Theme Week Thessaly

26 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Street scene in Larissa © Iolchos07/cc-by-sa-4.0

Street scene in Larissa © Iolchos07/cc-by-sa-4.0

Thessaly (Greek: Thessalía; ancient Thessalian: Petthalía) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia (Ancient Greek: ??????, Aiolía), and appears in Homer‘s Odyssey.   read more…

Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome

26 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© alinti

© alinti

The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth-century villa with what is today the largest landscaped public park in Rome, Italy. It is located in the quarter of Monteverde, on the Gianicolo (or the Roman Janiculum), just outside the Porta San Pancrazio in the ancient walls of Rome where the ancient road of the Via Aurelia commences.   read more…

Köttbullar, Swedish meatballs

25 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  5 minutes

© flickr.com - dronepicr/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – dronepicr/cc-by-2.0

In Sweden, meatballs are called köttbullar (literally “meat buns”) and are considered a national dish. They became popular in the mid-1800s with the advent of meat grinders. Swedish meatballs are usually made with a mix of ground beef and ground pork, or just with ground beef, which is mixed into a mixture of beaten eggs, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, and grated raw onions or finely chopped and fried onions. Cream is often added for more luxurious versions. The meatball mixture is seasoned with salt and white pepper or a mixture of white pepper and allspice. Swedish meatballs are traditionally served with gravy, boiled or mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam, and sometimes pickled cucumber.   read more…

Rhine embankment promenade in Düsseldorf

24 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Nicola/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nicola/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Rhine promenade refers to the landscaped riverbank near the Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) districts of Altstadt, Carlstadt, and Hafen. Other cities also have Rhine promenades; in Düsseldorf, it encompasses the streets Tonhallenufer, Schlossufer, Rathausufer, and Mannesmannufer.   read more…

Painswick in the Cotswolds

23 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Bisley Street © geograph.org.uk - Philip Pankhurst/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bisley Street © geograph.org.uk – Philip Pankhurst/cc-by-sa-2.0

Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church’s yew trees and the local Painswick Rococo Garden. The village is mainly constructed of locally quarried Cotswold stone. Many of the buildings feature south-facing attic rooms once used as weavers’ workshops. Painswick stands on a hill overlooking one of the Five Valleys, on the B4073 route between Stroud, 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south, and the city of Gloucester, 7.5 miles (12 km) to the north. It has narrow streets and traditional architecture. It has a cricket and rugby team and there is a golf course on the outskirts of the town. Painswick Beacon is in the nearby hills. Painswick won the title “Gloucestershire Village of the Year” in 2025.   read more…

Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria

22 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Octobrist/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Octobrist/cc-by-sa-4.0

Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg) is a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany. The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, in a section of the river valley called the Weltenburg Narrows (otherwise known as the Danube Gorge).   read more…

ABBA The Museum in Stockholm

21 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Ssu/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Ssu/cc-by-sa-4.0

ABBA The Museum is a Swedish interactive exhibition about the pop band ABBA that opened in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2013. ABBA’s collected works are showcased in a contemporary, interactive setting at Djurgården, Stockholm.   read more…

University of Naples Federico II

20 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  5 minutes

© flickr.com - Colin Hepburn/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Colin Hepburn/cc-by-sa-2.0

The University of Naples Federico II (Italian: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, non-denominatial, non-sectarian and state-funded university in Italy and in the world, and one of the world’s ten oldest universities in continuous operation.   read more…

Socotra Island in Yemen

19 January 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Detwah Lagoon © flickr.com - Gerry & Bonni/cc-by-2.0

Detwah Lagoon © flickr.com – Gerry & Bonni/cc-by-2.0

Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. It is situated between the Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, and lies near major shipping routes. The largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago, it comprises around 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies 380 kilometres (205 nautical miles) south of the Arabian Peninsula and 232 km (125 nmi) east of the Horn of Africa. The inhabitants of the island are called Socotrans, and they speak Arabic and Soqotri.   read more…

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