Silicon Valley is the southern region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. The region, whose name derives from the Santa Clara Valley in which it is centered, is home to many of the world’s largest technology corporations as well as thousands of small startups. The term originally referred to the region’s large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers, but eventually came to refer to all the high-tech businesses in the area; it is now generally used as a metonym for the American high-tech sector. Despite the development of other high-tech economic centers throughout the United States and the world, Silicon Valley continues to be the leading hub for high-tech innovation and development, accounting for one-third (1/3) of all of the venture capital investment in the United States. Geographically, the Silicon Valley encompasses all of the Santa Clara Valley including the city of San Jose, the southern Peninsula Valley, and the southern East Bay. However, with the rapid growth of technology jobs in the San Francisco Metropolitan area, the traditional boundaries of Silicon Valley have expanded North to include the rest of San Mateo County, San Francisco County as well as parts of Marin County. read more…
Binz is the largest seaside resort on the German island of Rügen. It is situated between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the Schmachter See (a lake) in the southeast of the island. To the north of Binz stretches the Schmale Heide (the “narrow heath”), a tongue of land which joins the Muttland region of Rügen to the Jasmund peninsula. The land to the south and east, in the Granitz, of Binz is hilly, reaching a height of over 100 metres above sea level. read more…
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain. In the context of British Inland Waterways, “narrow boat” refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals (where locks and bridge holes would have a maximum width of at least 7 feet (2.1 m); some locks on the Shropshire Union are even smaller). The term is extended to modern “narrowboats” used for recreation and more and more as homes, whose design is an interpretation of the old boats for modern purposes and modern materials. read more…
San Donà di Piave is the largest city in Eastern Veneto and a comune of province of Venice, in the North East region of Italy. It bounds the communes of Noventa di Piave, Musile di Piave and Fossalta di Piave, that have become in practice a part of a single urban area, also known as Città del Piave. San Donà lies on the river Piave approximately 40 km north-east of Venice and 30 km (19 mi) east of Treviso. read more…
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) and commonly Le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities and official ceremonies are held all over France. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe is held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic, French officials and foreign guests. read more…
Miniatur Wunderland (German for miniature wonderland) is a model railway attraction in Hamburg and the largest of its kind in the world, built by the twins Gerrit and Frederik Braun. As of January 2011, the railway consists of 12,000 metres (39,370 ft) of track in HO scale, divided into seven sections: Harz, the fictitious city of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. Of the 6,400 square metres (68,889 sq ft) of floorspace, the model takes 1,150 m2 (12,378 sq ft). read more…
Rovigo is a town and comune in the Veneto region of North-Eastern Italy with 53,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the eponymous province. The northern border of the province is set on the Adige river from Badia Polesine to the sea, except for the territory of Cavarzere (in the province of Venice); the southern border is set on the Po river from Melara to the sea. The province includes the whole delta of the Po and the border is set on the Po di Goro channel of the delta. read more…
Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza situated North of Vicenza and East of the Lake of Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites (Italian Prealps) and Mount Pasubio. By the 12th century Schio had become an important centre of prosperous wool manufacturing. The city was ruled by the Venetian Maltraversi family until 1311. read more…
