Riquewihr in Alsace

15 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© flickr.com - Pug Girl/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Pug Girl/cc-by-2.0

Riquewihr is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. A popular tourist attraction for its historical architecture, Riquewihr is also known for the Riesling and other wines produced in the village. Riquewihr looks today more or less as it did in the 16th century. It is located on the Route des Vins (The Wines Road), close to Colmar.   read more…

Castle Stalker in Scotland

14 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - Markus Trienke/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Markus Trienke/cc-by-sa-2.0

Castle Stalker (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal an Stalcaire) is a four-storey tower house or keep. It is set on a tidal islet on Loch Laich, an inlet off Loch Linnhe. It is about 2 miles (2.5 kilometres) north-east of Port Appin, Argyll, Scotland, and is visible from the A828 road about midway between Oban and Glen Coe. The islet is accessible with difficulty from the shore at low tide. The name “Stalker” comes from the Gaelic Stalcaire, meaning “hunter” or “falconer”. The island castle is one of the best preserved medieval tower houses to survive in western Scotland and is a Category A listed building. It stands in the Lynn of Lorn National Scenic Area, one of forty such areas in Scotland.   read more…

South of Market in San Francisco

13 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, San Francisco Bay Area Reading Time:  9 minutes

© flickr.com - Pascal Vuylsteker/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Pascal Vuylsteker/cc-by-sa-2.0

South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city’s museums, to the headquarters of several major software and Internet companies, and to the Moscone Conference Center.   read more…

House for Mozart in Salzburg

12 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  6 minutes

The stage © Martin Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The stage © Martin Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Haus für Mozart, or House for Mozart, is a 1,500-seat theatre of the Salzburg Festival in the city of that name in Austria. It was established in 1925 when horse stables were converted into a venue for the mystery plays that were a main facet of the five-year-old festival, becoming the festival’s first dedicated performance space, its Festspielhaus. This name it retained through three rebuildings until, in 1960, the larger Neues Festspielhaus opened next door, whereupon it took the name Altes Festspielhaus, or Old Festival-House. But three seasons later, to end confusion in the minds of visitors unaware of the history, both theatres were renamed for their sizes, and the smaller was now the Kleines Festspielhaus. For forty-two seasons, through 2004, the nomenclature was settled. Then the theater was closed for its fourth gutting and reconstruction. It gained its current name upon reopening in 2006 as the festival’s principal theatre for Mozart and Rossini operas as well as Baroque stageworks.   read more…

The Jacobite

11 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage Reading Time:  7 minutes

The Jacobite crossing Glenfinnan Viaduct © Daniel Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Jacobite crossing Glenfinnan Viaduct © Daniel Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Jacobite is a steam locomotive-hauled tourist train service that operates over part of the West Highland Line in Scotland. It has been operating under various names and with different operators every summer since 1984. It has played an important role in sustaining a scenic route.   read more…

Hanging Church in Old Cairo

10 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Radosław Botev/cc-by-3.0-pl

© Radosław Botev/cc-by-3.0-pl

Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church (Church of Mother of God Saint Mary in Egyptian Babylon), also known as the Hanging Church, is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century. It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.   read more…

Eichstätt in Upper Bavaria

9 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Market Square -wuppertaler/cc-© by-sa-4.0

Market Square -wuppertaler/cc-© by-sa-4.0

Eichstätt is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt. Eichstätt lies on both sides of the river Altmühl in the district of Eichstätt of the Upper Bavaria region of Bavaria, in the heart of Altmühl Valley Nature Park.   read more…

Strasbourg Cathedral

8 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

The west front © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

The west front © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or Cathédrale de Strasbourg, German: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or Straßburger Münster), also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Architect Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318, and beyond through his son Johannes von Steinbach, and his grandson Gerlach von Steinbach, who succeeded him as chief architects. The Steinbachs’s plans for the completion of the cathedral were not followed through by the chief architects who took over after them, and instead of the originally envisioned two spires, a single, octagonal tower with an elongated, octagonal crowning was built on the northern side of the west facade by master Ulrich von Ensingen and his successor, Johannes Hültz. The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439.   read more…

Gethsemane in East Jerusalem

7 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Garden of Gethsemane © Tango7174/cc-by-sa-4.0

Garden of Gethsemane © Tango7174/cc-by-sa-4.0

Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resonance in Christianity. There are several small olive groves in church property, all adjacent to each other and identified with biblical Gethsemane.   read more…

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