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…

Theme Week Patagonia – Viedma

28 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Viedma sign © David/cc-by-sa-4.0

Viedma sign © David/cc-by-sa-4.0

Viedma is the capital and fourth largest city of the Río Negro Province, in northern Patagonia, Argentina. The city has 80,632 inhabitants (2020), and is located on the southern margin of the Negro River, about 30 kilometres off the Atlantic Coast, and 960 km from the city of Buenos Aires on the National Route 3.   read more…

Theme Week Patagonia – Rawson

27 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Government of the Chubut province © Gobierno del Chubut - chubut.gov.ar/cc-by-4.0

Government of the Chubut province © Gobierno del Chubut – chubut.gov.ar/cc-by-4.0

Rawson is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has 24,616 inhabitants in 2010, and it is the chief town of the Rawson Department.   read more…

Kourou in French Guiana

15 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kourou beach © Arria Belli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kourou beach © Arria Belli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is an administrative district in French Guiana and the main town there. The town had a population of 24,805 inhabitants at the 2020 census.   read more…

Theme Week Outer Hebrides – Lewis and Harris

26 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Stornoway © PaulT (Gunther Tschuch)/cc-by-sa-4.0

Stornoway © PaulT (Gunther Tschuch)/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lewis and Harris (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas agus Na Hearadh; Scots: Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and the island of Ireland, with an area of 841 square miles (2,178 km²), which is approximately 1% of the area of Great Britain. The northern two-thirds is called [the Isle of] Lewis and the southern third [the Isle of] Harris; each is referred to as if it were a separate island and there are many cultural and linguistic differences between the two. The main town of the island and the most important town in the Outer Hebrides is Stornoway.   read more…

Theme Week Outer Hebrides – Benbecula

25 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Benbecula Beach © geograph.org.uk - Richard Webb/cc-by-sa-2.0

Benbecula Beach © geograph.org.uk – Richard Webb/cc-by-sa-2.0

Benbecula (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn nam Fadhla or Beinn na Faoghla) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or the Western Isles Council. The island is about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from west to east and a similar distance from north to south. It lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist and is connected to both by road causeways. Benbecula’s main settlement and administrative centre is Balivanich (Scottish Gaelic: Baile a’ Mhanaich, meaning “Town of the Monk”).   read more…

Theme Week Outer Hebrides – Great Bernera

24 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Camas Bostadh beach © geograph.org.uk - Anne Burgess/cc-by-sa-2.0

Camas Bostadh beach © geograph.org.uk – Anne Burgess/cc-by-sa-2.0

Great Bernera (Scottish Gaelic: Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera (Scottish Gaelic: Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over 21 square kilometres (8 square miles), it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island.   read more…

Theme Week Outer Hebrides – Barra

23 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kisimul Castle and Castlebay © flickr.com - Tom Parnell/cc-by-sa-2.0

Kisimul Castle and Castlebay © flickr.com – Tom Parnell/cc-by-sa-2.0

Barra (Scottish Gaelic: Barraigh or Eilean Bharraigh; Scots: Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. The island is named after Saint Finbarr of Cork. In 2011, the population was 1,174. Gaelic is widely spoken, and at the 2011 Census, there were 761 Gaelic speakers (62% of the population).   read more…

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