I live in northern California, the water is “hard” as they say. So my hair is usally flat, dull and lifeless. No volume at all, I even tried all the shampoo’s, expensive, cheap, weightless, etc. I just went on vacation to Las Vegas last weekend, and oh my gosh, my hair was so bouncy and full of volume it was crazy. It felt like I had went to an expensive salon. When I got home it back to the same old hair 🙁

Berlin

Berlin, city in northeastern Germany, capital of a united Germany from 1871 to 1945 and again since 1990. It lies on the flatlands of the North German Plain at the confluence of several rivers and amid many lakes. The city’s slight elevation made it a site for human settlement even in prehistoric times. Berlin has a population of about 3,454,200 (1992 estimate) and an area of approximately 889 sq km (343 sq mi).

After World War II (1939-1945) Berlin, badly damaged during the war, was situated within the German Democratic Republic (GDR; also known as East Germany). The city was subsequently partitioned into East Berlin and West Berlin. The divided city not only symbolized the collapse of the German Empire, of which it was the capital, but also became a focus of Cold War tensions between the Communist nations led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the group of Western nations led by the United States. The Berlin Wall, a barrier separating East and West Berlin built by the East Germans in 1961, blocked free access in both directions until November 1989; during the time it stood, at least 80 people died attempting to cross from East to West Berlin. By the time Germany was unified in October 1990, much of the wall had been torn down. A few small segments remain as memorials.

Economy

Following the division of the city of Berlin in 1949, the economies of the two halves of the city were integrated into the economies of the two newly separated republics of Germany.

The economy of East Berlin was totally integrated with that of East Germany and also benefited from a steady stream of visitors from West Berlin and West Germany. East Berlin was the hub of East Germany’s commercial, financial, and transportation systems, and, although it comprised less than one-half of the former unified city, it was also a huge manufacturing center. Among its principal manufactures were steel and rubber goods, electrical and transportation equipment, chemicals, and processed food. The Spree River, which is connected by waterways with the Baltic Sea, widened in East Berlin to form a major inland harbor. An airport at Schönefeld, just south of the city, served both East and West Berlin.

Much of West Berlin’s industrial capacity was destroyed in World War II, and its economy suffered again during 1948 and 1949, when the USSR blockaded the area in an attempt to drive out the Western powers. Beginning in the 1950s, however, West Berlin’s economy was revitalized with a great deal of assistance from West Germany and from the United States, which provided support under the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). The city soon became an important manufacturing center, producing electrical and electronic equipment and substantial quantities of machinery, metal, textiles, clothing, chemicals, printed materials, and processed food. The city also developed as a center for international finance, for research and science, and for the important West German film industry. It was linked to West Germany by highways, canal systems, a railroad, and airplane services, which used Tegel, Tempelhof, and Gatow airports in West Berlin and Schönefeld airport in nearby East Germany.

With the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the two halves of the city were once again physically integrated. Their economic integration became official in July 1990. East Berlin underwent a greater economic upheaval, with many formerly state-owned businesses succumbing to privatization.

While reunification (Die Wende, or “the change”) allowed many families and friends long separated by the Berlin Wall to reunite, it also brought with it numerous economic and social problems. Berlin has been forced to deal with housing shortages, strikes and demonstrations, unemployment, and increases in crime and right-wing violence against foreigners. Unification costs in Germany have led to increased taxes, reduced government subsidies, and cuts in social services.

Points of Interest

The imposing Brandenburg Gate (1788-1791), inspired by the Propylaea of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, is located at the western end of Unter den Linden, a famous boulevard in Berlin that extends east to Museum Island, in the Spree River; the Brandenburg Gate was closed to free access until December 1989. On or near the boulevard are the classical-style State Opera House (1743); the State Library (1774-1780); the baroque Arsenal building (1695-1706; designed by Andreas Schlüter), now housing a historical museum; Saint Hedwig’s Cathedral (1747-1773); the Gothic Church of Saint Nicholas (late 14th-early 15th century); the French Cathedral of the Platz der Akademie area, the heart of the French quarter in the 17th century; and the University of Berlin (1810), whose faculty has included 27 Nobel Prize winners and philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Well-known streets crossing Unter den Linden are the Friedrichstrasse and the Wilhelmstrasse, on which once stood the Reichschancery of Adolf Hitler.

Berlin’s most famous boulevard is the Kurfürstendamm, which is lined with fashionable hotels, restaurants, shops, and movie theaters. At the boulevard’s eastern end is a ruined tower, all that remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (1891-1895; destroyed during World War II), maintained as a reminder of the destructiveness of war. Adjacent to the ruins are a polygonal church and its separate campanile (1959-1961). Branching from the Kurfürstendamm is the Tauentzienstrasse, a major shopping street and the site of the Europa Center (1963-1965): a 22-story complex of restaurants, shops, offices, cinemas, a planetarium, and an ice-skating rink. To the northeast is the Tiergarten park, largest of Berlin’s nearly 50 parks, which extends about 3 km (about 2 mi) to the Brandenburg Gate. In the Tiergarten are the large, modern Congress Hall (1957); the Reichstag building (1884-1894), once the seat of the German parliament, which was gutted by fire in 1933 and again damaged at the end of World War II, but which has since been largely restored; the Berlin Zoological Garden, the largest and one of the oldest in the world; and an aquarium. Near the Tiergarten is the Kulturform complex, including the Museum of Applied Arts; the Bauhaus Archives and Museum, commemorating the Bauhaus school of architecture and design (1919-1933); the Musical Instrument Museum; the National Library; the New National Gallery (1968), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, housing a collection of 20th-century art; and the striking Philharmonie Concert Hall (1963), an asymmetrical structure that serves as the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Southeast of the Tiergarten is Oranienburger Strasse and environs, the heart of prewar Berlin’s Jewish district. Revitalization of the area has included restoration of the New Synagogue (1866), which was badly damaged on Kristallnacht (see Holocaust) and by bombing. The synagogue is now a center for the study and preservation of Jewish culture. The area is also known for its art galleries, cafés, bars, and artists’ studios. Berlin’s oldest Jewish cemetery is nearby.

Museum Island, in eastern Berlin, is the site of the Pergamon Museum (1930), with a fine collection of Greco-Roman and Asian art; the Bode Museum, with displays of ancient Egyptian and Byzantine art; and the National Gallery (1866-1876), with exhibitions of 19th-century painting.

On the eastern bank of the Spree is Alexanderplatz, a large square with restaurants and stores; nearby are the Television Tower (365 m/1197 ft) and Red Town Hall. A statue facing the eastern entrance to the town hall commemorates the Trummerfrauen (Rubble Women), thousands of women of all ages who cleared up vast quantities of rubble left in Berlin after World War II.

Forests and farmland cover nearly one-third of Berlin. In the southwestern part of the city is the vast Grunewald forest, which contains a great deal of woodland and the large Wannsee, formed by the Havel River, as well as a Renaissance-style hunting lodge (principally mid-16th century, with 18th-century additions), the large Olympic Stadium (built for the 1936 Olympic Games), and a broadcasting tower (1924-1926) measuring 138 m (453 ft) high. Other points of interest include Charlottenburg Palace (begun 1695), which houses the Museum of Decorative Arts, and the neoclassical Humboldt.

In the Dahlem district of western Berlin, near the Grunewald, are a group of famous institutions, which include the Painting Gallery, with displays of European painting from the 13th to the 16th century; the Ethnological Museum; the Sculpture Gallery; museums of Indian, Islamic, and East Asian art; and the German Folklore Museum. North of the Dahlem district is the Bridge Museum, displaying 20th-century German Expressionist art by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and others. Other museums in the city include a museum of Greek and Roman antiquities; the Bröhan Museum, with Art Deco and Jugendstil collections displayed in period settings; and the Egyptian Museum, which contains a world-famous bust of Nefertiti, queen of Egypt in the 14th century BC.

Besides the University of Berlin, institutions of higher education include the Bruno Leuschner College of Economics (1950); the Hanns Eisler College of Music (1950); the Free University of Berlin (1948), founded mainly by professors and students dissatisfied with conditions at the University of Berlin in East Berlin; and the Technical University of Berlin (1879). Additional cultural facilities include museums of Berlin and German history, the Comic Opera, and the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, home of the Berliner Ensemble, noted for productions of plays by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, its founder. Also located in Berlin are the German Film and Television Academy (1966) and the College of the Arts (1975). Additional performing-arts facilities include the German Opera and the Hebbel Theater. The city is the site of an annual film festival and numerous other festivals. Berlin hosts the annual Grüne Woche, Germany’s largest agricultural fair.

In Berlin’s northern suburb of Sachsenhausen is the site of one of the first concentration camps in Germany, built in 1936; the site is now a memorial. After the war Soviet secret police used the camp to house war criminals, former Nazis and military officers, and opponents of the occupying regime. The camp was closed in March 1950. In 1992 arsonists set fire to the camp museum during a wave of attacks against foreign asylum-seekers.

Berlin has an efficient integrated system of subways, elevated train lines, buses (including all-night service), and trams.

European Metropolis

In 1871 Berlin became the capital of the unified German Empire. During the following decades the city grew into a major industrial center, specializing in machinery, electrical goods, and textiles. Culturally, Berlin won worldwide fame for its excellent theaters, concerts, and exhibitions; commercially, it benefited from a wide network of railroads converging at the city. Extensive construction of factories and commercial buildings attracted thousands of workers, most of whom were housed in large tracts of shoddy tenements.

After World War I (1914-1918) Berlin’s adjacent communities were incorporated into the city, increasing its population to 3,850,000. Berlin suffered economic setbacks during the troubled Weimar Republic (1919-1933), but the wealth of its theatrical, musical, and other cultural offerings remained unrivaled.

During the restrictive Nazi years (see National Socialism), Berlin’s cultural life lost much of its prestige. An ambitious building program, by which German dictator Adolf Hitler aimed to make the city the world’s foremost capital, was architecturally uninspired and never completed. In 1936 the city was host to the Olympic Games. During World War II large parts of Berlin were destroyed by air raids and, toward the end of the war, by artillery fire and street fighting. By 1945, about 50,000 prewar buildings had been destroyed, many were in ruins, and the city contained some 75 million cu m (101,250,000 cu yd) of rubble. Berlin’s population was 2,800,000, down from its prewar 4,400,000.

National Capital

When Germany reunified in October 1990, a reunited Berlin once again became the national capital. The seat of the federal government was scheduled to shift from Bonn to Berlin by the year 2000, although the Bundesrat (federal council) and eight federal ministries will remain in Bonn. Renovation of the Reichstag building is under way to accommodate the Bundestag (lower house of parliament); the surrounding area will house federal government offices. South of the Reichstag, Potsdamerplatz is scheduled for major development, including a -billion office complex to open in 1998. In September 1994 French, British, and U.S. troops formally left Berlin. Following the departure of Russian troops the month before, the event marked the end of an occupation that had lasted for nearly 50 years.

After the unification of Germany in 1990, subsidies once provided by the German government ended, forcing the Berlin government to make extensive cuts in its budget in the mid-1990s. Public service jobs were trimmed, and costs for social services increased. Angry postal and construction workers went on strike, and children and teachers protested the cuts in education and services. In addition, expenditures by the government increased as it helped rebuild East Berlin to bring it up to the standards of West Berlin

I will be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport. Is there a spot near there to watch the sunrise?

Cuban County House, Nowadays an Innermost Hotel in Havana City

The Old Havana charms any person who is interested in innermost places. When talking about holidays, this city is something very special for the most exquisite travelers, a Cuban feast for the eyes.

It’s particular contrasts stimulate dreams and make it an obligation for tourists to capture such a beauty in a picture and, much better, in an unforgettable memory of the active rest.

That’s why it constitutes a real pleasure the necessary walk through the paved streets of the old part of the wonderful island’s capital.

So, as a part of the efforts to provide the Cuban capital city with a more and more cultural and historical tourism, comes into being the San Beltrán de Santa Cruz hotel in the old Conde de Jaruco’s house, considered today an innermost resting place.

This hotel, managed by the touristic company of the City Historian’s Office, Habaguanex S.A, which is responsible for the amusement in La Habana Vieja, could be considered as a cultural jewel; the perfect lodge.

Located in Calle San Ignacio 411, between the streets of Muralla and Sol in Old Havana – declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1982 – shows now an appropriate elegance and intimacy.

This hotel is composed by 11 colonial rooms, one suite and the other 10, standard rooms. It also boasts a breakfast-room called “San Juan de Jaruco” and a snack-bar baptized as “Don Gabriel”.

According to historians, in 1732, Don Gabriel Beltrán de Santa Cruz ordered the construction of a house at the Plaza Vieja, – the Conde de Jaruco’s house – but he died at the beginning of the works.

Hes widow, Doña Antonia Aranda y Avellaneda, daughter of the major of the San Salvador de la Punta fortress, extended the project and asked the contractor to build a small imitation of it in the backyard of the main house, called since then “La Casa Chica” (1739).

During the time, several families and prominent personalities of the society of the capital city lived in the house like the Count of San Juan de Jaruco, Pedro Beltrán de Santa Cruz and the sister of the Marchioness of Cárdenas de Monte Hermoso, Josefa Catalina de Santa Cruz.

In that mansion were received and lodged the most prominent personalities that visited the city, including the Baron Alexander von Humboldt, an eminent German scientist, and three French princes: the Count of Beaujolais, the Duke of Montpensier and the Duke of Orléans, who became later the king of France, Louis Philippe.

“La Casa Chica” hasn’t suffered great transformations, preserving its old components and its colonial ambience. This great house is located near the Plaza Vieja and has opened its doors as a new charming hotel, combining antique and modern elements with an attractive design.

This hotel is part of a very delicate structure admired by hundreds of travelers from all over the world; especially Europeans that are daily accommodated in this houses of the old part of the city.

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Mammoth Mountain A Great Ski Resort with Reasonable Lodging Options

Mammoth Mountain has been running since the 1930s. It is widely known to Californians to have some of the best snow in the Sierras each year. The first ski lifts were mere rope tows that could only bring one skier at a time up the mountain. From one lift in the 30s Mammoth Ski Resort has grown to over 30 high speed lifts with hundreds of runs. The resort each year caters to thousands of skiers wanting to play on this winter wonderland.

Mammoth Mountain is more popular with southern California skiers despite Mammoth being closer to northern California. The ski resort is located in the Inyo National Forest and sits upon a mountain that is in the 11,000 foot range. It reigns as one of the highest ski resort in California and is within a 30 minute drive to the eastern gate of Yosemite. Southern California lies 6 hours to the south. People from Los Angeles have to drive through the upper Mohave and Highway 395 through Bishop, California to get to Mammoth.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort opens in November for business and in good years stays open way past June because of the amount of snow it gets. On good years the resort gets over 300 inches of snow a year. When other resorts are skiing on man-made snow and hard pack ice flows, Mammoth usually has good powder skiing.

Mammoth Condos has many options to choose from that range from posh resort accommodations that pamper guests like 5 star hotels to simple privately owned vacation rentals. The great amount of variety insures that the thousands of skiers have a place to stay each winter. Most people wanting a good middle option opt for the reasonable Mammoth Condos.

Mammoth Condos can accommodate large groups and families. They are privately owned condos near the resort that can be rented by agents and there are condos owned right in the Mammoth Resort. Privately owned condos are well kept and are within 5 minutes of the ski lifts. Resort owned condos have hotel amenities and are within the resort. Either way you win.

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Ecuador: A True Rainforest Adventure

So, all set to take a week long vacation in the jungles of Ecuador? Congrats on your decision, you will be having a blast with your close friends and family members. South America as a whole is a great place to enjoy your vacation but taking a trip to Ecuador would be really rejuvenating. There a lot you can actually see and feel loving the nature.

While in Ecuador, you can go to the city of Tena, a quiet city which is also popularly known as a good gateway for journey to the jungle of the country. Thousands of tourists come here and enjoy the specialty of Tena and enjoy a clean, peaceful and neatly ordered environment of the city. Most people prepare here for their adventure in the rainforest.

Getting to Tena: To reach Tena from Quito, another ancient city and the capital city of Ecuador, tourists have to explore jungle along the famous Pan American Highway. You can further move towards Ambato which is about 3 hour’s journey from Tena. People who want to explore the country can actually visit marvelous towering Andes Peaks on either side of the roadway.

The highway is situated through a central valley located between the two main ranges of the Ecuadorian Andes. Also known as the “Avenue of the Volcanoes,” the Ecuadorian Andes was originally described by Alexander Von Humboldt, a Prussian scientist who studied Ecuador’s volcanoes in the early 1800s. Von Humboldt was highly fascinated by volcanoes in the area seemed to form an avenue through the central valley.

Fort Humboldt, a landmark in Humboldt County, showcases the history of the North Coast, and honors one of its past soldiers, Ulysses S. Grant. From 101 Milestones by Bill Morrill.

Lima’s Colonial Treasures

Lima is an expansive city, incorporating nearly 9 million people in its sprawling districts. When the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro moved the capital of the Inca Empire from Cusco to Lima, the city represented a new power, one that is reflected most prominently today it the city´s central plaza architecture. Its rare to find a place quite like Lima, where electronics stores are adjacent to Baroque churches, but that is the gift of a well-preserved colonial past mixed with a thriving contemporary city.

Tucked in next to shopping malls, hotels, and eateries, the Plaza Mayor is surrounded by five colonial buildings, the Palace of Lima, the Government Palace, the Cathedral, the Archbishop´s Palace, and the Municipal Palace. Lined by tropical palm trees and painted in a distinctive, colonial yellow, the buildings in the plaza remain an imposing display of Spanish influence.

The Cathedral, with its grandiose steps stretching along one side of the square, is reminiscent of the famous Spanish cathedrals. Its later date of construction – construction began in 1535 and was finished in 1622 – explain the Baroque facade. The main altar, reconstructed in 1800, is neoclassical in style. There is also a brilliantly decorated mosaic chapel housing Pizarro´s tomb.

Also in the heart of the city is the Palace de Torre Tagle, a gem of Spanish Baroque architecture. Built around 1730 as the home of the Royal Spanish Fleet´s treasurer, the building is now used as the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The façade has a Baroque doorway, and materials were brought from Spain and Central America.

Another highlight from the colonial era is the port of Callao, located in the La Punta district, close to Lima. From this port have launched many famous expeditions, including those of the scientist Charles Darwin and the explorer Alexander Von Humboldt. Callao, founded soon after Lima, quickly became the center of shipping, and thus also of pirating. The Fotaleza del Real Felipe is the most famous colonial site, as this was the fort that protected against pirates.

Well lately I have been receiving information from that Cal State and just curious as to how good of a school it really is. I may want to apply there when the time comes.
I would prefer answers from alum or current students but any answers are greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton:)!