Theme Week Myanmar – Naypyidaw

29 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

Parliament of Myanmar © panoramio.com - mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Parliament of Myanmar © panoramio.com – mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw, is the capital city of Myanmar and seat of the government of Myanmar. It is administered as the Naypyidaw Union Territory, as per the Constitution. It is unusual among Myanmar’s cities, being an entirely planned city outside of any state or region, similar to Canberra in Australia, Brasília in Brazil, Washington, D.C. in the United States and Islamabad in Pakistan.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar – Yangon

28 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  15 minutes

Karaweik Palace on Kandawgyi Lake © Ralf-André Lettau

Karaweik Palace on Kandawgyi Lake © Ralf-André Lettau

Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and commercial capital of Myanmar (Burma). Yangon served as the administrative capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city and its most important commercial centre.   read more…

Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest

28 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Thaler/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Thaler/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is a historical building in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, seating 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism. The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain (the Alhambra). The synagogue’s Viennese architect, Ludwig Förster, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose “architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs”. The interior design is partly by Frigyes Feszl.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar – Mandalay

27 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Mandalay Hill © Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mandalay Hill © Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Myanmar (Burma). Located 716 km (445 mi) north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay is the economic centre of Upper Burma and considered the centre of Burmese culture. A continuing influx of Chinese immigrants, mostly from Yunnan, in the past 20 years, has reshaped the city’s ethnic makeup and increased commerce with China. Despite Naypyidaw‘s recent rise, Mandalay remains Upper Burma’s main commercial, educational and health center.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar – Bago

26 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Monk examinations © flickr.com - magical-world/cc-by-sa-2.0

Monk examinations © flickr.com – magical-world/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bago (formerly spelt Pegu, formerly known as Hanthawaddy (meaning “She Who Has Swans“), is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located 91 kilometres (57 mi) north-east of Yangon. Places of interest are Shwethalyaung Buddha (Reclining Buddha), Shwemawdaw Pagoda, Kyaikpun Buddha, Kanbawzathadi Palace site and museum, Kalyani Ordination Hall, Mahazedi Pagoda, Shwegugyi Pagoda, Shwegugale Pagoda, and the Bago Sittaung Canal.   read more…

Portrait: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and founder of the Republic of Turkey

26 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during a coffee and smoking break (1936) © Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during a coffee and smoking break (1936)
© Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish field marshal (Mareşal), revolutionary statesman, author, and founder of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President from 1923 until his death in 1938. Ideologically a secularist and nationalist, his policies and theories became known as Kemalism.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar – Mawlamyine

25 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© panoramio.com - mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

© panoramio.com – mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing, formerly Moulmein, is the fourth largest city of Myanmar (Burma), 300 km south east of Yangon and 70 km south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. The city is the capital and largest city of Mon State and the main trading center and seaport in south eastern Myanmar. Mawlamyine is in the Salween River delta, where the mouth of the Salween is sheltered by Bilugyun Island as it enters the Gulf of Martaban and the Andaman Sea. It is flanked by low hills dotted with ancient pagodas to the east and west.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar

24 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Pathein © panoramio.com - oikk/cc-by-3.0

Pathein © panoramio.com – oikk/cc-by-3.0

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast. To its south, about one third of Myanmar’s total perimeter of 5,876 km (3,651 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km (1,200 mi) along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. As of 2017, the population is about 54 million. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres (261,228 square miles) in size. Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997. The largest cities are Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw (capital city), Bago, Hpa-An, Taunggyi, Monywa, Myitkyina, Mawlamyine and Magway (List of cities in Myanmar).   read more…

Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis

24 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  18 minutes

© PaddyBriggs

© PaddyBriggs

Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6 ha) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, once owned by the singer and actor Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, has been the owner of Graceland since the passing of her father. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community, about 9 miles (14.5 km) from Downtown and less than four miles (6 km) north of the Mississippi border. It was opened to the public as a museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, and declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006. Graceland is the second most-visited house in the U.S. after the White House, with over 650,000 visitors a year.   read more…

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