Reviews written by The Travel Penguin
The Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel is essentially a business hotel serving the downtown Norfolk business district. It is located directly on the waterfront in one of the back arms of the bay right next to the Waterside Festival Marketplace where there are some restaurant/bar options including an Outback Steakhouse, Joe's Crab Shack, and a Hooters. Being a waterfront hotel, you...
Perhaps strange to say, but what I like most about Norfolk International Airport is that when you arrive and go outside there are a lot of pine trees. There is also the Norfolk Botanical Garden next door. The terminal itself is not very large and it is an easy to walk to the rental car area.
The Mausoleum of Mao Zedong is located at the opposite end of Tiananmen Square from the Forbidden City. There are often long lines of Chinese waiting outside who wish to pay their respects or just view the deceased leader of China in his glass coffin. It is somewhat creepy but can be worth the wait to see this historical figure....
To me, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, is definitely the sightseeing highlight of the capital. It contains the most important artifacts from the Forbidden City in Beijing. If you are interested in Chinese art and history, this is a must-see.
Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park is not like a national park in the United States where parks generally are separated from surrounding lands and have controlled entrances. In fact, there is very little signage anywhere to let you know that you are within a park area. Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park covers land areas and contiguous ocean on the Yaeyama Islands two largest islands:...
Being a lover of water, the lake at the Summer Palace has always been one of my favorite sightseeing spots in Beijing. Formerly an Imperial lake, the Summer Palace grounds are huge and you'll see lots of tourists and local people visiting here on any nice day. When I used to escort tours in...
Cozumel is a stop used by several cruise lines. There is not a lot to do around the port except to visit some restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops which congregate there near the entrance. You really need to take a taxi into town where the better restaurants are located and where you can actually see some of the real town....
Although Ishigaki Island is the most developed island of the Yaeyama Islands, Iriomote is the largest island of the group and quite undeveloped with 80% of the land controlled by the government. I'm not sure why the island is so undeveloped as it has two navigatable rivers which provide a lot of water. But there are only about 2,500 people...
Kabira Bay is definitely the scenic highlight of Ishigaki Island. Most people visiting the bay will take a sightseeing ride on one of the glass-bottom excursion boats. While the bay itself is very pretty with its small islets, I didn't find the coral viewed from the boat to be very colorful. That may partly be due to sand falling on...
The Temple of Heaven is one of the main sightseeing highlights of Beijing. It is included on most escorted tours of the city. The Temple of Heaven complex includes several round buildings. They are built in a fairly unique architectural style for the capital city. There is also the famous echo wall. The temple grounds are within a park and...
The Delta Kingston Waterfront Hotel is, as the name indicates, a waterfront hotel. To me, this is their greatest advantage especially to wake up in the morning with a room facing the harbor here at Lake Ontario. Our visit was in March and there was ice on the lake within the harbor. However, it was still a beautiful view. I...
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is a moderately sized hotel located on Burrard Street. The hotel facilities are nice but somewhat limited as this is not a very large hotel. However, it has a decent street/lobby level restaurant and bar. The rooms and service are up to Hyatt standards. While you can walk to Canada Centre...