West Palm Beach in Florida

21 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  9 minutes

West Palm Beach Skyline © Fergusonta

West Palm Beach Skyline © Fergusonta

The area that was to become West Palm Beach was settled in the late 1870s and 1880s by a few hundred settlers who called the vicinity “Lake Worth Country.” These settlers were a diverse community from different parts of the United States and the world. They included founding families such at the Potters and the Lainharts, who would go on to become leading members of the business community in the fledgling city. The first white settlers in Palm Beach County lived around Lake Worth, then an enclosed freshwater lake, named for Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who had fought in the Second Seminole War in Florida in 1842. Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River. By 1890, the U.S. Census counted over 200 people settled along Lake Worth in the vicinity of what would become West Palm Beach. The area at this time also boasted a hotel, the “Cocoanut House”, a church, and a post office. The city was platted by Henry Flagler as a community to house the servants working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach, across Lake Worth in 1893, coinciding with the arrival of the Florida East Coast railroad. Flagler paid two area settlers, Captain Porter and Louie Hillhouse, a combined sum of $45,000 for the original townsite, stretching from Clear Lake to Lake Worth.   read more…

Hamburg’s warehouse district, the largest historic warehouse complex in the world

19 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hamburg, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Thomas Wolf - www.foto-tw.de/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Thomas Wolf – www.foto-tw.de/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Speicherstadt (meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations. It is located in the the HafenCity quarter and was built from 1883 to 1927.   read more…

Massa and Marina di Massa in Tuscany

19 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Sailko/cc-by-2.5

© Sailko/cc-by-2.5

Massa is a town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, the administrative centre of the province of Massa and Carrara. It is located in the Frigido River Valley, near the Apuan Alps, some 5 km (3 mi) from the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 114 km west of Florence.   read more…

Port de Sóller on Mallorca

17 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© jpm2112/cc-by-sa-3.0

© jpm2112/cc-by-sa-3.0

Port de Sóller is a village and the port of the town of Sóller, in Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands. Along with the village of Fornalutx and the hamlet of Biniaraix they combine to form Sóller. The combined population is around 12,000. A tramway links the inland town of Sóller to Port de Sóller, running along the beach-side road. Some of its original, 1913-built cars are still in service on the line. A bus service links the resort to Palma, the capital of the island.   read more…

Theme Week Dresden – The Semperoper

16 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Sebastian Terfloth/cc-by-3.0

© Sebastian Terfloth/cc-by-3.0

The Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper ballet. The building is located on the Theatre Square in central Dresden on the bank of the Elbe River in the historic centre of Dresden. The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841. After a devastating fire in 1869, the opera house was rebuilt, partly again by Semper, and completed in 1878. The opera house has a long history of premieres, including major works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.   read more…

Hoyerswerda in Upper Lusatia

15 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Market Square with fountain, town hall and Johanneskirche © Frank Weiner

Market Square with fountain, town hall and Johanneskirche © Frank Weiner

Hoyerswerda is a town in the district of Bautzen in the state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of the Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to German. Cities in proximity are Cottbus 35 km in the north-west, Dresden 55 km in the south-west and Berlin 150 km in the north.   read more…

The Astor

14 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

MS Astor in Kiel © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-3.0

MS Astor in Kiel © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-3.0

MS Astor is a cruise ship owned by the Germany-based Premicon, under charter to the Germany-based Transocean Tours. She was built in 1987 under the name Astor by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), Kiel, for the Mauritius-based Marlan Corporation, although originally ordered by the South African Safmarine as a combined ocean liner/cruise ship for the SouthamptonCape Town service.   read more…

Viva con Agua de St. Pauli

12 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hamburg Reading Time:  5 minutes

© vivaconagua.org

© vivaconagua.org

Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli is a charity founded in 2005 in the Hamburg quarter of St. Pauli. The aim of the organization is to improve drinking water supply in developing countries in conjunction with the Welthungerhilfe.   read more…

Limassol on Cyprus

12 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Agora Square © Tech bro/cc-by-sa-3.0

Agora Square © Tech bro/cc-by-sa-3.0

Limassol is the second-largest city in Cyprus. Limassol municipality has a population of 101,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of 184,000. It is the largest city in geographical size, and Limassol municipality is the largest and most populous on the island. The city is located on Akrotiri Bay on the island’s southern coast, and it is the capital of Limassol District, which has a population of 235,000. Limassol is one of the busiest ports of the Mediterranean transit trade and the largest port in Cyprus. It has also become one of the most important tourism, trade, and service-providing centres in the area. Limassol is renowned for its extensive cultural traditions, and is home to the Cyprus University of Technology. A wide spectrum of activities and a number of museums and archaeological sites are available to the interested visitor. Consequently, Limassol attracts a wide range of tourists mostly during an extended summer season to be accommodated in a wide range of hotels and apartments. A large marina is currently being constructed near the old town.   read more…

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