Contest Winner: Featured Photo for June
In March, we had a contest to select photos to feature in the next 12 issues of Slow Tidings. Last Month's featured winner was Dgassa. This month we are featuring mckenna's photo, entitled, Barge Trip Through Burgundy, France.
Great San Diego Get Together
Sunset Cliffs
The list of attendees for the second Gathering is growing! Set for March 12-14 in sunny San Diego, the exciting events include a kick-off party Friday night at Jane and Ken's home, a Mexican Fiesta in ocean beach on Saturday, and a farewell brunch on Sunday. Enjoy relaxing and sightseeing with SlowTrav friends from near and far. Check out the San Diego Gathering forum for threads on sightseeing, events, and a listing of attendees.
Don't forget to follow along as photos are posted highlighting areas of San Diego too. Shannon kicked us off with some feature photos of Ocean Beach.
Show Us Your Trunks Contest
How does your rental car and its trunk measure up for your vacation needs? This is the focus of this contest, which we are running now and is officially extended until the end of 2009! Take a photo of the trunk of your rental car loaded with your travel luggage and post it in our forum. We are compiling a photo gallery of rental cars and their various luggage capacities. Not only will this be a great help to fellow travelers, but the lucky winner (to be announced in the beginning of 2010) will receive a great prize. So get your bags packed, your trunks loaded, and those cameras clicking. Details of the contest can be found here.
Caption That Photo!
What do you mean, "The sands of time have shifted?"
Last month we ran a contest to see who could caption this photo. We had some wonderful suggestions that you can read about on the forum but our randomly chosen winner was, Yvonne, with the caption, What do you mean, "The sands of time have shifted"? Yvonne wins a one year premium membership. Congratulations Yvonne!
Chicken Rotisserie in Montrichard by Shannon
PhotoHunting!
Come see the photos that have been posted in this month's PhotoHunts, where Slow Travelers hunt through their photo files and post photos that interpret the various themes.
- Cooking on the Everything About Travel forum.
- Unexpected and Long on the Italy forum.
- Summertime on the France forum.
Slow Travelers Talk!
Here are a few of the most interesting discussions on the Slow Talk forums this past month. Feel free to participate in the conversations!
General Travel Topics
– interesting, fun, sometimes provocative travel discussions- A lively exchange of thoughts on what is an "introverted" traveler spurred by some recent magazine articles in Everything About Travel.
- Frankie asks "What NOT to Pack?" and receives some great answers for his trip to Italy.
- KBee gets helpful advice about What to Wear in Italy this summer.
- How to ask "Where is the restroom?" was covered in the Italian language Forum.
Trip Planning
– requests for ideas, input or help on upcoming trips- Members chimed in to help Wendy and Rob with walking the Aurelian Wall in Rome.
- FirstTime2France asked about visiting wineries in Provence, and got great suggestions.
- TomBirmingham got ideas on visiting wineries in Tuscany.
- Nat is traveling to Vancouver island and Victoria, and got feedback on outdoor activities and accommodations.
- Scarlet's question from last year on buying glass in Venice had some very useful updates.
- Debra asked about apartment rentals in Lisbon.
Sharing Resources
– posting links, articles and information of interest to others- Kaydee and others share information on exhibits and resources on Picasso in Provence.
- Lots of advice for travelers in the Technology at Home and On the Go forum.
Back From...
- Slowtravel members share their recent trip experiences- Colleen and Pokey report on some of their delicious trip to Bologna, Florence and Rome!
- Cracker returned from Northern Italy, Istria and Croatia.
- Marian shows us photos of her trip to Rome with her granddaughter, La Nonna e la Nipote a Rome.
- Pamela Jo Ann shares photos from recent trips to Scotland, Amsterdam, England and Italy.
Unanswered questions
- these members haven't received much response ... perhaps you can help!- LoveItaly is looking for pub recommendations in London. Do you have any?
- How about helping Mum&Kids with a good location to stay in Berlin?
Elsewhere on Slow Travel
(reviews, trip reports, photos and blogs)Here is a sampling of some of the new publications on the Slow Travel website:
Travel Notes
Ferragamo Shoe Museum by Margaret Cowan
"In all these 34 years of visiting Florence and three years living there ages ago, somehow I didn't get to the Ferragamo Museum until 2008."
Tre Belle Cose: Three Distinctly Different Vineyards in Southwestern Piemonte by Diana Strinati Bauer
"...to pursue the wines of the Langhe and pay no attention to the wines of the neighboring regions is to shortchange Piemontese wine in general."
Trip Reports
Consuegra, windmills and castle
Catalunya: Dali and Garrotxa by Letha
"At this point Girona is half an hour's drive to the South but this is where we head North into the Pyrenees to Can Cruanyes in Sales de Llierca our vacation rental."
Don Quijote's La Mancha to Granada - and Points in Between by kathyk
"La Mancha, (in English), the Stain, the flat tree-less area, South of Madrid, which is a dry plain void of features. You may want to get through it as quickly as possible in order to arrive at the exquisite cities of Andalucia - not so fast! There is a lot to see and appreciate here, plus you don't have to share it with many other tourists, or even natives - especially in February."
Reviews
Lots of people are getting ready to travel, so please remember to take a few notes and submit your reviews when you return! Here is a small sampling of reviews from the past month:
Vacation Rentals
Dolce Roma, a SlowTrav favorite, receives yet another glowing review from louismca as do fellow favorites, Agriturismo Cretaiole (near Pienza Tuscany) and Summer in Italy (in Campania) from Tam and FloraPChicago respectively.
Hotels
Chiaro di Luna stayed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. While in Piemonte, Joe N. recommends Erbaluna agriturismo as having great value in a beautiful location and the Baur B&B gets another stellar review.
Restaurants
Pokey had a delicious meal at Sant'Agostino 23 in Florence. Shannon enjoyed her experience at the famous Minibar in Washington D.C.
Blogs
Doug, of To Slow Time Down, is blogging from the Luberon and Sandrac of A Journey of 1000 Miles... is updating us during her trip to Parma, Bologna and Ravenna. Don't forget to check out all of our bloggers at www.slowtrav.com/blog.
See our past newsletters: Newsletter Archive.
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Happy Travels!
The Slow Travel Team
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