Theme Week Bolivia – La Paz

30 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

San Jorge neighborhood © Pedro16792/cc-by-sa-4.0

San Jorge neighborhood © Pedro16792/cc-by-sa-4.0

La Paz, officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (English: Our Lady of Peace), is the seat of government and the de facto national capital of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (the constitutional capital of Bolivia is Sucre). With an estimated 800,000 residents, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia (after Santa Cruz de la Sierra and El Alto). Its metropolitan area, which is formed by La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, makes up the most populous urban area in Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million. It is also the capital of the La Paz Department.   read more…

Theme Week Bolivia – Sucre

29 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Sucre, capital de Bolivia © flickr.com - Micah MacAllen/cc-by-sa-2.0

Sucre, capital de Bolivia © flickr.com – Micah MacAllen/cc-by-sa-2.0

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department, and one of the capitals of Bolivia, where the Supreme Court is located. The government of the City of Sucre is divided into the executive and legislative branches. The city is named in honor of the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre. After the economic decline of Potosí and its silver industry, Sucre lost the Bolivian seat of government when it was moved to La Paz in 1898. Today, it is the 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2,810 meters (9,214 feet). This relatively high altitude gives the city a cool temperate climate year-round.   read more…

Krka National Park in Croatia

29 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© John Maxwell

© John Maxwell

Krka National Park is one of the Croatian national parks, named after the river Krka that it encloses. It is located along the middle-lower course of the Krka River in central Dalmatia, in Šibenik-Knin county, downstream Miljevci area, and just a few kilometers northeast of the city of Šibenik. It was formed to protect the Krka River and is intended primarily for scientific, cultural, educational, recreational, and tourism activities. It is the seventh national park in Croatia and was proclaimed a national park in 1985. The Krka National Park belongs to the Southern European (Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean) region.   read more…

Theme Week Bolivia – Quillacollo

28 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Willaq/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Willaq/cc-by-sa-4.0

Quillacollo is the capital of Quillacollo Province in Cochabamba Department. The municipality was established on 14 September 1905 under the Presidency of Ismail Montes. Quillacollo City is one of the various provincial capitals around Cochabamba City, which are increasingly swallowed by the extending perimeter of “greater” Cochabamba (city). Quillacollo is linked to the city of Cochabamba through the Avenida Blanco Galindo, a particularly busy stretch on the main national highway. Quillacollo is mostly a market town with a sizable agricultural hinterland, but also hosts some relevant industry and a district court which supports a relevant population of lawyers.   read more…

Theme Week Bolivia – Sacaba

27 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Fernando Just/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Fernando Just/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sacaba is a capital city and a municipality in the province of Chapare. The city, located 13 kilometers eastward from Cochabamba, is the second largest city in the Cochabamba Department after Cochabamba city. Post-colonial architecture may be seen in the inner part of Sacaba; however, some has been destroyed due to lack of municipal care.   read more…

Portrait: Albert Schweitzer, a French-German theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician

27 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  19 minutes

© Bundesarchiv/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Bundesarchiv/cc-by-sa-3.0

Albert Schweitzer, OM, was a French-German (Schweitzer was born in the province of Kaysersberg, which changed hands between France and Germany near and during his lifetime. Schweitzer considered himself French and wrote mostly in German. His mother-tongue was Alsatian) theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran, Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by historical-critical methodology current at this time, as well as the traditional Christian view. His contributions to the interpretation of Pauline Christianity concern the role of Paul‘s mysticism of “being in Christ” as primary and the doctrine of Justification by Faith as secondary. He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of “Reverence for Life”, expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, now in Gabon, west central Africa (then French Equatorial Africa). As a music scholar and organist, he studied the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and influenced the Organ Reform Movement (Orgelbewegung).   read more…

Theme Week Bolivia – El Alto

26 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

Market © Vallendar/IMEGS/cc-by-sa-3.0

Market © Vallendar/IMEGS/cc-by-sa-3.0

El Alto is a municipality and the second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia’s fastest-growing urban centers, with a population of 974,754 in 2011. El Alto is the highest major metropolis in the world, with an average elevation of 4,150 m (13,615 ft). The El Alto-La Paz metropolitan area, formed by the cities of El Alto, La Paz, and Viacha, constitutes the most populous urban area of Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants (greater than the metropolitan area of the country’s largest city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra).   read more…

Theme Week Bolivia

25 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  11 minutes

Sucre panorama © flickr.com - Micah MacAllen/cc-by-sa-2.0

Sucre panorama © flickr.com – Micah MacAllen/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. The capital is Sucre while the seat of government is located in La Paz. The largest city and principal economic and financial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales (Tropical lowlands) a mostly flat region in the East of Bolivia. It is divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range. With 1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi) of area, Bolivia is the 5th largest country in South America and the 27th largest in the world.   read more…

Eminönü in Istanbul

25 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

© flickr.com - Omer Unlu/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Omer Unlu/cc-by-2.0

Eminönü is a former district of Istanbul, currently a quarter of Fatih, the province’s capital district. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness. Eminönü covers roughly the area on which the ancient Byzantium was built. The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn into Eminönü and the mouth of the Bosphorus opens into the Marmara Sea. And up on the hill stands Topkapı Palace, the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) and Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya). Thus Eminönü is the main tourist destination in Istanbul. It was a part of the Fatih district until 1928, which covered the whole peninsular area (the old Stamboul) within the Roman city walls – that area which was formerly the Byzantine capital Constantinople. Since the resident population of Eminönü is low today, it rejoined the capital district Fatih in 2009.   read more…

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