Things to Do in Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

Leave the hotel swimming pool behind on a trip to Tobago’s Nylon Pool. This huge offshore sandbar is a picturesque shallow bank about a mile from Pigeon Point, and a hugely popular spot for visitors to swim and snorkel under the Caribbean sun. Supposedly, the name was bestowed Princess Margaret when she visited the pool in 1962 and reportedly said the clear water reminded her of looking through a nylon stocking. The shallow corals of Buccoo Reef surround the sandy bottomed bathing area, making it a perfect spot to swim with local reef fish. Bring a mask and snorkel and keep watch for parrotfish, queen angels and trumpet fish flitting among the reefs. 

Sandwiched between the ruins of Abu and the Mövenpick resort hotel are two colorful Nubian Villages, Siou and Koti. Strolling through their shady alleys and gardens is a wonderful way to experience life on modern Elephantines. A north-south path across the middle of Elephantine Island links the two villages and about halfway along is the Nubian Café, with a shady garden beside a traditional Nubian house. 

Close to the wall separating the Mövenpick from Siou village is Nubian House, where the owner serves tea, sells Nubian handicrafts, and can arrange live music and dancing or henna 'tattoos' with local women. Western women should be respectful of local tradition and wear modest clothes.

The Nubian Museum is a showcase of the history, art and culture of Nubia and is a real treat. Established in 1997, in cooperation with Unesco, the museum is a reminder of the history and culture of the Nubians , much of which was lost when Lake Nasser flooded their land after the building of the dams. Exhibits are beautifully displayed in huge halls, where clearly written explanations take you from 4,500 BC through to the present day.

At the entrance to the main exhibition hall is a model of the Nile Valley and the main temple sites. The exhibits start with prehistoric artefacts and objects from the Kingdom of Kush and Meroe. Coptic and Islamic art displays lead to a description of the massive Unesco project to move Nubia's most important historic monuments away from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, following the building of the Aswan High Dam. Among museum highlights are 6,000-year-old painted pottery bowls and an impressive quartzite statue of a 25th-dynasty priest of Amun in Thebes with distinct Kushite (Upper Nubian) features. The stunning horse armour found in tombs from the Ballana Period (5th to 7th century BC) shows the sophistication of artisanship during this brief ascendancy.

A fascinating display traces the development of irrigation along the Nile, from the earliest attempts to control the flow of the river, right up to the building of the old Aswan Dam. A model of a Nubian house, complete with old furniture and mannequins wearing traditional silver jewellery, attempts to portray modern Nubian folk culture.

All this is housed in a well-designed modern building, loosely based on traditional Nubian architecture. In the museum garden there is a reconstructed Nubian house (which you can't enter, unfortunately) and a small 'cave' with prehistoric petroglyphs, which show giraffes and other wild animals once indigenous to the region. The site also incorporates an 11th-century Fatimid tomb, as well as a number of other tombs of sheikhs.

Located less than 40 miles south of Stockholm, Nynashamn is a frequent jumping-off point and stopover destination for cruise ships and ferries servicing the region. Commerce in the area began to increase with the construction of a rail line to Stockholm constructed in the early 20th century. Once a flourishing spa town (it hosted the Olympic sailing regatta in 1912), Nynashamn ceased to function as much of a tourist draw in and of itself following the construction of industrial facilities and an oil refinery prior to the end of World War I.

One of the first homes ever built in the nation’s capital, the historic Federal-style Octagon House was designed in 1799 by William Thornton for wealthy Virginia landowner Colonel John Tayloe III. During the War of 1812, Tayloe volunteered the house as a French embassy in order to save it from destruction, and two years later, when the White House was set ablaze by the British, he offered it to President James Madison as a temporary executive mansion. Madison used a second-floor room of the house as his study, and it was here that he signed the 1815 peace treaty that ended the war with England.

The Georgian Period was a regal time, when many of Dublin’s most well to do residents resided in lavish homes. One of those stunning historical abodes is Number Twenty Nine, a Georgian townhome from the late 18th century that’s now a public museum. Tour every corner of this extravagant home, from a basement that holds an authentic collection of Georgian era furniture, to an attic that has carpets, curtains, and artifacts that have been preserved for hundreds of years. In addition to the intriguing period pieces, informative storyboards help to educate visitors on the life of a wealthy homeowner. Similarly, there’s also info on the daily lives of residents who weren’t so well off—particularly the servants who kept the home in such a reputable and high-class state. Wandering through Number Twenty Nine takes the better part of an hour, and seeing as it’s only a short walk from Grafton Street and the city center, it’s an educational and insightful stop on a walking tour of Dublin.