Sommarøy in Norway

6 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Harald Groven/cc-by-sa-3.0-no

© Harald Groven/cc-by-sa-3.0-no

Sommarøy or Sommerøya is an old fishing village in the western part of Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located about 36 kilometres (22 mi) west of the city of Tromsø and is a popular tourist destination due to its white sand beaches and scenery. The 0.41-square-kilometre (100-acre) village has a population (2023) of 304 and a population density of 741 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,920/sq mi).   read more…

Raclette

17 November 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Superbass/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Superbass/cc-by-sa-4.0

Raclette is a dish of Swiss origin, also popular in the other Alpine countries (France, Germany, Austria), based on heating cheese and scraping off the melted part, then typically served with boiled potatoes. Raclette cheese is historically a dish originating from the canton of Valais in Switzerland. This cheese from Valais benefits from an AOP. Raclette cheese is also a Swiss-type cheese marketed specifically to be used for this dish. Raclette is also served as street food, but often with bread instead of potatoes.   read more…

Saint-Maire Castle in Lausanne

11 October 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Silin2005/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Silin2005/cc-by-sa-3.0

Château Saint-Maire (Saint-Maire Castle) is a castle in Lausanne, Switzerland, that serves as the seat of the cantonal government, the Council of State of Vaud. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.   read more…

Swiss chalet style

14 September 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture Reading Time:  6 minutes

Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton Lakes, Canada © flickr.com - Greg Willis/cc-by-sa-2.0

Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton Lakes, Canada © flickr.com – Greg Willis/cc-by-sa-2.0

Swiss chalet style (German: Schweizerstil, Norwegian: Sveitserstil) is an architectural style of Late Historicism, originally inspired by rural chalets in Switzerland and the Alpine (mountainous) regions of Central Europe. The style refers to traditional building designs characterised by widely projecting roofs and facades richly decorated with wooden balconies and carved ornaments. It spread over Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France and Scandinavia during the Belle Époque era.   read more…

Locarno on Lake Maggiore

8 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© panoramio.com - Ozonski/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – Ozonski/cc-by-3.0

Locarno is a southern Swiss town and municipality in the district Locarno (of which it is the capital), located on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore at its northeastern tip in the canton of Ticino at the southern foot of the Swiss Alps. It has a population of about 16,000 (proper), and about 56,000 for the agglomeration of the same name including Ascona besides other municipalities.   read more…

University of Lausanne

28 May 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  5 minutes

Unithèque building © Odrade123/cc-by-sa-3.0

Unithèque building © Odrade123/cc-by-sa-3.0

The University of Lausanne (UNIL; French: Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities in the world to be in continuous operation. As of fall 2017, about 15,000 students and 3,300 employees studied and worked at the university. Approximately 1,500 international students attend the university (120 nationalities), which has a wide curriculum including exchange programs with other universities.   read more…

Vaud Riviera on Lake Geneva

30 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

Chillon Castle © Giles Laurent/cc-by-sa-4.0

Chillon Castle © Giles Laurent/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Vaud Riviera (French: Riviera vaudoise) forms the eastern part of the northern shore of Lake Geneva in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It includes in particular the towns of Vevey, La Tour-de-Peilz, Montreux and Villeneuve. To the west of it lies Lavaux. The settlements belong to the Geneva-Lausanne metropolitan region, the second largest metropolitan area in Switzerland.   read more…

Lake Geneva

11 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Matthieu valentin/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Matthieu valentin/cc-by-sa-3.0

Lake Geneva (French: le Léman, lac Léman, rarely lac de Genève; Italian: Lago Lemano; German: Genfersee; Romansh: Lai da Genevra) is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty per cent (345.31 km² or 133.32 sq mi) of the lake belongs to Switzerland (the cantons of Vaud, Geneva and Valais) and forty per cent (234.71 km² or 90.62 sq mi) to France (the department of Haute-Savoie). Lake Geneva is divided into three parts because of its different types of formation (sedimentation, tectonic folding, glacial erosion):   read more…

Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz

7 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  7 minutes

Cartier vs Ralph Lauren © Clement Bucco-Lechat/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cartier vs Ralph Lauren © Clement Bucco-Lechat/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz (formerly Polo World Cup on Snow, or Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow Sankt Moritz) is a polo tournament that has been held annually since 1985 (the world premiere of polo on snow) on the frozen Lake St. Moritz in the Switzerland will be held.   read more…

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