France

Fontainebleau theatre restoration enters final phase; Aimee Dawson; Art Newspaper

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France – Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Focus will be on restoring the theatre’s machinery, the upper levels of the salons and the podium that houses one of France’s most important stage sets.

The final stage of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-funded renovation of the 19th-century imperial theatre at the Château de Fontainebleau—a Unesco World Heritage site near Paris—begins in June. Designed in 1857 for Napoleon III, the theatre reopened in 2014 after the first phase, which cost €5m and saw 25 specialists and 135 craftsmen revive the original décor of the main auditorium. The final phase focuses on restoring the theatre’s machinery, the upper levels of the salons and the podium that houses one of France’s most important stage sets. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2019.

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Turkey

Things to do in Istanbul in 24 hours; Noel; Travel Photo Discovery

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Turkey – Historic Areas of Istanbul

On a flight back to the United States on Turkish Airways, I had a 24 hour layover in Istanbul and I decided to take advantage of this layover to explore the best of Istanbul in a very short timeframe and get my first impressions of the city that bridges both Europe and Asia culture, history and even street food and cuisine from the region. Here are my favorite things to do in Istanbul in 24 hours and hopefully if you have a short layover like this, you can also take advantage of seeing the best of the city in a such time frame.

Highlight to visiting Istanbul in 24 Hours

Check in to my Istanbul hotel

When you travel with Turkish airways and have a layover, any flight longer than 6 hours allows you to stay in any of their designated hotels.

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India

Capitol Complex restoration plan gets go-ahead; Ramkrishan Upadhyay; The Tribune

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India – The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement

The Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee has approved the plan to restore buildings of Capitol Complex comprising Punjab and Haryana secretariats and the High Court. The plan has been prepared by Abha Narian Lambah, UT’s heritage consultant .

Sources said a consultant had given the presentation before the committee headed by Parimal Rai, Adviser to the Administrator.

The consultant, in the presentation, elaborated in detail the steps to be taken to restore the original look of the buildings. The consultant has prepared the blueprint for the restoration of all buildings of Capitol Complex to give them the original look as designed by Le Corbusier.

Lambah has also made a detailed presentation of the condition assessment report on the ground reality of the buildings in which she has found large-scale intervention in the original plan.

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Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Iran sets sights on arrival of 6.5 million foreign tourist this year; Tehran Times

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Iran – Persepolis

Iran aims to draw some 6.5 million foreign travelers by the end of the current calendar year 1396 (March 20, 2018), though the country’s tourism infrastructure and public services are in need to be improved, a senior tourism official said on Monday.  In 1395, some 5.5 million travelers visited Iran, fetching about $8 billion for the country, IRNA reported.

“With proper planning and development of infrastructure, it is possible to meet our goals,” said Morteza Rahmani Movahhed, the deputy for tourism at the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization.

“However, it takes time to clean up international image of the county that for years have been tarnished by some Western outlets, the official added.

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Malaysia

Bat watching in Borneo’s UNESCO World Heritage Mulu National Park with MIC Cameras from Bosch; Security Info Watch

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Malaysia – Gunung Mulu National Park

Accessible only by boat or plane, the wilderness of Mulu National Park covers about 544 square miles, an area equal to the size of Singapore. It is home to some of the largest documented cave systems on the planet, and populated by bats and other rare wildlife. After a former successful collaboration, the National Park Management asked CTG Security Matrix, a Bosch Integrator, for advice on how to best monitor the area’s remote sites. Taking all of the camera requirements and environmental factors into consideration, three Bosch MIC IP starlight 7000 HD PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras were the perfect choice for this harsh environment.

Conditions could not be more challenging than in Borneo’s tropical rainforest, where temperatures reach up to +30 degrees Celsius and humidity can be as high as 100 percent.

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Portugal

Things to Do in Lisbon; Just A Pack

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Portugal – Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon

Filled with charm, and literally stacked with ambiance, Lisbon’s hilly streets offer many days (and nights) of exploration.

Portugal’s capital city wasted no time sucking us in. Within a couple of hours of arriving we found ourselves walking up and down the cobblestone hills of Lisbon’s Alfama district, ensnared by the allure of its old world charm.

Past courtyard cafes, down crooked stone streets, beyond the flitting sounds of mournful Fado music Lisbon constantly encouraged us to explore around the next corner.

While it might sound like we’re writing a hyperbolic love song, we promise we aren’t exaggerating. Lisbon charmed our pants off. And if you like historic cities that have done a remarkable job of preserving their past you’ll feel exactly as we did.

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Croatia

Croatia: Watershed moment for the Great Waterfall and Plitvice Lakes National Park; WWF

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Croatia – Plitvice Lakes National Park

Zagreb – This week, local communities living in and around Croatia’s Plitvice National Park and veterans’ associations came together to symbolically halt traffic at a wooden bridge near Plitvice Sela to draw attention to the numerous threats facing Croatia’s only UNESCO World Heritage site.

Known worldwide for its lakes, Plitvice National Park has long attracted thousands of visitors and interest but in recent years, unprecedented pressure from tourism and ill-planned construction projects threaten to impact the park’s waters and biodiversity.

Excessive water use has left the park’s Great Waterfall running dry, with only 40 per cent of its maximum water capacity currently available. Unless urgent action is taken, Plitvice National Park could be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

“A series of ill-informed decisions have left Croatia’s most precious natural pearl at unprecedented risk,” said Irma Popović Dujmović, project officer, WWF-Adria.

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Romania

15 for the Bucket List: Europe’s Top Hidden Destinations; Katja; Travelettes

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Romania – Danube Delta

Not a single day passes without someone in my various social media timelines asking about the best spot for a vacation in Europe. Paris, Mallorca, Santorini – the usual suspects are super popular but people are craving new experiences and places which have not yet been spoiled by mass tourism. Luckily, the clever people at Mastercard have teamed up with some of the most knowledgeable travelers in Europe (us included!) to vote for and reveal the 44 most beautiful hidden destinations across the continent, one in each of the 44 countries who took part. It took a while to gather all the info, but yesterday the final list was released. I’m excited to share the top 15 destinations, which you should definitely consider when planning your future travels!

# 1 Spain – Asturias & Covadonga Convent

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Germany

The Rhine River Is an Unexpected — and Amazing — Cruise Destination; Paula Froelich; Travel + Leisure

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Germany – Upper Middle Rhine Valley

The unexpected pleasures of cruising down the Rhine.

As an active, young(ish), solo female traveler, I’ll admit: Cruises were never high on my list of things to do. In my mind, that form of travel was for families, couples, or elderly people. They also struck me as unduly expensive when traveling alone and, with all the enforced socializing and lack of exercise, downright uncomfortable.

But earlier this year I reread Mark Twain’s classic travelogues, “Innocents Abroad” and “A Tramp Abroad” — and found myself obsessing over the concept of slow travel, boats, and an ethos where the destination is the journey itself. I caught myself lingering on stories about river cruises in Europe, in smaller, chicer vessels than the ocean behemoths.

And then a friend turned me on to Avalon Waterways.

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Libya

These are the 10 hottest places on earth | The Independent

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ghadames
Libya – Old Town of Ghadamès

As we all sit in our own sweat, wondering when this hell will end, spare a thought for the places that have really got it bad. Here are the 10 hottest places on earth.

1. Death Valley, California, USA

This currently holds the record for hottest air temperature ever recorded. The desert valley reached highs of 56.7 degrees in the summer of 1913, which would apparently push the limits of human survival. Average temperatures today reach 47 degrees during summer, and it’s the driest place in the States.

2. Aziziyah, Libya

The former capital of the Jafara district, 25 miles south of Tripoli, used to claim the title of hottest place on earth – in 1922 the temperature was recorded as a sweltering 58 degrees.

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