Salvation Islands

4 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Royal Island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

Royal Island © Tylda/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Salvation Islands (French: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland), sometimes mistakenly called the Safety Islands, are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about 11 kilometres (6 nautical miles) off the coast of French Guiana, 14 kilometres (7.5 nautical miles) north of Kourou, in the Atlantic Ocean. Although closer to Kourou, the islands are part of Cayenne commune (municipality), specifically Cayenne 1er Canton Nord-Ouest.   read more…

Cape Hatteras in North Carolina

6 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse © National Park Service - NPGallery

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse © National Park Service – NPGallery

Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country – Mauléon-Licharre

27 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Tangopaso

© Tangopaso

Mauléon-Licharre (Basque: Maule-Lextarre; Occitan: Maulion e Lisharra) is a French commune with 2,954 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2021) in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Basque part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (before 2016: Aquitaine). The two towns only united into one municipality in 1841.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country – Fuenterrabia

26 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© flickr.com - Miguel Ángel García./cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Miguel Ángel García./cc-by-2.0

Fuenterrabia (Basque: Hondarribia; Spanish: Fuenterrabía; French: Fontarrabie) is a town situated on the west shore of Bidasoa river’s mouth, in Gipuzkoa, in Basque Country, Spain.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

25 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

© W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

© W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally “Saint John [at the] Foot of [the] Pass”; Basque: Donibane Garazi; Spanish: San Juan Pie de Puerto) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean foothills. The town is also the old capital of the traditional Basque province of Lower Navarre. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is also a starting point for the French Way Camino Francés, the most popular option for travelling the Camino de Santiago. In 1998, the Porte St-Jacques (city gate) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the sites along the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country – Barakaldo

24 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Barakaldo Municipal Music School © Ebak/cc-by-sa-4.0

Barakaldo Municipal Music School © Ebak/cc-by-sa-4.0

Barakaldo (Spanish: Baracaldo; Basque: Barakaldo) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population as of the 2019 census at 100,881. Barakaldo has an industrial river-port heritage and has undergone significant redevelopment with new commercial and residential areas replacing the once active industrial zones.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country

22 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Donostia / San Sebastián panorama from Monte Igueldo © flickr.com - Tom Page/cc-by-sa-2.0

Donostia / San Sebastián panorama from Monte Igueldo © flickr.com – Tom Page/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria; Spanish: País Vasco; French: Pays basque) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque Country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.   read more…

Hôtel du Palais Biarritz

1 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Hotels Reading Time:  11 minutes

© flickr.com - Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Hôtel du Palais Biarritz is a historic luxury hotel beside the Atlantic beach in the resort town of Biarritz, on the Côte Basque in the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It was originally built for the Empress Eugénie around 1855 as a summer villa. It was due to the visits of the imperial couple that the village of Biarritz developed into a fashionable resort. In 1880, the villa was sold and converted into a hotel casino. It was devastated by fire in 1903, but was lavishly rebuilt and enlarged within the original walls. For many years the hotel attracted the international elite, including members of the European royalty such as King Edward VII, who paid several extended visits. Although the hotel later fell into disrepair, and closed for a period in the 1950s, it has since been refurbished and is again a luxury hotel. The hotel is managed by Hyatt.   read more…

Theme Week Patagonia – Río Gallegos

30 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Base Aérea Militar Río Gallegos © Arcibel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Base Aérea Militar Río Gallegos © Arcibel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Río Gallegos is the capital and largest settlement of the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz in Argentina. Located in the department of Güer Aike, it has a population of about 98,000, according to the 2010 census (INDEC), a 24% increase from the 79,000 in the 2001 census (INDEC). The city bears the name of the Gallegos River, and sits on its estuary 2,636 km (1,638 mi) south from the Argentine federal capital Buenos Aires.   read more…

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