Theme Week Outer Hebrides

21 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kisimul Castle, Castlebay, Isle of Barra © flickr.com - Conor Lawless/cc-by-2.0

Kisimul Castle, Castlebay, Isle of Barra © flickr.com – Conor Lawless/cc-by-2.0

The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Siar or Na h-Eileanan an Iar or Na h-Innse Gall (“islands of the strangers”); Scots: Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Fada), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority.   read more…

Theme Week Auvergne

24 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Regional specialities © flickr.com - Sylvie burr

Regional specialities © flickr.com – Sylvie burr

Auvergne (Occitan: Auvèrnhe or Auvèrnha) is a cultural region in central France. Since 2016, Auvergne is not an administrative unit of France, but it is generally regarded as similar to the land area of the Province of Auvergne, which was dissolved in 1790, and the larger administrative region of Auvergne, which existed from 1956-2015. The region is home to a chain of volcanoes known collectively as the “chaîne des Puys“. The last confirmed eruption was around 4040 BCE. The volcanoes began forming some 70,000 years ago, and most have eroded, leaving plugs of hardened magma that form rounded hilltops known as puys.   read more…

Theme Week Colombia

19 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

The Axis of Peace and Memory, a memorial to the victims of the Colomibian conflict in Bogotá © Felipe Restrepo Acosta/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Axis of Peace and Memory, a memorial to the victims of the Colomibian conflict in Bogotá
© Felipe Restrepo Acosta/cc-by-sa-3.0

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country mostly in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments. The Capital District of Bogotá is also the country’s largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub, and other major urbes include Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Villavicencio and Bucaramanga. It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi), and has a population of around 52 million. Colombia is the largest Spanish-speaking country in South America. Its cultural heritage—including language, religion, cuisine, and art—reflects its history as a colony, fusing cultural elements brought by immigration from Europe and the Middle East, with those brought by the African diaspora, as well as with those of the various Indigenous civilizations that predate colonization. Spanish is the Official language, although English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally.   read more…

Theme Week Leinster

22 May 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  8 minutes

Johnstown Castle in Wexford © DeFacto/cc-by-sa-4.0

Johnstown Castle in Wexford © DeFacto/cc-by-sa-4.0

Leinster (Irish: Laighin or Cúige Laighean) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic “fifths” of Leinster and Meath gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. The ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has prompted further sub-division of the historic counties.   read more…

Theme Week New Zealand

24 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

New Zealand Parliament House in Wellington © Office of the Clerk/cc-by-sa-4.0

New Zealand Parliament House in Wellington © Office of the Clerk/cc-by-sa-4.0

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering 268,021 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country’s varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.   read more…

Theme Week Berkshire

20 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  8 minutes

New College - Royal Military Academy Sandhurst © wyrdlight.com - Antony McCallum/cc-by-sa-4.0

New College – Royal Military Academy Sandhurst © wyrdlight.com – Antony McCallum/cc-by-sa-4.0

Berkshire is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading.   read more…

Theme Week Alentejo

20 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Évora's historic downtown © Bunks/cc-by-3.0

Évora’s historic downtown © Bunks/cc-by-3.0

Alentejo Region, a historical and cultural rich region, is one of the seven NUTS 2 regions of Portugal. It covers all of the historical Alentejo Province and part of the historical Ribatejo and Estremadura provinces. The the largest city and capital is Évora.   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean

23 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  9 minutes

Parliament building in Nassau, Bahamas © Crm18

Parliament building in Nassau, Bahamas © Crm18

The Caribbean is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean) and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America.   read more…

Theme Week County Mayo

26 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  13 minutes

Burrishoole Bridge © MickReynolds/cc-by-sa-4.0

Burrishoole Bridge © MickReynolds/cc-by-sa-4.0

County Mayo (Irish: Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning “Plain of the yew trees“) is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.   read more…

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