Kiev on river Dnepr

25 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Ministry of Foreign Affair of Ukraine © Dmytro Sergiyenko/cc-by-sa-1.0

Ministry of Foreign Affair of Ukraine © Dmytro Sergiyenko/cc-by-sa-1.0

Kiev is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of July 2013 was 2,847,200, making Kiev the 8th largest city in Europe. Kiev’s most famous historical architecture complexes are the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), which are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Noteworthy historical architectural landmarks also include the Mariyinsky Palace (designed and constructed from 1745 to 1752, then reconstructed in 1870), several Orthodox churches such as St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. Andrew’s, St. Vladimir’s, the reconstructed Golden Gate and others.   read more…

Theme Week Catalonia – Badalona

25 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Port of Badalona © Vicente Maza Gómez/cc-by-sa-3.0

Port of Badalona © Vicente Maza Gómez/cc-by-sa-3.0

Badalona is a city in eastern Catalonia. It is located in the comarca of the Barcelonès, joined to Barcelona and part of its metropolitan area. It is situated on the left bank of the small Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, backed by the Serra de la Marina mountain range. Badalona is the third most-populated municipality in Catalonia after Barcelona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. It became a city in 1897.   read more…

Theme Week Catalonia – Terrassa

24 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Mercado de la Independéncia de Tarrasa © flickr.com - Jaume Meneses/cc-by-sa-2.0

Mercado de la Independéncia de Tarrasa © flickr.com – Jaume Meneses/cc-by-sa-2.0

Terrassa is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the cocapital along with Sabadell. The city is heir to a rich medieval, Modernista and industrial legacy, and possesses an extensive network of libraries, historical archives and museums.   read more…

Pride of Africa

24 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Hotels Reading Time:  4 minutes

Dining Car © David Brossard/cc-by-sa-2.0

Dining Car © David Brossard/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Pride of Africa is a luxury train which is run by Rovos Rail. It is billed as the “World’s Most Luxurious Train”. It travels through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania. Rovos Rail was established in 1989.   read more…

Tarragona in Catalonia

23 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Tarragona © Vmenkov

Tarragona © Vmenkov

Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona. Today, the city had a population of 135,000.   read more…

Theme Week Catalonia – Lleida

23 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

La Seu Vella cathedral © Hector Blanco de Frutos/cc-by-2.5

La Seu Vella cathedral © Hector Blanco de Frutos/cc-by-2.5

Lleida is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as well as the largest city in the province. It had 137,000 inhabitants as of 2010, including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs.   read more…

Theme Week Catalonia

22 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Aigua Blava Bay © PaddyBriggs

Aigua Blava Bay © PaddyBriggs

Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, and designated a “historical nationality” by its Statute of Autonomy. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain, and the centre of one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish and Aranese (an Occitan dialect). Castells are one of the main manifestations of Catalan popular culture. The activity consists in constructing human towers by competing colles castelleres (teams). This practice originated in the southern part of Catalonia during the 18th century. The tradition of els Castells i els Castellers was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia.   read more…

The Jetboat

21 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Design & Products, Sport Reading Time:  5 minutes

Shotover River Canyons, Queenstown, New Zealand © Alex Proimos

Shotover River Canyons, Queenstown, New Zealand © Alex Proimos

A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses a propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat into a pump inside the boat, then expels it through a nozzle at the stern.   read more…

The medieval town of Sighisoara in Transylvania

21 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

View from Villa Franka © Valimare

View from Villa Franka © Valimare

Sighişoara is a city and municipality on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş County, Romania. Located in the historic region Transylvania, Sighişoara has a population of 28,000.   read more…

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