Khor Fakkan on the Gulf of Oman

3 February 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Sunrise over Oman Bay © Stzeman/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sunrise over Oman Bay © Stzeman/cc-by-sa-3.0

Khor Fakkan is a town located along the Gulf of Oman on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The town, the second largest on the east coast after Fujairah, is set on the picturesque bay of Khor Fakkan, which means “Creek of Two Jaws”. Khor Fakkan belongs to the emirate of Sharjah but is geographically surrounded by the emirate of Fujairah. It is a natural deep water port that is now a major container terminal.   read more…

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

1 February 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Piazza dei Miracoli Panorama © Alessio Facchin/cc-by-sa-3.0

Piazza dei Miracoli Panorama © Alessio Facchin/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa’s Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The tower’s tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure’s weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.   read more…

The Oasis of the Seas

1 February 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

Leaving STX shipyard in Turku, Finland © Zache/cc-by-sa-3.0

Leaving STX shipyard in Turku, Finland © Zache/cc-by-sa-3.0

MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship, delivered to her owner, Royal Caribbean International, in October 2009. The first of her class, she was joined by her sister ship MS Allure of the Seas in December 2010. Both vessels cruise the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She set a new record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The ship surpassed the Freedom-class cruise ships (also owned by Royal Caribbean) to become the largest cruise ship in the world at that time. She has, however, since been surpassed by Allure of the Seas, which is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer, although this difference may have been caused by different temperatures when the measurements were made.   read more…

Cathedral of Commerce, the Woolworth Building in Manhattan

1 February 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  7 minutes

Woolworth Building seen from the Hudson River © flickr.com - Joe Mabel/cc-by-sa-2.0

Woolworth Building seen from the Hudson River © flickr.com – Joe Mabel/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, built in 1910, is one of the oldest skyscrapers in the United States. The building opened on April 24, 1913. President Woodrow Wilson turned the lights on by way of a button in Washington, D.C. that evening. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 241.4 meters (792 ft), one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1966, and a New York City landmark since 1983.   read more…

The seaside resort of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

30 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

L'Hermitage © AntonyB/cc-by-sa-3.0

L’Hermitage © AntonyB/cc-by-sa-3.0

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, commonly referred to as Le Touquet, is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It has a population of 4,500. Le Touquet has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians, with many luxury hotels.   read more…

Governors Island

29 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Governors Island plan © United States Government

Governors Island plan © United States Government

Governors Island is a 172-acre (70 ha) island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile (1 km) from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Physically, the island changed greatly during the early 20th century. Using material excavated from the Lexington Avenue subway, the Army Corps of Engineers supervised the deposit of 4,787,000 cubic yards of fill on the south side of Governors Island, adding 103 acres (42 ha) of flat, treeless land by 1912 and bringing the total acreage of the island to 172.   read more…

La Réunion in the Indian Ocean

28 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Saint-Denis © B.navez/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint-Denis © B.navez/cc-by-sa-3.0

Réunion (previously Île Bourbon and Île Bonaparte) is a French island with a population of 84,000 inhabitants. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island. Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues form the Mascarene Islands. The collective title is derived from the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, who first visited them in the early sixteenth century. Bourbon vanilla got its name from the long-term main supplier of vanilla, Île Bourbon/Réunion.   read more…

The Special Military School of Saint-Cyr

25 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  4 minutes

Guer - Camp Coëtquidan - Ecoles de Coetquidan © Nitot/cc-by-sa-3.0

Guer – Camp Coëtquidan – Ecoles de Coetquidan © Nitot/cc-by-sa-3.0

The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the “Special Military School of Saint-Cyr”) is the foremost French military academy. It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr. Its motto is “Ils s’instruisent pour vaincre”: literally “They study to vanquish” or “Training for victory”. French cadet officers are named “saint-cyriens”, or “cyrards”. The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan department, Brittany.   read more…

Theme Week Cyclades – Milos

25 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Klima village © Kosant38

Klima village © Kosant38

Milos is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group.   read more…

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