How important are recommendations whenever you travel? Would you rather hear one from a travel expert or from someone you know? Or are you interested in hearing a recommendation from someone with your same profile? Is there a compatibility index that you can actually rely on? Ever since I started traveling I have always been interested in hearing an opinion or suggestion about a dish, hotel or restaurant... I am one of those people that will almost always ask for the specials and let the waiter "sell" me something I was not thinking of eating. When I am traveling, I also like to hear what local people find to be a good choice to do.
I will never forget my first trip to Colorado where on the way from Denver Airport to Vail we stopped at a restaurant, and we asked for "typical" food and they served us nachos with cheese and guacamole. I guess that since we where a group of people talking in Spanish that is what they considered "typical" and I would like! My point is that a recommendation is always subjective to the person giving it, and to their perception of what they believe you will like. So when www.facebook.com and www.amazon.com recently started to incorporate an application that lets me see what books my friends like, what they bought or read I was quite happy, because there I saw a potential opportunity for travel information. If I could see or choose from a smaller set of options, that a simple sorting based on the characteristics of my "small world" would offer, I could probably avoid going to places my friends already considered "not interesting".
Clearly if you tell me NOT TO GO TO, or PLEASE AVOID THAT PLACE, I will surely consider it, but if you positively recommend, I might decide to go or NOT. So this situation leaves a great deal of pressure on the delivery side, as if more than 5 people "trash" your restaurant you will probably loose business, and guess what most companies are hiring freelancers to write positive reviews at sites such as tripadvisor.com , so that the negative ones, which sometimes are written by the competition loose weight.... So is this the end of the web 2.0 ? I like to see the positive side of things, so for me this is the beginning of the social web. If I see pictures of my friend enjoying himself in a hotel in Barcelona on facebook, I somehow want to join him, I don´t care about his reviews, I AM SEEING HIS REVIEW!!
At www.mondoexplorer.com we are working on this and many other interesting things because we like to travel and we like to have great experiences. So here comes my personal recommendation: Cas Gasi, in Ibiza this summer, a great small Bed and Breakfast or "Agroturismo", it is run by Margaret and I guarantee you will enjoy this part of Ibiza in August; you will be close to the action of summer madness and far away enough so you can actually relax and enjoy the last Grisham novel. Enjoy your summer!
Nicolás Visiers Würth, Editor.
Showing posts with label mondoexplorer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mondoexplorer. Show all posts
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Kala Christouyenna! Buon Natale! Joyeux Noel! Froehliche Weihnachten! Gledelig Jul! Nollaig Shona! Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
Happy Holidays from Mondo Explorer! Since this is the time of year to have fun with friends and family, take a little time to reflect on things past, and, in general, just enjoy life, here are some things that we hope will make you smile, maybe make you think a little too, and definitely get you into the holiday spirit!
Did you know that . . .
. . . it takes the average Christmas tree about 15 years to grow before it’s ready to be sold.
. . . Christmas was actually outlawed by the Puritans in Boston, Mass for a few years during the late 1600s.
. . . the legend of Santa Claus most likely originated in what we know now as modern-day Turkey some time in 280 A.D. with a monk named St. Nicholas who is said to have traveled the country helping the poor and sick. He later became known as the protector of children and sailors, and by the late 1500s, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe.
. . . the popular Christmas Poinsettia plant was first imported to the U.S. from Mexico.
. . . the first Christmas trees appeared in Strasbourg, Germany in the early 1600s and were not imported to places like the United States until the early 1800s, where it took about twenty five years to become the widespread custom that we know today.
. . . the Hanukkah dreidel, a four-sided spinning top associated with the Jewish holiday, was used by the Jews to escape persecution. When Jews gathered to study the Torah, they would bring along a dreidel to pull out in case dissenting soldiers passed by. They would quickly hide the scripture and begin spinning the top when soldiers approached, which many oftentimes spared them their lives.
. . . in some Celtic traditions, mistletoe is believed to posses magical powers, including the power to heal and to increase fertility.
Enjoy one of our holiday recipes, on the house!
Eggnog Martini (makes one):
1 oz of eggnog
1 oz of Frangelico
1 oz of vodka
2 tbsp. crushed ice
nutmeg or cinnamon for topping
Mix all ingredients and shake well in cocktail shaker. Pour through a strainer and sprinkle with your choice of nutmeg or cinnamon. If Celtic, go stand under mistletoe and wait for magical powers to begin.
Enjoy!
Did you know that . . .
. . . it takes the average Christmas tree about 15 years to grow before it’s ready to be sold.
. . . Christmas was actually outlawed by the Puritans in Boston, Mass for a few years during the late 1600s.
. . . the legend of Santa Claus most likely originated in what we know now as modern-day Turkey some time in 280 A.D. with a monk named St. Nicholas who is said to have traveled the country helping the poor and sick. He later became known as the protector of children and sailors, and by the late 1500s, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe.
. . . the popular Christmas Poinsettia plant was first imported to the U.S. from Mexico.
. . . the first Christmas trees appeared in Strasbourg, Germany in the early 1600s and were not imported to places like the United States until the early 1800s, where it took about twenty five years to become the widespread custom that we know today.
. . . the Hanukkah dreidel, a four-sided spinning top associated with the Jewish holiday, was used by the Jews to escape persecution. When Jews gathered to study the Torah, they would bring along a dreidel to pull out in case dissenting soldiers passed by. They would quickly hide the scripture and begin spinning the top when soldiers approached, which many oftentimes spared them their lives.
. . . in some Celtic traditions, mistletoe is believed to posses magical powers, including the power to heal and to increase fertility.
Enjoy one of our holiday recipes, on the house!
Eggnog Martini (makes one):
1 oz of eggnog
1 oz of Frangelico
1 oz of vodka
2 tbsp. crushed ice
nutmeg or cinnamon for topping
Mix all ingredients and shake well in cocktail shaker. Pour through a strainer and sprinkle with your choice of nutmeg or cinnamon. If Celtic, go stand under mistletoe and wait for magical powers to begin.
Enjoy!
You can also visit our Miami site for more information www.mondoexplorer.com/miami
Or Visit our Main site
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