Do It Go

Cape Town South Africa was originally built up by the Dutch East India Company around 1652. This interesting city on the shoreline of Table Bay quickly turned into busy port of ships. It was the supply station for many Dutch ships that were working their way up and the coast of Africa, India and the far east. The first permanent settlement made here by the Europeans was by Jan Van Riebeeck. It quickly became the economic and cultural center of the whole Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush,  made Johannesburg grow, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa. Now modern day Cape Town has about 3 and half million people living in it. Fortunately, the square mileage of the area is rather large so there is more room per person to live here.

The area is such old land who knows how long people have been coming and going from here. Archeologists have been digging away here for many years and have found a few interesting things. The farthest back they can find so far dates 12,00 to 15,000 years ago. The Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias left some written literature in 1486. Vasco da Gama recorded seeing the Cape of Good Hope back in 1497. Then the Dutch arrived. They had a hard time developing the area because there was not enough labor. Slaves were brought in from Indonesia and Madagascar to work for the Dutch company and now they are the ancestors of the first Cape Colored community.

From then on you have the history with the British trying to take over the Dutch colonies and how that affected the town. Of course, Britian capture Cape Town in 1795 but then give back in a treaty to the Netherlands in 1803. The British came and took the town again in 1806 after the Bloubergstrand battle. Because of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, the British gained permanent control and the town has expanded along with the whole colony substantially during the 1800s. So find one of the best Cape Town hotels and take in all the city has been built up too.

Tags: Bartolomeu Dias, best Cape Towm hotels, Portuguese, Witwatersrand Gold Rush
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Joni wanted to go to Connecticut. She had been born and raised in New York City and had always heard that Connecticut was the place to retire and sometimes to raise a family. She didn’t know how many times she heard people in the city referring to a desire to move there. Throughout her childhood she didn’t understand what all of the hype was about and developed a strong desire to discover it for herself. So, at her high school graduation when her parents asked her what she would like to do to celebrate Joni quickly announced that she would like to go to Connecticut.

Her parents thought this would make a nice family adventure and they made reservations in one of the Hartford hotels for the following weekend. And although she was now and adult and had even graduated from high school, Joni was still not quite sure what to expect. She did notice that the scenery was beautiful and thought that Connecticut must have an amazing geography. She wondered if that’s what impressed everyone.

When they arrived in Hartford she loved the historic feeling of some of the buildings and also noticed that it too was located along a river. She decided that New Yorkers must have a sense of home away from home there. However, she also noticed that Hartford felt much more open and spacious than New York, but then most cities do. While they were there the family toured most of the major attractions including the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden which Joni discovered was the oldest in the United States of its kind. They also went to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Research Center and Joni was very impressed with this as well. She greatly enjoyed her time in Hartford and the family celebrated her graduation at Grant’s Restaurant. This may have been Joni’s favorite part of the trip and she absolutely loved her filet mignon. She decided then that this would be a nice place to retire.

Tags: Elizabeth Park Rose Garden, Hartford hotels
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Phil and Sandy lived in Sacramento, California and enjoyed the lush trees, greenery and two major rivers that ran through their capital city. They also enjoyed the theatre and attending the symphony and of course were major Kings fans, which is the Sacramento National Basketball Association team. One week they were making plans for their weekend agenda when Phil mentioned that the Barber of Seville was playing at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto. That sounded exciting to Sandy who also enjoyed the idea of getting out of town for the weekend.

Modesto was only about sixty eight miles south of Sacramento, however the couple decided to stay in a hotel Modesto and make a weekend out of the experience. They both enjoyed short to medium sized road trips and would often drive up the northern coast or spend an afternoon or evening in San Francisco, though driving to the Bay could hardly be considered a road trip by many standards. So, Sandy made their reservations with at the Gallo for Saturday night and the two of them enjoyed a peaceful drive through the California country that morning.

Both of them had been to the Gallo before and appreciated the acoustics and technology of this acclaimed venue. It was one of the cultural institutions for which Modesto was most known and both Sandy and Phil believed in supporting the arts, was well as greatly enjoying attending them. The couple had a great time at the opera and enjoyed the comedic antics of the Count Almaviva as he attempts to win the love of Rosina. Sandy loved the actor who played the barber Figaro and thought he had great comic timing. The next morning the they enjoyed a cup of coffee and pastry at the Queen Bean Coffee House before heading back up north to their home in Sacramento.

Tags: comedic antics, Count Almaviva, Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, hotel Modesto, Rosina
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PThere is no doubt that Phuket is one of the most splendid places on earth, offering a taste of pure island pleasure that speaks to the visitor looking for a break from the everyday.  Thailand is an amazing country, with a fascinating history and an even more fascinating cultural scene, where different religions, languages, and customs encounter each other every day.  It’s a great place to see local festivals, offering a magnificent blend of the baroque and the exotic, to remind you that your responsibilities are far away, and all that’s necessary for the moment is breathing.  There are plenty of places here to find a perfect spot for meditation and relaxation, and you can probably find some of these in your Phuket hotel.

The island’s history as a port town makes it particularly suited to offer all types of hospitality, and many hotels offer spa treatments, yoga and meditation classes, as well as massage.  It’s a lovely way to unwind, and sometimes meditation can get you in tune with the deeper part of the island.  Surfaces are always deceiving, and in Phuket, the center is more complicated than it would seem on first glance.  Even the various thoughts on tourism and business here are extremely complex, and there are many contradictions that one will notice here, taking a close look.  There are certain drastic inequities to be sure, but there also some very philanthropic works that happen only here.

There is, for example, the brilliant work of the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, a registered charity organization here that helps some of the most disadvantaged children in the area.  The organization helps hundreds of children here with after school programs, along with other services, and teaches them English so that they might be more competitive in a world marketplace.  Here, another language is a big plus, especially where tourism plays such a role in the local economy.  Begun by a foreign business person, Tom McNamara, Phuket Has Been Good To Us plays an active role in the community, giving something back to a place that gives so much life to so many.

Tags: Phuket Has Been Good To Us, Phuket hotel, Tom McNamara
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Baltimore is one of the American cities that has rebuilt itself time and again.  This has not only created a visually beautiful and eclectic city, but it stands as testament to the spirit and the tenacity of the people of Baltimore.  Plumbing companies, and electrical companies, construction workers and civil servants, farmers and fisherman, Baltimore is a city that was built by the working class for the the working class.  In the years following the Civil War the city grew at a phenomenal rate.

Trade and commerce flourished, especially in the flour industry, and the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the completion of the Erie Canal served to cement Baltimore as one of the major manufacturing and shipping centers in the country.  Architecture flourished, expanding on the Baltimore skyline and attaining the nickname for Baltimore, “Monument City”.  The city had been booming following the rebuilding after the war, but in 1904, catastrophe struck once again.

A fire broke out in the downtown district and took with it more than fifteen hundred buildings in thirty short hours.  But, just as the people of Chicago responded to the fire of 1871, the people of Baltimore saw it as a way to build a city that was better than before.  In just two short years, the papers were saying that one of the most disastrous events in their modern time had actually been a blessing.  The city rebuilt, but not soon after, the Great Depression led to mass exodus from the city.  This dramatic decrease in population led to years of economic strife.

True to the characteristics of those who remained however, a massive urban renewal took place beginning in the late 1970′s.  And now again, the Urban Village renewal project is underway.  This will bring more than three hundred new apartments to the area of the Inner Harbor, and will involve a massive renovation of the country’s longest running farmers market, The Lexington Market.  It is no wonder that so many people visit this city each year, and upon visiting, that so many people decide to make this wonderful city their hometown.

Tags: Baltimore plumbing, The Lexington Market, Urban Village renewal project
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