Welcome to the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city or fair-sized town.

The Blog Carnival administration site now requires you to set up a free login account before submitting a post. This is rather a pain, but I hope it helps cut down on the not-insignificant number of spam submissions which are only looking for link-building rather than also sharing good content and community-building.

We normally publish every other Wednesday, but after this edition I’m going to take a break from hosting for a few months, so I can focus on business matters. We’ll resume over on the Perceptive Travel blog on February 6, 2013.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact me as the Carnival organizer:  Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com.

Here’s more info and background about the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, and now….

Off we go!

Cities in the Americas

Montreal, Quebec, Canada   Laura Roberts presents Hump Day Reviews: Juliette et Chocolat posted at Naked Montreal, saying, “If you love chocolate, you definitely need to take a trip to Montreal’s Juliette et Chocolat.”

Vanderpool, Texas, USA   Roberta Calelly presents Get disconnected from the online world! posted at Musings of Activator, saying, “Wonderful cabins near the Lost Maple State Park in Texas. Great place to disconnect from the real world and round up by the fire at night~”

Chicago, Illinois, USA   Sreedhar Yedavalli presents November 13, 2012 – Homeward Bound – #trainspotting#Chicago posted at Trainspotting Chicago, saying, “I am a public transportation user and advocate who has noticed wonderfully esoteric qualities about the people and regular personalities of my commute to and from the City to the Suburbs. At first, these observations were Facebook and Twitter posts, but many have suggested that these ‘brain-dumps’ are worthy of a more permanent spot in Etherspace. Feel free to comment, suggest or add to the ongoing travelogue. All of these posts on the blog so far have been in ‘realtime’. I use my tablet to type everything as I am traveling, about a 40 minute trip. I then head to a nearby WiFi hotspot at either terminal to transmit and record the blog post.

Napa Valley, California, USA   The Nerds presents Wine Tasting with Kids: Napa Valley posted at NerdWallet | Travel, saying, “This article is a feature on Napa Valley, CA USA, and all the family-friendly wine tasting locations it has to offer!”

Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA   Eileen Ludwig presents Escape to Adventures on the Space Coast posted at Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

Cities in Asia

Beijing, China   Cerise presents 5 Things to Do in Beijing (That You Probably Don’t Know) posted at The Beijing Apartment Blog, saying, “In this post, you get to see some of Beijing’s hidden gems – the places you wouldn’t know existed from most travel books or tour guides. Get a taste of the other side of Beijing, with plenty of history, ruins, and a delicious (but hard-to-find) roast duck restaurant.”

Cities in Europe

Trakai, Lithuania   Anne-Sophie Redisch presents A Saturday afternoon in Trakai posted at Sophie’s World, saying, “Wedding traditions and Karaite history in this quaint and charming town in Lithuania.”

Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain   Antonella presents Viajes, ocio y placer: Puerto de Santa María, “La Ciudad de los Cien Palacios” posted (in Spanish) at Viajes, ocio y placer.

Rome, Italy   Adam Groffman presents Best Places for Aperitifs in Rome posted at Eating Italy Food Tours in Rome, saying, “A short guide to the best aperitif bars in Rome including personal recommendations and local secrets!”

London, England   Emm presents 9 Things I Learned on a Bowl of Chalk posted at Emm in London, saying, “Walking tours are definitely the best way to discover a city. Here are 9 things I learned on a Bowl of Chalk walk in London Town.”

That concludes this edition, and thanks very much for visiting and supporting the Carnival.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy, recent) blog post – once you’ve registered – to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form.  Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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