Thursday, 17 April 2025

In port ans resort town of Hvar, on the Croatian island of Hvar

 As the island retreat of choice for European jetsetters and celebrities alike, it is easy to see why Hvar grabs headlines. Sun-soaked beaches, lavender-scented hinterlands, and cobbled medieval towns provide a welcome change of pace from the seemingly endless choice of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs.

=======================================================================
(on Hvar, the Croatian island that is famed for the lovely Venetian-era Hvar Town. On summer evenings, yachts moor here, and sun-tanned visitors step ashore to indulge in the razzmatazz of trendy fish restaurants and bars. Yet, there is another Hvar –- a place of ancient traditions and the Mediterranean art of wine-making. It is the reason why this archipelago in the Adriatic remains popular with tourists. It all begins in Stari Grad, the island’s oldest settlement, founded by the Greeks in the 4th century BCE. Old stone houses sit deep inside a long sheltered bay, and behind it, the UNESCO-listed Stari Grad Plain extends some four miles, almost to neighboring Jelsa. (This flat expanse of fertile red soil, rich in minerals, is difficult to decipher at first glance.) To understand it better, visit Hora Hvar, a family-run agrotourism farm, and they will explain everything.

+ Some 2,400 years ago, the ancient Greeks divided the land into 73 plots for 73 families, clearing away ground to build dry stone walls, that define the boundaries. They cultivated vines and olive trees, just as locals do today, and the same parcel divisions remain, albeit dotted with cypresses and fig trees, fragrant wild fennel, and several tiny stone chapels. It is remarkable that over two millennia, generation after generation have preserved a connection with their land. At Hora Hvar, you can taste their olive oil with platters of cheese and salami, as well as their Bogdanuša white wine. The name of this ancient grape variety, indigenous to Hvar, means “given by God,” and historically it was consumed only during religious festivals. Visitors to Hora Hvar can still taste olive oil made on-site along with platters of cheese and salami.When Hvar was under Venetian Rule (from 1420-1797), wine-making was the main source of income.

+ The island is best known for Venetian-era Hvar Town. Inland from Jelsa, tiny hillside Pitve is a cluster of old stone cottages draped in jasmine and lots of bougainvillea, nestled in a lush Arcadian landscape. Here the beautifully-designed award-winning Pitve Viticulture Museum opened in 2023, in the former village school. Exhibits include 19th-century wine-making equipment, old black-and-white photos of locals in their vineyards, and digitals displays, while big windows afford dreamy views over the surrounding rural landscape. The ground-floor bar hosts wine-tasting, and winter events for locals such as Cinema with Wine.

+ For centuries, villagers from Hvar’s north side have also had fields on the south side, with vineyards on the steep rocky seaward slopes producing powerful reds, while vineyards on the flat, cooler northside make whites.



In the city of Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Mostar is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is famous for its iconic bridge, Stari Most.

========================================================================
(at the bridge, destroyed during the war in the 1990s but rebuilt with the help of UNESCO and reopened in 2004.) It is a symbol of the city's resilience and multicultural heritage, as well as a popular spot for daring divers who plunge into the water from its high arch.) Mostar is the largest city in Hercegovina, with an enchanting Old Town center. The city is built around either side of the cold and capricious Neretva River. Alhough only 200 feet above sea level, Mostar is flanked by the Dinaric Alps, with the dramatic mass of Velež Mountain dominating the skyline to the east, and the short but sheer Hum Hill, topped with a white, 100-foot-high cross, capturing one's gaze to the west.  Many visitors also choose to make day or weekend trips to/from popular cities on Croatia's Adriatic Coast, namely: Split (166 kilometers/103 miles to the northwest) and Dubrovnik (148 kilometers/92 miles to the south).

+ Mostar was founded as an Ottoman Empire frontier town in 1452. Roman remains have been unearthed beneath the town. Mostar, as we know it, began to take shape during the Ottoman era of the 15th and 16th centuries. The wooden structure that connected the town's hemispheres evolved into Stari Most (The Old Bridge)

+ For centuries, Mostar was a beacon of diversity and a commendable example of how different cultures and religions can coexist in the same space. This was evident (and, to an extent, still is) in the structures throughout the historic center. Architecture here presented a symbol of tolerance: a shared life of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Mosques, churches, and synagogues existed side-by-side indicating that in this region, the Roman Catholic Croats with their Western European culture, the Eastern Orthodox Serbs with their elements of Byzantine culture, and the Sephardic Jews continued to live together with the Bosniaks-Muslims for more than four centuries. '

+ From 1878 to 1918, Mostar fell under Austro-Hungarian rule. Post World War I, the city became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, before transitioning into Yugoslavia in 1929. Such was the state of things until Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992. This led to Mostar being attacked by the Yugoslav People's Army. During the Bosnian War, the Croat-Bosniak War also escalated. On November 9th, 1993," the Croatian Defence Council destroyed Stari Most. The Croat-Bosniak dispute was resolved in 1994 with the signing of the Washington Agreement, and the Bosnian War concluded the following year with the Dayton Agreement.

+ After peace was declared, reconstruction began on Stari Most. The Old Bridge was reopened in July 2004, and was declared a World Heritage Site + In the wake of the Bosnian War of the early 1990s, Mostar's cultural spectrum condensed though disparate groups have once again established stable and amicable footing.



In the capital of the Republic of San Marino, is a mountainous microstate surrounded by north-central Italy

 San Marino is one of the world's smallest countries.

(just one-tenth the size of New York City in the USA).
=======================================================================
(in the capital of the Republic of San Marino located near the center of the country and set high on the western slopes of Mount Titano. (As recently as 2008, the mountain and the historic center of the city were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.) One of the smallest independent states in Europe, San Marino is also the world’s second smallest republic after the Republic of Nauru (an island country and microstate in Micronesia). A landlocked country roughly rectangular in shape, San Marino is located on the eastern slope of the Apennine mountain system in central Italy. Its landscape is dominated by the huge, central limestone mass of Mount Titano.

+ Of Earth's 196 independent countries, San Marino is the fifth smallest. A sole survivor of Italy's once powerful city-state network, this micronation clung on after the powerful kingdoms of Genoa and Venice folded. It still endures, secure in its status as the world's oldest surviving sovereign state and its oldest republic (since 301 CE).

+ According to tradition, the country of San Marino was founded in the early 4th century CE by St. Marinus, an early Christian who fled the nearby city of Rimini to escape religious persecution. Soon after his arrival, the city of San Marino was established. The city’s defenses made it a prominent fixture in the struggle between Guelf and Ghibelline (papal and imperial, respectively) factions during the Middle Ages. The Sammarinese were allied with the Montefeltro family, which were prominent supporters of the Ghibelline cause, against the Malatesta family, the Guelf ruling house of Rimini. Shown here is the Church of San Francesco (now a museum) that was built during the period of this rivalry and remains one of the city’s most significant sites. Though the influence of the Montefeltros was extinguished in the early 16th century, San Marino retained its status as an independent city-state. Over subsequent centuries the city weathered the ambitions of the Borgias, the imperial dreams of Napoleon, and an occupation by the German army during World War II.

+ The Palazzo Pubblico, the seat of the country’s government, was built in the late 19th century. The city's main economic activity is tourism. The State Museum of San Marino, founded in the late 19th century, hosts a collection of fine art and antiquities, and the national library is home to an extensive collection of modern books and periodicals. The University of the Republic of San Marino was established in the city in 1985.

+ Today, the country’s major resources are its industry, tourism, commerce, agriculture, and handicrafts. (Postage stamps are San Marino’s major source of revenue.) Wine made from local grapes, wood machinery, chemicals, and ceramics are main exports. Major crops are wheat, corn, barley, and grapes. Dairying and livestock raising also contribute to its economy.



In the city of Pompeii, the preserved ancient Roman city in Campania, Italy

 The town of Pompeii, in Italy is legendary for having been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

=======================================================================
(in a preserved ancient Roman city in Campania, Italy, located southeast of Naples at the base of Mount Vesuvius.) Pompeii, the preserved ancient Roman city in Campania, Italy, 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Naples, at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius. Around noon on August 24, 79 CE, a huge eruption from Mount Vesuvius showered volcanic debris over the city of Pompeii, followed the next day by clouds of blisteringly hot gases. Lots of buildings were destroyed, the population was crushed or asphyxiated, and the city was buried beneath a blanket of ash and pumice. For many centuries Pompeii slept beneath its pall of ash, which perfectly preserved the remains. When these were finally unearthed, in the 1700s, the world was astonished at the discovery of a sophisticated Greco-Roman city frozen in time.

+ Pompeii was built on a spur formed by a prehistoric lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarnus (modern Sarno) river. Herculaneum, Stabiae, Torre Annunziata, and other communities were destroyed along with Pompeii. Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata, which were were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. Pompeii supported between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants at the time of its destruction. The modern town (comune) of Pompei (pop. [2011] 25,440) lies to the east (and contains the Basilica of Santa Maria del Rosario, a pilgrimage center.)

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Oscan village of Pompeii soon came under the influence of the cultured Greeks who had settled across the bay in the 8th century BCE. Greek influence was challenged when Etruscans came into Campania in the 7th century. The Etruscans’ influence remained strong until their sea power was destroyed by King Hieron I of Syracuse in a naval battle off Cumae in 474 BCE. A second period of Greek hegemony followed. Then, toward the end of the 5th century, the warlike Samnites, an Italic tribe, conquered Campania, and Pompeii. (Stabiae and Herculaneum, became Samnite towns.) Pompeii is first mentioned in history in 310 BCE, when, during the Second Samnite War, a Roman fleet landed at the Sarnus port of Pompeii and from there made an unsuccessful attack on the neighboring city of Nuceria. At the end of the Samnite wars, Campania became a part of the Roman confederation, and the cities became “allies” of Rome. But they were not completely subjugated and Romanized until the time of the Social War. (Pompeii joined the Italians in their revolt against Rome in this war and was besieged by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 89 BCE.) After the war, Pompeii,received Roman citizenship. However, as a punishment for Pompeii’s part in the war, a colony of Roman veterans was established there under Publius Sulla, the nephew of the Roman general. Latin replaced Oscan as the language, and the city were Romanized in culture, institutions, and architecture.



In the town of Pirmasens, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France

 Once Upon A Time There Was A Wealthy Town, one that I visited many times In the 1970s:

========================================================================
(in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) The town of Pirmasens is the center of the southernmost part of Rheinland-Pfalz along the French border. Like Rome it was built on seven hills. The surrounding region is quite rural, so this town feels like a metropolis. The nearest real cities would be Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken, but getting there takes 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the route and means of transport. So Pirmasens plays its role as a regional metropolis, though on a low level. Until 1736 Pirmasens was part of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg and still hardly more than a village. But after the death of the last Count of Hanau, the territory became the property of Prince Ludwig IX of Hessen-Darmstadt, who chose it as his residence. While his father ruled in Darmstadt, the prince took the chance to implement his dream in his own property: build up an army. Ludwig was a soldier through-and-through who turned Pirmasens into an army base. Like the Prussian kings,he recruited very tall guys. Pirmasens grew into a garrison town in a short time. The present main square is the former parade ground. The flourishing of the town ended when Ludwig died in 1790.

+ The largest sqare in the city center is the former parade ground. (Prince Ludwig IX. had it installed to exercise his troops.) In the 1870s a school building was erected on the western side of the square, which was later turned into the new Town Hall The square has since been redesigned; a row of modern colonnades surrounds it. Outside the colonnades trees have been planted to add a bit of green. The church in the corner of Exerzierplatz was built from 1750 to 1758 as the parish church of the Reformed, i.e. Calvinist, community. The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a Lutheran land, where the Calvinist confession was not tolerated. Only here in Pirmasens they managed to obtain freedom of faith, their own parson and church due to the fact that many soldiers came from other territories and the number of Calvinists among them was large. The church’s name refers to Johannes (Jean) Calvin the reformer. At first it was known as the Reformed Church until it received its present name in 1931. In World War II the church suffered severe damage. The facades and steeple were rebuilt in their original shape. The Lutheran parish church substituted the old parish church which became too small. In WWII it was damaged, but was rebuilt. It is on Hauptstraße, in Pirmasens’s main shopping area. The building attached to the steeple of Lutherkirche was built around 1760 together with the church and served as a school building for children from soldiers' families. In the old residence and capital of the county, Buchsweiler in Alsace, Landgrave Ludwig IX was not allowed to have soldiers display his ownership of the land. In Pirmasens, he could do as he liked. The church was destroyed by WWII bombs, but was later rebuilt.



In Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera

 "If there is anything so romantic as that castle-palace-fortress of Monaco I have not seen it." -- M. E. W. Sherwood, an American author and socialite.

=========================================================================
(in Monaco, the sovereign principality located along the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the resort area of the Côte d’Azur [French Riviera]). The small city-state overlooking the Mediterranean, is famed for its glamour and wealth. The Palais Princier (shown here), the former home of Princess Grace and current home of her son, Prince Albert II, is at the top of the cliff-bound medieval Monaco-Ville. Also well known is Monte Carlo, home to the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, the European Poker Tour, and the Monte Carlo Rally.

+ Squeezed into just 200 hectares, what it lacks in size it makes up for in attitude. It is also home to the annual Formula One Grand Prix. The city of Nice, France, lies 9 miles (15 km) to the west; the Italian border 5 miles (8 km) to the east. Monaco’s territory occupies a set of clustered hills and a headland that looks southward over the Mediterranean. Many features, however, have made Monaco among the most luxurious tourist resorts in the world, and have given it a fame far exceeding its size.

+ Many visitors to Monaco alternate their hours between its beaches and boating facilities, its international sports-car races, and its world-famous Place du Casino,

+ The Rock of Monaco overlooks both the port and the Mediterranean. The Prince's Palace (depicted here) is on the Rock in the foreground. Monaco's history predates the Roman occupation of 22CE. Its large natural harbor ensured a steady stream of visitors from Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon. It was the Phoenicians who introduced to this area of the Mediterranean their god Melkart, later known by the Romans as Hercules Monoikos. It was after this god that the Romans renamed the area Portus Hercules Moneici, which has evolved to the present name of Monaco. The seat of the Prince of Monaco was established on the Rocher de Monaco as a fortress in 1191 when the harbor was acquired by the Republic of Genoa.The harbor and its immediate area were given to the Genoese by the Emperor Henry IV. In 1215 work began on a new fortress, comprising four towers connected by ramparts protected by a curtain wall. This forms the core of the present palace.

+ Monaco’s chief industry is tourism, and its facilities make it one of Europe’s most luxurious resorts. Once a winter attraction, it now draws summer visitors as well, to its beaches and expanded mooring facilities. The Place du Casino. was built in 1861, and in 1967 its operations were taken over by the principality. The four sections, or quartiers, of Monaco are the town of Monaco, or “the Rock,” the headland jutting into the sea on which the Old Town is located; La Condamine, the business district on the west of the bay, with its natural harbor; Monte-Carlo, including the gambling casino; and the newer zone of Fontvieille, in which various light industries have developed.



In the city of Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium

 Brussels is multicultural to its roots.

======================================================================

(in Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium that comprises 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than four kilometers (2.5 mi.) to the south. Since the end of WWII, it has been a center for international politics and home to many international organisations, politicians, diplomats, and civil servants. As the de facto capital of the European Union, it hosts several EU institutions, including its administrative-legislative, executive-political, and legislative branches. (though the judicial branch is in Luxembourg, and the European Parliament meets for a part of the year in Strasbourg, France.). The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of NATO are also located in Brussels.

+ The Brussels Region is also part of a big conurbation extending towards the cities of Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven, known as the Flemish Diamond, as well as the province of Walloon Brabant, in total home to over five million people. As Belgium's economic capital and a top financial center in Western Europe, Brussels is classified as an Alpha global city. It's also an international hub for rail, road and air traffic, and is also considered, together with Belgium, as Europe's geographic, economic. and cultural crossroads.The Brussels Metro is the only rapid transit system in Belgium. In addition, both its airport and railway stations are the largest and busiest in the country.

+ Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. Since its creation in 1989, the Brussels-Capital Region has been officially bilingual in French and Dutch, although French is the majority language and lingua franca. Brussels is also known for its cuisine and gastronomic offer (including its waffle, its chocolate, its French fries, and its many types of beer, as well as its architectural landmarks; some of which are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Main attractions include its historic Grand-Place/Grote Markt (main square), the Atomium, and cultural institutions such as La Monnaie/De Munt and the Museums of Art and History.

+ Unassuming Brussels is indeed grand, with many 17th-century buildings and daily flower markets. Reopened in 2006, the Atomium, Brussels' Eiffel Tower, provides great views, inside and out. Architecture fans should visit Musee Horta, home of Belgian master architect Victor Horta. St. Gery's clubs and bars are packed year-round. Seafood eateries abound in Ste. Catherine. The architecture of the Grand Palace (depicted here) and other UNESCO World Heritage sites, will no doubt complement your culinary adventure.



In port ans resort town of Hvar, on the Croatian island of Hvar

 As the island retreat of choice for European jetsetters and celebrities alike, it is easy to see why Hvar grabs headlines. Sun-soaked bea...