Wikivoyage:Discover/2022

December 2022

• The Yankee Market in Dongducheon is full of unique clothes, hats, and equipment worn by special forces personnel in movies.

• Parc des Jardins du Monde in Royan has an impressive collection of orchids in a huge greenhouse (pictured), perhaps even the most extensive in Europe.
• Tea has its origins in China and its discovery is credited to the agricultural god Shennong.
• The area around Bordentown still has a strong American Revolutionary War influence, and statues (particularly of patriots) are a common sight.

• The Halle Gate (staircase inside of it pictured) is the last surviving city gate in Brussels.
• Bluespring Caverns near Bedford, Indiana is the longest known underground river in the United States, stretching for 21 miles (33.8 km).
• A former Sultan's residence, the House of Wonders is one of the most well-known landmarks of Stone Town.

• In Yunlin you can visit museums related to honey, soy sauce and hand puppets (pictured).
• Roskilde Cathedral is where Danish kings and queens have been buried for a thousand years.
• Mount Dora has been nicknamed "The New England of the South", "The City of Parks", "Antique City", and "The Festival City".

• Sør-Spitsbergen National Park (pictured) in Svalbard is Norway's largest national park with an area of 8,504 km² (3,283 sq mi).
• Traffic is banned from Shimla's historic central area, known as the Mall.
• There are no motorways in Latvia.

• Mount Field National Park contains three waterfalls within a short distance with with Russell Falls (pictured) by far being the most visited one.
• The New Zealand Great Walks pass through some of its most spectacular scenery and landscapes.
• There are many uniquely Japanese soft drinks and trying random drinks from vending machines is one of the little traveller's joys of Japan.

• The Curry Mile (pictured) in Manchester is the highest concentration of curry restaurants in the UK.
• Known by local wags as the Dead Center of the Kingdom, Riyadh is considered the most straight-laced of Saudi Arabia's big three cities.
• Swedish Grace is a movement of architecture and product design representing the Swedish interpretation of neoclassicism and Art Deco, in particular in Stockholm.

• The biggest event in the Bahamian calendar is Junkanoo (dancer pictured), a street carnival held on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
• The Great Post Road connects almost all of the major towns and cities of Java.
• Quime's famous specialty is the huatia, chili sauce and vegetables buried in red hot rocks and baked underground for an hour or so.

• Now housing a hotel, casino and museum, El Montazah Palace (pictured) in Alexandria was built in 1892 by Abbas II, the last khedive (Ottoman viceroy) of Egypt.
• Isemarkt in Northern Hamburg is Europe's longest open market.
• The Kuwaiti dinar is the world's highest-valued unit of currency.

• The exhibition at the Pristina Ethnographic Museum (interior pictured) is built around four themes that represent the life cycle: Birth, Life, Death, and Spiritual Heritage.
• Pro surfers come from around the globe to surf the world's longest left-hand break near Walvis Bay.
• The majority of residents of Niue speak English, but knowing the basics of Niuean can be useful for speaking to older members of the community.

• Although it is described as a concrete jungle (skyline pictured), Dhaka has venerable green spaces, including many gardens and parks.
• Most tanks at the tank museum in Saumur are in working order and can be explored and clambered over.
• Cidade do Natal in Campo Grande is a cute make-believe village has daily free Christmas-inspired attractions on the last three weeks of December.

November 2022

• There are two dangers in cold weather: frostbite (frostbitten hands pictured) and hypothermia.
• A presidential guesthouse that was never completed, was planned to be the main attraction of the People's Park in the Sky in Tagaytay.
• In Corinth, Mississippi you can visit a Coca-Cola museum.

• The diversity of birdlife (pictured) in Fogg Dam outside Humpty Doo is quite amazing, even for those who are not avid birdwatchers.
• Gdańsk is sometimes called the Amber Capital of the World.
• Begpacking is an extreme form of bare-bones budget travel.

• Bitchu Matsuyama Castle (pictured) in Takahashi is the only original mountain castle left in Japan.
• The Ben Abeba Restaurant in Lalibela is located on a rock promontary, making it a popular place to watch the sunrise and view exotic birds at flight-level
• The Alamut in Qazvin once housed the Assasins Order, a medieval terrorist organization

• A local king built the Bobo-Dioulasso Grand Mosque (pictured) to uphold a deal he made with an Islamic leader to defend the city from an invasion.
• An image of Virgin Mary in the Sanctuary of Divino Amore in Southern Rome is said to have saved Rome from destruction in WWII.
• Bermuda was first settled in 1609 by shipwrecked English colonists headed for the infant English colony of Virginia.

• Some upscale hotels offer special executive or club rooms or suites with access to lounges (pictured) included in the room price.
• Home of Elvis Presley, "The King of Rock and Roll", it's no surprise that Graceland is the number one tourist attraction in Memphis.
• Musée du Vin et du Négoce in Bordeaux showcases history, old equipment & new technology from 2000 years of wine production in the region.

• Annapurna Temple (pictured) in Indore is a famous temple of the goddess of food.
• Ondorkhaan features an unusually large number of statues of Genghis Khan, even by Mongolian standards.
• El Poblado is an upscale part of Medellín built in steep hills and has many modern buildings which complement the nearby Andes forest.

• The Mazza Museum (interior pictured) in Findlay is an art museum that focuses on children's book illustrations.
• Most of the world's coral reefs biodiversity and rare species of marine life can easily be found in the Raja Ampat archipelago.
• Aosta was founded by the Romans at a strategically important place, had a layout of a Roman military camp and housed 3,000 retired veterans.

• One of the most photographed landmarks in New Zealand, Pania on the Reef (pictured) is a figure of Māori mythology, and a symbol of Napier.
• The Monument of Memory and Truth in San Salvador contains 25,000 engraved names of victims of the Salvadorian Civil War.
• Balestrand has long history as a tourist resort, and was visited by the German emperor more than 20 times.

• Old Pasadena (street view pictured) is one of Southern California's hottest shopping and entertainment areas and gets very crowded on weekends.
• Inveraray is a remarkable early "planned town", with unity of architectural style, and its parish church perched on a traffic island.
• Corumbá features a Via Crucis, a walking path of 14 stations and 72 statues depicting the Passion and Death of Christ.

• Nancy's city square, Place Stanislas (pictured), was built by and named after Stanislas Leszczyński, Duke of Lorraine and former King of Poland.
• There are many interesting colonial villages located throughout the city of Warwick.
• S.S. Klondike National Historic Site in Whitehorse is a sternwheeler paddleboat, turned into a museum.

October 2022

• The Hanging Monastery (pictured) outside Datong City appears to be stuck into the side of the cliff, but is actually supported by stilts.
• One of Africa's smallest countries, Eswatini is known as "Africa in a nutshell".
• Woburn has more than 200 listed Georgian buildings.

• A major destination in Parañaque is the Baclaran shopping area, home to its numerous tiangges (flea markets, pictured) flocked beside the streets.
• There are common scams that occur in many places that the traveller should be aware of.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park is most famous for the "Big Cave" and its Big Room, at one time considered the largest natural underground chamber in the world.

• The MiniMetrò (pictured) in Perugia is a small, driverless train that provides public transport.
• In McLean, Virginia, you can find the CIA headquarters in Langley, but it's definitely not open to the public, other than by special arrangement.
• Kawasaki's best-known event is the Kanamara Matsuri (金まら祭り), also known as the Iron Penis Festival.

• The Vemork facilities (pictured) in Rjukan were used for heavy water production by the German occupiers during WWII. Today, tourists can buy an ampule of real heavy water as a souvenir.
• At the Kumbali Cultural Centre in Lilongwe, you can experience traditional Malawian dancing, music and food.
• Hua Hin and its surroundings are a golfer's paradise, with at least seven courses within a 30-min drive.

• Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu (pictured) is one of the most famous and spectacular sets of ruins in the world.
• Porto Montenegro in Tivat is a marina for billionaires' superyachts, with luxury restaurants and shops.
• The name Sikkim is said to have been derived from su him, meaning "beautiful home".

• The world's shortest street is the 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) long Ebenezer Place (pictured) in Wick, lining the tip of a building.
• Luoyang has a museum about the classic Chinese board game, go.
• Ferries in the Caspian Sea are cargo ships with space for passengers and no set schedules.

• The Niagara Falls (pictured) are made up of three waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.
• The Czech Republic has a total of 31 railway border crossings with passenger services.
• In Jeddah's old town you can find ancient buildings, traditional souqs (markets), and the teetering, multistory coral houses that Jeddah is famous for.

• Ben Thanh Market (interior pictured) in Ho Chi Minh City has several hundred small stalls stuffed with goods on almost impassably narrow aisles.
• The Soviet-era KGB headquarters in Vilnius now houses the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights.
• Taking good pictures of the Northern Lights is very difficult.

• Kolmanskop near Lüderitz is a ghost town (building interior pictured) but it boasted unbelievable wealth during the heydays of the diamond rush in the early 20th century.
• Want to learn more about towing? In Chattanooga you can visit the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum.
• Plaza 24 de Septiembre is the main square of Santa Cruz, where locals and tourists alike gather to hang out and observe each other.

• The main attraction of St Austell is the Eden Project (pictured), a huge outdoor and indoor collection of plants from around the world.
• Lamma Island has a very different pace of life to nearby Hong Kong island.
• The Carlos Machado Museum in Ponta Delgada presents the work of naturalists of the second half of the 19th century.

• Tassili n'Ajjer Cultural Park is famous for its more than 15,000 ancient petroglyphs (pictured) and paintings, in addition to stunning Saharan landscapes.

September 2022

• Pohnpei is one of the rainiest inhabited places in the world.
• Dublin Airport closes for Christmas Day and is the only major airport in the world which doesn't stay open 365 days of the year.

• The great sight at Morro Bay is the surf at the base of Morro Rock (pictured) which is the lava plug remnant of an ancient volcano.
• Cheb is pronounced "khep" like a German or Scottish "ch" or a Spanish "j" - not as in "Chicken" - locals will make fun of you if you make this mistake.
• The only source of drinking water for the island of Ulleungdo is the 25 meters high Bongnae Falls.

• West Edmonton Mall (indoor pictured) is the largest shopping mall in North America.
• Zaragoza is well known for of its many tapas bars.
• Ann Arbor was founded in 1824 as "Annarbour", named after the two founders' wives.

• The mosque Mishkal Masjidh (pictured) in Kozhikode has no cupolas or minarets and looks like a Hindu temple.
• The Water Gallery in Jermuk is an arcade of hot mineral water of different temperatures coming out of pipes in the wall.
• In 2005, Popayán became the first city to be designated a City of Gastronomy as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities initiative.

• The former Strengberg tobacco factory (pictured) with the clock sphere on its roof is one of Jakobstad's symbols.
• Khartoum is at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile.
• At the Donglin Academy in Wuxi you can enjoy Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture with gardens and classrooms of a famous school that prepared its students for the state exam.

• The Australian National Botanic Gardens (pictured) has the largest collection of Australian native flora in the country.
• In Whitehorse, you can find the world's biggest wind vane at the Yukon Transportation Museum.
• There is surprisingly no bridge between Brazzaville and Kinshasa - two national capitals on the opposite sides of the Congo River.

• Louisiana's State Capitol (pictured) in Baton Rouge is an impressive Art Deco style skyscraper.
• Stora Helvetet near Storlien is a railway embankment near the Norwegian border. The name means "Big Hell" and is named after troubles during construction in year 1877.
• In many countries, seemingly vegetarian dishes can actually contain meat.

• Until 2001 Palais Schaumburg (pictured) in Bonn housed the office of West Germany's chancellor and the chancellor's cabinet.
• Baguio is abundant in pine trees, so it is nicknamed the City of Pines.
• Yaoundé's restaurants mainly offer local and French cuisine.

• The "Two Pines wedding chapel in El Paso, Texas" in the movie Kill Bill vol. 1 is actually the Sanctuary Adventist Church (pictured) in Hi Vista, California.
• You can divide Antalya into three main areas as far as tourists are concerned: Kaleiçi, Lara and Konyaaltı.
• Due to high crime rates, Oss was referred to as the Dutch Chicago at the early 19th century, and its inhabitants are still occasionally nicknamed "stabbers".

• The Skyliner (pictured) is the fastest train connecting Narita Airport to Tokyo.
• Escaldes-Engordany features a perfume museum.
• London with children can be an intimidating endeavour because of the city's size and congestion, but because of its size, it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience for children.

• Vezio Castle (pictured) above Varenna is home to captive birds of prey (owls, hawks, buzzard, falcon) with flight exhibitions on some days.

August 2022

• You can learn about the horrors of the Holocaust at Nazi concentration camps turned memorials and museums in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Injera, a spongy, tangy-tasting bread made from the grain teff which grows in the highlands, is ubiquitous in Ethiopia.

• Recoleta Cemetery (pictured) is an elegant last resting place for eminent residents of Buenos Aires.
• Fiordland National Park is so remote and unexplored that some speculate that species thought extinct in New Zealand may still live in the park.
• Ashland is a small town, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the largest and oldest regional theaters in the U.S.

• In the Revolution in the Border Museum (pictured) in Juarez you can learn about the Mexican Revolution and the history of the city.
• Namaste ("I bow to you") is the most ubiquitous greeting in Hindi; though of Hindu origin it is now mostly secular.
• The bronze and porcelain objects on display at the Luoyang museum give a sense of the former grandeur of the ancient capital.

• In Tobermory you can eat at what said to be the only fish & chips van with a Les Routiers award (pictured).
• Shiretoko National Park claims Japan's largest bear population, a fact stressed to no end in local tourist literature.
• The mountains on the Musandam Peninsula have housed extremely isolated communities for centuries and many coastal villages can only be reached by boat.

• Yosemite National Park is best known for its impressive granite cliffs and domes (Yosemite Valley pictured).
• Eski Juva Bazaar in Tashkent is the biggest and oldest bazaar in Central Asia, operating on the same spot for over 2,000 years.
• The Guildhall in Exeter is claimed to be the oldest municipal building in England still serving its original purpose.

• The Big Pineapple (pictured) in Bathurst is a small museum about pineapple farming, with views of a pineapple farm.
• Set on deep Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, Duluth can be cool or cold anytime of year.
• Santa Rosa, Argentina features a kitschy monument to the national drink mate.

• The town of Monschau (street view pictured) is sometimes called the "Pearl of the Eifel".
• There are lots of roundabouts (circular/traffic island) in the UK, from large multi-lane roundabouts at dual carriageway junctions to small mini-roundabouts on local streets.
• Some may consider Fez to be the handicraft capital of Morocco, but in reality the quality and value of its wares can be hit and miss.

• Teatro Amazonas (pictured) in Manaus was built during the heyday of rubber trade, using materials from all over the world, and was once visited by all the most famous opera divas and maestros.
• Oxnard's cultural, agricultural, and historical heritage comes alive in the Heritage Square block in downtown.
• There are substantial differences between the form of Tumbuka spoken in urban areas and the "village" or "deep" Tumbuka spoken in villages.

• Apart from the indigenous people, no one had known about the Bungle Bungle Ranges (pictured) until the 1980s.
• Tirana has a museum dedicated to the history of Bektashism, an Islamic Sufistic movement.
• The Danish Gold Coast wasn't overly large by most means, and Denmark only possessed a few fortifications along modern-day Ghana.

• O'Hare International Airport features an aeroponic garden (pictured) where vegetables and herbs are grown and then used in a few of the terminal's restaurants.
• Canyon Sainte-Anne outside Saint-Joachim has been accessible to the general public since 1973, but previously, Amerindian peoples frequented the site.
• Established in 1926, the Indian Institute of Technology in Dhanbad has one of the most beautiful engineering campuses in India.

• The 16th century timber-house Ornässtugan (pictured) outside Borlänge was a hideout for the soon-to-be Swedish king Gustaf Vasa after the Stockholm Bloodbath.
• International mobile Internet roaming can be ludicrously expensive.

July 2022

• Puritama in San Pedro de Atacama is commonly called a hot spring, but is actually a warm river.

• In Greeneville you can visit the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site with a replica of the president's birth home and a life-size statue (pictured) of him.
• A packing list can help make sure you have everything you will need while you are travelling and at your destination.
• Fishing enthusiasts will be interested to know that Senegal is one of the best places in the world to catch fish.

• A gift from France erected in 1881, the Statue of Liberty (pictured) in Ploiești depicts the Roman goddess Minerva.
• Apart from a few historical sites on Tongatapu most things to do in Tonga reflect its island nature.
• Wolfe Tone Square, the centre of Bantry, was created from infill of the harbour, and Bantry Bay opens from its west end.

• Kampong Ayer (pictured) is the world's biggest settlement on stilts, has been on the river for over one thousand years and was once the capital of the Bruneian Empire.
• In the Katajanokka district of Helsinki you can sleep in a former prison.
• The 19th century Puente dela Reina is the oldest bridge in Ormoc but its cobblestones are still intact, relic of an age long gone.

• Catedral de San Luis Potosí (pictured) is possibly one of the best known Mexican cathedrals by sight.
• The state border between Queensland and New South Wales winds its way through the twin towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta and it is often not obvious which state you are in.
• Western food in Asia is often localised to the point of being hardly recognisable to Westerners.

• Now an important archaeological site (pictured), Poliochne was the best-known city in the northern Aegean after Troy in the 3rd millennium BC.
• Being cooped up in an airplane can expose you to allergens while airborne.
• Chiloé is famous for myths and legends with roots in its native Mapuche population.

• Mutli (pictured) is a Mangalorean Christian bread, and a speciality from Queen Elizabeth's grandmother's kitchen.
• Lake Abbe in Djibouti is one of the most desolate places on Earth and is dotted with limestone chimneys standing as high of 50 m.
• Žižkov is said to have more bars per capita than any other neighborhood in the world.

• In the 1980s the houses along Baker Street (pictured) in Nelson, British Columbia were restored to their 19th century shape, and it's now one of the town's main attractions.
• The main hospital in Cochabamba, Hospital Viedma, has a cute little medical museum attached, with some amazing old x-ray machines.

• No visit to Buffalo is complete without trying some Buffalo wings (pictured).
• In Innsbruck you can visit a museum dedicated to the history of alpinism, hosted in the Hofburg (imperial palace).
• Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is the largest National Historic District in the United States.

• A specialty of Hakone are black eggs (pictured) boiled in sulphurous springs. According to a legend, every one you eat will add seven years to your life.
• The Wat Poramaiyikawat monastery on Ko Kret is a focal point of Thailand's small Mon community.
• Kutikina Cave is archeogically rich, with over 30,000 stone artefacts and 200,000 bone fragments discovered.

• Mumbai (Marine Drive pictured) is undoubtedly the commercial capital of India and is one of the predominant port cities in the country.
• Tuam was effectively the capital of Ireland in the 12th century, when the High King Rory O’Connor resided here.
• The Church of St. Ignatius in Dubrovnik is approached via a romantic baroque staircase modelled on the Spanish Steps in Rome.

June 2022

• A gorgeous stone building built in 1884, the Allegheny County Courthouse (pictured) in Downtown Pittsburgh now houses the county government.
• There is no value-added tax in Eilat, and many duty free shops line the boardwalk culminating in duty free shopping centers.
• Victoria Island is the primary business and financial centre of West Africa's largest city.

• Now a beach, Marble Bay (pictured) in Thasos is indeed a white marble sand bay which was used for the shipment of marble, with crystal clear waters.
• There are only two cities in the United States situated on an isthmus, Madison and Seattle.
• The Brotherhood and Unity Highway was an important route between Western and Southeastern Europe during the Cold War.

• Francesinha (pictured) is a meat sandwich from Porto inspired by France's croque-monsieur, and the name translates as "little French girl".
• Victoria contains a perfect combination of the old and new Canada.
• The Mývatn area is known for hverabrauð, a delicious, one-of-a-kind molasses bread that is slow-baked for 24 hours underground by natural geothermal heat.

• Olango Wildlife Sanctuary is very popular with bird watchers; close to a hundred bird species (egrets pictured) are found here, about half of them migratory and half permanent residents.
• Out of more than a thousand world heritage sites, only a little over 200 sites are in the New World (Americas and Oceania).
• Nowadays a museum, Zeughaus in Graz was originally built to readily equip the people in the event of an attack, and so the weapons you'll see there were made for use, not show.

• Completed in 1965, the Cocoa House (pictured) in Ibadan was the first skyscraper in West Africa.
• The reasons that El Mirador is not swamped with tourists are its inaccessibility and that most of this huge site involves many unrestored mounds and pyramids in the jungle.
• Kiama is located on some of the most picturesque and beautiful coastline on the South Coast of New South Wales.

• Rainbow Beach has lovely South Side views (pictured) of the Chicago Skyline.
• Roundabouts in Morocco have contrarian and inconsistent rules, sometimes cars entering have to yield, other times the cars in the roundabout.
• The restaurants of Cayenne reflects the ethnic mosaic of the Guyanese society.

• A walk (path pictured) along the Aurajoki river is a nice way to experience some aspects of Turku.
• The small town of Kittery, Maine, features dozens of outlet stores.
• The Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar is a replica of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

• A trip to Buenos Aires is not complete without some sort of experience of the tango (dancers pictured), the national dance of Argentina.
• In Jinju there are many sites and events related to the 16th century Imjin War.
• In the National Botanical Garden in Bloemfontein you can see about 400 species of native plants, as well as birds, mammals and reptiles.

• The weekly Marché de la Batte (pictured), stretching along the Meuse River in Liège is one of the longest markets in Europe.
• A highlight at the Varna Archaeological Museum is the Gold of Varna, the oldest gold treasure in the world, dating to 4600-4200 BCE.
• Saltillo features a museum of the (Chihuaua) desert and of the birds of Mexico showcasing nearly every bird species in the country.

• The Hamersley Gorge (Spa Pool pictured) is probably the most scenic corner of Karijini National Park.
• The United States is a good place for hiking owing to its many open spaces.
• Bahrain Fort on the island’s north coast, was built in the 14th century, but excavations have revealed it was built on the site of Dilmun settlements, dating back to 3,000 BC.

May 2022

• In Waterville, Maine you can stroll around the tree-studded hilltop Colby College Campus (Miller Library pictured) with its fine Neo-Georgian architecture.
• Semi-submarine tours offer guests an underwater ride through the Budva Bay.
• The Airborne Museum Hartenstein is dedicated to the Battle of Arnhem, fought in September 1944.

• The main attraction of the Dipolog Cathedral (pictured) is the ceiling made of Philippine hardwood.
• Usually one's ability to access airport lounges depends on one's class of travel, frequent flyer membership tier, or membership in an independent lounge access scheme.
• Tashkent's Treasury of Ancient Oriental Manuscripts is listed by UNESCO as one of the richest manuscript repositories in the world.

• The Stockholm City Hall (pictured) is where the Nobel Prize Banquet takes place every year.
• The Sapporo Beer Factory in Hita is a must-visit attraction for fans of Japanese beer.
• While it may come to a surprise for some, Australian cuisine is far from the cuisine of Britain and Ireland.

• Kasbah Taourirt (pictured) is a well preserved kasbah in Ouarzazate with a permanent exhibition of works by various artists inside.
• The finest feature of Denbigh Castle is the triple-towered Great Gatehouse.
• At the Dhaka Zoo you can see the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger.

• Cartagena (pictured) has several faces; one of a dirty, sprawling Caribbean metropolis, in Bocagrande the one of a massive "hotel ghetto" and finally the old town with its well-polished face of a once affluent colonial city.
• The Zhudong Timber Industry Exhibition Hall features the history of timber industry in Taiwan and traditional logging equipment.
• In the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile you can tour the World War II battleship USS Alabama and the World War II submarine the USS Drum.

• Otranto Cathedral represents an interesting mixture of Byzantine and Romanesque elements including a crypt (pictured) resembling the Mezquita of Córdoba.
• Many important Indian trains have a foreign tourist quota available for foreigners or holders of an IndRail pass.
• Kainji National Park is one of the largest game reserves in West Africa.

• Signs (pictured) around the Ocean Club on Paradise Island warn of the danger of getting bonked on the head by an errant golf ball which is indeed probably the main security risk there.
• Luang Prabang owes its present name to the Pha Bang, a revered Buddha image brought to the city by King Visoun in the early 1500s.
• Dutch has some vowel sounds that are not known in many other languages so they may be hard to learn.

• Pedra Furada (pictured) - the "pierced" or "arched" rock - has become the symbol of Jericoacoara.
• The Jubilee Clock in Douglas commemorates the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign (1887).
• A range of 21 murals on the sides of buildings in Kenora and nearby Keewatin depict events and scenes relative to local history.

• A concrete reconstruction, Osaka Castle (pictured) is more of a museum built in the shape of a castle, rather than a historical Japanese castle.
• Throughout San Pedro Sula and neighboring cities, you can find amazing markets where you can buy artisanal items like leather work, textiles, silver and jewelry.
• Beaches in Cancún are for the more advanced swimmers, the edge of the open ocean can make for a challenging and fun swimming experience.

• The Elephants Fountain (pictured) in Chambéry with its four elephant "busts" is affectionately called the "four buttless" by locals.
• Finland has a diverse nature, with forests, fells, mires, bogs, lakes and islands featuring in many of the country's national parks.
• Altitude sickness is a reaction to the lower amounts of oxygen available at high altitudes due to the lower air pressure.

• Tangier is very easy to navigate around - except the Medina (old town), a complex array of alleyways some of which can only be accessed on foot (pictured).

April 2022

• The International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch features simulated polar weather, a Hagglund all-terrain vehicle ride, penguins, and extensive exhibits about Antarctic science missions.
• Astoria is famous for being the terminus for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

• Réunion National Park (pictured) in Réunion is one of three French national parks outside France and is home to the Piton de la Fournaise, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Since many foreigners congregate there, Itaewon in Seoul remains somewhat of a niche nightlife area for Koreans interested in a more international scene.
• Jamnagar is famous for its brass manufacturing and you can buy all kinds of locally made brass components in town.

• A quite popular way to get to the Brocken is the narrow-gauge Brockenbahn operated by steam trains (pictured).
• Adelaide's Belair National Park is one of the most easily accessible national parks in South Australia
• The architecture of a place is often a tourist attraction in its own right.

• The Union Buildings in Pretoria (pictured) houses the South African presidency and can't be visited, but its beautiful terraced gardens, which boast a wide variety of indigenous plants, are open to the public.
• Cádiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in all southwestern Europe.
• Camping in Israel gives a very different experience for those used to that of Europe.

• Wood has been extensively used in the interior of the check-in hall (pictured) at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.
• There have been 58 unique dinosaur species discovered in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park.
• The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, Maryland houses the world's largest collection of wildfowl carvings.

• A huge, 22 m high pre-Columbian construction, Pucllana (pictured) is made from small handmade, sun-dried bricks.
• Härnösand in Central Sweden was once an administrative centre.
• The town of Joggins in Nova Scotia has some fossil cliffs which contain fossils which date to more than 310 million years ago

• The Daintree Rainforest (pictured) in Tropical North Queensland is the oldest living rainforest in the world
• Hiking in Estonia there's much nature to enjoy due to low population density, yet you will never be more than a day's walk away from civilization.
• The City of Dawson and the nearby ghost town of Forty Mile (together with Skagway) are featured prominently in the novels and short stories of American author Jack London, including The Call of the Wild.

• The Eiffel Tower (pictured) was almost torn down in 1909 and only saved due to its use as a telegraphy antenna.
• In Faroese, accented vowels are treated as letters in their own right, with their own pronunciation.
• At Point-au-Père, a small town near Rimouski, there's the Site historique maritime which marks the official dividing point between the St. Lawrence River and the open Gulf.

• Virtually all public transit in Qatar - buses (public bus pictured), taxis and limousines - is operated by government-owned Mowasalat (Karwa).
• The majority of the South Tyrolean population is German-speaking and in some valleys it's the totality.
• The Northern Weapon City in Baotou is an outdoor park with a collection of mainly artillery pieces manufactured by local arms maker Northern Heavy Industries Group.

• Port Lucaya (pictured) in Freeport is the tourist "hub" of Grand Bahama and is the location of many restaurants and shops.
• To enter French Guiana, holding a yellow fever vaccination certificate is mandatory, regardless of citizenship or where you've recently been.
• In the 1920s Juba grew rapidly, and about 2,000 Greeks lived there working as merchants and tradesmen and many notable buildings in the city date from this era.

• The Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam (pictured), 20 km upstream from the city, significantly influences the local climate as it releases unfrozen water year-round, including in the bitterly-cold Siberian winter.

March 2022

• There are no capital letters in Georgian.
• In Bhutan the sale of tobacco products is banned and smoking in public areas is a fineable offence.

• King John's Castle (pictured) in Limerick was built 13th century by King John over an earlier Viking fortification.
• Much of Seodong Park in Buyeo is made up of a pond shaped as a lotus.
• For many thousands of years prior to British settlement, the Brisbane area was inhabited by the Turrbal and Jagera Aboriginal people.

• At Pier 9 in Hamilton you can visit HMCS Haida (pictured), the "Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canada Navy".
• Old Cairo is the home of Cairo's Coptic Christian community.
• As for other icons of Bavarian culture, many Bavarian dishes are known around the world as "German", though far from all of them are popular throughout Germany.

• Colline du Château (pictured) overlooking the Baie des Anges and harbour offers a spectacular vantage point overlooking Nice.
• Kurseong is home to the costliest teas in the world.
• Tega Cay means "beautiful peninsula" in Polynesian, however the city is nowhere near Polynesia, but in South Carolina.

• The Grand Omari Mosque (pictured) of Gaza makes up for its lacklustre appearance with an interesting history: it's a converted Crusader church built on the site of a Hellenic temple with pillars from a 3rd-century Jewish synagogue.
• Ypres is best known as the site of three major battles of the First World War.
• The River Cat statue is famous statue of a giant cat that, along with the statue of Belalcazar, the Three Crosses, and Jesus, has become a symbol for Cali.

• Hutt Lagoon (pictured), 55 km south of Kalbarri is a lurid pink salt lake. The colour is from algae, which synthesise β-Carotene.
• Many places where leave-no-trace camping is required feature established trails.
• The Clowns Archive in Hackney shows a unique collection of faces on eggs.

• Mount Rainier (pictured), at 14,410 feet (4,390 m), is the most prominent peak in the Cascade Range.
• While Pattaya is famous as a sex tourist destination, you don't necessarily have to partake in order to experience the nightlife and many visitors come over just to see what the fuss is about.
• With more than 10,000 works on display, the Museum of the Cinema is a testimony to the history and cinematic activity in Odessa.

• One literally cannot be in Morocco without seeing a "tagine the dish" on the menu or a "tagine, the cooking ware" (both pictured) in the wild at least once.
• Being one of the older German cities, Worms has played a key role in German history.
• In Zhengzhou you can visit a natural history museum focused on the Yellow River.

• In Joshua Tree National Park springtime wildflowers (Echinocereus engelmannii and Cylindropuntia bigelovii pictured) come in numerous varieties and can produce extraordinarily colorful displays, especially following wet winters.
• The Pottery Hall of the Jos National Museum has an exceptional collection of finely crafted pottery from all over Nigeria.
• Bushwalking is a very popular pastime in the Blue Mountains National Park and there are a number of well-maintained trails that will offer you the opportunity to go down into the valley floor, viewing the changing vegetation as you descend.

• The Killaloe-Ballina bridge (pictured) over the Shannon is a handsome 13-arch structure.
• Traveling with pets can be difficult because laws vary widely from country to country.
• Carita offers panoramic views of the Krakatau volcano rising above the horizon in Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.

• Tehran's metro system (station and train pictured) has seven lines that will whisk you quickly from one end of the city to the other without having to deal with the noise, pollution and chaos of Tehrani traffic.
• The Museum and Historical Archives of Presidente Prudente is housed in the baroque-style old Municipal Slaughterhouse.
• The traces of radium in Awakura Onsen are said to stimulate radium hormesis, which can activate metabolism, boost the immune system, and decrease cancer mortality.

February 2022

• Claremont, California is known for the trees lining its streets and as the home of the elite Claremont Colleges, which together have given it the nickname "City of Trees and PhDs".

• The Church Town (pictured) in Skellefteå consists of 116 wooden cottages that once were built for families that had to travel a long way to attend Sunday masses at the city church.
• Nagorno-Karabakh can be entered only from Armenia, though doing so is considered an illegal entry into Azerbaijani territory by Azerbaijan.
• The Oak Trail just outside London passes a 2,500-year-old earthwork.

• King Sihanouk's old swimming pool (pictured) is now part of Bokor National Park.
• Sand dunes in Mojave National Preserve make a booming sound when conditions are right.
• Dubai has a justified reputation as a concrete jungle, but there are nice pockets of greenery within the city.

• Genoa has one of Europe's largest preserved historical centers, made up of an incredible number of tiny streets and alleys (pictured) called Caruggi.
• The crown pieces of Greenland's National Museum in Nuuk are 500 year old mummies discovered in 1978 and remarkably well preserved, with some of their facial tattoos still recognisable.
• Buses are usually the cheapest public transport option at least on short distances.

• The Marlborough Sounds are a visual feast of the interplay between the land, sea, nature and light and are divided into the Pelorus Sound and the Queen Charlotte Sound (pictured)
• Generally, northern Vietnamese cuisine is known for being subtle, central Vietnamese cuisine is known for being spicy, while southern Vietnamese cuisine is known for being sweet.
• The nearby Pacific Ocean has an influence on the weather on Aconcagua, and storms coming in from there can very quickly create extreme weather conditions.

• The Roman-built Antonine Wall (remains pictured) outside Kilsyth was only held for 8 years, then the Romans withdrew to Hadrian's Wall.
• The Royal Victoria Institute in Port of Spain houses an extensive collection of artifacts and antiques from throughout Trinidad's history.
• Jammu is also known as City of temples.

• Visitors come to Paris, Tennessee to see the 70-foot (21 m) replica of the Eiffel Tower (pictured) and for the "World's Biggest Fish Fry."
• The Bonk Museum in Uusikaupunki chronicles the bizarre story of Bonk Business Inc, a fictional multinational corporation.
• Like its creator Richard the Lionheart, the stronghold of Les Andelys, Chateâu Gaillard, calls to mind strength, power, and invincibility.

• A quiet stretch of white sand along the northern tip of Boracay, Puka Beach (pictured) is an image of what most people expect on a tropical island: white sand, azure water, and relatively empty.
• Originally designed to help stop graffiti and enliven the city's buildings, the Mural Arts Program has led to Philadelphia now having the largest collection of public art in the world, with over 3500 murals completed since its inception.
• Danish is closely related to Norwegian and Swedish, and most speakers of one of the three languages can understand the others to a certain extent.

• Torre de Menagem (pictured) in Bragança is the massive keep of a castle belonging to the Dukes of Bragança, the last Portuguese royal family.
• Many foreign visitors to Uganda find that Kisoro one of the nicest areas to spend time in with beautiful mountain scenery, smooth roads, and hard-working people eager to please and offer hospitality.
• Ramna Park is one of the largest parks in Dhaka, and seen as the city's equivalent to Kolkata's Maidan and New York City's Central Park.

• Patiala is a lively city known for its production of handcrafted goods like juttis (pictured), traditional embroidered shoes for women and men alike.
• The Benteng Oranje fort in Ternate once represented the heart of Dutch operations in the Spice Islands and its thick walls that are still in good condition despite of frequent earthquakes.

January 2022

• Cologne has one of the world's best collections of museums and galleries for a city of its size.

• The native name for the river (pictured) crossing Red Deer translates to "Elk River", but is was mistranslated by the British traders, since they mistakenly thought elk were European red deer.
• Many people find that they learn a language much faster if they immerse themselves by traveling to a place where the language is spoken.
• The Seven Beauties Tomb (七美人塚) on Cimei is stone inscription to commemorate the 7 women who took their own lives after pirates raided the island.

• The structure of the Rietveld Schröder House (pictured) in Utrecht is completely in line with the ideas of the art movement De Stijl (The Style).
• Whyalla Maritime Museum's collection includes the World War II-era corvette HMAS Whyalla which is displayed out of the water; the museum's website labels her "the largest landlocked ship in the state".
• The Pantanal is certainly a part of the world where there are a lot of birds, from small and delicate hummingbirds to large ones like the jabiru.

• With a consistent colonial style throughout (cathedral pictured), Morelia is one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico.
• A major attraction in Konya are the whirling dervish ceremonies, taking place weekly.
• Constructed in 1995 to celebrate Erie's Bicentennial, the Bicentennial Tower stands about 100 feet high and one can easily see out to Long Point or over Erie.

• During the funeral season (peak is in July and August), attending a funeral ceremony (pictured) is popular among visitors to Tana Toraja.
• The Banco National Park north of Abidjan features many rare tropical tree species like mahogany, avodirés, and waffle wood.
• The Roman Empire was the greatest ancient empire of Europe.

• Highlights of the Pharmaceutical museum of Cluj-Napoca include Mummy powder used as an expensive cure for all diseases, the Elixir of Love, dentifrice powders and a medieval laboratory (pictured) although little evidence exists that the room was used as a laboratory.
• As a result of a sugar boom in the 19th century, Matanzas was nicknamed the Athens of Cuba, a monicker that can still be seen around the city today.
• If tea is served in a traditional manner in Uzbekistan, the server will pour tea into a cup from the teapot and then pour the tea back into the teapot three times.

• Despite its pollution, the Pinheiros river (pictured) is still the dominating feature in the scenario of the West side of São Paulo.
• The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh is also a museum of North Carolina history, especially the period between the building's construction and the Civil War.
• Ima Keithal in Imphal is a 500-year-old market that could possibly the only market in the world run entirely by women.

• The Karen Blixen Museum in Nairobi is based on her book Out of Africa and located in her former home (pictured).
• The Bulgarian Dead Sea outside Burgas is made up of several small salt ponds for bathing.
• Quito's Old City is the largest in the Americas and was one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• Today Mannerheimintie remains a lively street passing many of the Helsinki's most famous attractions (Parliament, Marshal Mannerheim's statue and National Museum pictured), and can be considered Helsinki's Broadway.
• Some Japanese gardens are designed to incorporate nearby landscapes or structures that are not located in the garden itself but enhance the views.
• The main attraction of Sleepy Hollow is the town's association with Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", so visit the old churchyard where the Headless Horseman purportedly rests.

• Deoksu Palace (pictured) in Seoul is unusual as it includes a fusion of both Korean and Western architecture.
• Many countries permit the use of drones only where you have applied for and received a permit or appropriate license.
• The United States may be the land of the car, but it is also one of the greatest countries in the world to be explored by passenger train.

• The circular stained-glass window in the facade and all the other stained-glass windows in the Christuskirche (pictured) of Windhoek were donated by Kaiser Wilhelm II as a gift to the colony.
• The National Motor Museum in Adelaide showcases cars and motorcycles from all eras, also historical car parts, car-related items from repair manuals to petrol station signs and toys.
• Milk and dairy products claim a large section of supermarkets in the Nordic countries, and are important ingredients in Nordic diets.