Category Archives: Travel

Travel: Lighthouses Of Ouessant Island, France

FRANCE 24 (May 18, 2023) – We take you to the westernmost point of France; the last piece of civilisation before the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. Ouessant, located 25 kilometres off the Finistère coast in Brittany, is a rugged and fascinating island, where less than 500 people live all year round.

We meet a fisherwoman, a doctor and a photographer who appreciate its raw beauty. The island is also home to no less than five lighthouses that have guided generations of sailors along this fearsome coast. The locals call them the “heroes of Ouessant”.

California Tours: Mission San Juan Capistrano (2023)

ERIC MINH SWENSON ART FILMS (May 18, 2023) – Mission San Juan Capistrano, historic landmark and museum, is the Birthplace of Orange County. It was founded more than two hundred years ago as the 7th of 21 missions statewide and features a chapel still standing where Saint Serra once celebrated Mass.

Today, it is a monument to California’s multi-cultural history, embracing its Native American, Spanish, Mexican and European heritage. Originally built as a self sufficient community by Spanish Padres and Native Americans, the Mission was a center for agriculture, industry, education and religion. Famous for the Annual Return of the Swallows, Mission San Juan Capistrano is the “Jewel of the California Missions” and welcomes over 300,000 visitors each year.

Travel Tour: Šibenik In Western Croatia (4K)

Massimo Nalli (May 18, 2023) – Šibenik, historically known as Sebenico, is a historic city in Croatia and is also the third-largest city in the Dalmatian region. Unlike other cities along the Adriatic coast, which were established by Greeks, Illyrians and Romans,

Šibenik was founded by Croats.Between the 11th and 12th centuries, Šibenik was tossed back and forth among Venice, Byzantium, and Hungary. The city, like the rest of Dalmatia, initially resisted the Venetian Republic, but it was taken over after a three-year war in 1412. The fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797 brought Sebenico under the authority of the Habsburg monarchy. The Italian name Sebenico only was used until around 1871. After the WW1 Šibenik was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy until 12 June 1921. As a result of the Treaty of Rapallo, the Italians gave up their claim to the city and it became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

During World War II, Šibenik was annexed by Italy and was part of the Italian Governorate of Dalmatia from 1941 to 1943 being part of the province of Zara. Communist partisans liberated Šibenik on 3 November 1944. After World War II it became a part of the SFR Yugoslavia until Croatia declared independence in 1991. The central church in Šibenik, the Šibenik Cathedral of St James, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. In the city of Šibenik there are four fortresses, each of which has views of the city, sea and nearby islands. The fortresses are now tourist sightseeing destinations.

Travel & Nature: National Geographic — June 2023

Image

National Geographic Magazine (June 2023): Into The Wild – Life and Death in one of America’s last great places; Underwater volcanoes in Italy; Ancient iron from Space.

These violent undersea volcanoes harbor a secret: life

Off the coast of Italy, the Mediterranean’s most active volcano system is extremely volatile—yet our photographer found that marine life clings on all the same.

How did ancient cultures first discover iron? It fell from the sky.

Early cultures used meteorites to craft weapons and jewelry long before anyone knew how to extract iron from ore.

Village Walks: Grimaud In The South Of France (4K)

Tourist Channel (May 17, 2023) – Nestling between the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the Maures Massif, Grimaud is a charming village whose medieval character is still very much in evidence. Perched on a hill, the first thing you see when you arrive is its castle. Built in the 11th century, this feudal structure (of which some imposing ruins remain) offers a stunning view of the coast and the wooded hills of the Maures Massif.

Boasting some well-preserved heritage, Grimaud contains a plethora of pretty little cobbled streets in bloom, village squares, archways and restored period homes. In the old village, you can also see the beautiful Church of St. Michael, built in the late 12th century in the Provençal Romanesque style. It houses a fresco from 1850 depicting St. Michael, St. Peter and St. Bartholomew, as well as contemporary stained glass windows made in 1975 by the jeweller Jacques Gautier.

Travel In France: Secrets Of Mont-Saint-Michel

DW Travel (May 17, 2023) – Mont-Saint-Michel is steeped in mystery: Its construction alone is perplexing – a monastery built atop a steep crag in the middle of a bay.

Video timeline: Intro 01:01 How to get there and when is the best time? 01:34 How they built it 02:21 Dangerous surrounding 03:08 The architecture of Mont-Saint-Michel 04:39 Inhabitants: monks and nuns 05:19 The darkest secret of the abbey 06:07 A deeply mysterious place

Surrounded by water at high tide, at low tide you can walk across the tidal flats to visit it. Mont-Saint-Michel is one of France’s most visited locations, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Have you ever been there?

Travel Tour: A Bicycle Ride Through Leipzig, Germany

BicycleDutch Films (May 16, 2023) – A ride from the Leipzig Congress Center to the city center. 7.5km long. The international cycling conference Velo-City 2023 took place in Leipzig in May 2023.

Leipzig is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig’s population of 624,689 inhabitants as of 2022 places the city as Germany’s eighth most populous, as well as the second most populous city in the area of the former East Germany after Berlin.

Reviews: Can California Finish Its High-Speed Rail?

CNBC (May 16, 2023) – In 2008, California voted yes on a $9 billion bond authorization to build the nation’s first high-speed railway. The plan is to build an electric train that will connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley and then San Francisco in two hours and forty minutes.

Chapters: 1:35 Intro 1:41 The Vision 4:48 Progress 8:17 Setbacks and challenges

At the time, it was estimated the project would be complete by 2020 and cost $33 billion. But 15 years later, there is not a single mile of track laid, and there isn’t enough money to finish the project. The latest estimates show it will cost $88 billion to $128 billion to complete the entire system from LA to San Francisco. Inflation and higher construction costs have contributed to the high price tag. Despite the funding challenges, progress has been made on the project.

119 miles are under construction in California’s Central Valley. The project recently celebrated its 10,000th worker on the job. The infrastructure design work is complete, and 422 out of 500 miles have been environmentally cleared. CNBC visited California’s Central Valley, where construction is underway, to find out what it will take to complete what would be the nation’s largest infrastructure project.

Travel: A Tour Of Dublin City Centre, Ireland (4K)

Walking With Peter Films (May 15, 2023) – A cinematic walking tour of Dublin City Centre in Ireland on Saturday Afternoon, 13th May 2023. The tour begins in Rathmines in Dublin 6 and includes Camden Street, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green and more.

The centre of Dublin has a very organic feel to it, with its winding, narrow streets and low buildings. There is only one grand avenue in the centre and that is O’Connell Street. The rest of the streets is much more human in scale. Few buildings in the city centre are more than four stories high and an appealing mix of 18th century Georgian and 19th century Victorian styles dominates most streets in the centre. Life in Dublin’s city centre is charming, slightly chaotic and fairly laid back.

Arts/History: Smithsonian Magazine – June 2023

Smithsonian Magazine    The Art of Memory   June 2023 image 1

Smithsonian Magazine – June Issue

Artist Joseph Stella Painted Nature in Vibrant Color

Opener - Flowers

Cities weren’t the only subject that fascinated this acclaimed Futurist

By Amy Crawford

He famously captured industrial America—the Brooklyn Bridge, Pittsburgh’s steel mills—with his monumental canvases. But the painter Joseph Stella (1877-1946) looked to nature for respite, escaping his Manhattan studio to visit the New York Botanical Garden and to paint in southern Italy, where he grew up. “My devout wish,” the artist wrote, “[is] that my every working day might begin and end—as a good omen—with the light, gay painting of a flower.”

Anne Frank’s Childhood Friend Recalls Their Years Before the Holocaust

After fleeing her native Germany, a young Jew found companionship and community as the Nazis approached