THE HILTON HOTELS

Hilton Hotels were founded in 1919 by C.H. in Texas. Between the years 1938-1945 "The Hilton" became the first coast-to-coast hotel chain in the US and the major national force in the hospitality industry.

In 1945 Hilton had the largest hotel in the world. A few years, the first Hilton Hotels was opened in Europe "The Castellana Hilton" in Madrid.

When Conrad H. died, his son was named charman of the board. In 1982, "Las Vegas Hilton" became the them-largest hotel in the world, with 3,174 guestrooms.
In 1995 Hilton introduced the hotel chain into cyberspace by landing its Internet site at http://www.hilton.com/

Now we are going to see the main brands of this famous hotel chain. "The Hilton family" hotel chain has 12 different branch worldwide.

Hilton is one of the leading global hospitality companies, with nearly 2,800 hotels and 485,000 rooms. It employs 150,000 people in more than 80 countries.
The status of the company is reflected on the revenue of 2005: that's abaut 4bn USD!!!!

Crème caramel

Ingredients for 4 people:
. 4 eggs
. half a litre of milk
. 200 g. of sugar
. half a cinnamon stick.
. lemon rind.

This is a very easy and traditional recipe. You can change any ingredient if you want to give it a different flavour.

First of all, you have to do the caramel, so put some spoons of sugar in a frying pan or in a saucepan and heat it until it turns brown and liquid, but don't forget to stir it all the time. Be careful when you heat it, because it can be burnt if you heat it too much. When it is brown and liquid, but not burnt, put it into different ramekins, moving each of them while you are dropping the caramel so that each ramekin can have the bottom covered with the caramel. Let them cool off until the caramel turns solid again.

After that, you can prepare the custard. First, preheat the oven to 180°C and then pour the milk in a saucepan and add the cinnamon stick and the lemon rind and bring it to the boil.

While the milk with the cinnamon and the lemon rind is heating you can put the eggs in a bowl and whisk them until they are well-blended. Just after that you can add the sugar the the eggs and go on whisking until they are very uniform.

When the milk boils, turn off the cooker and remove the cinnamon and the lemon rind and add the milk to the eggs and the sugar. Mix it well with a whisk or a mixer and when everything is well mixed, pour the custard into the caramel-lined ramekins.

Take a deep baking dish and fill it with water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins and cover the dish with foil. Bake them until just set, 25 to 50 min. Remember to start checking early; baking time will depend on the thickness and depth of your ramekins and baking dish. Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and let the ramekins cool in the water bath. Remove from the water and cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Run a thin knife around the edge of the custard and invert onto a dessert plate, scraping any caramel from the ramekin onto the custard.

That's all. As you can see it's very easy and delicious.

Please, try to explain other recipes, something easy, not very complicated.

See you!!

About Patzcuaro

Paztcuaro it´s a colonial village in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. You can enjoy there the "Purépecha" culture, even it´s very touristic now.

One of the most important days in Patzcuaro it´s November 2 , called "Día de Muertos". At night, people go to cemetery, and take there some food and drink wich the dead people who they want to visit liked to eat and drink. They also decorate graves with orange flowers called "Zempazuchil" and candles. If the late person liked music, they take "Mariachi" to the party. It´s quite impresive!!

In Patzcuaro you can find beautiful handcrafts and great food!

Shellfish

Hi!

I've just found an article in The Times about the Galician goose barnacles and the way they are caught.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/food_and_travel/article5370129.ece

I think it could be very interesting to read what the an English newspaper tells us about this shellfish. Do you agree with it's said in the article?

Tell me your opinion.

See you!

Happy Christmas!

Hi!

Do you like Christmas? If so, tell us why? and if you don't like it, please, tell us why too.

Do you know any Christmas songs? Here is one of the most famous songs with the lyrics. It could be funny if you learn it and try to sing it with your family.


The Christmas song I like most is this one:


Do you know it?
What do you like doing at Christmas? I like travelling to other countries on New Year's eve, however I can do it this year. So ,tell us what are you going to do?

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year, too!!

See you in January!

Hi everyone!!!

I`m Paloma, i`m going to try to writte in this blog, i think it´s a good chance to practicing, but there´s a long time since I don´t write English, so Im sorry for the mistakes...

I´ll talk about one of my passions, Mexico. I was living there for a year, and maybe it could be interesting to show something about its culture, good things and also bad things of this wonderfull, and colourfull country, some advices to travel there, and of course it would be nice if you have some questions or things to discuss.

If i had to describe Mexico with just one word, i´m sure it is Colour, everything is Colour there, people, food, landscapes, music...

Why don´t start with tipically topics?People don´t wear a big roun hat, and they aren´t so lazy as they seem. They don´t say "andele ándele" every time, and yes! they use belt, not a rope like cantinflas...And you know what? have you ever seen these round hats, which are sold in chinese shops or markets? These with those little white balls around? I had never see one of those there, they never were mexicans!!

Till next day!

Photo from Joel Bucio

I can't study french

This year I have to choose the second language. I had thinking a lot of time in it, and finally I decided to choose French.
My God¡¡¡ I didn't know what I was doing¡¡¡
I have to say that I had never studied french before, and obviously I didn't think that probably you had to have previous knowledges. So, you can see now I feel like a mouse in a mousetrap.

Therefore in this moment I think that english language it's the most easy language in the world¡¡¡¡
I can't pronounce a word in french without my english pronunciation, I can't understand the articles, the plurals, ... I can't to stop to think in english.

And probably I can see my summer in a french academy trying to get some idea of this brother language and then can pass the exam...in September.

Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism is a form of tourism that follows the principles of sustainability.

Sustainable tourism in its purest sense, is an industry committed to making a low impact on the natural environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment for locals.^[1]

Global economists forecast continuing international tourism growth, ranging between three and six percent annually, depending on the location. As one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries, this continuous growth will place great stress on remaining biologically diverse habitats and indigenous cultures, which are often used to support mass tourism. Tourists who promote sustainable tourism are sensitive to these dangers and seek to protect tourist destinations, and to protect tourism as an industry. Sustainable tourists can reduce the impact of tourism in many ways, including:

• informing themselves of the culture, politics, and economy of the communities visited
• anticipating and respecting local cultures' expectations and assumptions
• contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance
• supporting the integrity of local cultures by favoring businesses which conserve cultural heritage and traditional values
• supporting local economies by purchasing local goods and participating with small, local businesses
• conserving resources by seeking out businesses that are environmentally conscious, and by using the least possible amount of non-renewable resources

What do you think about sustainable tourism? Do you agree with this article or do you think it's an exagge ratio n? Do you think "ecotourism" and "adventure travel" is the same? Do you any cases of greenwashing? Please tell us about it or write your own post about this theme.

Means of transport

Hello everybody!

These days we're dealing with "means of transport" in your book and I think we can talk a little about it.

What do you think it's the best way to travel? Is it the plane? If you think so, what do you think about the differences in prices among the different companies? For example, Low Cost companies like Ryanair offer very cheap flights, however you have to pay for your luggage. Moreover, there was a problem recently in one of the Ryanair flights to Rome and a lot of people had to wait several days in the airport.

Do you think this wouldn't happen to other kind of companies? Why?

And what about the other types of transport, like the train, the bus,the subway? What do you think about them? For example, the train has changed a lot recently and those slow trains we travelled in some years ago doesn't exist. Furthermore, I think in a few years we'll be able to travel to Madrid by train in two or three hours. When this happens, will you choose the train or the plane?

Maybe, you prefer travelling by bus or by car. If so, tell us why, please. Maybe you feel more comfortable in a bus or in your car. Or maybe you don't mind the speed and what you want is just to travel .

I hope you tell us your opinion, please.

See you soon!

All Saints' Day

In Spain, like in other countries, we tradicionally celebrate All Saints' Day or All Saints on November 1st. It's a very ancient Catholic or Christian tradition. In terms of Roman Catholic theology, the feast commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven, while the next day, All Souls' Day, commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven.

In Spain, Portugal, Poland, Mexico, France, etc. people take some flowers to the graves of dead relatives and they also light candles and leave them there until they put out.

What do you think about this tradition? I suppose some time all of you have attended the graveyard with your family to visit the graves. Did you like to visit the graveyard? or do you think it's too sad? Tell us about it.

Do you celebrate Halloween?

Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is an international holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories and watching horror movies.

The origin of this feast is in the Irish Samhain, which was the a festival on the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, with aspects of a Festival of the Dead and it was also a celebration of the Celtic New Year. This feast was not only celebrated in Ireland, but also in a lot of places with Celtic origin like Galicia, Asturias, Bretaña, etc.

Nowadays, Halloween is celebrated in several countries of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia. In Sweden the All Saints' official holiday takes place on the first Saturday of November.

I know Halloween is a new event in Spain, but in Galicia and in countries with a Celtic origin people have been celebrating it for centuries. Why is it so popular? Maybe because it's funny and different from the typical All Saints' day. What about you? Do you like it? Have you ever disguised yourself as a witch, a ghost, a skeleton, or anything to go to a Halloween party? Or, do you prefer the typical All Saints' day in Spain? Tell us about your preferences and why.

Ohhh

Yes, yes, yes¡¡¡ Already I have finished September's exams. I'm so tired¡¡¡

But I'm so happy to have arrive to here. I think that the next year

I could finish the grade...It's a dream for me. My stay at the Uned it is been a good

medicine for my lost automotive , now I don't what is that¡¡

I have to say that I hadn't could achieved it without the insistence of my friend Mary, she said: you have to do it, come with me, you can...without the help of my friend Soraya, who are my partner for all I have needed...Than you Andrea because your company can makes my smile a lot of times. Thank you Maria for the conversation that we have today at the caffe. And obviously for the teachers, Ana, Mª José, Marisa, Isabel(congratulations welcome to the club¡¡¡) you always help us. See you all.

My deepest condolences.

I'd just arrived in Rome when the plane crash happened in Barajas and I couldn't believe it. It's a huge tragedy, so I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families and to all people who had a relative, friend or knew someone on that plane.

Some things about Austria

Everybody knows the Euro Cup Soccer is very important for the tourism because a lot of people are travelling to see their team in action. This year the event is in Austria. I’m going to explain some things about to this country:


Austria borders with 8 countries: Switzerland, Czerch Republic, Germany, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia. The capital of this country is Vienna, and the 98% of the population talk german.

The most popular sport in Austria is alpine skiing in the Alps, and mountaineering is very tipycal in summer.

It is the homeland of a lot of music composers like Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If you go to Vienna, you must listen a classical music concert!

Other famous austrians are Sigmund Freud (psychologist), Franz Kafka (novelist) or Arnold Schwarzenegger (actor and the 38th Governor of California).

About cuisine, the most important dessert is the Apfelstrudel (this is a pastry with chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, raisins and bread crumb), and the candy PEZ, what is so popular, was invented in this country too.

Perhaps, one of the most famous movies filmed in the austrian landscape is The Sound of Music. Who can forget Julie Andrews and seven children singing on the streets of Salzburg?

I wish travel to Austria some day, but is a expensive country, and this year all the hotels are full with Euro Cup Soccer. I hope Spain wins this time. We can do it!!

The Grand Tour

Hi everybody!

Take a look at this! I've just found a blog in The New York Times where a man, Matt Gross, is travelling around Europe looking for interesting places.

In this blog you are invited to meet Matt in some places, what is really interesting, and at the same time, you can read about his experiences, adventures, and also look at the photographs or videos he uploads to this blog.

I think it's a very interesting blog and also a very interesting experience if you can meet him somewhere.

What do you think about it? Do you like it or not? Tell me about it.

Are you planning your holidays?

Most people is trying to plan their summer holidays. Some of them go to travel agencies to have their holiday plans made. However, a lot of people nowadays make their own plans, using the Internet.

Others combine both options, that is, they first look for information about their destinations in the Internet and after getting all they want, they go to the travel agency so that they can have their holiday plans made, according to what they have looked for previously in the Internet.

Which one do you prefer? Are you patient enough to look for the right offer for you among a huge amount of information? If so, tell us about it. Or do you prefer having your plans made? Is it more expensive than if you do it yourself or is not? Please tell us about it and why you prefer one of these options.

Maybe, you have an alternative way to prepare your holidays. Maybe you prefer going to the nearest airport and buy a ticket to wherever you like, that is, you buy a ticket for the next flight and you could buy there all that you need. Is this a possible way to travel? If you have tried it, please tell us about it.

The seven wonders of the world

New Seven Wonders of the World is a project that attempts to revive the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a list of modern wonders. A popularity poll was organized by the private New 7 Wonders Foundation, with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.[1]

The Swiss-based New 7 Wonders Foundation claims more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Since nothing prevented fans, government or tourism agencies from casting multiple votes, the poll is considered "decidedly unscientific".


What do you think about this poll? Do you agree with the results? I've recently been to Sydney and in my opion the "Sydney Opera House" should be in that list, but there are so many beautiful monuments that should be there too. Should the list be limited to seven or eight monuments? What are the most beautiful monuments in the world in your opinion? We could make a list with your favourite ones. What do you think? Tell me, please.

Nowadays, the new seven wonders are:

Wonder Date of construction Location
Great Wall of China 5th century BCE – 16th century CE China
Petra 6th century BCE Jordan
Christ the Redeemer (statue) Opened 12 October 1931 Brazil
Machu Picchu c.1450 Peru
Chichen Itza c.600 Mexico
Colosseum Completed 80 CE Italy
Taj Mahal Completed c.1648 India
Great Pyramid (Honorary Candidate)Completed c.2560 BCE Egypt

Olympic Games and tourism

Hello!

Do you like the Olympic Games? The Olympic Games (often referred to simply as The Olympics or The Games^[1]) is an international multi-sport event subdivided into summer and winter sporting events.

The original Olympic Games (Greek: Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες; Olympiakoi Agones) began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and was celebrated until AD 393.


This year the Olympics will be held in Beijing. Do you think this celebration can affect the the economy of the city or the tourism? How can tourism get the most of it?

Tell us about it.

THIS WEEK I RECOMMEND YOU...

The beautiful Florence. Can you live without visit Florence?
I will reply you. No
At the beginning of your arrival, you will feel the magic of this city. Like others Italian cities, Florence it's noisy, but not more than Rome.
Walk around the streets to get into the old city and no far away you will see the Doumo and his Campanari. Take a break and then you are ready to walk up his stairs.
I promise you that you can't forget that fantastic view¡
The historic palaces, the museums, the grandiose David...there're so much to see in Florence...
The best of all is that you can get walking to almost of the places, the worst it's the long queues that you have to support.
But problaby you finally said: It´s true Florence is a city of love, which is on the air¡
Before you go , visit the Neptuno fontain, at the Piazza di la Senoria. On your right hand, there's a bronze boar. The legend said that if you put a coin into his mouth and he eat it, you will come back to Florence.
And it's sure that you will desire that the boar eat it...

Zanzibar: the island of the spices

One of my dreams is to travel to zamzibar, and soon since at the moment the island does not have great agglomeration of tourist. It does some time the airlines established charter flights there, and the trips turn out to be now more attainable. Zanzibar is an archipelago formed by numerous islands. The majority they are small, but 2 major islands exist:
- Unguja: it is which colloquial she is called by the name of Zanzibar and where the capital is: Zanzibar city, whose old neighborhood was declared cultural patrimony of the Humanity, according to the UNESCO.
- Pemba: placed more in the northern part and with 980 kms of surface.
The archipelago is placed to a distance of 25-50 kms of the African continent.When you stoop the boat in Zanzibar, it will knock down the aroma of the nails. It is so sweeping that you feel that you will be unable to think about nothing different about his rich perfume during all your demurrage. But then you go to the Gardens Jamituri, just person in Stone Town's western levee. This former and dusty squareis the place of meeting of the city when young men, elders and seated children fall down the evening-, of foot or reclining they contemplate the late afternoon and the dhows (Arabic crafts) that appear in the water. Join to them to buy some of the freshest fish of the world. They will serve you octopus to the gridiron in small squares of periodic paperin a few counters illuminated only by lanterns. The experience is so particular of Zanzibar as the carved doors and the minarets that dominate the postcards.

Easter

What do you know about Easter? It's a great feast around the world, but depending on where you live, the way people celebrate it could be very different.

In some countries, like Spain, there is a great tradition of Christian celebrations, as you can see in the photo.

However, beyond the Catholic Church, there are more non-religion Easter traditions, which include symbols like the Easter eggs or the Easter bunny.

For example, throughout North America, Australia and parts of the UK, the Easter holiday has been partially secularized, so that some families participate only in the attendant revelry, central to which is (traditionally) decorating Easter eggs on Saturday evening and hunting for them Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden.


Chocolate eggs have largely supplanted decorated eggs in Australia.

In North America, eggs and other treats are delivered and hidden by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find waiting for them when they wake up. Many families in America will attend Sunday Mass or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party in the afternoon.


Tell us, please, how you celebrate Easter. Everybody knows there are lots of ways of celebrating it. I'd like to know how other cultures or religions celebrate it.

See you soon!

Planning a trip?

Hi!

Are you planning a trip? or maybe you are just travelling. If so, tell us about your trip, the journey or those things you are going to do or have done. If you haven't made any plans and you are going to improvise a trip, tell us too, because no many people can do it.

Otherwise if you are going to stay in, because you don't like to travel when everybody is doing it at the same time, you could tell us about what are you going to do: help the family with Easter pastries, study, read, ...

I'm waiting for your commments. Please, tell me something!

Bye,

Are you looking for a job?

Are you looking for a job? If so, maybe I can help you. Oscar, one of your partners in the Tourism course at UNED, has already achieved to open a travel agency and he's looking for some employees, so, maybe, you can be one of them.

If you need more information about that, have a look at his blog.

Good luck!! and don't forget to go on writing in English. You'll need it in the near future, for your job and for your personal life and this is a good place to do it.

See you soon!

COURSE PRESENTATION ABOUT FEAR OF FLYING

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of Iberia, may I welcome you to the presentation of our program “How to get rid of the fear of flying”.My name's Sonia and I'm the manager of this program.

Your company has called us, because there're a lot of executives that have to fly once or twice during the week, and they have fear of flying.
This morning I'm going to be showing you how to lose it and then I'll go on to highlight what I see as the main advantages of our system.

Then to summarize, your company has decided that you have to work calmy, because it's better for both of you. You don't need to work so pressured by fear.

Please, look at me. I'm the best example. I'm remembering my honeymoon. We had decided to travel to Florence. You're thinking and...? Ok . My husband had a tremendous fear of flying and we had to go by car. It's crazy¡ Romantic but crazy¡¡¡
Years ago, we decided that he had to do this program , because it's not good for your life because the fear doesn't give you the oportunity to do a lot of things.
Think about it please!

Perhaps, we can solve any questions you may have until the end of presentation.

Have a look at this graph, it's about sick leaves,
62% ..62% Take a sick leaves before a flight
..25% Take a sick leaves after a flight
..13% Other causes

As you can see most of the sick leaves are before and after the fly. Together they represent an 87% of the total. I,m sure that the message is that we have to solve this problem.

I'd like to concludeby repeating what I said at the beginning of this presentation:
You don't need to work so pressured by the fear and working together we will be able to resolve it.

Sonia Alonso.

Resort Tourism

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishments operated by a single company. Such a self-contained resort attempts to provide for most of a vacationer's wants while remaining on the premises, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping.

The term "resort" sometimes is misused to identify a hotel that does not provide the other amenities required of a full resort. However, a hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort, such as the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island, Michigan. A resort is not merely a commercial establishment operated by a single company, although in the late twentieth century this sort of facility became more common.

What do you think? Do you agree with this definition? Do you like this kind of tourism? Tell me about it.

Have you created a company?

Have you created a company? If so, congratulations, otherwise you can learn something about how to do it or just make some comments about it, on this blog http://birthofacompany.blogspot.com/.

This is a blog from one of you partners and he's trying to create a company, so he's divided the process in several steps. Oscar is writing about each step. If you thing he is right or not, write a comment on his blog. If you have a different opinion about the process, tell it to him. This is a good opportunity for you to write in English about something very important for you: your future job.

Don't be shy! This is good for you.

I love watching the waves hitting the rocks

Hi!

This is one of the photographs I took when I visited a small town on Galicia's north coast. I love watching the sea, the big waves hitting the rocks. It's wonderfull. I love the strength of the sea, the breeze, in general: the power of nature.

¿Do you like it too? or do you prefer laying on the beach on a calm day? Do you like both options?

Tell me about it, please.

The waterfall photo is not mine. I haven't been there, for the moment. What a pity! But I hope to go soon.

If some of you have been in a place like this, please, tell us about it: the exact location and if it's as beautiful as everybody thinks. Is it worth visiting those places?

I don't know if there are lots of places like this, but I hope so, because when you admire its beauty we realize how important it is to look after the environment.

What do you think?

Welcome!

Hello everybody!

This is a blog for writing in English. I know it's always very difficult to write in another language different from your own when you are learning, but it's a question of practice. So I've created this blog for you to practise. If you are a Tourism student or a student of any other career, you are welcome to this place to write in English whatever you want: comments about the English subject, or any other subject; experiences travelling around the world, or around your country, you ideas about whatever you want, ...

Express yourself in English. Don't worry about if you are doing well or not, just write. Everybody can make comments to your writings, so you'll improve anyway.

Don't worry if you think what you have to say is not very interesting: everything is interesting, expressing in English is interesting and important for you, so do it.

I hope you write something soon.