Nerdistan

Purpose of this article is to introduce hidden treasures and places in Rome unknown to the mass but enchanting for their beauty and historical value; advises and reviews on Hotels in Rome.

Planning an Itinerary to Rome can be difficult if you are unsure of what to visit: sometimes it’s better to take a Rome Tour. This article gives some insight to some must places of the Eternal City.
Must see places in Rome:

Via Veneto
The way of the “Dolce Vita” immortalized by the movies of Federico Fellini, among fashionable bars and restaurants, luxury shops, luxury hotels for a timeless journey.

Pantheon
Form has become idea in this architectural jewel which has inspired generations of artists throughout the world. Its story is also that of this city, long and fascinating like and endless dream.

San Pietro in Vincoli
The statue of Moses, sculpted by Michelangelo with great verisimilitude and power to provoke its author to throw down his chisel crying “why don’t you speak?”. Among history and legend, the tale of a monument which was never finished but also very much re-touched by artists through the years.

St. Peter Basilica
The evolution and the most important Dome in Christianity: from its foundation (Costantino) to its modern facade, passing through Bramante and Michelangelo, whose dome remains the indisputed symbol if Catholicism in the world.

Find your hotel, short term apartment or bed and breakfast in Rome: browse our maps, check out prices and availabilities and proceed to the online secure reservation for any accommodation in Rome.

The incredible area of Africa known as South Luangwa has been voted the best place to safari in Africa. The location has been celebrated in various years by the countries amazing safari experts. Couples will probably be able to notice big groups of cheetahs as well as lovely birds.

The safari park is well known for its phenomenal walking safaris and is popular with all British tourists. The changing weather makes the region irrestible with a desert season through out winter and a green delightful jungle feel over summer. During the changes in season the exotic animals might well change giving british tourists a different aspect. Learn about safari holidays and explore the wildlife of africa.

Unearth the charisma of Africa with a safari vacation and be at one with nature. The awesome rivers and tigers and lions might make you feel alive with energy. UK Travellers will be able to take loads of photos and bring back the most credible memories.

South Africa has legions of animals in its regions and British tourists can often easily find the perfect photo of a zebra. If you are not used to a walking safari you might go on a driving safari and watch large amounts of the country within a short amount of time. When you have finished your safari by day you can often then go back to your resort to have dinner. A myriad of resorts are three star and excellent.

Torrevieja is one of the most important summer holiday spots in the province of Alicante, about 50 kilometres from the city of Alicante and making up what is known as the Costa Blanca or The White Coast. Torrevieja and the town of Pilar de la Horadada are in the southern tip, the last towns before you head into the province of Murcia. When making holiday plans, if you are to arrive there by plane, the closest airport would be the one in Alicante called the Altet. It has great flight combinations with the rest of Europe, especially when flying in from England. It would only take you about half an hour at the most to get safely to your hotel if you have thought about a car hire. Look for the highway marked N-332 heading south and you are set. There are some bus companies connecting Torrevieja with Alicante, Elche and other towns and cities. There are even hotels which have the convenient service of picking up its guests. And if you are in a hurry or do not want to be bothered driving and wish to take in the lovely scenery, then a taxi would do you well.

Salt and Habaneras from Torrevieja

In order to give directions, everyone referred to this town as where the old tower is and therefore in Spanish -Torrevieja, which when translated to English means ‘ an old tower’. This swampy marsh area has been known for its high quality production of salt and one of the places frquently used to store the dried salt was in towers. There was one particular tower which was knocked down when this area was hit by an earthquake in 1829. Even nowadays, this whole area is constantly being shaken by earthquakes, one of the last ones was just a few months ago. Although it is visited thanks to its beautiful beaches such as the Cura, the Locos or the Mata, it is also visited because it has become popular for its habaneras, Cuban music. One might think that it is quite strange that such far away music has planted its roots so strongly in a little salt mining town in Spain. But there is a very reasonable explanation. Torrevieja carried on a constant flow of salt trading with Cuba and the sailors who did this route were spellbound by this lively music and wanted to share it with their home folks and brought it back here. As we can well see, its has been happily transmitted from one generation to another. There is a fantastic international music festival of habaneras held annually at the end of July or the beginning of August. If you are in the area at this time of the year and wish further details, the Patronizer of the Competition ( Patronato Municipal del Certamen International de Habaneras ) can help you or look in the web.

Natural Parks to visit

When you leave Torrevieja on the highway marked C-332, you will be heading for the Natural park of the Lagoons of the Mata. To be sure you will be able to visit this paradise correctly, it would be recommendable to get information and book a date because there is a maximum of 35 people allowed at a time. The most interesting fauna are the birds like the stone curlew and in the winter there is a great concentration of the diving birds and important nucleus of storks, eagles and and avocets. On the other hand, the salt swamps export salt all over the world. And if that was not enough, salt baths are also recommended for some types of illnesses such as arthritis and skin diseases having become quite popular in the 19th century. But the best part of this excursion is when the sun reflects in these salt mountains.

Even though this city has a lot to do, it is easy and fun to make day excursion travelling up the Costa Blanca to visit Santa Pola on the outskirts of Alicante, then on to Benidorm with its fantastic theme parks of all kinds, Altea and Javea. Get the most out of your stay and travel.

Robert Carlton publishes many articles for the website http://www.alicante-spain.com/torrevieja.html. The author is helping people finding the travel solutions for the Costa Blanca area and cities around like Calpe, Denia or Murcia. He works in San Juan a town nearby Alicante Spain.

Ancient Bulgarian culture has paved the way for traditional festivals and customs which remain very much alive today.

Bulgaria was the Slav land of Orpheus and Spartacus. It holds countless treasures, burial tombs and magnificent art and frescos reminiscent of centuries past, offering visitors the opportunity to tour numerous museums and monuments to understand Bulgaria’s rich cultural heritage..

Today, culturally the Bulgarians remember the days when men tried to appease the natural elements and trembled before their power! Rich with beauty, gaiety, mystical voices, fiery dances and brightly colored costumes, Bulgarian folklore has to be seen, felt and experienced…

Festivals

Fire dancing is the most ancient and mysterious ritual, where barefoot dancers perform on burning embers. This religious and mystical ritual for expelling illness, for health and fruitfulness is one that must be seen to be believed.

The Festival of Roses is celebrated at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, in the Rose Valley near the town of Kazanluk. Celebrated on the first weekend of every June, the festival is a pageant of beauty in the unique Rose Valley. In the run-up of the event, a Queen Rose beauty contest is held in several rounds. Artists, actors, circus performers, writers and singers flock to Kazanluk at the start of June.

The Bulgarian Oleaginous rose yields 70 % of the world’s roses, used as an essential component by perfume companies worldwide.

The story goes that in 1270, during the Crusades, Count de Gruye brought the Damascus rose from Syria to the valley of Kazanlak where conditions proved excellent for its growth. The Bulgarian roses and rose oil owe their unique properties to the local climate and soil. February temperatures, when roses bud, are ideal in the valley. The blossom is picked in May and June, when high humidity is very important.

Kukeri Carnival is held in the region of Dupnitsa and Pernik to mark the beginning of Spring and is a splendid festival of brightly coloured masks and costumes. Every participant makes his own multi-coloured personalised mask, covered with beads, ribbons and wool tassels. The heavy swaying of the main dance represents wheat, heavy with grain. Bells, tied around the waist, are intended to drive away the evil spirits and the sickness.

Bulgarian voices remain a complete mystery! Experts are still trying to explain the incredible range of the Bulgarian voice and the variety of its songs. The unique sound was universally acknowledged by the fact that the popular Rhodope song “Izlel e Delyu hiadutin”, sung by the talented singer Valya Balkanska, was recorded on a gold record and was sent as a message to outer space on the American spaceship Voyager in 1977.

The world is rediscovering it at major folklore and song contests in Italy, France, England and Ireland from which the Bulgarian music and dance ensembles invariably win the first prizes.

The folk festivals “Pirin Sings” and “Rozhen Sings” are the most famous Bulgarian folklore festivals. Last year some 150,000 visitors from Bulgaria and abroad witnessed the show with 4,000 performers in each festival. Spectators came not only for these inspiring events, but also to learn about the curious world of Bulgarian folklore.

Easter in Bulgaria is an Orthodox tradition, symbolized by a red egg (or Pascha). Nowadays other colors are used as well and the eggs are colored on Holy Thursday after the Divine Liturgy.

The eggs are cracked after the midnight church service and during the next days. One egg is cracked on the wall of the church, being the first egg eaten after the long fast. The ritual of cracking the rest of the eggs takes place before Easter lunch. Each person selects his/her egg. Then people take turns tapping their egg against the eggs of others, and the person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck.

On 14th February each year Bulgarians celebrate Trifon Zarezan, an ancient holiday rite inherited from the Thracians. Dressed in their Sunday-best, vine growers prune the vines and sprinkle them with wine for a good harvest. Everyone then gathers for a delicious meal.

On 1st March each year Bulgarians present to relatives and friends martenitsa, a double red and white tassel - to bring health and happiness. This is a pagan tradition and symbolizes the end of the cold winter and the coming of the spring.

Martenitsa-s are supposed to be worn until the person sees the first stork (although there are not many in the cities)! Then they are thrown onto a tree. The red and white colours signify snow and blood from a traditional story in which a stork brings the blessing for health to a small child from its parents, who are far away. The arrival of the stork indicates Spring has arrived.

Applied crafts have gradually emerged home cottage industries to become a national art. Bulgarian embroidery, with its intricate geometrical figures, rugs, with their vibrant colours, exquisitely painted Bulgarian ceramics and superbly fashioned Bulgarian jewellery are but some of the typical crafts.

Handicraft Museums can be found at

- The Samovodene Market in Veliko Turnovo,
- The Permanent National Exhibition of Folk Art in Oreshak near Troyan
- The Etura architectural and ethnographic complex near Gabrovo

You are sure to find a souvenir from Bulgaria here, eg. a carved wooden wine decanter, a Troyan pottery set, a fleecy Rhodope rug, an original piece of silver jewellery, or a finely embroidered silk blouse…

The National Palace of Culture is the largest multifunctional complex in Southeastern Europe. It is located in the heart of the capital, Sofia, amidst a beautiful park with magnificent views of Vitosha Mountain in the distance. It is rich with museums, historical and cultural sites of interest, financial institutions and some of the best hotels and restaurants in the country.

The palace boasts 16 halls, with seating capacity ranging from 50 to 4 000, which are equipped with modern technology, providing simultaneous interpretation in 14 languages, a press center, phones, fax, telex, e-mail. In addition there are cafes, bars, restaurants, night clubs, bowling and shops.

Tina Andlaw lives in Spain and regularly contributes articles to Sunseeker Homes (www.sunseekerhomes.com) the Spanish property information website.
View their website at: www.sunseekerhomes.com

Most travel stories are of the happy-go-lucky variety. Every once in a while, however, one visits a place that evidences the vicious, dark side of mankind. Khmer Rouge Prison 21, known as Tuol Seng, is one such place. It is a stark reminder of the cruelties humanity can visit upon itself.

Tuol Sleng

In 1962, the high school of Ponhea Yat was opened in the center of Phnom Pehn. The school consists of three buildings in a horseshoe layout with each building having three stories. In the 1970s, the name was changed to Tuol Svay Prey High School. In May of 1976, the school became the headquarters of the Khmer Rouge genocide campaign in Cambodia.

The infamous Khmer Rouge was the ruling party of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, with fighting going on for many more years. Led by Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One, the party is estimated to have killed as much as 1/3rd of the population of Cambodia through murder and starvation. The Khmer Rouge has justly been compared to Hitler for its brutal genocidal actions. Tuol Sleng represents the most brutal example.

Tuol Sleng covers roughly a city block, but is tucked back among alleys in Phnom Pehn. During the Khmer’s rule, two folds of iron sheets encased in electrified barbwire to prevent escape enclosed it. Prisoners were chained to walls and tortured on a daily basis until they admitted crimes against the state. The prisoners were required to follow ten regulations. A shocking sampling include:

1. Do not try to hide facts by making excuses. You are strictly prohibited from contesting me.

2. While being lashed or electrocuted, you must not cry at all.

3. Disobey any rule and you will get 5 lashes with an electric wire.

Much like the Nazi concentration camps, the Khmer Rouge documented ever prisoner and atrocity. Upon arrival, each prisoner’s picture was taken and a detailed biography was documented. Prisoners were then confined to cells approximately the size of a closet by chaining them to iron posts. Daily torture was undertaken through beatings, electric shock and other atrocities. At the end of their imprisonment, prisoners were marched about two miles to the killing fields. To save bullets, the Khmer Rouge beat them to death.

The atrocious numbers for Tuol Sleng:

From 10,500 to 14,500 adult prisoners.

Another 2,000 children prisoners.

7 survived.

Yes, just 7.

Only 2 Khmer have ever been prosecuted for the atrocity.

Today, Tuol Sleng is a genocide museum. The walls are full of pictures of the prisoners. Men and women. Boys and girls as young as 5 years old. There are still bloodstains on the floors of the interrogation rooms.

Why visit or write an article about Tuol Sleng? Traveling is about discovery, even if the subject is something horrible. Failing to recognize the dark side of humanity dooms us to repeat those failings. The Nazi concentration camps existed in the 40s, Tuol Sleng in the 70s, and today similar atrocities are occurring in North Korea and Darfur. Will we ever learn?

Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of travel journals. Writing journals are the perfect travel accessories. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travel articles and travelogues.

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