From the World Heritage inscription: The Cistercian Maulbronn Monastery is considered the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of the Alps. The monastery’s church, mainly in Transitional Gothic style, had a major influence on the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe. The water-management system at Maulbronn, with its …
From the World Heritage inscription: The strategic location of the dramatic 65km stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen, Rüdesheim und Koblenz as a transport artery and the prosperity that this engendered is reflected in its sixty small towns, the extensive terraced vineyards and the ruins of castles that once defended its trade. The …
From the Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau World Heritage inscription: The Bauhaus is an outstanding example of the Modern Movement, which revolutionized artistic and architectural thinking and practice in the 20th century, and in particular of the progressive architectural concepts of the Jugendstil. In 1919 the Schools of Art and of Applied …
From the World Heritage inscription: The undulating landscape containing the fossil hominid sites of South Africa comprises dolomitic limestone ridges with rocky outcrops and valley grasslands, wooded along watercourses and in areas of natural springs. Most sites are in caves or are associated with rocky outcrops or water sources. The serial listing includes the Fossil …
Latitude: 33° 54.2614′ S Longitude: 18° 24.9283′ E Checking passengers on to a ship is not the same as checking into a hotel. You can’t just have people check-in willy nilly over the course of a day. There are issues with security, immigration, and the port authority, so the first day is usually at a …
The Decision Early in 2016, I made the decision to switch from Nikon, which I had been shooting with for 9 years, to Sony. It wasn’t an easy decision. When you buy into a camera system, it isn’t just a matter of getting all your lenses and gear to be compatible. You become accustomed to …
Latitude: 26° 38.4852′ S Longitude: 15° 09.2238′ E Today we made our first stop on the trip: Luderitz, Namibia. I had been looking forward to Luderitz for one reason: the Kolmanskopf Ghost Town. I had seen photos taken by other photographers that blew me away. Kolmanskopf is a German diamond mining town just outside of …
I’m in Vegas for Blog World Expo this week, so I’ll be devoting some time to talking about blogging and the travel industry. Here is my first installment. The impetus for this post came from an off hand comment made by Jen Leo before one of our podcasts a few weeks ago. I mentioned that …
From the Namib Sand Sea World Heritage inscription: The Namib Sand Sea lies along the arid African coast of the South Atlantic lying wholly within Namibia’s Namib-Naukluft Park. It covers an area of 3,077,700 hectares, with an additional 899,500 hectares designated as a buffer zone. The Namib Sand Sea is a unique coastal fog desert …