Theme Week Andalusia

14 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Alhambra de Granada © ángel mateo/cc-by-3.0

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognized as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces. Its capital is the city of Seville.   read more…

Theme Week Scotland – Livingston

14 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

The north-west of Livingston © Kim Traynor/cc-by-sa-3.0

The north-west of Livingston © Kim Traynor/cc-by-sa-3.0

Livingston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Lèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian. It is the fourth post-War new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.   read more…

Theme Week Scotland – Kirkcaldy

13 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery © Kilnburn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery © Kilnburn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kirkcaldy (Scottish Gaelic: Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is approximately 11.6 miles (19 km) north of Edinburgh and 27.6 miles (44 km) south-southwest of Dundee. The town had an estimated population of 49,560 in 2010, making it the biggest settlement in Fife. Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed the Lang Toun (Scots for “long town”) in reference to the 0.9-mile (1.4 km) early town’s main street, as indicated on maps of the 16th and 17th centuries. The street later reached a length of nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) connecting the burgh to neighbouring settlements of Linktown, Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown. These settlements would later merge into the town in 1876.   read more…

Theme Week Frankfurt – The German National Library

11 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  6 minutes

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB) – German National Library

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB) – German National Library

The German National Library (German: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek or DNB) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically all German and German-language publications since 1913, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public. The German National Library maintains co-operative external relations on a national and international level. For example, it is the leading partner in developing and maintaining bibliographic rules and standards in Germany and plays a significant role in the development of international library standards. The cooperation with publishers is regulated by law since 1935 for the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig and since 1969 for the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt.   read more…

Theme Week Scotland – Paisley

10 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

The Paisley Cenotaph and war memorial © geograph.org.uk - Stephen Sweeney/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Paisley Cenotaph and war memorial © geograph.org.uk – Stephen Sweeney/cc-by-sa-2.0

Paisley (Scottish Gaelic: Pàislig) is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area. The town is situated on the northern edge of the Gleniffer Braes, straddling the banks of the White Cart Water, a tributary of the River Clyde. The town, a former burgh, forms part of a contiguous urban area with Glasgow, Glasgow City Centre being 6.9 miles (11.1 km) to the east. The town came to prominence with the establishment of Paisley Abbey in the 12th century, an important religious hub in mediaeval Scotland which formerly had control over the other churches in the local area.   read more…

Theme Week Beirut on the Mediterranean coast

7 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  47 minutes

© Yoniw/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Yoniw/cc-by-sa-3.0

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As there has been no recent population census, the exact population is unknown; estimates in 2007 ranged from slightly more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast, it serves as the country’s largest and main seaport. The Beirut metropolitan area consists of the city and its suburbs. The first mention of this metropolis is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters, dating from the 15th century BC. The city has been inhabited continuously since then. Beirut is one of the most cosmopolitan and religiously diverse cities of Lebanon and all of the Middle East.   read more…

Theme Week Corsica – Bastia

27 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

Bastia at night © Jean-Michel Raggioli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bastia at night © Jean-Michel Raggioli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse, 50 km (31 mi) West from Elba, an Italian island, and 90 km (56 mi) away from continental Italy which can be seen a few days per year when visibility is excellent.. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department.   read more…

Theme Week Turkish Riviera – Gullet, the motor glider of the Turkish Riviera

23 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Tall ships, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Gulet type schooners near Bodrum © Georges Jansoone/cc-by-sa-3.0

Gulet type schooners near Bodrum © Georges Jansoone/cc-by-sa-3.0

A gulet is a traditional design of a two-masted or three-masted wooden sailing vessel (the most common design has two masts) from the southwestern coast of Turkey, particularly built in the coastal towns of Bodrum and Marmaris; although similar vessels can be found all around the eastern Mediterranean. Today, this type of vessel, varying in size from 14 to 35 metres, is popular for tourist charters. For considerations of crew economy, diesel power is now almost universally used and many are not properly rigged for sailing.   read more…

Theme Week North Frisian Islands – Sylt

17 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Robby Naish during the Surf World Cup Sylt © Hoch Zwei

Robby Naish during the Surf World Cup Sylt © Hoch Zwei

Sylt is the northernmost island of Germany, known for its tourist resorts, notably Westerland, Kampen and Wenningstedt-Braderup, as well as for its 40 km long sandy beach. It is frequently covered by the media in connection with its exposed situation in the North Sea and its ongoing loss of land during storm tides. Since 1927, Sylt has been connected to the mainland by the Hindenburgdamm causeway. In latter years, it has been a resort for the German jet set and tourists in search of occasional celebrity sighting. Southeast of Sylt the islands Föhr and Amrum are located, to the north lies the Danish island Rømø. East of Sylt the Wadden Sea is situated, which belongs to the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and mostly falls dry during low tide.   read more…

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