Islamic Centre Hamburg

13 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hamburg Reading Time:  9 minutes

Imam Ali Mosque © Staro1/cc-by-sa-3.0

Imam Ali Mosque © Staro1/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Islamic Centre Hamburg (German: Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg) is one of the oldest Shia mosques in Germany and Europe. Established in Hamburg, in northern Germany, in the late 1950s by a group of Iranian emigrants and business people it rapidly developed into one of the leading Shia centres in the Western world.   read more…

Sopron in Hungary

13 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Main square © Michael Kargl/cc-by-sa-3.0

Main square © Michael Kargl/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sopron is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. Today, Sopron’s economy immensely benefits from the European Union. Having been a city close to nowhere, that is, to the Iron Curtain, Sopron now has re-established full trade relations to nearby Austria. Furthermore, after being suppressed during the Cold War, Sopron’s German-speaking culture and heritage are now recognized again. As a consequence, many of the city’s street-and traffic-signs are written in both Hungarian and German making it an officially bilingual city due to its proximity to the Austrian frontier.   read more…

The Queen Elizabeth 2

11 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  6 minutes

Port of Hamburg © Seebeer

Port of Hamburg © Seebeer

Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar (the investment company of Dubai World). She was designed primarily to run a transatlantic service from her home port of Southampton, England, to New York, USA, and was named after the earlier Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth (see Name section). She served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Designed in Cunard’s then headquarters and regional offices in Liverpool and Southampton respectively, and built in Clydebank, Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners until the construction of the QM2 was announced.   read more…

Judenburg – The Styrian market place for over 900 years

11 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Seen from Reifling © David Bauer

Seen from Reifling © David Bauer

Judenburg is a historic town in the state of Styria in Austria, the capital of the Murtal district. It is located on the western end of the Aichfeld basin at the banks of the Mur river. The municipality also comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Tiefenbach and Waltersdorf. The town was first mentioned in 1074 near Eppenstein Castle, the ancestral seat of the Eppensteiner noble family, who ruled as Styrian margraves in the 11th century. The name literally means “Jews’ Castle”, referring to the town’s origin as a trading outpost on the route across the Alps, in which Jews played an important role, being represented in the city’s coat of arms.   read more…

Rambouillet in the Île-de-France

11 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Château de Rambouillet © Jules78120/cc-by-sa-3.0

Château de Rambouillet © Jules78120/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rambouillet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.It is located on the outskirts of Paris, 44.3 km (27.5 mi) southwest from the center. Rambouillet is a sub-prefecture of the department. Rambouillet lies on the edge of the vast Forest of Rambouillet (Forêt de Rambouillet or Forêt de l’Yveline), and is famous for its historical castle, the Château de Rambouillet, which hosted several international summits. Due to its proximity to Paris and Versailles, Rambouillet has long been an occasional seat of government.   read more…

San Antonio in Texas

10 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

The Alamo © Daniel Schwen/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Alamo © Daniel Schwen/cc-by-sa-4.0

San Antonio is the seventh most populous city in the United States of America and the second most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1.4 million. It was the fastest growing of the top 10 largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, and the second from 1990 to 2000. The city is located in the American Southwest, the south–central part of Texas, and the southwestern corner of an urban region known as the Texas Triangle.   read more…

Theme Week Brittany – Concarneau

9 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Aerial view of Ville Close, harbour and town centre © Ronan Voltz

Aerial view of Ville Close, harbour and town centre © Ronan Voltz

Concarneau (Breton: Konk Kerne, meaning Bay of Cornwall) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.   read more…

Mladá Boleslav northeast of Prague

9 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Old Town Square with Old Town Hall and Marian column © Sokoljan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Old Town Square with Old Town Hall and Marian column © Sokoljan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mladá Boleslav is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera river about 50 kilometres (31 miles) northeast of Prague.   read more…

Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland

7 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

View of Interlaken and Thunersee from Schynige Platte © Andrew Bossi

View of Interlaken and Thunersee from Schynige Platte © Andrew Bossi

Interlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland. Interlaken is located between Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west in the area called Bödeli. The town takes its name from its geographical position between the lakes (in Latin inter lacus). The Aare River flows through the town connecting the lakes.   read more…

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