Offering a distinctive cultural scene, Vancouver is a place that’s remarkably well-positioned to offer its residents a chance to engage with the world. It’s a mix of global and local, to the extent that it may even be difficult to distinguish between the two. They merge, and part of the reasons for the merging comes from the nature of Vancouver itself.

As a spectacularly diverse city, there is a history of multiplicity in voice and vision, and after time, the traction has caused the rest of the world to focus its eyes on the city. Its a place to enjoy a magnificent meal, or a grand Vancouver hotel , where the sensibility is in the upper regions of taste and style. Everything here is part of a larger conversation.

Even the festivals seem to be speaking to each other. The strength of the city’s Fringe Festival is well understood, and this is a great way to see a surprising number of works each year. For those who don’t like the mixed bag, or want something a little more precise, or perhaps even for those who just can’t get enough, the PuSh Festival is curated, so that for three weeks in January, visitors and locals can see carefully screened work that speaks of the bigger picture.

Shuffleboard has been around for almost 500 years and is a game of skill rather than a game of chance. Back in the day, it was called by several names, like ‘shrove groat’ or ‘slide groat’ during the 16th century in England. The groat was a large British coin worth about 4 pence. Later, the groat became a silver penny and the name changed to ‘shoe penny’ or ‘shovel-penny’. The British colonists brought the game over to America and it really began to catch-on during the early 20th century. During this time, beautifully handcrafted shuffleboard tables began to make an appearance. Shuffleboard hit it big time in the 50′s in bars and pubs. However, pool halls began to edge shuffleboard out of the limelight in the 60s, but today, there are well over 5 million people enjoying the game of shuffleboard either in their homes or at their favorite bars.

The games enjoyed being played on the shuffleboard are more than what most people are familiar with such as Knock Off, Horse Collar and Crazy Eights, which are the 3 most popular games to play at home. Knock Off is the most common of these games and it’s the official shuffleboard game for tournaments and requires the most skill and finesse.

The Roman Colosseum is one of the standard landmark attractions for most tourists who visit this great ancient city. And while it remains one of the world’s awesome testimonies to ancient culture, it can also be difficult to image all of the activities that took place there on a regular basis in ancient times. The Colosseum was the main social event location and all sorts of activities occurred there. Some were political in orientation while others served as major competitions or pure entertainment. Guests in a grand hotel might sense a feeling of ancient Rome in the atmosphere.

The famous fights of the gladiators continue to entice imaginations and also inspire events that are reminiscent, if loosely, of these competitions. One of the most disturbing, though also sensational aspects of the Roman fights was that they went on until the death of one of the opponents. These fighters spent most of their lives training and preparing for these fights and they were some of the most respected citizens of ancient Rome.

Tourists who visit the city and southern Italy today can view and wonder at the remains of this ancient landmark, though it is incredibly difficult to image what it would have been like to be there. The front desk staff in a Rome hotel will have good information on the Colosseum, its events and other attractions in this great city.