PRIVACY POLICY – COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

This site is owned and operated by Travel Close Up. Your privacy on the Internet is of the utmost importance to us. At travelcloseup.com, we want to make your experience online satisfying and safe.

Because we gather certain types of information about our users, we feel you should fully understand our policy and the terms and conditions surrounding the capture and use of that information. This privacy statement discloses what information we gather and how we use it.

INFORMATION travelcloseup.com GATHERS AND TRACKS

travelcloseup.com gathers two types of information about users:

Information that users provide through optional, voluntary submissions. These are voluntary submissions to receive our electronic newsletters, to participate in our message boards or forums, to email a friend, and from participation in polls and surveys:
Information travelcloseup.com  gathers through aggregated tracking information derived mainly by tallying page views throughout our sites. This information allows us to better tailor our content to readers’ needs and to help our advertisers and sponsors better understand the demographics of our audience. Because travelcloseup.com derives its revenue mainly from sponsorships and advertising, providing such aggregated demographic data is essential to keeping our service free to users. Under no circumstances does travelcloseup.com divulge any information about an individual user to a third party.

travelcloseup.com Gathers User Information In The Following Processes:

Optional Voluntary Information

We offer the following free services, which require some type of voluntary submission of personal information by users:
1. Electronic newsletters policy (Dispatches)
We will offer a free electronic newsletter to users. travelcloseup.com gathers the email addresses of users who voluntarily subscribe. Users may remove themselves from this mailing list by following the link provided in every newsletter that points users to the subscription management page. Users can also subscribe to the newsletters at the time of registration.

2. Message boards/forums policy
Users of the site’s Message Boards and Forums must register separately for these services (both are free of charge) in order to post messages, although they needn’t register to visit the site. During registration the user is required to supply a username, password, and email address.

3. “E-mail this to a friend” policy
Our site users can choose to electronically forward a link, page, or documents to someone else by clicking “e-mail this to a friend”. The user must provide their email address, as well as that of the recipient. This information is used only in the case of transmission errors and, of course, to let the recipient know who sent the email. The information is not used for any other purpose.

4. Polling
We may offer interactive polls to users so they can easily share their opinions with other users and see what our audience thinks about important issues. Opinions or other responses to polls are aggregated and are not identifiable to any particular user. travelcloseup.com may use a system to “tag” users after they have voted, so they can vote only once on a particular question. This tag is not correlated with information about individual users.

5. Surveys
travelcloseup.com may occasionally conduct user surveys to better target our content to our audience. We sometimes share the aggregated demographic information in these surveys with our sponsors, advertisers and partners. We never share any of this information about specific individuals with any third party.

Children
Consistent with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without requesting parental consent.

Usage tracking
travelcloseup.com tracks user traffic patterns throughout all of our sites. However, we do not correlate this information with data about individual users. travelcloseup.com  does break down overall usage statistics according to a user’s domain name, browser type, and MIME type by reading this information from the browser string (information contained in every user’s browser).

travelcloseup.com sometimes tracks and catalogs the search terms that users enter in our Search function. We use tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don’t like based on traffic to those areas. We do not track what individual users read, but rather how well each page performs overall. This helps us continue to build a better service for you.

Cookies
We may place a text file called a “cookie” in the browser files of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable us to relate your use of this site to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided. But the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie can’t read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. travelcloseup.com  uses cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above). Our advertising system delivers a one-time cookie to better track ad impressions and click rates.

You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you’ve set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use this site. However, you do need cookies to participate actively in message boards, forums, polling and surveys.

Privacy Policy Use
How the information you gather is used if relevent.

USE OF INFORMATION
travelcloseup.com uses any information voluntarily given by our users to enhance their experience in our network of sites, whether to provide interactive or personalized elements on the sites or to better prepare future content based on the interests of our users.

As stated above, we use information that users voluntarily provide in order to send out electronic newsletters and to enable users to participate in polls, surveys, message boards, and forums. We send out newsletters to subscribers on a regular schedule (depending on the newsletter), and occasionally send out special editions when we think subscribers might be particularly interested in something we are doing. travelcloseup.com  never shares newsletter mailing lists with any third parties, including advertisers, sponsors or partners.

When we use tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don’t like based on traffic to those areas. This helps us continue to build a better service for you. We track search terms entered in Search function as one of many measures of what interests our users.

travelcloseup.com creates aggregate reports on user demographics and traffic patterns for advertisers, sponsors and partners. This allows our advertisers to advertise more effectively, and allows our users to receive advertisements that are pertinent to their needs. We will not disclose any information about any individual user except to comply with applicable law or valid legal process or to protect the personal safety of our users or the public.

SHARING OF THE INFORMATION
travelcloseup.com uses the above-described information to tailor our content to suit your needs and help our advertisers better understand our audience’s demographics. This is essential to keeping our service free. We will not share information about individual users with any third party, except to comply with applicable law or valid legal process or to protect the personal safety of our users or the public.

OPT-OUT POLICY
We give users options wherever necessary and practical. Such choices include:
 Opting not to register to receive our electronic newsletters.
 Opting not to participate in certain interactive areas, which completely alleviates the need to gather any personally identifiable information from our users

YOUR CONSENT
By using this site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by travelcloseup.com . If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.

The olive is the symbol of the Mediterranean. You cannot have one without the other. Olive oil is used in everyday cooking throughout the Mediterranean. It was even used as currency in the ancient days. It has been used as medicine and for heating. But today, olive oil is a culinary staple. If you cook Mediterranean food, you must have a good olive oil. It is a requirement! But are all olive oils created equal? Of course not. The most highly prized olive oils come from Greece, Italy and Spain. That is where the growing conditions are ideal. But there are subcategories even within these:
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I think it must be the summer weather that has really got me on this salad kick! I love a good salad, all the textures and flavors and it is a great way to get rid of your leftovers! Got random veggies lying around? Chop them up and throw them on some greens with protein and you have a satisfying yet light meal that can satisfy the taste of anyone in your family. Just add some crusty bread and you have a whole meal that was easy to make, and makes room in your fridge for other stuff!

I had some frozen chicken breasts and some pistachios and decided what better way to use them up than to make a gorgeous encrusted chicken breast to throw on that spinach that wasn’t going to last much longer in the fridge! Of course as on anything in this website, feel free to improvise. Forget the salad and serve it with veggies or mashed potatoes if that’s your thing. Or you can use walnuts or pecans as the coating for your chicken. Or don’t use chicken, try trout or tuna steaks instead. The possibilities are endless!
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Here is a wonderful dish prepared by one of my travel blog buddies, Lucinate! If you are into world travel, you should definately check out her blog, it is full of travel details all around the world. She just recently returned from a scuba adventure in Thailand. Her cooking is inspired by her many trips! Speaking of Thai, this is a Thai-Inspired Salmon with Cous Cous! Looks incredible!
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Summer is on its way and with summer comes grilling! Kabobs are a great way to get all your veggies and meat in one! Not only do they look beautiful but they taste great. You can do kabobs any way you like and with any meats or veggies that you have – classic kabob meats like beef, chicken, lamb or shrimp can be coupled with vegetables like onions, pepper, squash and even garlic. I like grilled fish and vegetable kabobs with a tangy lime marinade – they are light, fresh and healthy!
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Hi Everyone!

To sign up for The Foodie Blogroll go here: http://www.foodieblogroll.com/submit/

If you have any questions regarding The Foodie Blogroll, please check out the new Foodie Blogroll FAQ Page!

Welcome to The Foodie Blogroll!

This Blogroll is the first of its kind – especially designed for people who have a passion about food and cooking/baking/eating. If you have a blog about food, whether you cook it, or just like to talk about it, this blogroll is for you! It will be our way to create a community of Foodies!

To sign up for The Foodie Blogroll go here: http://www.foodieblogroll.com/submit/