo, Exploring with Grover, and dancing with Zoe. Also available are Character breakfasts, Character parades, and baking with Cookie Monster!

Known as the best Ultra All Inclusive Resorts for families, Beaches offers more ways to play than any other resort in the Caribbean. The resorts activities have gone to the next level for family entertainment, and if you happen to be un-familiar with these luxury properties in paradise, you will soon realize that they are the best in entertaining and creating memorable experiences for adults and children alike.

If you’re a kid at heart, but want to get away from it all! Don’t worry, because Beaches Resorts provide adults a wide
variety of things to do from scuba diving, sailing, snorkeling, and the option to just relax on the beach enjoying the soft
powdery Caribbean sand. Later stop by one of their exciting bars and have a premium brand beverage to cool off.

Your kids will have a vacation they can call their own, and will have a blast playing XBOX® in the resorts Game Oasis Center, visit cute animals at a petting zoo, splash away at their very own water park, and if their energy level is still on overdrive, your kids can go and play a round of golf!

When the sun starts to fade, this is when the fun begins! As a family, you will spend quality time together dining at one of Beaches world class restaurants with international cuisine, and listen to all the adventures your children experienced that day!

About the author: William Lezubski (Accredited Cruise Counsellor (ACC), and Certified Travel Counsellor(CTC) - William is a professional in the Travel Industry and the author of “Discount Caribbean Vacations Web Site” available at http://www.discount-caribbean-vacations.com/index.htm

Like many people, I love the idea of making a large assortment of Christmas cookies during the holidays, but I find it difficult to find the time to get it done. As a working mother, cookbook author and webmaster of Christmas-Cookies.com ( http://www.christmas-cookies.com ), I am a very busy woman, but baking Christmas cookies every year is a must. Over the past few years, out of frustration and necessity, I have developed a system for organizing my Christmas baking. This system allows me to make a large variety of holiday treats without taking too much time out of my busy schedule. By dividing the tasks up into 6 days, I can spend a couple hours each day getting this done, and on the 7th day, relax and enjoy giving and eating some delicious Christmas cookies. After all, God rested on the 7th day! You don’t even have to do this on 6 consecutive days. Most of the steps can be done days and even weeks in advance, giving you a great head start on your holidays.

Day 1

Search your books, recipe cards, and favorite Web sites and decide what recipes to make this year. I usually mix my traditional family recipes with a few new recipes for variety. 6 to 12 different recipes makes a nice assortment, depending on how many people you have to feed and how much time you have to spend baking. Write down the name of each recipe on a piece of paper, as well as the source of the recipe so that you can look it up later, such as the Web site URL or page number in a cookbook. Print out the recipes that you find online, and set aside the books or recipe cards you’ll need so that you can access them easily on Day 2. Things you may want to consider when making your selection are:

-difficulty of the recipe if you are a novice cook or will be baking with children,

-cost of special ingredients such as chocolate or nuts, if you are on a budget,

-whether the cookies keep well or can they be frozen, if you’d like to do your baking ahead of time.

Day 2

Consulting your list of recipes, create your shopping list. Calculate roughly how much of each ingredient you’ll need in total by adding up cups of butter, number of eggs, and other common ingredients. Include in your list:

-All of the ingredients for the cookies. Check what you have at home for freshness. Nuts and shortening will go rancid after a few months, and baking powder and baking soda lose their effectiveness, so keep this in mind: out with the old, in with the new! Fresh ingredients are the key to good tasting cookies.

-Any baking tools you may need. Consider replacing old worn out tools or adding a new tool to your collection each year.

-Anything you may need for decorating such as food coloring, colored sugars and jimmies, or pastry bags for piping frosting.

-Containers like plastic tubs, cookie tins, or even cardboard boxes to store your cookies in. Make sure you have containers that are large enough to hold a complete batch of each cookie (look at the yield of your recipe if you’re not sure). If you plan to parcel them out for gift-giving, make sure you have enough containers for each recipient.

-Organize your shopping list according to store, such as: grocery store, kitchen or home store, cake decorating supply store, etc.

Day 3

Go shopping! Lay out your plan of action so that you go to the grocery store last of all, so that you can take your refrigerated ingredients home as soon as possible. Of course, if you live in a very cold climate, this is not too much of a worry. When you get home, wash your new baking tools and put all the non-perishable ingredients in one place so that you can easily get them out on Day 4. At my house, I have a designated baking cupboard that gives me easy access to everything I need on days I decide to bake. You can do Day 3 weeks before you plan to bake as long as you:

-Freeze your butter or shortening, and

-buy the perishables such as eggs and cream cheese just before you plan to bake.

Day 4

Today you will just make the dough for your cookies, but you will not actually bake them! Most cookie doughs can safely be refrigerated for days or frozen for weeks before you need to make the cookies. The reason for doing it this way is because when making several different kinds of cookies at the same time, it’s very efficient to make all your dough at once while you have all your ingredients and baking tools at hand. If you do have a particular recipe that can’t be frozen, identify it and plan to make it on Day 5.

Remember to bring refrigerated items like butter, eggs, and cream cheese to room temperature before you start to assemble your recipes. Take them out of the refrigerator at least a couple hours before you plan to bake.

To make this process even easier, I’ve developed a system for making dough assembly-line style, which you can read more about in my article about the Cookie Assembly Line ( http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com/assembly.php ). Wrap each ball of dough in plastic wrap, identify it by writing the name of the recipe on the plastic wrap with a felt-tip marker, and refrigerate it or freeze it. If it is a slice-and-bake refrigerator cookie, form it into a log instead of a ball, according to the directions in your recipe. Make sure to keep your recipes in a handy place so that you don’t have to search for them on Day 5.

Day 5

Today is baking day! Check your recipe: if you have to work with dough at room temperature (as recommended for most cookie press cookies) then take your dough out ahead of time and let it warm up to room temperature before you begin forming the cookies. If you have frozen your dough, allow it to thaw in the plastic wrap and only remove the plastic wrap once it has reached the desired temperature. If you remove the plastic while it is still frozen, then condensation will form on the dough and that will add too much moisture.

Start with the recipes that call for the lowest oven temperature and pre-heat your oven to that temperature. Remove dough from the refrigerator, line your baking sheets with parchment paper (no greasing!) and prepare the dough for baking as called for in your recipe. You may have to roll out the dough and cut it with cookie cutters, or fill it with some kind of filling, or place it in a special pan like a mini-muffin pan or a Madeleine mold, or simply slice and bake the rolls you made on Day 4. Once all the cookies that are baked at the lowest temperature are completed, raise your oven temperature to the next highest to bake those cookies, and so on.

Even if you have some of the handy stackable cooling racks, you will surely run out of space to cool several batches of cookies. Placing a double-thickness of aluminum foil on your countertop is a good substitute for a cooling rack when you run out of space. Once your cookies are completely cooled to room temperature, line your containers with waxed paper and place your cookies in the containers one layer at a time, with another sheet of waxed paper in between each layer. Then return the containers to the refrigerator if they will not be eaten for a day or two, or you can leave them out at room temperature until the next day. If they won’t be eaten or shipped for several days, you can wrap the entire container in plastic wrap and freeze your cookies for up to 2 weeks. You can freeze them for longer than this if you wrap the cookies in small stacks of 5 or 6 before placing them in their containers. Defrost the cookies at room temperature, leaving them wrapped until they are thoroughly defrosted.

Many of your recipes may be completed at this point if they don’t require decorating.

Day 6

Day 6 is decorating day. For many of us, this is the most enjoyable step in the cookie-baking process. Decorating should always be done no more than 2 days before the cookies will be eaten, ideally the day or even the morning before. Now you will make your various frostings and icings, or prepare your melted chocolate for drizzling, or dust with powdered sugar to decorate your cookies as directed. If your cookies are not to be eaten immediately, make sure that the icing or melted chocolate has thoroughly set and hardeneda process that may take several hoursbefore stacking the cookies back in their containers, again separating the layers with sheets of waxed paper. Cookies that have been frosted with a buttercream-type frosting cannot be stacked. They should be stored in a single layer with a loose covering of plastic wrap.

Day 7

Relax and enjoy your holiday, because your Christmas baking is done!

Copyright 2004 Mimi Cummins. All Rights Reserved.

Mimi Cummins is co-author of the book “Christmas Cookies Are for Giving: Recipes, Stories, and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts.” This book, “enthusiastically recommended” by Midwest Book Review, is full of baking tips and hints, including nearly 50 recipes each with a full-color photo. For more information visit http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com/ or order from your favorite online bookstore.

http://www.christmas-cookies.com

Next to Europe, Australia probably has the best network of hostels in the world. Since many natives are obsessed with travel from an early age and the country is do damn big there is a high demand for cheap beds all over. One thing to remember when searching for Australia hostels is the majority of them are called “backpackers” instead. So instead of the Downtown Perth Hostel it would be the Downtown Perth Backpackers.

Not surprisingly, Sydney and Melbourne have the most hostels, and they are each spread in the city and also near the beach areas. If you are going to either of those cities it might be wise to break your trip there in half and stay part of your time in the city center, or Central Business District as they call it in Australia, and the other half near the beach.

But in Australia many small cities have backpackers/hostels, so you’ll probably be fine no matter when you go. Most of them also have private rooms, so even if you don’t like sleeping with 9 strangers who may be coming and going through the night, you can still save money and get most of the social benefits of hostel life anyway.