El Jadida in Morocco

23 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Fortress of El Jadida © M. Rais/cc-by-sa-3.0

Fortress of El Jadida © M. Rais/cc-by-sa-3.0

El Jadida, originally known in Berber as Maziɣen or Mazighen; known in Portuguese as Mazagão, is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located 96 km south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2022. The fortified city, built by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century and named Mazagan (Mazagão in Portuguese), was taken by the Moroccans in 1769.   read more…

East Hampton in New York

27 May 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  12 minutes

Montauk Manor hotel © Beyond My Ken/cc-by-sa-4.0

Montauk Manor hotel © Beyond My Ken/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, United States, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, it had a total population of 28,385. The town includes the village of East Hampton, as well as the hamlets of Montauk, Amagansett, Wainscott, and Springs. It also includes part of the incorporated village of Sag Harbor.   read more…

Woolacombe in Devon

13 April 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Adrian Pingstone

© Adrian Pingstone

Woolacombe is a seaside resort on the coast of North Devon, England, which lies at the mouth of a valley (or ‘combe’) in the parish of Mortehoe. The beach is 2 miles (3.2 km) long, sandy, gently sloping and faces the Atlantic Ocean near the western limit of the Bristol Channel. Woolacombe is a popular destination for surfing and family holidays and is part of the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The beach has been managed by Parkin Estates Ltd since the 1970s and has over the years been recognised as one of the best beaches in Europe. It won the title of Britain’s Best Beach in the “Coast Magazine Awards 2012” and was awarded the same prize of Britain’s Best Beach in 2015 by TripAdvisor, also ranking in their polls as 4th in Europe and 13th best in the world. The beach water quality is monitored regularly by the Environment Agency and was rated excellent from 2016 to 2020.   read more…

Theme Week Florida Coasts – First Coast

26 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  14 minutes

Sunrise over Ponte Vedra Beach © flickr.com - Craig ONeal/cc-by-sa-2.0

Sunrise over Ponte Vedra Beach © flickr.com – Craig ONeal/cc-by-sa-2.0

Florida’s First Coast, or simply the First Coast, is a region of the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida. The First Coast refers to the same general area as the directional region of Northeast Florida. It roughly comprises the five counties surrounding Jacksonville: Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns, largely corresponding to the Jacksonville metropolitan area, and may include other nearby areas such as Putnam and Flagler counties in Florida and Camden County, Georgia. The name originated in a marketing campaign in the 1980s, and has become part of Florida’s regional vernacular.   read more…

Theme Week Florida Coasts – Space Coast

22 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach © Leonard J. DeFrancisci/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach © Leonard J. DeFrancisci/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is one of several “themed” coasts around Florida. All of NASA-launched crewed spaceflights (running from Project Mercury in 1961 to and from the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011) have departed from either KSC or Cape Canaveral. The Space Force Station has also launched unmanned military and civilian rockets. Cities in the area include Port St. John, Titusville, Cocoa, Rockledge, Cape Canaveral, Merritt Island (unincorporated), Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Palm Bay, and Viera (unincorporated). Most of the area lies within Brevard County. It is bounded on the south by the Treasure Coast, on the west and north by Central Florida (and is economically tied to that region), and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean.   read more…

Theme Week Florida Coasts

21 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Miami / South Florida, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  8 minutes

First Coast - Lightner Museum in St. Augustine © Excel23/cc-by-sa-3.0

First Coast – Lightner Museum in St. Augustine © Excel23/cc-by-sa-3.0

Describing the Florida coastline is difficult. In contrast to cities, places, squares or buildings, where this is usually achieved very precisely, the coasts of Florida tend to create a feeling, guided by atmosphere and colors, which words and cameras can barely capture. It is about the overall experience. If you don’t want to run to the nearest travel agency immediately after watching the film at the end of the post to jet over and see it for yourself, you are probably better off in Brighton ;-)   read more…

Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean

18 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

© U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The Sargasso Sea is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its characteristic brown Sargassum seaweed and often calm blue water. The sea is bounded on the west by the Gulf Stream, on the north by the North Atlantic Current, on the east by the Canary Current, and on the south by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current, the four together forming a clockwise-circulating system of ocean currents termed the North Atlantic Gyre. It lies between 20° to 35° N and 40 and 70 W and is approximately 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) wide by 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) long. Bermuda is near the western fringes of the sea.   read more…

Key Biscayne in Florida

3 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  11 minutes

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park © Tamanoeconomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park © Tamanoeconomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and southeast of Miami. The key is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947. The northern portion of Key Biscayne is home to Crandon Park, a county park. The middle section of the island consists of the incorporated Village of Key Biscayne. The southern part of the island is now protected as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, adjacent to Biscayne National Park, one of the two national parks in Miami-Dade County.   read more…

Macaronesia in the Atlantic Ocean

31 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Cámara de Lobos, Madeira © Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez/cc-by-sa-4.0

Cámara de Lobos, Madeira © Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez/cc-by-sa-4.0

Macaronesia is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the coasts of the continents of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands, which are formed by seamounts on the ocean floor and have peaks above the ocean’s surface. Some of the Macaronesian islands belong to Portugal, some belong to Spain, and the rest belong to Cape Verde. Politically, the islands belonging to Portugal and Spain are part of the European Union. Geologically, Macaronesia is part of the African tectonic plate. Some of its islands – the Azores – are situated along the edge of that plate at the point where it abuts the Eurasian and North American plates. Macaronesia consists of four main archipelagos. From north to south, these are: the Azores, an Autonomous Region of Portugal, Madeira (also including the Savage Islands), an Autonomous Region of Portugal, the Canary Islands, an Autonomous Community of Spain and Cape Verde, an independent West African country.   read more…

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