Santa Claus leads the Christmas parade through the streets being driven in a Cadillac with Santa's elves, fire engines, vintage cars and so on.
Why so? Because in Aarhus, Denmark, Santa comes in a Cadillac after he sailed on a boat... pretty sweet for a guy employed only for 1 day a year!
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Austria - Alps Mountains
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The capital is the city of Vienna on the Danube River. 
The origins of modern Austria date back to the ninth century, when the territory of Upper and Lower Austria became increasingly populated. The name "Ostarrichi" is first documented in an official document from 996. Since then this word has developed into the Österreich.
The Parliament of Austria is located in Vienna, the nation's largest city and capital. Austria became a federal, parliamentarian, democratic republic through the Federal Constitution of 1920. It was reintroduced in 1945 to the nine states of the Federal Republic. The head of state is the Federal President, who is directly elected by popular vote. The chairman of the Federal Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the president. The government can be removed from office by either a presidential decree or by vote of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament, the Nationalrat
As a federal republic, Austria is divided into nine states. These states are then divided into districts and cities. Districts are subdivided into municipalities. Cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts and municipalities. The states are not mere administrative divisions but have some distinct legislative authority separate from the federal government. The states are: Burgenland ( with capital at Eisenstadt), Carinthia or Kärnten (with capital at Klagenfurt ), Lower Austria or Niederösterreich (with capital at St. Pölten), Upper Austria or Oberösterreich (with capital at Linz), Salzburg (Salzburg), Styria or Steiermark (with capital at Graz), Tyrol or Tirol (with capital at Innsbruck), Vorarlberg (Bregenz ), and Vienna or Wien. 
Austria is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the Alps. The Central Eastern Alps, Northern Limestone Alps and Southern Limestone Alps are all partly in Austria. Of the total area of Austria, only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32% of the country is below 500 meters. The high mountainous Alps in the west of Austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country.
The greater part of Austria lies in the cool/temperate climate zone in which humid westerly winds predominate. With over half of the country dominated by the Alps the alpine climate is the predominant one. In the East, in the and along the Danube valley, the climate shows continental features with less rain than the alpine areas. Although Austria is cold in the winter, in the summer temperatures can be relatively warm reaching 20-35 Celsius degrees.
Austria's cuisine is derived from the cuisine of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to native regional traditions, it has been influenced above all by Hungarian, Czech, Jewish, Italian and Bavarian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed. The Austrian Cuisine is therefore one of the most multi and transcultural cuisines in Europe. Typical Austrian dishes include Wiener Schnitzel, Schweinsbraten, Kaiserschmarren, Knödel, Sachertorte and Tafelspitz. There are also Kasnockn, a macaroni dish with fresh Pinzgauer cheese and parsley, and Eierschwammerl (chanterelle) dishes. The Eierschwammerl are the native yellow, tan mushrooms. These mushrooms are delicious, especially when in a thick Austrian soup, or on regular meals. Austria is also famous for its Apfelstrudel (a kind of apple cake).The most popular sport in Austria is alpine skiing and Austria shows constant dominance in the Nations-Cup. Similar sports such as snowboarding or ski-jumping are also widely popular. The most popular team sport in Austria is football. However, Austria rarely has international success in this discipline, though the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship is jointly being held with Switzerland. Besides football, Austria also has professional national leagues for most major team sports including ice hockey and basketball. Bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton are also popular events with a permanent track located in Igls, which hosted bobsleigh and luge competitions for the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck.
North Of Italy
Bolzano is a city in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. It is the capital of the province of Bolzano-Bozen. The Museum of Archeology in Bolzano is where the ice-mummy "Ötzi" is kept. The city is also the home of the Italian Army's Alpini High Command (COMALP) and some of its combat and support units.
Initially inhabited by the Raetians, the area was settled by the Romans in 15 BC, by general Nero Claudius Drusus, to whom referred the name of the first settlement in the area (an army camp with a bridge by the Isarco River). The nearby founded village was called Bauzanum. Bolzano has been a trading point since its foundation and elevation to a town over 800 years ago, due to its location in between the two major cities of Venice and Augsburg. Four times a year a market was held and traders came from the south and the north. The mercantile magistrate was therefore founded in 1635. Every market season two Italian and two German officers (appointed from the traders who operated there) worked in this office. The city was a cultural crosspoint at that time.
According to the 2001 census, 73% of the city inhabitants were Italian speakers. 26% speak German and 1% Ladin as their first language. The city thrives on a mix of old and new—high-quality intensive agriculture (including wine, fruit and dairy products), tourism, traditional handicraft (wood, ceramics) and advanced services. Heavy industry (machinery, automotive, steel) installed during the 1930's has now been mostly dismanteled. On the downside, the local economy is very dependent on the public sector, and especially the provincial government.
The city's Italian-Austrian character, enhanced by the narrow cobblestone streets, Habsburg-era churches and pervasive bilingual signage give it the unique flavour of a city at crossroads between Italian and Austrian cultures. This, and its natural and cultural attractions make it a renowned tourist destination.
Cortina d'Ampezzo (German: Petsch-Hayden) is a town and municipality in the province of Belluno, Veneto, northern Italy. Located in the Dolomites, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene. The area of Cortina d'Ampezzo is characterized by the typical Dolomite environment, mostly covered with large lawns intermingled with pinophyta woods. The most famous peaks in the city's neighbourhood include Le Tofane, Il Cristallo and Le Cinque Torri. Fauna include marmots, roe deers, chamoises and hares.
Initially inhabited by the Raetians, the area was settled by the Romans in 15 BC, by general Nero Claudius Drusus, to whom referred the name of the first settlement in the area (an army camp with a bridge by the Isarco River). The nearby founded village was called Bauzanum. Bolzano has been a trading point since its foundation and elevation to a town over 800 years ago, due to its location in between the two major cities of Venice and Augsburg. Four times a year a market was held and traders came from the south and the north. The mercantile magistrate was therefore founded in 1635. Every market season two Italian and two German officers (appointed from the traders who operated there) worked in this office. The city was a cultural crosspoint at that time.
According to the 2001 census, 73% of the city inhabitants were Italian speakers. 26% speak German and 1% Ladin as their first language. The city thrives on a mix of old and new—high-quality intensive agriculture (including wine, fruit and dairy products), tourism, traditional handicraft (wood, ceramics) and advanced services. Heavy industry (machinery, automotive, steel) installed during the 1930's has now been mostly dismanteled. On the downside, the local economy is very dependent on the public sector, and especially the provincial government.
The city's Italian-Austrian character, enhanced by the narrow cobblestone streets, Habsburg-era churches and pervasive bilingual signage give it the unique flavour of a city at crossroads between Italian and Austrian cultures. This, and its natural and cultural attractions make it a renowned tourist destination.
Cortina d'Ampezzo (German: Petsch-Hayden) is a town and municipality in the province of Belluno, Veneto, northern Italy. Located in the Dolomites, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene. The area of Cortina d'Ampezzo is characterized by the typical Dolomite environment, mostly covered with large lawns intermingled with pinophyta woods. The most famous peaks in the city's neighbourhood include Le Tofane, Il Cristallo and Le Cinque Torri. Fauna include marmots, roe deers, chamoises and hares.Friday, September 14, 2007
Sureanu Mountains
You frequently see advertisements and broshures telling you the way you should spend your holiday, the way you should fulfill your wishes. It's like they know better what suits you and, of course the temptation is huge.
But you can't now what you'd like to do without taking into consideration few options. A travel agency has a lot of options with comfortable hotels and proper attending with a fix schedule and probably sightseeing you've already seen. What can they offer for the adrenalin hunter who wants to feel the touch of danger?
Well, fortunately this world has made itself available for people whose self awarness determined them to push the limits and cross the boundaries. Dare to experience a snowy winter in the middle of the mountains, it makes you feel alive but still breakable.
Sureanu Mountains lie in Meridional Carpathians and there are two ways of access - Jiului
Valley and Sebesului Valley. I've experinced the second one because I had to pass through Sibiu - a 800 years medieval city, a blender of ancient and modern, a city whose ancestors preserved the legacy through means of fortresses and towers; history engraved on the walls of time, but its up-to-dateness turned it into an european cultural capital.You follow the road through small isolated villages like Capalna(a famous traditional dance) along the Sebes Valley with its lakes Nedeiu, Oasa and many others. You can strech yourself and admire the breathtaking landscape with waterfalls carved into ice and fir trees and pine trees covered by snow from top to bottom that you barely guess their shape. Pay attention to the road because the closer you get the slippery it becomes. The layer of snow becomes thicker and ordinary cars have to be left somewhere at the beginning of the adventure unless you travell with a 4x4 car.
Each village you pass it's like an initiation ritual and they have foedoomed names: Poarta Raiului (Heaven's Gate) , Luncile Prigoanei(Prigoanei River Meadows), Valea Frumoasei(The Beauty Valley), and Iezerul Sureanu(Sureanu Mountain Lake). You can stop in any of these places where you can find accommodation this preventing you from walking through the snow carrying your rucksack filled with food, water, and clothes which deepens you into the snow. It's not simple giving the fact you are also endowed with ice axes, sun glasses, sleeping bags and snow boots. You can walk from 2 to 8 kilometres and your rucsack although light might become heavy. Sledges are very useful to carry bags and then you can use them to go sledging. The whole area is prevailed by Karsts, gorgeas, caves and Dacians fortresses like: Sarmisegetusa, Tusa-Regia, Blidari, Costesti...It's a mixture of history, geography, geology and fauna. We booked a hut for fifteen people, more barracks than a hut. The hut wasn't endowed with current water, central heating or a basic bathroom. Water had to be provided from the frozen lake behind the hut through a clasp. Hands got frozen in less than a minute is something you don't experience in a hotel. We made fire in a stove with wood and toilet was improvised outside in the forest in a small cabin. If this isn't a lesson of surviving I don't know what it is. Besides all these we didn't go to the montains for the hut but for the scenery which made up for the accommodation.
There were a lot of routes - To Sureanu peak(2059m), to Patru peak(2130m), or Oasa. Don't adventure into the mountains without being properly prepaired, the wind is sharp and whips your face and if you don't know the route your steps are covered with snow and there is no way back. On Patru peak we built an iglu to protect us from the wind for a while as we got rest. We could have stayed there for the night since our seeping bags provided heat till 30 degree.The way back is as difficult as when you climb giving the slippery path,you may fall and injure youself. Besides,this in an unique experience you feel closer to God, powerful on the top of the world and at the same time small and insignificant in the white immensity. If you manage to drive to the hut you might get stuck because it snows a lot and out of nowhere. We had to go back to the Heaven Gate on foot, the snow was high to the knee and the baggage pressed us deeper into the snow. We weren't tired because we joked and laughed all the way, in the wilderness you don't have neighbours to disturb and the landscape captures you. You don't know what to do first, to take photos or to admire the view. Clothes should be thin and warmy, if you climb the mountains you perspire and thick clothes get wet and you might catch a cold. You also need sun cream and a nourishing lipstick. The sun can damage your skin.
At first you may find reluctant to the idea of staying in an accommodation beside other 10 people, share choirs and face an elementary way of living but the experience worth taking this risk.
But you can't now what you'd like to do without taking into consideration few options. A travel agency has a lot of options with comfortable hotels and proper attending with a fix schedule and probably sightseeing you've already seen. What can they offer for the adrenalin hunter who wants to feel the touch of danger?
Well, fortunately this world has made itself available for people whose self awarness determined them to push the limits and cross the boundaries. Dare to experience a snowy winter in the middle of the mountains, it makes you feel alive but still breakable.
Sureanu Mountains lie in Meridional Carpathians and there are two ways of access - Jiului
Valley and Sebesului Valley. I've experinced the second one because I had to pass through Sibiu - a 800 years medieval city, a blender of ancient and modern, a city whose ancestors preserved the legacy through means of fortresses and towers; history engraved on the walls of time, but its up-to-dateness turned it into an european cultural capital.You follow the road through small isolated villages like Capalna(a famous traditional dance) along the Sebes Valley with its lakes Nedeiu, Oasa and many others. You can strech yourself and admire the breathtaking landscape with waterfalls carved into ice and fir trees and pine trees covered by snow from top to bottom that you barely guess their shape. Pay attention to the road because the closer you get the slippery it becomes. The layer of snow becomes thicker and ordinary cars have to be left somewhere at the beginning of the adventure unless you travell with a 4x4 car.
Each village you pass it's like an initiation ritual and they have foedoomed names: Poarta Raiului (Heaven's Gate) , Luncile Prigoanei(Prigoanei River Meadows), Valea Frumoasei(The Beauty Valley), and Iezerul Sureanu(Sureanu Mountain Lake). You can stop in any of these places where you can find accommodation this preventing you from walking through the snow carrying your rucksack filled with food, water, and clothes which deepens you into the snow. It's not simple giving the fact you are also endowed with ice axes, sun glasses, sleeping bags and snow boots. You can walk from 2 to 8 kilometres and your rucsack although light might become heavy. Sledges are very useful to carry bags and then you can use them to go sledging. The whole area is prevailed by Karsts, gorgeas, caves and Dacians fortresses like: Sarmisegetusa, Tusa-Regia, Blidari, Costesti...It's a mixture of history, geography, geology and fauna. We booked a hut for fifteen people, more barracks than a hut. The hut wasn't endowed with current water, central heating or a basic bathroom. Water had to be provided from the frozen lake behind the hut through a clasp. Hands got frozen in less than a minute is something you don't experience in a hotel. We made fire in a stove with wood and toilet was improvised outside in the forest in a small cabin. If this isn't a lesson of surviving I don't know what it is. Besides all these we didn't go to the montains for the hut but for the scenery which made up for the accommodation.
There were a lot of routes - To Sureanu peak(2059m), to Patru peak(2130m), or Oasa. Don't adventure into the mountains without being properly prepaired, the wind is sharp and whips your face and if you don't know the route your steps are covered with snow and there is no way back. On Patru peak we built an iglu to protect us from the wind for a while as we got rest. We could have stayed there for the night since our seeping bags provided heat till 30 degree.The way back is as difficult as when you climb giving the slippery path,you may fall and injure youself. Besides,this in an unique experience you feel closer to God, powerful on the top of the world and at the same time small and insignificant in the white immensity. If you manage to drive to the hut you might get stuck because it snows a lot and out of nowhere. We had to go back to the Heaven Gate on foot, the snow was high to the knee and the baggage pressed us deeper into the snow. We weren't tired because we joked and laughed all the way, in the wilderness you don't have neighbours to disturb and the landscape captures you. You don't know what to do first, to take photos or to admire the view. Clothes should be thin and warmy, if you climb the mountains you perspire and thick clothes get wet and you might catch a cold. You also need sun cream and a nourishing lipstick. The sun can damage your skin.
At first you may find reluctant to the idea of staying in an accommodation beside other 10 people, share choirs and face an elementary way of living but the experience worth taking this risk.
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