Former communist dictator Enveh Hoxha left Albania covered by thousands of bunkers. Now the once-isolated country is turning them into attractions.
Tag: Travel
What happened to Christiania’s dream of becoming Denmark’s hippie paradise? (CNN Travel)
(CNN) — Seen from a boat drifting along Copenhagen's wide canals, the neighborhood of Christiania is a verdant enclave walled off from the city by thick trees. Half a century after it was founded as a breakaway anarchist commune, it seems to have matured into an unlikely slice of paradise. But all is not well …
Europe’s baffling linguistic enigma (BBC Travel)
Though the Basque and Armenian languages share no superficial resemblances, they do share a baffling litany of words and grammatical elements. A few steps from the entrance to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, one of San Sebastian’s most visible landmarks with its sky-piercing gothic spire, lies a simple, two-faced earthen slab. In this corner …
Continue reading Europe’s baffling linguistic enigma (BBC Travel)
The French region with a new currency (BBC Travel)
Bayonne, France -- It didn’t take long after my arrival in Bayonne, France, to realise that this riverside town of meandering medieval alleyways flanked by narrow wooden-framed homes is a different kind of Basque Country. French Basque Country counts a population of just less than 300,000, compared to more than two million Spanish Basques, with …
Continue reading The French region with a new currency (BBC Travel)
Why are the Maltese so competitive? (BBC Travel)
Valletta, Malta -- There is a competitive nature that courses through Malta so raw and unbridled that it’s written into the skyline of its capital, Valletta, and permeates across all walks of life on the archipelago.
I’m talking about pika – a Maltese word that roughly means ‘a neighbourly rivalry’, but is one of those terms that feels like a fool’s errand when foreigners try to interpret it.
Justin Calderón 