Europe’s villages are some of the most magical places in the world! Enjoy this 4K travel guide across Europe’s most scenic villages. From lakeside wonders of Varenna, to the views of Wengen, there’s just something special about villages that you can experience in other places like cities.
Videos
Health: 5 Conditions That Can Damage Your Kidneys
Technology: NASA Targets Asteroid With Spacecraft
NASA introduced the space agency’s first planetary defense test mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART, a spacecraft they plan to launch later this month on a mission to crash into an asteroid.
Animal Photography: The Wonderment Of Birds
Animal photographer, Tim Flach’s latest project is a testament to the diversity of birds. “I’m celebrating this extraordinary wonderment out there”, he says. Shooting birds like a fashion photographer might photograph human subjects, Flach’s images are purposefully anthropomorphic. “There is a role for an anthropomorphic approach,” he says, “I want to grab people’s attention to think about the wonderment, beauty, character and maybe their stories”. Which, he hopes, will elicit in the viewer empathy for birds “We became who we are because of this rich biodervisity if you took that away we would be lesser”.
Lakeside Village Walks: Hallstatt, Austria (8K)
Hallstatt is a village on Lake Hallstatt’s western shore in Austria’s mountainous Salzkammergut region. Its 16th-century Alpine houses and alleyways are home to cafes and shops. A funicular railway connects to Salzwelten, an ancient salt mine with a subterranean salt lake, and to Skywalk Hallstatt viewing platform. A trail leads to the Echern Valley glacier garden with glacial potholes and Waldbachstrub Waterfall.
Walking Tours: Toledo In Central Spain (4K)
Toledo is an ancient city set on a hill above the plains of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain. The capital of the region, it’s known for the medieval Arab, Jewish and Christian monuments in its walled old city. It was also the former home of Mannerist painter El Greco. The Moorish Bisagra Gate and the Sol Gate, in Mudéjar style, open into the old quarter, where the Plaza de Zocodover is a lively meeting place.
Travel & Culture: The Secrets Of Tuscany, Italy
The first episode of Dream of Italy starts in the heart of Tuscany – Chianti – with a visit to Castello di Ama to learn how true Chianti Classico wine is produced and see the modern art that makes up the estate. The area is also famous for olive oil and we visit Pornanino to take part in the olive harvest. Nearby, host Kathy McCabe meets the very special cashmere goats that Nora Kravis raises at Chianti Cashmere Farm. Then it is off to Panzano for a wild boar hunt with the La Squadra Chiantigiana and a visit with philosophical butcher Dario Cecchini. At Busatti in Anghiari, we watch 100-year-old looms craft fine fabrics. The episode ends on the captivating coast of Tuscany in Maremma with a stunning ride with the butteri (cowboys).
Museum Exhibits: ‘Tokyo – Art & Photography’, The Ashmolean, Oxford, UK
Explore Japan’s capital city through the vibrant arts it has generated over 400 years as you enjoy a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of the Ashmolean’s 2021 Tokyo: Art & Photography exhibition with curators Lena Fritsch and Clare Pollard. The film also features a conversation with visual artist Enrico Isamu Oyama, who was commissioned to create a work for the exhibition. Tokyo is one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and thrilling cities. This major exhibition features a wide variety of artworks created in a metropolis that has constantly reinvented itself. Highlights include historic folding screens and iconic woodblock prints, video works, pop art, and contemporary photographs by Moriyama Daido and Ninagawa Mika. With new commissions by contemporary artists, loans from Japan and treasures from the Ashmolean’s own collections, the show provides a fascinating insight into the development of Tokyo into one of the world’s most important cultural hotspots. Tokyo: Art & Photography is open at the Ashmolean Museum until 3 January 2022 http://www.ashmolean.org/tokyo
Views: Cragside Mansion In Northumberland, UK
The first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity and full of Victorian gadgets and innovations, Cragside in Northumberland has always been at the forefront of modern living.
But now, climate change has started to catch up with this pioneering place. More frequent and intense rainfall is overwhelming the house’s drainage system and beginning to find its way inside of the Arts and Crafts mansion. Most affected is the drawing room with its immense, two-story high, ornately carved marble fireplace.
Rainwater is pushing salts that are in the stonework of the house through to the decorative marble and plasterwork of fireplace inside, causing its surface to deteriorate, meaning urgent work is needed to save this irreplaceable piece of architecture from crumbling away.
A two-stage project is currently underway to stabilise and future-proof the fireplace against climate-change, conserving it for future generations. As conservation work continues, Cragside is once again looking to the future – this time by looking to its past. Originally built by architect Lord Armstrong and his wife Lady Margaret, this pair of innovators created Britain’s original smart home when Cragside became the first house in the world to be illuminated by hydroelectricity, generated by its man-made lakes.
A project in 2014 gave the estate the ability to yield enough energy from water to light the whole house by installing an Archimedes Screw, which works at an angle and allows water to pass between the Tumbleton Lake and the burn below. This converts the power of the water flowing through it into electricity, a never-ending source that now illuminates the whole house and sends excess power back to the National Grid. Watch this video to discover more.
Walking Tour: Zurich In Northern Switzerland
The city of Zurich, a global center for banking and finance, lies at the north end of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland. The picturesque lanes of the central Altstadt (Old Town), on either side of the Limmat River, reflect its pre-medieval history. Waterfront promenades like the Limmatquai follow the river toward the 17th-century Rathaus (town hall).
Boomers Daily 