Tips For Trips

Santa Claus

2011-11-26T15:29:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus leads the Christmas parade through the streets being driven in a Cadillac with Santa's elves, fire engines, vintage cars and so on.

Why so? Because in Aarhus, Denmark, Santa comes in a Cadillac after he sailed on a boat... pretty sweet for a guy employed only for 1 day a year!

AROS

2011-11-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

In April 7th 2004 was the official opening of ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in the presence, among other dignitaries, of the museum’s Patron Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. In April 8th the new 17,700 square metre building, situated in central Århus and costing 306 million Danish Crowns opened its doors to the public. The event marked a new era in the museum’s almost 150-year history: the provincial art museum with high ambitions now emerged as a national museum with international ambitions. To highlight its new profile, Aarhus Kunstmuseum added ARoS to its name.

With thousands of square metres spanning ten levels the museum now has ample space to showcase its extensive collection of 1100 paintings, 400 sculptures and installations, 200 art videos and over 7,000 drawings, photos and graphics: a collection that ahead of the inauguration was enhanced by the addition of works by international artists such as Bill Viola, Tony Oursler, Carsten Höller, Miwa Yanagi and James Turrell. In large measure, a donation of 40 million Danish Crowns by New Carlsberg Foundation over a ten-year period enabled the purchase of these works.

The new art museum contains three large galleries of just under 1,100 square metres each for permanent exhibitions allowing visitors the opportunity to view a broad spectrum of works from the museum’s own collection. In addition, recent acquisitions of international light and video works are displayed in the basement level of the museum in a special exhibition gallery called 'The 9 Spaces.' Lastly, the museum has two further galleries at its disposal: the dedicated special exhibitions gallery commanding 1,100 square metres and the West Gallery with 350 square metres.

ARoS’ striking architecture is the creation of Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen. The Århus-based practice won the 1997 competition for the design of the new Aarhus Kunstmuseum from a field of some 109 architectural firms from around the world. The building is cube-shaped, 43 metres tall and 54 by 54 metres wide. It is divided by a curved "museum street", to which the public has access without an admission fee. A spiral staircase accentuates the mid-point of the "street" and, upon payment of an entrance fee, visitors gain full access to all of the museum's galleries and facilities.

Besides its regular galleries, ARoS contains a Junior Museum for children: an exciting experiential zone for children to learn about art in a hands-on way.

At the main floor entering the museum you find Art Café and ARoS Shop. Both can be visited free of charge. In ARoS Shop you find a broad variaty of design and books. At Art Café you can enjoy a quality coffee while looking at the pulse of the city outside, read a book or just relax after visiting the galleries.

Legoland

2011-11-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

LEGOland is an entertainment park situated in Billund, the city where all the Lego toys came. Billund's Lego factory is very well known around the World.

This park is amazing. There are a lot of attractions and if you visit it you will never forget it. There are Legoland parks also in Windsor UK, Carlsbad - California US, Florida US and Günzburg Germany. The one in Billund is the only one in Denmark and this is the starting point. All LEGO dreams came from this location.

First of all, you can arrive in Billund using this very modern airport. The park with a hotel and a resort is only 1 km away. After this there are a lot of restaurants in Legoland. The themes chosen for entertaining are various and cool. You may find a medieval area, a cowboys and indians area, a Star Wars area or a Pirates theme zone. The toys are great and really amazing. It is redundant to say that every figure is made of Lego pieces. And they are just marvelous.

There are organised parties and concerts every Saturday. The most important Danish singers and bands participate and entertain the visitors. Every year it is a new theme developed. For 2011 it was Star Wars with all the saga realised in small figures of LEGO pieces. For 2012 it will be a Polar Land, a zone who presents all the Arcitc clichés.

When you finish all Legoland options to explore, pay yourself a visit in Lalandia which is really close. The joy and fun will be double.

Scorpions - Live in Cluj

2011-10-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

40.000 viewers were present at 21:15 in Cluj Arena to see the well known rock band Scorpions. They are performing an world tour in 2011 for supporting their 17th album called "Sting In The Tail" launched on March 17th this year. One of their destinations was Cluj-Napoca, Romania. They had a great concert on 9th of October 2011.

Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Pawel Maciwoda, and James Kottakand sang in Cluj the most important tracks of Scorpions. This band was founded in Hanover in 1965. Scorpions visited Romania many times before. Cluj Arena is a 30.000 places stadium which was inaugurated by them. Check out this video filmed at this event:

Maximilian Strasse - Munich

2011-08-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

If you go in Munich do not miss Maximilian Strasse. It has a special neo-gothic architecture but, more than this, here is the place where you can find the World's most famous designers shops, luxury boutiques and jewellery stores.

So if you are shopping addicted you must visit Gucci, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Cartier, Bvlgari, Dolce & Gabbana, Swarovski, Channel, Chopard, Wempe, Louis Vuitton and the others show-rooms of these great fashion houses.

After shopping you may admire the building of the district governor of Upper-Bavaria, The Museum of Ethnology, the Maximilianeum - home of state Parliament, and maybe you would like to have a room at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten the most important five-star hotel in Munich.

After visiting this street you can go in Marienplatz to see Munich's city hall. It is a very impressive building and the attraction of the tourists is the Glockenspiel. This is a clock with 43 bells and 32 life-sized figurines which is presenting a medieval history of marriage of Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm V. You may see this show everyday at 11 a.m. (and also 12 and 5 p.m. during summer).

More details about Munich you can find here.

Wenceslas Square - Prague

2011-08-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wenceslas Square (czech "Václavské náměstí") is the most important street in Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic. Actually if you go in Prague, visiting Wenceslas Square is a must.

This place was a horse market many centuries ago, but was transformed in 1848 in central boulevard of Prague. Many important historical events happened there until now. Anyhow, if you visit Prague I strongly advice you to choose Panorama Hotel. It is not cheap but you will enjoy staying there, for sure.

There are a lot of facilities like a spa center, situated at 24th floor from where you can see all the city, a casino, many restaurants and a great parking area. The personal is very nice and all of them are English speakers but you should be careful: everything here is extra charge. Nothing is included in your staying bill.

You can get a metro for Wenceslas Square and it is a great shopping area right next Panorama Hotel. Once you arrive in Václavské náměstí try to visit National Museum, The Opera House, Koruna galleries, where you can get your own 19th century photos for 300 Czech Crowns, cca. 14 €, or Communism Museum.

There are a lot of fast foods in this area but I recommend you to eat at Pilsenr Urquell Restaurant, there are fair prices and a very good kitchen there. You may pay using Euro but the change will always be in Czech Crowns.

If you speak English on the main street it is very common to be approached by people who wants to change your money in Czech Crowns. Make yourself a favor and don't take them as an option. There are a lot of Exchange Houses on this street where you can have a fair trade and a receipt. More informations about Prague here.

Aarhus - Den Gamle By

2011-07-14T02:25:00.000-07:00

"Den Gamle By" is Danish for "old town". It is a five star heritage museum ranking among the best in the world. It has more than 75 historical buildings, gardens, exhibitions, houses, shops and workshops.

This museum is a living experience of what it was like to live and workin a Danish market town in the old days of Hans Christian Andersen. You can meet people of yesteryear here and experience life as it was in their living rooms, kitchens and gardens.

Den Gamle By is the home to: The Danish Poster Museum, The Danish Museum of Clocks and Watches, a large museum of toys, a tea garden, a large museum of shops and major Christmas events. Taste, smell and try out history.

Entrance is 150 DKK, cca. 20 Euro and there are discounts for children, or groups. More informations about Aarhus you can find here

Bon Jovi - Live in Bucharest

2011-07-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

The well known rock band Bon Jovi is taking an world tour in 2011. One of their destinations was Bucharest, Romania. They had a great concert in Parliament Square on 10th Of July.

Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres sang in Bucharest the most important tracks of their career. 55000 people assisted their performance. 180 minutes had the entire show. If you have the opportunity to see this band live this summer, I strongly recommend to do it. They are fresh and fun. Check out this movie filmed in Bucharest.

Kunstcentret Silkeborg Bad

2011-07-05T02:03:00.000-07:00

Silkeborg Bad used to be a health resort. When did not had so many clients was turned into an art center. And is a really great place to visit, an attraction where high quality art displays, an experience of nature, and the site's special history play their part. There are changing exhibitions all the year mainly modern art by both Danish and foreign artists.

The Art Center's general goal is to create a dynamic environment for contemporary art, and thus creating relevant and thought-provoking art experiences for the public.

You can reach this place by train to Silkeborg via Skanderborg or Hering and using good bus services from surrounding towns. The park is always open. The area is suitable for wheelchairs.

The art center's shop has a fine range of catalogues, posters, postcards and other articles related to the center's exhibitions. Various art books and works of art are also on sale, and there is a range of original graphic art.

The art center's cafe is situated in the former spa building. In summer the sun and the view over Ørnsø lake can be enjoyed from the cafe's terrace. The cafe's range includes coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cakes, sanwiches and light lunches. The cafe can accomodate groups for cakes, buffets and so on. The cafe also rent Søvilla (the lake villa) to groups, for courses or other activities. The Art Center's cafe is for visitors only.

Entry is 60 DKKK, cca. 8 Euro and there are dicounts for students, groups, pensioners or children. More informations about Silkeborg you can find here

Danske Statsbaner

2011-06-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

This means Danish State Railways and is usually known as DSB.

If you are in Denmark and you want to travel, this is a very important option you may have. Using trains is very popular in this country. DSB also operates some trains in Sweeden. There are 9000 people working for this company.

The most important thing is using their website www.dsb.dk you can buy affordable tickets and travel in whole Denmark. There is a system with many options for making reservations, but the cheapest tickets are "DSB Orange". The only condition to have such tickets is to check the promotions. For a 350 Km trip, an DSB Orange costs 139 DKK which means cca. 18,5 Euro. Have fun!

Ebeltoft Safari - Ree Park

2011-06-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Ebeltoft is a small city on the East coast of Jylland. It has almost 8000 inhabitants. But there are 2 important objectives in this city: Aarhus airport and Ree Park.

Ree Park - Ebeltoft Safari is a place where you can see a wide range of animals. It is also on option to drive through the herds and flocks of giraffes, gnus, ostriches or zebras. That is the safari concept, right?

There are some rules to follow when you visit this place:
- never feed the animals
- never touch the animals (does not apply to petting zoo animals like pigs, goats and donkeys)
- never chase the animals
- food, open backpacks, push carts and trolleys are not allowed in Monkey island and Madagascar
- do not yell nor run around when watching the birds, they stress easily

There is also an option to have a fun ride on one of the park's Asian camel. If you get hungry you can visit one of the available cafes and enjoy your food in cosy surroundings. It is a wide selection of food and drink like sandwiches, buffet, hot-dogs and salads.

For groups and families there some events you can organize in Ree Park. You can have a party or a wedding there. There can be organised business meetings, team buildings or conferences in Safari Zone. There are also available tends for spending the night in the park.

You can visit the safari shop and take a pick from a wide selection of souvenirs, toys, teddy bears and clothes.

Ebeltoft Safari is open for visitors from 16th of April until 23rd of October. Entrance is cca. 18 Euro for each adult. Children pay less. Have fun!

Fly Free With KLM

2011-05-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

Do you want a free fly for your next holiday? Now we can get it. It is easy and it takes just a couple of minutes to get it.

Do you know what is Delft pottery? If not you can find about it here. Now the facts: KLM has a promotion campaign which places 4000 users pictures on a plane of them. The pictures will simulate elements contained on Delft pottery. All you have to do, is to go on tileyourself.com and load a picture of yours. If you have a facebook account then they will use your profile picture. After this, place a short message. This will be put on a KLM plane. After this, all you have to do is to promote your Delft picture on your blog. You can win 2 KLM fly tickets for any destination. You can also get 4 mini KLM planes. Good luck!

Skanderborg - A Beautiful Small Town

2011-05-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Skanderborg is a small town in Jutland, Denmark. In this city there are living 14 thousand people. It is a quiet place built a thousand years ago on Skanderborg Lake's beach.

Anne of Denmark was born in Sakanderborg on December 12th 1574. She was the second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark. She married King James VI and I of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children including the future Charles I.

One of the most visible attractions of Skanderborg is Dagmar boat. It is a beautiful ship who sails on Skanderborg Lake in th e summertime. On this tour you can buy ice cream, hot and cold beverages on board. You may see the old town of Skanderborg from the lakeside and listen the stories about the monks on Calf Island, about Skanderborg Castle and the young king Christian IV. this tour lasts about one hour and 45 minutes, but you can also get off and on at the five stops: Sæsporten, Vestermølle, Golfclubben, Vvandrerhjemmet and Skanderborghus. Prices: €12 for adults and €7 for children.

Palma Aquarium

2011-05-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

If you want to discover time and oceans, one of the best choices is to visit Palma Aquarium. This great place is close to the Palma Airport (5 minutes distance, only) and there are 3 bus lines which arrive in this place if you are located in the center of Palma de Mallorca.

Palma Aquarium is a place where you can meet the Mediteranean's most emblematic flora and fauna. You can experience the history of the old world and the adventure of conquering an immense, unknown and invincible sea. You can get to know tropical ecosystems, their magnificent colours and their inhabitants' most unusal behaviour during this part of your journey. There are also a combination of typical Mallorcan vegetation and marine exhibits, turtles, rays, Japanese Koi fish and even hammerhead sharks. You can also see a replica of a tropical rainforest that includes its own micro-climate to ensure perfect conditions for its exotic plants to flourish.

In Palma de Mallorca you can find Europe's deepest aquarium. This tank with its extraordinary proportions was designed to represent the Oceans' pelagic areas, deepest realms and magnitude. It holds 3,5 millions litres of salt water.

There are many facilities here like: a mini theatre, a snack bar, a play area for children, a buffet called Cafeteria Mediterra or a souvenir shop.

Rino Gaetano

2011-05-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Rino Gaetano was one of the cult Italian songwriters in the 80's and before. He made social songs especially. If someone goes in Italy for a holiday or just for a few days trip, should know about Rino Gaetano. This is my favorite song of him:

Italian young people sing this song at every social event. This is like an anthem, very romantic and optimistic in the same time.

Tito's - Palma de Mallorca

2011-04-28T02:40:00.000-07:00

Tito's discoteque, is a place of reference in Palma de Mallorca. Situated on Paseo Maritimo, it is a disco club designed in futuristic spaceship shape. The access is made using 2 panoramic elevators with a wide view toward Palma's bay.

There are shows and parties at Tito's 365 days per year. There you may meet famous DJ's all over the world like Francesco Farfa, Claudio Coccoluto, Hernan Cattaneo, Sebastian Ingrosso and others.

This club has 3 halls where is very easy to meet famous people from all the world. It is a cult place for island of Mallorca. Every night there are new costumes for the animators who are making this place very entertaining.

Price: 20€ for entrance and 2 free drinks.

Lalandia - Billund

2011-04-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

Lalandia is a recreational resort in Billund, right in the middle of Jutland, Denmark.

There is a big water park and there are also a hotel and other hosting possibilities in the area. The water park has very good features and the are a lot of entertaining options. There are also great sport facilities in the zone.

Why can one have a holiday in Lalandia?
1. All the family stays together.
2. There are the best Aquadomes in Scandinavia.
3. It is a good option all year round. Doesn't matter how is the weather outside.
4. There are a lot of activities for children and parents.
5. High safety for a great holiday.

6. A lot of experiences for all the family in the Lalandia zone.
7. Shopping for all the family.
8. God meals at pools stores and bars.
9. Having fun and maintaining of a happy family.
10. Smiling and well trained personal.

Prices: 3 nights for 70 €/person in the hotel. You can visit the water park only for an entrance fee of 27€/person.

Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite Les Folies 2011 Tour

2011-02-20T02:10:00.000-08:00

Kylie Minogue (born May 28, 1968) is an Australian pop singer, songwriter and actress. She begun her career as a child being an actress on Australian television. She get her recognition when she played in Australian soap opera "Neighbours".

In 1987 she recorded her first single "Locomotion" which was a big success spending 7 weeks in Australian single's chart. Her debut album was called "Kylie" (1988) and the single "I Should Be So Lucky" reached number one in UK top ten. In 1989 she left "Neighbours" trying to focus on her music career. She had another big hit called "Got To Be Certain" and a duet with Jason Donovan "Especially For You" which was sold in almost one million copies in UK. In the same year she made her first movie called "The Delinquents" which was a box-office hit in Australia and UK too, despite negative reviews.

Her next album "Enjoy Yourself" was very good sold in Australia, Europe and Asia but failed in North America and Geffen Records dropped her contract.

In 1990 she had a new album called "Rhythm Of Love" which was more sophisticated than the others. Kylie Minogue took the control for producing of the video "Better The Devil You Know" and presented herself as a sexually aware adult. In this period she had a relationship with Michael Hutchence, the frontman of INXS.

In 1991 Kylie launched her fourth album called "Let's Get To It" but this failed to reach UK top ten chart. In 1992 she made a "Greatest Hits" album which was good sold. The most known single in this album is "Celebration".

In 1994 it followed "Kylie Minogue" and the single "Confide In Me" spent four weeks on number one in Australian top ten. This album was sold in 250.000 copies in UK. She also played in the comedy "The Vicar Of Dibley" and she also get a role in a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, "Street Fighter". In 1995 she filmed in Australia for "Hyride To Hell" and she colaborated with Nick Cave for the single "Where The Wild Roses Grow" which was a hit all over the World. In 1996 filmed for "Bio-Dome".

In 1997, Kylie Minogue was in a relationship with the French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui, who encouraged her to develop her creativity.

Minogue's album "Light Years" (2000) was a collection of dance songs, influenced by disco music. Minogue said that her intention was to present dance-pop music in a "more exaggerated form" and to make it "fun". the single "Spinning Around" was a number one in UK charts and "One Night Like This" went in the first place in Australian top ten. She recorded "Kids" in company of Robin Williams and this single went in the second place in UK top ten.

In 2000, Kylie performed ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and her single "On a Night like This" at the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony and then she embarked upon a concert tour, "On A Night like This Tour".

In 2001 she played in the movie "Moulin Rouge" and she launched her new album "Fever". Its lead single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became the biggest success of her career, reaching number one in more than 40 countries. The subsequent singles "In Your Eyes", "Love at First Sight" and "Come into My World" were successful throughout the world, and Minogue established a presence in the mainstream North American market, particularly in the club scene.

In 2002 she started "KylieFever Tour" and she began a relationship with the French actor, Olivier Martinez, after meeting him at the 2002 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Her next album was Body Language (2003) and the single "Slow" was number one-hit in UK and Australia. In the same year she played a guest role in the season finale of the Australian TV comedy series "Kath & Kim".

In November 2004 she released her second official greatest hits album entitled "Ultimate Kylie". The album introduced her singles "I Believe in You" and "Giving You Up". "I Believe in You" reached the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play top three, and Minogue was nominated for a Grammy Award for the fourth consecutive year when the song was nominated in the category of "Best Dance Recording".

Early in 2005, "Kylie: The Exhibition" opened in Melbourne. The free exhibition featured costumes and photographs spanning Minogue's career and went on to tour Australian capital cities receiving over 300,000 visitors, and was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in February 2007. Minogue commenced her "Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour", and after performing in Europe, travelled to Melbourne, where she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In February 2007, Kylie Minogue and Olivier Martinez announced that they had ended their relationship, but remained on friendly terms. and in November 2007 she released a new studio album called "X". The single "2 Hearts" reached number one in Australian top ten. She co-starred in the 2007 "Doctor Who" Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned", as Astrid Peth, a waitress on a spaceship Titanic.

Starting May 2008, Minogue promoted X with a European tour, "KylieX2008", which is her most expensive tour to date with production costs of £10 million. Although she described the rehearsals as "grim", the tour was generally acclaimed and sold well.

In September and October 2009, Minogue embarked on the "For You, For Me Tour", her first North American concert tour, which included shows in the U.S. and Canada. She was also featured in the Bollywood film, "Blue", performing an A.R. Rahman song, and had confirmed that she was working on her eleventh studio album, commenting that it would be an album of dance and pop music. On 13th September 2009, Minogue performed "Super Trouper" and "When All Is Said and Done" with Benny Andersson at the ABBA tribute concert "Thank You for the Music... a Celebration of the Music of ABBA" at London's Hyde Park, her only live performance in the UK in 2009. On 14 December 2009, Minogue released a download-only concert album entitled "Kylie: Live in New York". The album was recorded at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom and contains 25 live version songs.

Minogue's eleventh studio album, "Aphrodite", was released in Japan on 30th of June 2010 and worldwide in July 2010. The lead single, "All the Lovers", premiered on radio in May 2010 and was made available for purchase in June 2010. The album debuted at number one in the UK charts, exactly twenty two years after her first UK number one hit. The second single from Aphrodite, titled "Get Outta My Way" was released on 27th of September 2010. In October 2010, Minogue performed in front of the Sphinx and the Pyramids at Giza, Eygpt to celebrate the anniversary of "Enigma" magazine, with profits going to the "We Owe It To Egypt Foundation". A third single, "Better Than Today", was released on 6th of December 2010.

On 19th of February 2011 Kylie started her world tour called "Aphrodite Les Folies 2011 Tour" in Herning, Denmark. It was a great 2 hours show, very expensive, and with and impressive water theme. The costumes in this show are created by the legendary fashion designers Dolce & Gabanna. You may see a lot of pictures from this concert here.

Arab Baths

2011-02-16T01:49:00.000-08:00

Right next the palace of La Almudaina in Palma de Mallorca there are The Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs). They are in the courtyard of the brollador and the gardens are surroounding the walled enclosure. They can be accessed via Ca'n Serra street corner with Convert of the Cathedral. There can be seen there lush gardens of Ca'n Fontirroig, home to Sardinian warblers, house sparrows, cacti, palm trees, and a wide range of flowers and ferns.

Actually there is a small two-roomed brick building that once housed the bath and was mostly used by the moors. This facility is, in fact, of Byzantine origin, dating back to the 11th century and possibly once part of the home of a Muslim nobleman. The bath room has a cupola with five oculi which let in dazzling light. The twelve columns holding up the small room were pillaged from an earlier Roman construction. The floor over the hypocaust has been worn away by people standing in the centre, mainly to photograph the entrance and the garden beyond it. The whole room is in a rather disreputable condition. The other room is a brick cube with a small model of the baths as they once were in the corner. Unfortunately one of the columns in this model has fallen over.

In the Middle Ages the waters of Palma Bay came up to the palace walls and it was possible to board a boat from the king's tower.

La Almudaina is currently used by the king as an official residence for state ceremonies and receptions during the summer.

Royal Palace Of La Almudaina

2011-02-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

This royal castle located in Majorca's capital has its earliest origins in megalithic settlements. It became a Roman castrum, the residence of Muslim Walis and later that of the Christian kings or their representatives. It has alaways been the seat of political power on the island owing to its privileged location overlooking the bay and city of Palma.

The castle, built during the caliphal period, was captured by James I of Aragon when he conquested the island in 1229. He remodelled the following year to make it the seat of the prosperous kingdom of Majorca, which also included Rousillon.

The access to the palace is through Porta Major in the facade opposite the Cathedral, which leads to the main courtyard or parade ground. On the left of it is the Tinell or Sala Major, a large hall built at the begining of the 14th century, and opposite stands St Anne's Chapel. The wqestern side of the Tinell leads into the Palau del Senyor Rei (King's Palace), which occupies a large, rectangular tower with three floors. Behind the Chapel is the courtyard of the "brollador" (water spout), on whose western side is located the Palau de la Senyora Regina (Queen's Palace), which extends across the whole of the facade that looks onto the Hort del Rei (King's Garden) and Rambla.

Crazy Christmas Cabaret 2010

2011-01-23T02:17:00.000-08:00

This was the 28th Crazy Christmas Cabaret. Vivienne McKee went into the old archives of horror films from the thirties to be inspired for her own gothic tale of werewolves, vampires, monsters and what-nots!!

She came up with this terrifying script which is bound to make you scream - if not laughing, then in anguish!

This show is produced by The London Toast Theatre, a company which maintains direct contact with professional English-speaking actors who live in England and also many who are now based pemanently in Denmark.

Palma de Mallorca - Son Sant Juan Airport

2011-01-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

In Palma de Mallorca it is the 3rd biggest airport in Spain. This is close to Can Pastilla village an is also known as Aeropuerto de Son Sant Juan. The only 2 airports which are bigger than this are Madrid and Barcelona. The numbers are quite impresive: 12.000 passengers every hour (21,1 million passengers every year) use this gate to one of the most popular holiday destination in Europe.

But this is not all, this airport is planed to become even larger. It will handle 32 million passengers in 2011 and 38 million in 2015. This is a performance taking into account this airport became used for the first time in 1920, and reached 1 million passengers in 1962.

The most known air lines who use this airport are Air Europa (from Spain) and Air Berlin (from Germany).

This airport has an area of 6,3 km² (2.4 sq mi). That means you can easily get lost. There very common the situations when people lose planes because of numerous ways and terminals existing there. Anyhow it has a very friendly personal and the architecture is really nice and warm. If you intend to visit Palma de Mallorca, go now, there is nothing to worry about!

The Storm

2010-10-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

The Storm is a Danish rockband which was started in September 2006 by Pernille Rosendahl (ex-Swan Lee vocalist) and Johan Wohlert (ex-Mew bassist).

Their first album came on the market on 11th of February 2008. This album is produced by legendary Roy Thomas Baker and between others gathers covers of Queen, The Cars and Danish bad Gasolin. For this disk contributed also Richard Fortus from Guns N' Roses. The name of the debut album is Where The Storm Meets the Ground. Their first single is called Drops In The Ocean.

The second album came in 2009, is produced by Jakob Hansen and is called Black Luck. The most known single is "Are your shoes too tight?".

The band is: Pernille Rosendahl - vocals, Wohlert and Mads Wegner - guitars, Michel Svane - drums, Jakob Millung - bass and keyboards.

Ingolstadt

2010-09-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ingolstadt is a city located along the banks of the Danube River. This is placed in the center of Bavaria and has more than 120 000 residents. It is part of the Munich Metropolitan Area which has a total population of more than 5 million people.

Ingolstadt was mentioned in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley as the birthplace of the monster created by the scientist Victor Frankenstein.

The headquarters of the German automobile manufacturer Audi are located in Ingolstadt, as well as the headquarters of the electronic stores Media Markt and Saturn. There are two railroad stations in Ingolstadt: Central Station which has been connected to Nuremberg by a high-speed rail link since May 2006 and Ingolstadt Nord.

Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of Charlemagne on 6th of February 806 as "Ingoldes stat", the place of Ingold. Around 1250, Ingolstadt was granted with city status. It was the capital of the duchy Bavaria-Ingolstadt between 1392 and 1447. After this Ingolstadt was united with Bavaria-Landshut. In 1472 Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria founded the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Ingolstadt, which was moved to Landshut in 1800 and finally to Munich.

On 30th of April 1632, the German field marshal Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly died at Ingolstadt during a Swedish siege of the city. The field marshal had been badly wounded in a previous engagement with the Swedes under King Gustavus Adolphus. Ingolstadt proved to be the first fortress in Germany that held out for the entire length of the Swedish siege, and the Swedes eventually withdrew. The horse of Gustavus Adolphus can be seen in the City Museum. It was shot from under the king by one of the cannons inside the fortress. The cannon was known as "The Fig". When the Swedes withdrew, the remains of the horse were preserved, and it was eventually put on display, and has remained so for almost 400 years.

Originally a fortress city, Ingolstadt is enclosed by a medieval defensive wall. The Bavarian fortress (1537–1930) nowadays holds the museum of the Bavarian army. During World War I, future French president Charles de Gaulle was detained there as a prisoner of war. A sappers' drill ground is still crossing the river, two military air bases are nearby, one used for testing airplanes. The long military tradition of the city is reflected in today's civil and cultural life. Former "off-limit" grounds are now well-used public parks.

Ingolstadt was the city where William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot in 1516. Adolf Scherzer composed the "Bayerischen Defiliermarsch", and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is related to the Ingolstädter Alte Anatomie (Old Anatomy Building), now a museum for medical history. In 1748, Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Order of Illuminati, was born in Ingolstadt. The famous writer Marieluise Fleißer wrote Pioniere in Ingolstadt in 1928.

As one of five ducal residences of medieval Bavaria next to Landshut, Munich, Straubing and Burghausen, the city of Ingolstadt features many gothic buildings, such as the Herzogskasten (Old ducal castle; ca. 1255) and the New Castle, which was built from 1418 onwards. The largest church is the gothic hall Church of Our Lady which was begun in 1425. Also the churches of Saint Maurice (1235) and of the monasteries Gnadenthal and of the Franciscans date from the gothic era. The Kreuztor (1385) is one of the remaining gates of the old city wall. The gothic Old City Hall was also constructed in the 14th century, but later altered several times.

Alphabeat

2010-08-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

Alphabeat are a Danish pop band established in Silkeborg by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG. They signed to the Polydor label. Their single, "Fascination", was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the UK in 2008. The next single, "10000 Nights of Thunder" (or just "10000 Nights" in the UK) saw equal acclaim, and their eponymous debut album went to 2nd place in Denmark's and UK's charts. It has sold over 100000 copies and their three top 20 singles have sold around of 400000 all together.

The band is made up of six members: Anders SG, Stine Bramsen, Anders B., Rasmus Nagel, Anders Reinholdt and Troels Hansen. Alphabeat's sound is mainly retro '80s melodic pop, taking inspiration amongst others from British bands Deacon Blue and Prefab Sprout, with distinctive overlays of male and female harmonies. The band was previously named Sodastar, but this was changed to avoid confusion with a German band.

The band's success in their domestic market attracted the attention of several major labels from larger markets abroad and Alphabeat was eventually signed to EMI's Charisma Records label in the United Kingdom. Their British debut single, "Fantastic 6" was released on 26th of November 2007.

Alphabeat received several positive reviews in major British publications such as NME, The Observer Music Monthly, Digital Spy and Popjustice. On 20th of December 2008, it was announced via press release that the band had been dropped by their UK label Charisma Records. In a statement from the band on 19th of January 2009, it was confirmed that they had chosen to leave the label after being given the opportunity. It was announced on 6th of March 2009 that Alphabeat had signed a new record deal with the Polydor label. The band's manager said "We are thrilled to be signing to one of the UK's most successful record companies, and looking forward to achieving even more success with the band and Polydor in the coming years."

In August 2009, Pop Justice premiered their new single "The Spell" which was set for an October release, with their second album to be released shortly thereafter. The album was released in Denmark as The Spell on 26th of October 2009 (where it reached 6th place on the album chart) and was originally set for release on 2nd of November 2009 in the UK. The UK release was subsequently pushed back until 1st of March 2010 and the album's title was changed to The Beat Is.... It entered the UK Albums Chart on 39th place. On 9th of January 2010 "DJ" was released as the second single in the Danish market, with a UK release, under the title "DJ (I Could Be Dancing)", scheduled for 31st of May. The second UK single, "Hole In My Heart", was released on 22nd of February 2010, debuting on 29th place on the UK Singles Chart.

Alphabeat made their UK debut at Monto Water Rats in May 2007 and later that year embarked on their first UK tour, supporting Palladium. They were offered the chance to play as a warm-up for the Spice Girls during their reunion world tour 2007-8, but declined the opportunity, feeling that it would be "too weird" to suddenly play in front of a very large audience unfamiliar with the band's music. They have often been associated with the Wonky Pop movement - their manager owns the brand name and they have played a number of Wonky Pop events and tours.

During the summer of 2008 they played numerous British and international festivals including T in the Park on "Camper's Friday", Roskilde Festival, T4 on the Beach, the "Summerfestival" (in Klaksvik, Faroe Islands, in early August), and in October 2008, along with many other bands at the NEC in Birmingham for hundreds of young girlguides. During late 2008, Alphabeat began a 22 gig tour of the UK and Holland, with many shows sold out. In the same year, the band was planning to play select shows with American singer Katy Perry on her 2008 world tour. However, in March 2009, Alphabeat cancelled their appearances in support of her US tour. Their management stated that they were instead working on their second album and planned to tour the USA later in the year. They performed a mini UK tour to promote "The Spell" in Autumn 2009 and toured the UK throughout April 2010, on the "The Beat Is... Tour". They also played a support slot for Lady Gaga on her U.K & Ireland leg of The Monster Ball Tour, which took place in February and March 2010. They made their US debut at the 2010 SXSW Festival.

Discography:

DJ (May 2010)

The Beat Is... (March 2010)

Hole In My Heart (February 2010)

The Spell (October 2009)

What Is Happening (November 08)

Boyfriend (August 08)

This is Alphabeat (June 08)

10,000 Nights (May 08)

Fascination (February 08)

Thermal Waters In Romania

2010-08-08T04:37:00.000-07:00

Felix spa and resort is very well known among Romanian people. It seems to be the most important thermal resort in Romania. There are a lot of facilities you can find in this place and an excellent infrastructure also. There are a lot of hotels and hostels there, very affordable prices and many restaurants with really great food.

There are only 22 Km to the Romanian-Hungarian border, there is an airport in Oradea (8 km to the west). There are many pubs, night clubs or disco-clubs waiting for tourists. The people in the area is very kind and open to the visitors demands.

The main pool in Felix is open during all the year and has a lot of facilities. There are water slides, a lot of stores, restaurants, and a fast food service. There exists 2 bars right on the pool side. There are many spa services you can have there. And the treatment is affordable and high professional made. The entrance costs around 6 Euro for one day.

There are also another pools, with not so much facilities but even cheaper to get in. The thermal water in this area is very healthy and can prevent or offer treatment for rheumatism and neurological and gynecological diseases. A very good place for sleep is Pensiunea Casa Grande which I strongly recommend. A night in double room with all the modern facilities costs around 24 Euro. There exists an apartment too, you can book for 48 Euro.

In the night you can hear Romanian folk music in one of the open air restaurants from Felix or you can have a great party in discoteque. I can recommend you Club Dark which is really nice and clean. Good music, and very affordable drinks inside. Entrance costs 3 Euro, and the same price you pay for a really tasty cocktail. Have fun!

Munich Airport - Franz Josef Strauss

2010-08-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport is located 28.5 km northeast of Munich, Germany, and is a hub for Lufthansa and Star Alliance partner airlines. It lies in direct proximity to the old city of Freising and is named in memory of politician Franz Josef Strauss. The airport is located on the territory of three different municipalities: Oberding, Hallbergmoos and Marzling. Between 1995 and 2006 passenger numbers doubled from under 15 million per annum to over 30 million, despite the impact of ‘9/11’ in 2001 and 2002. In 1996 it overtook Düsseldorf as Germany’s second busiest airport and now handles almost twice as many passengers as the country’s third busiest airport and is Lufthansa’s second base in Germany after Frankfurt.

Munich Airport is the second busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic, behind Frankfurt Airport while it is the world's 14th busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. In 2009 it was named the second Best Airport in Europe and fifth-best in the world.

The airport started to operate on 17th of May 1992, when operations moved from the former site at Munich-Riem, which was closed down shortly before midnight on the day before. When its construction was started in 1980 a village named Franzheim had to be demolished, its 500 inhabitants having been resettled in other places in the area. The airport was named after Franz Josef Strauß, who played an important role in German politics. Among other Strauß was a long-time First Minister (Governor) of Bavaria (the state where the airport is located). Under his government, the airport was planned. Strauß, having been a private pilot himself, was said to have a particular interest in the aviation industry and infrastructure. Naming the airport by its full name is quite uncommon, even the airport authority is only named "Flughafen München Gesellschaft". In the Munich area, most people prefer the term "Flughafen München" (Munich Airport), sometimes "Flughafen München II" or simply MUC. The company operating the airport brands it as "M - Flughafen München".

Most of the airport's facilities are located in the area between the two runways. The approach road and railway divide the west part into a southern half, which contains cargo and maintenance facilities, and a northern half, which contains mostly administrative buildings, a holiday long-term parking lot and the Visitors' Centre. It is followed by the west apron and Terminal 1, then the Munich Airport Center (MAC), Terminal 2 and the east apron.

The Munich Airport Centre (MAC) is a shopping, business and recreation area that connects the two terminals. The older Central Area (Zentralbereich), which was originally built as part of Terminal 1, hosts an underground shopping mall and the S-Bahn station. The newer MAC Forum built with Terminal 2 is a large outdoor area with a tent-like, partly transparent roof. Next to it is the airport hotel managed by Kempinski.

The airport authorities have set out to cater for visitors and sight-seers by creating a 'Visitors Park' which includes a 'Visitors Hill' from which a good view can be obtained of the westerly aircraft apron and Terminal 1. This is served by a railway station named 'Besucherpark'. There are three historic aircraft on display in the park, a Super Constellation, a Douglas DC-3 and a Junkers Ju 52/3m. There is also a visitors viewing terrace on the roof of Terminal 2 that gives a view of the easterly aircraft apron.

Munich Airport is connected to the city by Munich suburban railway lines S1 and S8. The ride takes approximately 45 minutes. Bus lines connect the airport to the nearby city of Freising as well as Erding and Markt Schwaben. Lufthansa Airport Bus provides an alternative to the S-Bahn, stopping at Nordfriedhof subway station and Munich Central Station. Munich Airport is accessible via nearby Motorway A 92, which connects to Motorway A 9 and Munich's ring motorway A 99, Bavarian State Road St. 2584 connects A 92's exit 6 (Flughafen München) - an incomplete interchange that can only be used by traffic to and from the west - to the terminals. Access from the east is possible via exit 8 (Freising Ost) and Bavarian State Road St. 2580, which connects to St. 2584 in the east of the airport. More informations about Munich here

Julie Maria

2010-08-05T02:29:00.000-07:00

Julie Maria was born into music. She is the daughter of singer Mona Larsen and her stepfather is jazz bassist Bo Stief. She was with his parents on tour and soon learned to experience the totality of the music across genres and languages. Five years followed the Danish Radio Girls' Choir, twelve years at the Rudolf Steiner School where she was surrounded by classical music and played violin in the symphony orchestra. Julie Maria has since trained at Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen.

Julie Maria debuted in 2004 with the album Beautiful Minor. The following year, she was contacted by TV-2's lead singer, Steffen Brandt, who had heard her disk. He invited Julie Maria in studio to sing the duet "Et Lykkeligt Goodbye", which is on TV 2's album "De første kærester på månen" (November 2005). Since then Julie Maria and Steffen Brandt sang together in particular radio program Café Hack at P4 and P3 live, and the duo also played in a series of events around the country in which they interpreted each other's songs.

Inspired by the collaboration with Steffen Brandt, Julie Maria started to write in Danish, and resulted in the album "På kanten af virkeligheden", issued in 2007 and featured the singles "Også om dagen" and "Hjerteløv".

Julie Maria sang also distinctive song, "Without each other" for DR TV Christmas Calendar 2009. Her records company is Playground Music.

Air Berlin

2010-08-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

Air Berlin is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers. The airline operates an extensive semi-low-cost network including holiday destinations in the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and North Africa as well as intercontinental destinations in South East Asia, the Caribbean and the United States.

Air Berlin concentrates on serving major German and European cities to attract business traffic. A total of 23 German cities are served, more than any other airline. The airline is headquartered in Building 2 of the Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin. Its largest hub is Berlin-Tegel Airport. Other hub airports are Dusseldorf Airport, Nuremberg Airport and Son Sant Joan Airport, Palma. In January 2010 Air Berlin's fleet, including those of its subsidiaries, consisted of 146 operational aircraft.

In contrast to pure European low-cost carriers like Ryanair or easyJet, Air Berlin offers free (at the point of consumption) in-flight snacks and drinks. Full meals are available for purchase on short haul flights longer than 90 minutes, on flights over six hours they are complimentary. One can order gourmet meals, which are, according to the airline, created by chefs at "Sansibar", a famous restaurant on the island of Sylt. The airline also offers free newspapers, assigned seating, and guaranteed flight connections. On flights operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, a dedicated business class section is offered. On most flight, Air Berlin offers movies and tv shows.

Like many other airlines, Air Berlin has a frequent flyer scheme. Air Berlin's frequent flyer program (called topbonus) is operated jointly with Niki. Points (“miles”) can be collected on all flights, and these can be redeemed later for free flights (award flights) or for an upgrade to business class. In addition to the “topbonus Card Classic” there are cards with Silver and Gold status. A Service Card, for which a charge is made, available. I must mention here, the personal is very kind and gentile with the passengers. It may happen that some planes to delay but this is because they are waiting for all the passengers to be on board.

A flight from Dusseldorf to Palma de Mallorca costs minimum 270 Euro for one adult
A flight from Copenhagen to Dusseldorf costs minimum 154 Euro for one adult

Copenhagen Airport

2010-08-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, only 8 kilometers south of Copenhagen city centre, and 24 kilometers west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. It is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, and one of the oldest international airports in Europe.

The airport is the main hub out of three used by Scandinavian Airlines and is also a hub for Cimber Sterling, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, Norwegian Air Shuttle and for transavia.com. Copenhagen Airport serves nearly 60,000 passengers per day. 19.7 million passengers passed through the facility in 2009, making it the busiest airport in the Nordic countries, with a maximum capacity of 83 loadings/hour and with room for 108 airplanes. It is owned by Københavns Lufthavne, which also operates Roskilde Airport. The airport employs 1700 staff (excluding shops, restaurants etc.).

Copenhagen Airport was originally called Kastrup Airport, since it is located in the small town of Kastrup, now a part of the Tårnby municipality. The formal name of the airport is still Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, to distinguish it from Roskilde Airport, which formally is called Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde. Locally it's still known as just Kastrup among people. The opening of service on Kastrup was on 20th of April 1925 and it had a grass runway. In 1939 it was built by architect Vilhelm Lauritzen the first terminal of the airport and in 1941 the first hard-surface runway was ready to use.

Copenhagen Airport has three terminals and a new one is set to open in 2010. The new terminal, CPH Swift, is intended to be used by low-cost airlines. Terminal 1 is used for all domestic flights. Terminals 2 and 3 handle international flights (both Schengen and non-Schengen) and share a common airside passenger concourse as well as the arrivals section - which houses customs and baggage claim and is physically located in Terminal 3.

The airport can be accessed in various ways:

Rail - the airport's station is located underneath Terminal 3 on the Øresund Railway Line and is served by Øresundstogene, the main way to get into the city centre, and to Helsingør, to Malmö, and other Swedish cities. Danish intercity trains terminate at this station, going to places in Denmark such as Esbjerg, Århus, Frederikshavn and Padborg, where connections are available for trains to Germany. Also, SJ operates X2000 high-speed trains to Stockholm and to Gothenburg.

Metro - Line M2 of the Copenhagen Metro links the airport with the city centre.

Bus - Movia buses 5A, 35, 36 and 96 N and Gråhundbus line 999 all stop at the airport; bus 888, express-bus to Jutland, also stops at the airport. Movia bus 2A stops near the airport. There are long-distance buses to Sweden.

Motorway - the E20 runs right by the airport. The E20 uses the Oresund Bridge to Sweden. The airport has 8,600 parking spaces. Customers can pre-book their parking space online by visiting the Copenhagen Airport website: http://www.cph.dk.

With almost 20 million passengers per year, Copenhagen Airport is the largest airport in the Nordic countries. More about Copenhagen here.

Dicte

2010-07-31T03:51:00.000-07:00

Dicte started to play at a very young age and first appeared in 1983 with original songs and tracks from Janis Joplin's repertoire. She played in the beginning with a band from Viborg, called Farandola, but in 1987 she moved to Aarhus, where she played in many different contexts, until 1989 when she formed the group Her Personal Pain. Shortly after the formation ran in and won the talent competition Vi har scenen - har I musikken.

This band released in 1990 a disk with six songs. They went in a tour across the country and therefore the group was well known in music circles, not so much the general public, despite

a successful concert at the Roskilde Festival in 1990. This band participated in a support disk for Amnesty International, and in 1992 finally appeared Her Personal Pains first independent album.

However, this group was disbanded in 1993, when Dicte went solo. Dicte first solo album was released in 1994, and was rewarded with a three annual grant from the State Arts Foundation. She has since released several albums with the original concept that makes Dicte to an energy of Danish music. She has not been afraid to try other genres such as jazz, classical and R & B, although rock is most evident in her music.

In addition, she has tried their hand at film and theater as an actor, right she has created music for theater pictured out. Gradually, Dicte assembled a band named The Sugarbones, where she plays guitar and sings along with, among other things her longstanding collaborator operational part that requests Gliemann on keyboards.

Dicte was nominated for Danish Music Awards 2007 as the Danish Singer of the Year.

The Sugarbones:

Kæv Gliemann - keyboards, guitars, programs and choir

Mika Vandborg - guitars and choir

Lennart Ginman - bass

Thomas Duus - drums and choir

Scandinavian Airlines

2010-07-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

SAS was founded on 1 August 1946 when Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, AB Aerotransport and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS (the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway) formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia. Operations started on 17 September 1946. The companies then started coordination of European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the current SAS Consortium in 1951. When established the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%) and SAS Sweden (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their respective governments. SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of several local airlines. In May 1997 SAS formed the global Star Alliance network with Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.

Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag, trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground Services and SAS Technical Services. It holds minority ownership of Air Greenland, Estonian Air, Skyways Express and Spanair. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.

There exists a SAS Museum at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, where the exhibits represent an important part of Scandinavian civil aviation history. The museum collections cover Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) as well as its parent companies: AB Aerotransport (ABA), Det Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL) and Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL). SAS is an important North European company, some of their flights may be very expensive. For instance the costs bellow:

- a fly, 2ways, from Copenhagen to New York costs 4000 DKK (533 Euro)

- a fly, one way, from Copenhagen to Aalborg costs 295 DKK (40 Euro)

- a fly, 2 ways, from Copenahgen to Bangkok costs 6345 DKK (846 Euro)

Aarhus Airport

2010-07-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Aarhus Airport (AAR) is a civilian airport located in Tirstrup, Denmark, which is in Northeast of Aarhus. The website of this airport is www.aar.dk Even this airport is not very big, it offers a lot of facilities and is very well maintained. There is also a summer garden for the smokers or for the people who really like nature.

There are taxis traveling to the city available from outside the terminal building. The cost of a taxi from Aarhus to the airport is about 500 DKK (around 67 Euro). There are 45 Km from Aarhus center to the airport. The cost of a bus travel is 150 DKK per person (around 20 Euro).

An airport bus service takes passengers from the airport to Aarhus and back. It is available 24 hours a day. Also, bus route 212 between Ebeltoft and Randers stops at the airport.

The operating airlines on this airport are:

- British Airways operated by Sun Air of Scandinavia for Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Bromma,

- Bulgarian Air Charter for Burgas [seasonal] and Varna [seasonal]

- Cimber Sterling for Copenhagen

- Ryanair for Alicante [seasonal], Girona [seasonal], London-Stansted, Málaga and Oslo-Rygge

- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)for Copenhagen

People are very kind and warm on this airport. The prices for services inside are affordable in respect with the prices in Denmark which are considered to be really high. More about Aarhus here

CV Jørgensen

2010-07-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

Carsten Valentin (CV) Jørgensen (born 9th of May 1950, in Lyngby) is a Danish singer and songwriter. Between The name Valentine is not lawfully recognized in Denmark.

C.V. Jørgensen has a creative style with numerous metaphors who lifted him level from pop singer to poet who enjoys recognition among writers and poets. The keynote of his texts are a melancholy fervor that often borders on direct alarmism, biting social satire or short fables about human destinies.

C.V. Jørgensen got the two album releases in relative obscurity his breakthrough with the folk rock LP: Storbyens små oaser (1977), where his satirical texts are about Danish allotment idyll and the academic intelligentsia.

The style was continued throughout the 1980s, when Jorgensen's texts were clear opposition to the yuppie and bourgeois political domination. In 1980 he recorded the album Tidens Tern together with the US-Danish guitarist Billy Cross' Delta Cross Band. Although the album's song Costa del Sol that is a satire of rich Danish retired flight to tax havens at the Spanish coast. Cross and Jorgensen, shortly after they finished it, break up their collaboration.

In January 2006, Tidens Tern was selected to be part of the Culture Ministry's cultural canon in category of popular music.

In the 1990s C.V. Jørgensen shifted to a radical style of the album Sjælland (1994), which mixed pop sound with floating, free jazz-inspired brass. The musical focus was moved from a standard rock format to a more free style with an emphasis on atmosphere. Texts shifted from the wordy, narrative style to tight feeling images. A style that he continued eight years later in his album Fraklip fra det fjerne(2002).

C.V. Jørgensen has in his career worked with a number of Danish rock music profiles, including Ivan Horn, Tim Christensen, Aske Jacoby, Sanne Salomonsen, Gert Smedegaard, Niels Henriksen. In late summer 2009 turned CV Jørgensen for the first time in seven years back to the stage, with three concerts in Århus Festival.

Hej Matematik

2010-07-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Hej Matematik is a Danish pop band, consisting of the Aqua-member Søren Rasted and his nephew Nicolaj Rasted. They did well on the Danish charts and their debut album was being marketed as "an intelligent pop record" which is most likely a reference to the songs' equivocal lyrics and atmosphere commenting on urban lifestyle. They won Danish Hit of the Year with the single Walkmand at Zulu Awards 2009 - an annual award-ceremony held by Denmark's largest commercial television station TV 2.

In November 2nd, 2009, Hej Matematik released Party I Provinsen, the lead single of their forthcoming second album. The album has been released in Denmark on January 25th, 2010, under the title "Alt Går Op I 6".

Søren Rasted together with Lene Nystrøm, René Dif and Claus Norréen started the Danish success band Aqua.

Hej Matematik had in the past a dispute with well known band R.E.M. These pretended the video Hej Matematik - Walkmand is too close of R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious. As a consequence they contacted YouTube and asked them to block the video of the Danish band.

Samsø - Energy Island

2010-06-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

Samsø also written Samsoe, is a Danish island in the Kattegat 15 kilometers of the Jylland Peninsula. The community has 4,300 inhabitants, most of them retired people, called Samsingers and it covers an are of 114 km². Due to its central location, the island was used during the Viking Age as a meeting place. People in Samsø like to say that Samsø is center of Denmark, and center of Europe also.

In 1997, Samsø won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community. Now this island is 100% energeticaly independent. An offshore wind farm comprising 10 turbines (making a total of 21 altogether including land-based windmills), was completed, funded by the islanders. The people of Samsø heat their homes with straw burned in a central heating system and they power some vehicles on biofuel which they also grow. Now 100% of its electricity comes from wind power and 75% of its heat comes from solar power and biomass energy.

An Energy Academy has opened in Ballen, with a visitor education center. You can find its website here.

The island is very popular for strawberry picking during the months of June and July every year. In Denmark, the island is well-known for its early potatoes. The first few pounds of potatoes usually fetch prices around £100, and are considered a great delicacy. Ballen's beach and village are popular with visitors; it is served by the bus which runs around the island, including the ferry terminals. In clear weather, you can see the peninsula of Helgenæs to the north.

For a community of more than 4300 people there is only one policeman on this island. That is because there is zero criminality on Samsø.

Crazy Christmas Cabaret 2009

2010-02-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

This is a well known English show directed by Vivienne McKnee but played in Denmark. They have made a play every year since 1982 choosing a popular theme. It is really fun and the costumes are amazing. The theater company is called London Toast.

The actors are David Bateson, Andrew Jeffers, Bennet Thorpe, Katrine Falkenberg, Elliot Russo, Vivienne McKnee, Rene Andersen, Kirsten Brink, Peter Friis, Barry McKenna, Peter Dijring, Søren Bruunsgaard Petersen, Tom Høklund Olsen, Stuart Goodstein

The main character of this play is Dr. Bent van Helsingør. He was born in Elsinore and graduted Hamlet University. He went vampire hunting in Transylvania. After a near-death experience in 1986, fighting count Dracula, Bent started his fabulous acting career with London Toast Theater. He appeared in no less than 21 Crazy Christmas Cabarets. TV appearances include Hopla, Aha, Hooray&Boo and TV avisen. He established "Hyggeligans United" and his own touring band "Gammel Dansk" (best known for his rap hit "Hello I must be going!"). This year he is happy to be "consiliere" to the Godfather and warns you to be aware of bankers.

Aalborg

2009-12-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Aalborg is a city in Denmark having 122,461 inhabitants and being the fourth largest city in the country after Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense. It is located by the Limfjord and was an important harbour during the Middle Ages, and an industrial centre later. Today the city is in a transition from a working-class, industrial city to a knowledge-based one.

Aalborg is located 120 kilometres north of Aarhus and 414 kilometres (by Great Belt Fixed Link) to Copenhagen.

The old Aalborghus Castle (Aalborghus Slot) and some picturesque houses of the 17th century can be seen in the center of the town. The half-timbered (bindingsværk) castle was built in 1550 by King Christian III, and was converted to government administration offices in the 1950. Jens Bang's House, a five story building built in 1624 by the merchant Jens Bang is an example of Renaissance architecture. It is located on Nytorv next to the old Town Hall. The present Budolfi Church was built at the end of the 14th century, although at least two earlier churches stood on the same spot. Budolfi Church was just a parish church until it became the seat of the Lutheran bishop of Aalborg in 1554.

Vor Frue Kirke ("Church of Our Lady") is a relatively modern church. The original Church of Our Lady from the early 1100s was pulled down after the Reformation because it was so old and unstable. The newer building in a different location was partially burned in 1894. Underneath the main pedestrian shopping street is a newly opened museum of the excavation of a monastery from the 11th century. Nørresundby is the site of the Lindholm Høje settlement and burial ground from the Germanic Iron Age and Viking times. There is also a museum on the site.

Aalborgtårnet is a tripod tower erected in 1933. The tower still gives an exquisite view over the fjord and the city from its 105 m rise over the sea level. Near the Aalbor Tower you find KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg an art museum built in 1972 designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. In 2008 the Utzon Center, dedicated to the work of the noted architect Jørn Utzon, was built next to the Limfjord at the central harbour front in Aalborg.

Nordkraft is a cultural centre in a former power plant near the harbour. It has theatres (opening in 2010), a cinema, concert facilities. In its neighbourhood a classical concert hall, Musikkens Hus and so one.

One of the most popular and famous streets in Aalborg, possibly even in Denmark, is Jomfru Ane Gade, or simply just Gaden ("The Street"). The name translates to "Mistress' Anne's Street" in English. The pubs and restaurants on this street offer beer and other spirits for some of the most competitive prices in Denmark. Jomfru Ane Gade is a café and restaurant street during day which, at night, turn into clubs, discos and bars. During the 1990s the street was infamous for being a 'hang out' of two biker gangs who were at war for some years all over Scandinavia, but as the bikers disappeared from the street it became even more popular among people of all ages. During the day, tourists and employees in the city come to Jomfru Ane Gade, especially for its restaurants. In the afternoons some of the cafés open. Around 11 pm the mood of the street changes into more of a party street when younger people arrive.

The annual Aalborg Carnival takes place in the weekend of week 21 (usually the last week in May). The Carnival is actually three events, the children's carnival (Børnekarneval), the battle of carnival bands, and the carnival itself. During the carnival, Aalborg receives about 100,000 people. The Carnival ends with a grand firework display.

Millennium - Trilogy

2009-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Millennium Trilogy is a series of three bestselling novels written by Stieg Larsson. The novels in the series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, were first published in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.

The trilogy has been made into three films, the first "Män som hatar kvinnor" (Men Who Hate Women) is available on DVD, but in Swedish with Scandinavian languages subtitles only, the second "Flickan som lekte med elden" (The Girl Who Played with Fire) had a cinema release on September 18, 2009, the third "Luftslottet som sprängdes" (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest) is supposed to have its cinematic release on November 27, 2009.

"Män som hatar kvinnor" (Swedish for "Men who hate women," renamed in the English translation as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is an award-winning novel by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson, the first in his "Millennium Trilogy". At his death in November 2004 he left three unpublished novels that made up the trilogy. It became a posthumous best-seller in Europe.

Filming began in early 2008, and "Men Who Hate Women" (the film title of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), opened in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland in February-March 2009. So far, it has been seen by more than 2.5 million people in those countries. In Norway and Denmark it is the most viewed Swedish film ever, and in Sweden total admissions are above one million.

The films have been sold to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Poland.

The Girl Who Played with Fire (original title in Swedish: "Flickan som lekte med elden") is the second novel in the million-selling Millennium Trilogy by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. The book features many of the characters that appeared in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among them Lisbeth Salander, the "Girl" of the title and a social misfit hacker, and Mikael Blomkvist, a investigative journalist and publisher of Millennium magazine. Widely seen as a critical success, The Girl Who Played with Fire was also (according to The Bookseller magazine) the first and only translated novel to be number one in the UK hardback chart.

For non-Swedish readers of the book, it might be interesting to know that the character of Paolo Roberto is not a fictional character. He is an ex-boxer and TV-chef who also dabbled in politics. He is featured in some very important chapters and will play himself in the film based on the book.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (original title in Swedish: "Luftslottet som sprängdes") is the third and final novel in the million-selling Millennium Trilogy by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2007 and was published in English in the UK in October 2009. The Swedish title literally means "The Air Castle that was blown up". Luftslott ("Air castle") is used in Swedish to designate a pipe dream.

Tina Dickow - Tina Dico

2009-10-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow on October 14, 1977) is a singer and songwriter inspired by artists such as Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

In her home country of Denmark, she worked with the lead singer of the band TV-2, Steffen Brandt. She won a Steppeulv and a Danish Music Award in 2004 for her album, Notes, and the award for best female vocalist at the Danish Music Awards 2006. Internationally, she may be best known for her collaboration with the English duo Zero 7 on their second album, When It Falls, with the song "Home" and "The Space Between". In Denmark she performs under her real name, Tina Dickow.

Dickow was born in Åbyhøj near Århus, Denmark. At a very young age, she was introduced to music by her father who owned a big hi-fi stereo system in their basement. After public school, she attended a music boarding school, and after that she went to high school. Music still was her passion, and during her first years she performed with the cover band, Fester Kester.

In 1997 while attending her third year at high school, she was cast in the erotic TV-series, Karrusel (Carrousel), where she starred with Peter Steen and Michael Falch (produced 1997, broadcast 1998 on Danish TV2). After her performance she was offered several parts but did not like to be type cast as the "naive girl from Jutland," which was why she refused every offer. While Dickow performs under her real name in Denmark, abroad she is known as Tina Dico in order to avoid mispronunciation by American English speakers.

In 1998, Dickow introduced the other members of the band Fester Kester to a song of her own, and their enthusiasm led them to enter, and win, two talent contests the same year: "Talentspot" on Danish TV2, and "Vi har scenen, har I musikken?" (We have the stage, do you have the music?) in Aarhus. The band "Tina Dickow and Sheriff" was formed in 1998, and later that year the single "Your Waste of Time" was released. It was picked as "Song of the Week" on Danish National Radio, P3, and led to some degree of fame.

Several conversations with established record labels followed, but Dickow was unhappy with the way they intended to market her. Instead she got a loan from a bank, and started her own record label, Finest Gramophone, in 2000. The company’s first release was Dickow’s Fuel in 2001. The critic's response was modest, but most recognized her potential as an artist. Also in 2001, Dickow teamed up with her current manager, Jonathan Morley, on the SPOT-festival in Aarhus. She signed a four-year contract with Morley, and during the 2002 MIDEM-festival in Cannes, France she signed with English publisher Kojam Music.

Finest Gramophone went on to sign another Danish act, Love Julie, which released two albums. Dickow has said that she has no intention of signing future acts, due mostly to time constraints.

In the beginning of 2002, Dickow moved to England in an attempt to escape from the cozy atmosphere in Denmark. Thanks to her contract with Morley, she had the opportunity to step into the English music community, which led to a collaboration with Australian singer Holly Valance on the song "Send My Best." Dickow wrote the album Notes during her stay in England, capturing the loneliness and fear of being alone in London. Notes was recorded in two days and was released later that year. The critics were very positive this time. Notes won a Steppeulv (the Danish music critics award) in the category "Composer of the Year" and a Danish Music Award for "Songwriter of the Year".

During her work with Valance, Dickow met Sam Hardaker, one of the members of the English trip-hop-lounge duo, Zero 7. She was asked to collaborate with them, and they recorded "Home" and "The Space Between" which are featured on the album When It Falls. A tour with more than 100 shows in Europe, U.S., and Asia followed. While Dickow does not appear on Zero 7's The Garden, she has stated her desire to someday work with Zero 7 again.

The EP Far, with new versions of some of the tracks from Notes, one track from Fuel and a brand new song, was released in 2004. The purpose of the EP was to follow up on the success from the Zero 7 tour. In 2004, Dickow signed a multinational record deal with Sony UK, and the recordings to her international debut begun in late 2004. In early 2005, Sony and BMG merged, and the deal was canceled. The legal rights to the songs were handed over to Dickow, and the album was released in cooperation with the Danish company, A:Larm in June 2005. The album went straight to No. 1 on the Danish album chart in front of prominent names such as U2 and Coldplay.

In January 2006, Dickow won the P3 Award and DKK 100,000 which is granted by Danish National Radio P3. The jury said this of Dickow's effort: “Courage, self-esteem and talent is required if you want to be yourself and perform your own songs – without overstyled fuss. The winner of the P3 Award certainly possesses these qualities.” In March 2006, Dickow won the Danish Music Award for "Singer of the Year".

Dickow has released her fourth studio album entitled Count to Ten on September 3rd, 2007.

In September 2008, Dickow won the Kronprinsparrets Kulturpris and DKK 500,000 which was granted by Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark for “having the courage to look the contradictory and difficult parts of existence in the eye, and for the ability to express it in a very special, life-affirming fashion that many can identify themselves with.”

Discography

Fuel (2001)

Notes (2003)

Far (EP, 2004)

In the Red (2006)

Count To Ten (2007)

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur" (2007) Tina Dico (listed as Tina Dickow) cover of Working Class Hero (John Lennon)

Side By Side - duets Vol. 1" Award-winning American artist AM (musician) and Tina Dico perform the duet "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (2008) a cover of a George Harrison song

A Beginning, A Detour, An Open Ending (2008)

Vienna - Capital of Austria

2009-09-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by population in the European Union.

Vienna lies in the east of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

The English name of Vienna, the German name Wien, and the names of the city in most languages, are thought to be derived from the Celtic name of a settlement, but opinions vary on the precise origin. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning "forest stream", which subsequently became Venia, Wienne and Wien. Others claim that the name comes from the name of the Roman settlement Vindobona, probably meaning "white base/bottom", which became Vindovina, Viden and Wien. The name of the city in Hungarian (Bécs), Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (Bec) and Ottoman Turkish (Beç) appears to have a different, Slavonic, origin.

Founded around 500 BC, Vienna was originally a Celtic settlement. In 15 BC, Vienna became a Roman frontier city (Vindobona) guarding the Roman Empire against Germanic tribes to the north. In the 13th century, Vienna came under threat from the Mongolian Empire, which stretched over much of present-day Russia and China. However, due to the death of its leader, Ogedei Khan, the Mongolian armies receded from the European frontier and did not return.

During the Middle Ages, Vienna was home to the Babenberg Dynasty, and in 1440 AD, it became the resident city of the Habsburg Dynasties, then it eventually grew to become the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman armies were stopped twice outside Vienna (see Siege of Vienna, 1529 and Battle of Vienna, 1683).

In 1804, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the 1814 Congress of Vienna. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the latter half of the 19th century, the city developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße, a major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically.

In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the First Austrian Republic. During the 1920s and 1930s, it was a bastion of socialism in Austria, and was known as the "Red Vienna." The city was a stage to the Austrian Civil War of 1934, when Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss sent the Austrian Army to shell civilian housing occupied by the socialist militia. In 1938, after a triumphant entry into Austria, Adolf Hitler famously spoke to the Austrian people from the balcony of the Neue Burg, a part of the Hofburg at the Heldenplatz. Between 1938 (Anschluß) and the end of the Second World War, Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin.

In 1945, the Soviets successfully launched the Vienna Offensive against Germans who were holding Vienna. The city was besieged for about two weeks before it fell to the Soviets. After 1945, Vienna again became the capital of Austria, was initially divided into zones by the four powers (or the four prevailing nations), and was governed by the Allied Commission for Austria. The four-power occupation of Vienna differed in some respects from the four-power occupation of Berlin: the central area of Vienna had an international zone in which the four powers alternated on a monthly basis. When the Berlin blockade occurred in 1948, Vienna was even more vulnerable because there was no airport in the western sectors. However, despite fears, the Soviets did not blockade Vienna. Some have argued that this was because the Potsdam Agreement gave written rights of land access to the western sectors, whereas no such written guarantees had been given regarding Berlin. The true reason will, however, always remain a matter of speculation. During the 10 years of foreign occupation, Vienna became a hot-bed for international espionage between the Western and Eastern blocs. The atmosphere of four-power Vienna is captured in the Graham Greene novel The Third Man and by the movie which followed.

In the 1970s, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky inaugurated the Vienna International Centre, a new area of the city created to host international institutions. Vienna has regained a part of its former international relevance by hosting international organizations, such as the United Nations (UNIDO, UNOV, CTBTO and UNODC), the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Due to the industrialization and immigration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as the capital of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). In 1910, Vienna had more than 2 million inhabitants, and was one of the six largest cities in the world. At the turn of the century, Vienna was the city with the second largest Czech population in the world (after Prague). However, after World War I, many Czechs and Hungarians returned to their ancestral countries, resulting in a decline in the Viennese population. At the height of the migration, about one-third of the Viennese population were of Slavic or Hungarian origin. By 2001, 16% of people under the census living in Vienna had nationalities other than Austrian, nearly half of whom were from former Yugoslavia, primarily Serbs; the next most numerous nationalities in Vienna were Turkish (39,000 or 2.5%), Polish (13,600 or 0.9%) and German (12,700 or 0.8%). However, the real numbers of people of different nationalities living today in Vienna is much higher due to high numbers of individuals not being counted in the census who either do not possess Austrian citizenship or who live illegally in Austria.

Vienna is located in north-eastern Austria, at the easternmost extension of the Alps in the Vienna Basin. The earliest settlement, at the location of today's inner city, was south of the meandering Danube while the city now spans both sides of the river. Elevation ranges from 151 to 524 m (495 to 1,719 ft). Vienna has a humid continental climate according to the Köppen classification. The city has warm summers with average high temperatures of 22 - 26°C (72 - 79°F), with maxima exceeding 30°C (86°F) and lows of around 15°C (59°F). Winters are relatively cold with average temperatures at about freezing point, and snowfall occurring mainly from December through March. Spring and autumn are cool to mild. Precipitation is generally moderate throughout the year, averaging 620 mm (24.4 inches) annually.

Major tourist attractions include the imperial palaces of the Hofburg and Schönbrunn (also home to the world's oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schönbrunn) and the Riesenrad in the Prater. Cultural highlights include the Burgtheater, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Lipizzaner horses at the spanische Hofreitschule and the Vienna Boys' Choir, as well as excursions to Vienna's Heuriger districts.

There are also more than 100 art museums, which together attract over eight million visitors per year. The most popular ones are Albertina, Belvedere, Leopold Museum in the Museumsquartier, KunstHausWien, BA-CA Kunstforum, the twin Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum, and the Technisches Museum Wien, each of which receives over a quarter of a million visitors per year.

There are many popular sites associated with composers who lived in Vienna including Beethoven's various residences and grave at Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) which is the largest cemetery in Vienna and the burial site of many famous people. Mozart has a memorial grave at the Habsburg gardens and at St. Marx cemetery (where his grave was lost). Vienna's many churches also draw large crowds, the most famous of which are St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Deutschordenskirche, the Jesuitenkirche, the Karlskirche, the Peterskirche, Maria am Gestade, the Minoritenkirche, the Ruprechtskirche, the Schottenkirche and the Votivkirche.

Modern attractions include the Hundertwasserhaus, the United Nations headquarters and the view from the Donauturm.

Outlandish

2009-08-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Outlandish are a multi-award winning hip-hop group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, they consist of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Moroccan background), Waqas Ali Qadri (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and Lenny Martinez (born in Honduras and is of Cuban and Honduran descent). All three members are devoutly religious, Isam and Waqas being Muslims, and Lenny being Catholic. The band members live in Brøndby Strand.

Outlandish's hip-hop/R&B/soul music sound takes influences from their various backgrounds (Moroccan/Arab/Amazigh, Pakistani/Punjabi and Latin American), and although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu/Punjabi, Danish, and Arabic. All these influences make the music of Outlandish somewhat unique and this is easy to notice from the variety of genres covered in their albums. Outlandish often include themes about Islam and contemporary issues facing young Muslims in the west in their music, and sometimes their songs define a unique nasheed-like urban genre.

Their first single "Pacific To Pacific" was used in connection with an Amnesty International charity event. Next came the single "Saturday Night", a song that was later to be included on the soundtrack for the Danish movie Pizza King. These singles were the prelude to their first album, Outland's Official (2000), which was only released in Denmark. The hit song "Walou" was later included on their second album Bread & Barrels of Water.

Singles from their second album made the most impact on the international music charts. Hit singles included "Aicha" (first made famous by Khaled) which made it to number one in Germany, and received a lot of airplay across many Asian countries, especially in South Korea. The video to "Aicha" also won a best music video award. "Guantanamo" also made a strong impression on the European charts. An old Hindi chorus running through "Peelo" made it a smash hit amongst Indians living in the West.

Closer Than Veins (2005) is Outlandish's third album. The first single was "Look Into My Eyes". The song's lyrics are based on a poem by Gihad Ali, a Palestinian who wrote the piece when she was a teenager; the poem expresses the plight of those suffering from America’s foreign policy with regards to Israel and Palestine. The video is based around the fairy-tale Little Red Riding Hood. It portrays an Israeli soldier as the Wolf and the Palestinian girl, wearing a Kaffiyeh, as Little Red Riding Hood.

This album showcased the group's more mature outlook compared to their previous works. Tracks such as "Just Me" and "Una Palabra" give a rare insight into the life in Europe today as seen through the eyes of ethnic minorities, whereas "Nothing Left To Do" perhaps the most daring and compelling track on the album boldly tackles the still taboo ridden issue of a young Muslim man catching HIV.

Outlandish performed a live percussion version of "Look Into My Eyes" at the "Islamophobia" conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark in May 2006 which was hosted by the Islam Channel and included many theological and political speakers and community leaders. Their club thumping single "Kom Igen" is featured on EA's FIFA 07.

Outlandish included two new (bonus) tracks "In Good Hands" and "Angels Lower Their Wings" on the deluxe version of Closer Than Veins. They were the only Danish act performing at the European MTV Awards 2006, where they also won the prize for Best Danish Act. Closer Than Veins was released in UK by Sony BMG in March 2007, with "Look Into My Eyes" being released as the first single on 5 March. The UK version of Closer Than Veins included a rendition of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

The band supported Sami Yusuf along with other acclaimed nasheed artists at the "Concert for peace in Darfur" held at Wembley Arena in order to raise money for the families of genocide victims in the region. The trio has participated in the Evening Of Inspiration concerts (in aid of Islamic Relief charity) since 2006 and most recently participated in the 2008 concert which also featured Seven8Six, Raihan and Kareem Salama amongst fellow performers." On 13 July 2008 Outlandish also performed at a concert for IslamExpo in London’s Olympia, Europe’s largest Muslim cultural event. Isam Bachiri features on the single "Still Strong" on Native Deen's recent album "Not Afraid To Stand Alone." The trio play at the Hard rock cafe on 11th July 2009.

Sound of a Rebel, Outlandish's fourth major production, was released on May 11 2009. The 1st single released from Sound of a Rebel was Rock All Day. Two of the three band members have also released their own solo albums (in Danish). The album is a departure from earlier work in many respects. The religious and social content has been all but toned down, and the album features two collaborations with female vocalists, a first for the group.

Outlandish did their first U.S. tour in Summer 2008 with the "Voices for Change" tour hosted by the Muslim American Society - Youth. Venues included New York, Tampa, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, and Los Angeles. The message that the tour promoted is the following: "We need to stake OUR claim on entertainment, as people striving for MORALITY: We are demanding entertainment with a message like Outlandish who bring it — a moral message! Outlandish will be headlining MAS Youth's Voices For Change in their first United States tour.

The band have recently helped form the umbrella organization, Music With Meaning, that aims to bring together like-minded artists in order to promote and produce inspirational and meaningful music. Its motto is "If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything."

The albums:

2000: Outland's Official

2002: Bread & Barrels Of Water

2005: Closer Than Veins

2009: Sound Of A Rebel

Outlandish official web page.

Budapest - Capital of Hungary

2009-08-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2008, Budapest had 1,702,297 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s peak of 2.1 million. The Budapest Commuter Area (or Greater Budapest) is home to 3,271,110 people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right-bank Buda and Óbuda with left-bank Pest.

Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement, was the direct ancestor of Budapest, becoming the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Magyars arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centers of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became an alpha world city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, its extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in Europe. Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building. The collections of the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts are also significant.

Some popular sights include:

The neo-Gothic Parliament, containing amongst other things the Hungarian Crown Jewels.

Saint Stephen's Basilica, where the Holy Right Hand of the founder of Hungary, King Saint Stephen is on display.

The Hungarian cuisine and café culture: for example, Gerbeaud Café, and the Százéves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Alabárdos, Arany Szarvas, Kárpátia and the world famous Mátyás Pince Restaurants.

There are Roman remains at the Aquincum Museum, and historic furniture at the Nagytétény Castle Museum.

Castle Hill and the Castle District; there are three churches here, six museums, and a host of interesting buildings, streets and squares.

The former Royal Palace is one of the symbols of Hungary – and has been the scene of battles and wars ever since the thirteenth century. Nowadays it houses two impressive museums and the National Széchenyi Library.

The nearby Sándor Palace contains the offices and official residence of the President of Hungary.

The seven-hundred year-old Matthias Church is one of the jewels of Budapest. Next to it is an equestrian statue of the first king of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, and behind that is the Fisherman's Bastion, from where opens out a panoramic view of the whole city. Statues of the Turul, the mythical guardian bird of Hungary, can be found in both the Castle District and the Twelfth District.

In Pest, arguably the most important sight is Andrássy út. As far as Kodály Körönd and Oktogon both sides are lined with large shops and flats built close together. Between there and Heroes’ Square the houses are detached and altogether grander. Under the whole runs continental Europe’s oldest Underground railway, most of whose stations retain their original appearance.

Heroes’ Square is dominated by the Millenary Monument, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front. To the sides are the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Arts, and behind City Park opens out, with Vajdahunyad Castle.

One of the jewels of Andrássy út is the Hungarian State Opera House.

Statue Park, a theme park with striking statues of the Communist era, is located just outside the main city and is accessible by public transport.

The city is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Dohány Street Synagogue), the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath) and the third largest Parliament building in the world, once the largest in the world.

The third largest church in Europe (Esztergom Basilica) and the second largest Baroque castle in the world (Gödöllő) are in the vicinity.

Hush

2009-08-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hush is a Danish popduo consisting of singer Dorthe Gerlach and guitarist Michael Hartmann, who has been in existence since 1997.

Michael Hartmann had contact with Dorthe Gerlach, and they formed the first group with three other musicians who played more crowded tempo and rock music than they later became known for. The group was based in Randers, but after three years, the two agreed to move in Copenhagen. Here they searched for a long time to get a record deal, but although they got the song "If I Was" as a soundtrack for the movie "Monas Verden" in 2001 but they had no luck in getting a contract.

They decided to go in London in 2002 where they played for a number of English professionals. One effect of this was that they got an English manager. In 2003 they went to Nashville to exchange ideas with American songwriters, and this confirmed them in that they had a special musical expression.

In 2004, Hush released their first album, "A Lifetime", which gave Golden a sale of over 20,000 copies in Denmark. Since then the group has toured much of Ireland and various other countries, including Canada. The group has also played as a warming of Turin Brakes and Stephen Fretwell in 2005 and Jamie Cullum in 2006.

Hush's music is characterized by simple instrumentation which accompanist Dorthe Gerlach voice. The songs differ somewhat from other Danish name songs mid-2000s with melancholy without being a sob. The group also differs from other names by using instruments that are unusual in pop music, such as mandolin, banjo and mellotron.

Danser Med Drenge

2009-08-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Danser Med Drenge is band formed in Copenhagen in August 16th 1992. This bad became very popular in Denmark today. They have a great audience everywhere and that's because they are very good in concerts singing a good quality live music.

Danser med Drenge is also known as DmD. They had another frontsinger in the 90's. Her name was Philippa Therese Holme Bulgin. She tragically died in 1993 at 26 years old because of a cancer disease. Anyhow she left for the band this hit called Hvor længe vil du ydmyge dig?" (in English:"How long will you humiliate yourself?")

These are the lyrics of this song (English translated in italics):

Nogen kommer til verden med tårer
og nogen tar' hele livet så let
Nogen stræber mod det de vil nå
mens du, du står bag i køen og kigger på
og går i stå.

Some come into this world in tears
and others take life very casually
Some strive towards what they want to achieve
while you stand back in the line watching
and come to a standstill.

Hvor længe vil du ydmyge dig?
Hvor længe vil du trædes på endnu?
Hvor længe kan du blive ved.
før de slår dit hjerte helt itu?
Sig mig hvor længe vil du finde dig i det?
Hvor længe vil la' dem trampe på dig?

How long will you humiliate yourself?
How long yet do you want to be stepped upon?
How long can you go on
before they break your heart entirely?
Tell me, how long will you accept that?
How long will you let them stomp upon you?

Åh det piner mig og se på dig
så sig mig hvor længe vil du la' det ske?
Hvor længe før du lær' sig nej

Oh, it pains me to look at you
so tell me, how long will you let this take place?
How long before you learn to say no.

Hvor, hvor er din stolthed og vilje?
sig mig hvorfor la' du dem udnytte dig?
Jeg ved du ikke har været sådan altid... nejeeh
og jeg gir' alt hva jeg har for at få min ven tilbage igen

Where, where is your pride and willpower?
Tell me, why do you let them use you?
I know you haven't been like that always... oh no
and I am giving everything I've got to have my friend back again

Hvor længe vil du ydmyge dig?
Hvor længe vil du trædes på endnu?
Hvor længe kan du blive ved.
før de slår dit hjerte helt itu?
Sig mig hvor længe vil du finde dig i det?
Hvor længe vil la' dem trampe på dig?

Åh det piner mig og se på dig
så sig mig hvor længe vil du la' det ske?
Hvor længe før du lær' sig nej"

The band members are: Rie Rasmussen - voice, Klaus Kjellerup - bass, Henrik Stanley Møller (aka Onkel Stanley)- keyboard and second voice, Steffen Qwist - guitar, Morten Bolvig - keyboard, Kasper Langkjær - drums

DmD have also their own channel on youtube here and they have also a website at this address.

Baile Felix

2009-07-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Băile Felix is a thermal spa resort near the commune of Sânmartin in Bihor County, Transylvania, Romania. They are the best known and most quality thermal spas in the country. Băile Felix is also at a close distance to Oradea, a major city in western Romania.

Băile Felix and 1 Mai are two thermal spa resorts located in a hilly area with beach and oak tree woods, 8 km south of the municipality of Oradea (seat of Bihor County) and 22 km south-east of Borş (border checkpoint to Hungary).

Summers are not excessively hot and winters are mild, with moderate precipitation .

In the thermal waters of the Peţa river and lake, having a constant temperature of 30-31°C, live the snail Melanopsis parreyssi (tertiary relict) and the fish Scardinus racovitzae as well as a rare species of subtropical water lily - Nymphaea lotus thermalis - tertiary relict, a natural monument.

The resorts host many mineral springs with thermal (20-48°C), sulphuric, calcic, sodic, rich in bicarbonate waters known since the beginning of the millennium. The soothing effect of the waters on articular and muscular pain and on various rheumatic neuralgias accounts for the fame of cures in the resort for the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases (rheumatic polyarthritis, rheumatoid spondylitis, conditions after acute articular rheumatism), degenerative and articular rheumatic diseases, central and peripheral neurological disorders, gynecological diseases, post-traumatic conditions, endocrine disorders.

The facilities of the two resorts offer treatment of rheumatism and neurological and gynecological diseases. The modern medical base has at its disposal various facilities for procedures involving electrotherapy, hydrotherapy, aerosols, massage, paraffin packing and other water treatments.

The Felix and 1 Mai spa are also ideal for relaxation and visitors can take advantage of the following:

- the pool with artificial waves in 1 Mai (the oldest in the country)

- the thermal water swimming resorts : "Apolo" (since 1900) in Felix and "Venus" in 1 Mai

Carpark North

2009-07-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

Carpark North is a band formed in Aarhus, Denmark on 28 July 1999 by Lau Højen (vocal, guitar), Søren Balsner (bass, synthesisers) and Morten Thorhauge (drums). The band set out to create music that would contain their sources of inspiration: Björk, Police, Vangelis, Depeche Mode, Eggstone, Mozart, Kraftwerk and The Beatles.

Carpark North was the first in Denmark to present the genre electro rock for a mainstream audience.

The name Carpark North was created from the electro and rock genres: "Carpark" stands for car parks, edges, roughness, metal - the rock part, and "North" stands for northern lights, stars ethereal electronics.

The foundation for Carpark North is laid on Mellerup Efterskole, where Søren Balsner and Lau Højen meet and formed a band. This band played in the national championship in rock in 1997.

Søren and Lau split up after Mellerup, and Lau started his education at high school - Aarhus Katedralskole. Here he joins a band - "Spacekraft" and met Morten Thorhauge a young drummer from Søften. After a couple of months Lau and Morten formed their own band, and contacted Søren.

The first notes in Carpark North were played on a hot summer day in July 1999 in the MGK-facilities in Aarhus, Denmark.

If you ever played the video game called FIFA 08 (2007) probably you already heared the song "Human" and maybe you ask yourselves who's the band which sings it. Well... that's Carpark North.

Praga Mater Urbium

2009-07-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic centre of the Czech state for more than 1100 years. Similarly as Rome, the city of Prague is spread over nine hills: Letná, Vítkov, Opyš, Větrov, Skalka, Emauzy, Vyšehrad, Karlov and the highest Petřín. The city proper is home to more than 1.2 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 1.9 million. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" (Praga mater urbium, or "Praha matka měst" in Czech), "city of a hundred spires" and "the golden city".

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most

popular tourist destinations. It is the sixth most-visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern. Some popular sights include:

Old Town (Staré Město) with its Old Town Square

The Astronomical Clock on Old Town Square

The picturesque Charles Bridge

The vaulted gothic Old New Synagogue of 1270.

New Town (Nové město) with its busy and historic Wenceslas Square

Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) with its Infant Jesus of Prague

Prague Castle (the largest castle in the world) with its St. Vitus Cathedral

Josefov (the old Jewish quarter) with Old Jewish Cemetery and Old New Synagogue

Jan Žižka equestrian statue in Vítkov park, Žižkov - Prague 3.

The Lennon Wall

Vinohrady, a sightly quarter in the center

Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague - huge collections of glass, furniture, textile, toys, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Art Deco, and so on.

The museum of Heydrich assassination in the crypt of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius

National Museum

Vyšehrad castle & cemetery where many famous Czechs are buried including the composers Antonín Dvořák & Bedřich Smetana.

Petřínská rozhledna, an observation tower on Petřín hill, which resembles the Eiffel Tower

Anděl (neighborhood) which is probably the busiest part of the city with a super modern shopping mall and architecture

Žižkov Television Tower with observation deck - Prague 3.

The New Jewish Cemetery in Olšany, location of Franz Kafka's grave - Prague 3.

The Metronome, a giant, functional metronome that looms over the city

The Dancing House (Fred and Ginger Building)

The Mucha Museum, showcasing the Art Nouveau works of Alfons Mucha

Bli' Glad

2009-07-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

BliGlad is a Danish reggae-band. They are very popular because of their energy and humoristic lyrics. They started to be known in 2006 because of the radiohit "Hængekøjen Remix". After that they launched "Dans for satan" and the debut album "Kærlighed til folket" which was 3 weeks in top ten. On 1st of March 2009 they launched another disk called "Bare spil noget Lårt".

The band:
Christopher Mclaughlin (Voice)
Kristian Nordentoft (Bass)
Benjamin Lesak Jensen (Keyboards)
Daniel Rosenthal Plon (Guitar)
Max Buthke (Percution and second voice)
Kasper Brinck (Drums)

Berlin - Capital Of Germany

2009-07-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area, comprising 5 million people from over 190 nations.

Berlin is a major center of culture, politics, media, and science in Europe. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, environmental services, congress and convention venues. The city serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the EU.

The metropolis is home to world-renowned universities, research institutes, sporting events, orchestras, museums and personalities. Berlin's urban landscape and historical legacy has made it a popular setting for international film productions. The city is recognized for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, extensive public transportation networks and a high quality of living. Berlin has evolved into a global focal point for young individuals and artists attracted by a liberal lifestyle and modern zeitgeist.

Berlin is the home of many television and radio stations; international, national as well as regional. The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters there as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, TVB, FAB, N24 and Sat.1. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin. Additionally, most national broadcasters have a studio in the city.

Berlin is an important center in the European and German film industry. It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year. The venerable Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With over 430,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.

Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the border with Poland. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree meets the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.

The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the twentieth century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin — the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany — initiated ambitious construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II and many of the old buildings that escaped the bombs were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East. Much of this destruction was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.

The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is the second-tallest structure in the European Union at 368 meters. Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204 metres high observation floor. Starting here the Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. The previously built-up part in front of it is the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological scene.

The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. It has recently undergone a restoration.

The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German euro coins. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.

The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin whose name dates back to the Napoleonic occupation of the city, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the French Cathedral with its observation platform and the German Cathedral. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.

Unter den Linden is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Roaring Twenties. It combines twentieth century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.

The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. Oranienburger Straße and the nearby New Synagogue were the center of Jewish culture before 1933, and regains being it today.

The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.

Schloss Charlottenburg is the largest existing palace in Berlin. The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Near by on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.

Marlene Dietrich was born in Berlin-Schöneberg.

Celina Ree

2009-07-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

Celina Ree (born on 3rd March 1990) is a Danish singer. Her first single "12. timer" was released in summer 2008 and was played quite a lot in several Danish radio stations. "Kortslutning" was her debut album and it was released on 6th October in the same year. She was on top Boogie list with her second single "Kortslutning" which was also her first music video.

Just after the release of "12. timer" Celina Ree get a lot of fans in cyberspace. In respect to several fan and support sites around the Web, there has been close to 300,000 users over her MySpace profile.

Ree has been on the cover of the "Frikvarter" magazine in September 2008, the same month she had her own minishow in a TV program called "Boogie". Later she had a double appearence in "Vi Unge" in both October and December of the same year.

In 2009 she had a big succes with the hit called "Når du rør ved mig"

Sys Bjerre

2009-07-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sys Bjerre is a song writer and singer from Copenhagen, Denmark. She had a hit in Danish tops in the summer of 2008 with "Malene".

Another song which is very popular of Sys Bjerre is "Kegle". Maybe you will like her music.

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

2009-07-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany (after Berlin) and the sixth-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighboring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg is the second-largest port in Europe (after that of Rotterdam), and the ninth-largest in the world.

Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It makes reference to Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and also to the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen Federal States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in northern Germany and became a media and industrial center with factories such as Blohm + Voss and Norddeutsche Affinerie. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag represent the important media industry in Hamburg. In total there are more than 120,000 enterprises. The city is a major tourist destination both for domestic and overseas visitors, receiving about 7.4 million overnight stays in 2007.

Hamburg is located on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, directly between Continental Europe to its south, Scandinavia to its north, the North Sea to its west, and the Baltic Sea to its east. Hamburg is located in the position where the River Elbe meets with the rivers Alster and Bille. The central city area is situated around the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and the Außenalster ("Outer Alster") both of which are originally the river Alster but retained as lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two other islands in the North Sea are also part of Hamburg, located in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park.

The Altes Land region (old land) is the biggest contiguous fruit orchard in Central Europe. It extends over 143 km2 (55 sq mi). 76.8% of the trees are apples, 12.7% are cherries.

The warmest months in Hamburg are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 19.9 to 22.2 °C. The coldest are December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of -1.4 to 0.0 °C.

Tourists play a significant role in the city's economy. A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing buses connect these points of interest. As Hamburg is one of the world's largest harbours many visitors take one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Major destinations also include museums. Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn in the quarter St. Pauli, considered Europe's largest red light district and home of strip clubs, brothels, bars and nightclubs. The singer and actor Hans Albers is strongly associated with St. Pauli, providing in the 1940s the neighborhood's unofficial anthem, "Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um Halb Eins." The song explains in a polite way how a sailor enjoys his last day with a trollop before going aboard. It was in the Reeperbahn that The Beatles began their career with a 48-night residency at the Indra Club, and then another 58 nights at the Kaiserkeller, in 1960, the Top Ten Club (1961), and the Star-Club (1962). Others prefer the laidback neighborhood Schanze with its street cafés or a barbecue on one of the beaches along the river Elbe. Hamburg's famous zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, was founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck as the first zoo with moated, barless enclosures. People may visit Hamburg because of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event, a congress or fair.

Magtens Korridorer

2009-07-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

Magtens Korridorer is a band from Denmark started in 1995 in Copenhagen. The band is described as a mixture of rock and poetic post-punk. The band consists of Johan Olsen (vocals), Rasmus Kern (guitar), Niklas Schneidermann (guitar), Terkel Møhl (bass) and Anders Ramhede (drums).

The band made a demo tape in 1996, which included the song Hestevisen, which was featured on the hugely popular DR P3 radio show Tæskeholdet. This instantly propelled the band to national stardom, despite not having recorded an album yet.

The band went to the studio and recorded their debut album Bagsiden Af Medaljen in 1998, but the album failed to make a commercial breakthrough. For the following seven years, not much was heard from the band. In 2005, Magtens Korridorer caught the attention of Karrierekanonen, a program for discovering new musical talents in Denmark. Same year, the band released the album Friværdi, which was a commercial and critical success. Several singles were released such as Lorteparforhold, Picnic (på Kastellet), Nordhavn Station and Sara har...

Frontman Olsen is also a Ph.D. in molecular biology, and he teaches at the University of Copenhagen.

Beyoncé - 2009 I Am... Tour

2009-07-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the girl group Destiny's Child. Beyoncé has sold more than 50 million records worldwide with the group and over 75 million records in her total career.

In June 2003, during the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Beyoncé released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, which became one of the most successful albums of that year.

The album was a commercial and critical success, spawning the hits "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", and earning Knowles five Grammy Awards in 2004. The disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success: her sophomore solo album, B'Day, released in 2006, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, and produced the hits "Deja Vu", "Irreplaceable", and "Beautiful Liar". Her third solo album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, was released in November 2008, and inlcuded the hits "If I Were a Boy", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and "Halo". Knowles has attained five Hot 100 number one singles, becoming one of the two female artists with the most number ones attained within the 2000-2009 decade.

The success of her solo albums has established Beyoncé as one of the most marketable artists in the music industry, and she has expanded her career to acting and product endorsement. She began her acting career in 2001, appearing in the musical film Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2006, she starred in the lead role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, for which she earned two Golden Globe nominations. Knowles launched her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, in 2004, and has been engaged to endorse such brands as Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani and L'Oréal. In 2009, Forbes listed Knowles fourth on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential Celebrities in the world, and third on its list of the top-grossing musicians, with over $87 million dollars in earnings between 2008 and 2009.

Beyoncé released her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, on November 18, 2008. Knowles says that the name Sasha Fierce is the name of the person she adopts when she performs onstage. "I have someone else that takes over when it's time for me to work and when I'm on stage, this alter ego that I've created that kind of protects me and who I really am." "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", the first and second singles off I Am… Sasha Fierce, were released to radio on October 8, 2008, preceding the album's release on November 18, 2008. While "If I Were a Boy" topped numerous charts worldwide, mostly in European countries, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, for four non-consecutive weeks, giving Beyoncé her fifth number one single in the United States. "Halo", the fourth single off I Am... Sasha Fierce, went on to peak at number five, becoming Knowles' 12th Top 10 single on the Hot 100 as a solo artist. Knowles embarked on her third world tour, I Am… Tour, starting in the Spring of 2009, visiting venues all over the world from the America's, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Beyoncé Knowles won the Outstanding Female Artist at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards.

Beyoncé performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial festivities in honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Knowles also sang her cover of the R&B classic most famously sang by Etta James, "At Last", as President Obama and his wife Michelle had their first dance as President and First lady of America, on January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Beyoncé has become a sex symbol, known in media for her curvaceous body that is complemented with her choice of clothing. According to her, "I like to dress sexy and I carry myself like a lady," but she has said that the way she dresses on stage is "absolutely for the stage".As someone who is fond of fashion, Knowles combines its artistic elements with her music videos and performances. According to Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, she uses different styles and tries to harmonize it with the music while performing. The B'Day Anthology showed many instances of fashion-oriented footage, depicting classic to contemporary wardrobe styles. People magazine recognized Knowles as the best-dressed celebrity in 2007. Knowles' mother wrote a 2002-published book, titled Destiny's Style: Bootylicious Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Secrets From Destiny's Child, an account of how fashion had an impact on Destiny's Child's success.

Since 2002, Beyoncé has been in a relationship with rapper Jay-Z, with whom she has collaborated several times. In 2005, rumors began to spread about the marriage of the couple. Knowles closed the speculation stating that she and Jay-Z were not even engaged. When asked again about the subject in September 2007, Jay-Z replied, "One day soon—let's leave it at that." On April 4, 2008, Knowles and Jay-Z were married in New York City. It became a matter of public record on April 22, 2008, but Knowles did not publicly debut her wedding ring until the Fashion Rocks concert on September 5, 2008 in New York City.

Early into her career, Knowles developed an alter ego Sasha Fierce that represents the more aggressive, sexual and confident side of the singer. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine, Knowles noted that her alter-ego is "strictly for the stage." The magazine has described it as "the singer's sensual, aggressive alter ego." Knowles wears a "roboglove" in public to compliment Sasha Fierce. In 2006, Knowles introduced her all-female tour band Suga Mama. In the months prior to the release of B'Day, she held an audition among female musicians across the United States, which concluded in June. The performing ensemble includes bassists, drummers, guitarists, horn players, keyboardists and percussionists. They debuted in public at the 2006 BET Awards and they re-appeared in the music video for "Irreplaceable" and "Green Light". The band backed up Knowles during her 2007 The Beyoncé Experience world concert tour, and her 2009 I Am... Tour. In addition, they have appeared in small shows wherever Knowles has performed.

Herning - The Capital Of The Heat

2009-06-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

Herning is a Danish city of 45,470 inhabitants of Region Midtjylland. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality.

Herning has been called "The Capital of the Heath" and with good reason— it was established at the beginning of the 1800s during the period of heath reclamation. This period of time resulted in a growing population, and a demand for products and services to the new farmers in the area. Herning came into existence as a center of commerce for the area. Later on the town became known for the textile weaving industry that developed in and around the town. This industry was once Herning's principal economic activity, though today the town enjoys a diversified industrial base.

Herning has twice been awarded the title of Danish City of the Year: in 1965 and 2003.

Herning is home to Messecenter Herning, the largest exhibition centre in Scandinavia, which gives the town a reputation for its many trade fairs.

Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt's museum of art aka Herning Art Museum is one of the major attractions.

The town is also home to sculptor Ingvar Cronhammar's unique monumental work Elia. It is a black-painted, 60 m dome with four 10 m wide stairways inset into its surface at the earth's cardinal points. These lead to an observation platform overlooking the surrounding heath, as well as to the sculpture's 30.000 cubic meter resonance chamber. Four steel columns rise to a height of 30m over the landscape; they are capped by red domes, lit from below and equipped to attract lightning. In the center of the sculpture, equidistant to the four columns, is a fifth column— a gas burner— about two meters below the viewing platform. The gas burner shoots a pillar of flame about one meter wide and 8.4m high up between the pillars at random intervals controlled by a computer. The sculpture is located in the town near the Herning Art Museum.

The old Herningsholm Estate in Herning is open to the public for touring. Classensborg Estate, now called Skarrildhus, is located 25 km south of the town, but is closed to the public because it is a private hotel and educational facility. The grounds, however, can be toured and are known for their beautiful rhododendron displays during the spring.

Silkeborg - The City Of Paper

2009-06-27T02:23:00.000-07:00

Silkeborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Silkeborg municipality in mid-eastern Jutland, with a population of 41 674. Silkeborg municipality has 87.371. The municipality is also a part of the East Jutland metropolitan area with 1.2 million inhabitants. The landscape is dominated by big lakes, forests and some of the highest points in Denmark, including Himmelbjerget. It is also one of the most expensive areas to live in, and the neighbouring towns Sejs is known for its mansions and villas at the lakeside.

The development of Silkeborg as a modern city may be traced to the foundation of the paper mill by Michael Drewsen on the Gudenaa in 1844. The city is divided north and south by the lake, the Silkeborg Langsø, which at the eastern side of the city, resolves into the Guden River (Gudenaa).

The city is notable for the large number of car dealerships located there, and the economically significant presence of the headquarters of Jyske Bank A/S, Denmark's third largest bank.

At the end of June each year, the city is home to the Riverboat Jazz festival.

The city is home of the Tollund man which resides in the Silkeborg Museum.

In 1944, the priest and playwright Kaj Munk was shot by the Gestapo nearby. The Germans had their headquarters in Jutland during World War II at Silkeborg Bad, the city's former sanatorium known for its curative spring waters. It is now a municipal art centre, where it is possible to visit the wartime bunkers in the grounds.

Silkeborg was the home city of COBRA painter Asger Jorn, and has in addition to the above mentioned Silkeborg Bad art centre another art museum, the Silkeborg Kunst Museum with its large Asger Jorn collection. Inspired by an Asger Jorn print in a band member's home in Dublin, Ireland, Silkeborg is now also the name of an Irish band.

Silkeborg has a ski resort, with a nylon track so that one can enjoy going down the slopes all year round, and there is natural snow in winter.

Copenhagen - Capital Of Denmark

2009-01-09T01:15:00.000-08:00

Copenhagen (Danish: København) is the capital and largest city of Denmark. It is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager.Copenhagen is usually ranked as one of the two largest cities of the Nordic Countries. With the completion of the transnational Oresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are connected by a car/rail link and are in the process of integrating their labour markets, resulting in the number of commuters from both sides growing annually. These two cities together form the center of the Øresund Region, which is home to almost 3.7 million inhabitants covering an area of 20,869 km².

Copenhagen is described as ‘The Paris of the North' because of its design, fashion and beauty, and is among the 20 most popular tourist destinations in Europe. In 2006 Copenhagen Municipality received the European Environmental Management Award. The award was given for long-term holistic environmental planning.Just off the coast of Copenhagen is the world's largest offshore windmill farm opened in 2001, financed by the sale of shares to ordinary consumers from the Copenhagen area. With a capacity of 40 MW of electricity, it produces about 4 % of the city's energy.A municipal policy is that 40% of all citizens should bicycle to and from work by 2012 and a number of initiatives are being taken to implement this policy.Copenhagen is a green city with many big and small parks. King's Garden, the garden of Rosenborg Castle, is the oldest and most visited park in Copenhagen. Its landscaping was commenced by Christian IV in 1606.

Every year it sees more than 2,5 million visitors and in the summer months it is packed with sunbathers, picknickers and ballplayers.

It also serves as a sculpture garden with a permanent display of sculptures as well as temporary exhibits during summer. Also located in the city centre are the Botanical Gardens particularly noted for their large complex of 19'th century greenhouses donated by Carlsberg founder J. C. Jacobsen.

Fælledparken is with its 58 hectars the largest park in Copenhagen, and it hosts a long array of yearly events like a free opera concert, carnival, Labour Day celebrations and Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix which is a race for antique cars. Another popular park is the Frederiksberg Garden which is a 32 hectars romantic landscape park.

It houses a large colony of very tame grey herons along with other waterfowls. The park also offers views of the elephants and the elephant house designed by world-famous British architect Norman Foster of the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo.It is official Copenhagen municipal policy that all citizens by 2015 must be able to reach a park or beach on foot in less than 15 minutes.

Amalienborg Palace (Danish: Amalienborg) is the winter home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard (Amalienborg Slotsplads); in the center of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederik V. Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Castle burnt down on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces. The Danish Royal Life Guard (Den Kongelige Livgarde) march from Rosenborg Castle at 11.30 am daily through the streets of Copenhagen, and execute the changing of the guard in front of Amalienborg Palace at noon.

Since the late 1990s,

Copenhagen has undergone a transformation from a cosy Scandinavian capital to a cool metropolitan city of international scope in the league of cities like Barcelona and Amsterdam. This is due to massive investments in infrastructure as well as culture nad a wave of new successful Danish architects, designers and

chefs. Between 1998 and 2008, lifestyle journalists wordwide (from Wallpaper to the NewYorkTimes) have praised Copenhagen as a cool, well-functioning creative city. Copenhagen has the two oldest amusement parks in the World. World-famous Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park and pleasure garden located right in the middle of Copenhagen between the the City Hall Square and the the Central Station. Among its rides are the oldest still operating roller coaster and the oldest ferris wheel in the World. It also function as an open-air concert venue. It opened on August 15 1843 making it the second oldest amusement park in the world. Dyrehavsbakken (in English "the Deer Garden Hill") is located in Klampenborg a little north of Copenhagen in a forested area of great natural beauty. Having been made into an amusement park complete with rides, games and restaurants by Christian IV, it is the oldest surviving amusement park in the World.

The Danish National Bank. Designed by Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen is the economical and financial centre of Denmark and also a strong business and economic centre in the entire Scandinavian-Baltic region. In 2008 Copenhagen was ranked 4th by Financial Times-owned FDi magazine on their list of Top50 European Cities of the Future after London, Paris and Berlin. In 2006/07 FDi Magazine named Copenhagen Scandinavian City of the Future and in 2004/05

Copenhagen was named Northern European City of the Future ahead of other cities from Scandinavia, UK, Ireland and Benelux. In the 2008 Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index, published by MasterCard, Copenhagen was ranked 14th in the world and 1st in Scandinavia. Copenhagen is one of the cities in Western Europe attracting most regional headquarters and distribution centers. Among the international companies that have chosen to locate their regional headquarters in Copenhagen is Microsoft. There are 2,100 foreign companies located in the Copenhagen area, of which approx. 500 are Scandinavian head offices, representing a wide range of industries.

Aarhus, Denmark

2008-06-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Aarhus also commonly known by its contemporary Danish spelling Århus, is the second largest city and the principal port of Denmark, situated on the peninsula of Jutland. Aarhus is the seat of the council of Aarhus municipality and claims the unofficial title "Capital of Jutland".

The city lies roughly at the geographical centre of Denmark on the peninsula of Jutland. Forests reach from the south into the city to within a kilometre of the city centre, because the city has grown around the forest, and some areas are completely surrounded by the city, such as Risskov. The city is built mostly around the harbour, which is predominantly industrial, although a large recreational marina is situated south of it as an extension.While some of the highest points in Denmark are close to the city, the general landscape is typically hilly, interspersed with forests and meadows; the city itself is very hilly north of the centre.

The coastline consists mainly of sandy beaches, but stony areas are not uncommon. The immediate coastal regions are not heavily populated due to a national policy of keeping residences inland rather than crowding the coast.

The city lies at the junction of railway lines from all parts of the country. To the south west lies a picturesque region that contains the Gudenå. Several larger lakes extend West from the Skanderborg railway junction and rise to heights exceeding 152 metres in the Himmelbjerget. The railway traverses this pleasant district of moorland and woodland to Silkeborg.

Skæring - A Part Of Aarhus

2008-06-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

Skæring is a suburb of Aarhus in Denmark. It has a population of 4977. It is a zone with summer houses therefore is a very quite and very nice to live in.

Randers, Denmark

2008-06-19T03:06:00.000-07:00

Randers is a city in Randers municipality (Aarhus County, Region Midtjylland) on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's 6th largest city with a population of 55,739. It is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.

Randers is Denmark's only natural river harbour, and it is situated on the banks of the River Guden (Gudenå), about 6 miles (10 km) above its mouth in Randers Fjord, and 111 miles (179 km) west-northwest of Copenhagen. This location has had great significance for the town as a sea merchant area. Barges on the Guden River and the Northern River (Nørreå) transported goods in to Randers from Silkeborg and Viborg for export, and in return came imported items.

Randers is referred to as Crown Jutland (Kronjylland) and the people as Crown Jutlanders (Kronjyde), probably due to the big Crown estates, i.e. the estates owned by the Crown, the King. The term Kronjyde was first used by Danish poets around 1750. Both Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) and Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), and especially Nobel Prize laureate Henrik Pontoppidan (1857-1943), who was born in Randers, used the term.

Billund Airport

2008-06-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

Billund Airport in Denmark is a facility which serves as one of Denmarks busiest air cargo centers, as well as a charter airline destination, although some regular airlines also offer flights there. The proximity of the airport to the Legoland theme park in Billund arguably makes it easier for the airport to attract passengers, and to lure more airlines into operating to the airport.

Billund is a municipality in Region Syddanmark in the center of the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark. Formerly the municipality belonged to Ribe County. The new, merged municipality covers an area of 536,51 km², and has a total population of 26,181. Its mayor is Ib Kristensen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party. The site of its municipal council is the town of Grindsted.

Billund is a company town, the home of the Lego Group headquarters. There is a Lego factory on the outskirts of town which as of 2005 manufactures 90% of the company's products, though the effects of globalization and competition from companies such as Mega Bloks is likely to lead to more off-shore manufacturing. Across the road from the company's headquarters is the first of the Legoland theme parks, first opened in 1968.

Milano-Bergamo airport

2008-06-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

Orio al Serio International Airport is an airport located in Orio al Serio, near Bergamo, Italy and it serves the low-cost traffic of Milan. Orio al Serio is operated by SACBO (Società Aeroporto Civile Bergamo Orio al Serio). The airport served over 5.2 million passengers in 2006. The airport, with Linate Airport and Malpensa International Airport, forms Milan's airport system.

Milan is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. The municipality (Comune di Milano) has a population of 1.3 million. The Milan metropolitan area, depending on the specific definition, has a population ranging from 2.9 to 7.4 million. The municipal border covers a relatively small area (about one-eighth of that of Rome) because of the historical development of high density centres in agriculturally rich Lombardy.

Milan is renowned as one of the world capitals of design and fashion. The English word milliner is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall). The city hosted the World Exposition in 1906 and will host the Universal Expo in 2015.

The Olona river, the Lambro river and the Seveso creek run through Milan. Olona and Seveso run mostly underground.

Conegliano - Amici miei

2008-06-17T02:12:00.000-07:00

Conegliano is a town in Comune of Veneto, Italy, in the province of Treviso, c. 30 km north by rail from the town of Treviso. Population is c. 35,000. It was the birthplace of the painter Cima da Conegliano, a fine altar-piece by whom is in the cathedral (1492). It is overlooked by a hill on which stands the remains of a 1,000-year old castle, formerly belonging to the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto. The remaining tower now houses the small Conegliano museum.

Conegliano is noted for its wine, chiefly the dry white Prosecco (made from the grape of the same name) which comes in three varieties – tranquillo (still), frizzante (slightly sparkling) and spumante (sparkling). It is also home to Italy's oldest and most prestigious wine school. Every year, in summer there's a special chess game where the figures are normal people. That game celebrates the victory of Conegliano over Treviso.

Alessandro Del Piero, star football player for Juventus and Italy, was born in Conegliano hospital.

The video you may see is in a pet shop from Conegliano called "Amici miei". This in English means "My Friends".

Padua - Italy

2008-06-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

Padua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of Padova province and the economic and communications hub of the province. Padua's population is 211,985. The city is sometimes included, with Venice, in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area; population 1,600,000.

Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River, and Brenta river (which once passed inside the city) still touches northern districts, 40 km west of Venice and 29km southeast of Vicenza. Its agricultural setting is the Pianura Veneta, the "Venetian plain," To the city's south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley.

The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat.

Padua is the setting for most of the action in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Sernaglia della Battaglia - Rally Prealpi

2008-06-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Every year we can see in Italy "Rally Prealpi". This is the round from Sernaglia della Battaglia, a small village in Treviso county.

Sernaglia della Battaglia is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 50 km northwest of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Treviso. It has a population of 6,171 and an area of 20.2 km². The municipality of Sernaglia della Battaglia contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Falzè di Piave and Fontigo. Sernaglia della Battaglia borders the following municipalities: Farra di Soligo, Giavera del Montello, Moriago della Battaglia, Nervesa della Battaglia, Pieve di Soligo, Susegana, Volpago del Montello.

All the preparing around this rally is quite amazing. And this was not my first contest of such kind I saw.

Craiova - Flower Exhibition

2008-06-07T01:21:00.000-07:00

Every year, on 1st of June, you may see in Craiova, Romania a flower exhibition. This is a good opportunity to buy some plants for home. If you just bought, is a nice view anyhow. Let's take a look:

Venice Airport

2008-06-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

Venice Marco Polo Airport is an airport located on the Italian mainland near Venice, Italy, in Tessera, a frazione of the commune of Venice nearest to Mestre. The airport was named after the Venetian traveller Marco Polo, who is considered the European rediscoverer of China.
With 7,076,114 passengers handled in 2007, it is the fourth largest Italian airport in terms of air traffic.

A modern terminal, opened in 2002 but already close to its full capacity, hosts all scheduled and charter flights, including some long-haul connections by Delta Air Lines, US Airways, Skyservice and Emirates Airline.

Munich - The Secret Capital Of Germany

2008-05-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

Munich is the capital of Bavaria Land (Bayern) in Germany and the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg. The city was founded under the name Munichen in 1158 by Henry the Lion Heart, duke of Saxony; half century later received the status of the fortress and was strengthened.In 1327, the entire city was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt several years later by Louis IV, head of St. Roman Empire at that time. In 1806, Munich became the capital of Bavaria kingdom. Twenty years later, another prestigious educational institution, the University of Landshut, set his bases in Munich.

Munich is the city where The White Rose, a group of students, formed an anti-Nazi movement in June 1942 until February 1943. They have been arrested because they distributed leaflets in the University of Munchen. The city was seriously hurt during one of the Second World War, but after the American occupation (1945), Munich was rebuilt regarding a meticulously plan.When to visit Munich?
Munich is most visited between May and September, when the weather is beautiful. Months of April and October are perfect for visiting Munich because the city is not very crowded (with the exception of Oktoberfest) and the weather is sunny. Between November and March the streets of Munich are almost empty due to constant temperature below 0 Celsius degrees and because the sky is cloudy all the time.
What to see in Munich?
Munich is a popular tourist destination, being called secret capital of Germany. Marienplatz square, with the new and the old City Hall, interesting because of their towers where you can see medieval scenes. Peterskirche is the oldest church in the centre of Munich, Frauenkirche cathedral and is the most famous church in the city centre (the height of the towers, 99 meters, limited since 2004, new buildings of the city).
Munich has several art museums, including Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, Pinakothek der Moderne. Other famous tourist attractions in Munich are English Garden, Museum of Science and Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a decorated clock which moves characters on the top of the City Hall. Probably the most famous sights of the city is Munich Oktoberfest, a celebration of beer, long two weeks from the end of September at the begining of October each year.Where to eat in Munich?
The kitchen in Munich and, in general, Bavarian food is not the most sophisticated kitchen in Europe. Most menus include combinations of pork, cabbage and potatoes. Specific restaurants are easily found in Munich but are slightly more expensive than traditional methods.How much costs a day in Munich?
In Munich, large stores, hotels and gas stations usually accept payment with credit cards but despite other European cities, money is always preferred instead of plastic. It's pretty easy to spend money in Munich. For one night at the hotel, public transport, visits to museums and lunch at the restaurant your budget starts from EUR 90.
How to get in Munich?
The Muchen's airport, Franz Josef Strauss, is little more busy than Frankfurt's but remains still a favorite transit point for most airlines. Flights from Europe, New York and Sydney are usual on Munich airport and the national ones are not neglected. Besides aircraft, other alternatives to reach Munich are: train (Munich has connections with the major European cities), buses and private cars which can be a convenient means of transport due to the good highway net from Germany.

Austria - Alps Mountains

2008-05-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

Austria, officially the Republic of Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The capital is the city of Vienna on the Danube River. The origins of modern Austria date back to the ninth century, when the territory of Upper and Lower Austria became increasingly populated. The name "Ostarrichi" is first documented in an official document from 996. Since then this word has developed into the Österreich.The Parliament of Austria is located in Vienna, the nation's largest city and capital. Austria became a federal, parliamentarian, democratic republic through the Federal Constitution of 1920. It was reintroduced in 1945 to the nine states of the Federal Republic. The head of state is the Federal President, who is directly elected by popular vote. The chairman of the Federal Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the president. The government can be removed from office by either a presidential decree or by vote of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament, the NationalratAs a federal republic, Austria is divided into nine states. These states are then divided into districts and cities. Districts are subdivided into municipalities. Cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts and municipalities. The states are not mere administrative divisions but have some distinct legislative authority separate from the federal government. The states are: Burgenland ( with capital at Eisenstadt), Carinthia or Kärnten (with capital at Klagenfurt ), Lower Austria or Niederösterreich (with capital at St. Pölten), Upper Austria or Oberösterreich (with capital at Linz), Salzburg (Salzburg), Styria or Steiermark (with capital at Graz), Tyrol or Tirol (with capital at Innsbruck), Vorarlberg (Bregenz ), and Vienna or Wien. Austria is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the Alps. The Central Eastern Alps, Northern Limestone Alps and Southern Limestone Alps are all partly in Austria. Of the total area of Austria, only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32% of the country is below 500 meters. The high mountainous Alps in the west of Austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country.The greater part of Austria lies in the cool/temperate climate zone in which humid westerly winds predominate. With over half of the country dominated by the Alps the alpine climate is the predominant one. In the East, in the and along the Danube valley, the climate shows continental features with less rain than the alpine areas. Although Austria is cold in the winter, in the summer temperatures can be relatively warm reaching 20-35 Celsius degrees.Austria's cuisine is derived from the cuisine of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to native regional traditions, it has been influenced above all by Hungarian, Czech, Jewish, Italian and Bavarian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed. The Austrian Cuisine is therefore one of the most multi and transcultural cuisines in Europe. Typical Austrian dishes include Wiener Schnitzel, Schweinsbraten, Kaiserschmarren, Knödel, Sachertorte and Tafelspitz. There are also Kasnockn, a macaroni dish with fresh Pinzgauer cheese and parsley, and Eierschwammerl (chanterelle) dishes. The Eierschwammerl are the native yellow, tan mushrooms. These mushrooms are delicious, especially when in a thick Austrian soup, or on regular meals. Austria is also famous for its Apfelstrudel (a kind of apple cake).

The most popular sport in Austria is alpine skiing and Austria shows constant dominance in the Nations-Cup. Similar sports such as snowboarding or ski-jumping are also widely popular. The most popular team sport in Austria is football. However, Austria rarely has international success in this discipline, though the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship is jointly being held with Switzerland. Besides football, Austria also has professional national leagues for most major team sports including ice hockey and basketball. Bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton are also popular events with a permanent track located in Igls, which hosted bobsleigh and luge competitions for the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck.

North Of Italy

2008-05-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

Bolzano is a city in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. It is the capital of the province of Bolzano-Bozen. The Museum of Archeology in Bolzano is where the ice-mummy "Ötzi" is kept. The city is also the home of the Italian Army's Alpini High Command (COMALP) and some of its combat and support units.

Initially inhabited by the Raetians, the area was settled by the Romans in 15 BC, by general Nero Claudius Drusus, to whom referred the name of the first settlement in the area (an army camp with a bridge by the Isarco River). The nearby founded village was called Bauzanum. Bolzano has been a trading point since its foundation and elevation to a town over 800 years ago, due to its location in between the two major cities of Venice and Augsburg. Four times a year a market was held and traders came from the south and the north. The mercantile magistrate was therefore founded in 1635. Every market season two Italian and two German officers (appointed from the traders who operated there) worked in this office. The city was a cultural crosspoint at that time.
According to the 2001 census, 73% of the city inhabitants were Italian speakers. 26% speak German and 1% Ladin as their first language. The city thrives on a mix of old and new—high-quality intensive agriculture (including wine, fruit and dairy products), tourism, traditional handicraft (wood, ceramics) and advanced services. Heavy industry (machinery, automotive, steel) installed during the 1930's has now been mostly dismanteled. On the downside, the local economy is very dependent on the public sector, and especially the provincial government.The city's Italian-Austrian character, enhanced by the narrow cobblestone streets, Habsburg-era churches and pervasive bilingual signage give it the unique flavour of a city at crossroads between Italian and Austrian cultures. This, and its natural and cultural attractions make it a renowned tourist destination.
Cortina d'Ampezzo (German: Petsch-Hayden) is a town and municipality in the province of Belluno, Veneto, northern Italy. Located in the Dolomites, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene. The area of Cortina d'Ampezzo is characterized by the typical Dolomite environment, mostly covered with large lawns intermingled with pinophyta woods. The most famous peaks in the city's neighbourhood include Le Tofane, Il Cristallo and Le Cinque Torri. Fauna include marmots, roe deers, chamoises and hares.

Treviso

2008-05-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

Treviso stands at the confluence of Botteniga with the Sile , 30km north of Venice and 50km east of Vicenza, 40 km north-east of Padua, 120 km south of Cortina d'Ampezzo. The city is situated some 15 km south-west the right bank of the Piave River, on the plain between the Gulf of Venice and the Alps.
Treviso is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of Treviso province and the municipality has 82,112 inhabitants (December 2004): some 3.000 live within the Venetian walls (le Mura) or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city hinterland has a population of approximately 170,000. It is the home of the headquarters of designer clothing company Benetton, and of the major appliance maker DeLonghi.

A nice winter animation in a store from Treviso.

Venice - Santa Maria della Salute

2008-05-20T01:12:00.000-07:00

Starting in the Summer of 1629, a wave of the plague assaulted Venice, and over the next two years killed nearly a third of the population. Repeated displays of the sacrament, as well as prayers and processions to churches dedicated to San Rocco and San Lorenzo Giustiniani, had failed to stall the continuation of the epidemic. Echoing the architectural response to a prior assault of the plague (1575–76), when Palladio was asked to design the picturesque il Redentore dedicated to Christ the Redeemer, the Venetian Senate in October 22, 1630, decreed that a new church would be built. It was not to be dedicated to a mere "plague" or patron saint, but to the Virgin Mary, who for many reasons was thought to be a protector of the Republic.

It was also decided that the Senate would visit the church yearly, on 21 November, the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, in a celebration known as the Festa della Madonna della Salute, where the city's officials parade from San Marco to the Salute in the sestieri Dorsoduro for a service in gratitude for deliverance from the plague. This involved crossing the Grand Canal on a specially constructed pontoon bridge and is still a major event in Venice.

The desire to create a suitable monument at a place that allows for an easy processional access from Piazza San Marco, led senators to select the present site from among 8 potential locations. The Salute, emblematic of the city's piety, stands adjacent to the rusticated single story customs house or Dogana da Mar, the emblem of its maritime commerce, and near the civic center of the city. A dispute with the patriarch, Rome's representative in Venice and owner of the church and seminary at the site, was overcome, and razing of some of the buildings began by 1631. Likely, the diplomat Sarpi and Doge Nicolo Contarini shared the intent to link church to an order less-associated with the Papacy, and ultimately the Somascan Fathers, an order founded near Bergamo by a Venetian noble, were chosen.

A competition was held to select the building. Of the eleven submission (including designs by Alessandro Varotari, Matteo Ignoli, and Berteo Belli), only two were chosen for the final round. The architect Baldassare Longhena was selected to design the new church. It was finally completed in 1681, the year before Longhena's death. The other competitive, but losing, design was by Antonio Smeraldi (il Fracao) and Zambattista Rubertini. Of the proposals still extant, Belli's and Smeraldi's original plans were a conventional counter-reformation linear churches, resembling Palladio's Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore; while Varotari's was a sketchy geometrical abstraction. Longhena's proposal was a concrete architectural plan, detailing the structure and costs, although also bold in design, he wrote:

"I have created a church in the form of a rotunda, a work of new invention, not built in Venice, a work very worthy and desired by many. This church, having the mystery of its dedication, being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, made me think, with what little talent God has bestowed upon me of building the church in the … shape of a crown."

Later in a memorandum, he wrote:

"Firstly, it is a virgin work, never before seen, curious, worthy and beautiful, made in the form of a round monument that has never been seen, nor ever before invented, neither altogether, nor in part, in other churches in this most serene city, just as my competitor (il Fracao) has done for his own advantage, being poor in invention"Ultimately the Salute, while novel in many ways, still breathes the influence of Palladian classicism and the domes in Venice. The Venetian Senate voted 66 in favor, 29 against with 2 abstentions to authorize the designs of the 26 year old Longhena.

Venice - Academia

2008-05-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), was a Venetian priest and Baroque music composer, as well as a famous virtuoso violinist; he was born and raised in the Republic of Venice. The Four Seasons, a series of four violin concerti, is his best-known work and a highly popular Baroque piece.

This is the Academy of Venice.

Venice - Ponte Rialto

2008-05-19T02:44:00.001-07:00

The first dry crossing of the Grand Canal was a pontoon bridge built in 1181 by Nicolò Barattieri. It was called the Ponte della Moneta, presumably because of the mint that stood near its eastern entrance.

The development and importance of the Rialto market on the eastern bank increased traffic on the floating bridge. So it was replaced around 1250 by a wooden bridge. This structure had two inclined ramps meeting at a movable central section, that could be raised to allow the passage of tall ships. The connection with the market eventually led to a change of name for the bridge. During the first half of the 15th century two rows of shops were built along the sides of the bridge. The rents brought an income to the State Treasury, which helped maintain the bridge.Maintenance was vital for the timber bridge. It was partly burnt in the revolt led by Bajamonte Tiepolo in 1310. In 1444 it collapsed under the weight of a crowd watching a boat parade and it collapsed again in 1524.

The idea of rebuilding the bridge in stone was first proposed in 1503, and several projects were considered over the following decades. The Venetian Senate appointed three noble provveditori to oversee a design competition for the rebuilding of the bridge, which included Jacopo Foscarini, Alvise Zorzi, and Marcantonio Barbaro of the noble Barbaro family. In 1551 the provveditori requested proposals for the renewal of the Rialto Bridge, and plans were offered by famous architects such as Jacopo Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, all of which involved a Classical approach with several arches, officially judged inappropriate to the situation. Even Michelangelo was considered to design the bridge.

The present stone bridge, a single span, was designed by Antonio da Ponte, and completed in 1591. It is remarkably similar to the wooden bridge it succeeded. Two inclined ramps lead up to a central portico. On either side of the portico the covered ramps carry rows of shops. The engineering of the bridge was considered so audacious that architect Vincenzo Scamozzi predicted future ruin. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.

Poiana Brasov, Valea Mare-Mateiasi, Olt river

2007-11-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

Poiana brasov has so much things to show. Despite of this there are another beautiful places to see in Romania. Valea Mare is one of them. Olt river is another one. I hope you like them.

Poiana Brasov - part I

2007-11-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

Time swifts life’s experiences but in the end only the important things matter: love , health, family, the environment; the order is at random. It’s a vicious cycle repeating itself.
You always come back to your roots to what made you, to the earth because you’re part of it. Nature calls you, it’s an ancestral calling maybe that’s why we spend our holidays away from the concrete jungle.

We have remoted from our origin but time has a rithm of doing things and teaching us to be what we are: the missing piece from the nature’s puzzle. My first thought when I got to Poiana Brasov was that God had forgotten a piece of heaven on the earth, unspoiled yet by man’s intrusion.
Of course everything is expanding and between the high pine trees the roofs of the hotels pierce the sky. Man insisted to highlight it’s presence in European roads, outdoor activities, impressive hotels endowed with modern facilities.

PoianaBrasov is the kingdom of winter sports and the slopes are passable even there‘s no snow. You can adventure on a bike ride down the slopes but it can be dangerous if you don’t wear a helmet. You can roll over in a huge balloon, it’s funny and dizzy at the same time. Walking is my favorite activity because you can enjoy the silent story of the mountains. There are alleys to stroll, this way you are not disturbed by ATVs drivers, andrenaline hunters. On snowy weather these alleys are full of sledges but I enjoyed a sunny October day, the landscape recharged my soul with everything it’s beautiful, clean and healthy, my eyes with the beauty created only by a divine hand and my ears with the mild music of Dumitru Farcas with his bass clarinet(used by folk musicians in Hungary and Romania). Even if the weather was chilly the outdoor restaurants and terraces were filled with people drinking traditional beverages and eating Romanian meals.

Beyond these terraces you can find another proof of God’s presence, a wooden church, a neutral place built in the land of people and torn from the sky.

Poiana Brasov - team building

2007-11-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

It is the perfect place to take pictures of the squirrels or lions whose masters allow you to touch and cares them in change of the price or to admire and even buy precious stones matching each zodiacal sign. Touching them makes you feel their energy and vibration.

If the weather permits you, climb the mountain to 1200 metres or go by sky lift. Souvenirs hunters can find all kind of artcrafts in the outdoor fair: hand made fabrics, wools, still-life pictures and wooden artcrafts.

Each hotel has a restaurant but you would rather go to „Crama Haiducilot”(Outlaw’s wine cellar), or „Sura Dacilor”(Dacians’Shed), with hunting profile and an atmosphere to initiate you in a time journey to our ancestors.

Of course you can visit the surroundings, climb down to Brasov, visit Peles Castle or Bran Castle. The night life is also challenging in Poiana as well as in Brasov.

You can attend diferent parties at the hotels by the side of the pool or discos like „Capra Neagra”(The Black Goat). The opportunities are endless and the success of your holiday is guaranteed, regardless your options.