Finnish, English, Swedish, French, German, Russian, some Dutch and Spanish
Travel Style:
Budget, In the middle, Mix & Match
Preferred transportation:
Walking
Interests:
Anything New!, Art, Countryside, Food And Wine, History Appreciation, Meeting People And Making New Friends, Nature, Villages, Vineyards
Relationship Status:
Single
Travel Status:
Saving up to travel
Occupation:
Journalist/Writer/Photographer
Company:
Freelancer
I travel because:
I'm curious... always interested in learning new things...
Antti R.
I've been traveling more or less all my life... first, several decades ago as a little kid driving all around Europe with parents. Besides Finland I've been living, working and studying for a while in Sweden, in the USA, in Cyprus... in restless and mucky Moscow too. As as a rootless rover by nature, I'm now planning to buy an RV and spend a few months in Germany and South of France, in the Basque Country and Portugal.
Hvitträsk was built between 1901–1903 by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. The main building, designed in National Romantic style, built of logs and natural stone, was both a common studio and a home for Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren for some years after it was completed. During that time, Gesellius lived in the courtyard building and later moved into the north-wing of the main building after Lindgren relocated in Helsinki.
During the early decades, the main building served as both an architectural office and as a cultural home. It was visited by such esteemed figures as Jean Sibelius, Axeli Gallen-Kallela and Maksim Gorki. The office's staff also lived at Hvitträsk, and this is where the plans were drawn up for the Helsinki Railway Station, the National Museum of Finland and the monumental Munkkiniemi-Haaga project, among other grand works. Hvitträsk is also the boyhood home for world famous architect Eero Saarinen, who made his reputation primarily in the United States designing buildings and monuments such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Saarinen home is a museum today, and within the courtyard building are a restaurant and a café. Hvitträsk and its lovely English style garden are surrounded by beautiful nature near the shore of Lake Vitträsk.
The Hall of Fame also inducts notable players, coaches, referees and other personalities, naming them Suomen Jääkiekkoleijona (hockey lions of Finland).The first inductees were honored in 1985 and are recorded with an inductee number. Currently there are 172 inductees in the hall of fame.
The cathedral is famous for its frescoes, painted by renowned symbolistHugo Simberg between 1905 and 1906. The paintings aroused considerable critique in their time, featuring versions of Simberg's The Wounded Angel and The Garden of Death. Of particular controversy was Simberg's painting of a winged serpent on a red background in the highest point of the ceiling, which his contemporaries interpreted as a symbol of sin and corruption.
Tammerkoski is a channel of rapids in Tampere, Finland. The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. The difference in altitude between these two is 18 metres and the water flows from Näsijärvi to Pyhäjärvi through the Tammerkoski rapids. The banks of the Tammerkoski are among the oldest industrial areas in Finland. There was a busy marketplace in the 17th century and Tampere was originally founded on the banks of the rapids, as the rushing water provided a great deal of power for the needs of industry.
The Tammerkoski has been mentioned in official documents since 1405. In the 15th century, the first dams were built on the channel. The first argument over milling plant rights happened in 1466, when Takahuhti, Messukylä and Tammerkoski argued over their shares. About a hundred years later the government noticed the possibilities in the area and tried to replace the peasant-controlled dams with their own. The attempt was unsuccessful due to opposition from the inhabitants.
In the 17th century, a popular and well-known marketplace was established in the Tammerkoski area. The permanent marketplace remained near the Tammerkosken kartano (Tammerkoski manor), west of the bridge over the channel. At the beginning of the 18th century, the main marketplace was moved to Harju.
In 1775, King Gustav III of Sweden travelled to Finland and signed the charter of foundation for Kauppala, a city later renamed to Tampere. A wooden bridge over the Tammerkoski was constructed in 1807. This was later replaced by an iron bridge in 1884 and an iron-concrete bridge named Hämeensilta in 1929. For motor vehicle use, many other bridges have since been built. These include Ratinan silta, Satakunnansilta and Paasikivensilta. For light traffic use, there are Ratinan suvannon silta and Patosilta. There is also a two-track railroad bridge.
By the beginning of the 1990s, most industry had disappeared from the banks of the Tammerkoski. The Tako paperboard mill is the only major industrial installation still operational in the area, producing mainly high-quality packaging products for luxury items such as French perfume. The buildings of the old factories have been turned into restaurants and museums among other uses. The waters of the Tammerkoski are rather unpolluted, belonging to the quality class II in the classification of the Finnish environmental authority and the channel is popular with fishermen.
The old church at Petäjävesi is an impressive example of northern wooden architecture. It is representative of Scandinavian, Lutheran church architecture and the long tradition of log building. The church exemplifies how local master builders skilfully adapted the styles of European ecclesiastical architecture to the vernacular technique of log jointing. Petäjävesi church was inscribed in 1994.
The church, located on a lake shore in Central Finland, was built in 1763-65 by master builder Jaakko Klementinpoika Leppänen. Some 60 years later his grandson Erkki Jaakonpoika Leppänen built the bell-tower. Since the new parish church was built in 1879 the old one has not been used for regular services. It was decided, however, not to dismantle the church. The bells were left in the old belfry and the graveyard is still in use.
Continuous repairs have been carried out since the 1920s. The church is occasionally used in summer.
The Verla groundwood and board mill at Jaala, Finland, is a unique, small-scale industrial complex from the early years of the Finnish wood processing industry. Within its rural setting, the area includes mills, power plants and workers' housing. Verla was inscribed as an UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1996.
The Verla groundwood mill was founded in 1872 by the engineer Hugo Neuman. After only four years, the wooden mill burnt down. Operations soon began again when a new company was established in 1882. The new groundwood and board mill was also from wood, but after the drying loft was destroyed by fire in 1892, it was replaced by the present four-storey, ornamental red-brick building. This was designed by the architect Carl Eduard Dippell. The ever-present danger of fire led to brick walls being erected around the wooden mill building in 1895.
In 1922 the mill was taken over by the Kymmene Company and only closed down in 1964. The buildings, together with their machines and fixtures, were left intact. In 1972, a century after its foundation, it was opened as a museum.
The area of Old Rauma is about 0.3 km², with approximately six hundred buildings (counting both proper houses and smaller buildings like sheds) and about 800 people living in the area. The town of Rauma expanded outside the Old Rauma proper only in the early 1800s. The oldest buildings date from the 18th century, as two fires of 1640 and 1682 destroyed the town. Most buildings are currently inhabited and owned by private individuals, although along the two main streets and around the town square they are mainly in business use.
Locations of special interest include the Kirsti house, which is a seaman's house from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Marela house, which is a shipowner's house dating to the 18th century but with a 19th century facade, both of which are currently museums. Other sights include the rare stone buildings of the Old Rauma: the Church of the Holy Cross, an old Franciscanmonastery church from the 15th century with medieval paintings and the old town hall from 1776. Another church in Rauma, the Church of the Holy Trinity, also from the 15th century, burned in the fire of 1640.
The Permanent Exhibition of the National Museum is divided into six parts. The Treasure Troves presents the collections of coins, medals, orders and decorations, silver, jewellery and weapons. Prehistory of Finland is the largest permanent archeological exhibition in Finland. The Realm presents of the development of Finnish society and culture from the Middle Ages 12th century to the early 20th century, through the Swedish Kingdom Period to the Russian Empire Era. The "Land and It's People" presents Finnish Folk Culture in 18th-19th centuries, life in the countryside before the industrialisation. The 20th century exhibition presents independent Finland and its united and international culture.
VINTTI (Attic), Easy History - National Museum’s newest department, is an interactive exhibition, where visitors can study the history of Finland and its culture using their hands and heads. It is based on experimentation and personal experience, and the tasks and assignments also point the way to exploring the permanent exhibitions of the museum.
The museum's entrance hall ceiling has ceiling frescoes about the Kalevala, painted by Akseli Gallén-Kallela, which can be seen without an entrance fee. The frescoes, painted in 1928, are based on the frescoes painted by Gallén-Kallela in the Finnish Pavilion of the Paris World Fair in 1900.
EMMA is an art museum maintained by the Espoo Art Museum Foundation. The foundation was set up by the city of Espoo in September 2002 when the city’s visual art operations and personnel were transferred to the foundation. EMMA is a centre providing experiences and knowledge. The new premises in the WeeGee building will be the setting for quality international exhibitions. The 5000 square metres exhibition area is the largest of any museum in Finland. Emma will display its own collections as well as changing exhibitions of contemporary and 20th century art from Finland and abroad. Two art collections, the City of Espoo collection and the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection, form the cornerstone of EMMA‘s operations,. A major part of the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection (more than 1 900 works) will be on permanent exhibition. The collection’s historical section comprises Finnish classical modernism from the beginning of the 20th century while part of its contemporary art section includes international art. The collection is one of the most important private collections in Finland. The City of Espoo collection (c. 2 500 works) includes works on display in Espoo municipal offices, buildings and outdoor areas. Part of the collection will be hung in the museum. The collection was begun in the 1950s and concentrates almost entirely on Finnish contemporary art.
As a lively cultural centre and meeting place, Kiasma is the place for pleasure and experience. The main aim of the pioneering museum is to provide all an easy and unforgettable access to the vibrant world of contemporary art. Successful in its mission, Kiasma is the most popular museum in Finland with its 200 000 annual visitors!
The name derives from 'chiasm' alluding to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl as an intersection, particularly the crossing of optic nerves. The name truly is an omen in this case: the central location of the exceptional building, extensive network of a wide variety of partners, the status as the Finnish National Gallery of contemporary art - in Kiasma the people, ideas and ideologies meet and mingle. No wonder that the Kiasma's chosen policy, together with the unique architecture, have created international interest.
Finnish National Gallery is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum art museum, the museum of contemporary art, Kiasma, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum and the Central Art Archives. The organization's functions are supported by the conservation department, the administration and services department and Kehys, the art museum development department.
The mission of the Finnish National Gallery is to further the cultural heritage of Finnish visual arts, to enforce the significance of visual culture in contemporary times, and to develop the art museum industry. They also maintain and develop Finland's largest collection of art and the knowledge and research archives of their field.
The Senate Square (in FinnishSenaatintori, in SwedishSenatstorget) presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki.
The Palace of the Council of State was completed on the eastern side of the Senate Square in 1822. It served as the Senate of Finland and now houses the offices of the Prime minister of Finland and the cabinet. until 1907 when the Eduskunta building was completed. The main University building, on the opposite side of the Senate Square, was constructed in 1832. The Helsinki Cathedral on the northern edge of the Senate Square, was Engel's lengthiest architectural project. He was working on it from 1818 until his death in 1840. The Helsinki Cathedral - then called the Church of Nicholas - dominates the Senate Square, and was finalized twelve years afters Engel's death, in 1852.
Today, the Senate Square is one of the main tourist attractions of Helsinki. Various art happenings, ranging from concerts to snow buildings to controversial snow board happenings, have been set up on the Senate Square.
A distinct landmark in the scenery of central Helsinki, with a tall green dome surrounded by four smaller domes, the church was built in 1830-1852, representing the neoclassical style. It was originally designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, the building forming the climax of the whole Senate Square designed by Engel, surrounded by a number of buildings all designed by him. The building has a Greek-cross plan (i.e. a square central mass and four arms of equal length), and is symmetrical in each of the four cardinal directions, each marked by a colonnade and pediment. Engel had intended to place a further row of columns on the west end to mark the main entrance (opposite the altar at the east end), but this was never realised. The building was later altered by his successor Ernst Lohrmann, whose four small domes make the architectural connection to the cathedral's model, Saint Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, even clearer. Lohrmann also erected two separately standing bell towers and zinc statues of the Twelve Apostles at apexes and corners of the roofline.
Today the cathedral is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki. Annually more than 350,000 people visit the church, some of them to attend religious events, but most are tourists.
Kvarken (alternative spelling Quarken, SwedishKvarken, FinnishMerenkurkku, or North Kvarken as opposed to South Kvarken) is the narrow region in the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from Swedish mainland to Finnish mainland is around 80 km while the distance between the outmost islands is only 25 km. The water depth in the Kvarken region is only around 25 meters. The region also has an unusual rate of land rising at about 1 cm a year. On the Finnish side of Kvarken, there is a large archipelago. Most of the small islands are inhabited. The archipelago is smaller on the Swedish side of the region, and the islands have much steeper shores. The Kvarken region was historically important also, because mail was delivered across Kvarken when the sea was completely frozen from the Swedish to the Finnish coast. This mail route was used frequently during the period of Swedish rule. In the group of islands in the "middle" of the Kvarken region, in Swedish called Valsörarna -- Finnish Valassaaret, is a 36 meter high lighthouse designed by Henry LePaute who worked for Gustave Eiffel's engineering bureau. The structural similarity between the lighthouse (built in 1885) and the Eiffel tower (built in 1889) is quite obvious. The lighthouse is now automated as are most lighthouses in Finland.
In 2006, the Kvarken Archipelago was added as an extension to the World Heritage Site of the High Coast (located on the western shore of the Gulf of Bothnia) in Sweden, because it is "continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence of the advancing shoreline, islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. This property is essentially a "type area" for research on isostasy; the phenomenon having been first recognized and studied here." Most of the World Heritage Site is situated in the Korsholm municipality.
The High Coast (Swedish: Höga kusten) is a part of the Swedish coast across Finland on the Gulf of Bothnia, situated in the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik and notable as the "type area" for research on isostasy, in which the land rises as the weight of the glaciers melts off of it. This phenomenon was first recognised and studied there; since the last ice age the land has risen 800 m, which accounts for the unusual landscape with tall cliff formations. UNESCO, while inscribing the area on the World Heritage List in 2000, remarked that "the High Coast site affords outstanding opportunities for the understanding of the important processes that formed the glaciated and land uplift areas of the Earth's surface".
Suomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori, (Finnish), or Sveaborg (Swedish), is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands, today within Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is a UNESCOWorld Heritage site and popular with both tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg (Fortress of Svea), or Viapori as called by Finns, it was renamed Suomenlinna (Castle of Finland) in 1918 for patriotic and nationalist reasons, though it is still also known by its original name. It is an example of the Star Fort style of fortification. Sweden started building the fortress in 1748 as a protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the fortification work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the precepts of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time. In addition to the island fortress itself, seafacing fortifications on the mainland would ensure that an enemy would not acquire a beach-head from which to stage attacks. The plan was also to stock munitions for the whole Finnish contingent of the Swedish Army and Royal Swedish Navy there. In the Finnish War the fortress surrendered to Russia on May 3 1808, paving the way for the occupation of Finland by Russian forces in 1809.
Suomenlinna is now one of the greatest tourist attractions in Helsinki as well as a popular picnicking spot for the city's inhabitants, and on a sunny summer day the islands, and in particular the ferries, can get quite crowded. A number of museums exist on the island, as well as the last surviving Finnish submarine Vesikko. Suomenlinna has always been much more than just a part of Helsinki — it is a town within the town. Nowadays there are about 900 permanent inhabitants on the islands, and 350 people work there all year round. The Naval Academy of Finland is located on one of the islands. This is one of the features that make Suomenlinna unique: the fortress is not merely a museum. There is a minimum-security penal labor colony (Finnish: työsiirtola) in Suomenlinna, whose inmates work on the maintenance and reconstruction of the fortifications. Only volunteer inmates who pledge non-use of controlled substances are accepted to the labour colony. For the general public Suomenlinna is served by ferries all year around, but a service tunnel supplying heating, water and electricity was built in 1982. From the beginning of 1990s it was modified so that it can also be used for emergency transports.
Suomenlinna has been known as an avant-garde of culture, the influence of which has affected the cultural life throughout Finland. Many buildings have been converted into artists' studios, which are let by the administration at reasonable rates, and there is an art school for children. The performances of the Suomenlinna summer theatre regularly draw full houses. But the easiest way to get acquainted with local culture is through the architecture of Suomenlinna. On the islands, styles from different periods form a harmonious whole. But as a monument to military architecture, the fortress is unique in the world.
Bomarsund is a nineteenth century fortress in Sund on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea. It was built in 1832 by Russia but destroyed twenty two years later in 1854 in the Crimean War by a British-French fleet. The Battle of Bomarsund was fought between the Russian defenses at Bomarsund and an Anglo-French task force. After a week of fighting the British stormed the "remaining" fort and at the end of the battle the fort of Bomarsund was destroyed. Three hundred Finnish grenadiers defending the fortress were captured and taken to a prison in Lewes, United Kingdom. They were later allowed to return to Finland, and they returned with a song telling about their battle and imprisonment, called the War of Åland (Finnish: Oolannin sota). In the Treaty of Paris 1856, the entire Åland Islands were demilitarized, which is a status that has been preserved until this day.
Kastelholm Castle (Kastelholms slott in Swedish) is a medieval castle in Sund, Åland, Finland. The castle was built on a small island that was surrounded by water and moats filled with several lines of poles. It was significant in the history of Åland and serves today as a tourist attraction.
Kastelholm Castle was first mentioned in 1388 in the contract of Queen Margaret I of Denmark, where a large portion of the inheritance of Bo Jonsson Grip was given to her. The heyday of the castle was in the 15th and 16th centuries. King John III kept his deposed brother Eric XIV in captivity in the castle in the Fall of 1571. The castle was damaged severely when the forces of king Charles IX conquered it in the 1599 civil war. The castle was repaired by 1631, but it burned down in 1745 and was abandoned to ruin in 1770s.
Today, much of the Kastelhom Castle is reconstructed, and it is a major tourist attraction easily accessible by car or bus from Mariehamn.
Häme Castle (Hämeen linna in Finnish, Tavastehus slott in Swedish) is a medieval castle in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The castle is located on the coast of lake Vanajavesi in the city center. The castle was originally located on an island. The castle's age is disputed. Traditionally the construction of the castle has been connected to the legendary Second Swedish Crusade which would date the castle in the mid-13th century. However, there are no finds from the castle that can be firmly dated to a period earlier than 1320s. Also the contents of the crusade legend have been seriously contested. An earlier fortification from about 1300 only some 20 kilometers away in Hakoinen also makes a 14th century dating for Häme Castle more probable. Only one castle ("Tauestahus") is listed in Tavastia in a royal document from 1308.Also, the Russian NovgorodChronicle only mentions one castle during their plundering of Tavastia in 1311, its description matching well with the castle in Hakoinen:
The men of Novgorod went in war over sea to the country of the Germans (Swedes), against the Finnish (Yem) people -- And the Germans fell back into the citadel. For the place was very strong and firm, on a high rock, not having access from any side. And they sent with greeting, asking for peace, but the men of Novgorod did not grant peace, and they stood three days and three nights wasting the district.
The construction of Häme castle probably started after the Novgorod invasion. The first castle was made of gray stone, and later bricks were used.
The castle lost military importance by the end of the 16th century. Its defensive systems were upgraded in the 18th century with bastions around the castle. The castle became a prison in the 19th century and served as such until 1953, when massive restoration work started. The castle has been a museum since 1988.
The birth of the Savonlinna Opera Festival ties in closely with the emerging Finnish identity and striving for independence at the beginning of the 20th century. Attending a nationalist meeting in Olavinlinna Castle in 1907, the Finnish soprano Aino Ackté, already famous at opera houses the world over and an ardent patriot, immediately spotted the potential of the castle as the venue for an opera festival. The first opera festival was held in 1912. Aino Ackté directed the festival for five summers, staging four Finnishoperas. The only opera by a non-Finnish composer was Charles Gounod’s Faust, with Ackté herself in the leading female role of Marguerite. In 1917 the festival ran into difficulties because of First World War, Finnish Declaration of Independence and the ensuing Finnish Civil War. For fifty years, the opera festival was dormant, but in 1967, Savonlinna Music Days decided to organise an opera course for young singers. The high point of the course was a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio in the castle. Therefore 1967 is nowadays regarded as the start of the present Festival; since then it has had steady growth of both audience and reputation.
The Savonlinna Opera Festival has grown into an internationally recognised festival lasting a month. Each year it performs to a total audience of around 60,000, an estimated quarter of whom come from abroad. Each year the Festival has, in addition to staging leading works from classical operatic repertoire, staged its own productions.
The fortress was founded by Erik Axelsson Tott in 1475 under the name Sankt Olofsborg in an effort to profit from the political turmoil following Ivan III's conquest of the Novgorod Republic. It was sited in Savonia so as to lay claim to the Russian side of the border established by the Treaty of Nöteborg.
One of Tott's letters from 1477 includes a passing mention of foreign builders invited to Olofsborg, probably from Reval, where the city fortifications were being extended. It was the first Swedish castle provided with a set of thickset circular towers that could withstand cannon fire. It is not by accident that a network of lakes and waterways forms the setting for the castle, for these would seriously impede a prospective Russian offensive.
Olofsborg withstood several sieges by the Russians during the the First and Second Russian-Swedish wars. A brisk trade developed under the umbrella of the castle towards the end of the 16th century, giving birth to the town of Savonlinna, which was chartered in 1639.
On 28 July1714 the garrison capitulated to the invading Russians, and it took them only two days to take the castle in 1743, in the events leading up to the Treaty of Abo which awarded the entire region to Empress Elizabeth of Russia.
Currently, the castle hosts several small exhibitions, including the Castle Museum which displays artifacts found in the castle or related to it, and the Orthodox Museum which displays icons and other religious artifacts both from Finland and Russia. The castle forms a spectacular stage for the Savonlinna Opera Festival, held annually in the summer since 1912.
The Turku Cathedral is a Evangelical Lutherancathedral in Turku, Finland. It is the seat of The Archdiocese of Turku. The cathedral is located in the centre of the city, by the river Aura. It is the national place of worship and one of the most notable historical buildings in Finland.
The church was originally built out of wood in the late 13th century, and was dedicated as the main cathedral of Finland in 1300, the seat of the bishop of Turku. It was considerably expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries, mainly using stone as the construction material. The church was badly damaged during the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, and was rebuilt to a great extent afterwards.
The club was founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, a name based on the filmThe Mighty Ducks. Disney sold the franchise in 2005 to Henry & Susan Samueli, who changed the name of the team to Anaheim Ducks before the 2006–07 season. In their 15 year existence, the Ducks have made the playoffs six times, winning two Western Conference Championships (2003 and 2007) and one Stanley Cup championship (2007).
The Verdun Memorial is a war memorial situated on the battlefield , close to the destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont in the département of Meuse in north-eastern France. It was built to commemorate the Battle of Verdun, fought in 1916 as part of the First World War, and remembers both combatants and the civilian population lost in the fighting. Furthermore it is a complete military museum which displays all the armaments (including machine guns and artillery) uniforms and equipments of both French and German troops during the battle. The Verdun Memorial also features a movie theater projecting relevant period films on the battle. Lastly, it is also a research facility with a very large library . There is also a well stocked bookstore open to the public on Verdun and other WW-1 subjects.
The Battle of Verdun popularised the phrase "Ils ne passeront pas" ("They shall not pass") in France, uttered by Robert Nivelle, but often incorrectly attributed to Philippe Pétain. As a matter of record, during the early part of the Battle of Verdun on 16 April 1916, General Petain issued an order of the day which ended with the phrase: "Courage ! On les aura" ("Courage! We shall get them").
The Battle of Verdun — also known as the Mincing Machine of Verdun or Meuse Mill — became a symbol of French determination to hold the ground and then roll back the enemy at any human cost . It was essentially a battle of materiel, however, where artillery played the dominant role. A significant factor that helped even out the odds in favor of the French Army was their uninterrupted use of night-and-day trucking to keep fresh troops and artillery supplies coming onto the front lines. Furthermore, during the summer of 1916, a relief standard gauge railway line ( Nettancourt-Dugny ) was completed and took over most of the traffic on the "Voie Sacree". All this had not been anticipated by the German military planners. One of the reasons they had selected Verdun is that, out of the two standard gauge railway lines leading into the city and its forts, one line was permanently interrupted at Saint Mihiel while the other one, leading to Paris, was under their direct artillery fire. Thus, at the outset, the German planners saw Verdun for what it was : a salient that was cut off on three sides, a cul-de-sac onto which they could strike the fatal blow against the French Army. What they did not anticipate was that, once the initial surprise had worn out, French logistics would steadily improve with time and rob them of their initial advantage.
The perceived success of the fixed fortification system led to the adoption of the Maginot Line as the preferred method of defense along the Franco-German border during the inter-war years. In reality, French field artillery emplaced in the open on the Verdun battlefield outnumbered turreted artillery in the forts by a factor of twenty to one and inflicted most of the casualties suffered by the German assailants.
Turku Castle was founded on an island on the estuary of Aurajoki River in the 1280s as the administrative castle of the Swedish Crown. The castle was originally built in the form of a rectangular fortified camp. The fortified camp became a closed castle in the early 14th century, and the castle was divided into a main castle and bailey. Under the Swedish Duke Johan between 1556 and 1563, Turku Castle was renovated into a handsome renaissance castle; this is when its main features became the size they are today.
In the 1630s the bailey became the official residence for Pietari Brahe, the governor general of Finland. In the late 18th century, after the county governor and Higher Regional Court had moved from the castle to town, the castle underwent significant changes. The bailey became a prison and the main castle became a granary. The castle functioned as a prison until the 1890s after which the historical museum was placed in the bailey. Turku Castle was badly damaged by the bombings in 1941. The fully repaired castle was opened to the public in 1961.
Turku Castle is a significant landmark at the mouth of Aurajoki River, and it is surrounded by the harbour and the small-scale industry and strorage areas that go with it. The Castle is part of the Finnish cultural and architectural heritage as an architectural monument, a museum and as premises for distinguished celebrations.
Despite the monopoly control of four of the six grand crus, the village has at least forty growers sharing its vineyards.
The wines produced from the vineyards are diverse, but they are generally considered to be rich, silky and well balanced, with a complexity and longevity which surpasses that of the other wines of Burgundy.
Grands Crus
In addition to many excellent wines at both the village and premier cru level, the village has six grand crus.
The Romanée-Conti vineyard dominates the village, with its wines among the most expensive in the world. It is a monopole of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Around 600 cases are made each year from the vineyard's 1.8 ha. Its highly sought after wine develops strongly over several decades.
La Tâche is Domaine de la Romanée Conti's other monopole, and its 6 ha consist of the vineyards of La Tâche and Les Gaudichots. The wine is notable for being excellent at a very young age, and is of consistent quality even in otherwise poor vintages.
The 8 ha of the Richebourg cru are divided between 10 growers, including Domaine Leroy and Domaine de la Romanée Conti. Its wines are often described as "voluptuous" and in good years can match those of La Tâche.
The wine of Romanée-Saint-Vivant suffers in comparison to its neighbours, making a lighter and less powerful liquid. Once again Domaine de la Romanée Conti own over half of the area's 9.5 ha.
The least-renowned of the six grands crus is a monopole of Domaine François Lamarche, and was only promoted from premier cru recently. Its 1.4 hectares lie between La Tâche and Romanée-Conti.
Premiers Crus
Although unable to command the same prices as their grand cru neighbours, the village is home to many excellent premier cru wines. The top-rated producers include Les Malconsorts, Cros Parantoux, Les Chaumes, and Clos des Réas.
"La Romanée-Conti is the scarcest, most expensive - and frequently the best - wine in the world ... If you can lay your hands on a case - and that is a big 'if' - you would have to pay £5,000 or more for a young vintage, double or treble for a wine in its prime. ... This is the purest, most aristocratic and most intense example of Pinot Noir you could possibly imagine. Not only nectar: a yardstick with which to judge all other Burgundies." - Clive Coates
The elliptical Roman amphitheatre in Nimes of the 1st or 2nd century AD, is the best-preserved Roman arena in France. It was filled with medieval housing, when its walls served as ramparts, but they were cleared under Napoleon. It is still used today as a bull fighting and concert arena.
L'Intendent is a remarkable classic wine shop in the city of Bordeaux right across from the tourist office. The shop is famed for its distinctive spiral staircase that forms the backbone of the entire shop, with almost entirely Bordeaux bottles.
l'Intendent is owned by the Moueixfamily that also owns most of the shares of Petrus, chateaus MagdelaineandTrotanoy, plus lesser-known estates in Pomerol, adjoining Lalande-de-Pomerol and in nearby Canon-Fronsac. They manage a number of other properties and are part owners of Dominus, a California winery that gained acclaim with its first release, 1984.
Fyrisån (in English, 'the Fyris river') is a river in the Swedish province of Uppland, which passes through the city of Uppsala and ends in Lake Mälaren.
It was formerly called the Full or the Sala river – Sala referred to the halls (Up-Salir) of the Swedish kings at Gamla Uppsala – but its name was changed in the 17th century in memory of the Fyrisvellir, marshy plains which had long since been turned to agriculture, but were famous from Norse mythology.
Boats can sail up the river from Lake Mälaren all the way to central Uppsala where two weirs make further progress impossible. In the summer of 2007 the construction of a fish ladder was started, in order to make it possible for the endangered and potamodromous fish species asp to pass the weirs, and reach its spawning waters. On the last day of April every year, students attempt to navigate the weirs on homemade rafts with predictable results.
Uppsala University (Uppsala universitet) is a world-class research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded as early as 1477, it is the oldest such institution in the Nordic countries and is frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities.
Anders Celsius (November 27, 1701 – April 25, 1744 in Uppsala) was a Swedish astronomer. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy and France. He founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741, and in 1742 he proposed the Celsius temperature scale which takes his name.
The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, a former charitable almshouse of the XVth century that is now a museum, is located in Beaune in Burgundy.
The Hospices de Beaune is a charitable instutution in Beaune, France. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor and needy. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture, is now a museum visited by more the 400'000 tourists every year.
One of the unique characteristics of the Hospices Civils de Beaune is their wine producing estate.
All French hospitals are generally the owners of farms, buildings, heath land or forests, which do not provide much profit. Sometimes these properties may even cost more than they bring in.
The Beaune institution, thanks to the donations and legacies which have been made throughout its history, is the owner of more than 61 hectares (152 acres) vineyards.
Most of these vineyard plots are located in prestigious appellations. They are nearly all first growths and great growths.
An important charity wine auction is held in November each year.
Quartier Antigone is a postmodernist city complex of plazas and streets, including housing, commercial establishments, gardens, and public cultural and sports facilities designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill.
Kazela is a resort 2 km from Medulin and 12 km south of Pula, covering an ample area with its own beach (1,5 km long) and separated nude beach. Due to the secluded position, this camp offers a possibility of a complete relaxation and rest including bathing an lying in the sun on the nearby islands. It is provided with modern sanitary facilities, electric connection points and camp refrigerators, restaurant, snack bars, sports grounds, dancing terrace.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City. A significant fraction of Rothenburg is carfree.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is one of the cities on the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) that has preserved vestiges of its medieval importance into the 21st century. A series of walls and towers defended the city over the ages, and the most recent still stands and surrounds most of the older part of the city. The inner wall (built prior to the 13th century) still remains. Stairwells ascend to the top of the wall at intervals, and the entire wall can be walked. In addition, the Roedertor tower at the east end of the city is open daily to allow a climb up the stairs to the vista from it.
While buildings within the walled city reflect the city's medieval history, this part of the city is in many ways a normal, modern German town with some concession to the tourist trade. In addition to many stores and hotels aimed at tourists, residences and shops also reflect the daily life of modern Germany.
The Chablis region is the northernmost wine district of Burgundy, France. The grapevines around the town of Chablis are almost all Chardonnay, making a dry white wine renowned for the purity of its aroma and taste.
The northern location (48°N) means that Chablis wines have more acidity and less fruit flavours than other Chardonnays, but their pure, minerally style has great elegance. They often have a "flinty" note, sometimes described as "goût de pierre à fusil" (gunflint). Chardonnay is known locally as "Beaunois", "the vine from Beaune".
Chablis lies about 100 miles north of Beaune, as near to Champagne as to the rest of Burgundy. The region covers 15km x 20km across 27 communes, either side of the Serein river.
The soil is Kimmeridge Clay with outcrops of the chalk that extends from Sancerre up to the White Cliffs of Dover. The Grand Crus, the best vineyards, all lie in one small area just north of the town.
The main Chablis Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée was designated on 13th January 1938, but the junior appellation of Petit Chablis was not designated until 5th January 1944. In fact the vineyards are covered by four appellations, reflecting all-important differences in soil and slope in this northerly region:
Petit Chablis - (approx 1550ha). A useful source of inexpensive wine from the least favoured sites on the hilltops and valley bottoms, this appellation has been in decline.
Chablis - the main appellation covering 6834 ha, of which either 4400ha or 4820ha are currently planted with vines. Covers the lower slopes of south-facing sites, and the middle slopes with less favorable aspect.
Chablis Premier Cru - 750ha, yield restricted to 50hl/ha. Covers slopes on both sides of the River Serein, most facing either southwest or southeast. The main block lie SW of the town, on the left bank of the valley, but the better ones are on the right bank by the Grand Crus. Several of the more famous ones absorbed less famous neighbours in the 1980s. In 1960 there was more Premier Cru wine produced than basic Chablis, although this has reversed as acreage of the latter has increased faster than the former.
There are 79 Premier Cru vineyards, including Les Beauregards, Beauroy, Berdiot, Chaume de Talvat, Côte de Cuissy, Côte de Jouan, Côte de Léchet, Côte de Vaubarousse, Fourchaume, Les Fourneaux, Mont de Milieu, Montée de Tonnerre, Montmains, Vaillons, Vau de Vey, Vau Ligneau, Vaucoupin and Vosgros.
Chablis Grand Cru - 100ha, yield restricted to 45hl/ha. These are the best sites, all in one small area on the right bank of the River Serein. The different Grand Crus apply to different aspects of three interlocking slopes just north of the town. The BIVB (but not the INAO) recognises an area within les Preuses and Vaudésir as a distinct Grand Cru, La Moutonne, but the seven Grand Cru vineyards generally recognised are (from northwest to southeast):
The underground tombs, many of which date back to the 4th century BCE, are carved out of the solid rock, and are thought to have been the burial sites of Paphitic aristocrats and high officials up to 3 CE (the name comes from the magnificence of the tombs; no kings were in fact buried here). Some of the tombs feature Doric columns and frescoed walls. Archaeological excavations are still being carried out at the site. The tombs are cut into the native rock, and at times imitated the houses of the living.
Although the tombs have been known and casually explored for centuries, they were first subjected to systematic excavation in the later 1970s and the 1980s under the direction of Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, now Director of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus.
Dr Hadjisavvas has turned over to research students of the University of Sydney the preparations of the finds for publication.
Part of the importance of the tombs lies in the Paphian habit of including Rhodian amphorae among the offerings in a burial. Through the manufacturing stamps placed on the handles of these amphorae, it is possible to give them a date and, through them, the other material from the same burial.
Thus, it is hoped to develop a more secure chronology for archaeological material in the Eastern Mediterranean of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.
Near Larnaka International Airport there is the Larnaca Salt Lake. It fills with water during the winter and is visited by flocks of flamingoes who stay here from November till the end of March. It dries up in the summer. It used to yield a good quality of salt which was is scraped from its dried up surface.The salt from this lake is now considered unfit for human consumption.
The Villa Tugendhat is considered a masterpiece of the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Built in 1930 in Brno, in today's Czech Republic, for Fritz Tugendhat and his wife Greta, the villa soon became an icon of modern architecture.
