Category Archives: Travel

Walking Tour: Cefalù – Sicily, Italy (4K Video)

Cefalù is a coastal city in northern Sicily, Italy. It’s known for its Norman cathedral, a 12th-century fortress-like structure with elaborate Byzantine mosaics and soaring twin towers. Nearby, the Mandralisca Museum is home to archaeological exhibits and a picture gallery with a portrait by Antonello da Messina. The beaches of Mazzaforno and Settefrati lie to the west. 

Mountain Views: ‘Chalet On Powder Mountain’ In Northern Utah (Video)

Chalet on Powder Mountain

This chalet is located just slightly north of the top of a gentle slope that stretches from north to south in the natural park in Powder Mountain, Utah, USA. It sits at the northern end of a cluster of chalets spread out to the south, and one can enjoy the view to the south from the second floor. It is a great place to access both the town and the ski resort, and enjoy the magnificent view to the north.

After skiing, they would step off the ski slope and approach the chalet from the south side of the site to take a break. They would go into the mud room, take off ski clothes and skis, hang them there to dry, take a shower on the same floor, change in on of the bedrooms, and go upstairs. The upper floor where one can enjoy the magnificent view on the north side has a spacious balcony resulted from the setback regulation, kitchen, dining room, and living room where they would enjoy the view, delicious food and drinks, light the fire and have a good time together after a long day of skiing. Since the building is located in a natural park, it is subject to very strict building regulations and the buildable area is small. This extremely compact building is designed to take up the maximum allowable volume. The compact size is perfect for experiencing the grandeur of nature, giving you a sense of being nestled in it.

Structurally, the lower floor is constructed with steel frames to maintain an appropriate distance between the slope and the building, and a highly insulated wooden structure is placed on top of the steel frames to protect the indoor environment. The expression of the wooden materials harmonizes and integrates with the surrounding land and stones in summer, and evokes the warmth of home against the white snow in winter.

Title: Chalet on Powder Mountain

Architect: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

Project team: Matthieu Darcourt, Ou Ueno

Collaboration: Lloyd Architects(AOR)

Location: Utah, USA

Views: ‘Winding River Ranch – Colorado’ (Video)

Winding River Ranch is located less than 30 miles from Buena Vista, Buena Vista Central Colorado Regional Airport and 10 minutes by paved State Highway 285 south of Fairplay. It encompasses a highly diverse block of 5,748± acres (3,780± deeded) that lies at 9,300 feet just below the continental divide which includes some of Colorado’s famous 14,000-foot peaks. The lower reaches of the ranch include a rich wetland complex that supports nearly five miles of world-class private fishing on the highly regarded South Fork of the South Platte River. The upper reaches of the ranch include steeper, timbered terrain that offers private trophy quality elk and deer hunting – with rare hunting tags. There is enough land to support modest hay production, summer grazing for livestock and horses and three irrigated food plots, although fish and wildlife are the crop of choice for the current owners.

Biking: Tulips In South Holland, Netherlands

A ride in the bulb flower region of the province of South-Holland in the Netherlands.

South Holland is a province of the Netherlands with a population of just over 3.7 million as of November 2019 and a population density of about 1,373/km², making it the country’s most populous province and one of the world’s most densely populated areas. 

Walking Tour: ‘Mobile – Southwest Alabama’

Mobile is a port city on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. The WWII-era USS Alabama battleship is anchored in Battleship Memorial Park. Floats, costumes and photos at the Mobile Carnival Museum illuminate the city’s centuries-old Mardi Gras tradition. The 1850 Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception features intricate German stained glass. International fine and decorative art is displayed at the Mobile Museum of Art. 

Aerial Views: Florence – Northern Italy (4K Video)

Florence, capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto. The Galleria dell’Accademia displays Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. The Uffizi Gallery exhibits Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation.”

Views: First ‘Supermoon’ Of 2021 Across The Globe

From Sydney’s Bondi Beach, to Istanbul’s Bosphorus and the mountains of Caracas in Venezuela, the first supermoon of 2021 has been seen across the globe. A supermoon is a name given to a full moon that occurs when the moon is closest to the Earth. According at NASA, this year’s super moon has been called a ‘pink’ super moon, as it appears in April and named after an American plant, pink phlox, that blooms in Spring

Walking Tour: Brussels – Northern Belgium (4K)

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the capital of Belgium. Besides the strict centre, it also covers the immediate northern outskirts where it borders municipalities in Flanders.

Archaeology: ‘Ancient Rome Live – Episode 1’ – Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Here is the first episode of the series about archaeology at the Uffizi Galleries, realized by the American Institute for Roman Culture. Darius Arya today speaks about some masterpieces of the Uffizi and the Boboli Gardens.

Tours: The International Court Of Justice (ICJ), The Hague, Netherlands

This virtual tour of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) leads the viewers through the rooms of the Peace Palace used by the judges in carrying out their judicial functions.

FAQ ——

What is the International Court of Justice?

The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter, which was signed in 1945 in San Francisco (United States), and began work in 1946 in the Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands).

The Court, which is composed of 15 judges, has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes between States submitted to it by them and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court’s official languages are English and French.

Who may submit cases to the Court? Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases. The Court has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, non-governmental organizations, corporations or any other private entity. It cannot provide them with legal advice or help them in their dealings with national authorities. However, a State may take up the case of one of its nationals and invoke against another State the wrongs which its national claims to have suffered at the hands of the latter; the dispute then becomes one between States.

What differentiates the International Court of Justice from the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc international criminal tribunals?

The International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. As it is not a criminal court, it does not have a prosecutor able to initiate proceedings. This task is the preserve of national courts, the ad hoc criminal tribunals established by the United Nations (such as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), mandated to take over residual functions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)) or in co-operation with it (such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), and also of the International Criminal Court, set up under the Rome Statute.