Romantic destinations around the world

BORA BORA....

Bora Bora - Unquestionably the most mythical of the Pacific islands remains the island of all dreams.
Honeymooners and romantics from around the world have laid claim to Bora Bora where the castle-like Mount Otemanu pierces the sky above the crystal lagoon with its unique over the water bungalows that offer a magical oneness with this extraordinary environment.
Lush tropical slopes and valleys blossom with hibiscus, while palm-covered motu circle the lagoon like a delicate necklace. Perfect white-sand beaches give way to emerald waters where impossibly colored fish animate the coral gardens. So much has been written about Bora Bora, and yet it is hard to find the right words to describe the magic that emanates from this island.
Seen from the air, Bora Bora has been compared to that of "a tiny emerald in a setting of turquoise, encircled by a sheltering necklace of sparkling pearls".
The airport, built by the US forces in 1942, is located on a palm fringed motu about 20 minutes by boat from the main village of Vaitape.
Some other remnant of the US presence are 2 large cannons hidden in the lush hills overlooking the lagoon.
The view of Bora Bora from the airport is truly breathtaking, and as you travel across the spectacular lagoon you will soon understand why it is the main area of attraction for most visitors.
Bora Bora itself is rather small, and can be circled by car in about an hour.
The lagoon is 3 times the size of the land mass and offers an amazing range of hues of blue and turquoise as you navigate its crystal waters.
To the southeast of the island is the Coral Garden, a natural underwater park where all types of fish and corals are found.
Off the Point Matira there is an area where the huge and graceful manta rays congregate for your viewing pleasure. There are other types of ray such as the beautiful spotted ray and the friendly gray ray which love to be petted during the "ray feeding" excursions.At the entrance of the pass, the "White valley" teems with gray sharks and barracudas in a never ending ballet.
Most of the temples (Marae) having been destroyed during the last century by the English missionaries, and unfortunately there is little archeological remnants left.
Bora Bora lagoon offers a multitude of activities and excursions, one of the most popular being the Shark feeding (video) where from chest-deep water you watch local divers feed 4' to 5' reef sharks by hand. It's a lot of fun and totally safe. The same routine is done with a large group of friendly gray rays (video).
You can also take a circle-the-lagoon excursion with motu picnic, rent a small boat, visit the Lagoonarium near Le Meridien Hotel and take a 4x4 excursion to the panoramic view points and the US cannons.

romantic destinations around the world

Venice..........

In this city, even the ambulances are waterborne. The addresses are numbered in an erratic fashion - to put it diplomatically - and often times the city appears to be nothing more than a confluence of boats and gondolas lugging confused looking visitors to parts unknown. Many Venetians have fled the city, looking for a break from tourists and the city's overwhelming prices. The history of Venice Italy is unclear. The city was first formed by refugees escaping from barbarian hordes, weary evacuees who gave up their land for the possibility of freedom upon the nearby islands deemed uninhabitable by many at the time. Like their ancestors, the Venetians are running again.

Every year, the city's water levels rise. The muggy summer air cooks the canals and scrapes the paint and enamel from the city's finest pieces of art. Faithful to its origins, everything in Venice seems to be in peril. This has - logically - spiked tourism in Venice, which for years has been the sole means of support for the historic city, so at least you can rest assured that the high prices you'll encounter will be funneled into programs to renovate the city. Because, despite its continual decay and a layout so confounding it makes your eyes spasm, the city is still one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

Tourism in Venice reaches its peak during Carnavale, the annual celebration before lent, where millions of visitors come from around the globe to take part in festivities. Other attractions include St. Mark's Basilica, also known as “The Church Of Gold.” The cathedral takes its names because it houses a golden altar measuring 40 square feet and set with thousands upon thousands of jewels. Hundreds of other treasures culled from centuries of wealth and privilege also remain inside.

The gondola is the primary mode of transportation throughout the canals, not to mention the enduring symbol of tourism in Venice. Though speedboats have become more commonplace nowadays, they are unable to drown out the traditional songs of the gondoliers, with most of these ballads reciting tales of true love or the magnificent history of Venice Italy itself.

And a storied history it is. Like Genoa, Venice used its waterways to develop into a powerful city, a hub for trade and commercial exploits, until it dominated a large portion of the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and hundreds of vital trade routes. The city thrived for centuries, becoming a center of the arts that made all others pale in comparison. Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto and Longhi all called Venice home at some point, and their works live on in the many galleries and museums spread throughout the city's maze of canals. The Academy Gallery is surely the most famous, where many of the city's masterpieces are displayed. Take a gondola ride down the famous Grand Canal and it will lead you to Ca' Rezzonico and Ca' d'Oro, the former famous for its ornate ballrooms and aristocratic balconies, the latter for providing shelter for the great works of Titian, Mantegna and Carpaccio.

The pageantry and history of Venice Italy are still alive and well for the time being. And don't worry about getting lost, either - it is said by locals that there are no wrong turns in Venice. See for yourself.

Chicago's Best Restaurants

Chicagoans are perennial boosters of their hometown specialties: the deep-dish pizza that's almost a casserole on a crust, the Vienna beef hot dogs topped with a salad of vegetables and relishes, the shirt-staining Italian beef sandwiches, the Southside barbecue joints, the cigar- and Martini-fueled steakhouses. These foods reflect the exhilarating combination of the Midwestern capital's ethnic diversity and love of big, beefy American food.
And yet, while Chicago remains true to its proud roots, it is also at the forefront of culinary experimentation. The current generation of Chicago-based chefs, including Moto's Homaro Cantu, Alinea's Grant Achatz, and Avenues's Graham Elliot Bowles, are turning out America's most cutting-edge food—from chemistry-lab cooking to dishes that show off the heartland's fertile bumper crop in simple yet sophisticated ways. The foie gras ban may have dealt a blow to liver-loving foodies, but thanks to these and other chefs, we have other things on our mind.

Las Vegas's Top Restaurants

If it's been a decade or more since you've visited Las Vegas, you're in for quite a few surprises. But even if it's only been a year or so, you'll notice that things have changed.

The dining revolution that started 15 or so years ago has continued to evolve. Just when Las Vegas foodies became convinced that the top tier had been reached, here came another wave of eminent toques—most recently, and most notably, French überchefs Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy.

Wolfgang Puck got the ball rolling about 15 years ago when he opened Spago at The Forum Shops at Caesars in 1992. Things were a little slow to catch on—Puck remembers people lining up at the open kitchen, thinking it was a buffet—and chefs and restaurateurs around the country no doubt questioned his sanity. Spago not only succeeded but was followed by four other Wolfgang Puck restaurants in Las Vegas (so far). And a long parade of chefs from throughout the world has followed suit. Today, visitors to Las Vegas can dine at restaurants from chefs based in Paris (Guy Savoy, Joël Robuchon), New York (Mario Batali, Bobby Flay), San Francisco (Michael Mina, Hubert Keller), Chicago (Jean Joho, and soon Charlie Trotter) and more.

The competition for top chef continues, with looming megaprojects including the Palazzo at the Venetian, MGM City Center, and Echelon Place (which replaces the Stardust). Charlie Trotter, that rare celebrity chef who had a restaurant in Las Vegas and left, is rumored to be returning at Palazzo, which also will have a Cut from Wolfgang Puck and possibly another restaurant from Mario Batali. So far, the possibilities at the latter complexes remain closely guarded secrets.

For food lovers, it's a different kind of ultimate playground.

Hawaii's Top Restaurants

Hawaii has a 200-year-old tradition of mixing Eastern, Western, and Polynesian cuisine; a thriving community of niche farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and aquaculturalists; and a 15-year-old regional cuisine movement that has raised the bar for all Hawaii restaurants, big and small. No matter where you are in the Islands, you're likely to find something interesting to eat. But choosing where to dine depends a great deal on which island you find yourself on. Each of the four principal islands—Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island—has a distinct dining scene.
Oahu contains both urban Honolulu and Waikiki, often billed as an urban tropical resort. That means traffic and crowds, but it also brings a thriving restaurant culture. If you are coming to Hawaii to eat, Honolulu's the place. It boasts all three of the Islands' James Beard Award–winning chefs and a host of smaller restaurants offering a remarkable variety of Asian and Island specialties.
Over the past decade, Maui's dining scene has grown to rival that of Honolulu. Maui's glamorous high-end resort strips have engendered restaurants that are polished, accomplished—and often expensive.
The Island of Hawaii, commonly known throughout the state as the Big Island, has a range of natural wonders from volcanoes to rain forests, but a sparse restaurant scene, largely concentrated in the resorts along the Kohala Coast and in the bustling little ranching town of Waimea. However, if you like to eat locally, you'll be happy to hear that the Big Island has an abundance of agriculture, including crops that grow nowhere else in the United States—coffee, chocolate, and vanilla.
On Kauai, it still feels like the '60s. That means, on the one hand, many restaurants still tout steaks, seafood, and salad bars; on the other, it's a good island if you want vegan or other suitably New Age cuisine.

New York's Top Restaurants

Everyone's a food critic in New York, but no one knows where to eat. Too many places open and close. Some are hot for a month and then vanish, inexplicably, like a one-hit-wonder pop singer. But a few dozen restaurants do find a groove, and a regular audience, and never need course correction. These are the perennials, the safe bets, the treasured top picks. And, thankfully, there are eateries to match all needs: high-end celebrity chef dining destinations (good luck spotting Thomas Keller or Jean-Georges Vongerichten), budget-sensitive noodle shops, sexy hot spots that never lose their luster (reservations are a must), cozy local favorites, and the classics--where you can find authentic, no-kidding-around lox and bagels, pastrami on rye, or steak. We've selected only places that have proven their culinary chops and long-term reliability.

How can so many celebrities stay size zero in a town with food this good?
Simple: Los Angeles' fine-dining destinations feature diverse cuisines (Asian, Latin American) with spice-driven seasonings (instead of fatty sauces) and electrifying style (half the experience is visual). And for the occasional not necessarily healthy splurge: We have stellar steakhouses and budget-friendly bistros too. L.A. may be the city of stars, but the chefs are the ones readying for their close-ups.—Janice Wald Henderson