Escargots

23 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  13 minutes

Escargots à la bourguignonne © Marianne Casamance/cc-by-sa-4.0

Escargots à la bourguignonne © Marianne Casamance/cc-by-sa-4.0

Snails are considered edible in many areas such as the Mediterranean region, Africa, France as a whole and Southeast Asia, while in other cultures, snails are seen as a taboo food. In American English, edible land snails are also called escargot, taken from the French word for “snail”, and the production of snails for consumption is called snail farming or heliciculture. Snails as a food date back to ancient times, with numerous cultures worldwide having traditions and practices that attest to their consumption. Snails were a popular fasting food in monasteries because they are “neither fish nor meat” and therefore eating them does not violate the fasting laws.   read more…

Theme Week Calabria – Cosenza

22 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Old town © Pianopera/cc-by-sa-4.0

Old town © Pianopera/cc-by-sa-4.0

Cosenza (local dialect: Cusenza) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a population of more than 700,000. The demonym of Cosenza in English is Cosentian.   read more…

Theme Week Calabria – Pizzo

21 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Piervincenzo Madeo/cc-by-3.0

© Piervincenzo Madeo/cc-by-3.0

Pizzo (Calabrian: U Pizzu), also called Pizzo Calabro, is a seaport and comune in the province of Vibo Valentia (Calabria, southern Italy), situated on a steep cliff overlooking the Gulf of Saint Euphemia. Fishing is one of the main activities, including that of tuna and coral. The nearest airport is Lamezia Terme International Airport.   read more…

Theme Week Calabria – Corigliano Calabro

20 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Il Conte Suino Atomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Il Conte Suino Atomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

Corigliano Calabro is a town and a frazione of Corigliano-Rossano located in the province of Cosenza, c. 40 km northeast of the city of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy.   read more…

Göta Canal in Sweden

20 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Göta Canal at Söderköping © Barnos/cc-by-sa-4.0

Göta Canal at Söderköping © Barnos/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Göta Canal (Swedish: Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is 190 km (120 mi) long, of which 87 km (54 mi) were dug or blasted, with a width varying between 7–14 m (23–46 ft) and a maximum depth of about 3 m (9.8 ft). The speed is limited to 5 knots in the canal.   read more…

Theme Week Calabria

19 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Cliff at Tropea © Przemyslaw "Blueshade" Idzkiewicz/cc-by-sa-2.5

Cliff at Tropea © Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz/cc-by-sa-2.5

Calabria is a region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It has almost 2 million residents across a total area of 15,222 km² (5,877 sq mi). Catanzaro is the region’s capital.   read more…

Hotel Telegraphenamt in Berlin

18 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Hotels Reading Time:  7 minutes

Hotel Telegraphenamt © Fridolin freudenfett/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hotel Telegraphenamt © Fridolin freudenfett/cc-by-sa-4.0

The former main telegraph office at Oranienburger Straße 73–76 in the Berlin Mitte neighborhood in the district of the same name is a listed architectural monument. From its opening in 1916 until 1992, it served as the headquarters of Berlin’s telegraph facilities. The monumental building complex has been owned by an investor since 2001. After several years of renovation, a hotel opened in the building in 2022.   read more…

Biot on the French Riviera

17 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Jean Pierre Lozi/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jean Pierre Lozi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Biot (Occitan: Biòt) is a small fortified medieval hilltop village in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur near Antibes, between Nice and Cannes. Many people come to Biot for its renowned cubist art museum of Fernand Leger as well as the winding cobbled lanes on the elevated fort. This village, that is now known for its ceramics and glassblowing, dates to prehistoric times.   read more…

Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche in Lorraine

15 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  4 minutes

Saint-Louis crystal glass manufacturer © Gryffindor/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint-Louis crystal glass manufacturer © Gryffindor/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche (literally St. Louis near Bitche; German: Münzthal; Lorraine Franconian: Minzdal) is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France.   read more…

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