Donna Dailey's Blog
Posted by Donna Dailey
The opening date for the Grand Canyon Skywalk has been announced for March 28, 2007. See my article by clicking here, for further details, but the full and exciting story behind the development of the Skywalk can be read at the National Geographic website by clicking here.
Posted by Donna Dailey
New Mexico cuisine is unique. Don't even mention Tex-Mex, but think something more subtle. It combines Mexican spices with Spanish flavors and the best ingredients the Southwest can offer. Santa Fe is full of good restaurants, but the night we dined at La Mancha, at the Galisteo Inn - that was a night to remember.
We began in the bar, where the bartender Raphael told us about the latest film crew to have kept him busy. See my Article about the movies made around Galisteo by clicking here. Raphael mixed a mean margarita, and we eyed up the tapas menu. It would be a shame to pass up treats like portobello mushrooms simmered in sherry with garlic and fresh herbs, or saffron crab cakes with a spicy red pepper sauce. And wow, we're glad we were greedy.
Over in La Mancha, the chef's nervous. He comes in to say hello and tells us a local restaurant critic is due in. La Mancha wins all kinds of accolades. Conde Nast Traveller chose it as one of their 26 'Hot Tables' nationwide in May, 2006. Then in July Bon Appetite included La Mancha in 'Ten of our favorite dining spots in vacation destinations around the country.'
Sample the food, and you know what they mean. It's the kind of menu where you want to try every single dish. Should we have the smoked duck quesadilla with roasted pineapple salsa, or maybe another helping of those divine saffron crab cakes, which also appear on the restaurant menu? Yes, they were so good. I know my husband will have the grilled tenderloin of beef (which is melt-in-the-mouth tender, he says), so I choose the pistachio-crusted grouper, with champagne-poached grapes and grilled asparagus. It's perfectly cooked and the flavors fabulous.
We finish off with one helping of Spanish cheesecake made with anise and a strawberry sauce, which is from a 15th century recipe, and one aptly named Chocolate Decadence. Over at another table the restaurant critic and his wife are talking to the chef and smiling. It's clear from the look on his face that the Galisteo Inn's La Mancha has won yet another accolade. And I'm not arguing.
For a look at the Galisteo Inn and chef Enrique Guerrero's latest menu of "Nuevo Hacienda" cuisine, click here.
Posted by Donna Dailey
If you're a travel writer, tour operator or involved with the travel industry in any way, there's one annual event on your calendar that's bigger than Christmas: World Travel Market. It takes place in London every November, and exhibitors from all around the world converge at the Excel Centre for a week of non-stop meeting, greeting, marketing and, of course, partying! And why not? When it comes to travel, there's a lot to celebrate.
World Travel Market has been going for 27 years and this year was the biggest ever, with over 5,000 exhibitors representing 202 countries. And there was record attendance of well over 48,000 visitors from the travel trade. It all goes to show that people are traveling the world like never before.
And international travel is only going to get bigger. This week Los Angeles announced the opening of its new Los Angeles Tourism Office in Beijing, making it the first city in the world to open a permanent tourism office in China. Chinese visitors to Los Angeles are expected to grow by 46 percent over the next two years.
Amid a whirl of colorful costumes, entertainers, arts, crafts, food and drink, World Travel Market shows off all this wide, wonderful world has to offer curious travelers. I, of course, headed straight for the Americas section to meet the representatives from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and Hawaii.
I met up with old friends from Denver and Santa Fe. California's stand stole the show with a clever replica of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. But I came away from every stand with loads of exciting ideas and new attractions to whet your appetite for travel in Southwest USA and Hawaii.
After a busy opening day, I headed off into the sunset for an evening of Margarita Madness with the folks from Arizona. Nothing washes off the trail dust like a prickly pear margarita – but that's another story.
