Edinburgh: Empress Of The North

The capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is the country's second largest city and the 7th largest city in the United Kingdom. Resting in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh has a rugged setting with a collection of many Medieval and Georgian style architecture. It is one of the most picturesque cities in Europe. No wonder it constantly brings about a million of travelers every year.

People visit Edinburgh, basically, to see the ancient stone tenements dating back from the medieval times and to see and celebrate Edinburgh Festival. The city holds a collection of official and independent festivals in August and early September each year. There are about ten major festivals in Edinburgh including Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Edinburgh International Television Festival, Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, Edinburgh People's Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Internet Festival, and iFest.

Not just celebrations, Edinburgh also has a number of famous landmarks and notable infrastructures: the iconic Forth Railway Bridge that connects Edinburgh to eastern Scotland; the Edinburgh Castle which stands on the basalt plug of Castle Rock, dominating the skyline of the city; the Crown Square, the citadel iat the top of the castle; Edinburgh Zoo and some of the many museums including the Museum of Scotland and the Royal Museum are the major sights in this historically elegant city.

Edinburgh is proud to be the home of many well-known authors, philosophers and visionary namely David Hume, one of the pioneers of the philosophy of Empiricism; Adam Smith, the father of Economics and of course, one of today's most sought after authors, J K Rowling of the Harry Potter series. I bet you Harry Potter fans out there, know now why the setting of the fiction novel is likely Scottish!

Read More

Holy celebrations in the US - New York, CHicago, Seattle,

Holi celebrations is something that every indian looks forward to celebrate. Whether it is the Bollywood Holi songs/Movies or the religious fervor of Holi, every one eagerly awaits the Holi celebrations. But, how about the Holi celebrations in the USA? There are many places in the USA where Holi is celebrated or should I say, party-ed? Checkout your closest location to Party Holi..

• Holi, Phagwah parade in Richmond Hill, New York
• Holi celebrations via Bhangra in Trinity CLub Seattle
• Holi Hai at Chicago temple (peoria) on March 23rd
• Holi by Kannada Koota (KKNC) - Bay Area San Francisco, San Jose
• Holi - celebrate holi in Bay area (Stanford)
• Holi - Rang Barse promotion in Los Angeles
• Holi Hai at Austin
• Holi worshipping at Houston

If you cannot make it to any of the Parties above, just send an HOLI SMS message or a greeting card.

Read More

The Pleasure Being In Prague

Are you about to have a vacation in Prague? You may have booked yourself for a place to stay there but to give you an overview of what sight to expect, this article may serve for that purpose. Read on and have fun!

Prague is the Capital and the largest city of the Czech Republic. It played an important role in the history of Europe. Since the medieval times, it holds the reputation of one of the most beautiful cities in the world gaining these following titles: "The Golden City", "City of Hundred Spires", "Crown of the World", and the "Stone Dream". With the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. In fact, it ranks the sixth most-visited European destination after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. Added to that, Prague is known for hosting events like the Film Music, Writers Festivals and as well as Fashion Shows.

Since Prague was one of the few European cities who considerably suffered less damage from the World War II, most of its historic architecture remained true to its form. In fact, the historical center of the city is a monument reserve which was added to the list of natural and cultural heritage of UNESCO in 1992. In 2000, the European Community granted Prague the title - "European Capital of Culture". Tourist flock to visit Prague's historical sights and creative architectural structures from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical to ultra-modern.

When you get to this awesome city, you shouldn't miss to visit the Old Town where the medieval Astronomical Clock is found; get to visit the picturesque Charles Bridge, as well and the vaulted Gothic Old New Synagogue of 1270. Of course, the Prague Castle which is recognized by Guinness World of Records as the largest ancient castle in the world. There are, also a number of museums in the area: the Mucha Museum as an example, showcases the Art Nouveau works of Alfons Mucha. if oyu want to get a good view of the Prsgue skyline, you may climb up the Petřínská rozhlednan, observation tower on Petřín hill, similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. There are many towering cathedrals and churches, as well in the vicinity of Prague, the biggest of which is the St. Vincent Vitus's Cathedral. It is the seat of the Archbichop of Prague, located within the Prague Castle which also contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings.

One can tour around Prague through walking tours, bus tours or boat tours offered by a number of travel companies there. Some even have themes such as the Kafka and legends. If you choose a boat tour, it'll take you a two hour tour on the Vitava River passing through the Prague Castle and the Lesser Town. At night, you can enjoy onboard dining and cruising then, followed by an hour trip to Prague's most beautiful squares. With all these things to experience in Prague, you'll surely find the pleasure you are looking for in this magnificent city.

Read More

Corsica: The Isle Of Beauty

Summertime is almost upon us and what's best to spend it is an island escapade accompanied with all nature's bounty: lush greenery, warm ocean breeze, white sand beaches and blue ocean waters. And where on earth can we find such place? There are a bunch of summer spots and island getaways you can hop into but if you are into a Mediterranean vacation, then Corsica island is what you are looking for.

Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea following Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus respectively. It is located west of Italy, southeast of France, and north of Sardinia island. Also known as the "Isle of Beauty", Corsica, is proud for it's natural wealth: dramatic mountains, sandy beaches and turquoise waters; and as Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace. In fact, his ancestral home, Casa Bonaparte, is located there still.

What makes Corsica island a best place to spend your summer? Read on!

• It possesses the Mediterranean climate; having a hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters, the island is rich in flora. The best seasons are considered to be spring and autumn. Thus, for a summer getaway you'll surely have what you wanted – to bask in the Italian sun.
  

• Corsica is the most mountainous Mediterranean island filled with rocks and limestone crags. The tallest peak being the Monte Cintu which towers to a magnificent 8880 feet in the air. Having such landscape, rock climbing during the summer is very possible. Other's prefer trekking and horse riding along the ancient footpaths and mule trails. If you are not into mountain climbing, there are also over 200 beaches along the 600 miles coastline of Corsica island and the best thing about that is, a number of them are secluded. Therefore your experience will be private and authentic. St Restitude beach, Palombaggia Beach, Golfe di Sogno Beach, and Santa-Giulia Beach are among the wonderful beaches in Corsica. The pristine water is ideal for swimming, snorkeling, sailing and even windsurfing. Other bodies of water in this area are it's rivers and falls which are a breathtaking sight to see.

There are a lot in store for you in this wondrous paradise: from it's wide variety of landscape; dramatic mountains, vast coastline with hidden coves and shore that have yet to be discovered, Mediterranean climate to Corsicans warm accommodation. What more can you asked for?

Read More

Sachin Tendulkar smashes 163 against New Zealand in 3rd ODI

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar slammed a blistering 163 and helped his team win the third ODI by 58 runs against New Zealand at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday.

Video Highlights of 3rd ODI - Sachin's 163 against new zealand

The master-blaster’s first century on New Zealand soil helped India put up a mammoth 392 for four off their stipulated 50 overs after put in to bat by stand-in Kiwi skipper Brendon McCulum.

Tendulkar added 50 runs off 60 balls with Gautam Gambhir (15 off 27 balls) for the second wicket after Virender Sehwag got out early.

He then put on 138 runs for the third wicket off 17.4 overs with Yuvraj Singh (87 off 60 balls with ten fours and six sixes) and then stitched another 135 runs with his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (68 off 58 balls with five fours and two sixes) off 15.4 overs for the fourth wicket before he retired injured.

Tendulkar, who looked set to break the highest individual score record in an ODI before stomach cramps forced him to go back to the pavilion.

Tendulkar faced 133 balls, which included 16 boundaries and five sixes and was declared the Man-of-the-Match.

Read More

Strength Training

Weight lifter or cardio guru I believe everybody needs a little Strength Training, read more about the basics Lift Big

Or Start for that sexy spring break six pack Valeo Dual Ab Wheel

Read More

Get Shredded in 30 days!

You've all seen her on the show biggest loser, shes the hardcore female trainer. She'll definitely if there was ever a video by anyone I would buy it would be this one.

Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred Read More

Read More

Real deal about getting a sixpack

Step 1: Nutrition

This is the single most important part of the puzzle, hands down. You can have the most impressive set of abs, but if they're covered with a layer of fat, you won't see them! Break up your day with 5 or 6 mini-meals because this jump starts your metabolism.

And stop eating the food that is preventing you from seeing your abs:

-white bread
-pasta
-soda
-candy
-dessert
-fast food
-hydrogenated oils
-sugars
-fructose corn syrup

Instead, eat the foods that will help you reach your six pack goal:

-oatmeal
-olive oil
-whole grain breads
-fruits
-vegetables
-nuts
-eggs
-natural peanut butter
-chicken
-fish
-protein
-green tea
-water

Be realistic - you'll slip here and there, but make a conscious effort to improve your eating habits. Without good nutrition, getting a true six pack will be impossible.

Step 2: Exercise

You need to focus on 3 different exercises: cardio, weightlifting and ab exercises. And aim to workout 4 times per week (definitely a minimum of 3 times per week). The cardio you do can be anything: walking, running, biking, swimming...whichever cardio you don't mind doing so you stick with it. The trick is to do the cardio in bursts. For example, if you're running, walk for one minute and then sprint for 15 seconds and repeat 10 times. Perform this type of interval cardio 2 times per week.

Lifting weights is important because 3 pounds of added muscle burns as many calories as a 1 mile jog...and this is while you're just sitting around! Aim for 30-45 minutes, 2 times per week. If you're confused as to what exercises to do for each body part, check out the following free website:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

The last exercise you need to add to your workout are ab exercises. Aim to work your abs 3 times per week. There are a lot of different ab exercises you can do so try to find 3 or so that you enjoy doing and mix it up.

A good database of different ab exercises can be found here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exername.php?MainMuscle=Abdominals

Tip: mix up your workout routine every 2 weeks to keep your body guessing and improving. Add or take away different weightlifting or ab exercises, or at the very least, vary the weight and reps you do.

Read More

To Females: The Myths of bodybuilding!

Myth 1: "If I start lifting heavy weights I will either get hurt or I will look like a bodybuilder." (Truth) You could get hurt talking on the cell phone and driving your car at the same time. The injury excuse is just that to me, an excuse. If you study and seek proper guidance on training you won't likely get injured. Of course, if you blindly walk into something then you are likely to not have a good result. (Truth) Working out with free-weights in an effective strength and conditioning program is the very best way to cut body fat and to speed up overall weight-loss.

Also, this fear of looking like a bodybuilder is absurd. First of all, women don't naturally contain enough of the muscle building hormone in their body that we know as testosterone. The women that are freakish looking are more than likely injecting something like this into their body's , as well as, spending hours and hours a week in the gym. Plus they are training their body's for size characteristics so they are getting that result. You may not like the way they look, but at least they are achieving the desired result, what are you doing?

Myth 2: "I'm just going to run off all of this excess weight." (Truth) Yes, you can run to burn off excess weight, but you can actually burn off excess lean muscle mass as well. Lean muscle mass is the very ingredient that burns off fat! If you are burning away the ingredient that burns away your fat then what? What happens is that you may lose weight but look like what I call a skinny fat person. In other words, your body is smaller but there is no definition, your skin is loose, and you have no muscular defining curves.

You can look at yourself one of two ways. You can be thinner and fitter or thinner and plain. Remember that your body will develop the way you train it. Strength training to increase a lean body is the truthful answer to your questions about these workout myths.

Read More

Cardio Tips

Here are 3 cardio workout tricks to lose belly fat

1. Do high intensity cardio workouts - Most people judge their own workouts by how long they are, believing that the longer they stay on the treadmill or elliptical the better. However, that is far from the case. The true measure of any workout is the intensity of it, meaning how much effort did this workout place on your body.

The more intense the workout, the more fat it will help you burn, regardless of its length. You can actually shave off minutes of workout time and still get an excellent workout.

2. Do your cardio after weight training - A good workout has its order. Weight training comes first, cardio later. It may not seem important but it is. It helps to avoid injury, keeps you weight training workouts better, and helps you to lose more stomach fat.

3. Do interval cardio workouts - Interval workouts mean that you constantly change the pace of the workout. For 2 minutes you're going hard, then you take it easy for 2-3 minutes. You then increase the pace again, slow it again, and more of the same. This works out your cardiovascular system over a range of intensities and provides a more versatile and effective workout. It will also help you to burn more flab.

Read More