The Barossa Valley in South Australia is well-known for its expansive vineyards and myriad wineries. When people go there, they know they will get the opportunity to taste full bodied reds, characteristic whites, and unique varieties from top vintners. At one winery, however, wine-tasters get the chance to become winemakers and learn the art of creating the perfect blend.
Penfolds Barossa Valley Winery and Cellar Door is located at the center of the valley and offers a “Make Your Own Blend” tour for visitors with an interest in vino. After being through a tour of the vineyard and cellars, guests will go through a tasting that will help them get to know the different flavors of each wine. After that, it’s time to don a lab coat and create your own wine by blending different varieties. And the best part? You can take home your creation in a personalized bottle.
The tour operates daily at 10:30AM and 2PM. A reservation at least 24 hours in advance is essential. The cost of the tour is 65 AUD (about $67) per person.
Giving alms is an important part of Laos culture and occurs in many South East Asian countries. When I took a trip to Luang Prabang, I was actually traveling with a Thai woman named Jaeb who asked me if I’d want to take part in the tradition with her. While I shuddered at the thought of waking up at dawn, I was excited to get the chance to be a part of a local tradition and get a deeper look into the culture.
Almsgiving is a religious ritual where the community gathers around the monastery at 5:30 AM to give food to a silent procession of monks. Monks are not allowed to cook or hoard food, so for many this is their only daily meal. The monks do not eat for pleasure, but to sustain their bodies, which are conditioned and trained to live with very little materials things, including food. I was also told that not having to think about food later on in the day clears the mind of distractions.On the sidewalk, women kneel down on mats holding baskets full of sticky rice balls and bushels of bananas while the men stand around them. While the setting is of a peaceful nature, you still need to be careful, as local women looking to make money off tourists will literally throw you down onto a mat and shove food in front of you before telling you to pay a ridiculous amount of money. The problem with this is not only will you be getting ripped off, but you are often given low-quality food. Only the best food should be given to the monks, so buy fresh fruit the night before or have your hotel prepare some sticky rice for you.
There’s some etiquette for women that goes along with the giving of alms, as well. Women should never touch a monk or their pots. Otherwise, the monks will have to go through a purification process. Also, a woman’s head should always be lower than the monks and shoulders and knees should be covered, although this goes for whether you’re in the presence of a monk or not.
So, what can you get out of the experience? To me, it was about more than just feeding the monks. Almsgiving really showed the sense of community in Luang Prabang, and how easy it really is to give to others and let go of addiction and neediness. If you attend with an open mind and make sure to be respectful of the customs, the tradition of Almsgiving can be a very worthwhile and eye-opening experience.
Want to know where to head for MLK weekend? Hotwire just announced the top 10 most booked destinations travelers are visiting over Martin Luther King Day weekend.
Several cities have historic significance, including Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. he received his B.A. degree at Morehouse College and where the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center was founded as well as Chicago, was the first state to adopt MLK as a state holiday. Public pressure for the holiday mounted during the 1982 and 1983 civil rights marches in Washington.
According to results from Hotwire’s American Travel Behavior survey, 74% of people would rather take several smaller vacations over the year than one big one.
So here’s an impromptu poll – will you be traveling this MLK weekend, and if so, will you be visiting one of the ten most popular destinations?
If it all comes down to getting from point A to point B, be the distance between short or long, then an atlas isn’t all that different from a framed and posted subway map–our nation’s highways as a subway map is a conceivable notion. And, in fact, it’s now a viewable, perceivable notion. Cameron Booth is an Australian designer who recently released a map of the U.S.A. highways in subway map form. As to not confuse highway routes in the U.S.A., like Route 66, with roads along the Interstate Highway System, Booth created a separate map which depicts the U.S.A. interstates as a subway map. Useful? Not really. Interesting and fun to look at? Totally.
It has been a real hit-and-miss season for skiers so far this winter. Some regions of the U.S. have received plenty of snow, but large sections of the country are still waiting for for the sizable accumulations that will allow them to hit the slopes in style. But visitors to Mammoth Mountain in California can rest assured that they’ll have plenty of powder to play in, as the resort is even offering a snow guarantee for pass holders.
The Mammoth Mid-Winter Pass is currently on sale for just $299 and allows skiing or snowboarding everyday of the week between January 9 and February 10. That averages out to just $12 per day, which is an amazing deal for anyone who wants to ski one of the premiere resorts in all of North America. But, it gets even better. Starting yesterday, for every day that goes by in which the resort doesn’t receive 24 inches of new snowfall, they’ll extend the length of the pass for an additional day.
I’m told that the current snow base on the mountain is between 1.5 and 2 feet, and daily measurements will be provided by the Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol to keep track of how much new snow falls. A running ticker will also be added to the Mammoth website to keep pass holders informed of those measurements and how many extra days are being added to their pass. So while you’re lamenting the fact that no fresh snow has fallen on the mountain, the value of that Mid-Winter Pass will continue to go up.
There is one small caveat however. In order to take advantage of this deal, you’ll need to purchase the Mid-Winter Pass by Monday, January 9th. To find out more and order your pass online, click here.