Frankfurt city – known as city of Banks

Frankfurt, the German city which is also known as the City of Banks  because it is home to nearly 300 banks including Germany’s Central Bank, the Bundesbank, is also renowned the world over as an important trade fair city. In fact the city hosts and offers numerous venues for trade shows, trade fairs, exhibitions and conventions which held in Frankfurt all throughout the year.

However one of the most important trade fairs that is held in Frankfurt every year is the world’s premier literary event, the Frankfurt Book Fair which attracts more than 7,300 exhibitors from over 100 different countries. Publishers, writers, booksellers, printers, electronic publishers and book lovers all converge on Frankfurt during the month of October every year for the Frankfurt Book Fair which is usually held at the Congress of the Messe Frankfurt, the premier Trade Fair body in Frankfurt that organizes numerous trade shows all year round.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is known to attract more than 280,000 visitors of which 180,000 are trade visitors alone who generally include publishers, writers, booksellers, printers, electronic publishers and  literary agents who visit the fair to preview new books, promote publishing products and trade rights and licenses. Aside from books, comics, audio books, calendars, DVDs and other multimedia products like E-readers are also showcased at the Frankfurt Book Fair which also features numerous interactive events like forums, seminars and workshops.

If you are a publisher, bookseller or simply a booklover who is planning a visit the Frankfurt Book Fair, from a US city then perhaps you would want to consider availing of business class travel for the event. The Frankfurt Book Fair is usually held over four days, during which it hosts nearly 2900 events and if you don’t want to waste a single minute of valuable book fair time then a cheap business class seat to Frankfurt should  constitute your passage to the world’s greatest literary congregation. A business flight to Frankfurt will ensure that you will arrive in this bustling city, well rested and ready to tackle the mobs at the fair.

Moreover contrary to popular opinion a business class fare to Frankfurt need not be prohibitive for several airlines that routinely serve Frankfurt’s international airport themselves offer business class deals for the book fair and other events that are regularly hosted in Frankfurt. It is worth scooping out this discount business class fares to Frankfurt for they are likely to afford you all the luxuries of regular business flights to Frankfurt without the hefty price tag.

However if  by chance you are unable to land such a cheap business class airfare to Frankfurt, it is worth remembering that your next best option to secure  discount business class airfares to Frankfurt is through an airfares consolidator. Airfares consolidators often have a whole host of cheap business class airfares to several global destinations by way of their exclusive consolidator contracts with various airlines and can usually offer you business class discounts which often amount to 70% of a regular business class fare.

Once you have got to Frankfurt via your discount business class fare, you can then immerse yourself in the many events of the Frankfurt Book Fair without wasting much time on recovering from jet lag and such.

Each year the Fair choose a country’s literary heritage to be showcased at the fair and then that particular country takes center stage as it offers concerts, performances and readings by its leading literary lights.

Over the years  the Frankfurt Book Fair has also become aware of its environmental obligations and steps are taken to making the fair as ‘green’ as possible by making exhibitors and attendees aware of their  environmental responsibilities. Some of the sustainable measures introduced at the recent Frankfurt Book

Fairs include:-

• Cut backs on drinking water and electricity consumption and air-conditioning
• Conserving energy with the use of alternative energy sources like solar energy and eco-electricity
• Encouraging visitors and exhibitors to use public transport  to  visit the fair
• Introduction of recycling initiatives at the Frankfurt Book Fair
• Offering locally grown and sourced foodstuffs at the food outlets of the Fair
• Using reusable crockery at  the Fair's various catering facilities

Best Vegetarian Restaurants in Beijing

Beijing, the capital of China is city whose importance on the world stage grows daily thanks to the buoyant Chinese economy.  The city as result receives a constant influx of visitors who either head to Beijing for work or for tourism wherein they take in its several historic sites like the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and the Summer Palace and now the various Olympic sites like the Olympic Park, the National Stadium (also known as the Bird’s Nest) and the Water Cube, all of which played a vital role in the successful hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games which firmly entrenched Beijing on the tourist map.

If  you have always desired to visit China and are considering a visit to Beijing anytime soon then you should be aware that  your journey to Beijing from the US is likely to be an extremely long haul one which could extend over sixteen hours. Moreover if you have only a limited vacation time and want to make maximum use of it you might want to consider investing in business airline tickets to Beijing for your journey.

Business class travel to Beijing will afford you certain luxuries like convertible seats that morph into fully flat beds so that you can rest for the entire trans-continental journey to Beijing. This amenity can thus help you arrive at your destination well rested and ready to take in the sights. This facility actually goes a long way in enhancing the quality of your vacation as you would probably be spared any jet lag or fatigues which are the byproducts of such a lengthy journey. The regular price of business class seats to Beijing may scare you into abandoning the idea but you should not give up so quickly for cheap business flights to Beijing do exist and once you track them down they can considerably improve the quality of your trip.

The best way for your to locate these discount airfares to Beijing is to partner with a well respected airfares consolidator as he almost always has a wide assortment of business class deals  to various destinations due to exclusive consolidator contracts with airlines. A consolidator can help you procure a cheap business class seat to Beijing which may in all probability cost 70% less than a normal business class ticket to Beijing. However these cheap business class airfares to Beijing are not lacking in any way as they have all the various amenities of regular business class fares along with additional facilities like mileage accrual and pre-flight selection.

Travelers often worry about their dietary needs when they travel to foreign cities and if you are a vegan or even a vegetarian, you might have concerns about the availability of appropriate food on your vacation to Beijing since Chinese cuisine is predominantly known to consist of meat and seafood dishes. However you need not fear for Beijing is equipped with several excellent restaurants that serve both vegan and vegetarian fare.

Some of the most highly rated vegetarian restaurants in Beijing include:-

Samadhi Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea House

Second Floor, Shifanghaoting, 16 Xinyuan Nanlu

Corner of Xindong Lu and Xinyuan Nanlu

Sanlitun Area

Phone: +861084531644

This restaurant which is located on the second floor of ordinary office building has the appearance of a tea house and sports a minimalist look. Samadhi offers a menu that features pure vegetarian food and is devoid of the faux meats which are so popular at other vegetarian joints in Beijing. Samadhi’s menu in fact features many innovative vegetarian preparations like braised tofu skin with mixed mushrooms and Tian Mu Shan hand-stripped bamboo shoots which are prepared from locally sourced ingredients.

Bodhi- Sake

10-16 Heiyaochang Jie

Xuanwu District

Phone:+861063542889

Bodhi-Sake restaurant has an interesting location housed as it is in the courtyard of a Buddhist temple. The restaurant has a peaceful ambience which is accentuated with mood lighting and meditative music. Bodhi-Sake is known for its delectable faux-meat preparations like Peking duck. Do make sure you visit the temple, library, and art studio which are located behind the restaurant when you dine here.

Still Thoughts

18-4 Dafosi Dongjie, Yuqun Hutong,

Wangfujing

Phome:+861064008941

This restaurant is located in an indigenous Hutong in Beijing and it is especially popular with the expats in Beijing who enjoy its ‘show and tell’ picture album-like extensive menu which makes it easy to indicate the dishes that you want to order if you don’t speak Mandarin. Still Thoughts also happens to be extremely easy on the wallet as it is considered to be one of the cheapest vegetarian restaurants in Beijing.

Aside from these above mentioned restaurants Beijing also has several outlets of the noted international vegan chain, Loving Hut which was founded by the followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai, an advocate for vegetarian living and the city is also home to another fast expanding vegetarian fast food chain, Tianchu Miaoxiang Vegetarian which currently has two branches in Beijing.

Barcelona awakened your desire to visit

If the recent Spanish victory at the FIFA World Cup 2010 awakened your desire to visit Spain, then perhaps you should consider beginning your journey in the vivacious Catalan city of Barcelona. This city which is located in the autonomous Spanish community of Catalonia is often considered to be a gateway to the famed Spanish coastal region of Costa Brava though the city itself offers numerous sights and several delightful experiences which should definitely feature on any visit to Spain journey.

Getting to Barcelona is also quite easy for the city’s El Prat de Llobregat Airport (BCN) welcomes a whole host of regular as well as low cost carriers.  However your journey to Barcelona from the US is sure to involve a long haul, trans-Atlantic flight which may involve one or more stops and the best way to avoid the exhaustion and drudgery associated with such a long haul journey is to find discounted business class airfares to Barcelona for your vacation.   Cheap business class flights to Barcelona definitely do exist and if you are smart you definitely can manage to secure some great business class deals to Barcelona.

 It’s a well known fact that no two travelers who sit side by side on an aircraft have paid the same amount of money for their tickets; while one may have paid the full published fare the other may have secured his/her seat a deep discount.  Similarly cheap business class tickets to Barcelona can be found if you know where to look for them. In fact many a time airlines themselves offer cheap business seats through flash sales and other social media tools.

However if these deals pass by you, you can always try your luck with reputable airfares consolidator who almost always has a ready supply of business fares to several worldwide destinations. These airfares consolidators are essentially ticket brokers who deal directly with airlines to negotiate prices which are often 70% lower than the airlines’ published prices.  Airfare consolidator contracts are usually awarded to those companies which have an established track record in selling fares and do huge volumes of business as they can almost always guarantee the airline regular, repeat business.

Traveling in business class to Barcelona will ensure that you will arrive at your destination well rested and ready to take in the sights for business class travel affords you many luxurious amenities like fully flat beds, excellent personalized service and copious amounts of good food and wine.

 In certain cases these business class flights may also provide you with free ground transportation transfers to and from your abode in Barcelona.  You can then almost immediately begin work your way through the city’s many enchanting and world famous sights like its renowned pedestrianised, tree lined promenade of La Rambla which is flanked by the Barri Gotic ( an ancient fortified Roman settlement which today consists of  a maze of narrow streets and alleys and has within its folds attractions like the magnificent Cathedral le Seu) and El Raval which is Barcelona’s party central district which is populated by bars, clubs, restaurants and art galleries.

Also on the must-do in Barcelona list are the city’s many Gaudi-themed landmarks which were created by the city’s native son, the world famous architect Antoni Gaudi who was responsible for the city’s most renowned attractions like the Parc Guell (a fantastic sculpture park) and the incomplete but still fascinating La Sagrada Familia or the Church of the Holy Family, Barcelona’s largest church which was begun by Gaudi in 1882. 

For Museum lovers Barcelona offers several options in the form of Museu d’Història de la Ciutat which has  exhibits from the subterranean Roman settlement, Barcino, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) which is  housed in  a  Richard Meir designed building  and has displays of magnificent 20th century contemporary works and  the Museo Picasso features the artist’s many early works and for those tourists who cannot resist the temptations of  local markets, Barcelona offers its world  famous main market,  Mercat de La Boqueria known simply as La Boqueria which offers a smorgasbord of culinary adventures.

Iconic Delhi Street Foods

Delhi, the capital city of India, has a rich history which dates back several centuries.  This city which functioned as a seat of power for the various invaders of northern India down the ages also boasts of a varied culinary landscape that bears several influences. If you are at all curious about this native cuisine of Delhi then it is worth exploring its various nooks and crannies which offer a veritable treasure trove of delicious eats.

Parathas at Parathewali gully

In one of the meandering alleyways of Chandini Chowk in Old Delhi, is the city’s famous Parathewali Gully which is renowned for its stalls that sell soft fluffy Indian breads stuffed with vegetables like bitter  gourd, okra, potatoes, radish, mint and many more.  The most famous vendor located here is Pandit Kanhaiyalal Durga Parshad Dixit’s store whose family has been in the business since the mid-19th century and whose parathas  have been consumed by the who’s who of Delhi over the years.

Jalebis

Jalebi is an Indian sweet which is made by deefrying  chickpea batter and then soaking it in syrup. Jalebis are found in several sweet shops all over India but most folk aver that the ones that are served at the Old and Famous Jalebiwala in Chandini  Chowk are undoubtedly ‘the best’ in India.

Alloo Kulla

Alloo Kullas refer to a dish that features boiled potatoes that are scooped out and filled with chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, mint chutney and lemon juice. This delicious and wholesome morsel is best sampled at the shop of  Bhishan Swaroop which  is also located in Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi.

Papdi Chaat, Fruit Chaat and Gol Guppa

Chaat is a favored Delhi street food which comes in various permutations and combinations. Most  variations of chaat feature crispy, deep fried chickpea batter wafers called papdis which are combined with yogurt, lentils, boiled potato and sweet , spicy and tangy sauces. Fruit chaat is yet another variation of chaat which features seasonal fruits that are seasoned with lemon juice, spices and rock salt along with other flavorings while Gol Guppa chaat features balloon like shells which are filled with mung beans, boiled potato cubes and are filled with spicy flavored water.  One of the best places in Delhi to sample these various chaats is at Bengali Sweet Market near Connaught Place in the heart of the city.

Rabri Falooda

This cold treat is a choice Indian dessert that features reduced milk, rose syrup, vermicelli, tapioca seeds and milk. This delicious dessert is best sampled at Gianiji’s Falooda which is also located in Chandni Chowk and has been delighting its patrons since 1947 with its famed mouth watering treats.

If you are heading out to Delhi for business or leisure, you should plan on penciling these street foods on your must-do itinerary for they represent a not be missed experience. However if you are traveling to Delhi from the US your journey is bound to include a tedious long haul journey which can be made infinitely more pleasurable if  you can get to travel business class.

There are various ways to score discount business class airfares though you almost always have to plan your journey sufficiently in advance as the cheapest business class tickets usually sell out the fastest. Though it may be also possible to secure business class deals at a later stage from an airfares consolidator as they usually manage to get a whole bunch of cheap business airfares from the airlines themselves which then they offer to their regular clients.