20 facts about New York City

1. Dutch explorer Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan (really its southern tip) from the Algonquin tribe for trinkets and tools worth about $24.

2. The first known name for Manhattan was New Amsterdam, which referred to the southern tip of Manhattan, a Dutch trading port.

3. New York City was the U.S. capital from 1789 to 1790.

4. New Yorkers travel an average of 40 minutes to work each day.

5. More than 47 percent of New York City’s residents over the age of 5 speak a language other than English at home.

6. New York’s Central Park is larger than the principality of Monaco.

7. The New York City Council consists of 51 members and is the legislative branch of city.

8. According to Crain’s New York Business, the average sale price of an apartment in Manhattan during the 4th quarter of 2007 was a whopping $1.49 million.

9. New York’s Yellow Cabs are yellow because John Hertz, the company’s founder, learned from a study that yellow was the easiest color for the eye to spot. He was right.

10. The Federal Reserve Bank on New York’s Wall Street contains vaults that are located 80 feet beneath the bank and hold about 25 percent of the world’s gold bullion.

11. In 2007, 46 million international and domestic visitors came to New York City. They spent approximately $28 billion while there.

12. The average daily room rate in New York hotels in 2006 (the most recent year surveyed) was $267.

13. More than 250 feature films are shot on location in New York City each year.

14. An average of 4.9 million people ride the New York City subway each weekday.

15. The New York City subway system runs 26 routes with 6,200 subway cars that stop at 468 different subway stations.

16. More than 12,700 licensed medallion taxis work the streets of New York City.

17. More than 18,600 restaurants and eating establishments do business in New York City, and the average cost of a dinner in 2006, according to the Zagat Survey, was $39.43. That includes a drink, tax and the tip.

18. As of the 2000 Census, 8,008,278 people live in New York City.

19. Approximately 790,000 companies operate in New York City.

20. Although many legends exist about the origin of New York City’s nickname, the Big Apple, most historians agree that it can be traced back to a writer who covered horse racing in the 1920s. In The Morning Telegraph, he wrote that stable hands often referred to New York as the Big Apple, meaning that any thoroughbred that raced in New York had reached the pinnacle of racing.

Safety video shows pilot, attendants in body paint

Air New Zealand has hit on a novel way to make sure even the most jaded flyers keep their eyes glued on its flight safety briefing. The national carrier’s safety video for domestic services on its Boeing 737 planes show pilot and cabin crew dressed only in body paint. But the safety message is kept seemly by carefully chosen camera angles. A copy of the briefing has been posted on the popular Internet site, YouTube. Enjoy!

Tips for traveling with credit cards

Here are a few tips from CNN for the next time you travel with credit cards. Enjoy!

Travel games for the family

Travel games are a must for family travel. Experienced traveling parents know to pack a bag of toys and activities for kids for car trips and air travel boredom. The trick is to keep the bag’s contents a surprise! Then, pull out a new activity or surprise along the way to prevent whining and boredom.

We have tried to pull together a list of resources to help you find “Print and Play” activities to make your next road trip more enjoyable for the parents just as much as the kids.

• Crayola: Coloring Pages and Activity Sheets
• Mom’s Minivan: Car Travel Games for Big Kids
• Scholastic: Travel-Time Activities
• About.com: 10 Creative Travel Activities
• Kidzone: Fun Facts for Kids
• HP: Travelin’ kids

Attractions for all ages

When you’re not winning in the casino, lounging by the pool or savoring delicious cuisine, you’ll find that Las Vegas has a variety of must-see Attractions and entertainment options to keep you and the whole family occupied. From thrilling roller coasters to virtual-reality simulator rides and erupting volcanoes to wax museums, Las Vegas’ Attractions appeal to people of all ages, interests and budgets.

Discover the wild side of Las Vegas (as if you haven’t already) at a variety of Attractions for animal lovers. Visit the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat at The Flamingo Hotel and see Chilean flamingos, swans, ducks, koi, goldfish and turtles. Venture over to The Mirage for the Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. The Secret Garden is home to royal white tigers, white lions, black panthers, a snow leopard, and golden tigers. The Dolphin Habitat, adjacent to the Secret Garden, houses an extended family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. At MGM Grand, see The Lion Habitat, a showcase for public education and appreciation of this majestic creature. The lions live in custom accommodations on an 8.5-acre ranch 12 miles from MGM Grand and visit the habitat daily. Get up close and personal with endangered and unusual aquatic animals at Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef. Visitors journey through a replica of an ancient temple ruin and a sunken galleon ship surrounded by several varieties of sharks.

If you’re looking for thrills of a different nature, Las Vegas offers all of the excitement you’re looking for. Stratosphere has three of the world’s highest rides located 100 stories above the ground: Xscream (which teeters riders over the edge of the tower 900 feet above the ground), the Big Shot – a thrill ride that shoots fun-lovers 50 meters into the air at a force of 4G’s before letting them free-fall back to the launching pad – and Insanity, an appropriately named, dizzying spinning ride that dangles passengers over the edge of the tower before whirling them around at speeds approaching 40 miles per hour. Speed – The Ride at the Sahara takes passengers around a roller coaster loop and up a 224-foot climb at speeds topping 70 mph and then retraces the same path…in reverse. The Roller Coaster at New York-New York Hotel & Casino is an exciting roller coaster with twists, loops and dives around the resort. It features the first-ever heart line roll, which provides a sensation similar to that felt by a pilot during a barrel roll in an airplane. The Desperado, one of the world’s tallest and fastest roller coasters, is located near the California/Nevada border just 30 minutes from Las Vegas at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nevada. The ride begins with an initial lift height of 209 feet and a breathtaking 225-foot drop. America’s largest indoor theme park, the Adventuredome at Circus Circus, offers 21 rides and Attractions.

For the Romantic in you, slow things down a bit with a Gondola Ride at The Venetian. Accompanied by singing gondoliers, this leisurely tour takes you along the quarter-mile replica of the Grand Canal in Venice. Just down the street, you’ll discover another Romantic Italian attraction at Bellagio. The world-famous Fountains of Bellagio will speak to your heart as opera, classical and whimsical musical selections are ercarefully choreographed with the movements of 1,000 water-emitting devices. Next stop: Paris. Take an elevator ride to the observation deck atop the 50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas for a panoramic view of the Las Vegas Valley.

If you simply want to be entertained, you’ve come to the right place. Las Vegas offers a variety of themed mini-productions, which occur regularly throughout the day. Travel back in time and into the fascinating world of Roman mythology with two shows, Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain Shows, which feature Roman statues that come to life, inside the Forum Shops at Caesars. At The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, the newly reinvented “Show in the Sky” features dancers in costume fashions on floats suspended above the crowd. Three different performances include sexy and seductive “scenes” coordinated to today’s top music hits. The Mirage has joined forces with legendary Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, Indian music sensation Zakir Hussein, and the Fountains of Bellagio design firm WET to create an all-new audio/visual spectacle for its famous volcano attraction. WET forges a primal volcanic environment of sound, light, music and heat with choreographed FireShooters, which send massive fireballs more than 12 feet into the air. The volcano attraction features a state-of-the-art sound system with music and sound specially created by Hart and Hussein. Downtown’s famous, casino-lined Fremont Street has been converted into a 175,700-square-foot pedestrian area covered by a continuous canopy studded with more than 14 million lights. Called the Fremont Street Experience, this canopy showcases spectacular light-and-sound shows every hour on the hour during the evenings.

If your Las Vegas dream vacation involves fast cars and celebrity sightings, you’ll have plenty to brag about to your friends back home. Check out the multi-million-dollar Auto Collections at Imperial Palace, one of the world’s largest selections of antique, classic, muscle and special-interest automobiles available for sale. The 250 automobiles span a century and range in price from $20,000 to $3 million. Then, check out Penske-Wynn Ferrari/Maserati showroom at Wynn Las Vegas, Nevada’s first and only factory-authorized Ferrari and Maserati dealership, offering the finest in new and pre-owned cars. Or, visit the Strip’s first Lamborghini dealership at The Palazzo. After you’ve chosen your dream car, you’ll be ready to meet and greet some of the most famous celebrities in the world at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Located at The Venetian, the museum showcases more than 100 wax figures of some of the world’s most popular film, television, music and sports celebrities. Visitors can even interact with several of its “celebrity” experiences for a truly memorable photo opportunity.

Detroit has crafted American culture

Located in southeastern Michigan, Detroit is the largest city in the state, the 10th largest city in the United States and the eighth largest metropolitan area. Detroit has had a profound impact on the world – from being the automobile capital of the world to inventing the Motown sound – Detroit has crafted American culture.

Top-notch entertainment venues, fun family Attractions, glitzy casinos and world class museums. These are just a few reasons to plan a weekend getaway in Detroit! Ambitious redevelopment and renovations are sparking excitement in the 303-year old city.

The Gulf of Thailand

The east coast on the Gulf of Thailand always seems to be more relaxed, with long, wide bays and calm seas; the Andaman Sea coast tends to be more rugged and exhilarating, with its strange limestone rock formations and cliffs.

The occurrence of two seasonal monsoons means that the climate differs from the rest of Thailand. The southwest monsoon sweeps the west coast and the Andaman Sea from May to October, while the northeast monsoon moves across the Gulf of Thailand form November to February. The peninsula forms a barrier so that rain rarely falls on both coastlines simultaneously.

The area was once part of the Buddhist Srivijaya Empire but later came under the rule of Ayutthaya and then Bangkok. Chinese and Malaysian influences have played a large part in the cultural makeup of the region; the further south, the stronger the Malaysian influence, with a dialect akin to Malay, a predominance of Muslim communities and mosques. Rice fields give way to rubber plantations, and Chinese tin mining operations become evidence.

Bonbini or Welcome!

Bonbini, in our native language of Papiamento, means “Welcome”. Welcome to Aruba. The word is ours. But we like to think the meaning is universal.

Our beaches curve like an Aruban smile along the western shores, soft and white and fringed with palm trees, sloping gently toward the calm transparent turquoise of the Caribbean.

The waves of the windward coast crash like incessant thunder against the northern cliffs, carving high, arched coral bridges and deep, dark secret limestone grottoes.

Between the two extremes, in a desert landscape where the cacti grow to the height of a man, great building-sized tumbles of boulders stand like the legacy of some ancient, angry god. Winding roads lead to rocky passes and hidden coves, or sometimes to nowhere at all. Giant green parakeets call to their mates, and troupials flash brilliant orange against the deep blue of the Caribbean sky.

This is not the Caribbean as usual. This is Aruba! And if its true that opposites attract, then this could well be the most attractive island of them all. The fact is, if you’re looking for it, and if it has anything to do with a great Caribbean getaway, you can probably find it here in Aruba.

Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls is a waterfall situated in southern Africa between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are, by some measures, the largest waterfall in the world. They also seem to be the most unusual in form and have beyond doubt the most diverse and easily-seen wildlife of any major waterfall site.

The enormous Zambezi River plunges 103 metres into a chasm almost 2km in length. In full flood the water makes a deafening roar throwing up towering clouds of spray which create multitudes of sparkling rainbows and constantly drenches the opposite cliff in rain.

The Victoria Falls and its spectacular flow of water can be enjoyed throughout most of the year. The volume of water cascading over the falls is entirely dependent on the rainfall in the catchment area of the Zambezi River. The greatest volume of water is usually recorded in the months of February to May. When this occurs, Livingstone Island is closed and so, too, are some of the activities carried out in the Batoka Gorge. The flow increases from January to April and is at its lowest from September to January.

Dromoland Castle … impressive!

Standing majestically over 410 acres of its own private demesne, Dromoland Castle quietly affirms itself as one of the most impressive and distinguished castle hotels in Ireland – and one of Europe’s most desired 5 Star destinations.

Live like landed gentry at this magnificent 16th century Renaissance bastion of privilege – Dromoland Castle Hotel. Transformed into splendidly regal accommodations in 1962, this historic Ireland Castle hotel offers all the Luxury amenities of today. Tee off on the championship golf course, expertly reconstructed by world-renowned designer Ron Kirby and the legendary J.B. Carr.  Receive professional instruction at the New Golf Academy. Lounge by the pool. Dine on delicious gourmet food. Experience a truly unforgettable stay within the hallowed walls of this regal Irish Castle and delight in the exceptional service and sophisticated features.

Ever warm and intimate, the 99 guest rooms and suites of these elegantly appointed Ireland castle accommodations are truly restful and boast individual personalities, blending period decoration with modern amenities.