Set in a wide alpine valley beneath the north face of the Eiger, Grindelwald has long been a place where mountain life and mountaineering history intersect. The village grew from a farming settlement into one of Switzerland’s earliest alpine tourism hubs in the 19th century, when climbers, writers, and scientists arrived to study—and attempt—the surrounding peaks.
Caminha sits at Portugal’s northern edge, where the Minho River meets the Atlantic and marks the border with Spain. Its history is closely tied to defense and trade, visible in remnants of medieval walls and a compact historic center that once guarded the river mouth.
Some of the most spectacular scenery is found on a trip to the San Juan Islands. No wonder. This 100-million-year-old mountain range turned archipelago, located a few miles northwest of Seattle, changes dramatically with the tide. There are 743 islands at low tide--and 428 at high tide.
The Beagle Channel, at the southern tip of South America, stretches between Chile and Argentina and offers one of the most striking maritime landscapes in the world. This narrow passage, framed by snow-covered peaks and rocky islands, connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its waters are calm compared to the open sea, which has made it a historic navigation route for explorers and sailors for centuries.
Photo Credit: Photo by Hisham Zayadneh on Unsplash
Photo Credit: Photo by Eyad SR7AN on Unsplash
Photo Credit: Photo by Hisham Zayadneh on Unsplash
Jerash is reached by a short drive (29 miles, 47km) north of Amman and is an ancient Graeco-Roman city, once known as Gerasa. It has been dubbed the 'Pompeii of the East', because of its extraordinary state of preservation. Jerash is a vast city, which flourished in the centuries immediately preceding and following the Christian era.
At the approach to the city, the visitor is greeted by the imposing triple-arched gateway, built to honour the Emperor Hadrian when he arrived there in 129A.D.
Jerash formed part of the Decapolis, a league of ten cities built by the Romans and dating from the first century B.C. Today, visitors may wander among the original temples, theatres, plazas, public baths and colonnaded streets complete with sculptures and fountains, all enclosed within the still-remaining city walls.
The great oval forum, once the centre of social activity within the city, is impressively well-preserved and is approached by means of the Street of Columns. The city's 14 churches with their beautiful mosaic decoration all date from the Byzantine era.
The annual Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts is held for two weeks
every summer and is an important cultural event, featuring performing artists from all over the world. This event has international
recognition and is a source of great pride to the culturally-minded
people of Jordan. There is also a daily sound and light show in English French, German and Arabic.