The Hertz Corporation, the world’s largest general-use car rental company, today announces the continued expansion of its company-wide environmental initiatives. The company is making a $1 million donation to the National Park Foundation, and the donation of $250,000 to benefit The Mayor’s Fund for the Advancement of New York City, in recognition of the Mayor’s environmental efforts.

Additionally, the Company is expanding its signature Green Collection, a collection of environmentally friendly, fuel efficient, family-sized vehicles, with a planned $68 million investment in 3,400 reservable Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles, 100 of which will be designated for the company’s Manhattan fleet. The Green Collection and the introduction of hybrid vehicles complement the 105,000 EPA SmartWayTM certified cars currently in the Company’s car rental fleet. More than 64 percent (268,000 cars) of the Company’s rental fleet achieves 28 mpg or greater fuel efficiency and 42.4 percent of the fleet (176,500 cars) achieves 34 mpg or greater fuel efficiency. Further, Hertz continues to incorporate sustainable initiatives into its fleet and operational business practices, as part of a corporate-wide commitment to environmental sustainability.

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Happy belated International Women’s Day and Hinamatsuri, Girls’ Day in Japan! What is it about March, spring, rebirth, and women and girls?

International Women’s Day is on March 8, and Hinamatsuri is on the third day of the third month every year. It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with Japan when I was living there. Hina means doll (some of you may know that I am an avid doll collector), and suddenly, Tokyo was overflowing with exquisite doll displays. My favorites were at department stores like Takashimaya–level after level of courtly splendor as the emperor, empress and their minions, furniture, flowers and favorite symbolic fruit are displayed on a red carpet.

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Brightly colored balls bounced down the Spanish Steps in Rome on Wednesday. Graziano Cecchini and several other supporters emptied bags full of red, green, yellow and blue balls down Rome’s famed steps and into the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain in the Piazza below.

Passers-by took photos and gathered up the balls as souvenirs of their trip to Rome. Officials had to cordon off the Spanish Steps while they cleaned up the mess. Cecchini and three others were detained. Cecchini told Italian TV newscast TG5, that he uses “art – if we want to call it art – to stress our malaise.”

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Okay, not ‘with’ her but near her! Dalia Itzik is Israel’s Speaker of the Knesset and first woman to hold the post! I was enjoying supreme squid at Manta Ray, the very best beach-side cafe in Tel Aviv, and marveling as this petite powerhouse sauntered in with male attendants in tow.

The waves rolled by, the awesome food kept coming like baba ghanoush and other Mediterranean salads with pita, and our spot was so hot that even our waiter was ’someone’–he was a VJ on local MTV!

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After a quiet night at the Hotel Monteleone we woke up the next morning a trifle hung-over from the Royal Street festivities, but after three cafe au laits (no beignets because we were heading for the MAIN EVENT) we were wired and ready to go. Comfy Shoes-Check! Tickets-Check! Elastic Waistbands-Check! We waited in the entrance line for the final countdown-the doors opened- and WOW! Even after all the food & wine events that I’ve attended over the years, I was still awe-struck by the plethora of the culinary delights. It was like entering the pearly “southern” gates of Food Heaven!

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Who knew that three of the five types of flamingos lived in Chile? As a matter of fact, they can be found around an hour from our resort in San Pedro. After our trip to the Valley of the Moon, we ventured to Salar de Atacama, which is the third largest salt lake in the world. The lake is 92 kilometers in length and is the largest producer of Lithium in the world. So, here at this dry, salty lake, they’ve got pink flamingos, Lithium, UFO sightings, healing salts, and deep Incan folklore. Crazy, right?

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If you visit Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, prepare to be amazed the minute you walk in the door. The first thing to greet your eye is the fantastic, perspective warping work by Patrick Hughes, where the painting actually appears to move as you do, and you can look down three painting lined corridors simultaneously. Even as you alter your position, the corridors seem to shift so that you can still see down all of them. Hughes was born in Birmingham, and is the creator of a technique known as “reverspective”, which is used to create an optical illusion on a three dimensional surface. If you want to see how the painting actually works, then I suggest that you view it from the side – the truth will amaze you even more.

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Declared a National Monument in 1926, San Miguel de Allende is and Architectural Gem with cobblestone roads, classic 18th century Mansions, and beautiful Churches. It also is know as an artists’ haven and one of the best places to learn Spanish, making it an especially popular stop for travelers and home for expatriates.

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Valle de Bravo is a small picturesque colonial town located in the state of Mexico. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains in the middle of a big forest. As you can see, Valle de Bravo also has a beautiful lake where people like to sail and practice other water sports. This colonial town is only an hour away from the industrial city of Toluca. In order to get to Valle de Bravo if you are coming from abroad, you will need to take a plane to the city of Toluca and then catch a bus or rent a car to drive there.

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