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History

History

Prosaic mosaic

As we humans (supposedly) get smarter, we should also do smart things.  That's not always the case, but here it is.  In 2010, workers encountered an especially impressive mosaic while digging the foundation for a new hotel in Antakya, Turkey. They found an ancient mosaic measuring 9,000 square feet, making it the largest intact mosaic ever…

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Distinctive and immediately recognizable

The architecture of Japan is one of the things that sets the country apart from others. It's very distinctive and immediately recognizable, and something whose charm beckons out to many tourists. While in cities like Tokyo, where landscapes change continuously as older buildings give way to new and modern ones, there are areas where you can take a look…

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Uh . . . coffee-flavoured coffee?

Nearly every expat or regular visitor can remember their first words in Spanish. They may not be the first you were taught, or learned from a self-teaching course pack, but the ones that most stuck in your head, or the first sentence you were able to pronounce without hesitating. But did you know that there's more…

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Not just G adventures: 5G!

The more you travel, the more you want to travel.  And each time you go, you want even more.  More adventures, more variety, more experiences, more personal. If this sounds like you, our affiliate friends G Adventures are the travel guides for you.  Never the typical tour, they have the choices to take you way…

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Wonders worth searching for

Many of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World collapsed into rubble a long time ago. The Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, both of which were destroyed by earthquakes. Some of these wonders perhaps never existed at all, like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We are going to take a look at…

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Hole-y crap!

Planet Earth holds some of the strangest, natural tourist destinations in the solar system.  Earth is perpetually bombarded with debris from outer space. Luckily for us, most of it burns up during entry through our atmosphere and we enjoy this bright burn in the night sky in the form of fleeting meteor showers. But on…

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Dome sweet dome

As we travel the world, not only do we become familiar with the unfamiliar, but we also, over time, see past the obvious and start to focus on the unremarkable or the unusual.  Sometimes it's a reflex action, other times it just drifts into our conciousness. One of those times is when you start to…

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Red Sea spree

The Middle East is a hotbed of activity and promise, that's for sure.   And it seems like every day something new that's exciting, innovative and - in some cases - larger-than-life is underway in the region.(Have a look at some of our articles here for more.) In this case,  the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) has…

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Harvey, get serious!

For those of you who are vaguely aware of Harvey Nichols (Harvey Nick's) in London, you might recall them as being targeted toward a more upper-crust audience.  Perhaps a bit dry. But, if you haven't had a look lately, you're in for a treat, especially if you're the playful type, no matter what your age.…

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Falling in Louvre again

It's just around the corner, but soon we will see the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.  A spectacular - and complex design -  makes this one of the most stunning designs in the world. Located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It runs under an agreement between the UAE and France, signed in…

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Aire o’ Mexico

Mexico City is an exciting, sprawling, tangled, vibrant, diverse, crazy, inspiring and unforgettable place.  If you've been, you know.  Maybe you've even been able to cover a lot of ground there.  With almost 10,000,000 inhabitants, there is a lot going on.  You've got to be tough, but, boy, is it worth it. If you haven't…

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A slight Nordic edge

Many of us have learned, over the years, that Christopher Columbus (real name Cristoforo Colombo) discovered North America in 1492 -  way before McDonald's was founded. But,  we now know that half a millennium before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, the Vikings reached the “New World”, as the remains of timber buildings at L’Anse aux Meadows on…

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Mooooove

Very simply . . . Corsican cows won’t give up beach home to tourists, post lockdown.  Can you blame them? Or, is this a portend of things to come?  Have the non-human species finally had enough, and are collectively fighting back?  Between Covid, murder hornets and mother earth, herself, providing us with one disaster after…

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Dominican-do!

Like other locales hard-hit by the events of the past 18 months, the Dominican Republic is focusing on rebuilding and recovering. But that doesn’t mean travel has to slow down. In fact, destinations in the Caribbean are very attractive all year round due to their warm weather and turquoise blue beaches. Click here to learn…

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There’ll be blue skies

We love aircraft here at Matouring.  All kinds of aircraft, especially those that have been lovingly maintained or restored.  And we're not alone.  You can too.  Visit the Royal International Air Show at Fairford, UK in the south Cotswolds (July 15-17, 2022), which next year will be celebrating the United States Air Force’s 75th anniversary…

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Some builders would do anything

More than 1,600 years ago, close to the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, laborers were hard at work building a palace for a fledgling kingdom. They finished the foundation layer of the massive western rampart and then paused before beginning the next construction phase, a stone wall. The foundation, made from packed shells and…

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Don’t fence me in

If you live in a housing complex with dozens of units, take heart. An apartment building in St. Petersburg, Russia, (population five million) houses 18,000 people. We're all for efficiency, but we have to wonder about the logistics of managing a place like this.  Parking?  Elevators? As some people have noted, how would the wifi…

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Yangshuo, Dr. No?

Just look at that. Landscapes don’t get more dramatic than the towering rock formations of Guilin, southern China’s most astonishing natural phenomena. And in the shadows of those giant alien mountains you’ll find something much smaller but almost as dazzling – a hotel. And not just any old hotel: a true design marvel loaded with…

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