Category Archives: Travel

New Books: ‘San Francisco – Portrait Of A City’ (2022)

Starting with an early picture of a gang of badass gold prospectors who put this beautiful Northern California city on the map, this ambitious and immersive photographic history of San Francisco takes a winding tour through the city from the mid–nineteenth century to the present day.

The Streets of San Francisco

An epic pictorial history of the City by the Bay

Enjoy eye-catching views of the city’s most enduring landmarks and symbols: the Golden Gate BridgeChinatown, the picturesque trams that wind up and down the famously steep hills, the popular waterfront, its beautiful bay, and its spectacular cityscapes and vistas. San Francisco’s counterculture movements that shaped our collective consciousness are also featured prominently: the beats of North Beach, the hippies of Haight-Ashbury, the gay communities of Castro, and the Black Panthers of neighboring Oakland. Some of the city’s most famous residents also make appearances: Robin Williams, The Grateful Dead, Angela Davis, Janis Joplin, Sylvester, and Allen Ginsberg, among others.

This book features hundreds of newly found images from dozens of archives including museums, universities, libraries, galleries, private collections, and historical societies, from 19th-century daguerreotypes to mid-century Kodachromes to 21st-century digital pictures. Master photographers include, among others: Stephen Shore, Imogen Cunningham, Fred Lyon, Steve Schapiro, Minor White, Dorothea Lange, Albert Watson, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, William Claxton, Fred Herzog, Ansel Adams, Jim Marshall, and many local shooters. Also includes introductory essays and captions by Bay Area–based author Richie Unterberger and a “Best of San Francisco” books, music, and movies section and biographies of the photographers. Tony Bennett famously sang, “I left my heart in San Francisco,” and this meticulously researched and conceived portrait will equally inspire and make you fall in love with the spirit of the City by the Bay.

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Western Africa Cultures: Along The Senegal River

In human cultures in general, and perhaps particularly in Africa, the landscape is the first shrine of tradition. From the sand dunes of Mauritania to the currents of River Senegal, to the Lions of the Beninese savannah to the spirits of the forests of Gabon, this series explores the origin, the nature and the survival of deep links between several populations in West Africa and their habitat.

Each episode takes us to discover an emblematic landscape: the river (Senegal), the desert (Mauritania), the forest (Gabon) and the savannah (Benin). A compass of escape and meeting which rests on two main pillars: the spectacular character of the places, often classified with the UNESCO world heritage, and the charisma of the main characters who are transmitters of their respective traditions.

Travel Tour: 5 Top Places To Visit In Bilbao, Spain

Who knows a city best? The locals. We picked up some tips for a visit to Bilbao from its residents. The Guggenheim Museum, Mount Artxanda and pintxos, the Basque answer to tapas, are high on the list.

Bilbao, an industrial port city in northern Spain, is surrounded by green mountains. It’s the de facto capital of Basque Country, with a skyscraper-filled downtown. It’s famed for the Frank Gehry–designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which sparked revitalization when it opened in 1997. The museum houses prominent modern and contemporary works, but it’s the curvy, titanium-clad building that receives the most attention.

Preview: New York Times Magazine – April 24, 2022

Swiss Views: A Spring Hike Above Grindelwald (4K)

Grindelwald, a village in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps, is a popular gateway for the Jungfrau Region, with skiing in winter and hiking in summer. It’s also a base for mountain-climbing ascents up the iconic north face of Eiger Mountain. Gletscherschlucht, a glacial gorge just outside Grindelwald, features paths with interpretive signage, waterfalls and striated limestone walls.

Timeline: 0:00 Taking the Gondola up to Grindelwald Bort 1:46 Starting the hike at Grindelwald Bort 2:54 Back to spring in Grindelwald

Road Tour: Sella Carnizza Pass, Northern Italy (4K)

The Sella Carnizza is a pass in the far east of Italy, close to the Slovenian border. The area gave a deserted feeling, with the road in poor condition and broken trees everywhere from a landslide. However the area is full of great nature, mountains, and roads, so well worth the visit!

Walking Tour: Shibuya District In Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city’s many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theater (in the Edo-Tokyo Museum). 

Shibuya is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station and Shibuya Station.

Cinematic Views: The Icy Landscapes Of Antarctica

Join Paul Nicklen, Yo-Yo Ma, and Marcus Goddard for a musical journey through the icy landscape of Antarctica.

This 13-minute work created by award-winning composer Marcus Goddard and SeaLegacy features cinematography by world-renowned photographer Paul Nicklen and a solo by celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma along with musical contributions from forty artists from eighteen orchestras from around the world.

The piece was co-commissioned by the Aventa Ensemble with assistance from the BC Arts Council and by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Antarctica, one of our planet’s life forces, helps to regulate the climate, control the ocean currents, and support more life than we know of. The impact of the icy continent is endless, and yet this magical place is disappearing before our eyes. But as quickly as conditions have changed in Antarctica, the future of this extraordinary continent can be redirected for the better.

Preview: ‘Great Escapes Alps. The Hotel Book’

Flowering mountain slopes and traditional meadows. Icy glaciers and majestic summits. With their untouched nature and raw beauty, the Alps have always been a source of fascination. Angelika Taschen presents the best accommodation for Alpinists – historic inns, guesthouses, monasteries, mountain huts, chalets, palazzi, design hotels, even a youth hostel.

A Mountain Tour of the Alps

The Alps are Europe’s biggest and greatest mountain range. Formed millions of years ago, they became a popular destination for travelers in the late eighteenth century – first for adventurers and explorers, then for artists and writers, and finally for everyone who wanted to spend summer in the fresh air of this wonderful scenery or take part in winter sports. Angelika Taschen has followed in their footsteps and collected the finest hotels in the Alpine nations of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Italy.

They include the Kranzbach near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, built for a British aristocrat, Gasthof Hirschen in the Bregenzerwald, where art-loving visitors have been welcomed since 1755, and the Seehof near Salzburg with its emphasis on contemporary art and fine cuisine. The journey goes to Waldhaus Sils in Sils Maria, where many creative guests have found inspiration, to the Schatzalp in Davos, which Thomas Mann immortalized in literature in “The Magic Mountain”, and to picturesque bed & breakfasts with a personal touch such as Brücke49 in Vals and Maison Bergdorf in Interlaken.

High above Chamonix, mountaineers have stayed overnight for more than 140 years at Refuge du Montenvers with its view of the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France. In the exclusive Megève, too, which Baroness Noémie de Rothschild put on the tourist map, travelers experience the Alps à la française in the chalet hotel L’Alpaga; and a bit of Italian dolce vita is provided by stunning addresses in the South Tyrol such as the Ottmangut in Merano, Villa Arnica in Lana with its nostalgic atmosphere, and Pension Briol near Barbiano, constructed in 1928 in the Bauhaus style and extended in 2021 with the addition of two extremely modern buildings.

This opulent book of photographs presents the Alpine range and accommodation in large-format images, short texts, and useful details on prices and how to get there. Walkers, skiers, gourmets, and lovers of good living will find valuable tips and very special accommodation: former monasteries where guests still find peace and seclusion, a mountain hut at the heart of the Dolomites, and a youth hostel occupying what was once a sanatorium, a rare example of modern architecture in Switzerland that was declared a heritage monument in 2002.

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Village Tours: Puentedey In Northern Spain (DW)

Puentedey in northern Spain was named the most beautiful village in Spain in 2022. One reason is its 15-meter-high natural stone arch, carved by the Nela River and nicknamed God’s Bridge.

Puentedey stands out, a place in Burgos that, as its name indicates, is defined by a structure that was considered divine for a long time. It is a rock arch that the river Nela has been carving for millions of years on which a town has been built.