Why Is Calpe Such A Popular Destination?

Calpe is a beautiful town, situated on the northern part of Alicante Province, on the Costa Blanca region. Once an ancient fishing village, Calpe has now become a large scale charming tourist town. Steeped in history, Calpe is a fantastic blend of ancient Valencian culture and modern culture. Even before the centuries, the place was visited and settled by many voyagers. The remains of Iberian tribes found on the place are a fine example for this. It has also been revealed that the Romans, Christians, and Moors once settled here. Its strategic location near Benidorm, which is only a 20-minute drive away, and such scenic towns as Denia makes it one of the sought-after destinations not only in Spanish regions but also in the world. In this article, we will discuss some of the prime attractions of the place.

Significant of the Calpe attractions is the Penon de Ifach a towering 332 m high rock, which is the highest in the entire Mediterranean, dividing the shorelines of Calpe into two. Penon is of immense historical significance, as its foot was earlier the site of a Roman factory for drying salt fishes, and this spot is now known as the Queen's Baths. Besides, several other interesting things are associated with this landmark. Declared a sheltered natural reserve in 1987, this rock takes after the rock of Gibraltar, and renders awe-inspiring views of Costa Blanca regions and the bays surrounding it. Also, it is home to some of the rare plants as well as sea birds.

Another great attraction of the place is its golden sandy blue flag certified beaches, including Playa de la Fossa with superb facilities such as tennis courts, children's park areas, and bowling greens, and Playa Cantal Roig a rocky as well as scenic beach. The la fossa and the bay of Gasparet are the other prominent beaches in the area.

In addition, splendid options are available for those who want to explore the history of the place, with its countryside filled with a multitude of ancient houses containing arched porticos; historic castles like the Moorish Castle overlooking the Mascarat ravine; and museums such as the Fiestas Museum and the Museum of Archeology all of them housing historic monuments and murals. Also, worth mentioning are the Calpe's old Town Walls and the ancient churches including Iglesia Vieja a classic example of the Mudejar-Gothic architecture. Calpe's attractions also cover an awesome modern marina situated along the old fishing port and Calpe fish market.

Above all, Calpe offers wonderful opportunities to enjoy an excellent range of water sport activities such as kayaking, windsurfing, yachting, and waterskiing, apart from other activities like rock climbing, trekking, sightseeing, and dining, with a chain of restaurants and bars offering delectable cuisines and savoring drinks.

By road, Calpe is easy reachable via the main highways. Further, Calpe is only a 50 minutes drive from the airport of Alicante.

Calpe's pleasant climate, scenic tourist attractions and its proximity to many of the major towns, attracts holidaymakers from across the globe.

Lee Smith writes about Calpe in Alicante, Spain

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Pregnancy and Excercising - 6 Reasons to Excercise During Pregnancy

Everyone knows that exercise is good for your health. Exercising during pregnancy can have additional benefits. Generally, exercise should be light, especially during the first few weeks of pregnancy while your body adjusts to the changes. Heavy exercise can divert blood flow from crucial areas and most women that exercise regularly should tone down their workouts during pregnancy.

walking, swimming, and yoga are two popular exercise activities suitable for pregnant women. Other forms of exercise like weight lifting are okay too as long as it is not too strenuous. most experts recommend exercising 3-4 times a week, unless a medical condition prevents it. If in doubt, always consult a physician first. Listed below are some of the top reasons for exercising during pregnancy.

1. exercise can reduce the length of labor and reduce recovery times. The right exercise routines will increase stamina needed for delivery.
2. Improve emotional health - exercise lowers stress and improves emotional health and can make it easier for the new mother to get through the experience of pregnancy.
3. exercise can help with weight management after the child is born. A common concern with most mothers is losing weight after pregnancy. Exercising during pregnancy can make postpartum weight loss easier.
4. exercise is good for your unborn baby. By keeping your body healthy, you are also helping out your baby.
5. Reduced pregnancy side effects - Symptoms like headaches, fatigue, swelling, and constipation are common in pregnant women. Exercising has been shown to reduce the occurence of these symptoms.
6. Decrease risk of premature birth - exercise has been shown in studies to decrease the risk of premature birth by about 50%.

Make sure to drink plenty of fluids before exercising, have a nutritious diet, and avoid over exertion. Also, listen to your body - if you start feeling sick or nauseous, then you should stop and rest.

about the Author - Criss White

Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. For baby shower supplies, information, and more baby related articles by this author, visit My Baby Shower Favors and Babies and Showers.

Note: If you find this article useful, you may reprint it on your website, e-zine, or in your newsletter as long as the credits above remain in tact and the hyperlinks stay active.

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Yoga for Fun and Profit

stress levels around the world are on the rise. In order to deal with this, relaxation and stress reduction therapies have sprung up from everywhere. Yoga instruction is no longer just a fringe population idea. It is now a mainstream fitness methodology. Yoga certifications are now available from many places in North america. As a result of this, yoga instructors are now available everywhere. Each gym now offers yoga classes from certified yoga instructors. Its time we understood what this is all about and where we are going with respect to the fitness industry.

The word yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning joining or union. What are we joining? The human being consists of several entities commonly referred to as body-mind-spirit. An integrated human being is the goal of yoga. We are joining the different pieces of the human being to make an integrated, holistic being that is attuned to one goal. The body, mind and spirit are all integrated with a common attitude and viewpoint. This is different from the state of being where the body wants to satisfy one need and the mind another and the spirit yet a third. This is the state during which mental storms occur and the body responds in turn with a manifestation of that mental vortex.

Yoga seeks to align the human being using its own tool of breathing. When we breathe rhythmically, our body is more in tune with itself. We function better as an integrated being in a holistic way. Yoga was invented in India, about 5000 years ago, precisely to achieve the goal of integration. When our being is aligned our interaction with the world will be more efficient. We perform better at work and in our home life. Rela-tionships become easier. This is what yoga achieves.

In India, yoga is taught and researched as a science at a place in Bangalore called the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusamdhana Samsthan (SVYASA). This means Yoga research Institute. One can obtain intensive instruction in yoga and therapy techniques using yoga. Recently, I completed a month long certificate course for yoga instructors at this institute. The yoga that is taught here is not just about the physical poses. The idea of yoga from the original meaning is to really integrate the whole human being. This involves all of our activities in life. We must be aligned and integrated during all of our tasks during the day. All of our activies can be divided into several broad categories. All actions like going to work, eating breakfast are classified as Karma yoga. All philosophical discussions are classified under Jnana yoga. Any devotional activities such as the singing of hymns or prayers are considered part of Bhakti yoga. The physical poses of western ideas of yoga are a part of Raja yoga, which includes other methods for gaining mastery over the physical body. This is the original concept of yoga from India and is taught in that form at the SVYASA Institute.

The institute is named after Swami Vivekananda who was a monk and scholar of Indian philosophy. In 1893, Swami Vivekananda was invited to speak at the Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago, on the topic of Hinduism. His speech became famous for explaining the unity of religions as many paths to God, and that Hinduism in its original sense encompassed that view. Swami Vivekananda wanted the Western world to understand Indian spirituality in the correct view, as a synthesis of the four types of yoga, which ultimately leads to the goal of spiritual evolution. SVYASA is dedicated to the education and research of yoga in this context. The school retains strict attention to the original sources of yoga from Sanskrit scripture.

The teaching styles of the school and environmental factors do not cater to the Western lifestyle. Those who come from abroad must acclimatize themselves to the pure Indian way. Meals are served on the floor and must be eaten using the hands. Vegetarian Indian food is served. No cutlery is provided. Footwear must be left outside of all classes. Be prepared to literally be on your feet for long amounts of time. While the majority of the students are comfortably able to sit on the floor during the long lecture sessions, chairs are available for those who will not be able to survive in that position. The philosophy of discipline is everywhere, starting from the boot camp like nature of the roll call before each session. Students who miss a portion of the attendance will not receive their certificate. Attendance is considered a very important factor of the study. In addition, a strict code of uniforms is enforced. Women must wear the Indian dress of salwaar kameez, which is a tunic, and pant set made of 100% cotton. This dress could be modified to be more forgiving for yoga poses. Men must wear loose fitting track pants and t-shirt. This is more conducive to rigorous physical activity. It must be noted that everywhere the students of the yoga instructors course can be identified by their uniform.

As attendance is strict, so is the keeping of students on the grounds. While exceptions can be made for justifiable reasons, students cannot usually leave the campus for any reason after the start of the course. The campus is 32 km north of the major city of Bangalore. Fortunately, Bangalore boasts many amenities including an international airport. The city of Bangalore itself is very multicultural. One can find the modern world mixed with the original flavour of India everywhere. The SVYASA institute has a city office in Bangalore from where a bus is arranged to take travellers to its campus outside the city in a place called Geddallahalli. The name of the campus is Prashanti Kutiram, which means abode of peace. While the name is very amenable to yoga studies, I found that one needs to practice yoga in sincerity to find the true peace, which is only inside the human being.

A variety of personal interests and professional paths have led the author to her current role as a personal trainer and lifestyle consultant with over 20 years experience. Siva is an author, lecturer and Can-Fit-Pro certified personal trainer who specializes in body-mind-spirit consulting and training women. Currently she is writing a book entitled Body, Mind, and Spirit Fitness, which discusses her particular style of training the complete being, rather than just the physical body.

Siva is a yoga instructor, an expert on East Indian Philosophy and teacher of Sanskrit. She holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of toronto and has balanced her time between personal training and engineering for over 20 years. In february 2005, Siva spent an intensive month studying a course for Yoga Instructors, at the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Institute in Bangalore, India to further her interest in yoga as a science of holistic living and not merely as yoga postures.

For more information on yoga visit http://www.getshanti.com

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College Freshman To Be - There's A Storm Approaching, Are You Ready?

Shes comin on boys, and shes comin on strong!

These were the final recorded words of Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail. On September 20, 1991 the crew of six set out for what would be the final voyage of this 75-foot fishing vessel. After thirty-nine days of moderately good luck fishing in the waters of the north atlantic, the united States coast Guard received the final radio transmission from the Andrea Gail. At 6:00pm on the evening of october 28, 1991, Captain Billy Tyne reported his coordinates and gave a weather report indicating 30-foot seas and wind gusts of up to 80 knots. His transmission ended with the fateful words, Shes comin on boys, and shes comin on strong! Forty days after departing from Massachusetts the Andrea Gail was pronounced lost at sea.

The crew of the Andrea Gail had found themselves at sea when a weather phenomenon known as a Noreaster had descended upon the north atlantic with all its fury. Two low pressure areas merged with high pressure areas and these met up with warm air from the south, and cold air from the north, as well as moisture feeding into the storm from the gulf Stream to create a catastrophic storm. This simultaneous occurrence of events taken individually would be far less powerful than was the result of their chance combination. In fact, had the storm been more concentrated, it might have resembled a hurricane, which would have triggered the appropriate warnings. But because the storm occurred without the typical hurricane warnings, the Andrea Gail and her crew were caught off-guard. There had never been a storm like this in recorded history. This was the Perfect Storm.

About the same time each year, near the middle of September, thousands of high school graduates set sail for a voyage of their own known as the Freshman Year. Like the crew of the Andrea Gail, these students have high hopes and big dreams about the adventure that stretches out over the horizon. They proceed with little thought of what major difficulties they might encounter, and wouldnt even dream of any sort of catastrophe. However, during their first 40 days on campus, many of them experience a Noreaster of their own, in the form of a huge transition and transformation in their own lives. Pressure to succeed meets with expectations and anticipation for the future, this merges with the excitement and new-found freedom that comes from being on your own. The simultaneous occurrence of all of this combines to bring about the possibility of a catastrophic event. In all likelihood, each of these events taken individually would be far less powerful than the result of their inevitable combination. In fact, if these events were to be more widely known, they would trigger the appropriate warnings and solutions that would give students and their families the tools necessary to weather the storm. But these warnings often come too late, or not at all.

The transition from high school to college is one of the biggest transitions you will face. In fact, it is likely the biggest transition you have confronted in your 18 years on the planet! And look around you. Have you seen any media coverage of this transition? Any special reports about the transition from high school to college? The answer to those questions is a resounding NO! Multiple books, and plenty of articles and coverage is given to the preschool years, the elementary school years, and even the transition from elementary to junior high and high school. But our society simply has no clue about what is going on during this time in your life, and if they do, they have decided that it is simply not exciting enough to talk about on the evening news. Sure, they have special reports when a frat party turns ugly or when there is some sort of tragedy on campus. Each fall, hundreds of thousands of students are taken to college and dropped off by their loved ones. The media may cover, Move in Day, but they usually mention only that most campus costs have skyrocketed and that there is not enough room in the residence halls for the number of students entering college. But for the media, the story ends there, and you are the one left trying to figure out what to do.

So what is this transition? Simply stated, a transition is a change from one form to another. Oftentimes this change is celebrated through some sort of ceremony, in the form of what we call a Rite of Passage. Graduation from high school will likely have been (or will be in the very near future) a very significant rite of passage in your own life. There is the very profound moment in your Graduation ceremony, when you are asked to take the tassel on your cap and move it to the other side. This signifies your change from a high school student to a high school graduate. Its a pretty cool thing, but did anything really happen in that moment? Did the earth shake, lightning flash, and trumpets blare? Well, not usually! Honestly, its very much like your birthday - you didnt become another year older overnight, you became a year older over the process of a year. Likewise, at graduation, you didnt become a high school graduate overnight, you have been working towards it for years. And here is an important thing to remember, graduation from high school does not make you any more prepared for what lies ahead than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger! Put another way, even though you have graduated from high school in this wonderful, moving ceremony, you are really no different than you were two days ago. However, society has told us that when you turn 18 years old and when you graduate from high school, you are now an adult. Sounds great, right? Well, let me tell you that being an adult is not always all its cracked up to be!

According to the Department of Education, more than 1/3 of all new freshmen will drop out of college before making it to their sophomore year. In fact, fewer than half of all new freshmen will graduate from college.

Are you ready for "The Perfect Storm"? You can be -- and you MUST be.

The storm, shes comin, and shes comin on strong. You pause, take a deep breath and look out towards the horizon. Then you say: But this is the voyage I have been preparing for and looking forward to for a long time this storm is going to make the voyage that much more exciting, and that much more fulfilling. So batten down the hatch and hang on for the ride of your life, into the first 40 days of your freshman year in college! Welcome to your Freshman 40!

Nick B. Herberger, M.Ed. is the author of "The Freshman 40: everything you need to know about your first forty days in college". Nick has been working and living with college students for almost 20 years. A sought after speaker, Nick is known for his ability to connect with people of all ages through his humor, storytelling, his drama, and his ability to help people live life to the fullest. As the founder of live Your Journey ( http://www.LiveYourJourney.com ) Nick continues to reach people worldwide through speaking, life and career coaching, and writing.

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