Theme Week Andalusia

14 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognized as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces. Its capital is the city of Seville.   read more…

Chablis in Burgundy

12 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  5 minutes

Porte Noël © Daniel CULSAN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Porte Noël © Daniel CULSAN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Chablis is a town and commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France. It lies in the valley of the River Serein and has a population of 2,300 inhabitants. Each year the Festival du Chablisien is held May to June in Chablis, featuring classical, jazz, and world music.   read more…

Ohrid in Macedonia

8 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region © PMK1

Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region © PMK1

Ohrid is a city in the south-western part of Macedonia and the seat of Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country with over 42,000 inhabitants. The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola, close to the border with Albania. There is a nearby airport, Ohrid Airport (now known as Apostle Paul Airport) that is open all year round. In 1979 and in 1980, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. In fact, Ohrid is one of only 28 sites that are part of UNESCO’s World Heritage that are both Cultural and Natural sites.   read more…

The National Library of France

5 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  8 minutes

Paris - Bibliothèque nationale de France - site Richelieu-Louvois - Reading Room © flickr.com - Vincent Desjardins/cc-by-2.0

Paris – Bibliothèque nationale de France – site Richelieu-Louvois – Reading Room
© flickr.com – Vincent Desjardins/cc-by-2.0

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is the National Library of France, located in Paris. The National Library of France is a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is to constitute collections, especially the copies of works published in France that must, by law, be deposited there, conserve them, and make them available to the public. It produces a reference catalogue, cooperates with other national and international establishments, and participates in research programs.   read more…

Parga on the Greek west coast

5 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

View of Parga with the Panagia Island © Sakis Kostaris/cc-by-sa-3.0

View of Parga with the Panagia Island © Sakis Kostaris/cc-by-sa-3.0

Parga is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece, with 12,000 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the cities of Preveza and Igoumenitsa. It is a resort town known for its scenic beauty. The present municipality Parga was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Parga and Fanari. Parga is at a distance of 65 km from the Aktion National Airport and during the summer months connected with the surrounding islands (PaxosAntipaxosCorfu).   read more…

The Baltic seaside resort of Kuehlungsborn

4 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Aerial view of Kühlungsborn © Beauwell

Aerial view of Kühlungsborn © Beauwell

Kühlungsborn is a seaside resort in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, 11 km northwest of Bad Doberan, and 25 km northwest of Rostock. The town has an elongate beach and promenade, many hotels in typical German spa town architecture and a marina. It is the largest seaside spa town in Mecklenburg.   read more…

Dachau in Upper Bavaria

3 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Historic District - Konrad Adenauer Street © Schlaier/cc-by-3.0

Historic District – Konrad Adenauer Street © Schlaier/cc-by-3.0

Dachau is a major district town of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants. The historic centre of town with its 18th-century castle is situated on an elevation and visible over a great distance. Between 1546 and 1577, the House of Wittelsbach had the Dachau Palace erected in the Renaissance style. From June 1715 to Autumn 1717, Joseph Effner remodelled the palace to suit the contemporary taste in style. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle’s north-, east- and south-wing had to be demolished due to their state of disrepair. The west-wing housing the dance hall with a superb view of the enchanting gardens, still remains today. On the first floor the original renaissance wood carved, coffered ceiling can be admired by visitors.   read more…

The Bayreuth Festival

2 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  5 minutes

Bayreuth Festspielhaus © Spurzem/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

Bayreuth Festspielhaus © Spurzem/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special festival to showcase his own works, in particular his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal.   read more…

Built as Fast Breeder nuclear reactor, operated as an amusement park: The Wunderland Kalkar

28 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

Cooling tower used as climbing wall © Koetjuh

Cooling tower used as climbing wall © Koetjuh

Wunderland Kalkar is an amusement park in North Rhine-Westphalia, just north of Düsseldorf. It is built on the former site of SNR-300, a nuclear power plant that never went online because of construction problems and protests. The park was constructed by Dutch entrepreneuer Hennie van der Most, who purchased the site. Wunderland Kalkar receives around 600,000 visitors each year.   read more…

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