WOW 
Sunday, 14. December 2008
Pearls of the Caribbean - Bayahibe, Hacienda Dominicus Resort
We had a fantastic time, a glorious vacation and the fabulous cruise was perfect! We will definitely go on a cruise again! Maybe next year ...So enjoy the last video of Bayahibe
Not so famous like Punta Cana and not so crowded like Boca Chica, the La Romana/Bayahibe region in the southeast of Dom Rep still offers beautiful beaches and nice resorts.
For the next 7 days we stayed in Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus, three miles from the fishing village of Bayahibe.
Part 1: The resort area - what a lovely place! This resort offers peace and seclusion. Everything is surrounded by extensive tropical gardens. Fountains spin & fly in just about every corner of the main complex. I loved the tame Flamingos.
Part 2 (start around 05:42): Sports & Fun - over all days, there was a wide variety of land and watersports and other activities.
Part 3 (start around 08:16): At the beach & around - the resort is situated directly on Bayahibe beach. We enjoyed often to grab a cocktail or two from the beach bar. A nice place to sit and watch the world go by.
Part 4 (start around 15:13): Sunset and the beautiful display of sky color that occurred shortly after the sunset. Just one of them ...
On March 27th we had to fly home ... but we definitely left a little piece of our heart in the Caribbean.
Note: It's a 18 min HD video and a pretty large file (300MB+), it takes awhile to load! If the player stops, this could be because the server is overloaded, your Internet connection is slow, and/or overall Internet is slow. You may need to pause it and let the video load a bit more before watching it straight through.
Previous Video: One day at sea and arrival Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
First Video: Aruba & Start of the Cruise
Tuesday, 09. December 2008
Pearls of the Caribbean - Day at Sea & Arrival Santo Domingo
The cruise came to an end. But the adventure continued ... enjoy!Part 1: March 19th - Final day of the cruise at sea. Some impressions of the ship, some last shopping, a lazy afternoon and a wonderful sunset.
Part 2 (start around 05:42): Arrival at Santo Domigo, Dominican Republic, March 20th at 6.20 am.
Everybody went home - we wanted to stay longer.
Part 3 (start around 08:14): Per Taxi to Bayahibe,
Hacienda Dominicus Resort. Impressions from the drive.
Note: It's a 11 min HD video and a pretty large file (300MB+), it takes awhile to load! If the player stops, this could be because the server is overloaded, your Internet connection is slow, and/or overall Internet is slow. You may need to pause it and let the video load a bit more before watching it straight through.
Upcoming Video: Bayahibe
Previous Video: St. Kitts
Christmas And Holiday Cards For Geeks
The newspaper The Telegraph has a rundown of the funniest seasonal cards for geeks, nerds and webheads: Christmas And Holiday Cards For Geeks
New News Stories in Photographs
The recent "acqua alta" (high water) in Venice, Italy reached a depth of 1.56 meters (5 ft, 1 in.) on Monday - the deepest flood in 22 years, and the fourth highest flood level in recent history, claimed Venice's Tide Center. The water began to subside on Tuesday, while residents and tourists made their way through the city, hip-waders or not - one man even took the opportunity to ride his wakeboard through Piazza San Marco (until police stepped in). Although this flood was severe enough for the mayor to ask tourists to temporarily stay home, Venetian floods are fairly routine, several occurring every year, and residents usually take it all in stride.Venice under Water (25 photos total)
Photographer Mike Hettwer has been kind enough to share with us some of his photographs depicting what remains of the Green Sahara. About 9,000 years ago, a very wet climate prevailed in parts of the Sahara Desert called the Neolithic Subpluvial period. Lasting several thousand years, this Green Sahara was home to many grassland and woodland animals as well as humans. While on an expedition for dinosaur fossils with paleontologist Paul Sereno in Niger in 2000, Hettwer discovered a burial area containing hundreds of skeletons from two distinct cultures, each thousands of years old - the Kiffian and Tenerian.
Green Sahara (17 photos total)
And don't miss the Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2008
Tumble Waiter
Move slowly, destroying bulk food blocks (blocks disappear by clicking on them) as you go and you might get the order to the table in one piece. If you have to redo an order the cost of the food will be taken out of your points ... good luck!Tumble Waiter
Critter Carols
Send a pet e-card and let your dog or cat wish your family and friends a happy holiday season! These funny holiday greeting cards from Critter Carols feature your dog or cat singing. Just upload a photo of your pet to a wintry background, choose a holiday song, and let 'em sing, let 'em sing, let 'em sing!Critter Carols, An ElfYourself For Your Pets!
Ice Hotel
Ten thousand years ago, glaciers carved a riverbed and the Torne River was born. Since then, the crystal-clear, pure water of the Torne River has flowed freely along its 600-kilometer path through Lapland out to the sea in the southeast.The entire Ice Hotel is on loan from the mighty Torne River and is a place where time stands still. When the spring comes and then finally the summer, the entire creation will once again become part of the rushing rapids coursing toward the sea.
If it is possible to build a hotel of ice in a small village 200km inside the Arctic Circle, which strikes the whole world with amazement, then anything is possible. The story of Ice Hotel is indeed a fairy tale come true.
Sweden's no 1 destination: Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi.
You may also like:
MegaStructures: Ice Hotel
A film by by National Geographic, 2004 - Duration 47 minutes
And don't miss to tune in live art work!
Between the 5th and 20th of December, you can follow the artist Benny Ekman crafting his Art suite "Get bad" in ICEHOTEL. Each day, Benny will switch on the web cam in his suite to share his art project with the whole world. So tune in the Benny cam, and watch ice and snow being chiseled into beautiful art.
To the Benny cam
Wednesday, 03. December 2008
Pearls of the Caribbean - St. Kitts
Do you want to know how the cruise continued?OK - here it comes: St. Kitts!
Part 1: Arrival at Basseterre, March 18th 2008, 8am. It is believed that in 1493, Christopher Columbus was so smitten with this volcanic island that he named it after himself.
Part 2 (start around 02:42): Scenes along the way to the secluded Romney Manor Gardens (short).
Part 3 (start around 03:45): Botanical Gardens and Caribelle Batik at Romney Manor. A must for visitors interested in art, history and gardens.
Part 4 (start around 06:33): 'The Gibraltar of the West Indies' - The Brimstone Hill Fortress. I'm not a history buff, but this is one of the most impressive historic attractions I've ever seen.
Part 5 (start around 07:49): Way back home with a short stop on Timothy Hill on the South East Peninsular.
Part 6 (start around 09:43): Impressions of Basseterre. We were charmed by the island and its inhabitants! Don't miss the funny police woman! We laughed a lot ...
Part 7 (start around 13:25): Back on board as the last rays of the sun touched the sky. We said farewell to St. Kitts at 7pm.
Note: It's a 14 min HD video and a pretty large file (300MB+), it takes awhile to load! If the player stops, this could be because the server is overloaded, your Internet connection is slow, and/or overall Internet is slow. You may need to pause it and let the video load a bit more before watching it straight through.
Upcoming Video: One day at sea and arrival at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Previous Video: Antigua