Portrait: James of Saint George, master of works and architect

22 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  8 minutes

Master James statue at Beaumaris Castle © AJ Marshall/cc-by-sa-4.0

Master James statue at Beaumaris Castle © AJ Marshall/cc-by-sa-4.0

Master James of Saint George (French: Maître Jacques de Saint-Georges) was a master of works/architect from Savoy, described by historian Marc Morris as “one of the greatest architects of the European Middle Ages”. He was largely responsible for designing King Edward I‘s castles in North Wales, including Conwy, Harlech and Caernarfon (all begun in 1283) and Beaumaris on Anglesey (begun 1295).   read more…

Theme Week Alentejo – Portalegre

21 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Palácio dos Condes de Avillez © F nando/cc-by-sa-3.0

Palácio dos Condes de Avillez © F nando/cc-by-sa-3.0

Portalegre is a municipality in Portugal. The population as of 2011 was 22,368, in an area of 447.14 square kilometres (172.64 sq mi). The municipality is located by the Serra de São Mamede in the Portalegre District. Its name comes from the Latin Portus Alacer (meaning “cheerful port”). The municipal holiday is 23 May. According to the 2001 census the city of Portalegre had 15,768 inhabitants in its two parishes (Sé and São Lourenço). These two parishes, plus the eight rural parishes, had a total of 25,608 inhabitants. The current mayor is Adelaide Teixeira, who was elected as an independent.   read more…

Royal Palace of Brussels

21 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Matthias Zepper/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Matthias Zepper/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Royal Palace of Brussels is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation’s capital, Brussels. However, it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken in northern Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the Royal Palace as follows:   read more…

Theme Week Alentejo

20 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Évora's historic downtown © Bunks/cc-by-3.0

Évora’s historic downtown © Bunks/cc-by-3.0

Alentejo Region, a historical and cultural rich region, is one of the seven NUTS 2 regions of Portugal. It covers all of the historical Alentejo Province and part of the historical Ribatejo and Estremadura provinces. The the largest city and capital is Évora.   read more…

Cathedral City in California

20 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Patrick Pelster/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Patrick Pelster/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cathedral City, colloquially known as “Cat City”, is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert‘s Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second largest population, after Indio, of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. Its population was 51,493 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 51,200 at the 2010 census.   read more…

Telegraph Hill in San Francisco

19 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, San Francisco Bay Area Reading Time:  6 minutes

Filbert Street and Grant Avenue, looking towards Coit Tower © Goodshoped35110s

Filbert Street and Grant Avenue, looking towards Coit Tower © Goodshoped35110s

Telegraph Hill (elev. 285 ft (87 m)) is a hill and surrounding neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco’s 44 hills, and one of its original “Seven Hills”. The San Francisco Chronicle defines the Chinatown, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill areas as bounded by Sacramento Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street, and the water. The neighborhood is bounded by Vallejo Street to the south, Sansome Street to the east, Francisco Street to the north and Powell Street and Columbus Avenue to the west, where the northwestern corner of Telegraph Hill overlaps with the North Beach neighborhood.   read more…

Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America

18 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Richard Zietz/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Richard Zietz/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuries, they began fighting the American Revolutionary War in April 1775 and formed the United States of America by declaring full independence in July 1776. Just prior to declaring independence, the Thirteen Colonies in their traditional groupings were: New England (New Hampshire; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Connecticut); Middle (New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Delaware); Southern (Maryland; Virginia; North Carolina; South Carolina; and Georgia). The Thirteen Colonies came to have very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems, dominated by Protestant English-speakers. The first of these colonies was Virginia Colony in 1607, a Southern colony. While all these colonies needed to become economically viable, the founding of the New England colonies, as well as the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania, were substantially motivated by their founders’ concerns related to the practice of religion. The other colonies were founded for business and economic expansion. The Middle Colonies were established on an earlier Dutch colony, New Netherland. All the Thirteen Colonies were part of Britain’s possessions in the New World, which also included territory in Canada, Florida, and the Caribbean.   read more…

Lake Forest in Illinois, Tree City USA

17 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Deerpath Building and Theater, part of the Lake Forest Historic District © flickr.com - Teemu008/cc-by-sa-2.0

Deerpath Building and Theater, part of the Lake Forest Historic District © flickr.com – Teemu008/cc-by-sa-2.0

Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded with Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in 1857, a stop for travelers making their way south to Chicago. The Lake Forest City Hall, designed by Charles Sumner Frost, was completed in 1898. It originally housed the fire department, the Lake Forest Library, and city offices.   read more…

San Casciano in Val di Pesa in Tuscany

16 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Vignaccia76/cc-by-3.0

© Vignaccia76/cc-by-3.0

San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 15 kilometres (9 mi) southwest of Florence. San Casciano in Val di Pesa borders the following municipalities; Greve in Chianti, Impruneta, Montespertoli, Scandicci and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa.   read more…

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