The Hot Spots Holiday

Everyone has a favorite place for holiday. The destination depends on people’s habits. For one person is interesting something for all family, for another are sun, sea or sangria of great importance.

But which holiday resorts are the hot spots on summer? A lot of people are going to Spain, Tenerife and the Balearic Islands. Also the Greek islands, like Corfu, are very popular. The most Russian tourists like going to the Mediterranean, especially Turkey. The sightseeing’s great. Turkey is a real mix of East and West with some beautiful architecture and, of course, great beaches.

Turkey has a lot of resorts, for example, Kas. Kas is very interesting resort because you can go on cruises and also visit the Greek ruins. But in Bodrum there are more hotels. Bodrum is very popular, but there are other smaller places in the Mediterranean and inland that are more interesting. One of Turkey’s most famous attractions is Pamakkale. The name Pamukkale means “Cotton Castle” because it looks like it’s made out of snow or cotton. It’s because minerals in the water make the rock look white. But you can’t swim in the water. The area is protected now by a UNESCO program. This means you can visit the hot springs, but you can’t lie or swim in the pools. You can swim at any of the spa hotels through – they use water that comes directly from the springs.

With its endless Bazaars, markets, shops and stalls, Istanbul is a souvenir hunter’s paradise. If you are seeking a bargain, jewellery and leather can be worth interesting in. The largest market in the world is the Grand Bazaar. The Grande Bazaar contains about 4, 000 shops. You can buy different handicrafts (jewellery boxes crafted from wood or bone make unusual souvenirs). Blue glass-eye pendants are very popular – the jewellery includes pendants made from gold, silver and other materials. A simple blue glass eye is said to protect you from evil. The tourists like Turkish delight such as halva and baklava.

Besides you can buy the most beautiful carpets in the world. Most of the carpets offered for sale will be almost new. Antique carpets are more expensive. Ceramics form is a major part of Turkey’s artistic tradition. The style varies according to the area of origin. Turkish pipes are also very popular for tourists from all the word. Classic nargiles (bubble pipes) are still used by older Turkish men. They make attractive ornaments even if you do not smoke.

1. What makes Turkey a popular holiday destination?

1. What kind of tourist attractions can find the tourist in Turkey?

2. What does Pamukkale mean in Turkish?

3. What is the Grand Bazaar?

4. What kind of gifts or souvenirs would you buy in Instanbul’s markets?

Winter Holidays

What can the people do in winter? The answer is very easy: there are a lot of winter sports, for example, down hill and cross-country skiing, skating, snowmobiling, tobogganing, curling, ice hockey, snowboarding etc. But for all winter sports people need special equipment such as helmets, goggles, gloves, a ski pass, skis, bindings, a ski jacket, poles and boots or a snowboard. When you have this equipment, you can enjoy winter holidays. The USA and Canada are very good places for winter sports and winter holidays. American winters are long and hard: in more than two-thirds of the country, the average January temperature is a shivering -18°C (-0.4°F). Canada has a reputation of being a cold country but because Whistler is not far from the Pacific Ocean, temperatures stay quite mild. Even in the middle of winter, temperatures don’t often fall below -15ºC.

The Rocky Mountains, which border the USA and Canada, are a major venue for skiers and lovers of winter sports. The ranges are huge (the peaks average 3, 350 m above sea level) and they cover some 3, 220 km² from central New Mexico to north-eastern British Columbia.

The southern Rockies include some of the most famous ski centres in North America such as Vail, Aspen and Telluride. Colorado ski country attracts around eleven million skiers annually – 20 percent of the total numbers of skiers in the USA.

The ski slopes of Colorado, a sunny state known for its powder snow, are among the most difficult in the world. Over half of Vail’s 193 runs are “advanced”. There’s snowboarding here as well as downhill skiing. High-speed chairlifts for four and a number of other lifts and gondolas can take visitors to the top in record time.

Colorado has a long season. You can usually ski from late November to mild-April, depending on the weather. Mother Nature is helped by snowmaking machines. To use them, however, temperatures must be cold enough to create the correct mixture.

At the northern end of the Rockies, 120 km north of Vancouver, is North America’s number one ski resort – Whistler-Blackcomb. Whistler has 7,071 acres of skiable terrain which are served by fifteen different types of lifts and gondolas taking 30,000 skiers per hour onto the mountains. Whistler has five base stations, including a European-style village with restaurants, bars, hotels, condominium apartments and shops.

1. Can you enumerate winter sports, which you know?

1. What ski equipment do you know?

2. What are Vail, Aspen and Telluride?

3. Why are the ski slopes of Colorado difficult?

4. What makes Colorado’s ski season so long?

5. What is Mother Nature helped by?

6. What makes Colorado’s ski season so long?

7. What can you say about Whistler?

8. What is your favourite winter sport?

9. Have you ever visited any ski resorts? If the answer is positiv then share your impressions.