Category Archives: Videos

Travel Films: ‘Hà Giang – Land Of Misty Valley’

Hà Giang is the final frontier in northern Vietnam, an amazing landscape of limestone pinnacles and granite outcrops. The far north of the province has some of the most spectacular scenery in the country – if not the region – and the trip between Yen Minh and Dong Van, and then across the Mai Pi Leng Pass to Meo Vac, is quite mind-blowing. Ha Giang should be one of the most popular destinations in this region, but its distance from just about everywhere else keeps visitor numbers at a low level.

Art Exhibtions: ‘Picasso & Braque – Radicals’ (2022)

Picasso & Braque: Radicals highlights significant work by the two pioneers of the Cubist art movement—Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism, one of the most influential artistic developments of the twentieth century, challenged traditional perspectives of how we see the world. The movement is characterized by fractured viewpoints and abstracted forms and defies established notions of three-dimensionality. Cubism can be intellectually challenging but beautifully reflects the dynamism, rhythm, and innovation of the early 1900s.  

Although there is debate on who developed Cubism first, Picasso and Braque are credited with establishing this new visual language that presented infinite possibilities and catalyzed future developments in the visual arts. This exhibition features work by twentieth-century artists who took inspiration from these revolutionary ideas and practices, including American artists Fannie Hillsmith and John Marin, and Texas artist Bill Reily, among others. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints demonstrate how Cubism transcended time and space.

Picasso & Braque: Radicals is organized for the McNay Art Museum by Lyle W. Williams, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Curator of Modern Art; and Rafael Fernando Gutierrez Jr., the inaugural Douglass Foundation Intern in Curatorial Studies.

French River Cruises: Southern Burgundy

Hotel barge L’Impressionniste glides gently through the picturesque Ouche Valley in Southern Burgundy through locks with their charming lock houses. You will see medieval villages perched on hilltops and have the opportunity to discover a region famed for its history and viticulture, with visits to such places as Beaune, the regions ‘wine capital’, and the elegant city of Dijon.

What is hotel barging? Despite the growing popularity of cruising, especially on large river vessels, hotel barging is still a little known niche concept. Most hotel barges started life as cargo vessels but have since been painstakingly converted to offer luxury boutique accommodation for small groups of up to 20 passengers. This is cruising, but in a very different style to ships plying the big rivers or oceans.

The pace is slow, with a 6 day cruise covering maybe just 50 miles along a rural canal. Passengers can walk or bike the towpaths as their floating hotel glides gently along. Guests enjoy an intimate atmosphere, high levels of personal service and immersion into the culture, history and gastronomy of regions of Europe such as Burgundy, the Midi, or the Italian Veneto. Every day there is an excursion, perhaps to a chateau, a vineyard for a wine tasting, or some other ‘off the beaten track’ location.

About half of European Waterways’ bookings are for whole boat charters, ideal for families. Otherwise, clients book a cabin to join other like-minded people. A ‘slow boat’ European Waterways barge cruise offers the ultimate in experiential travel. A truly unique experience! European Waterways offer luxury hotel barge cruises on the beautiful canals and rivers of Europe, such as through Burgundy, the Midi, Alsace, the Po Valley, Holland and the Scottish Highlands.

The exclusive collection of hotel barges accommodate up to 20 passengers who may charter a whole barge with family or friends, or join a small group of like-minded travellers on an individual cabin basis. Each barge is fully crewed with a Captain, chef, hostesses, deck-hand and tour guide. The 6-night cruises include gourmet meals, fine wines, open bar, excursions and the use of facilities such as bicycles and spa pools.

Find out more: http://www.europeanwaterways.com/

Tours: 2022 Royal Academy Of Arts Summer Exhibition

With nearly 1,500 artworks on display, there is a lot to see at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) Summer Exhibition 2022. If you want a taste of what’s on show then here is a quick tour. The theme chosen by the exhibition’s coordinator, Alison Wilding RA, is Climate. It begins outside, where a large-scale immersive installation by Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias brings nature and water to the courtyard. Inside, the artworks are spread over 11 rooms, including two galleries of prints selected by Grayson Perry RA.

Village Views: Geiranger In Western Norway (4K)

Geiranger is a village in western Norway, at the head of Geirangerfjord. The Norwegian Fjord Center has multimedia on the history of the region and its inhabitants.

Video timeline: 00:00 Opening 00:28 Best view of the geiranger Fjord 01:04 Waterfalls and Mountain all around the Village 02:48 The Seven Sisters Waterfall 04:51 Farm Villages 06:16 Aerial View of Geiranger

Part of the steep Trollstigen mountain road weaves through the village, connecting to Flydalsjuvet lookout, which has views over the fjord. The fjord’s waterfalls, including the Seven Sisters, the Suitor and the Bridal Veil, are visible by boat.

Walking Tour: Dubrovnik In Southern Croatia (4K)

Dubrovnik is a city in southern Croatia fronting the Adriatic Sea. It’s known for its distinctive Old Town, encircled with massive stone walls completed in the 16th century. Its well-preserved buildings range from baroque St. Blaise Church to Renaissance Sponza Palace and Gothic Rector’s Palace, now a history museum. Paved with limestone, the pedestrianized Stradun (or Placa) is lined with shops and restaurants.

Hiking Tour: Laugavegur Fimmvörðuháls, Iceland

Fimmvörðuháls is the area between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull in southern Iceland.

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 2:21 Landmannalaugar 7:59 Álftavatn 9:59 Hvanngil 12:52 Emstrur 15:28 Volcano Huts 16:06 Valahnúkur 17:39 Thórsmörk 22:06 Baldvinsskáli 24:11 Skógafoss 24:50 Guide

The route between Skógar and Thórsmörk goes through this pass and is one of the most popular walking routes in Iceland, despite being 22 kilometres long and involving 1,000 metres of climbing.

National Geographic: The Bermuda Triangle Myth

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely-defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. 

For centuries, scientists have struggled to explain why hundreds of ships disappear when they reach the Bermuda Triangle. This area in the Atlantic Ocean is home to approximately 300 vessels, with several of these ships capsizing under mysterious circumstances. Today, experts are diving into these crystal clear waters to visit some of the abandoned shipwrecks and determine why they never made it to dry land.

Ecosystems: Rewilding Property In Great Britain

The word rewilding can conjure up images of going back in time to a landscape of wild animals and deep forest. Its popularity is growing in the UK, but how exactly do you go about rewilding, and why is it being linked, in some cases, to greenwashing? The FT’s Leslie Hook visits two properties at different stages of the rewilding process to discover more.

Rewilding, or re-wilding, activities are conservation efforts aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes and wilderness areas. Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration with an emphasis on recreating an area’s “natural uncultivated state”. This may require active human intervention to achieve.

Italy Tours: The Castles Of Rimini In Emilia-Romagna

The province of Rimini (Italian: provincia di Rimini) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The provincial capital is the city Rimini. The province borders the independent state of the Republic of San Marino. As of 2015, the province has a population of 335,199 inhabitants over an area of 864.88 square kilometres (333.93 sq mi), giving it a population density of 387.57 inhabitants per square kilometre. The city Rimini has a population of 147,578 inhabitants, and the provincial president is Andrea Gnassi. There are 26 comuni (singular: comune) in the province, see comuni of the Province of Rimini.