Theme Week Ibiza – Ibiza Town

30 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Port of Ibiza Town © Paul Hermans/cc-by-sa-3.0

Port of Ibiza Town © Paul Hermans/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ibiza (Catalan: Eivissa), also known as Ibiza Town, is a city and municipality located on the southeast coast of the island of Ibiza. The city, which has a population of 50,000, is the capital and most populous settlement of the island.   read more…

Theme Week Ibiza – Sant Antoni de Portmany

29 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Sant Antoni Bay © JanManu/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sant Antoni Bay © JanManu/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sant Antoni de Portmany (Spanish: San Antonio Abad) or San Antonio is a town on the western coast of Ibiza. It is the second-largest town and municipality in Ibiza; an island described by Time Out magazine as “arguably the clubbing capital of the universe”. For two thousand years, Sant Antoni was a small fishing village that rose from the Roman natural harbor Portus Magnus, but it began to grow in the late 1950s when many hotels and tourist resorts were built as part of a mass tourism initiative which took place across Spain. As the number of tourists grew, the development of bars, hotels and other tourist infrastructure spread right around to the other side of San Antonio bay, as far as Cala de Bou which lies in the adjacent municipality of Sant Josep de sa Talaia. Along the harbour of San Antonio there are various boats and ferries that have multiple connections to beaches such as Cala Bassa, Cala Compte, Pinet Playa, Es Puet, Cala Grasió, Cala Salada and Port es Torrent. These have daily departures from may until end September or October. Also once a week there is a ferry to Formentera.   read more…

Zhongnanhai in Beijing

29 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Xinhua Gate, Gate of New China © PENG, Yanan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Xinhua Gate, Gate of New China © PENG, Yanan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Zhongnanhai is an imperial garden in central Beijing, adjacent to the Forbidden City; it serves as the central headquarters for the Communist Party of China and the State Council (Central government) of the People’s Republic of China. The term Zhongnanhai is closely linked with the central government and senior Communist Party officials. It is often used as a metonym for the Chinese leadership at large. The state leaders, including Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, and other top CPC and PRC leadership figures carry out many of their day-to-day administrative activities inside the compound, such as meetings with foreign dignitaries. China Central Television frequently shows footage of meetings inside the compound, but limits its coverage largely to views of the interior of buildings.   read more…

Theme Week Ibiza – Santa Eulària des Riu

28 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Puig de Missa, a former mosque, now a church on a hill above the town © Michael Parry

Puig de Missa, a former mosque, now a church on a hill above the town © Michael Parry

Santa Eulària des Riu (Spanish: Santa Eulalia del Río) is a coastal town on the south eastern seaboard of Ibiza. The town is located on the designated road PM 810. Santa Eulària is the third largest town on the island and also has the only river on the island which flows into the sea at the western end of the town. There are two famous Hippy Markets which attract large numbers of tourists and locals: Punta Arabi, located in Es Canar runs all day every Wednesday from April through October. Las Dalias, near Sant Carles de Peralta, runs all day every Saturday, throughout the year. Las Dalias also has a “Night Market” which runs Monday and Tuesday evenings from June through September.   read more…

Theme Week Ibiza – Sant Joan de Labritja

27 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Cala de Portinatx © flickr.com - David de Mallorca/cc-by.20

Cala de Portinatx © flickr.com – David de Mallorca/cc-by.20

Sant Joan de Labritja (Spanish: San Juan Bautista) is a village and municipality in northern Ibiza. Among others, the resorts of Portinatx and Cala de Sant Vicent are located there. The actual village of Sant Joan is a quiet street, dominated by an imposing Christian church, and is the meeting point of Sant Joan de Labritja Municipal Council.   read more…

Cape Town on the shore of Table Bay

27 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  12 minutes

Greater Cape Town © Andrew Massyn

Greater Cape Town © Andrew Massyn

Cape Town is a city in South Africa. It ranks third among the most populous urban areas in South Africa, after Johannesburg, and has roughly the same population as the Durban Metropolitan Area. It is also the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, as well as for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.   read more…

Theme Week Ibiza – Sant Josep de sa Talaia

26 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Cala d'Hort with Es Vedrà in the background © flickr.com - Philip Larson/cc-by-sa-2.0

Cala d’Hort with Es Vedrà in the background © flickr.com – Philip Larson/cc-by-sa-2.0

Sant Josep de sa Talaia (Spanish: San José Obrero) is a village and municipality of the Balearic Islands in western Ibiza. The village is 10.7 miles (17.2 km) west of the capital Ibiza Town and is Located on the PM803 highway between Eivissa town and Sant Antoni de Portmany. The town is 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from the island’s airport. The population of the municipality is at 2400.   read more…

Theme Week Ibiza

25 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Ibiza Town © Forbfruit/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ibiza Town © Forbfruit/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ibiza (Catalan: Eivissa) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the coast of the city of Valencia, in eastern Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. Its largest cities are Ibiza Town (Catalan: Vila d’Eivissa, or simply Vila), Santa Eulària des Riu, and Sant Antoni de Portmany. Its highest point, called Sa Talaiassa (or Sa Talaia), is 475 metres (1,558 feet) above sea level. Ibiza is the home of the noted port in Ibiza Town, a popular stop for many tourists and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ibiza and the nearby island of Formentera to its south are called the Pine Islands, or “Pityuses“.   read more…

Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish in Tabgha

25 January 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  10 minutes

Mosaic in the church © Berthold Werner

Mosaic in the church © Berthold Werner

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, shortened to The Church of the Multiplication, is a Roman Catholic church located at Tabgha, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. The modern church rests on the site of two earlier churches. The church is maintained and overseen by the Benedictine Order. Nearby are other Christian sites, especially the Mount of Beatitudes north, Capernaum and Bethsaida east and Magdala to the south of Tabgha.   read more…

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