Images of Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yehliu and Tamsui. April and May 2024. “Taipei has been the political centre of the island since 1887, when it first became the seat of Taiwan Province by the Qing dynasty until 1895 and again from 1945 to 1956 by the ROC government, with an interregnum from 1895 to 1945 […]
Images of Nikko, Niigata, Sado Island and Naha. March 2024. “Nikkō is a city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Shōdō Shōnin established the temple of Rinnō-ji in 766, followed by the temple of Chūzen-ji in 784. The village of Nikkō developed around these temples. The shrine of Nikkō Tōshō-gū was completed in 1617 and became a […]
Images of Yokohama and Nagano. January and February 2024. “Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and by area, and the country’s most populous municipality. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main […]
Images of Ise, Okayama and Fukuyama. November and December 2023. “Ise, formerly called Ujiyamada, is a city in central Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū, Japan. Ise is home to Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shintō shrine in Japan. “Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. […]
Devils, samurai and Vikings. Actually, it wasn’t a hellish time. Look down for my list of 46 books read and rated in 2023. (* Indicates it has been read before.) Five stars Two on a Tower, Thomas Hardy, 1882 The God Equation, Michio Kaku, 2021The Golden Ass, Apuleius, 2nd cent. ADThe Epic of Gilgamesh, Unknown, […]
Images of Osaka, Wakayama, Himeji and Nara. October and November 2023. “Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan, and one of the three major cities of Japan. Osaka means ‘large hill’ or ‘large slope’. It is unclear when this name gained prominence over Naniwa [the old name of the […]
Images of Conisbrough Castle, Sheffield and York. August 2023. “Conisbrough Castle is a medieval fortification in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire. The castle was initially built in the 11th century by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. “Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, whose name derives from […]
Images of Vienna, Linz and Salzburg. April-June 2023. “Until the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had two million inhabitants. Today, it is the second-largest German-speaking city after Berlin. “Linz is the capital […]
Images of Budapest. June 2023. “The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum, the capital of Lower Pannonia. The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Re-established Buda became one of the centres […]
Images of Bratislava and Devin Castle. May 2023. “Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is set along the Danube River by the border with Austria and Hungary. It’s surrounded by vineyards and the Little Carpathian mountains, criss-crossed with forested hiking and cycling trails. The pedestrian-only, 18th-century old town is known for its lively bars and cafés. […]