The capital of Greece is an icon of European tourism, but it is not a long time since they braved the traffic, crowds and uneatable food.

Connections

For visitors to Athens the agony used to start at airport, but the new Athens International Airport which was built in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2004, has transformed the experience of visiting Greece. It has excellent passenger connections to the city, modern trains get you to the citycentre in just 40 minutes, and it doesn’t matter that the new airport is in the hills 30 kilometres east of Athens, which is much farther than the old coastal airport.

Because the airport was designed for larger numbers of passengers than it generally sees, there is plenty of room. The competition for tarmac space at most other major airports experience does not exist. Landing fees are high, but most users feel they are worth it.

The traffic jams are as bad as ever and Athens taxi drivers are no more honest than before, but the new underground railway means that visitors don’t need to use them. Public transport is cheap (10 euros for a week’s ticket) as well as fast and astonishingly clean. Below the surface, it is easy to forget you are in Greece at all. Read the rest of this entry »

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Piazza San Marco of rectangular form like an immense salon rich with precious marbles, is considered the most beautiful in the world. It is enclosed to the north by the Torre dell’Orologlo (Clock Tower, 1496) with its famous statues of two Moors who sound the hours, and by the Procuratie Vecchie, ancient home of the Procurators of St. Mark; to the west by the Napoleonic wing; to the south by the Procuratie Nuove (1585-1640).

On the eastern side, which opens to the Lagoon, stands the Basilica Di San Marco (11th to 15th centuries), built in Romanesque-Byzantine style, with five cupolas of oriental aspect, to hold the body of St. Mark the Evangelist. On the terrace which divides the two stories of the facade stands the famous work of Greek origin, the copper-gilt Four Horses (4th to 3rd centuries, В. C.).

From the atrium, lined with marbles and columns and with its splendid vaulted mosaic ceiling illustrating stories from the Bible (13th a), one reaches the church’s three entrance portals, with the”well” of the central portal which allows for the sight of the vaulted mosaic ceiling depicting Paradise (11th c.).

The interior, in the form of a Greek cross with three naves per arm, divided by colonnades along which run the galleries (matronei), is resplendent with golden light reflected by the mosaics which cover the walls and vaulted ceilings. These mosaics, initially the work of Venetian and Byzantine artists, were in part redone following cartoons made by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. The earlier mosaics can be recognized by their stylized forms and the hieratic character of the figures such as Christ, Mary, the Prophets and Apostles, and in particular the Ascension in the central cupola. On the ciborium-covered altar (6th - 13th centuries) is the famous Pala d’Oro, an altarpiece which is a masterpiece of goldsmith’s art from the 10th century, studded with gold, gems and enamels. Read the rest of this entry »

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Introducing Finland

Finland (Suomi in Finnish), situated between the 60th and 70th degrees of latitude, is the easternmost of the Nordic countries. In area, it is the seventh biggest country in Europe, covering 338,000 square kilometres (130,500 square miles). Of this area, water accounts for 10%, forest for 69% and cultivated land for 8 %. Finland has 188,000 lakes, almost as many islands, and 5,100 rapids.

Finland has a population of 5.3 million. The mother tongue of 92% of the Finns is Finnish, a language belonging to the Finno-Ugric family, while Swedish is the first language of 6% of the population. A vast majority of the Finns (85.6%) subscribe to the Lutheran faith and 1.1 % belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Finland has been an independent republic since December 6, 1917. It has a unicameral Parliament with 200 members elected for a four-year term by direct and proportional vote. The President of the Republic is elected by direct vote for six years at a time. The Government is led by the Prime Minister. Finland has been a member of the European Union since 1995.

Thanks to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, Finland has a temperate climate. Summers are warm, light and exhilarating. Most important, the air is fresh, clean, pure and invigorating at all times of the year. Low humidity generally makes the winter temperatures feel much higher than they really are.

The midnight sun: In northern Finland the sun never sets for several weeks around Midsummer; in the far north, for over two months. Even further south, the summer nights are not dark, the days being separated by a few hours’ twilight only.
In southern and central Finland the snow usually comes to stay in early December and finally melts in mid or late April. In northern Finland it falls about five weeks earlier and lasts about three weeks longer, In some years, the south coast has almost no snow.

The northern lights (Aurora Borealis) are visible on the northern sky on clear, dark nights. Their frequency varies but is usually highest in February-March and September-October. Read the rest of this entry »

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At the downfall of Rome’s imperial power, when beautiful regions of South Europe were overrun by hosts of barbarians who wanted to compel its populations to accept their laws and their habits, the Huns, Gothes and particularly the Longobards caused a part of the inhabitants of the cities of Aquilea, Altino and Padua, which had been destroyed, to flee toward the lagoon as they did not intend, being faithful to the principle of Christ’s religion, to submit themselves to the church of Arius.

A hundred-odd islets in the middle of the vast lagoon, some of them knawed and halfsubmerged by the sea, other higher above the water and crowned by trees, where a handful of poor fishermen and salt-collectors already used to dwell, offered to the exiles a providential shelter against the fury of men and of the elements.

This is how from the mud of the marshes the first urban nucleus of the “Venetici” was created with the name of “Rius Altus”.

The magnificent isolation of those refugees, together with their strong determination to rebuild their homes, their courage and, in particular, their ingenuity of builder, caused the strangest city in the world to be gradually erected, the so-called “Civitas Venetiarum”, the Venice of the first dwellers, suspended amid the sea and the sky, on a myriad of deep-set piles… the first embryo of the famous “Serenissima” which was to astonish the world for many centuries with her heroic enterprises and to dazzle mankind with her fabulous riches. Read the rest of this entry »

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Watch out for bicycles if you are in Denmark and especially in Copenhagen. Everyone goes by bike; there are bikes and bike lines everywhere.

Bicycle bicycle bicycle I want to ride my bicycle Bicycle bicycle bicycle Bicycle race

Before the year of 1962 Copenhagen was a car town, but after the first pedestrian street was built the more and more public space has allocated to bicycles. Nowadays Copenhagen of great public spaces would not be possible without bicycle network.
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No one region of Central America can be compared with Costa-Rica. More then 50 years ago this country gave up the idea of army and bet against the mountain rivers rafting, eruptive volcanoes, wild beaches and full of life tropical forests. Since then the wealth of nature becomes a trump card of this state and its main income source.

Costa-Rica is not a big country. Ten days here will be enough for a full adventure with rafting and mountain bike, hiking and canoeing. There are good places for surfing, diving, deepwater fishing and snorkeling. You can go with a low budget or seek the more exclusive resorts. Read the rest of this entry »

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“The Queen of lake Mälaren”, “The Venice of the North”, “The City which Floats on the Water”… just a garland of names suits the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Sweden to enhance its reputation for enticing charm and inspiring beauty. Names that try to capture the essential beauty of Stockholm.

Its unbroken tradition, its position on the water, its surrounding heights witness the circumstance that, this splendid town was always in the centre of events and still leads the pulsating life of a metropolis. Read the rest of this entry »

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Monuments of Rome

Trevi Fountain – Pantheon Navona Square – St. Peter’s basilica in the Vatican City

Start from one of Rome’s highest points: Esquilino Hill. In fact, it seems that the lowest steps of St. Mary Major’s basilica are as high as St. Peter’s dome. Esquilino is also famous for housing some of the oldest churches in Christian history. Leaving the hill you will continue onto Republic Square with the famous Fountain of the Mermaids, or Fountain of Shame, as it is commonly called given the nudity of the statues.

Stop at the Trevi Fountain, where you can admire Nicola Salvi’s masterpiece. Next continue down the famous walkway through the narrow streets of the historic center until reaching Navona Square. This walkway was once used to navigate through the square with small boats. Read the rest of this entry »

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Here you can find destinations which Hotels.com is offering you for family fun, beach get aways, B&B’s, spa and relaxation, golfing or gambling. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thailand has an incredibly wide variety of exciting attractions to keep even the most demanding of holidaymakers happy. There are swimming pools, beaches, boat trips, go-karts, paintballing parks, water sports, bars, clubs and restaurants to name just a few. But there are also many other options for those tourists who are perhaps looking for entertainment with a bit more of a connection to nature.

Thailand’s wildlife and countryside have lots to offer the nature-loving tourist and there is no shortage of places to visit in order to get a taste of them. Some of these greener crowd-pullers are located close to the centre of town, but others take full advantage of the quite stunning landscapes to be found within easy reach of Thailand’s most popular holiday resorts. Read the rest of this entry »

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