[caption id="attachment_151338" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Parliament of the Cook Islands © Mr Bullitt[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It is composed of 15 small islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), divided into two distinct groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands of coral atolls.. The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), however, covers 1,8...
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[caption id="attachment_163710" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hlíðarfjall ski slopes just west of the town © Fancy-cats-are-happy-cats[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Akureyri is a small city in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's second largest urban area (after the Capital Region) and fourth largest municipality (after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, and Kópavogur). Nicknamed the Capital of North Iceland, Akureyri is an important port and fishing centre. The area where Akureyri is located was settled in the 9th century but did not...
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[caption id="attachment_205404" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Port of Hamburg and St. Michael's Church © Dietmar Rabich/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]St. Michael's Church (German: Hauptkirche Sankt Michaelis), colloquially called Michel, is one of Hamburg's five Lutheran main churches (Hauptkirchen) and one of the most famous churches in the city. St. Michaelis is a landmark of the city and it is considered to be one of the finest Hanseatic Protestant baroque churches. The church was purposely built Protestant unlik...
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[caption id="attachment_27265" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Al-Khuwair neighborhood © Joe Castleman/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate reached 1.2 million as of April 2014. The metropolitan area spans approximately 3,500 km2 (1,400 sq mi) and includes six provinces called wilayats. Known since the...
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[caption id="attachment_153918" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Olavsvern Naval Submarine Base[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]You can't very well take over the world from your parent's basement, now can you? No, a proper arch-nemesis needs a sufficiently intimidating hidden base. Luckily, Norway is selling off its defunct Olavsvern Naval Submarine Base for a $17.5 million pittance.
And what a secret lair it could be! The property includes 13,500 square meters of surface buildings, 2500 square meters quay (sub docking space) ...
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[caption id="attachment_153793" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Arènes de Nîmes © Armin Kübelbeck/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Nîmes is a city in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is the capital of the Gard department. Nîmes is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains. The estimated population of Nîmes is 176,000.
Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was home to 50,000 – 60,000 people. Augustus gave the town a ring of ra...
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[caption id="attachment_160474" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Grand'Place © Jean-Pol GRANDMONT[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour (partly), Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles, Saint-Denis, Saint-Symphorien, Spiennes, Villers-Saint-Ghislain, Casteau (partly), Masnuy-Saint-Jean (partl...
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[caption id="attachment_169124" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Diana Ringo/cc-by-sa-3.0-at[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Palais Coburg, also known as Palais Saxe-Coburg, is a palace in Vienna. It was owned by the Kohary branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Palais Coburg was designed in 1839 by architect Karl Schleps in Neoclassical style, and built from 1840 to 1845 by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha atop the Braunbastei (Brown Bastion), a part of the Vienna city defences dating to 1555. It is nicknam...
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