World Travellers

Recently I revisited East Russia both for pleasure and business. The pleasure included joining a cruise along the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, which highlighted getting acquainted with East Russia’s not so distant history and with its nature in all its magnificent forms. The business part had to do with visiting my Russian partners to see what they were up to and whether there would be possibilities to engage in new business models.

The cruise, one of which I had taken in earlier times, proved that the area of the Kurils and Kamchatka still merits interest whether focused on its history, culture or nature, all of which are interesting both on the local as well as international level. What stayed the same was the ubiquitous presence of rules and regulations governing almost each landing and the trash that had gathered on even the remotest of islands. What did change was the gracious welcome and participation of the nature preserve staff both on the Commander Islands and in the Kronotsky Reserve. The ship itself was small and Russian, its home port Vladivostok and the officers and staff were friendly and helpful. The staff was mostly from New Zealand and had its hands full with about 58 international travelers. The landings were interesting and active, we walked, climbed, crossed rivers, sled down hills on our bottoms and enjoyed the privilege of having the space all by ourselves, except for the flora and fauna. And with growing visibility, I strongly feel that this could grow into another interesting destination, much like Alaska, all though a bit less accessible

There are many fun facts about France, but at the same time people do have many misconceptions about this country too. To get ourselves acquainted with the fact about France we need to do a bit of research on this mountainous region. It’s not only mountainous but splendid too with its rich and varied heritage.

France is situated in Western Europe surrounded by six countries namely Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany. Its mountainous regions are the Alps, Auvergne, Massif Central, Jura, Morvan, Pyrenees, Vosges and Corsica.

UNESCO’s famous world heritage sites in France include Mont St. Michel Abbey, Versailles Palace and Chartres Cathedral to mention a few. Ultimately France is a country of cultural heritage and worth visiting.

It has been well equipped with many modern marvels like the Millau Viaduc a suspension bridge supported by seven pillars at a height of 885 feet above the river Tarn stretching for a mile and a half in distance. This is even taller than the great Eiffel Tower and sure is the best ever tourist attraction. This wonder was made available to the public in 2004.

The Netherlands is a wonderful place to visit. Often referred to as Holland, it is rich in history and culture. It’s evident from the second you arrive in this wonderful country. If you enjoy walking streets and finding yourself surrounded by buildings that played a major role in the success of the Dutch golden age, then Amsterdam would be a good place to visit. As you explore the canal lined streets, you’ll see tall, skinny houses that all used to be warehouses for the vast amount of trade that passed through the city during this golden age. Now converted into high end housing and commercial units, the history and grandeur hasn’t been lost. There are even some that have been preserved and turned into museums, so that you can see what houses back then looked like. Many famous people had homes in Amsterdam, and those have been preserved also. Some of the famous names that have museums dedicated to them include Rembrandt and Anne Frank. There are endless amounts of sights and attractions in this beautiful city, you won’t be disappointed.

The Hague is also filled with a lot of history, but its feel is more international than Amsterdam, due to the fact that the international courts are located here, along with all the embassies and multinational companies such as Shell oil. The city is also more continental than others in the Netherlands, due to its wide avenues and streets, more so than the rest of the country. Its 18th century mansions are quite different from the tall houses that line the streets of Amsterdam. The Hague also has 11km of coastline, which Amsterdam cannot compete with. There are still plenty of museums here and a lot to see, you’ll soon find that the history, although maybe somewhat different than Amsterdam, is still evident while you explore this wealthy Dutch city.

The capital of Scotland is the city of Edinburgh and which is looked over by its Castle. The actual city, which now surrounds it, did not come into being until the latter part of the 18th Century when the English Kings felt that they now had control over the area.

The actual city you see below today was designed around a set of squares and was designed by James Craig. Although extremely classical, the design of the city is still undeniably and certainly recognizable as being Scottish.

When it comes to things to do and see in Edinburgh you will not be spoiled for choice along with the Annual Festival there is also the Edinburgh Military Tattoo that takes place each year. If however, you are keen on shopping there is plenty of places to visit on Princes Street.

Along with the Castle, which one can tour around, there are plenty of other places of interest to visit in this city. There is also John Knox’s House where you can learn more about this preacher from the 16th Century who established what is now the Presbyterian Church movement. Also another place which many visitors to the city enjoy is Lady Stair’s House which is a museum devoted to many of the country’s most well known and loved writers, including Robbie Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.

The world’s leading luxury yacht show in Monaco is to pay for 55 wind turbines in New Zealand - enough to generate power for 45,000 homes - making the event ‘carbon neutral’.

Under the watchful eye of Prince Albert, the yacht show is part of Monaco’s new stance on global warming, and comes shortly after Prince Albert himself travelled to the North Pole in April to highlight the damage he believes global warming is having on the environment.

‘Since Prince Albert came to the throne last year’ comments Henri Boulanger of Monte Carlo travel guide http://www.yourmonaco.com, ‘Monaco has changed her policy from one of the few countries not to sign the Kyoto Protocol to not only signing it but taking a lead in the battle against global warming. Prince Albert has personally taken steps to show how concerned he is, and by setting the example of going to the North Pole has shown the leadership necessary to encourage Monaco companies to become environmentally friendly, and the Monaco Yacht Show is an example of this’.

The Monaco Yacht Show has bult a reputation over the years as the place for the wealthy to view potential purchases, and this year there will be nearly a hundred yachts on display to those able to afford it.

On the night from 20th to 21st of December on the internal borders of the European Union boundary barriers between the Old and New Europe disappeared. Nine countries - Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Malta became the members of the Schengen zone, where the borders exist just on the geographical maps.

The meaning of the Schengen agreement consists in the fact that with a visa of any country that enters this agreement you can travel freely though the other Schengen countries as well. For example: you bought a tourist voucher to France and received a single visa (exactly those that are usually used to endorse tourists’ passports). With this visa you can go from Paris to Amsterdam by train without problems - no one will ask your documents. Now due to the Schengen widening it will be also easy to travel almost all over the Europe! From Poland to Czech Republic, from Czech Republic to Hungary, from Hungary to Austria…

Due to the agreement with the EU about the simplification of the visa system the prices on visas now will be quite acceptable - 35 €.

Namur is a Belgian city with a 2006 population of 107,000. It is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Meuse and Sambre. It is presently an important commercial and industrial center, and includes a major railway junction.

Namur maintains much of its medieval styles and flavor; in fact you’ll find no large supermarkets or malls in Namur. The major dominant landmark of the city is a massive middle ages fortified Citadel that overlooks the two rivers and the city from a hilltop. The Citadel has actually been rebuilt several times throughout the centuries, but remains as a relic of the past and is now a popular tourist attraction. In fact the entire town of Namur is a popular tourist destination, as it features a casino on the left bank of the Meuse in the southern part of the city, as well as an Easter time yearly beer Festival.