Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 54

Are You Looking for Luxury at the Next Level in Las Vegas...

Are You Looking for Luxury at the Next Level in Las Vegas?

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@lisaniver Where to #stay in #vegas? @resortsworldlv #ho...

@lisaniver

Where to #stay in #vegas? @resortsworldlv #hotel #new #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #travel #traveltok #hoteltok #vegastiktok #new #resortsworld #resortsworldlasvegas #resortsworldgenting #resortsworldlv

♬ Texas Blues Bed 30 – Auracle

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Vegas, Baby, Vegas at Resorts World Las Vegas

I was back in Vegas in November 2021 for the DEMA Dive Show and this time stayed at the brand new Resorts World Las Vegas. Part of my September 2021 IPW Travel conference was hosted there, so I had seen many of the amazing parts of this new property!

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Where to stay? RESORTS WORLD LAS VEGAS!

@lisaniver

Where to #stay in #vegas? @resortsworldlv #hotel #new #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #travel #traveltok #hoteltok #vegastiktok #new #resortsworld #resortsworldlasvegas #resortsworldgenting #resortsworldlv

♬ Texas Blues Bed 30 – Auracle

We saw DJ RUCKUS at Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World Las Vegas and in Sept, I saw DJ SNAKE!Watch the show on the Silver Orb!!

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Meet the Robot Puppies in the lobby of The Conrad at Resorts World Las Vegas!

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I will be back in Jan 2022 for CES! The Vegas Loop is going to connect from Resorts World Las Vegas to The Las Vegas Convention Center! Go for a ride!

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Eat at FAMOUS FOODS!Enjoy Ayu DayClubHow big are the rooms? Big enough for hula-hooping!I LOVED the Golden Knights game with Lanie!

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My Vegas IPW September 2021 articles:

Luxury Las Vegas: My Stay at The Venetian Resort

Thank you IPW 2021 Resorts World Las Vegas

What happens in Vegas? EVERYTHING

My 2018 adventure at Cosmopolitan:

Are You Looking for Luxury at the Next Level in Las Vegas?

My 2017 adventure: Five Star Luxury Dreams come true in Vegas!

Five Star Luxury Dreams come true in Vegas!

Lisa Niver at Resorts World Las Vegas Nov 2021

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What Will You Love At DEMA?The post appeared first on We...

What Will You Love At DEMA?

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@lisaniver Lisa and Bamba dancing at the Beqa Lagoon boo...

@lisaniver

Lisa and Bamba dancing at the Beqa Lagoon booth in Vegas at the Dema Scuba show #foryou #fyp @jrtubaba #dema #dema2021 #travel #fiji #beqa #scuba #dancing #bulanaire #diving #dream #traveltok #islandtok #dancetok #new #fun #adventure #underwater

♬ Neon Moon – DJ Noiz

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DEMA Show 2021: In Vegas, I learned to TikTok!

[image error] Thank you to DEMA (Diving Equipment & Marketing Association) for including me as media for the 2021 conference in Vegas. It was great to be back together IN PERSON!! [image error]

The annual DEMA Show is the largest trade-only event in the world for companies doing business in the scuba diving, ocean water sports and adventure/dive travel industries. It attracts hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of dive and travel industry professionals from around the world each year.

At the show, I started a social media challenge of 5 videos a day for 30 days. Thank you to everyone for being in my new videos! It was so much fun to see everyone in person and talk scuba!

I did my first TikTok dance in the Beqa Lagoon Booth with Bamba!

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Lisa and Bamba dancing at the Beqa Lagoon booth in Vegas at the Dema Scuba show #foryou #fyp @jrtubaba #dema #dema2021 #travel #fiji #beqa #scuba #dancing #bulanaire #diving #dream #traveltok #islandtok #dancetok #new #fun #adventure #underwater

♬ Neon Moon – DJ Noiz

My first job in travel was at CLUB MED! It was great to learn about what they are doing NOW!

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Check out my TikTok channel as well as Instagram Reels to see the 15 videos we made at the show about diving in Bonaire, Fiji, Indonesia, Cayman islands, a mini-series about Lionfish, Tahiti, Mexico and Antarctica!

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[image error] DEMA 2019:

What Will You Love At DEMA?

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Tikkun Olam: From a Hyundai to a Home for the Holidays

From Steven Grossman of #OperationSaveChristmas2021

‘Twas a week before Christmas and we’re back for the second annual OPERATION SAVE CHRISTMAS 2021!!!

Last year we raised 23k to help source as many toys as possible from local small “ma and pa” businesses and helped with other expenses for families in need all over the country. 

This year beyond the above again, we’ve identified one particular family with greater needs to highlight – ALEX & VERONICA VARGAS.

GO FUND ME: DONATE HERE

Despite working full time jobs, they haven’t been able to save enough money for a deposit on an apartment so they’ve been living in their car with their three kids in the dead of winter in Pennsylvania. They spend their money on gas to keep their boys warm and their closet is a storage unit. 

NPR Article: When a Hyundai is also the family home 

So with a little holiday magic, let’s get the Vargas family off the streets and pay for a new roof over their heads.

We’re working hard to have them nestled in their beds by Christmas along with some presents under the tree.

Prior to COVID, there were roughly 13 million kids (approx 1 in 6) living below the poverty line in the United States – with about half of those living under conditions considered to be extreme poverty.

Many families have nothing to give their kids to open on Christmas morning. We can help change that and ease other financial burdens as the holiday season has always been much more about giving than receiving. 

PLEASE SHARE THIS FUNDRAISER AND DONATE if and what you can, whether it’s $1, $5 OR $500+ as anything helps and is greatly appreciated.

We can’t save the world, but with the spirit of the season – we can create a few of our own Christmas miracles for families in need and get those kids some toys to open Christmas morning too. With gratitude, Steven

#OperationSaveChristmas2021

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First Light of Hanukkah in Poland

By Hazzan Michael Stein

The train from Krakow to Gdansk/Sopot was almost six hours, but the most comfortable ride ever. The US Infrastructure bill barely passed, which would provide an opportunity to upgrade our rail system. With food, drinks, internet, and electric outlets, the high-speed train outclasses anything we have in the US. I spent a good portion of my trip questioning why our values in America don’t include making life easier and more mobile, not just for the rich. People have been so kind, taking care of me at every turn. Adam Koren, a friend of Marcin, drove me from Warsaw to Krakow and then on my last day, to the train station. And like Marcin, he parked his car and made sure that I got on the correct train. Marcin and Iza were the best hosts that I could have. They went far beyond any expectations. I felt like royalty during my trip. People in other countries express their love and appreciation of music and musicians. I now know why so many musician friends moved to or toured in Europe.

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When I got to Sopot, I checked in to the Sheraton Hotel. I needed to reward myself for the demanding schedule that I maintained. I had a room with a balcony directly overlooking the Baltic Sea. I had an indoor pool and spa. Quite exquisite. I had heard that my daughter-in-law’s mom was very ill, and I put on my tefillin and davened by the window looking out at the beautiful scenery. Suddenly the ever-present cloudy skies turned blue, and a rainbow appeared over the sea. The “sign of the covenant” was a sign for our day because her mom miraculously recovered and was sent home the next day.

Many things like that happen when I travel. In Africa, there was a hole in my mosquito netting. I was carrying a Torah to bring to the Abayudaya community in Uganda. The tape used to adhere the scroll to the Atzei Chayim (the Torah handles) was a perfect patch for the netting. Also, the first time I was in Poland, in 2009, I davened Shaharit in Auschwitz with the Cantors Assembly. I walked over to block 15, where my teacher Lipman Radzik z’l was imprisoned and tortured, wearing my tefillin. I prayed there with him in my mind, and it was a profoundly moving moment. I realized that my tefillin were not on the bus on the return trip. I searched and searched, but I must have left them there. The next day, I was on a different bus that had returned from Auschwitz and found my tefillin there. I do not know how that was possible, but I thought that perhaps some soul needed my tefillin so that they could pray the following day. Rabbi Radzik used to watch me putting on tefillin and comment about how I did it with so much love and caring.

After a two-night stay in paradise, I rented a tiny apartment in the town. It was clean, warm, and had a balcony. I loved it! Thank you to Iza for finding it for me!

Friday night service was in Gdansk in a small room/apartment in town. We decided to sit and not be so formal, as only about 15 people were there. Through the evening, the number grew to over 20. There were only seven Jews, but several others were in the conversion process, and others were deeply interested in Judaism. We had a lovely Shabbat dinner and stayed many more hours to discuss Jewish matters. I loved teaching about the meaning of the prayers and connections to the Torah portion. Iza (Rivka) and Alina, both my students and prayer leaders, have been doing a fantastic job. People sang the prayers loudly, confidently, and in Hebrew throughout the service. What more could you ask?

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On Shabbat morning, we had a service in the same place, and it was, once again, well attended with fantastic participation. We talked for hours after the kiddush lunch, mostly about conversion and Jewish life in Poland. Consistently, my love of Judaism in song and conversation seemed to inspire many people to research and learn more about their Jewish roots. That in itself makes my mission a success.

Havdalah in Gdansk was one of the most unusual experiences in my many years of working with Jewish communities worldwide. Because of the short turnover time in booking venues, we did a Havdalah concert in a church. Not a unique platform, but when we got there, there was no heat, incense was burning, and the images surrounding us were very imposing. I have never tried to play violin with a warm coat and a scarf wrapped around the place where my fiddle would usually sit. Nor with ice-cold fingers, colder than a Sunday morning Gospel show in early spring. We got through it, and the audience of over 60 people enjoyed it so much. We decided not to bench Havdalah as part of the show, and so afterward, we went to the back of the church, and about ten Jews stood around and chanted Havdalah in a place that has never seen anything like it–the priest also enjoyed it. The basis of interfaith work is this–if you educate people to our customs, if you sing with them, sit with them and interact in a meaningful way, you create peaceful existence. Like my beautiful friend Peter Yarrow says, create pools of peace, and eventually, they will turn into an ocean of change.

Sunday night was the first night of Hanukkah. Still the month of November but the 25th of Kislev nevertheless. I did a concert with Iza at a beautiful “black box” theater in Sopot. The place was packed, and the venue was professional, with great sound and lighting. Even the mayor of Sopot came by afterward because she had heard that the program was so sensational. One comment about the evening was very telling–I wore my fun Hanukkah tie, complete with dreidels and a menorah. I pointed it out to the audience, but most did not know the symbolism. I had to explain “dreidel” and the menorah to the listeners. There were just a handful of Jews, but many interested and some very curious. So many will say that they feel something in their soul about being Jewish, which explains their curiosity.

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Special thanks to some beautiful people who made my journey to the Gdansk area special. Maciej Kostecki drove us everywhere, and whose Jewish neshama is an inspiration. Miroslaw Patalon, whose journey as a Jew by Choice is a fantastic story. Miroslaw is a professor with a tremendous intellect, understanding of Judaism and Hebrew, and a love of Yiddishkeit. Kasia Mazurkiewicz was the interpreter during my classes in Poland and on Skype with my Polish students. She is one of the founders of the Gdansk Jewish Community, and her presence at all of the events in Gdansk made it very special–she was the one who insisted that we do havdalah at the church–a deeply inspirational Jewish soul. My next stop is Warsaw amid a covid surge. Glad that I planned a return on Wednesday instead of the following week.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
I met Hazzan Stein and his sons at Nashuva: Watch them sing here:

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