© flickr.com – uritours.com/cc-by-sa-2.0 | Wingsch Real Estate Investments

Theme Week Laos - Pakse

[caption id="attachment_213848" align="aligncenter" width="590"] River bank of Don Khon with stilt wooden houses and leaning Arecaceae at golden hour from Don Det© Basile Morin/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Pakse is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak, making it the second most populous city in Laos. At the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, it has a population of about 88,000. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest o...

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Theme Week Catalonia - Salou

[caption id="attachment_151317" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Port and Beach © Salvador Sáinz[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Salou is a municipality of the comarca of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Aside from its string of beaches interrupted by rocky coves, and its landscaped promenade, one of its main attractions is the PortAventura resort. Salou's main promenade is the Passeig Jaume I, which runs along the coast...

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R.R. House

[caption id="attachment_153975" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Andrade Morettin Arquitetos[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]This summer house is situated only a few meters from the sea, on the north coast of the State of São Paulo, a place with exuberant vegetation and hot humid climate. The project began with the idea of a big shelter, a “shell”, under which the actual living spaces would be located, protected from the intense sun and the frequent rains, however without blocking the permanent natural cross ventilation. This ...

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Cordouan Lighthouse

[caption id="attachment_164322" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Lighthouse of Cordouan © Yann Gwilhoù/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Cordouan lighthouse is an active lighthouse located 7 km at sea, near the mouth of the Gironde estuary in France. At a height of 223 feet (68 m) it is the tenth tallest "traditional lighthouse" in the world. The Tour de Cordouan, the 'Patriarch of Lighthouses', is by far the oldest lighthouse in France. It was designed by leading Paris architect Louis de Foix, and is something of a Renai...

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Theme Week Taiwan - Hsinchu

[caption id="attachment_192030" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hsinchu City Government © 勤岸/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Hsinchu, officially known as Hsinchu City, is a provincial city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate. Among the tourist attractions are: Black Bat Squadron Memorial Hall, Glass Museum of Hsinchu City, Hsinchu City Art Site of Railway Warehouse, Hsinchu CKS Baseball Stadium, Hsinchu Museum of Military Dependents Village, Hsinchu Fish Harbor, ...

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Theme Week East Frisian Islands

[caption id="attachment_152920" align="aligncenter" width="590"] East Frisian Islands © Maximilian Dörrbecker[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The East Frisian Islands (German: Ostfriesische Inseln) are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend for some 90 kilometres (56 mi) from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade / Weser rivers and lie about 3.5 to 10 km offshore. Between the islands and the mainland are extensive mudflats, known locally as Watten,...

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The Maldives

[caption id="attachment_151435" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Malé © Shahee Ilyas[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Maldives also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago. It stands in the Laccadive Sea, about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka and (250 mi) south-west of India. This chain of islands is an archipelago lo...

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Theme Week Ecuador - Cuenca

[caption id="attachment_171331" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Centro Histórico © flickr.com - amalavida.tv/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The city of Cuenca — in full, Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca — is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is widely regarded as the most European city in the country of Ecuador due to its 16th and 17th century era Spanish colonial architecture resembling cities and architecture throughout Spain. The city of Cuenca is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2,500 me...

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Rovaniemi, second home of Santa Claus at the Arctic Circle

[caption id="attachment_151848" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Santa's Post Office © Cédric Puisney/cc-by-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated about 5 kilometres (3 miles) south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the river Kemijoki and its tributary, the Ounasjoki. The city and the surrounding Rovaniemen maa...

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Sassnitz on the island of Rügen

[caption id="attachment_160896" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Old Town © Tacachie/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sassnitz is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population as of 2012 was 9,500. It is a well-known seaside resort and port town, and is a gateway to the nearby Jasmund National Park with its unique chalk cliffs. Sassnitz is the home of Rügen's only zoo, the Sassnitz Wildlife Park. The decommissioned British submarine HMS Otus was pur...

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