VIRTUAL TOUR Films (November 6, 2023) – Villa Monastero is located in Varenna, Province of Lecco, on the shore of Lake Como. The villa lies south of the village, halfway between Varenna and Fiumelatte, and includes a botanical garden, a museum, and a convention center.
Villa Monastero is an eclectic villa built in the Nordic style. The site was originally a Cistercian convent, founded at the end of the 12th century in Varenna, which now lies beneath the modern building. The convent grew in importance and wealth, purchasing many properties, especially around Lierna, but eventually declined to only six mothers, and was closed by papal bull in 1567.
The whole estate was purchased by Paolo Mornico in 1569, using his fortune amassed through iron mining in Valsassinia. In the 17th century the Mornico family incrementally rebuilt and decorated it in the eclectic style.
DW Travel (November 5, 2023) – Drachenburg Castle in Königswinter, near the German city of Bonn, is a real tourist magnet and Instagram hotspot. It may look like a medieval fairytale castle, but it wasn’t built until the late 19th century.
And its history is a mix of colorful, dark and bizarre – involving an eccentric bon vivant, Nazis and, of course, a dragon. DW reporter Diana Piñeros went to take a look at the castle for you.
ART VISION TV / C&B JOURNAL (NOVEMBER 4, 2023) – The swanky 16th arrondissement is home to foreign embassies and renowned museums, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Palais de Tokyo with its contemporary art.
Hilly Passy, home to the city’s wealthiest residents, features trendy restaurants and the Maison de Balzac, a house museum where the novelist once lived. Families head to the Bois de Boulogne for its boating lakes and kids’ theme park.
Drone Snap Films (November 3, 2023) – Lagos is a town in southern Portugal’s Algarve region. It’s known for its walled old town, cliffs and Atlantic beaches. Steep wooden steps lead to the sandy cove of Praia do Camilo.
The nearby cliffs of Ponta de Piedade offer sweeping headland views and a lighthouse. Igreja de Santo António, an ornate 18th-century church, sits across from the Castelo dos Governadores, a castle with a baroque facade and watchtowers.
National Geographic Traveller Magazine (December 2023): The latest issue features the 30 best destinations for 2024, Northern Lights in Manitoba, sailing Denmark’s South Funen Archipelago on a tall ship and a long-distance rail trip in the US….
Also inside this issue:
Uganda: The wildlife of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Melbourne: In Victoria’s state capital, local innovators are breathing new life into forgotten spaces. Amman: Culture, cuisine and craft in Jordan’s kaleidoscopic, mountain-fringed capital. Tunisia: From laid-back coastal towns and diving spots to mountain trails in the county’s northern reaches. Warsaw: Traditional Polish flavours have found a new home in fine-dining establishments. Central London: Hotels to escape the crowds at, from budget boutiques to spruced-up luxury boltholes.
Plus, saddling up inGeorgia’s Tusheti region; the salt workers of India’s Habra city; Barcelona’s La Sagrada Família nears completion; Europe’s new UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the flavours of Sierra Leone;a pedal-powered tour of Malmö; design-led stays in Siem Reap; a Christmas break in Lapland; beach views and seafood in Aberdeen; a staycation in Arnside and Silverdale; great illustrated travel books and photography collections; and overnight essentials.
The Florentine (November 2, 2023) – For the first time since its discovery in 1975, Michelangelo’s secret room in Florence, Italy, will be regularly open to the public starting from November 15.
The tiny space accessible via the New Sacristy in the Museum of the Medici Chapels contains charcoal drawings attributed to Buonarroti and will be open on an experimental basis to small groups of visitors until March 30, 2024.
Wind Walk Travel Videos ʬ (November 2, 2023) – Relaxing banca (canoe) ride at Litik Maasin Enchanted River in Dapa Siargao Island, Philippines. This scenic ride cruises on a clear, turquoise-colored water surrounded by jungle of coconut trees and lush vegetations.
The ‘bent coconut tree’ used to be a popular attraction at Maasin River until it came to an end in 2023. Back then, visitors can do a tarzan-like swing on a rope attached on the trunk of the tree.
The trip to Maasin River is part of the land tour offered by local operators which includes trips to Sugba Lagoon, Magpupungko Rocks Pools and Mountain View.
National Geographic (NOVEMBER 2023) – The latest issue features The race to capture carbon – Any climate solutions strategy requires the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Here are 12 of the most promising strategies; What flashy feathers reveal about the secret lives of birds, and more…
Getting to zero carbon emissions won’t save the world. We’ll have to also remove carbon from the air—a massive undertaking unlike anything we’ve ever done.
BY SAM HOWE VERHOVEK
Over the past few centuries, we have dug, chopped, burned, drilled, pumped, stripped, forged, flared, lit, launched, driven, and flown our way to adding 2.4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide to Earth’s atmosphere.
That’s as much CO2 as would be emitted annually by 522 billion cars, or 65 cars per person living today.
On a lonely, lunar-like valley 20 miles outside of Reykjavík, Iceland, Edda Aradóttir is on a mission to put it back where it came from.
Shimmery. Spiky. Shaggy. Soft. Feathers are what make birds so alluring—but these photographs remind us that they also tell a story about the science of evolution.
BY ANNIE ROTH
PHOTOGRAPHS BY HEIDI AND HANS-JÜRGEN KOCH
In 1860 Charles Darwin wrote, “The sight of a feather in a peacock’s tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!” The plumes were so extravagant, he surmised, they could be a hindrance to survival. Darwin’s frustration with their seemingly inexplicable elegance eventually led him to the idea of sexual selection. Although this form of natural selection—driven by the preference of one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex—is well understood today, a peacock’s feather can still hold mystery for its viewers, says Heidi Koch. She and her husband, Hans-Jürgen, have spent the past few years photographing feathers in all their glorious detail.
Although both sexes of the gray peacock pheasant have back and tail feathers adorned with brilliant eyespots, the males make the best use of them. During elaborate wooing rituals, they raise and fluff up their feathers—which can reach nearly 16 inches in length—putting..
FRANCE 24 English (October 30, 2023) – In the vineyards of France’s Anjou region, in the Loire Valley, a ritual takes place every year at the end of the summer. At harvest time, dozens of brave seasonal workers come from far and wide to pick the ripe grapes.
Some of them have been regulars for several years and their experience is invaluable to the newcomers. The grape picking is done by hand and in a good atmosphere, but has its own rules. Once collected, the harvest heads to the winery.
DW Travel (October 29, 2023) – A visit to Paris without seeing sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre or the Sacré-Cœur is almost unimaginable – despite the throngs of tourists. How can one of the world’s most visited cities become more sustainable, for Parisians and tourists alike?
Video timeline:00:00 Intro 00:27 Eiffel Tower 01:55 Louvre Museum 02:27 Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Montmartre 04:52 Seine riverbank 07:26 Pont Neuf 08:17 Bistro “La Timbale”, Montmartre
From the banks of the Seine to Montmartre, DW reporter Swati Bakshi takes you to places in the French capital where you can observe the city’s transition to sustainability.
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