Siciliy’s green diamonds – the pistachios city of Bronte

31 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© SR/Julia Leiendecker

© SR/Julia Leiendecker

Bronte is a town and comune of Sicily. Bronte is located slightly northwest of Mount Etna, on the side of the valley of the Simeto river. It is about 30 kilometers west of the coast.   read more…

Colchester in Essex is UK’s oldest city

30 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

High Street © colchesterguide.co.uk

High Street © colchesterguide.co.uk

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England. At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain’s fastest growing towns. As the oldest recorded Roman town in Britain, Colchester claims to be the oldest town in Britain. It was for a time the capital of Roman Britain and also claims to have the United Kingdom’s oldest recorded market. The town is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network.   read more…

Djamaâ el Djazaïr is set to become the third biggest mosque in the world

29 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  5 minutes

© competitionline.com

© competitionline.com

PROJECT
Djamaâ el Djazaïr is set to become the third biggest mosque in the world, with a prayer hall capable of holding 35,000 worshippers and a complex including conference rooms, libraries and other facilities. Architects Drees & Sommer are working with Jürgen Engel Architekten and the engineering consultancy Krebs und Kiefer on the project, which is likely to take more than four years to complete.   read more…

Jerez de la Frontera, the hometown of Sherry in Andalusia

29 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Sherry Regulate Council © Mao06

Sherry Regulate Council © Mao06

Jerez de la Frontera is a municipality in the Province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, (Andalucía in Spanish) in southwestern Spain, situated midway between the sea and the mountains. As of 2010, the city, the largest in the province, had 208,896 inhabitants; it is the fifth largest in Andalusia. It has become the transportation and communications hub of the province, surpassing even Cádiz, the provincial capital, in economic activity. Jerez de la Frontera is also, in terms of land area, the largest municipality in the province, and its sprawling outlying areas are a fertile zone for agriculture. There are also many cattle ranches and horse-breeding operations, as well as a world-renowned wine industry. Jerez is known as the capital of sherry wine, horsemanship, and flamenco dancing. It is the home of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, a riding school comparable to the world-famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Jerez, the city where flamenco singing began, is also proud of its Andalusian Centre of Flamenco.   read more…

Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia

27 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Brewery Gleumes © DER UNFASSBARE

Brewery Gleumes © DER UNFASSBARE

Krefeld, also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine. Krefeld is also called the “Velvet and Silk City” and belong to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.   read more…

The Highland Games

25 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  4 minutes

Braemar - General Games Day © TheCreator

Braemar - General Games Day © TheCreator

Taking place around Scotland during the summer months, Highland games provide a unique combination of culture, sport and social entertainment.   read more…

The Irish Glenveagh National Park

25 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

Glenveagh National Park © flickr.com - Michal Osmenda

Glenveagh National Park © flickr.com – Michal Osmenda

Glenveagh is the second largest national park in Ireland. The park covers 170 square kilometres of hillside above Glenveagh Castle on the shore of Lough Veagh, 20 km from Gweedore in County Donegal. The network of mainly informal gardens displays a multitude of exotic and delicate plants from as far afield as Chile, Madeira and Tasmania, all sheltered by windbreaks of pine trees and ornamental rhododendrons.   read more…

The university city of Norwich

24 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Norwich Market © Saxsux

Norwich Market © Saxsux

Norwich is a city on the River Wensum in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom. Until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the capital of England’s most populous county and vied with Bristol as England’s second city.   read more…

Birmingham in the West Midlands

23 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Birmingham City Council building at Victoria Square © Cristian Bortes

Birmingham City Council building at Victoria Square © Cristian Bortes

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900, and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a population of 2,738,100. Birmingham’s metropolitan area is also the United Kingdom’s second most populous with a population of 3,683,000.   read more…

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