Greeks take a lot of pride in their life as well as their products. The most obvious secret is that everything is home grown, caught that morning and prepared fresh daily. It is also prepared like their grandmothers and grandfathers before them. Traditions are kept alive and therefore the food remains unbelievably good from generation to generation.

Baked feta with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and green peppers.

Wonderful afternoon lunch of baked feta, fish soup and grilled octopus.

A light desert called Ravani that tastes like a very sweet pound cake. Usually served with ice cream.

Appetizers of shrimp, crawfish, tuna, octopus brains and anchovies.

And where do they get all of these “fresh” products. Well, at the open air markets of course.

Fighting against city homogenisation, the fashion epicentres of London continued to wow the world. Spitalfields continued to reinvent and re-open, culminating in an Alternative Christmas event, asking us to base our stocking-fillers around original and homemade festive treats, and breathing (!) new life into The Twelve Days of Christmas with a helium choir. New crafts and fashions exploded into the nooks and crannies of Camden Market in reaction to the proposed “facelift” and Portabello Market has a rapidly growing status as a multicultural experience on the weekends. St Pancras reaffirmed our status as an international hotspot, and as CreateKX show, the Kings Cross area is poised to become yet another arts hotspot over the next few years.

Perhaps the reason why London is the city of choice for so many creatives is that it is a city constantly in a state of flux. Paris may be beautiful, but a city with a uniform display of design and architecture hardly suggests progression, and whist a lot of talent emerges from New York, it lends itself more to experience than gestation. London's arms are wide open to new cultures, influences, and experiences, and it shows at every level. Tourists want to visit us, businesses want to service us, and our image and language are everywhere. There may no longer be a British Empire, but when it comes to culture, London undeniably dictates to the world.

Top 10 Sights

The Duomo

Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo or Cathedral, is the very heart of Florence, dominating the city with its massive dome. The dome, designed by Brunelleschi was the largest of its time, completed in 1436 without the use of scaffolding. The Duomo is clad in Multi-coloured marble and is visible all over the city - towering over the neighbouring buildings, or glimpsed looming at the end of a narrow medieval street. If you have the energy, climb the 463 steps to the top and enjoy magnificent views.

Baptistry Doors

There are 3 sets of beautiful and artistically important baptistery doors, the most significant being the east doors commissioned by Ghiberti in 1401, and depicting scenes from the New Testament. Seven leading artists of the time entered a competition to create the doors, and some of these examples are regarded as the first products of the Renaissance. Michelangelo named these doors "The Gate of Paradise". However, the ones in place are copies; the originals can be seen in Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (just behind the Duomo).

Ponte Vecchio

This famous bridge, literally the "Old Bridge", was built in 1345, and is the oldest in Florence. It has always accommodated workshops of one kind or another, though by 1600, the butchers, tanners and blacksmiths, who polluted the river with their offal and waste and caused a choking stench over the city, were evicted. The shops were renovated and rebuilt, and leased to the inoffensive jewellery trade. To this day, the bridge is lined with pretty shops selling modern, classic and antique jewellery to suit every budget. The bridge escaped the bombs of WW2, some say as a direct result of an order from Hitler, while others say the bomber pilot approached the bridge at sunset and could not bear to destroy such an ancient and beautiful structure. So he dropped his bombs elsewhere, out of harms way.

Galleria dell'Accademia

This is the Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1563, and the first European school to teach the techniques of drawing, painting and sculpture. Many of Michaelangelo's important works can be found in the Accademia, including a statue of St Matthew and the "Four Prisoners", dramatically depicting muscular figures struggling to escape from blocks

of stone. The most dominant work is the "David", Michaelangelo's magnificent, massive, nude classical statue of David, the biblical hero who killed Goliath. David, sculpted in marble in 1504, has recently been beautifully restored.

Palazzo Pitti

Started in 1457 for the banker Luca Pitti, this enormous building was intended to show the powerful Medici banking family that it had a worthy rival. Ironically, ongoing building costs bankrupted the Pitti heirs and the palace was bought by the Medicis who made it their main residence. The rooms are lavishly decorated and, today, exhibit many treasures from the Medici collections. The Renaissance style Boboli Gardens, are laid out behind the palace.

Uffizi Gallery

Originally a suite of offices for Duke Cosimo1, this is probably the oldest art gallery in the world. From about 1580, Cosimo's heirs began to use the building to exhibit art treasures belonging to the Medici family. Today, the gallery is laid out in such a way to guide the visitor through the development of Florentine art from the Gothic period to the High Renaissance, and beyond. A number of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures are also displayed.

Church of Sante Croce

Legend tells us that St Francis founded this church himself. The current building, started around 1294 to replace an older construction, is the biggest Franciscan church in the world. The beautiful, austere Gothic structure contains the tombs of several famous Florentines, including Michaelangelo and Galileo. There are also sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils.

Piazza della Signoria

This unique, spacious square is enhanced by the majestic Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's town hall (1322), and the Loggia dei Lanzi (1382), a graceful, airy loggia, housing famous statues by Cellini and Giambologna and ancient Roman statues of priestesses. Further sculptures in this unique square include an heraldic lion by Donatello, the spectacular Neptune Fountain by Ammannanti, Giambologna's statue of Cosimo 1 on horseback and a copy of Michaelangelo's David, all dating from the 1500's..

Piazza Michelangelo

The piazza is situated on a hill slightly south east of the city centre. It dates from 1860 and is home to copies of Michaelangelo's famous statues. There are far reaching views over the rooftops, spires, towers and domes of Florence, the largest being the rich, red dome of the Duomo itself. Beyond, lie the misty purple hills of Fiesole.

San Lorenzo Market

This outdoor market has an excellent selection of good quality and reasonably priced goods, such as leather gloves, jackets, belts and bags of all descriptions; scarves, pashminas and ties; painted trays; costume jewellery and Florentine souvenirs of every type.

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Bargello

Superb collection of beautiful Renaissance sculpture, including works by Michaelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna, Cellini and others.

Medici Tombs

 Adorned with some of Michaelangelo's finest works.

Casa Buonarotti

Michaelangelo's house for a short time, housing some of his personal belongings and works.

Palazzo Davanzati

Typical home of a wealthy Florentine family of the 1500's.

Church of Santo Spirito

 Augustinian church dating from 1250, with beautiful colonnaded aisles.

Church of San Lorenzo

 Parish church of the Medici family.

Church of Santa Maria Novella

 Gothic church housing important artworks.

Convent of San Marco

Beautiful, simple setting for a superb collection of devotional frescoes by Fra Angelico.

Brancacci Chapel

Frescoes depicting the life of St Peter, commissioned around 1424.

Mercato Centrale

Big, covered food market tucked away in the depths of the San Lorenzo market.

Glasgow is not the gritty, working-class metropolis of legend. It never was, and there are many attractions and things to do in this Mecca of the North.

Glasgow, in fact, is one of the UK's most visited cities. It hosted the Great Exhibitions of 1888 and 1901, became an industrial powerhouse in the twentieth century, and has returned as a place of culture since the Second World War. The city hosted the popular Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, and was designated European City of Culture in 1990. In 1996, it hosted a spectacular Festival of Visual Arts. More than two million tourists visit from within the UK and from Europe and more distant areas every year.

The Old and the New

Glasgow is home to many of Scotland's principal performing arts organisations:

• The Scottish Opera
• The Scottish Ballet
• The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
• The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
• The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland
• The Citizen's Theatre

In addition, there are many new small and "experimental" venues and lively pubs and clubs, especially clustering around the Glasgow centers of learning. Since the city's first university was established in 1451, Glasgow has been hailed as a powerful seat of learning. Lord Kelvin, Adam Smith and James Watt are just some of history's great thinkers associated with the city's academic past. Today's educational establishments include:

• The University of Glasgow
• Strathclyde University
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• The Royal Scottish Academy of Music
• Glasgow School of Art
• College of Commerce
• College of Building and Printing
• College of Food Technology
• Glasgow Hotel School (Strathclyde University)

Visitors are often surprised to learn that Glasgow has the largest retail sector outside of London. Residents and visitors from around the UK and overseas are drawn to the city's expanding shopping outlets, which include:

• Shopping malls like the chic and trendy Princes Square, the enormous St Enoch Centre, Sauchiehall Street Centre, Parkhead Forge, the historical Argyle Arcade, and the Buchanan Galleries (opened 1999)
• The main pedestrian shopping thoroughfares of Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. .
• The unique and colorful Barras weekend street market
• The smaller, character filled outlets of the city's bohemian West End
• A wide range of top class cafés, restaurants, pubs and wine bars

The city of Glasgow is proud of its tough industrial past and current vibrant economy. The city employs City Centre Representatives to help shoppers and visitors around the city, and a comprehensive City Watch close-circuit TV scheme keeping a watchful eye on the streets.

 

With a little organisation and commitment you could be setting off on that dream holiday sooner than you think. Here are several tips that will help you to save the money you need without too much effort.

1. Decide Where it is You Would Like to Go

   how long you would like to be away for and then do some research. How much money will you need to save? Draw yourself up a budget for your holiday and do not forget to include ongoing household expenses that will still need to be paid while you are away. Items such as rent or mortgage repayments, personal loans, credit card payments, insurance, utilities and school fees do not take a holiday just because you do. Also find out how much time you will need to cover financially when you return home before your regular weekly wages kick back in.

2. Set Up a Savings Account With Your Bank

   without keycard access and without the ability to transfer funds out of it into another one of your accounts through Internet banking. Make sure that the only way you can access the money in this account is to physically go into your bank. This will help you to think through any withdrawals and prevents you from acting hastily.

3. Create a Household Budget

   Be realistic about your income and expenses. Don’t forget to allow money for things such as medical expenses, car repairs and maintenance, household goods that may need repair or replacing throughout the year, presents, haircuts, beauty products, clothing, entertainment and anything else that you regularly spend money on. Every dollar counts so take your time and keep revising it to make sure you have not missed anything. If there is any thing left over arrange to have that amount automatically credited to your holiday account. However if you have any outstanding debt on your credit card pay this off first, then you can start to save the left over money into your holiday account. Otherwise the card will be costing you valuable dollars in interest that could be going towards your holiday.

4. Now That You Have Your Budget

   Is there anywhere you could cut back on? Be ruthless, do you need to buy that cup of coffee on the way to work each morning? What if you bought a thermos mug and made your own coffee to take each day, how much money would that save you for your holiday? How much money can you save by taking your own lunch to work? Look at every area you spend money on and see if there is a way you can cut back. You will be surprised at what you can find when you start digging.

5. Buy Yourself a Sealed Moneybox

   You know the ones made out of tin without a stopper underneath or a key. That way you will think twice before raiding the moneybox. Keep it somewhere central, and every night when you come home drop your change in it. Before you know it the box will be full and you will be off to the bank to deposit the coins into your holiday savings account. On the way home buy yourself another moneybox and start again.

6. Clear Your House of Any Unused Items

   Have a garage sale, list them on ebay or set up a stall at the markets. Not only will your house be less cluttered but you will also be raising money towards your holiday. Again make sure every penny gets put in the bank.

7. Book your Holiday as Well in Advance as Possible

   This will save you money on airfares and accommodation as well as provide you with a real incentive to stick to your budget. Do remember to check the company’s policy on making changes to your bookings, in case of emergency.

8. Learn the Art of Cooking on a Budget

   If you have time to spend in the kitchen use it, make wholesome home cooked meals for yourself and your family. This will save you money on takeaways, pre-packaged foods and eating out. If you get stuck for meal ideas there is a wealth of information on the web. A quick search will reveal enough recipes to keep even the fussiest of eaters happy for eternity. Start printing off the recipes and compile your own book of family favorites.

9. Why Pay to Have your Dogs Washed When You Can do it Yourself?

   Bank the money instead. What about your gardening or ironing? What other services could you save on? If you have a weekly massage you could simply change it to fortnightly and save the money. You do not have to completely give up on your little luxuries you just have to ration them out sensibly to increase the balance of your holiday account and bring you closer to your goal.

10. Use Your Car Less

    Walk, cycle, and take public transport when ever possible. Its not only better for the environment and for your health but you will be saving money on both the fuel cost and the repair bill of car.

So there you have it, without working overtime or taking on a second job you can have the holiday of your dreams. Admittedly there is a little work involved but mainly it is just forming good money habits. Once you do and you have enjoyed that wonderful, well-deserved holiday. It will be all too easy to do it again.

Good luck and Bon Voyage

Both airlines agree that the passengers have not dropped in off-peak seasons. However, they are not in a position where the airlines are making money. It is not normal that any airlines start making money during the first year of a new flight, as there is normally huge start-up costs involved in launching any new route. The airlines are normally not giving out any details on the financial condition of the route. Both airlines say that they have exceeded expectations in terms of quality of revenue and load factors. The airlines refused to speculate on the number of passengers they carried during the year.

American Airlines launched a daily non-stop service between Chicago and Delhi on November 16; Continental Airlines launched its daily non-stop service on November 2 last year. The airlines reported that over 1.5 million passengers had bookings on the US-India non-stop flights.

The biggest plus of these non-stop flights is the reduction in travel time between the US and India. The launch of the American Airline flight to Chicago from India saves between 1 hour 50 minutes and 2 hours 50 minutes, depending on which airline used when traveling to the US. Air India takes 17 hours and 45 minutes between India and Chicago while the same journey would take 18 hours 45 minutes on the German airline Lufthansa. American Airlines is only 15 hours and 45 minutes to Chicago from India.

Since the two airlines launched their non-stop flights with reasonable success, another American airline company has joined in with launching their own non-stop flight. Delta Airlines announced that from November 3 of 2007 it would start a daily non-stop flight service between Mumbai and New Your.

Air India is planning to get a brand new Boeing 777 next year to add to its fleet of airplanes. The addition of this new plane will be a great advantage for Air-India. Air-India plans to launch non-stop flights between India and several American cities.

The first year is going to be expensive with the extra expense of the new plane and start up costs so passengers will not be receiving any travel specials. Air India claims that they expect it will be at least two years before any specials become available passengers.

One other major problem for the Airlines and the American government is the threat of terrorist taking control of the planes or even worse planting bombs. The Indian government is working with the American government is trying to counter any such occurrences.