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Barcelona – Around Town – Montjuïc (part 1)

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Named the “Jewish Mountain”, after an important Jewish cemetery that existed here in the Middle Ages, this sizeable and mountainous park rises 213 m (700 ft) above the port. The park itself was first landscaped for the 1929 International Exhibition, when the elegant Palau Nacional and the strikingly modern Mies van der Rohe Pavilion were … Read more

Exit To Eden

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There’s town where faiths and tribes intermingle, where birth rates are below average, and culture and art flourish – but it also stands on top of lucrative mining profits. How long can it hold out? It is 5 A.M. the roosters have paused, waiting for the next sliver of light. It is so quiet, one … Read more

Before The Rains

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The safari – the Swahili word for “long journey” – was born in Kenya, the former British colony where barons and plutocrats, maharajas and royalty once paraded across the plains to play out an expensive, outlawed fantasy. One blistering summer in this land before time, Paolo R. Reyes was given a rara opportunity to experience … Read more

Best For Body & Soul (Part 2) – Pilates, Yoga

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Pilates Pilates En France Daily classes plus great food at LesTilleuls, a pretty country house in rural France. The Hay Barn Spa, UK Body-blitz and people-watch in a group class, US$18 each, Friday-Monday, at Daylesford Organic’s Kingham spa. The hay barn spa, UK Escape To Shape, Global This travelling spa offers retreats in locations such … Read more

Best For Body & Soul (Part 1) – Seaside Pilates, Paradise Pilates, Country Pilates, City Yoga, Rustic Yoga

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Transform your shape and free your mind at these pilates and yoga destinations Seaside Pilates ·         The Retreat Chiva-Som, Thailand, a luxe-meets holistic-detox resort. Chiva-Som, Thailand, a luxe-meets holistic-detox resort. ·         What’s Involved Everything, from the minibar to the pillows, is tailored to you. The meals are low-cal but delicious, or you can follow a … Read more

Boston – Around Town : North End & the Waterfront (part 1)

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The North End is Boston’s Italian village, where feast day blends into feast day all summer as the great-grandchildren of Southern Italian immigrants celebrate the music, food, and dolce vita of the old country. Every other storefront houses a restaurant, café, or bakery and the cheers of European football fans echo from the bars. These … Read more

New York – Around Town : Lower East Side and East Village (part 2) – Bargain Stores and Boutiques, Restaurants

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East Side Exploration Morning From the Delancey Street subway walk south to Grand Street and Kossar’s Bialys Bakery,367 Grand , famous for chewy, onion-flavored rolls, or the Doughnut Plant, 379 Grand, where the oversize cakes achieve gourmet status. Walk east for two historic houses of worship, the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue and the Bialystoker Synagogue. … Read more

New York – Around Town : Lower East Side and East Village (part 1)

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The lower east side is alive with memories, a neighborhood still seeming to echo the calls of immigrants crowded into tenements, peddlers hawking wares from pushcarts, and children playing in the streets, the only open spaces to be found. Early churches became synagogues for the Jews who came in record numbers between 1880 and 1920. … Read more

Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

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After a recent trip into the Congo, Mike McCartney could not help but writing to share the details Founded in 1925, the beautiful Virunga is Africa’s oldest national park. One of the most bio-diverse protected areas on the continent, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it is reputed to have more endemic species … Read more

The Poseidon Adventure

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“Greece – Let’s join the adventure and discover mysteries of ancient times” Samothrace Samothrace is a fairy island located in the northern Aegean Sea Samothrace is a fairy island located in the northern Aegean Sea, where the sea is contiguous to the sky. The name of this place may impress many, because it was where … Read more

Passage Of Time

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Most of the Korean history was under the dominance of empires. The isolation of Korea in 19th century brings it a name called “Hermit Kingdom”, and in those sad periods, Korea was still dependent on external forces. The Japanese Army invaded Korea in 1910 and behaved very badly towards this country. After that, after World … Read more

Rome – Around Town : Around the Pantheon (part 1)

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During the Roman Empire the Tiber Bend area was a public training ground for soldiers called the Campo Marzio. With Rome’s fall, the city turned its back on this riverside neighbourhood and, aside from a few foreign settlements, it wasn’t until the 15th century that anything other than a few churches was built here. The … Read more