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祝日 / Permanent Vacation
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Today's Document
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
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@traveltash
Treasure trove
Looking down on Siegburg from the abbey, the church tower of St Servatius stands out. The church is nestled in a pretty square with traditional shops around it. The colour scheme on the outside is continued on the inside. A simple contrast between white and brick with carved saints along the sides. What is less obvious to the casual observer is that the church of St Servatius is now home to…
St Michael
The Abbey of St Michael sits atop the hill in Siegburg. It was founded in 1060 and some of the buildings from the 1400s and 1650s still stand on the site. It was founded as a Benedictine Abbey, however, the Benedictine Order there dissolved in 2011. In 2013, a group of Discalced Carmelites from Kerala moved into the residential building. They celebrate masses in the abbey church, take…
New town hall
The town of Prostejov was first mentioned in 1141 and developed from a small village into a vibrant town under the national rule of many different governments. Now part of the Czech Republic, it retains roots with its history in fashion and garment making as well as engineering and metal works. From 1911 to 1914 a new town hall was built following the design by Karel Hugo Kepka. It replaced the…
Musical interlude
The two museums I visited in Vienna don’t really lend themselves to pictures and text. The Mozart Haus even forbids photography. It is in a three-story building of flats. Mozart and his family lived in one of these flats while he wrote Le Nozze de Figaro. The top flat provides insight into life in Vienna at the time Mozart lived there, the middle one focuses on the opera and the first floor flat…
Riding up and walking down
The northern part of Lake Garda is surrounded by hills. On the western side, the mountains rise up straight from the edge of the lake. On the eastern side, they rise up gentler. Although a gentler rise, it is still a steep walk. At Malcesine, there is a cable car that runs up Monte Baldo. Getting up the hill can take little effort. The views at the top of Monte Baldo are spectacular. It provides…
Turning water into wine
Bardolino is also home to a wine museum. It is hosted by one of the wineries and shows how water (and sunshine and the right plants: grapes) are turned into wine. The display starts with a whole wall covered in small panels, each displaying a different grape variety. Just like apples, the varieties are quite different. The Garganega variety in this picture was one of the wines I enjoyed drinking…
The not-Grotto
Leaving the town of Sirmione towards the tip of the peninsular is all uphill. There were signs to a grotto in this direction. The pictures don’t show it but it was a hot day. I did not really feel like walking uphill in the heat just to see a grotto. My travel companion felt differently, so up we headed. I am glad we did. What we found at the Grotto di Cattulo, was not a gotto at all. When…
Scaligero Castle
The old town of Sirmione is guarded by a 14th-century fortification, built by the Della Scalia family. It is known as Scaligero Castle, although it is smaller than imagined a castle to be. It is in the middle of the town. If arriving in Sirmione by boat on Lake Garda, a short walk through the old town will take you there. The central courtyard has four sides, but they are not all the same…
Olive Oil
This is not the origin story of Popeye’s girlfriend. Sorry if that is what you were expecting. It is also not a collection of recipes using this wonderful food. As the pictures give away, it is my experience of visiting an olive oil museum! This one is at the southern tip of the town of Bardolino on Lake Garda. The slopes along the eastern shore of Lake Garda happen to be the most northerly…
Temples atop a hill
The final part of the cultural village at the top of the highest point of Coloane is the Tin Hau Palace. This is the largest of the three elements (A-Ma statue, Bao Ding, Tin Hau Palace). Over 5,119 sqm there is a central line of four buildings: Mountain Entrance gate, Altar, Tianhou Temple and Guanyin Temple. On either side of the gate, there is a bell tower and a drum tower. Behind each of…
Cultural village
The statue of A-Ma is part of a broader complex built to commemorate the return of Macau to China referred to as the “Cultural Village”. Right next to the statue is the Bao Ding Plaza. The Bao Ding symbolises Macau’s return to China in 1999. Historically, dings were associated with power and dominion over land. It is therefore understandable that when Macau’s land ceased being governed by the…
At the top of Macau
Reaching the highest point of Macau was only one of the reasons we decided to hike up the Alto de Coloane. It is also the site of two recent additions to the Macau cultural scene. Both were initiated when the agreement was reached between Portugal and China for Macau to return to being a part of the People’s Republic. The first is a new statue to A-Ma, the goddess who gave Macau its name. It was…
Away from the casinos
Although much of Macau is centred around the casinos and gambling, that isn’t all there is there. The map below gives you a bit of a sense of the geography of the Special Administrative Region of China. Taipa and Coloane used to be separate islands. Cotai, which now connects them is land reclaimed from the sea. from https://www.orangesmile.com/travelguide/macau/high-resolution-maps.htm As you…
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Fisherman's Wharf
Another artificial feeling sight in Macau is Fisherman’s Wharf. It seems famous enough in itself that people were getting their pictures taken at its entrance. A mixture of outdoor but undercover shopping and food mall, Fisherman’s Wharf has small blocks of houses representing different Western cultures. Some European ones were represented: Italy and Spain with a pizzeria and tapas bar…
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Little Europe in Macau
The idea of the Venetian, a casino in Las Vegas with a canal and gondolas caught on in Macau. Creating a pond for gondolas on an island is much easier than in the desert. The Londoner is a similarly themed casino with a coat of arms over the doors, a number 15 bus, a royal coach, blue plaques, red telephone boxes, a mock-up of a London Underground train and several real and some fake UK shops…
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The other parts of Macau
The Special Administrative Region of Macau consists of Macau, Taipa, Coloane and most recently Cotai (I will explain!). The islands of Taipa and Coloane are close together, but a bit of a distance from Macau. This meant that much of the development in the 20th century was on Macau and not the other islands. The wealth that was generated, enabled investment in bridges. There are currently three…
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Continuing the gambling tradition
During the late 19th century gambling was against the law in prosperous Hong Kong. Macau became an attractive destination for gamblers. Boarding a ferry to cross the Zhujiang estuary for a bit of fun was easy enough. Gambling continued in Macau in the early to mid-20th century, albeit unlicensed and unregulated. In 1960, the Portuguese governor decided he would like gambling to be a bit more…
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