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londonlover   
One does evil enough when one does nothing good. --German Proverb


Real Name: Tara
Lives In: Chicago, US
Birth Date: July 10, 1979
Member Since: Mar 04, 2001
Last Login: May 19, 2008   01:52 UTC
Member's Time: May 20, 2008   14:34 CDT
VT Rank: 562
Deals Rank: Unranked
Travel Interests: Historical Trip, Castle/Palace, Museum, Music, National/State Park



 > View Larger Map
Chicago, US  98  118
New York City, US  52  109
London, UK  67  74
Washington D.C., US  28  65
Boston, US  24  25
California, US  22  20
Liverpool, UK  19  19
Broadway, UK  19  19
York, UK  16  17
» more...
 

Page Views: 15,209            

Onward and upward...

by londonlover - last update: Oct 28, 2007

Life of a Travel Fanatic

Soaking up the local color in Venice...
Confession of a VT addict:
2007 marks my sixth year as a VT member! I've been on-line nearly every day since I joined, except those times I've actually been on trips. Is that sad or impressive? I'm not quite sure myself. ;)

I was lucky enough to take three great trips this year -- the first was a trip to Yankees Spring Training in Tampa, the next to my second "home" of New York City, the third an amazing return trip to England.
Hanging out with Lillian at a B&B in the Cotswolds

The Thrill of Travel and the Joy of VT

I have such fond memories of my travels, and especially my second visit to the UK, in Spring 2004... My most complete UK pages are London, Paris, Bath, Broadway, Edinburgh, and York. I took nearly 600 pictures on the trip! However, even I haven't had the drive to upload them all to VT, so I just chose the best of them for you. :)

I am happy to help you out if you're planning a trip to my hometown of Chicago or many other places around the USA or UK--just ask!

However...please note that I'm not inclined to reply to questions or comments from people who post no information about themselves or their travels on their own VT homepages (or those who never even acknowledge a detailed response to a question they've asked through email or in a forum). VT is a travel community, and as most of us know and appreciate, we all have the responsibility (and privilege!) to help each other out with travel plans. This works both ways--so if you want to know something about a place you're going to see, please share a little of your own knowledge in return. Makes sense, right?

What's new on my VT pages?

NEWEST PAGES:


York, Broadway, AND Bath, England


MOST RECENTLY UPDATED PAGES:


*New York City (June 2006) -- New restaurant, must-see, general, and lodging tips, plus travelogues.

*Washington, D.C. (April 2005) --
Added much new information and many photos from my April trip to the nation's capital.



MOST THOROUGH PAGES: Chicago, New York, and London

MOST RECENT TRIPS:
Florida -- March 2007
Orange County, California -- December 2006
Varenna/Venice/Rome/Positano/Milan, Italy -- September 2006 (details to come!)
New York City -- May 2006
Banff, Alberta -- July 2005
Orange County -- December 2005

FUTURE TRAVEL SCHEDULE
New York City/New Jersey--May 2007
With my aunt and sister in San Juan Capistrano
Chocolate Buffet, Chicago

For the love of food!


You'll notice throughout my VT pages that I tend to take a lot of pictures of restaurants and food. :) I love to eat, and I love various cuisines, and fun or unusual places to dine. I appreciate a great value when dining out, but I will also splurge occasionally if the time and place warrants an exception.

Also, I don't drink, so you won't find tips on bars or clubs in my pages. I honestly don't understand why people spend their trips bar-hopping. You're on vacation!...See the sites, take pictures, savor the local food, soak up the local flavor...don't waste your time getting drunk and not even remembering what you did. But that's just my opinion. :)

Keeping things sane on VT...(my two cents)

I also want to drop a gentle reminder that VT is not a political forum, not is it a place to parade your opinion about controversial world events, policies, or politicians. There's a place for that type of discussion, and I'm all for free speech, being keenly interested in political activity myself. However, if you have something overtly political to say, (i.e., speaking out against a controversial current issue, not just commenting on political history), then I suggest that you make a non-VT homepage of your own, using a free service like tripod.com, and fire away. Provide a link to that site on VT if you want (you'll see I've done so myself), but please keep inflammatory remarks off what should be a pleasant, non-confrontational VT experience. Many times I will browse VT homepages, become irritated at a member's overt promotion of a political stance with which I disagree, and then find it difficult to even appreciate their travel pages after that. We don't need that kind of distraction on a community dedicated to travel, nor do we need offensive comments made on each others' pages. So please just stick to describing the beauty of exploring other cultures, geography, history, and nature, and sharing what you've learned with all of us eager armchair travelers!
Abbotsbury, Dorset
Enjoy the journey, but wear good shoes!

P.S. This is not eHarmony.com! :)


I also feel I must add that VT is not a dating service. While some members may use it as such, I hope that most of us single VT members are only here to celebrate travel, share helpful tips, and discuss related topics with other travelers--not to surrepticiously flirt with people all around the globe under the guise of travel and tourism. Just because I'm single doesn't mean I'm on VT to find a guy, so please don't send me emails out of the blue inferring anything of the sort, ok? Thanks. :)

The Best of Tara's Travels!



Best "Old" Architecture: London
Best "New" Architecture: Chicago
Best Ancient Architecture: Rome
Most Charming Architecture: Paris
Best Restaurants: Le Sept, Edinburgh; Tilley's Bistro, Bath; La Cambusa, Positano, Italy
Best Food Cafe: Cafe Lalo, New York City
Best French Patisserie: Angelina's in Paris
Best Italian Bakeries: Bova's Bakery and Napoli Pastry--North End, Boston
Best Espresso: Caffe Sant' Eustachio--Rome, Italy
Best Cannoli: Veniero's, New York City
Best Gelato: Gellateria della Palma--Rome, Italy
Best Indian Food: Bombay Club, Washington, D.C.
Best Frozen Banana: Dad's on Balboa Island, California
Best Beach: Race Point--Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Best Urban Beach: North Avenue Beach, Chicago
Best Rock Formations: Bryce Canyon, Utah
Best Mountains: Colorado Rockies
Prettiest Lake: Lake Como, Italy
Most Serene Countryside: East Sussex and the Cotswolds, England
Best Public Transportation: London
Best Lakefront Scenery: Chicago
Best Museum: The Met, New York City; The Art Institute, Chicago
Best History: Rome, Italy
Best Drive: Coast Road from Sorrento to Positano, Italy
Best Footpath: The Cotswold Way, north end
Best Clothes Shopping: London and New York
Best Skyline: Chicago
Most Impressive Monument: Statue of Liberty, New York
Best Fall Colors: Door County, Wisconsin
Platform "9 3/4" at Kings Cross, London
With my sister and Rupert Jee of the Hello Deli

A wee bit about me

Everyone wants to know the person behind the tips, right? I think the focus on VT should be the tips themselves rather than the authors, but here's the short version of me: I'm 27, native to Chicagoland, and a physical therapist. Besides travel, my main interests are Bible study, music (playing violin and piano), classic literature and cooking!


My Favorites:
Food -- Italian, Greek, Indian, Mexican, and dessert (yes, it is a food group in my book)
Music -- Classical, Celtic, Paul McCartney, the Beatles, classic rock, U2, Mana, Sting, Eros Ramazotti
Authors -- Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, JK Rowling, JR Tolkein
Sports Teams -- New York Yankees (GO YANKS!!), Detroit Pistons (lifelong fan), Scotland Rugby
Websites:
The Hunger Site
Pictures of England
Rick Steves

londonlover's Albums
Title [Click to view]Travel YearPictures
Snapshots of Family and Favorite Memories- 8

Comments for londonlover
Roalera26 Thu Mar 6, 2008 13:10 UTC
 Hola...como estás
deecat Sat Dec 22, 2007 09:17 UTC
 Hope that you and your wonderful family have a lovely Holiday and that 2008 brings you more travel adventures and much happiness.
Fullmoonfever Wed Nov 21, 2007 03:33 UTC
 Hi Tara. I love da windy city!
michaelxxx Fri Oct 19, 2007 02:57 UTC
 I agree, people on Vt should share some information about themselves, because we are a travel group! love the pictures! Great tips you shared! keep it up! hope you can view read my homepage too! Michael :)
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