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Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica after Kingston, and third by population size. The city of Montego Bay is also referred to as Mo Bay, due to its location on the north shore of the island it has earned its title of “tourist capital of Jamaica” a long time ago. As of latest measurement the city has a population of 100 thousand people.

Montego Bay is a popular travelers destination in Jamaica, it receives the bulk of international flights at the home airport of Sir Donald Sangster International Airport, the largest of the two international airports in Jamaica. One of main reasons it’s a popular travel destination is because of the sheltered Doctor’s Cave beach with shiny clean and blue waters being the most famous beach on the island, of course it’s duty free shopping is also favored by its tourists.

The city is suitable and comfortable of walking around, especially the Gloucester Avenue is a popular destination by foot, it’s lined with tourist hotels, stores and restaurants and has sidewalks on each side. The restaurant scene is spread all over town and serve foods from all nationals, of course drinks are also served. It’s recommend to try a tropical cocktail or taste a cold Red Strip in its signature brown bottle, let the food come and enjoy the Jamaican scenery. At Montego Bay is a cruise line terminal situated, many tourists make their start here for a trip to the Caribbean after a short holiday break in Jamaica.

Tourists traveling to Jamaica are required a valid passport and visa. American and European citizens are required a valid passport and a proof of hotel booking only. Jamaica has all year round high temperatures therefore there’s no seasonal variation. When rain appears, its short and heavy followed by sunshine.

Shanghai (上海) is the largest city in China, directly followed by Beijing. The city of Shanghai is situated on China’s central eastern coast, at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The city is administered as a municipality of the People’s Republic of China with a province level status. As of latest measurement the city has a total population of 19 million people.

Originally a textile and fishing village, Shanghai grew its way into importance in the 19th century with one of the main reason it’s favorable located port, nowadays after subsequent and long term foreign investments Shanghai has become the largest cargo port, and one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. The city’s most interesting sightseeing includes its historical landmarks such as the Bund and City God Temple, and its ever breathtaking and expanding Pudong skyline with a not to miss Oriental Pearl Tower which adds to the reputation of a modern city.

Today, Shanghai is a gigantic city where people from different culture life together, which truly shows the dualistic face of poor and rich, modern and old fashion on every side of the street. The old city center in the Yu Yuan area you can find the oldest streets of China, which you can find old city buildings and markets like the Yu Yuan Market where you can buy hand crafted sculptures and local souvenirs. When you are looking for modern Shanghai, head to the sights. It’s a good starting point for a boat trip on the Huangpu river.

Shanghai’s cuisine can be compared to its citizens and culture, characterized as sweet and oily, which is the most common method of preparation used in Shanghai, it brings freshness and balance to the food, with great attention to the taste of sweet and sour. Seafood, retains a great popularity in Shanghai’s cuisine, often served meals include braised fish, steam fish and shellfish, or stir friend shellfish. When purchasing at a street vendor, be aware that some dishes are far from fresh and often the remains of last week left overs.

Travelers to Shanghai need a valid passport and visa. While small theft, pickpockets, thieves and thick city smog is presence, the city is relatively safe for travelers. The best period to visit Shanghai is between May and September as those are the best temperature months. Though it also rains more in these months based on yearly average.

Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador, it’s located 40 miles of San Salvador the capital and largest city of the country. The administration division of the municipality is divided into 35 neighborhoods and 318 villages. As of latest measurement the city of Santa Ana has an population of 280 thousand people. The city is important in terms of agriculture, coffee productions and other export products, one of the major El Salvador’s coffee processing center is located near Santa Ana.

The city of Santa Ana is used to tourists, therefore generally seen the locals have a good relationship with the tourists. The city has popular old historical and architecture sightseeing, as well a lot of attractions. One of the best historical happenings is the Cathedral of Santa Ana, a marvel of neo Gothic architecture “the Teatro de Santa Ana” beautifully decorated theater from the early 19th centuries.

If you’re in Santa Ana, and have day is young try to enjoy one of these sightseeing including the pre-Columbian sites of Tazumal, excavated ruins cover an area of 6.2 square miles, and includes the largest Mayan temple in El Salvador. For eco-tourists, or those who interested it’s a possibility to climb up to the top of the Volcan de Izalco vulcano, which today is still active. If you are looking for a day of relation, just enjoy the “Lago de Coatepeque” lake side which used to be an active volcano.

Within the city of Santa Ana there’s quite a few places to shop, I wouldn’t describe it exactly as a shoppers paradise yet the Metrocentro Mall seems to be your best location. It’s a two floor department store which has a mix of restaurants and stores. One the second floor is a cinema located. Within the mall they sell anything from hand crafted goods till electronics and furniture. There’s even car dealerships present in the mall, which is not an uncommon thing in South America and Asia.

When hungy, Santa Ana has the whole American chain of fast food restaurants including Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Hut and Mr. Donut all around city center. If you didn’t travel all that way to have a burger, in the town down area are local restaurants which serve original El Salavador meals and cuisine, it’s recommended to try typical local meals such as tacos and pupusas. A restaurant that’s being recommended by many travelers for it’s price vs. food comparision is “Los Horcones” located on the main square in Santa Ana, it has charming decorations, and a fantastic view from the restaurant to the square below.

It’s not required to request a visa when traveling to El Salvador. How ever upon arrival a tourist card must be purchased at immigration. The tourist cards provides you 30 days access to the country. When getting through customs be sure to have a valid passport for at least another 6 months, and a return ticket.

In Rotterdam south, in the municipality Charlois lies a spacious park named Zuiderpark. The park is located directly in between the two municipalities of Carnissewijk and Zuidwijk/Pendrecht. It was built in the year of 1952 and meant as a place for enjoyment and relaxation for city locals. Since the year 2006 the park has gone through restructuring, which has improved the park a lot.

The Zuiderpark is easy reachable from almost anywhere within Rotterdam south, it’s located nearby the biggest mall in the region Zuidplein, as well as the main bus stations and two metro stations Zuidplein and Slinge. Mainly the park is used for Sunday walks, biking and walking and during summers a barbecue with the family. It also households a few Rotterdam football and volleyball associations including: S.C Zuiderpark and Sportclub Zuiderpark.

The park also households several allotments garden complexes including VTV de Zandweg and VTV de Zuiderhof, which truly give you the feeling you’re in the middle of a nature park, and not just three minutes of the busy city center of South Holland. Most of the complexes in Zuiderpark are over 50 years old, it wasn’t until a few years ago that the municipality Charlois removed a part of a garden complex in order to enlarge the park it’s waterways for summer swimming and canoeing throughout the lake.

Throughout the park there’s several benches placed near the waterside, overall the park is kept pretty clean. The side of walking paths are covered with threes and green. When evening falls the park light system automatically turns on, all though it’s not covered all to well. It isn’t recommended to stay in the park after sun set if you have no business there.

On the north side of Zuidpark lies Ahoy Rotterdam’s biggest international entertainment center, used for pop concerts and  for instance pop concerts and sport events. There’s also an old church on the side of the park with a little deer camp. It’s allowed to feed the deers, most of the locals go there to feed them old bread with their children

Travelers to the Netherlands need a valid passport and visa. American citizens are allowed a stay up to 90 days without the use of a visa. Rotterdam is a city of size but it’s easy to get round, for a visit to Zuiderpark you can make use of a taxi from city center (about $30.00 US) or use the public transport subway (about $5.00 US). The most convenient time to enter the park is during daytime summer, from June till August.

These pictures date Saturday 31th of October 2009 Zuiderpark, Rotterdam

Espoo is the second largest city in and municipality in Finland, after Helsinki. Espoo is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the following cities; Helsinki, Vantaa and Kauniainen and is located close to the shore of the Gulf of Finland, in the province of Southern Finland and the region Uusimaa. The city has a population of 243 thousand people as of latest measurement.

The city of Espoo still has a quite original and urban structure visible throughout the city center, which is split apart in 5 districts. Each of the districts are as large as a regular sized Finnish town and perfectly well connected through public transport. Also the Nuuksio National Park can be reached through public transport, from pretty much every station it’s fine to walk to your final destination.

The most popular out of the 5 districts is probably Tapiola for its carefully designed gardens, spacious parks and architecture are in harmony with each other. The high tech city parts are reachable within just 15 minutes and shows interesting sightseeing including museums and festivals, of course the April Jazz festival and Espoo Ciné International Film Festival are the most well known reasons for repeatedly tourist visits to Espoo.

The Espoo skyline is a mix of old and new, in between some historical buildings and museums there’s various high tech buildings visible including the Nokia world headquarters, the headquarters of Fortum and the Helsinki University of Technology. Elsewhere if you are looking to have a fine dining experience, there’s restaurants and small eat cafes divided all over town, small horeca places which will serve food and have a bar to sit at. Local Finnish cuisine is popular, but international meals are also served.

American and European citizens are required a valid passport for entry to Espoo, when staying for less than 90 days there is no need to apply for a visa. No vaccinations are required either for entry into Finland. If you are from Africa, Asia, North America or South America you’re required to contact your embassy before leaving. The best time to visit Finland and Espoo are in the summer from June to August.

Gothenburg (Göteborg) is the second largest city in Sweden after Stockholm. The city is located in the south west of Sweden, with a total population of 510 thousand people, and over 920 thousand in the metropolitan area. The city has the largest sea port of the Nordic countries situated by the sea at the mouth of Göta Älv. Gothenburg is home to many students as the city has two universities: University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology.

The city was founded once by king Gustav Adolf but was developed in large by city and canal planners from the Netherlands and Germany. Hence the recognizable Amsterdam styled canals around city center, mixed in between 16th century churches and historical buildings which are still visible. To this day, the owes much to the influences of foreigners. Tourists seem to repeatedly visit the city year after year, therefore the Gothenburg region has grown to be one of the most popular travel destinations in Scandinavia.

The reason Gothenburg attracts so many tourists is simple as basic mathematics. The city has a cultural history which creates interesting sightseeing. For example the Skansen Kronan (Crown Keep), served as a prison in the 19th century, today its a military museum. Stop by the city district of Haga for 19th century houses made out of wood, while there explore the bohemian Långgatan streets, don’t forget the camera, or how about a Indoor fish market “Feskekôrka” with a unique shape of the building and sensational smell located nearby the harbor.

For the cultural and historical travelers the city offers ten’s of museums with the most popular being Gothenburg Art Museum, Gothenburg City Museum, Universeum and Museum of World Culture. Also as said, Gothenburg is filled with historical buildings like the Gothenburg Cathedral, Christinae Church, Crown House and Oscar Fredrik Church. When the sun is out in the city, and you wishto enjoy the pretty sight of high rising historicial buildings in between the Swedish locals there’s various of spacious parks located throughout the city any taxi driver can bring you including: Slottsskogen, Botaniska Trädgården, Trädgårdsföreningen

The famous street Avenyn is a perfect destination for great Swedish cuisine, terrace cafés and pubs, nightclubs and bars. Because the city is filled with students, the vibrant nightlife goes on untill the early hours. It’s defiantly the place to be for good foods and a night out in town for both local and tourist.

American citizens need a valid passport to enter Gothenburg, there’s no visa required for stays up to three months in any given six-month period. Yet another requirement to travelers is to show a visible means of support along with documentation and tickets for return or further travel.

In the north of Colombia lies Santa Marta, a city and municipality by the Caribbean sea and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. Some historians say Santa Marta’s actual name is “Santa Marta de Astorgas” as a Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas was the first to discover the city, he would have named it after the Spanish city he visited earlier. As of latest measurement the Santa Marta has a population of 430 thousand people.

From most destinations within Colombia it’s recommended to fly to Santa Marta through Simón Bolívar airport, there are non stop flights available from Bogotá, Cartagena and Medellín. Once landed at the airport it takes a 20 minute taxi ride into town, when staying at a beach resort the ride shouldn’t be longer than 10 minutes depending on traffic. The bus station is out of town, if going there it’s recommended to take the mini bus for the price of 1000 pesos (about $0.50 US).

The city of Santa Marta is an important maritime port and hub for history, culture and sightseeing. Everyday cargo ships import and export products worldwide, and there actions are visible. From El Rodadero (Santa Marta’s main beach) you can view the Caribbean Sea, which at night times have breathtaking sunsets. The beach is of decent quality, it’s quite wide and you find yourself a place to sit, though people, vendors and music break the silence. Vendors are rather aggressive and/or try jacking up the price for tourists. The high season starts in December till April, months after up till November are considered low season.

Sightseeing and other tourist activities are mainly done near the beach area of Santa Marta include scuba diving at the coral reefs, jet ski’s can be rented in increments of 10 minutes (life jacket’s provided) or rent a boat for the day to tour around on the Caribbean Sea. A day at the beach gets you hungry easily, luckily enough Santa Marta has a nice variety of restaurants and cuisines available. Their specialty seems to be roasted and grilled chicken, the Colombians defiantly do a good job to make the food flavorful and tasteful. Another local special on the menu is seafood caught in the Caribbean Sea, it’s inexpensive and usually served with a shrimp cocktail.

Tourists staying in Colombia for up to 90 days will not need a visa, but tourists planning on staying longer can get a permit for an extra 120 days of stay. Business travelers are required to have a business visa and a return ticket is required for anyone traveling to Santa Marta, Colombia. Unlike other big cities, taxi’s in Santa Meter do not run on meters. You have to negotiate the price with the driver before getting in.