Place Hotel

The Parador Argomaniz is located 12 km from Vitoria/Gasteiz - approximately midway between Bilbao and Pamplona. This noble stone building was formerly the Larrea palace - whose family coat-of-arms is emblazoned prominently above the main entrance door. Parador Argomaniz is a rare find. It is a perfectly preserved 17th century palace. It has a somewhat plain exterior, but its interior is a delight. The entrance is framed by majestic stone columns. This leads you to an interior that is decorated with various Renaissance ornaments. The bedrooms contain antique wooden chests and furniture and fine polished wooden floors.

All the public rooms are tastefully done. There are many cozy “sitting nooks” with nice views out to the countryside. Perfect places for sitting with a good book and a cup of coffee. This is a splendid Renaissance palace in all respects and the perfect place to stop if you are traveling through this part of Spain.

An interesting historical note - and one you can contemplate during your stay: Napoleon stayed here for a time while he regained his strength before attacking the town of Vitoria.

The Parador of Argomaniz dominates the surrounding natural beauty of the Plains of

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Terrific Tofino

The Esowista Peninsula is perched in the edge of the North America Continent. Next stop Japan! At the north end of the Peninsula is the town of Tofino, located in a protected harbour. Just to the North, you will also find protected waters, and directly offshore is the Wild West Coast.

The constant ocean surge in this area keeps the surf breaking on expansive white sandy beaches. In winter, waves can reach up to 50 feet in height! North of Tofino, you’ll find the Ahousaht First Nations Community, Cougar Annie’s Gardens and Hot Springs Cove, and just across the harbour you’ll find Optisat First Nations Village on Meares Island.

Before you enjoy all the exciting tourist activities Tofino has to offer, you must first find a place to stay. Since nearly one million visitors flock to this paradise each summer, it is best to book in advance.

Clayoquot-Orca Lodge

If you are looking for a good value, check out the Clayoquot-Orca Lodge. It’s centrally located on the East Side of Highway 4, just as you approach Tofino, and close to all the major beaches. Clayoquot-Orca is a unique destination resort featuring on-site Eco Experience on 4 acres of old growth rain forest. Well groomed trails lead to Jensen Bay, a waterfront Bird Sanctuary, while other trails will lead you throughout the rainforest. The Lodge has comfortable, spacious ensuite rooms, some with private hot tubs. There is a licensed piano lounge, ‘the Chuckling Oyster’ which is also pet friendly. It’s full of games and activities and has a nice fireplace to curl up beside on summer evenings.

Olivia, the owner/operator of Clayoquot-Orca is a unique character who’s dedicated to ensuring you have a special holiday. She quite regularly helps guests plan their days and book their chosen activities. Many people who’ve stayed here have written to say their stay in Tofino was the highlight of their trip. Olivia is currently adding an additional 30 rooms to the Lodge. We stayed in a spacious suite that had two Queen sized beds and a pullout couch in it. The room could have easily handled six people and there was lots of room to relax at the end of a busy day.

The Lodge also has a dining room that operates throughout the peak tourist season with an attached Solarium where guests can dine with their pets. Now that is pet friendly! Chloe is the host pet. The highway sign proudly boasts that the Clayoquot-Orca Lodge was voted #1 for best-value accommodation in the Tofino area.

Ron Kirstein is the owner of a Canadian Travel & Tourism Web
site (since 1995). Ron has traveled the length and breadth
of Vancouver Island BC Canada in search of
adventures; see http://tourismmall.victoria.bc.ca/travelmagazine

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The Northern Venice, the Northern Palmira - both these nicknames belong to the second biggest city in Russia and its former capital - Saint Petersburg. The city is also called the Northern capital of Russia and it’s still very important cultural, scientific and art center of the country.
Saint Petersburg was founded on the marshes on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in 1703 by the tsar Peter the Great. At first he built Peter and Paul fortress as a defense against Russia’s main rival of the time - Sweden. Then Peter decided to transfer capital to Saint-Petersburg from Moscow. Many beautiful palaces and the mansions of the nobility were built. Lots of them still can be seen and admired.

Its nickname “the Northern Venice” city received due to the big amount of canals. Peter the Great created a wide canal net on the Vasilievskii Island, but later almost all them were filled up because of the sanitary precautions. However a lot of rivers, canals and other water arteries cross the city, creating not only convenient transport ways but also perfect places for water walking - Moika, Fontanka, Griboedov canal are always full of walking boats, small cutters. Neva River connecting Ladoga lake and the gulf of Finland, is one of the major rivers in the country, although it’s not long - only 74 kilometers. From May to October motor ships cruise to Valaam in Lagoda lake and to more distant parts of Russia.
A period from May to October is the best time to visit Saint Petersburg - it’s warm then and moreover, it’s the period of the so-called “white nights” when sun shines almost till midnight. The brightest opportunity to watch this natural phenomenon is given in June. It’s also a chance to witness a prestigious festival of arts called (guess how?) - “White nights”.

To continue a topic of art and culture we can’t avoid mentioning Mariinskii theatre - a symbol of Russian ballet and opera. One of the world greatest art museums - Hermitage is located in the very centre of Saint Petersburg - on the Palace Square. It’s housed in the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian Tsars and the place from where the revolution of 1917 began. This museum boasts the incomparable collections of the art masterpieces of the past and present.

City government is trying to safe the authentic image of the centre of the city - there are no tall towers, modern office building. If there were no advertisement and bright neon lights of the clubs and restaurants you could have think that you somewhere in the XIX century.

During the last year the cit got acquainted with the problem Russia didn’t suffer till now - traffic jams. The main street - Nevskii prospect stands almost motionless. One more trend - last years in Saint Petersburg many boutiques and designer’s shops appeared. People have become wealthier and western companies didn’t fail to react. The amount of the western tourists has also increased and very significantly.

Saint Petersburg is considered to be the most European city in Russia. Anyway, it’s unique - so, the summer is close, reserve your tour to this city now!

For booking a hotel, please, go to Saint Petersburg hotels page

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