Edge Management » Travel

Vegas, The Trip of a Lifetime

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:00:00 +0000

A large number of the great casinos in Las Vegas are thematic in design and content. Many of them represent other great cities in this country as well as throughout the world. The Venetian Las Vegas is one of the stunningly beautiful resorts and of course it wouldn’t be complete without floating gondolas. And yes, you can take a romantic ride in them. Other great casino features include the incredible New York skyline as well as that of Paris . These are just some of the external architectural and design factors that contribute to the incredible and somewhat fantastic cityscape and overall atmosphere of Vegas.

Visiting this city is an experience unlike any other and not one you will ever forget. In addition to all of the amazing casinos and their incredible thematic features the entertainment options as well as adventurous attractions makes it one of the most popular cities in the world. Some of the greatest performers on the planet make a point of playing in Vegas and renowned companies like Cirque du Soleil have permanent home bases in the city and usually have more than one production onstage on any given day. Top comedians , musicians, actors and performers of all kinds are attracted to the Vegas stage and enjoy the great audience energy and dynamics of the city. Where ever you go and whatever you do in this desert town, you are certainly going to have an unforgettable trip.

Vegas, The Trip of a Lifetime is a post from: Edge Management

Montreal for Free — or Nearly Free

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 02:10:00 +0000

Once you pay for your stay one of the quality Montreal hotels , the most expensive part of a vacation can be the admission fees to attractions, theme parks, and events. In Montreal, you can avoid those costs by taking advantage of the many free activities and events throughout the city.

Admission to several Montreal museums is free. View the permanent collection at the Montreal Museum of fine Arts and the Centre of Design at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal at any time or go to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday evenings and admission is free. There are also countless galleries throughout the city showcasing local and regional artists.

In the summer you can hike, bike or drive to the top of Mont-Royal for stunning views of the city as well as visit Smith House, Beaver Lake, and the monument to Sir George-Etienne Cartier. During the summer there’s the Tam Tams, an outdoor drum jam at the base of Mont Royal every Sunday. Summer festivals that offer free activities include Just for Laughs and the Montreal International Jazz Festival with over 350 free outdoor jazz concerts.

If it’s winter, there’s free ice skating at ponds and lakes at city parks throughout Montreal. In February you can attend the Montreal High Lights Festival for live music, fireworks, a free ice slide and even free breakfast if you make it through the Montreal All-Nighter .

If you like architecture and history, check guidebooks and online for walking tour routes and then guide yourself through the city. You can even design your own tour, once you identify the sites and buildings you most want to see.

Montreal for Free — or Nearly Free is a post from: Edge Management

Explore LA’s Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve

admin — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 02:10:00 +0000

North of the 101 and west of the San Diego Freeway is one of the natural wonders of Los Angeles. The Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve is comprised of two sections, North and South, at the southeast end of the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin . It is a wildlife revegetation experiment that began in 1979 with the South Reserve, sandwiched between the Los Angeles River and the Dam. The North Reserve was developed starting in 1988 and features an 11 acre lake with wildlife viewing stations and an island. The eastern part of the North section is the most developed part of the Reserve, with an amphitheater, restrooms, and a formal “park” area and a model airplane field.

Visitors to the park can hike on designated trails, picnic, and observe wildlife and vegetation. Those staying in los angeles boutique hotels can ask at the front desk for directions to the park. With over 200 species in the area, bird watching is a primary activity for nature lovers. Springtime is best, right before the cottonwood trees reach full leaf. Hummingbird Hill was built to attract that species and rare species, including the breeding blue grosbeak, can be spotted. Mammals are a bit scarcer at the Reserve, but visitors may see ground squirrels, rabbits, gophers, and possums. There are occasional sightings of coyote and racoons. Amphibians and reptiles to watch for include bull and tree frogs, turtles, garter snakes and the Western fence lizard=http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/herps/scel-occ.html and side-blotched lizard. Amateur botanists will have fun identifying the 100 native California plants found at the Reserve as well as nearly as many non-native species that have taken root.

Explore LA’s Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve is a post from: Edge Management

Las Vegas Liberace Museum Closing in October

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:10:00 +0000

The chairman of the Liberace Foundation, Jeffrey Koep, has announced that the iconic Vegas landmark will close on October 17th. The Liberace Museum opened in 1979 and houses a lifetime worth of Liberace artifacts. The two-building structure is topped by a towering keyboard sculpture, a true Vegas landmark celebrating the career of one of the city’s most beloved showmen.

A victim of the recession, the Liberace Museum was the only remaining public arts museum in Sin City. The Las Vegas Art Museum closed in 2009. Additionally, casino museums have closed in the Wynn Las Vegas and Venetian hotels. Las Vegas tourism is centered around the Strip and
the museum’s location away from that prime location combined with catastrophic drops in visitors to the city over the last two years have made it fiscally irresponsible for the museum to remain open.

Koep explained that the Foundation will narrow its operations to raising money for music scholarships. The Foundation’s endowment was hard hit by the stock market meltdown, dropping from $12 to $5 million dollars. At the same time attendance at the museum fell from an all time peak of 450,000 to only 50,000 in 2009. Using the endowment to fund the failing museum deprives struggling music students of educational opportunities.

The Foundation hopes that some of the artifacts from the museum, including Liberace’s costumes , candelabras, and, of course, pianos, will go on a tour of other cities. They are also researching other, less expensive and better located sites to reopen the museum.

Las Vegas Liberace Museum Closing in October is a post from: Edge Management

Hunting for a Marrakech Spa Experience

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 02:10:00 +0000

After a day of exploring Marrakech it’s a relief to know there is a relaxing evening at a spa hotel waiting for you. Marrakech, in fact, has many attractions related to relaxation from exotic gardens and tea shops to riads.

Riads are a type of architecture popular for use in traditional Moroccan palaces and houses where the building is built around a central garden. In modern times some of these riads have become Marrakech hotels and spas. So after a day of exploring the desert or shopping the souks and shops around the city you can go back to your accommodations and have a masseuse work the knots from your muscles or enjoy a seaweed wrap treatment.

If you don’t happen to be staying at a hotel offering a spa or it doesn’t have that authentic Moroccan feel don’t fret because you can find a number of hammams , Turkish bathhouses, to pamper you. The thought of a Bath house may bring to mind a tub but you’d be mistaken; a hammam experience is much more detailed. There’s a certain order of oils and rinses that can confuse the first time visitor but don’t feel overwhelmed for about $9 you can have an all inclusive visit including a guide.

Hunting for a Marrakech Spa Experience is a post from: Edge Management

Popular Museums in Lisbon

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:10:00 +0000

Lisbon is an incredibly beautiful and historic city in Portugal, and of course it also happens to be the capital of the country. It is immediately distinguished by the incredible architecture that comprises the cityscape. There are styles and different design genres from periods throughout history represented in the city’s buildings and the grandeur of the architecture contributes to a quiet sophistication in the city’s overall atmosphere. Another thing that is outstanding, and incredibly attractive to the tourists in a Lisbon hotel are amount of and diversity of museums that exist in the city.

Some of the more popular museums that are attractive to tourists include the Museu Nacional do Traje e da Moda, which translates as the National Museum of Costume and Fashion. This is an extremely fascination museum for many tourists and the collection includes over 33,000 items. It is also educating and eye opening for people who thought they knew fashion . The Lisbon Oceanarium is one of the largest in the world and is dedicated entirely to the study of the ocean. It is also one of the favorite attractions for tourists. Meanwhile, tourists also enjoy regular ole art museums and the Berardo is a favorite among those. Spending an afternoon that starts with a great lunch and winds down in one of the great museums in the city is a fabulous way to explore the city and culture of Lisbon.

Visionary in Florence

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:10:00 +0000

Coming to Florence is a visit to the very best parts of the culture of the world, at least, one pinnacle of it. The Italian Renaissance has not only been enormously influential on the visual art world since then, it’s also influenced nearly every aspect of what makes life worth living. In terms of philosophy, attitudes toward food, and even the art of love, Florence in the Golden Age was a remarkable epicenter.

Its influence is still remarkable, and there is as much to see today as there ever was. The popularity of Florence hotels , the number of people eating in bars and restaurants, and the crowds in the museums demonstrate that there is not only a lot of art being produced, but also a lot of people interested in viewing it.

The idea of the artist as visionary is one that had more currency in the Golden Age then it does today. It’s hard to theorize exactly why, because the secular humanist view today is every bit as strong as it was then. There may be a mistrust of visionary thought in general, but that doesn’t mean the work doesn’t exist. People like Phillip Rubinov Jacobson , who runs workshops on visionary and fantastic art in Florence, are proof that the impulse is still very strong, and that seeing is still very much a reflex in development.

Visionary in Florence is a post from: Edge Management

Aquarium in Mazatlan

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:10:00 +0000

You have decided to spend some time in Mazatlan Mexico for your vacation and are dreaming of the poolside bar serving up some margarita’s while you catch up on a well deserved tan. Oh, the endless fresh Mexican food with the shrimp cocktails makes your mouth water just thinking of it. Time to book that room at one of the five star mazatlan hotels and get that plane ticket because your hooked now.

When you get there, you may decide to branch out from the hotel a bit and are looking for something else to do besides browse through the trinket shops in town. Try heading over to the Mazatlan Aquarium . You have been swimming among some of the beautiful marine animals for a couple of days and now it is time to see them in a better view facility.

There are all sorts of habitats that you can wonder through such as rain forests with lots of interesting frogs. They have a good skeletal collection of water and land animals like alligators. Then there are, of course, the many beautiful water tanks filled with so many kinds of fish, sea turtles, trays and octopus. Maybe then when you hit the ocean again you will be able to name a few kinds of fish as you see them.

Aquarium in Mazatlan is a post from: Edge Management

A Day at the Portland Art Museum

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:10:00 +0000

There is no better time to enjoy a great museum than when you are on vacation in a new city. Museums are made for a good day off from the hustle and bustle of regular life. There are a couple of art and craft related museums in Portland Oregon that always have something interesting displayed.

While you are looking for a place to stay in portland. Best hotels are found all over the city and you may want to find one near an art museum like the Portland Art Museum . Currently, the Portland Art Museum has some great historical art with the Pioneering Collection from the Crocker Art Museum. This collection give a wonderful look at many drawings from early masters such as Albrecht Durer, Peter Paul Rubens, Fra Bartolommeo and many others.

This art museum has its own collections as well with American art exhibit, Asian art, modern and contemporary art, Native American art, northwest art, photography and wonderful collection of silver pieces. The silver collection has all sorts of silver pieces from the 15th century to today. It is a wonderful display of how silver has been formed into many serving pieces from all centuries.

A Day at the Portland Art Museum is a post from: Edge Management

Artist as Object in Cape Town

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:10:00 +0000

The Cape Town art scene has always been rather lively, where a wide variety of visual art can be seen. Art reflects an interior reality as well as an external one, and the multiple realities that exist in the city are food for the artists looking for inspiration and community. Those who are coming to stay at the hotels in Cape Town , and enjoy the city’s vibrant scene will be surprised and delighted about what’s here.

Local artist Jennifer Lovemore-Reed is one of the citizen-artists in Cape Town who are working to push boundaries and make things happen. She works in a variety of media, too, and has been combining performance with her strong visual works. A recent work, however, was entirely based in performance.

Called ” 45 Minutes as an Object ,” she did the work in Cape Town and in Paris, and made video of both. She lay motionless on a sidewalk, and the crowds reacted. It seems like a simple concept, and in conceptual art that’s key toward unlocking the work’s transformative power. Looking at how people responded on both continents, one could start to make connections and consider ideas of public space, the body, the archetypes of femininity, and also the status of insider-outsider. Provocative work is happening in Cape Town, thanks to the work of visionaries like her.

Artist as Object in Cape Town is a post from: Edge Management