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World Culture

World Culture

You’ve tried the liquor, now try the islands

We would imagine most of you have been to Europe at least once.  And, we're confident that many of you have visited Portugal, likely Lisbon or Porto.  What a lovely, gentle country it is. But, out on Portugal's Madeira Islands, the lush archipelago far from the mainland, the North Atlantic ocean has shaped every aspect…

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Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

On some days, you just want to say, “Beam me up, Scotty! There’s no intelligent life here.” And when those days arrive, Scotty’s transporter is waiting in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, halfway between Calgary and Lethbridge. The Canadian Pacific originally named the town for the Roman god of fire, but the citizens had a better idea. …

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Yotel!

If you've been to London (or the Republic of Ireland, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Australia) you'll likely know Yo Sushi. A restaurant chain first started in London, Yo Sushi took the popular Asia-originated conveyor belt concept (you grab the plate you want as it passes) and tweaked it a bit…

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A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

We're sure that everyone who frequents our site knows of The Vatican, even if you're not a believer.  But despite the openness of the Vatican (nowadays, anyway) there is still so much to learn and understand. The video below attempts to shed some light on this most venerated of institutions. Trust OMIO for your European…

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A live-in legend

If you frequent our site, you'll know how much we love architecture:  it's a part of life, especially when it is executed with creativity, originality and love.  We especially like the Bauhaus and modern movements from the start of the twentieth century. It is often almost impossible to visit, let alone stay in some of…

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Brave soldier, man of letters, publisher, first Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry

Raimondo di Sangro Prince of Sansevero (Torremaggiore 1710 – Naples 1771) was an original exponent of the first European Enlightenment. A brave soldier, man of letters, publisher, first Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry, he was – more than anything else – a prolific and enterprising inventor and patron. In the underground laboratories of his palace,…

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The green mosque

Gratifyingly, people are starting to understand that climate change is real.  Turn on the television every day and a new horrifying example of our changing world appears. On a very positive note, though, Dubai just got the world's first ‘green’ mosque. As per the reports, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) inaugurated the world's first…

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India’s golden triangle

Surprise! We kind of tricked you here.  Yes, this article is about India, and one of India's glorious contributions to the world are samosas, but this is about a Golden Triangle of a different kind. Here, we're talking about a glorious tour through India’s Golden Triangle - with Ranthambore National Park via our affiliate friends,…

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Trains explained

Trains are everywhere in Europe. Some of the trains travel at high speed across the continent, while others move around leisurely, either by day or by night. Find out about the different European trains like sleeper trains, chocolate trains, high speed trains and the provided facilities for a clear idea of what train travel in…

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Scenes of Queens

Where you can escape to nature close to the city, more than 130 languages are spoken, and NYC’s only surf culture thrives... As one of the five boroughs of New York City, Queens is not only the largest and second-most populated—with over two million people—but it can be a world unto itself. While tourists often…

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Jet ‘a Petra

Our affiliate friends easyJet have announced the launch of a new route and holidays from Manchester Airport UK to Aqaba in Jordan this winter. Flights and holidays are on sale from Manchester Airport to the scenic Jordanian city, a perfect destination for a splash of year-round sunshine and Middle Eastern culture. Read more here from…

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We’ll leave the light on

When the Romans built things, they built them to last.  Just take a look at Rome itself, with the Parthenon and its companion buildings. But here is another rather spectacular example of the Romans building things to last. The Tower of Hercules is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi)…

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Harvest your own vegetables, golf

From the back of a pickup truck, I watched dust fly as we drove along a narrow road through one of Kauaʻi's last sugar cane fields and past a long-abandoned mill. It was the early 1980s, my first trip to the island and, after a few days in Honolulu, it was quite a change from…

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Mule love this

Yes, really - the village sounds like something from a 19th-century storybook, however, it seems to be reality. In fact, Clovelly has been named one of England’s most beautiful villages! The ancient fishing village is uniquely special due to its traditional architecture, donkeys and views over the Bristol Channel, which attract endless tourists. You can…

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Let’s get bent

Before ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza, with its impossibly straight sides, they worked on other variations of the structure. One such predecessor, which has rounded sides, is now welcoming visitors. Read more here courtesy of TravelAndLeisure.com Fly to Egypt in utter comfort with Etihad. Click above. You can't beat that view. Click above…

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Quito is neato!

With a rich pre-Colombian history, Ecuador's capital was founded on the ruins of an Incan city but offers everything a modern traveller might need. It remains the least-altered historic centre in Latin America and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Quito’s important sites include baroque gems like San Francisco and Santo Domingo monasteries, as…

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Tubular dwells

The tube houses of Hanoi  Narrow residential houses, known as ‘nha ong’ in Vietnamese or ‘tube houses’, found in an urban area of Hanoi. Tall, thin and brightly colored, Hanoi's "tube houses" dominate the city's streets as 9 million people compete for space in Vietnam's bustling capital. Although Vietnam saw a number of villas and…

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