Tortuga in the Caribbean

3 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Tortuga Island © NASA

Tortuga Island © NASA

Tortuga (French: Île de la Tortue, Englisch: Turtle Island) is a Caribbean island that forms part of Haiti, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. It constitutes the commune of Île de la Tortue in the Port-de-Paix arrondissement of the Nord-Ouest Department of Haiti. Tortuga is 180 km² (69 mi²) in size and has a population of 30,000. In the 17th century, Tortuga was a major centre of Caribbean piracy. Its tourist industry and reference in many works has made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti. Although Tortuga was already known by the native peoples, it was never used as a permanent settlement until European pirates made it into a launching ground for piracy activities. The first Europeans to land on Tortuga were the Spaniards in 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus into the New World. On December 6, 1492, three Spanish ships entered the Windward Passage that separates Cuba and Haiti. At sunrise, Columbus noticed an island whose contours emerged from the morning mist. Because the shape reminded him of a turtle’s shell, he chose the name of Tortuga.   read more…

Karlskrona in Sweden

3 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Main Square © Magnus Bäck

Main Square © Magnus Bäck

Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,000 inhabitants. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden’s only baroque city and is host to Sweden’s only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the Swedish Coast Guard.   read more…

Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

3 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Watergate complex © Tim1965

Watergate complex © Tim1965

The Watergate complex is a group of five buildings next to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. The Watergate superblock is bounded on the north by Virginia Avenue, on the east by New Hampshire Avenue, on the south by F Street, and on the west by the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. It is in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood overlooking the Potomac River, next to the Kennedy Center and the embassy of Saudi Arabia. The nearest Metro station, 0.4 miles distant, is Foggy Bottom-GWU. Covering a total of 10 acres (40,000 m2), the buildings include:   read more…

Alcochete on Tejo river

2 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Old part of the city © Joaquim Alves Gaspar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Old part of the city © Joaquim Alves Gaspar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Alcochete is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 17,569, in an area of 128.36 km². The municipality is composed of three parishes and is located in Setúbal District.   read more…

Rugby in Warwickshire

1 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  6 minutes

Rugby School © G-Man

Rugby School © G-Man

Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 62,000 making it the second largest town in the county. The enclosing Borough of Rugby has a population of 92,000.   read more…

LP12 Mall of Berlin

1 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, House of the Month, Shopping Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Naturally Selenator/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Naturally Selenator/cc-by-sa-4.0

The heart of the heart – the Leipziger Platz project area is located precisely in the heart of this dynamic metropolis. This highly prominent location in the city of Berlin is absolutely unique and offers huge potential. Because of the proximity to Potsdamer Platz and Sony Center, which are already extremely well visited locations, an extremely high volume of visitors is always ensured. This means that Leipziger and Potsdamer Platz combined will form the shopping centre of Berlin and will become a tourist highlight and a mecca for fashion and lifestyle.   read more…

The Club Med 2

1 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  5 minutes

Club Med 2 at Svaneke on Bornholm © Aconcagua/cc-by-sa-3.0

Club Med 2 at Svaneke on Bornholm © Aconcagua/cc-by-sa-3.0

Club Med 2 is a five-masted computer-controlled sailing ship owned and operated by Club Med and operated as a cruise ship. It combines the power of seven computer-operated sails with more traditional diesel-electric power, having four diesel generators that power two electric motors. The Club Med 2 was launched in 1992 in Le Havre, France. Her sister ship the Club Med 1 was sold to Windstar Cruises and renamed Wind Surf in 1998. The home port is Mata-Utu on Uvea, an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna.   read more…

Luxury marina Porto Montenegro

30 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels, Sport, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Porto Montenegro © Daniel Nyul/cc-by-sa-3.0

Porto Montenegro © Daniel Nyul/cc-by-sa-3.0

Porto Montenegro is a Luxury yacht marina and adjacent waterfront development currently under construction in Tivat, Montenegro.   read more…

French Guiana

30 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

île Royale Harbor and St Joseph island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

île Royale Harbor and St Joseph island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France, on the north Atlantic coast of South America. It borders Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Its 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi) area has a very low population density of only 3 inhabitants per km2, with half of its 250,000 inhabitants living in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital. By land area, it is by far the largest overseas region of France. As an overseas region, it is inside the European Union, and its official currency is the Euro. The addition of the adjective “French” in English comes from colonial times when five such colonies existed (The Guianas), namely from west to east: Spanish Guiana (now Guayana Region in Venezuela), British Guiana (now Guyana), Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), French Guiana, and Portuguese Guiana (now Amapá, a state in far northern Brazil). French Guiana and the two larger countries to the north and west, Guyana and Suriname, are still often collectively referred to as the Guianas and comprise one large shield landmass.   read more…

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