Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

Cherry blossom season in Japan draws tourists from all over the world for an event that captures the ephemeral nature of beauty. Throughout the country, cherry blossoms erupt in astonishing color in the spring for a very short time, and tourists flock to various cities from January to June to view the cultural event that Japanese citizens have celebrated for more than a thousand years.

Forecasts for Likely Viewing Times

Wind, weather and temperatures affect the dates when trees begin to blossom. Forecasts for 2013 include the following dates provided by the Japanese Weather Association:

Location

Begins

Best Viewing Dates

Aomori April 24 April 29 to May 6
Fukushima April 10 April 15 to April 22
Hiroshima March 24 April 1 to April 9
Hakodate May 1 May 5 to May 12
Kanazawa April 2 April 8 to April 15
Kyoto March 25 April 1 to April 10
Nagoya March 24 March 31 to April 8
Tokyo March 25 April 1 to April 10

Hanami Festivals Highlight Flowering Romance

Hanami is the Japanese custom of taking time to view flowers, and cherry blossoms in full bloom create one of the world’s most spectacular tourist attractions. Retirees, frequent travelers and professional couples can enjoy viewing the blossoms at different times in various Japanese cities, rekindling romances, taking part in a world-class celebration of the arts and enjoying the company of similar people who take an interest in the finer humanistic disciplines.

You can choose from formal tours, personal travel or pick a favorite hotel to combine festival visits, trips to tourist attractions and cherry blossom viewing activities to get the most from your vacation. In fact, you need not worry too much about exact dates because fast train rides can get you quickly to the best areas for viewing.

Popular festivals sites include Asukayama Park, above JR Oji Station in Tokyo, and Koishikawa Botanical Garden near Hakusan and Myogadani Stations, and both events take place in early April in 2013. Popular areas to consider for your trip include Marunouchi and Shinjuku Tokyo
and the Ginza hotel.

The Golden Route Tour

The Golden Route of Japan tours of Tokyo and Kyoto offer visits to cultural landmarks, shopping destinations and flowering gardens amidst historical shrines, temples and Japan’s unique architecture.

Symbol of the Transient Nature of Life

Trips to see the flowering cherry trees in spring make very romantic honeymoons and wedding anniversaries, and arts aficionados will enjoy the astonishing array of festivals, parades, cultural events and gallery showings. Blossoming cherry trees have carved their place as an enduring symbol of Japanese beauty and artistic expression.

Passover Traditions Around the World

Every year, the Jewish community celebrates Passover to mark the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.  In the Hebrew calendar, Passover begins at sunset on the 15th of Nisan and lasts 8 full days. (The Seder, or traditional Passover service and meal, is held on the first and second nights.) Although the corresponding Western date changes every year, it usually starts in March or April. Passover is a time for both celebration and reflection, and as is the case with most holidays of any faith, traditions vary around the world.

In Poland, Hasidic Jews use their living rooms to recreate the crossing of the Red Sea. Once they reach the seventh day, each Jewish family starts the reenactment by pouring water on the floor and hiking up their coats. As they walk through the water, they name each town that they would have passed during the crossing. In addition, they also give thanks to God for helping them reach Poland.

The Jewish people who live in Afghanistan have a unique tradition involving whips. During the holiday, they use scallions to whip themselves gently. The whipping process symbolizes the way Jewish people were treated by Egyptian slave drivers. Many Afghan Jews now live in Queens, New York; so, this unique holiday tradition is expanding.

Jewish celebrants in Gibraltar crush a small section of a brick into their charoset – a sweet dish of diced apples, dates, and spices served during the Seder feast and used to symbolize the mortar used in construction by Jewish slaves in Egypt. Sometimes, people also add olives to the Seder plate (shown in the photo above) to represent their wishes for hope in the Middle East. Nowadays, some activists add an orange to the middle of their plate to symbolize the need for better inclusion of women, gays and lesbians into Jewish rituals.

During the Seder feast in Spain, Sephardic Jews have a unique tradition involving the first-born son. Each family has their first-born son consume a roasted egg. The son does this to show appreciation for being spared during the 10th plague, the slaying of the first-born.

Wherever you are, a Seder is a wonderful way to celebrate Passover, or to learn about it for the the first time. Let us know how you plan to celebrate Passover by leaving a comment!

Heart Healthy Hotels

Some hotels can be hard on your wallet, but no hotel should ever be hard on your heart. February is National American Heart Health Month, so consider giving your ticker a little TLC and visit these hotels that are doing their part to keep you happy and healthy.

Super Bowl Spotlight: New Orleans

If you’re one of the lucky 76,468 people with tickets to the Super Bowl this year, chances are you’ve already got a room booked, and you’ll be spending a few days in New Orleans.  You’ve got your Sunday pretty much figured out, but how should you spend the rest of your time? I spoke to my friend Vanessa, a native of New Orleans, and she had these suggestions for me.

The Best Cozy Hotels

What we want from an overnight can and does vary from season to season. A pool, a cabana, and a cheerful hotel employee spritzing guests with scented spring water might be a slice of all right come July, but in wintertime it is all about the toddy. Well, sipping a hot toddy next to a fireplace while bundled in something snuggly and February-ready. But where does one fully get his or her toddy on come the briskest weeks of the year? There are several snug-but-swanky lodges around the country that have perfected the art of the snuggle-up chill-down.

The Resort at Paws Up: Not only does this well-known, well-regarded, and well-everything-else Montana destination boast the cutest of names, but it carries its animal-sweet aesthetic through to its popular wintertime activities. Dog-sledding is at the top of the list – an energetic, tongue-waggy team really pulls you past frozen meadows and icicle-laden trees – but horse-drawn sleigh rides are popular as well. Yep, you’ll dream of getting back to your cabin fireplace for cozy time, but snuggling up in a sleigh to a close friend is a close second.

Lake Placid Lodge: When people think “winter lodge” they tend not to think of glass and steel and ultra-modern. They want a rustic, woodsy fairyland of a getaway, warm of winter and crackling of fire. This lake-close New York State landmark is so much all of those things that it almost looks as if it sprung, fully formed, from a winter-whimsical romance novel. The quintessential Adirondacks-y activities are plentiful, including the nightly snow bonfire, but you might want to stay cuddled close to the inside logs, talking of Olympians past (Lake Placid, of course, hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1980.)

Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge: It’s one of Colorado’s most historic properties, no doubt; one glance at the hefty building’s fancy and slightly foreboding lines says this was a place built in the 1800s. Visitors come to happily hibernate in a well-built building, of course, but they also have a certain steamy very large aquatic feature in mind: Glenwood’s world-famous year-round swimmin’ hole.  A spring feeds three-and-a-half million (!) gallons into the pool every day. And swimmers care not if it is zero degrees outside; the steamy hotness of an afternoon swim keeps the wicked winter at bay.

The Ahwahnee: The Yosemite National Park stone-and-wood-laden masterpiece may have just about the best location in the annals of spectacular hotel settings, but winter visitors do indeed come to lounge in front of the oversized fireplace and linger over morning coffee in the dining room, a room that could double as the Great Hall from “Harry Potter.” Bonus wintertime cred: Designers for “The Shining” borrowed a lot of the lodge’s Native American touches. The elevators, too, are quite cinematic.

L’Auberge de Sedona: The Grand Canyon State is frequently portrayed as a hot and sunny place, but visitors to this creek-close luxe-laden getaway know differently. You want to cozy-it-up in this higher clime, when you’re not out admiring how snowflakes settle atop Sedona’s supernaturally beautiful red rocks. Fireplaces, a posh spa, and detail-driven rooms complete the winter picture. Go for the wood-burning fireplace in the Creekside Cottage.