This is a destination that had me exclaiming, “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about this before?” Chances are you’ve never heard of Pamukkale’s travertine slopes even though they tend to overwhelm first-time visitors. What appears to be a sheer cliff of snow rising above the plains of central Turkey is actually the “Cotton Castle” – a mountain coated with calcified carbonate and thermal hot springs bubbling through it.
Many hotels fancy themselves as “Grand” and “Royal,” but in the case of Vienna’s Hotel Imperial, the description can be taken literally.
With indelible memories of a visit several decades ago, I planned a return to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, where Irish lore and history is preserved in a lovely landscape setting. Rescued and restored by Lord and Lady Gort in the 1950s, medieval Bunratty Castle – ancient seat of the O’Briens and Macnamaras – is surrounded by a picturesque history park that was launched to preserve an antique home threatened with demolition during runway extension at nearby Shannon Airport.
In a recovering country, “luxury” is a relative matter. And on those terms, the five-star Baghdad Hotel is one of Iraq’s luxury hotels.