Trevi Fountain

Rome belongs definetly to the most beautiful, cultural mulifarious citys in Europe and actually in the world as well.

If you walk through the streets you have repeatedly a change between very old houses, monuments or churches and the new, modern Rome with shopping streets, bars and office buildings. When I was there in fact 4 years ago I was really impressed of the well preserved monuments and churches, especially the Colosseum area was beside the Vatican the most interesting and overwhelming place in this city.

These impressions are the main reason why I try to present Rome in my article.

Rome facts

Population:
2,654,187 (men 47 %; women 53 %)

Country:
Italy

Region:
Latium

Languages:
standard Italian, Roman dialect

Annual growth: – 0,4

Inflation:
2,3 %

Major industries:
trade, tourism, manufactory, construction activity

History

Rome (Roma), is located on the river Tiber, between the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was once the capital of the world and the powerhouse of the mighty Roman Empire, governing a vast region that stretched from Britain to Mesopotamia. It was originally built on the famous “seven hills” that still form part of the city.

The legend said that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus, who—along with his twin brother Remus—was a son of Mars. After the young boys had been abandoned on the Palatine Hill, they were suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus, thereafter, founded Rome atop the Palatine Hill, naming it after himself. Today, the she-wolf is the symbol of Rome.

Sightseeing

Colosseum

Colosseum backside

The Colosseum is one of Rome’s most distinctive landmarks. For me it was so impressive to visit such an important historical monument, which represents the enourmous power of Rome in the history.  I remember that it was like a flashback into the past with enough imaginativeness. It was just overwhelming and for me its the most impressive historical building I have ever seen.

The building was built to show fight-to-the-death combats between gladiators and between gladiators and wild animals. Construction of this famous amphitheatre began in 72 AD.Visitors can tour this wonderfully preserved 2000 year old structure and learn about life in the Roman Empire.

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum (Foro Romano) lies in a small valley just below Capitoline Hill in Rome Italy.  The Forum was the heart of the Roman Empire and the centre for commerce, politics and social life.  Visitors to the Forum Romanum will see many ancient buildings and ruins that date back two thousand years.

Today, the visible part of the forum is the result of a restauration dating back from 1930 and it represent the half of the entire original area.

It was relly exciting to move through these ruins, it appeared to be back in the ancient time. I remember that the time we spent there was definetly too short.

The Pantheon

Pantheon

The Pantheon it is one of best preserved buildings in the city. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church.

It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. As the brick stamps on the side of the building reveal it was built and dedicated between A.D 118 and 125.

There are two great bronze doors they enters to one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome.

The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico.

The Vatican

Vatican is the is the smallest state in the world and is based in the heart of Rome.Vatican city (Citta del Vaticano), is the residence of the pope and was built over the tomb of Saint Peter. The Vatican’s position as a sovereign state within a state was quaranteed by the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

The huge St Peter’s basilica is the central point of the Vatican and it is really overwhelming and was the most exciting place in Rome.

Inside the Vatican city you can find 11 Vatican Museums with the restored Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and Vatican Gardens, an enchanted place, a system of large and small gardens, fountain, fish pool. They date back to medieval times when vineyards and orchards extended to the north of the Apostolic Palace.

Vatican radio station broadcasts all over the world in 29 languages, it has it’s television station, the dialy newspaper, post office with Vatican stamps, shops, offices and publishing house. All signposted, in highly-sophisticated system of organisation.
More than a thousand residents are responsible for the smooth, day-to-day running of this nerve centre of official Christianity, with of course the Pope at its head, and guarded because of an old tradition by the Swiss guard.

If you want to visit the ancient Rome you could go to Google Earth and take a look at Rome in 3D this is really interesting, especially because you can get informations about the different buildings and about the use of them.

Other activities

I think this were enough cultural informations, but you have thousands of wonderfull sights in Rome and its a must to visit this city for more than 1 or two days. I think you can spent a week there and there are still great places you haven’t seen. Moreover you will find a lot of other activities there you can enjoy. For example, you have wonderful lovely retaurants with exquisite meals, a comprehensive night life with bars and clubs or interesting famous museums.

Sources:

http://www.rome.info/vatican/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Rome

http://www.aboutroma.com/monuments-rome.html

http://romeitaly.ca/vatican/fiumetevere.html

http://www.citrag.it/roma/doc/monum/emn_0011.htm

Source: wikimedia.org

What is the Rio Carnival?

It is a multicoloured parade of the Samba Schools. Official is it a removal of two days, but in general takes the festival longer. People from all over the world are dancing around the parade floats. The motto of the carnival is “Everyone is free”. In the carnival of 2006 were 680.000 tourists from the inland and abroad in Rio de Janeiro. Hundreds of thousands tourists celebrated also Carnival of the Street.

There are 14 Samba Schools. All of them act out with 3.000 to 5.000 members (singers and dancers) to make a parade of 82 minutes. On both days act out in each case 7 Samba Schools. On Ash Wednesday is the counting of the scores. The counting is shown in all TV-channels in Brazil. The celebration of the winners is celebrated with fireworks like the win of the world cup.

In the following I show you a great video about the Rio Carnival.

Where is the Rio Carnival?

The carnival takes place in the city Rio de Janeiro. The city is known as the cultural capital of Brazil. The carnival is one of the star turns of the city.

When is the Rio Carnival?

The carnival begins official on the Friday before the Ash Wednesday. On the two days begins the parades on 9 p.m. and takes 10 hours. The last parade of each day ends in the morning of the following day.

To get more information click here on the Rio de Janeiro website.

Sources: riodejaneiro, rio-online, wikipedia

What is the encierro?

It is a bull run where six bulls are driven into the bullring. The run proceeds 825 meter through Pamplona. The big bulls are followed by some bullocks. The instant buzz for the participants is to run a short stretch of way near by a bull. But due to the high speed of the bulls the participants can only run few meters. The runners wear traditionally white shirts, strait trousers, a red neckerchief and a red sash. Every year the number of the participants increases because more and more people are on the routes. Also the risk of injury. Since 1900 approximately a dozen of people who joined the test of courage were dying. After driving the 6 full-grown bulls home the bullfights are beginning, which are closed with the death of the bulls in the afternoon. With this part ends the encierro.

Source: wikimedia.org

When is the encierro?

The Sanfermines were celebrated every year in Pamplona since 1591. It is from the 6th till the 14th of July. Also the Running of the Bulls takes place every day between the 6th and 14th of July at 8 a clock. The run takes, in a procedure without complications, circa 3 minutes.

Which other attractions are on the festival?

The chupinazo is the official beginning of the San Fermín festival. On 6th of July collect thousands and thousands of people for the town hall. They wait for the signal of the small skyrocket, which opened the festival at 12 o clock. After the signal the whole city is a sea of two colours, white and red. Everyone loves this special atmosphere. Music happiness and friendship are the word which can describe this atmosphere.

On the 7th July at 10 o clock starts the procession, where a big figure of the patron saint San Fermín is carried. In the short breaks the members are singing in honour of the patron. The procession takes 1 ½ hours and ends for the chapel of San Fermín. In the following is mass in the chapel. Fore some citizens is the religiously aspect the most important of the San Fermín festival.

When you want to get more information about the festival, then click here. This is the website of the San Fermín festival.

Sources: turismonavarra, wikipedia

In the following article I will show you some of my self taken pictures. If you want to know more about Australia, visit LONELY PLANET´s website.

These were some of the highlights we saw in Australia. But the country has got so much more to offer, it is unbelievable. To experience that you should go and check it out yourself… !!!

Rhodes is an island who belongs to Greece and its one of the most interesting and popular vacations in the region of south europe.
More precisely Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands and one of the largest in the Aegean sea. It is situated approximately 17,7 km from the coasts of Turkey.

Map shows region of Greece with Rhodes in the south- east

One of the reason, why I choose this  destination was that I have made my own experiences in Rhodes, because I spent my holidays there for two times, each time I had two nice weeks there.  So I can recommend this island, because I have enjoyed the weather, the food (especially the fish) and the interersting sights, but for those who have problems with hot weather, maybe it isn’t the right place.

Sunny Island

Following to my advice, you could imagine, that the island really deserve the title: “the sun island”, because you have subtropical climate and over 3.000 hours of sun per year, so a good tan and very nice weather is guaranteed if you spent your holiday there.

Environment

The island’s surface area covers 1,398 square kilometers. Most of it is hills, rocky cliffs and low mountains, majority of which are covered with forests. Its natural resources are an attraction to tourists, making Rhodes not only one of the largest islands in Greek but also one of the most beautiful.

Rhodes is also known as the Island of Roses because the rock-rose in the island is so fertile. Aside from roses, it is also the home of lovely beaches and flourishing, green forests. In the last years the strong shining sun and the annual short rain times are problems for some parts on the island, because of the drought.

Main Sights

Rhodes Town

The well preserved medieval city of Rhodes itself is worth to see, there you find Castles galore come courtesy of the Crusaders and the island’s hilly interior is carpeted with pine forests.

The beautiful city of Rhodes is the capital of the island of Rhodes and the capital of the Dodecanese groupi it is divided into two parts: the Old City, or medieval, and the New City.

The Old City is surrounded by strong walls and is one of the biggest and best preserved medieval settlements of Europe. This fortified medieval city is full of buildings testifying about the past and the history of the island, from the antiquity, the Byzantine times, the middle Ages to the Turkish rule.

The New City of Rhodes was constructed after the siege of Suleiman the Magnificent (1522).

Most of the buildings in this part of the city date from the Italian rule, which have an neo-Gothic and Venetian architectural style. This has created a particular and charming character to the city, particularly in the area of the port of Rhodes.

The nice structure, many parks and squares and wide streets complete the beautiful aspect of the New City of Rhodes where you can also find lots of wonderful restaurants, taverns or other typical city activities, like shopping.

Especially the building of the New Market which is standing on the port of Rhodes is really impressiv and reflects the style of new Rhodes very.

Moreover you will find a casino, a National Theatre and a traditional Dance Theatre  who are participating to the atmosphere of Rhodes and to its fame as a city full of entertainment and life. The visit there was really interesting and I have enjoyed the special atmosphere there.

LINDOS

Lindos is a very interesting cultural place in rhodes, it is located 46 km from Rhodes town.

The village of Lindos has preserved its architectural uniqueness as well as its traditional style with wonderfull little houses.

These white, boxy houses with flat roofs and lovely entrances are leading into courtyards filled with flowers. The small streets are situated around a little port and lead up to the acropolis. The climb is very exhausted by foot, because of the sticky weather, but its also very nice to walk through the pictorially streets. Another possiblity is to ride to the acropolis on a donkey for little money.

Picture from my trip to Lindos

The acropolis of Lindos is built on a  rock who has 116 metres, it is a real balcony with a view over the sea. The monuments there are evidence of the power and wealth of Lindos over the ages.

Lindos has a wonderfull beach with fine sand as well, there you can repose after the walking tour and enjoy the aegean sea.

Kallithea-Faliraki
In the areas of Kalythies and Falirakiyou can find the modern life in Rhodes beside the traditional. Moreover its the most beautiful and largest coastal resorts on the island with and comprehensive offer for tourists and an active nightlife. The area is famed for its hotels in all classes ranging from large five stars hotel areas to small, family-run concerns.

The impressive range of nightlife in the area is well known and very popular since it fulfil all the needs of visitors.

At the end…

I think this are quite enough informations and I hope I could give you an good overview and an impression of the island, but there is much more to see and I want to recommend to visit the link under Short-range.

Source:

http://www.greekisland.co.uk/rhodes/rhodes.htm#vtop

http://www.travel-rhodes.com/

http://www.rhodes.com/

http://www.rhodestravels.com/kalithea.html

The 2009 Carnival's first group and float

Berlin is, besides being Germany’s capitol, the country’s city with the most heterogenous population. That, among a few other facts accounts for the very special atmosphere this city is known about. But as much as I love living in this colorful town, I would have to lie if I said that the diversity of Berlin’s inhabitants was not, sometimes, the source of conflict and misunderstanding. In order to give every cultural and ethical group in Berlin to present themselves, to bring forward social integration and to celerate diversity together peacefully, the Carnival of Cultures was brought into being by the “Werkstatt der Kulturen” in 1996.

Two angels' figures

Let’s give you a brief history of the Carnival: The first parade was held in May 1996 with about 2200 performers and 50 decorated floats. 50.000 people came and witnessed this first parade, which turned out as a great success. In 1997 the parade was embedded in a street festival that lasted for 3 days and was held during the whitsun holiday weekend. That year, parade and streetfestival attracted a total of 340.000 visitors, more performers and floats participated. Since 1997, the Carnival was combined with a street festival and celebrated over the whitsun weekend every year. Also, since the beginning the numbers of visitors both at the parade and the street festival have increased quite steadily and in 2000 the mark of one million visitors was reached. You can access all the “historical” information on the Carnival here.

Guitarist playing on a float

The Grim Reaper

So if you ever have the chance to be in Berlin during the whitsun weekend, usually end of May / beginning uf June, you should not miss this wonderful event.The Festival goes from Friday to Monday, the parade is held on Sunday. Also, if you are engaged in a cultural club or organization Berlin, maybe you want to participate in the next Carnival and present your culture to hundreds of thousands of people. Or maybe you are an artist and would like to perform on one of the street festival’s stages? The time for applying for the 2010 Carnival has not come yet, but once it has, you can apply on the Carnival’s web site.

Pictures: You can find much more and probably much better pictures than these here at the Carnival’s galery. Just follow this link!

Singer greeting the visitors from a float

Sources:

All information was taken from www.karneval-berlin.de.

The Pictures were taken at the Parade of 2009 on May 30th.

• Short distance are not worth flying ( e.g. Berlin- Hamburg)
• Planes need lots of kerosene and pollute the environment
• You support this indirectly buy buying a flight ticket

Alternatives are TRAINS, BUSES, and CAR LIFTS

(DB.de)

Die Bahn has good offers for “over the weekend” travelling because you get the return ticket for free. If you don´t get discounts (early booking for example.)  it may be expensive to travel via train. Sometimes the company sells special offers such as the so called ALDI Tickets, e.g. 7 journeys for 150 Euros.

A big advantage of the train is, that it is very comfortable and provides electricity which means you can work at your computer, personal gaming console, etc. For common journeys like Berlin-Dresden, it is much faster than a car or a train.

Travelling by bus is a very cheap method of traveling especially common among students. (Berlin- Dresden from 9 Euros) It will take you longer to get to your destination but it will very likely cost you less than by train. A disadvantage of the bus is, that the seats can be uncomfortable. Even if you book a night bus, you wont get much sleep.  There are a few other bus companies: Busreisen24 Eurolines

This is most probably the cheapest way of traveling. Again because of this students take a big advantage of these lifts in order to go home over the weekends. It is easy to arrange lifts as you just look it up on the Internet and then call the person you want to get a lift with. A big disadvantage though is safety. You never know whom might get a lift with. Any person can offer lifts and they might be very bad driver or just not a nice person in general. Another organisation is MFZ .