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27 January 2012

The Treasures of the Diocesan Museum of Salerno

Winter is not the best tme to visit Italy but the vacation can offer many interesting things to learn and to see. For exsample, if you visit Salerno in this period, you can enjoy the new exposition in the Diocesan Museum that is open from December.

Салерно

The Diocesan Museum is not very big but it has some rarities.

First of all are the medieval avory altar pieces. Well, nobody knows, sincerely, what it is and even how the pieces of this puzzle were composed originally. But the 69 pieces work that represents scenes from New and Old Testament is the only so complete collection in the world.

Алтарь из слоновой кости, Салерно

The second rarity are the pages of the Exultet -a "book" of images used to show to the believers what is the priest telling during the Mass. The persons did not understand latin and they used these pictures to make them participate consciously.
The next interesting object exposed in the diocesan Museum is the cross of Robert Guiscard. I'm not very sure that this cross is effectively the property of Robert Guiscard, the Normann Conquirer of Salerno but the artifact is very special in any case.

20 January 2012

Is it Venice?

These are the photos of my friend that lives in... oh no, not in Venice!
In SPb!
St. Petersburg. There are not so many cities that provoke so great love in the hearts of so many persons. SPb is a city that steals your heart. Forever.
If you want to visit Russia, think about SPb. Yes, you are right, I'm the part of that very nourished group of persons that believe SPb is the most beautiful place in the world.

On these photos is the outpost of SPb, Kronstadt. It's a town of sailors. If you visit SPb in summer (and I hope, you have this possibility), you can buy a ferry excursion that will visit Kronstadt. It's an excellent way to relax -a ferry.

Форты Кронштадта
«Форты Кронштадта» на Яндекс.Фотках

  По воде вокруг города  Кронштадта
«По воде вокруг города Кронштадта» на Яндекс.Фотках

 This temple is built for the sailors that died in the fights against the enemies of the homeland. It's dome is visible from all the parts of the gulf.

  Морской собор в Кронштадте
«Морской собор в Кронштадте» на Яндекс.Фотках

15 January 2012

Bathing Before Christmas

I want to precise that it's about orthodox Christmas and it means about Jan.6/ 7. My friend went in Siberia for a short vacation and found an interesting place in one of the towns they visited: a bath with hot mineral water. They say, the inhabitants of Siberia are very healthy because they like "banja" -Russian bath. After they take the bath, they go out anf swimm in the rivers or rub themselves with snow. That show the photos here. 

Покровом снежным, бело-синим вокруг окутала зима...
«Покровом снежным, бело-синим вокруг окутала зима...» на Яндекс.Фотках
Жаркая банька
«Жаркая банька» на Яндекс.Фотках

 But it's the first time I hear that there are such pools with hot mineral water used to enjoy the cold winter. My friend told me, she caught cold before the vacation but after this bath everything passed.
 
Купание пред Рождеством...
«Купание пред Рождеством...» на Яндекс.Фотках

08 January 2012

Tortuguero, Costa Rica; a natural wonderland

I recently had the privilege of visiting Tortuguero (loosely translate to “turtle land”), a small village and national park isolated in Costa Rica’s northwestern corner. The first thing that struck me upon arriving at Moin is that the road abruptly ends. From Moin the journey continues by boat as there are no roads leading to, or in the Village of Tortuguero. The boat ride up the Canals of Tortuguero National Park was amazing. Wildlife is abundant in this area, with three species of monkey in the trees, mellow manatees and snappy crocodile in the waters and beautiful toucans in the skies overhead. Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to see the elusive Jaguar, but the real stars of the show were still to come.
The small village of Tortuguero is home to only a little over 1000 people, but the town has many lodging options so there was no problem finding accommodations on the fly. I had left the sounds of cars and buses left long ago. This is a slow paced town where relaxation is the action, and the jungle songs of birds and insects mesh with rolling waves to create a natural feeling almost like traveling back in time.

I strolled along the Coffee colored beach and encountered a few Nesting Hawksbill Turtles. It was an interesting sight as the turtle’s eyes actually tear as they lay their eggs. I forgot to ask why this occurs but I will just go with my notion that they are tears of joy.  I walked about a mile then decided to turn around as I began to get hungry, and a local told me the real action happens after the sun goes down.

I went back to my lodge and booked a guide for a night time turtle tour. One thing to note is that visitors are not allowed on the beach without a guide after 6PM, sadly this is because poachers have stolen the turtle’s eggs pushing some species to the points of near extinction. We set out at 8PM, the guides use special red flashlights which I though was interesting and was told this is because the turtle use the moon as a navigational tool. Regular flashlights confuse the turtles and sometimes force them to return to the sea without laying their eggs.

There were many turtles exiting the sea and slowly crawling up the beach. The first turtle we approached was a massive Leatherback. I never imagined a turtle could be so big, the guide said they can reach lengths of over two meters and weights of 900 kilograms! We stayed a few minutes and watched the soon to be mother dig a hole by swatting away sand with her back flippers. An interesting fact is that Sea Turtles return to their birthplace to lay their eggs. Somehow after years at sea they find the beach where they hatched. This amazed me.

Four species lay their eggs here; Green, Hawksbill, Leatherback and Loggerhead. We had the pleasure of seeing all but the Green Turtle, possibly because our tour got cut a bit short by some scary lightning nearby. We did not get a chance to see the famed “arribada” which is an event that occurs a few times of year in which up to 100,000 turtles come to shore over a short period of time to nest, maybe next time.

All in all Tortuguero was an amazing experience. The naturalism of the area and knowledge of the guides made the trip one I will never forget. To this day the all species of Sea Turtle are either on the threatened or endangered list. Many commercial fishing boats are catching turtles in their nets and poachers are still a major problem. There are many foundations to help Sea Turtle conservation in Tortuguero and around the world. I truly hope they can effectively help preserve this natural wonderland for centuries to come.

Guest Post Written By Matt Ymbras for TV Pura Vida

04 January 2012

Travel with a Good Group of Interested Persons

December was very good month for me because I found an assotiation of the persons that like walking and like to visit interesting historical places -just as I do. We had an interesting walk over Sorrento

Сорренто, Неаполь, Италия

and than, on Jan.1, we climb a mountain to see the ruins of the Longobard castel and the breathtaking panorama of all our zone from the height of 1200 m.

На экскурсии

With my husband, we visited Apulia with Taranto and Ostuni. We have seen 2 seas in the same day, Ionic and Adriatic sea. Traveling with the car was relatively difficult -mostly because it's hard to drive and to stay in the car all the day long, 12 hours. But the places we visited were really interesting and so fantastic!

This is Ostuni, the White town with Adriatic sea in the background.

Ostuni, Taranto


Here is the countryside between Ostuni and Marina Franca with incredible trulli everywhere.

Ostuni, Taranto

 And this is the view in the direction of Taranto and the Ionic sea


Ostuni, Taranto
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