London is the capital city of England and whole of United Kingdom as well. Apart from this regular political identity, thanks to the huge expansion of the British Empire, this city once had the rare honor to be the capital of quarter potion of the earth’s surface and now boasts of some of the most popular hotels.

London is an international transport hub, with five international airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the world, and its main airport, the multi terminal Heathrow, carries more international passengers than any other airport in the world.

London is famous for its outstanding museums and galleries, royal palaces, monuments, quaint squares and peaceful green parks. Visitors delight by the excellent shops, and exciting nightlife.

How to get to London

England is an island so you must use naval transportation or you can fly.

The best way to go to London is by finding cheap flights to London.

In minutes, using the Internet you will find the best and cheapest flights right form the comfort of your home.

London Attractions

Museums

London has over 200 museums covering a wide range of topics, disciplines and human activities. The most famous museums are: The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, Royal Observatory Greenwich and  Madam Tousou.

Parks

Like any modern city London has beautiful parks like: St James’s Park and Green Park.

famous places

You must visit London’s top attractions - Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. Also you must see the Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Consumer goods

London is a different planet when it comes to consumer goods. We are talking about (fact) more high end retail stores than New York and LA put together and a level of service that doesn’t exist in the States at the same level.

Alaska Cruises feature glaciers, wildlife, great food, entertainment, interesting ports of call and fascinating tours along way.

It is recommended to choose a Royal Cruise because you will travel in bigger ship - 138,000-ton and there will be a lot of fun activities. See the list below.

Royal Cruise activities

• Daily scheduled activities organized by cruise staff
• Shopping galleria with duty free shop, general store, jewelry shop, logo items
• Destination & shopping lectures and shore excursions
• Royal Promenade lined with bars and shops is the heartbeat of the ship
• Fully equipped Shipshape Fitness Center with state-of-the-art gym & aerobics room and health & fitness program
• Beauty Salon with full service treatments
• Full service spa with sauna/steam rooms and massage
• 3 outdoor pools with swim-up bar and 6 whirlpool spas
• Deck sports including ping-pong, basketball, volleyball, shuffleboard, jogging track
• The industry’s first Rock Climbing Wall at sea
• 125 feet in-line skating track
• Adventure Dunes 9-hole mini golf
• Golf Simulator & Golf Hitting Cage
• Observation Deck at the prow for fantastic views
• 900-seat Studio B has concerts, games shows, ice skating performances
• Center Ice(at Studio B) ice skating rink
• Bi-level Library for quiet reading

Canada Cruises

You will discover the natural beauty of Canada-New England. You will you visit Boston’s world-famous three-mile Freedom trail, soak in the natural beauty of Acadia National Park or just enjoy an authentic lobster bake.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises is one of the top rated cruise lines in the industry offering some of the highest quality food, service and entertainment in the entire cruise industry.

If your idea of a true vacation is not to lift a finger, then Celebrity Cruises is just for you.

Celebrity Cruise Line ensures that there is at least one staff member onboard for every two guests, so when you have a need, there’s always someone there to help you enjoy your vacation.  Whether it is helping you carry your breakfast tray to your table or just stopping you in the hallway to see if there is anything you need to make your cruise more enjoyable, you will feel like a true Celebrity on a Celebrity Cruise.

Italy is the home of La Dolce Vita – the life that celebrates happiness and beauty.

Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Practically every town in Italy has numerous churches, squares, museums and art galleries. Villages have their own charm, with characteristic streets, artisan’s workshops and family-run trattorie.

Italy attracts the travelers who wants endless cultural attractions. All main centers, most of the provincial cities and many quite small towns have museums. The ancient monuments and archeological sites are perfectly preserved.

What cities to visit in Italy

Rome

In Rome you well find one of the most famous places:Vatican, Pantheon, Piazza di Spagna, Colosseum, Forum, Capitol. Visiting Rome is a must.

Milan

Milan is famous for the cutting edge design and shopping tours.

Florence

Florence is a must for vintage lovers and stylists: clothes, a dance floor and a bar opened until late.

The flavors of Turkey can now be found in Istanbul restaurants; it is a trip back to the land of the Ottoman Empire and the wealth of great food with recipes that date back centuries. But as non-native ingredients become more readily available and foreign cuisines gain influence, a coterie of Istanbul restaurants are reinventing Turkish food.

Enjoy the day by waking up to a rich breakfast buffet, consisting of freshly baked breads and bakery items as well as selected meats and cheese, fresh fruits and juices with rich coffee and traditional Turkish tea.

In Istanbul you will find from luxury restaurant which serve occidental meals to traditional meyhanes (taverns) and fast-foods. Reservations are recommended wherever possible; in the case of upscale and popular restaurants, they are essential.

The most part, 90% of the restaurants, and eateries in the neighborhood of Sultanahmet. A bit farther up the Bosphorus in Besiktas and Etiler are the five-star restaurants that attract Turkish jet-setters and consulate personnel, for the most part providing a wide selection of fresh-fish specialties, excellent service, and spectacular views.

You can savor Turkish food or take advantage of the international buffet with a different theme every day. Prices are reasonable, service average, and there is a good selection of meze, kebabs, and the usual Turkish fare.

In a Turkish themed restaurant, the main draw is the Kebabs and with a ’Fries, Soda, and Kebab’.Ideal for a late breakfast is menemen (a kind of sloppy Turkish omelette with tomatoes, served with crusty bread) and a pot of filter coffee. For lunch or dinner try the mezze and foods based on lamb, fish and chicken like kebaps, kofte, baba ganoush, hummus, gyros. Finally, round out the meal with a choice of Turkish deserts.

The latest trend in Istanbul restaurants is the fast food version of the traditional simit (kind of bagel) and borek (pastry).

My favorites are to traditional meyhanes (taverns) for the healthy fresh fish and delicious appetizers.
Kebap is sold right on the street and it is delicious. Try the Adana but be careful it is spicy.

Fast foods are very popular: you’ll find McDonalds, KFCs and a lot of local fast foods and pizza places. I have eaten at McDonald and the food was ok. They serve some interesting burgers: with Turk kofte inside.

! Tip: There are restaurants which provide a backdrop for the view over the Bosphorus. This kind of restaurants is ideal for a relaxed family lunch or romantic meal.

! Tip: The Istanbul restaurants have wide selection of Turkish wines produced from rich Anatolian grapes.Try one.

! Tip: Belly dancing is performed in some Istanbul Restaurants. Also the atmosphere is very relaxed and the staff loves to enjoy themselves with the customers which all made for a very entertaining night out with traditional Turkish music and dancing.

! Tip: Ask about the special Turkish Pizza served some nights for dinner.

Most of Istanbul restaurants have absolutely fabulous food, a very relaxed atmosphere and they are definitely not as expensive as other restaurants. The beautiful atmosphere, lovely friendly staff, and delicious Turkish cuisine will make you happy.

Istanbul Food and Cuisine

Turkish cuisine is based on lamb and mutton but it also includes beef and chicken (no pork, of course), as well as all sorts of seafood.

The most common preparations are roasting and grilling, which produce the famous Turkish kebaps, including döner kebap, the national dish, and köfte (small meatballs), the workingman’s favorite.

The doner kebap (turning roast) is dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. The meat may be lamb, mutton, beef, goat, or chicken. It looks great and tastes divine.

Popular kebabs:

• Shish kebab (sis kebabi) is a dish consisting of small cubes of meat threaded on a skewer that are grilled or roasted.
• Adana kepap is a dish consisting of pieces of meat with rice and vegetables (often grilled) and very spicy.

• Urfa kepap. It is the same as Adana but it is nor spicy.

The supremo of döners is Iskender Kebap, named for a chef in the city of Bursa who created the dish: lamb raised on the thyme-covered slopes of Mount Uludag (which rises south of Bursa) is roasted à la döner, spread atop diced flat pide bread, then topped with savory tomato sauce and browned butter and served with a dollop of yogurt on the side.

You will find a lot of delicious food selling right on the street. I recommend trying the Adana kebap, but be careful because it is very spicy.

You will also see a lot of places selling Durum; it is just kebap rolled into flat bread.

Izgara Köfte is ground lamb mixed with egg, rice or bread crumbs and spices, formed into longish meatballs and grilled. They are delicious. Try them.

Börek are filled pastries with white sheep’s milk cheese and a chopped vegetable such as parsley or spinach. Popular types of borek are

• ispanakli = with spinach
• karisik = with everything
• kasar peynirli = with yellow cow’s milk cheese
• kiymali = with ground lamb
• patatesli = with mashed potatoes
• peynirli = with white sheep’s milk cheese (feta)

Istanbul Deserts

The most appreciated are the Baklavaci (baklava).

Besides baklava, the many-layered flaky pastry stuffed with crushed nuts and soaked in honey and syrup, these shops often have other sweets such as tulumba, small fluted cylinders of soft pastry baked, then soaked in syrup.

Dondurma (freezing) is ice cream. The Turkish ice cream is very tasteful.

Helva (Halva) is basically a crystalized paste of sesame seeds (tahini) and sugar. It is made from a variety of other ingredients, including sunflower seeds, various nuts, beans, lentils, and vegetables—such as carrots, pumpkins, yams, and squashes.

Istanbul drinks

Beer

The best—and best-selling Turkish beer (80% of the market) is Efes Pilsen, brewed in Izmir. The same company brews Efes Dark, Efes Light, Efes Extra and Marmara.

Tuborg is also brewed in Turkey under license. Heineken is imported.

Raki

Raki (called by Turks lion’s milk) is clear brandy made from grapes and raisins, flavored with pungent anise. Most is quite potent (80- to 90-proof/40% to 45% alcohol) and thus usually diluted with water and sipped. It’s similar to Greek ouzo and French pastis.

Famous raki brand are Yeni Raki, Tekirdag, Altindag and Efe Raki.

How to drink raki: a clear, straight, narrow glass is filled 1/3 or 1/2 with raki, then diluted with water and/or ice to suit the drinker’s taste.

Turkish Wine

Good wine has been produced in Turkey for millennia, and still is. The Turkish wines are pretty good, and it won’t ruin your budget, but it won’t be cheap, either.

The bottles have a special design as you can see in the image above.

Imported Alcoholic drinks

Istanbul is a cosmopolite city, you will find a lot of imported gin, vodka, whiskey and liqueurs brands.

Turkish coffee

Turkish coffee (Türk kahvesi) is made by pulverizing freshly medium-roasted beans in a mortar and pestle, or grinding them very fine in a cylindrical brass coffee mill (kahve degirmeni).

The Turkish coffee is it famous for its flavor.

Turkish coffee types:

• Sade - plain, no sugar
• Az sekerli - with a little sugar
• Orta sekerli - with medium sugar
• Çok sekerli - with lots of sugar (quite sweet; two teaspoons of sugar or more)

European-style coffee has finally come to Turkey, and it’s now possible to get a good cup of French-style or Starbucks-style brew, as well as espresso and cappuccino.

Turkish tea (çay)

It is hot, fragrant, bracing, and available everywhere, all the time in Turkey.

Traditionally, Turkish tea is brewed samovar-style, with a small pot of very strong tea kept hot atop a larger vessel of boiling water.

How to drink it: pour a small amount of strong tea into a little tulip-shaped glass and cut it to the desired strength with hot water.

Types of Turkish tea:

• tea açik (weak)
• koyu (dark)
• çay (it will come normal strength)
• Ada Çay (sage tea, one of several popular herbal infusions)
• Ihlamur (linden-flower tea)
• Elma Çay (apple tea)