Gay travel to Cologne this year is certainly going to be popular. Known as a Mecca for gays, this German city is host to the 2010 Gay Games from 31 July – 7 August. Everything is raring to go for this event that features sporting disciplines, festivals, fairs, parades and other cultural events.

Called the ‘gay Mecca’ in Germany, the city of Cologne is gearing up to host the Gay Games 2010 which take place from July 31 to August 7. Therefore gay travel to Cologne will be at its peak this year. The games obviously focus on sport disciplines; however they also include a number of colorful cultural events, fairs, festivals and parades.

It is the biggest sporting occasion for LGBT athletes, musicians, singers and artists. Any athlete can participate, regardless of his or her sexual orientation. When the first event was held in San Francisco in 1982 it was named the Gay Olympics. The aims and aspirations are to foster participation, sporting success, and inclusion.

With this philosophy in mind, no competitor has to qualify for entry. The event is open to anyone, regardless of sexual preference. Cologne is known for its open-mindedness therefore it is anticipated that the occasion will draw participants from many countries, especially those where homosexuality is still taboo.

Bands and singers from everywhere in the world will take part in an instrumental and singing festival. Athletes in the Rainbow Run will carry a flag into the arena at the opening ceremony. The flag will have traveled through each continent in this huge marathon commemorating those who have died of AIDS.

Cologne is Germany’s oldest city. It is located on the banks of the Rhine River. The city is always full of visitors who come to experience the rich, vibrant culture. The residents are jovial, friendly and helpful. There are so many gay clubs, restaurants and bars in Cologne that you would not be able to visit all of them in one holiday.

There are some exciting events and tourist attractions that cater for gay visitors. These include a hike to castles, a motorcycle tour just for women, and a tour that covers gay history from the 19th Century to 1969. The Rhenish Extravaganza – a famous carnival features a host of attractions, parties, art displays and lectures.

The local Koln Service Center will welcome you with an exclusive Pink WelcomeCard which will entitle you to free public transport and discounts for opera shows, theater tickets, river cruises, and museums. You will also qualify for discounts at a number of gay shops, saunas, bars and clubs. The city is certainly gearing up for gay travel to Cologne this year.

To drive through the southern part of Germany in December and see the long lines of cars with skiing equipment attached to their roof racks on their way to some or other ski resort is bound to make anyone excited! A ski holiday is something that many people can only dream of, yet these guys do it every year.

The excitement of skiing doesn’t only lie in the physical act of speeding down a mountain slope – that is of course a pure adrenalin rush – it’s also about being in the great outdoors. About the feeling of being part of these majestic mountains surrounding you. About knowing that for these precious moments there will be no urgent phone calls to answer or emails to attend to.

Good quality alpine skiing equipment is something that every skier should invest in. You can simply not become a professional skier without this and you could even endanger your life with inferior equipment. You might feel good equipment is too expensive for using once every few years: in that case rather rent good equipment than buy poor quality equipment.

A ski holiday is about much more than skiing though. It is about meeting people, making friends and reliving every day’s adventures with your new friends. All the well-known resorts like Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Zermatt and St Moritz have a lively nightlife too. You will find a large number of cute little pubs and restaurants where you can discuss the day’s events over a glass of port or German gluhwein.

For the days that skiing is not possible because of adverse weather, make sure you bring something along to help pass the time. Many people find ebook readers the ideal solution to such a quiet day. You can nowadays nearly fit a whole library of books on one of these readers and it takes up virtually no space.

If you are an amateur musician and you stay in one of those lovely little log cabins that you get in many of these Alpine resorts, you could spend many evenings playing your favorite instrument. For some reason guitar music goes very well with the whole Alpine environment, so why not bring your epiphone electric guitar and turn a quiet, rainy day into one that’s filled with music?

As the days go you will slowly feel the stress of an office job receding into the distance, until one day you will suddenly realize that you can now sleep without sleeping tablets. That you are not as irritable as before. That you have both the time and the inclination to listen to other people’s stories. This is what a holiday in the great outdoors can do for you…

Perhaps you’ve heard about Garmisch-Partenkirchen, perhaps you haven’t. It’s in Bavaria in the South of Germany, near the Austrian border.

This is one of Germany’s most beautiful areas. The surrounding mountains are sometimes so beautiful that it literally takes your breath away. The highest peak in the German Alps – the Zugspitse – towers over the town. There are also numerous lakes and rivers in the area.

If you are a skier, Garmisch-Partenkirchen will not disappoint you. It has some of the most advanced slopes in all of Germany, yet there are also slopes where even those who are taking ski lessons will not feel uncomfortable. Good quality alpine skiing equipment is available for rent or sale in town.

Getting to the various ski slopes is not a problem either. There’s a large variety of cable cars and ski lifts. There’s even a train that takes you to a station very close to the top of the Zugspitse. From here it’s a short cable car ride to the top – where you will find not only stunning vistas and ski slopes, but also an atmospheric little coffee shop.

In town there’s more than enough accommodation to handle the yearly influx of tourists. But if you prefer to stay in an even more rural location, there’s also a number of guest houses and hotels in the smaller surrounding towns.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, you will no doubt run into the many beautiful Christmas markets you will find all over town. Here you can buy everything from a black sport watch to gluhwein, the delightful spicy wine from the area that is served hot.

Garmisch offers the typical nightlife one finds in an Alpine ski resort. A couple of live music venues and many snug little restaurants where you can sip a glass of hot gluhwein while an ibanez electric guitar is softly playing in the background.

The area around Garmisch is equally picturesque and interesting. Not far from here you will find the beautiful, centuries old town of Oberammergau where the world renowned passion play takes place every ten years. The whole town is involved in the production of this nativity play and they start practicing years before the next play. The play has been produced every ten years since it was staged for the first time in 1632, to thank God for saving the town from the Black Plague. When you walk through the streets, you will notice that every second building carries frescoes depicting nativity scenes.

Driving through the south of Germany in December one will no doubt encounter long lines of cars heading for the numerous ski resorts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Most of them have skiing equipment attached to the roof racks. They are in the fortunate situation to be on their way to a ski holiday in the Alps.

Skiing is one of the most exciting sports of all. There’s little that beats the shear thrill of belting down a steep incline with the wind rushing past you and you know it’s only your skills that prevent you from serious injury. But there’s more to skiing than adrenalin. There are not many sports giving you the chance to be so absolutely at one with nature. To be surrounded by snow-capped peaks all day and feel the snow crushing beneath your feet.

Good quality alpine skiing equipment is something that every skier should invest in. You can simply not become a professional skier without this and you could even endanger your life with inferior equipment. You might feel good equipment is too expensive for using once every few years: in that case rather rent good equipment than buy poor quality equipment.

But a ski holiday is about more than skiing. It’s also about socializing. If you go to a ski resort like Zermatt, St Moritz or Garmisch-Partenkirchen you would no doubt want to spend many an evening discussing the adventures of the day with your fellow skiers in one of the cosy little pubs or restaurants that you inevitably find in these resorts.

There will inevitably be days when you can’s ski because of bad weather. For those days, bring along something to help you pass the time. Board games, ebook readers and musical instruments are all good options. You can nowadays download enough books on the average ebook reader to last you for years – no matter how avid a reader you may be.

A musical instrument is an option for those of use who love music. In our household we have whiled away many an hour with the help of our epiphone electric guitar. Especially if you are staying in a cute but quiet little log cabin somewhere in the mountains this is an excellent option. If you stay in a hotel you might have to turn the volume down a bit!

Whatever you do during your skiing holiday, make sure to treasure every moment. There might never come a time again exactly like this, with the same friends, the same beautiful weather, the same snowy mountains in the background.