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Thanks to LL increasing the prims count on the sims I was able to go nuts in winterizing some of the parts at Victoria's Secret.
Feel free to visit and have a look at the Christmas Trees around the sim.
Enjoy a walk in the snow or skate at one of the 2 ponds or just snuggle up in front of the fireplace with your special someone while it is snowing outside
Unlike the Rusties which are declining, the Red-winged Blackbird population has increased. They are considered the most abundant bird in North America at 0.25B. Lake St. Clair.
I am currently familiarising myself with Luminar Neo, for which I have purchased a two-year subscription, having become a little tired of the increasing cost of maintaining my ON1 Photo RAW product for seemingly minor incremental gains in capability. As part of my familiarisation, I decided to look at testing background removal and layer masking by taking a previously posted shot (‘Done Shopping’) and making an ‘Adamski Effect’ image out of it.
The Adamski Effect uses multiple images, combined to create a single, composite image. The most common application is to render one element of the photo in focus, with the remainder of the image subjected to motion add/or gaussian blur effects. It is named after the Polish photographer and digital artist Antoni Adamski.
The original image was shot using a (manual focus) Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens mounted to a A7 with using a Pentax K mount adapter form Fotodiox. It was shot at f/1.4 with and exposure of 1/400that ISO 400.
Copyright © Dave Sexton. All Rights Reserved.
This image is protected under international copyright laws and agreements. No part of the image or the Flickr Photostream to which is belongs may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Copyright owner’s prior permission.
Press 'L' to view on black for increased contrast.
NAF El Centro 2013 - 2013.02.21
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Synergy Stage 2 ENB
Increased Contrast and decreased saturation through Imaginator.
I did say I would reinstall,maybe sooner than I intended but not many games have the creativity of Skyrim for screenshots. So far everything is smooth a few bug fixes and lots of mod cleaning. Lol I just left Skyrim only groups only to reinstall so soon, I will probably only post Skryim images into groups that will accept any game not just Skryim (since I was in too many groups for me to keep track of) and only on Flickr, but will allow admins to invite shots if they so wish to any group.
Some of the most severe marine heat increases on Earth are occurring in the seas surrounding the UK and Ireland. Satellite measurements show that water temperatures in certain areas are above average for this time of year.
The coastal regions off the east coast of the UK, from Durham to Aberdeen, and off the northwest coast of Ireland are particularly warm. The map shows sea surface temperatures on 18 June 2023, compared with the long-term (1981-2016) average.
Satellite data show the sea surface temperature in the North Sea is more than 5°C higher than the average during this time of year. Temperatures anomalies are also extreme in the Baltic with temperatures more than 8°C above average.
Craig Donlon, Head of Earth Surfaces and Interior Section at ESA, explains that the current marine heatwave is classified as an extreme Category IV/V Marine Heatwave – extremely unusual for this time of year.
Marine heatwaves occur due to a combination of atmospheric and oceanographic processes. The sustained high temperatures could trigger mass mortality of fish and other marine life. Also, marine heatwaves are linked to more extreme weather events – making them more intense and longer lasting.
The warming of the seas around the UK coincides with a global trend of rising air and ocean surface temperatures in recent months. According to data from the Met Office dating back to 1850, both April and May 2023 witnessed the highest-ever recorded global sea surface temperatures.
These elevated temperatures have been associated with a series of extreme heat events worldwide, contributing to record-breaking wildfires in Canada, heatwaves in China and Siberia, and reduced sea ice extent in the Antarctic.
June 2023 is also on course to hit record heat levels. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the first 11 days of June were the hottest ever recorded worldwide for this time of year. This is the first time that global air temperatures have exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5°C during the month of June.
Although the current high temperatures are expected to be temporary, experts anticipate more temperature records to be broken in the coming months due to the projected warming of the Pacific Ocean associated with the development of an El Niño event. Scientists already predict that 2024 may become the hottest year on record.
Craig Donlon says, “Extreme Marine Heatwaves are not an everyday event in UK waters. Satellite data, together with data on the ground, will allow us to document the impact of this marine heatwave including stress on the marine ecosystem, the impact on industries such as aquaculture and fisheries, modification of local wind patterns and potential rainfall events that may emerge later.”
“What is important to realise is that significant warming is also evident over the Tropical Pacific as part of the current El Niño system accompanied by widespread surface ocean warming in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.
“This is a really startling global situation because the additional surface heating we see at this time will eventually be mixed into the ocean water column. Some of this excess heat will find its way into the Arctic Ocean via ocean currents through the Fram Strait and Norwegian Sea further exacerbating the demise of Arctic sea ice. We will be monitoring in detail to see how all these aspects evolve with great interest”.
ESA (Data: NOAA)
Founded about the year 900, stands the church of St Alkmund which celebrated its 1100th anniversary in 2012.
St Alkmund’s Church stands at the highest point in the town of Shrewsbury. It is known that there was a Saxon market called the King’s Market at the heart of Shrewsbury all round the church of St Alkmund. Nothing visible remains of the church that Aethelfleda founded. What we see today is part mediaeval and part Georgian. The tower and spire (56 metres high) was built about 1475 in the Perpendicular style. It forms one of the five notable buildings that make the skyline of Shrewsbury so unforgettably interesting. The poet A.E.Housman immortalised this view in his words: “High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam islanded in Severn stream”.
Following the collapse of a neighbouring church (old St Chad’s) in 1788 the congregation of St Alkmund’s became concerned that their church might also collapse. Whether this was truly the case or not, the decision was taken to demolish the old mediaeval church except for the tower and spire, and a local architect, John Carline, was commissioned to build a new church in the Gothic Revival style.
Had his work remained intact, St Alkmund’s would have been one of the best examples of this style in England. Carline built a wonderfully light church with twelve identical windows made with the latest technology of the period. They had frames made of cast iron at Coalbrookdale – about fifteen miles from Shrewsbury. Superbly crafted in sections, and filled with clear glass, three of these magnificent windows have survived and have recently been completely repaired. They are contemporary (1795) with the great house at Fonthill that William Beckford was building for himself in the same style, and would held their own in that famous creation. Fonthill collapsed with thirty years, but St Alkmund’s still stands, although nine of the twelve windows were altered in the late 19th century, when ideas about what was correct architecture for a church differed from those of the Georgian period.
The east window is the great treasure of St Alkmund’s. It is indeed a notable survival of the work of Francis Eginton, famed in his time as an enamel painter on glass. Living in Handsworth, Birmingham, where he had for a time been a partner of Matthew Boulton, Eginton received a commission to paint a window for the new church of St Alkmund in 1794. He was allowed £150 for the work, and immediately stated that he could not do anything remarkable for that sum, but that the budget could be increased to £200 he could do something notable. The churchwardens agreed. £200 was a considerable sum of money in those days.
Eginton happened to have acquired an engraving of a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin by Guido Reni (1642), then in a collection in Mannheim in Germany. It is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. He copied the figure of the Virgin, changing the colopurs, and brilliantly changed to surroundings of the figure to create an image of Christian pilgrimage. The cost came out at 210 guineas – that is, £20.10.0 over budget! That was more than a maid in domestic service would have been paid in a year. However, the churchwardens were so pleased with what Eginton had produced that they paid up on the nail and caused a letter of thanks to be sent to him. The window was installed in October 1795 and has survived, although much of Eginton’s work suffered from changes in taste in the 19th century and was removed or lost.
View Large. Our backyard visitor. Lizard. Corona California.
Because of the Corona Virus and the increase of cases here, I am staying home to avoid any contact. It limits me the amount of species I find.
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23 December 2020: Update on The Corona Pandemic – The latest figures show a slowing down in the rate of increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus, still an average of 2,529 people tested positive for the coronavirus every day over the last week. The data also reported a stagnation in the number of new hospital admissions and a further fall in the number of people with the virus that are dying. It’s probably too early to claim victory but as a minimum these numbers are generating hopes that we are beginning to regain control over the third surge of the coronavirus before it started to eclipse the first and second wave. Yesterday it was also announced that travel between the UK and Belgium will resume on Wednesday under stricter conditions. The ban was brought in amid fears about a new variant of coronavirus that the authorities in the UK say is more infectious that other strains of the virus detected so far. Hoping for continued good news I’m carrying on with my daily corona walks. This lonely man with a face mask feeding the birds in a deserted city center reminded me of the pictures of the desolated landmarks we saw during the first wave of the pandemic – Korenlei, Ghent, Belgium.
This is a rebuild of a plane I made about 4 years ago.
The cockpit (inspired by dan's P51 mustang) is the biggest "upgrade" over the original (IMO). I was able to drop the cockpit about one plate from the WIP version, which I think really improves the look. I also extended the wingspan (1 stud per wing for a total of 2 studs increase).
In the late 1950s, Wolverhampton Council proposed a controversial and costly project to build a ring road around the town, to divert ‘through traffic’ away from the town centre. As with most towns in Britain, the huge increase in private car ownership was becoming a headache for the town’s planners.
As part of the town’s future road planning, it was decided that the building of the ‘Ring Road’ would also force the abandonment of the town’s trolleybus system, as the council wanted ‘no trolleybuses or trolleybus infrastructure’ to encounter the new Ring Road! This commitment would become a huge finical burden on the local rate-payers, so budgetary restraints were made where possible. Construction of the Ring Road began in 1961, but took almost three decades to complete.
Between June 1963 and March 1967, Wolverhampton Corporation Transport purchased 146 new double-deck motorbuses to replace the post-war trolleybus fleet. The financial enormity of funding the conversion program impacted on the quality of the new motorbus purchases, with savings having to be made. From 1965 – 1967, the Transport Department’s budget constraints forced them to opt for cheaper bus bodies to be fitted to the locally built Guy Arab V motorbus chassis that the council were duty-bound to purchase. Strachan (Coachbuilders) Ltd of Hamble, Hampshire became the new bus body supplier, but these budget built bus bodies for the Guy Arabs would soon prove to be sub-standard, resulting in short service lives due to structural fatigue.
On the demise of the town's last trolleybuses in March 1967, came the news that twelve high-capacity single-deck buses had been ordered. In July 1967, the ‘Transport Department’ took delivery of six AEC Swifts (708-713) and six Daimler Roadliners (714-719), all having Strachan built dual-doored bodies. This may have been seen as an extravagant purchase in lieu of the tax payers money recently spent on the trolleybus replacement fleet?
The buses appeared very modern looking, with large windows and spacious high-roofed interiors, being very similar in design to London Transport’s Strachan bodied ‘Red Arrow’ buses that had been new to the capital in 1966. The intension from the outset was to trial the concept of ‘pay-on-entry’ buses, with passengers paying the driver on boarding the bus.
The new buses were initially put to work on the No1 Tettenhall service to gauge public reaction to 'pay-on-entry, and assessing operational issues. However, after a few weeks the experiment was ended and crew-operated double-deckers reinstated to the route. Against all expectations, the costly experiment hadn’t been a success, having been met with mixed reactions from the travelling public who were not used to paying the driver on boarding, much preferring bus conductors to take their fares. It was also found that the ‘Cummins V6’ engined Daimler ‘Roadliners’ in particular, didn’t like the intense ‘stop and start’ work on this short urban service. Therefore a decision was made to redeploy these buses to rural services, such as the lengthy No17 and No31 routes to Bridgnorth in Shropshire. In this setting, the stops were fewer and the average speeds were higher, but as a cost saving measure the buses continued to be used as ‘pay-on-entry’ vehicles.
In October 1969, 708-719, along with the rest of the former Wolverhampton Corporation bus fleet, became part of the newly formed West Midlands PTE, whereupon they were renumbered 708N - 719N.
The first victim to early withdrawal was Roadliner 714N, which was lost to fire when working the No17 Bridgnorth service in November 1971. The following year, AEC Swifts 708, 711 were withdrawn and sold to Northampton Transport for further use.
The remaining buses continued to be allocated to Wolverhampton’s Bilston Garage, their duties staying much the same until the loss of the rural bus network in December 1973. The Midland Red taking over these services from WMPTE as part of a wider operational agreement between the two concerns.
Being relatively modern buses and suitable for one-man-operation, WMPTE continued to use the remaining Roadliners and Swifts, but with an eye to disposing of them when the opportunity arose as they did not fit the general fleet profile. Despite the Roadliners continuing to be mechanically troublesome, 716-719 received repaints into WMPTE livery in 1972 and 1973, and may have received body strengthen modifications in preparation? However, the AEC Swifts were never repainted out of their Wolverhampton colours.
Following the premature exit of 708N, 711N (pictured) and 714N, the next to go was Roadliner 715N in July 1973 suffering structural faults to its Strachan built body. It was sold for scrap in May 1974 still wearing WCT green and yellow.
The remaining AEC Swifts came out of service between 1973 to 1974, and the last Roadliners were finally withdrawn between the end of 1974 and January of 1975. Some of these buses found new owners, but all eventually ended up being scrapped with the exception of 719N. Today, 719(N) survives at the Transport Museum Wythall, restored into WCT livery.
The picture taken by the late Dave Everitt, show AEC Swift 711N pulling out onto Railway Drive, as it departs Victoria Square Bus Station for Cheslyn Hay in July 1970.
As for the previously mentioned ‘Ring Road’, that has further relevance to this picture, as part of its Eastern section runs right through the location where this picture was taken.
Image scanned from the original 35mm colour slide.
In the early days of the penal settlement, convicts were housed in rough timber huts in the area next to the police station. As convict numbers increased, the flour mill and granary was converted into a four-storey penitentiary. The Penitentiary’s two lower floors contained 136 cells for ‘prisoners of bad character’. The top floor provided space for 480 better behaved convicts to sleep in bunks.
#tasmania #australia #visitaustralia #tassie #portarthur #portarthurhistoricsite #nature #penitentiaryruin
Falling cup of espresso. Increased contrast, mattened background.
The idea was to drop the cup from half a meter of height into a bucket of water with a towel on top - to dampen the fall and take care of the mess. (I had the camera on a tripod with an external flash, next to the bucket.) Two things were problematic; timing the manual trigger and getting the liquid in an interesting motion. The first problem was solved by dropping cups of water until I had a feel for when to shoot. I soon found out that I had to give the cup a rotating motion to solve the other - so I basically flipped the whole thing like a coin. Which of course made hitting the bucket a little more difficult... :-/
Throwing paper prayer flags called lungta into the air (“wind horse”, colorful papers, which represent good luck and life force). Throwing to the wind small pieces of paper printed with the same image is one of the most popular ritual activities among Tibetans, and is performed to increase well-being or good luck. These flags and printed papers are commonly called rlung rta, though technically speaking rlung rta refers to the concept of good luck itself རླུང་རྟ lungta.
A well known ritual is seen on high mountain passes all over the Tibetan plateau.
The LV class was developed from the previous L-class 2-10-0 locomotive by the Voroshilovgrad factory. It used a feedwater heater to increase thermal efficiency and it was the most efficient freight steam locomotive in the Soviet Union with thermal efficiency of 9.3%. The first prototype was named OR18-01 (October Revolution factory, 18 tonne axle load). 522 LV-class locomotives were built. Several were preserved, including the first OR18-01 and the last LV-0522.
The nickname Lebed (Swan) was widely used in SU after the name of General Developer Lev Lebedyansky.
►►► Explore the world of HDR with me at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
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About | HDR Cookbook | Before-and-After | Making-of | Pics to play with
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(Hit 'f' to fave this image)
The story of this photo:
I am going abstract today. No architecture, no landscape... just a sculpture and the sky. This sculpture is standing near the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany: Three rainbow-colored poles about 15-20 meters high. What I like in particular about this shot are the reflections. There are actually not three poles in the picture but seven!!! I leave the rest to your interpretation. Enjoy!
Take a look at my "HDR Cookbook"! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Handheld
> Three exposures (0, -2, +2 ev) autobracketed and merged to get and HDR
> Camera: Nikon D90
> Lens: Sigma 10-20mm F3,5 EX DC HSM
> Details can be found here
How it was tonemapped:
> Preparation: developed the raw files with ACR mainly in order to reduce the CA [details]
> Photomatix version 3.1 (Detail Enhancer)
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details [details]
> Topaz Denoise [details]
> Photo filter layer on the poles to reduce the blue cast and enhance the warm tones
> Saturation layer on the poles (increased master and a bit of blue tones)
> Levels layer on the poles to tune the brightness and the contrast
> Levels layer on the sky (brightening mid tones), masked with the inverted blue channel to even out the luminance
> Levels layer on the sky (general brightening)
> Saturation layer on the sky to tune the blue tones
> Halo reduction in the sky using a levels adjustment layer (gamma ~ 0.8) and delicate masking to blend this darker layer into those halo spots around the poles [details]
> Sharpening using the high-pass filter [details]
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Learn these techniques at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
- Thanks for viewing!
(*) This time of the year we increase the speed of our fans on the porch. Only problem is the breeze it generates must be similar to a Space-X launch:) Ricoh GRIIIx photo processed using the new version of Snapseed.
With the ever increasing emission zones appearing around the UK in the coming years Nu-Venture are starting to obtain vehicles with reduced emissions.
Seen here making its first appearance post repaint is 277 SN03 YBR as the rally control vehicle as part of Nu-Venture's 2017 Medway Bus Rally commemorating 20 years of service in Medway. Saturday 30th December 2017.
Insert: The new 'Cleaner air for Kent & Medway' logo being applied to emission friendly vehicles.
TransBus Dart SLF - TransBus Pointer 8.8m (Ex-Metrobus 277)
Yesterday the slightly increased temperature appeared to be slowly melting the snow away. But overnight, like much of the rest of the UK, we had more sustained snow falling around our home. This snow though is fine and powered, sticking to plants and trees in a very attractive way. Everything outside is coated with this fine new snow, producing a true winter wonderland.
Note: Image taken using Canon 5D digital camera.
Copyright © 2010 f2 Photography
Please Note: This image may not be used for any purpose without written permission from F-2 Photography. You are NOT allowed to download, blog, print, broadcast, publish, use in a mosaic, use on a forum, distribute, change and/or manipulate this image for commercial, private or non-commercial reasons.
It's a big year for Hong Kong's flag-carrier, Cathay Pacific; this year sees the airline celebrating their 80th anniversary and are celebrating in style not just with retro-jets but a return to the Spirit of Hong Kong adorned on one of their Boeing 777-300ERs. Compare to a few years ago when Cathay Pacific was struggling.
Cathay Pacific like many airlines have somewhat benefitted with the drop in demand by the Middle East carriers who have currently reduced their flight schedules as a result of the current war in Iran. As a result of the reduced flight schedules and hesitancy in flying via the Middle East, other airlines have been increasing capacity to get passengers from point A to point B.
For Cathay Pacific, the airline has temporarily been increasing the number of flights to and from their hub in Hong Kong towards Europe, with London Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Zürich-Kloten all featuring additional flights introduced on certain days. Cathay Pacific have also gone as far as to increase seating capacity on London Heathrow flights.
One of the temporary flight increases at London Heathrow commenced from 21st March 2026; CX2251/2252 has been operating every Thursday and Saturday thus far utilising Airbus A350-900s and at time of writing, Cathay Pacific have these flights booked until 18th April 2026. Another note is CX239/256 which is usually operated by Airbus A350-900s has seen 3-class Boeing 777-300ERs utilised on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only, with those flights available until 30th April 2026.
Currently, Cathay Pacific operates 48 Airbus A350s, which includes 30 Airbus A350-900s and 18 Airbus A350-1000s.
Lima X-Ray Bravo is one of 18 Airbus A350-1000s operated by Cathay Pacific, delivered new to the flag-carrier on 30th August 2018 and she is powered by 2 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.
Airbus A350-1041 B-LXB on final approach into Runway 09L at London Heathrow (LHR) on CX257 from Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok (HKG).
Due to an increased need for capacity due to Covid, the shorter D1 between Trowbridge and Bath has been modified to a D1x, operating on a more direct route away from the low bridges and bringing double decks to the area. Formerly an Aberdeen Platinum bus, and now in unbranded Bath City blue, here 37642 pauses at the town bridge en-route for Trowbridge.
For my summer snaps to Bradford-on-Avon, as well as Bristol, Weston, Wells and Bath, please visit: southernenglandbus.smugmug.com/LATEST
++++ from WIKIPEDIA ++++++
Abruzzo (UK: /æˈbrʊtsoʊ/,[5] US: /ɑːˈbruːtsoʊ, əˈ-/; Italian: [aˈbruttso]; Abbrùzze [abˈbruttsə], Abbrìzze [abˈbrittsə] or Abbrèzze [abˈbrɛttsə] in Neapolitan Abruzzese; Aquilano: Abbrùzzu) or Abruzzi is a region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. Its western border lies 80 km (50 mi) east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Geographically, Abruzzo is divided into a mountainous area in the west, which includes the Gran Sasso d'Italia, and a coastal area in the east with beaches on the Adriatic Sea.
Abruzzo is considered a region of Southern Italy in terms of its culture, language, history and economy, although geographically it may also be considered central.[8] The Italian Statistical Authority (ISTAT) also deems it to be part of Southern Italy, partly because of Abruzzo's historic association with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Abruzzo is known as "the greenest region in Europe" as almost half of its territory, the largest in Europe,[9] is set aside as national parks and protected nature reserves. There are three national parks, one regional park, and 38 protected nature reserves. These ensure the survival of 75% of Europe's living species, including rare species such as the golden eagle, the Abruzzo (or Abruzzese) chamois, the Apennine wolf and the Marsican brown bear.[10] Abruzzo is also home to Calderone, Europe's southernmost glacier.
The visiting nineteenth-century Italian diplomat and journalist Primo Levi (1853–1917) said that the adjectives "forte e gentile" (strong and kind) best describe the beauty of the region and the character of its people. "Forte e gentile" has since become the motto of the region and its inhabitants.
Provinces and politics
Abruzzo provinces
Provinces
Abruzzo is divided into four administrative provinces:
Province Area (km2) Population Density (inh./km2)
Chieti 2,588 396,190 153.1
L'Aquila 5,034 308,876 61.3
Pescara 1,225 318,701 260.1
Teramo 1,948 308,769 158.5
Politics
History
Human settlements in Abruzzo have existed since at least the Neolithic times. A skeleton from Lama dei Peligni in the province of Chieti dates back to 6,540 BC under radiometric dating.[13] The name Abruzzo appears to be derivative of the Latin word "Aprutium". In Roman times, the region was known as Picenum, Sabina et Samnium, Flaminia et Picenum, and Campania et Samnium.[14] The region was known as Aprutium in the Middle Ages, arising from four possible sources: it is a combination of Praetutium, or rather of the name of the people Praetutii, applied to their chief city, Interamnia, the old Teramo.
Many cities in Abruzzo date back to ancient times. Corfinio was known as Corfinium when it was the chief city of the Paeligni, and later was renamed Pentima by the Romans. Chieti is built on the site of the ancient city of Teate, Atri was known as Adria. Teramo, known variously in ancient times as Interamnia and Teramne, has Roman ruins which attract tourists.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, a string of invasions and rulers dominated the region, including the Lombards, Byzantines, and Hungarians. Between the 9th and 12th centuries, the region was dominated by the popes. Subsequently, the Normans took over, and Abruzzo became part of the Kingdom of Sicily, later the Kingdom of Naples. Spain ruled the kingdom from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The French Bourbon dynasty took over in 1815, establishing the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and ruled until Italian unification (also known as the Risorgimento) in 1860.
Until 1963, Abruzzo was part of the combined Abruzzi e Molise region. The term Abruzzi (plural of Abruzzo) derives from the time when the region was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The territory was administered as Abruzzo Citeriore (nearer Abruzzo) and Abruzzo Ulteriore I and II (farther Abruzzo I and II) from Naples, the capital of the kingdom.[14] Abruzzo Citeriore is now Chieti province. Teramo and Pescara provinces now comprise what was Abruzzo Ulteriore I. Abruzzo Ulteriore II is now the province of L'Aquila.
In the twentieth century, war had a great impact on the region. During the Second World War, Abruzzo was on the Gustav Line, part of the German's Winter Line. One of the most brutal battles was the Battle of Ortona. Abruzzo was the location of two prisoner of war camps, Campo 21 in Chieti,[18] and Campo 78 in Sulmona. The Sulmona camp also served as a POW camp in World War 1; much of the facility is still intact and attracts tourists interested in military history.
Geography
Geographically, Abruzzo is located in central Italy and southern Italy, stretching from the heart of the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea, and includes mainly mountainous and wild land. The mountainous land is occupied by a vast plateau, including Gran Sasso, at 2,912 metres (9,554 ft) the highest peak of the Apennines, and Mount Majella at 2,793 metres (9,163 ft). The Adriatic coastline is characterized by long sandy beaches to the North and pebbly beaches to the South. Abruzzo is well known for its landscapes and natural environment, parks and nature reserves, characteristic hillside areas rich in vineyards and olive groves, and one of the highest densities of Blue Flag beaches.
Climate
The Abruzzo region has two types of climate that are strongly influenced by the Apennine Mountains, dividing the climate of the coastal and sub-Apennine hills from the interior's high mountain ranges. Coastal areas have a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild winters and rainy hills with a sublittoral climate where temperatures decrease progressively with increasing altitude and precipitation with altitude. Precipitation is also strongly affected by the presence of the Apennines mountain ridges of the region; it increases with the proportion being more abundant in the field and on the slopes exposed to the west, instead of decreasing towards the east and east-facing slopes. Often the Adriatic coast are sidelined rainfall from the west to the barrier effect of the Apennines undergoing the action of gentle winds descending from it (or Libeccio).[21] The minimum annual rainfall, however, is found in some inland valleys, sheltered from much disturbance to the blocking action of mountain ridges, such as the Peligna Valley, or the valley of the river Tirino, which in some places (Ofena, Capestrano) showed barely 500 millimetres (19.7 inches), and not along the coast where it never falls below 600 millimetres (23.6 inches); for if Teramo is relatively little watered by rain (Teramo less than 800 millimetres (31.5 inches)), the metre is exceeded in Chieti, reaching maximum levels in the Adriatic, while between Ortona and Vasto in Costa dei Trabocchi decrease again.[21] The highest rainfall occurs in upland areas on the border with Lazio; they are especially vulnerable to Atlantic disturbances. Around 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (59 to 79 inches) of precipitation is typical (Pescara in 2010 showed a value close to 2,800 millimetres (110.2 inches)).
Flora and fauna
As with many Mediterranean regions, Abruzzo's vegetation is characterized by different Mediterranean ecosystems. The coast and the surrounding areas are characterized by the presence of typical plants of Mediterranean shrubland, such as myrtle, heather and mastic, while in the hilly areas other species grow, including olive, pine, willow, oak, poplar, alder, arbutus, broom, acacia, capers, rosemary, hawthorn, licorice and almond trees, interspersed with oak trees. At elevations between 600 and 1,000 metres (2,000 and 3,300 ft) there is sub-montane vegetation, mainly characterized by mixed forests of oak and turkey oak, maple and hornbeam; shrubs include dog rose and red juniper. Elevations between 1,000 and 1,900 metres (3,300 and 6,200 ft) are dominated by beech trees. In the Apennine Mountains at elevations above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) species include alpine orchid, mountain juniper, silver fir, black cranberry and the Abruzzo edelweiss.
The fauna of Abruzzo is highly varied, including the region's symbol, the Abruzzo chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata), which has recovered from near-extinction. Animals typical of this region include: marsican brown bear, along with Italian wolf, deer, lynx, roe deer, snow vole, fox, porcupine, wild cat, wild boar, badger, otter, and viper.
The natural parks of the region include the Abruzzo National Park, the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park,[24] the Maiella National Park and the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, as well as many other natural reserves and protected areas.
Economy
Until a few decades ago, Abruzzo was a region of poverty in Southern Italy; over the past decades, however, it has developed to such an extent that it has escaped from the spiral of underdevelopment to become the 'first' region of the 'Italian Mezzogiorno'. This confirms its pivotal role in the national economic system. Since the 1950s, Abruzzo has had steady economic growth. In 1951, Abruzzo per capita income or GDP was 53% of that of Northern Italy, the nation's richest region. By 1971, Abruzzo was at 65% and, by 1994, per capita income was at 76% of Northern Italy's per capita income, giving Abruzzo the highest per capita GDP of Southern Italy and surpassing the growth of every other region of Italy. The construction of autostrade (motorways) from Rome to Teramo (A24) and Rome to Pescara (A25) opened Abruzzo to easy access. State and private investment in the region increased, and Abruzzo attained higher per capita education levels and greater productivity growth than the rest of the South. As of 2003, Abruzzo's per capita GDP was €19,506 or 84% of the national average of €23,181 and well outpacing that of the South (€15,808). The region's average GDP per capita was approximately 20,100 EUR.
The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake led to a sharp economic slowdown. However, according to statistics at the end of 2010, it seems that the economy of Abruzzo is recovering, despite the negative on regarding employment.[28] In fact, at the end of 2010, Abruzzo's growth was 1.47%, which placed it fourth among the Italian regions with the highest annual growth rates after Lazio, Lombardy and Calabria.[30] In 2011 Abruzzo's economic growth was +2.3%, the highest percentage among the regions of Southern Italy.[31] The region is also the richest region of Southern Italy, with a GDP per capita of €25,700.[21]
Travel poster from the 1920s.
Abruzzo's industrial sector expanded rapidly, especially in mechanical engineering, transportation equipment and telecommunications. The structure of production in the region reflects the transformation of the economy from agriculture to industry and services. Although industry has developed strongly, it retains weak points due to the existence of only a few large businesses alongside a huge fabric of small and medium-sized businesses. Both pure and applied research are carried out in the region, where there are major institutes and factories involved in research in the fields of pharmaceutics, biomedicine, electronics, aerospace and nuclear physics. The industrial infrastructure is spread throughout the region in industrial zones. The most important of these are: Val Pescara, Val Sangro, Val Trigno, Val Vibrata and Conca del Fucino. A further activity worthy of note is seaside and mountain tourism, which is of considerable importance to the economy of the region.[33] Agriculture, involving small holdings, has succeeded in modernising and offering high-quality products. The mostly small, agricultural holdings produce: wine, cereals, sugar beet, potatoes, olives, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Traditional products are saffron and liquorice. Most famous in the world is Abruzzo's wine Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; in the late 20th and early 21st century, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo earned a reputation as being one of the most widely exported DOC classed wine in Italy.[34]
In the past decade, tourism has increased, in particular by internal and European arrivals. Abruzzo is world-famous for its wildlife parks (Abruzzo National Park, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, Maiella National Park) and regional park (Sirente Velino), and 38 protected areas between oasis, regional reserves, and state reserves. The inland mountainous region contains several ski resorts, and coastal tourism is also well-developed, in particular, the Trabocchi Coast. Abruzzo's castles and medieval towns, especially around the town of L'Aquila, have earned it in some quarters the nickname of "Abruzzoshire", by analogy with the "Chiantishire", nickname sometimes used to refer to the Chianti area of Tuscany, but Abruzzo is still off the beaten path for most visitors to Italy.[35]
Chieti
Although the population density of Abruzzo has increased over recent decades, it is still well below the Italian national average: in 2008, 123.4 inhabitants per km2, compared to 198.8. In the provinces, the density varies: as of 2008 Pescara is the most densely populated with 260.1 inhabitants per km2, whereas L'Aquila is the least densely populated with 61.3 inhabitants per km2, although it has the largest area. After decades of emigration from the region, the main feature of the 1980s is immigration from third world countries. The population increase is due to the positive net migration. Since 1991 more deaths than births were registered in Abruzzo (except for 1999, when their numbers were equal).[36] In 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 59,749 foreign-born immigrants live in Abruzzo, equal to 4.5% of the total regional population.
The most serious demographic imbalance is between the mountainous areas of the interior and the coastal strip. The largest province, L'Aquila, is situated entirely in the interior and has the lowest population density. The movement of the population of Abruzzo from the mountains to the sea has led to the almost complete urbanization of the entire coastal strip especially in the province of Teramo and Chieti. The effects on the interior have been impoverishment and demographic aging, reflected by an activity rate in the province of L'Aquila which is the lowest among the provinces in Abruzzo – accompanied by geological degradation as a result of the absence of conservation measures. In the coastal strip, however, there is such a jumble of accommodations and activities that the environment has been negatively affected. The policy of providing incentives for development has resulted in the setting-up of industrial zones, some of which (Vasto, Avezzano, Carsoli, Gissi, Val Vibrata, Val di Sangro) have made genuine progress, while others (Val Pescara, L'Aquila) have run into trouble after their initial success. The zones of Sulmona and Guardiagrele have turned out to be more or less failures. Outside these zones, the main activities are agriculture and tourism.
Main settlements
L'Aquila is both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila and second largest city (pop. 73,000). L'Aquila was hit by an earthquake on 6 April 2009, which destroyed much of the city centre. The other provincial capitals are Pescara, which is Abruzzo's largest city and major port (pop. 123,000); Teramo (pop. 55,000) and Chieti (pop. 55,000). Other large municipalities in Abruzzo include the industrial and high tech center Avezzano (pop. 41,000), as well as three important industrial and touristic centers such as Vasto (pop. 40,636), Lanciano (pop. 36,000), and Sulmona (pop. 25,000).
Transport
Airports
Abruzzo International Airport is the only international airport in the region. Open to civilian traffic since 1996, the number of passengers has increased over the years because of low-cost air carriers' use of the facility. Today, the airport has a catchment area of over 500,000 passengers annually and connects the city of Pescara and the entire region with many Italian and Europe destinations.
L'Aquila-Preturo Airport is located in the nearby village of Courts and was recently renovated and modernized to accommodate presidential flights for G8 activities.
Ports
There are four main ports in Abruzzo: Pescara, Ortona, Vasto and Giulianova.
Over the years the Port of Pescara became one of the most important tourist ports of Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Heavily damaged in World War II, it underwent some sixty years of major restoration and was reborn as a modern marina with advanced moorings and shipbuilding facilities. It has been honored with the European Union's blue flag for the quality of services offered. The port of Pescara has lost passenger traffic because of its shallowness and silting, but its fishery and aquaculture activities are thriving.[38]
Railways
There is a significant disparity between the railways of the Abruzzo coast and the inland areas, which badly need modernization to improve the service, in particular, the Rome-Pescara line.
Existing railway lines:
Adriatic railway runs through the whole of Italy from north to south, along the Adriatic Sea.
Train Rome – Sulmona – Pescara
Sulmona – Carpinone
Sulmona–Terni railway
Avezzano railroad – Roccasecca
Giulianova – Teramo
Sangritana (Lanciano – Castel di Sangro)
Highways
There are three highways that serve the region:
Highway A24 Rome – L'Aquila – Teramo, was built in the 1970s and connects Rome with Lazio and more specifically to the Abruzzo Teramo via L'Aquila. It performs an important liaison function of the region, both Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic, due to the presence of several interchanges of connecting roads and highways. The Gran Sasso tunnel, the longest road tunnel entirely on Italian territory, was opened in 1984. It connects L'Aquila and Teramo on the A24 making the northern Abruzzo coast reachable within two hours from Rome.
Highway A25 Turin – Avezzano – Pescara makes the connection between Rome and Pescara. The road running out of Turin begins its journey where it branches off the A24, runs into the Conca del Fucino, crosses the Abruzzo Apennines, comes to the valley of Peligna, and ends at the exit for Pescara-Villanova to join the A14.
Motorway A14 Bologna – Taranto known as the A14 "Adriatica", includes 743 km (461.68 mi) of road, including lengths in the cities of Bologna and Taranto. Opened to traffic in 1965, it is now a major tourist road, running through the coastal towns of Emilia Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, and Apulia.
Culture
Castel del Monte, one of Abruzzo's little-known hill towns
Gabriele d'Annunzio from Pescara
Abbazia di San Liberatore a Majella (Serramonacesca)
Ovid from Sulmona
Cathedral of San Giustino (Chieti)
Fishing trabucco of San Vito Chietino
The museum Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo in Chieti houses the famed warrior statue Warrior of Capestrano which was found in a necropolis from 6th century B.C. Of cultural importance are: Teramo Cathedral, its archeological museum and Roman theater, the Castello della Monica, the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, the famous L'Aquila Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio (which holds the remains of Pope Celestine V), the Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Santa Maria del Suffragio, the Forte Spagnolo, the Fountain of 99 Spouts, Gabriele D'Annunzio's house in Pescara, Campli's Scala Sancta and its church, the church of Santissima Annunziata in Sulmona, the cathedrals of Chieti, Lanciano, Guardiagrele, Atri and Pescara along with the castles of Ortona, Celano and Ortucchio.
Every 28–29 August, L'Aquila's Santa Maria di Collemaggio commemorates the Perdonanza Celestiniana, the indulgence issued by Pope Celestine V to any who, "truly repentant and confessed" would visit that Church from the Vespers of the vigil to the vespers of 29 August.[39] Sulmona's Holy Week is commemorated with traditional celebrations and rituals, such as 'La Madonna che Scappa in Piazza', where a large statue of the Madonna, carried by a group of Sulmonesi part of Confraternities, is taken through the square towards her resurrected Son.[40] Cocullo, in the province of L'Aquila, holds the annual 'Festa dei serpari' (festival of snake handlers) in which a statue of St. Dominic, covered with live snakes, is carried in a procession through the town; it attracts thousands of Italian and foreign visitors. In many Abruzzo villages, Anthony the Great's feast is celebrated in January with massive and scenic bonfires.[41] In the past, the region of Abruzzo was well known for the transumanza, the migratory movement of sheep principally south to the region of Puglia during the cold winter months.[42] The Feast of St. Biagio, protector of wool dealers, is the most widespread in Abruzzo. On the third of February in Taranta Peligna every year since the sixteenth century an evocative ritual is carried out, entailing the distribution of panicelle, which are small loaves made of flour and water, in the shape of a blessing hand, which are distributed to the faithful.
Historical figures include: the Roman orator Asinius Pollio; Latin poets Sallust and Ovid, who were born in L'Aquila and Sulmona respectively, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Roman senator and leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar; and Pontius Pilate, who was born in the province of Teramo and is best known for authorizing the crucifixion of Jesus. Abruzzo's religious personalities include Saint Berardo; John of Capistrano, who led a crusade against the Ottoman Empire; Thomas of Celano, author of three hagiographies about Saint Francis of Assisi; and Alessandro Valignano, who introduced Catholicism to the Far East and Japan. The Polish Pope John Paul II loved the mountains of Abruzzo, where he would retire often and pray in the church of San Pietro della Ienca. When he died, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, gave the local Abruzzo community some of the late pontiff's blood as a token of the love he had felt for the mountainous area.[43] The greatest Italian poet of the 20th century Gabriele D'Annunzio was from Pescara; other notable Abruzzo personalities in the field of humanities include: poet Ignazio Silone, director Ennio Flaiano who co-wrote La dolce vita, philosopher Benedetto Croce, composer Sir Paolo Tosti and the sculptor Venanzo Crocetti.
American artists and celebrities such as: Madonna, Dean Martin, Bradley Cooper, Perry Como, Henry Mancini, Nancy Pelosi, Rocky Marciano, Rocky Mattioli, Bruno Sammartino, Mario Batali, John and Dan Fante, Tommy Lasorda, Dan Marino, Mario Lanza, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall, Al Martino, Ariana Grande and Canadian Michael Bublé have Abruzzo origins.
Some international movies shot in Abruzzo include The American, Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose, Fellini's La Strada and I Vitelloni, Schwarzenegger's Red Sonja, Ladyhawke, King David, Francesco, Keoma, The Barbarians, The Fox and the Child and Krull.
Medieval and Renaissance hill towns
The fortress of Civitella is the most visited monument in Abruzzo
For most of its history, a large number of the Abruzzese people have been hill people, often working as shepherds in mountainous areas, or establishing hill towns, especially in the parts of Abruzzo further from the Adriatic coast.[citation needed] Before the 2009 earthquake, Abruzzo was the region with the highest number of castles and hill towns in Italy, but it still holds many of Italy's best-preserved medieval and Renaissance hill towns, twenty-three of which are among The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy.[44] These awards are not only for aesthetic beauty but also for art and culture, historical importance and livability.
The abrupt decline of Abruzzo's agricultural economy in the early to mid-20th-century saved some of the region's historic hill towns from modern development. Many lie entirely within regional and national parks. Among the most well preserved are Castel del Monte and Santo Stefano di Sessanio, which lie in the Gran Sasso National Park on the edge of the high plain of Campo Imperatore and nestled beneath the Apennines' highest peaks. Both hill towns, which were ruled by the Medicis for over a century-and-a-half, have relatively little tourism. Between the two towns sits Rocca Calascio, the ruin of an ancient fortress popular with filmmakers. Both Monteferrante and Roccascalegna are two of the most representative Abruzzo villages in the province of Chieti. Within the Gran Sasso National Park is also found Castelli, an ancient pottery center whose artisans produced ceramics for most of the royal houses of Europe.
Civitella del Tronto played a crucial role in the history of the unification of Italy. The fortress of Civitella is the most visited monument in the Abruzzo region today.[45] Other medieval hill towns located fully within Abruzzo's park system are Pacentro in the Maiella National Park and Pescasseroli in the Abruzzo National Park. Pacentro, which features a 14th-century castle with two intact towers, has been little touched by modernisation. The Shrine of Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, in the province of Teramo, which attracts some two million visitors per year, is one of the 15 most-visited sanctuaries in the world.[46] Capestrano, a small town in the province of L'Aquila, is the hometown of Saint John of Capistrano, Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, as well as the namesake of the Franciscan missions San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, the mission Mission San Juan Capistrano (Texas) and the city of San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Giulianova is a notable example of a Renaissance "ideal city."
The proximity to Rome, the protected natural reserves and landscapes which make the region one of the greenest in Europe, the presence of some of the most beautiful Italian villages, its rich and heterogeneous gastronomy, along with a long history of deep-rooted local tradition and authentic Italian culture, make Abruzzo fifth among Italian regions for tourist visits after Calabria, Marche, Sardinia and Trentino. In 2010, visitors included 6,381,067 Italians and 925,884 foreign tourists.
In 2015, the American organization Live and Invest Overseas included Abruzzo on its list of World's Top 21 Overseas Retirement Havens. The study was based on such factors as climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, taxes, cost of living and more. In 2017 the Chamber of Commerce of Pescara presented Abruzzo region to the Annual conference of Live and Invest Overseas in Orlando (USA). One year later, in October 2018, Live and Invest Overseas held its first conference in Abruzzo.
Universities
There are three universities in the Abruzzo region:
University of L'Aquila
D'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara
University of Teramo
Harvard University bases an intensive summer Italian language and culture program in Vasto, a resort town on Abruzzo's southern coast.
Science
Between the province of Teramo and L'Aquila, under the Gran Sasso Tunnel, is the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of the INFN, one of the three underground astroparticle laboratories in Europe.
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "Giuseppe Caporale", which conducts research in veterinary and environmental public health, is located in Teramo.
The Gran Sasso Science Institute, located in L'Aquila, is an advanced research institute which offers doctorates in astroparticle physics, computer science, and mathematics as well as urban studies and regional science, and which also conducts scientific research.
Sports
Interamnia World Cup, the largest international youth handball competition worldwide, takes place yearly in Teramo.[51]
There are several football clubs in Abruzzo. Delfino Pescara 1936 is a Serie B club; based in Pescara, its home stadium is Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia.
Dialects
The regional dialects of Abruzzo include Teramano, Abruzzese Orientale Adriatico and Abruzzese Occidentale. The first two form part of the dialect of southern Italy also known simply as "Neapolitan" since the region has been part of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, while Aquilano is related to the Central Italian dialects including Romanesco. The dialects spoken in the Abruzzo region can be divided into three main groups:
Sabine dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (central Italian dialects)
Abruzzo Adriatic dialect, in the province of Teramo, Pescara and Chieti, that is virtually abandoned in the province of Ascoli Piceno (southern Italian dialects)
Abruzzo western dialect, in the province of L'Aquila (southern Italian dialects)
Cuisine
Renowned for its variety and richness due to the heterogeneity of its territory, Abruzzo's cuisine is among the best in Italy. In 2013 an Italian organization Confesercenti survey of foreign tourists showed that Abruzzo is the best Italian region to eat in. Both the agricultural and coastal aspects of Abruzzo have contributed to its cuisine. Due to the mountains, much of Abruzzo was isolated from international influence until the 20th century. As a result, the region's cuisine remained unique.
Popular dishes
One of the most popular regional dishes is spaghetti alla chitarra which is made by pressing or cutting pasta through a chitarra, an implement to form long thin noodles similar to spaghetti. The pasta is served with a tomato-based sauce, often flavored with peppers, pork, goose, or lamb. This dish is complemented by regional side dishes, such as the bean and noodle soup, sagne e fagioli. This soup is traditionally flavored with tomatoes, garlic, oil, and peperoncini. In terms of common ingredients, cuisine in Abruzzo often includes:
Lamb and mutton, primarily in the mountains.[54] Sheep's milk (or ricotta) is an important source of Abruzzese cheese, and lamb intestines are used as sausage casing or for stuffed meat rolls.[54][55] Mountain goat meat is also common in Abruzzo.
Truffles and mushrooms, particularly wild mushrooms from the forests and hills
Garlic, especially red garlic
Rosemary
Hot chili pepper or peperoncini, regionally known as diavolilli or diavoletti, is common in Abruzzese cuisine and often used to add spice to dishes. Abruzzo residents are well known for frequently adding peperoncini, or hot peppers, to their meals.
Vegetables such as lentils, grasspeas and other legumes, artichoke, eggplant, and cauliflower[54][55][56][57]
Other popular dishes include:
Gnocchi carrati, flavored with bacon, eggs and pecorino cheese
Scrippelle, a rustic French-style crêpe served either mbusse (a type of soup) or used to form a sort of soufflé with some ragù and stuffed with chicken liver, meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese
Pastuccia, a polenta stew with sausage, eggs, and cheese
Across the region, roast lamb is enjoyed in several variations. Some of these variations include:
Arrosticini, a skewered lamb dish
Pecora al cotturo, lamb stuffed with a variety of mountain herbs and cooked in a copper pot
Lamb cooked whole in a bread oven
Agnello cacio e ovo, a lamb-based fricassee
Mazzerella: lamb intestines stuffed with lamb, garlic, marjoram, lettuce, and spices
Le virtù: a soup from Teramo filled with legumes, vegetables and pork, usually eaten in the spring at celebrations
Timballo abruzzese: lasagna-like dish with pasta sheets (scrippelle) layered with meat, vegetables and rice; often served for Christmas and Easter[58]
Porchetta abruzzese: moist boneless-pork roast, slow-roasted with rosemary, garlic, and pepper[58]
Seafood is also popular, especially in coastal areas. The variety of fish available to the area has resulted in several fish-based Brodetti (broths), coming from such places as Vasto, Giulianova, and Pescara. These broths are often made by cooking fish, flavored with tomatoes, herbs, and peperoncino, in an earthenware pot. Rustic pizzas are also very common. Some of these are:
Easter Pizza, a rustic cake with cheese and pepper from the Teramo area
Fiadoni from Chieti, a dough of eggs and cheese well risen, cooked in the oven in a thin casing of pastry
A rustic tart pastry filled with everything imaginable: eggs, fresh cheeses, ricotta, vegetables, and all sorts of flavorings and spices.
Also from Teramo are the spreadable sausages flavored with nutmeg, and liver sausages tasting of garlic and spices. The ventricina from the Vasto area is made with large pieces of fat and lean pork, pressed and seasoned with powdered sweet peppers and fennel all encased in the dehydrated stomach of the pig itself. Atri and Rivisondoli are famous for cheeses. Mozzarella, either fresh or seasoned, is made from ewe's milk, although a great number of lesser known varieties of these cheeses can be found all over Abruzzo and Molise.
Sweets
The Abruzzo's sweets are world-famous and include:
Confetti, sugar-coated almonds, from Sulmona
Torrone Nurzia, a chocolate nougat from L'Aquila
Parrozzo , a cake-like treat made from a mixture of crushed almonds, and coated in chocolate.
Ferratelle (also known as Pizzelle). A wafer cookie, often flavored with anise
Croccante, a type of nougat made from almonds and caramelized suger, often flavored with lemon[59]
A Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine labelled as being made from old vines.
Olive oil
The extra-virgin olive oil produced in Colline Teramane (Teramo hills) is marked by the DOP.[60]
The region has several cultivars that includes Carboncella, Dritta (Dritta Francavillese and Dritta di Moscufo), Gentile del Chieti, Nostrana (Nostrana di Brisighella), and Sargano olive cultivars.[61]
Wines and liquors
Renowned wines like Montepulciano DOCG and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC are judged to be amongst the world's finest.[62] In 2012, a bottle of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo ranked No. 1 in the top 50 Italian wine awards.[63] In recent decades these wines have been joined, particularly, by wines from lesser known (heritage) white grapes, such as, Pecorino, Cococciola, Passerina, Montonico Bianco and Fiano.[64]
The region is also well known for the production of liquors such as Centerbe, Limoncello, Ratafia and Genziana.
Piglet, pinhole 6x6 camera. I increased the contrast in PSE.
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In the Middle Ages there were several population movements due to a significant demographic increase and the desire to conquer new land to cultivate and possess. It is within this context that the Walser migration took place. This German-speaking ethnic group from the northern areas of Valais, from which the origin of the Walser name, left their native settlements to move gradually and extremely peacefully towards the Alps and the area of Grisons, Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg and Tyrol. Evidence of the first settlements of this population in Valsesia date back to the beginning of the 13th notably in Rimella, Rima and Alagna.The community, made up of shepherds, settled in cottages scattered along side the mountain and with hard work they transformed woodlands into productive pastures. This new form of economy created new grounds for personal freedom and community autonomy, unusual for a time when taxes and servitude were part of everyday life.Their houses were examples of extraordinary architecture, which are still considered as engineering masterpieces, studied and structured in minute detail in order to gain maximum functionality because of the harsh environmental conditions. Normally arranged on three storeys, there is a stone basement, generally dry, with an upper area made out of wood and divided according to the use. The sloping roof is made out of local stone slabs, whose noteworthy weight is supported by a brilliant structure of roof beams.Not to be overlooked are the roof gutters, made from partial, dug out larch logs. Of notable ingenious is also the space allocation: the basement hosts the stables which are equipped with drainage canals for the manure and there is also a living room and kitchen as well as an area for processing milk and for the preparation of yarn and hemp fabrics. Above the stable, on the ground floor, is the bedroom and next to it the storage room for the carpentry tools.The first floor consists of the barn, where agricultural tools are stored and a closed area with shelves and racks used as a pantry for grains and other food goods. Outside, running completely around the structure, is a large and elegant balcony made out of horizontal poles used for drying hay, rye and hemp. Alagna, over the years, has been able to preserve the Walser cultural heritage - the characteristic houses, fountains and bread ovens that can be used again today, old mills, the renewed sawmill and water wheel. the Tittschu language and with this, the traditions and customs of these people represent a priceless treasure, which has always been protected and passed down through the generations.
The giant panda is a so-called conservation reliant vulnerable species. For many years the panda was considered endangered, but in March 2015, the wild giant panda population increased by 268, or 16.8%, totalling to 1,864 individuals. In 2016, the IUCN reclassified the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable”. That’s good news, but the giant panda population is still far from healthy.
Habitat loss and extremely poor reproductive skills are the main reasons the panda is struggling. A fortune is being spent every year to save the panda, and it’s only because of the incredible cuteness factor of this charismatic animal that the conservation efforts have been succesful.
It was a real joy to watch these funny creatures in real life, and it reminded me of this important piece of oriental wisdom:
Always be yourself.
Unless you can be a panda,
then be a panda.
- - -
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Another one dug up for future memory. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Hong Kong’s property cost has always been up there, in the stratosphere, actually. In fact, with the constant increase of tourists visiting, Hong Kong’s rent per square foot for commercial spaces in the last quarter of 2012 was world’s most expensive, topping that of New York City’s in the same period of time. That’s alright, it makes sense, lots of people, not enough land. That’s fine and dandy and it is just the way it works. What doesn’t make sense is the fact that some expects a fast food restaurant’s monthly rent to be in the millions. And when they can’t match the rent, they are forced to move away to lower tier areas. If one thinks that it is what it is, well, then that would mean that first tier property zones will be crammed with nothing but brand named jewelry stores, horology shops, and gold vendors. How can a neighborhood be all of those things only and not consist any places for humans to eat or shop for their everyday necessities. After all, even if we could all afford it, we can’t eat Vacheron Constantins for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, and if you get major indigestion, good luck, cause there ain’t no doctor who can afford to be operating in the neighborhood. Basically, it is absurd the way the things are happening right now. As second and third tier zones become hot, their rents will also rise, then what?
Look at this view of TST’s branch of Tsui Wah restaurant’s neon sign now, as more than likely it will become memory only. Another similar eatery literally around the corner just closed not long ago, and they are having no success finding an ideal relocation.
In light of Cobra's global offensives, Destro - Cobra Commander's right-hand-man and the owner of M.A.R.S. (Military Armaments Research Syndicate) - has been spotted with increasing frequency in battle. Wherever his impressive weapons are used, he will always follow, with the accompaniment of his own personal entourage.
The Iron Grenadiers are an elite group of hand-selected bodyguards from Destro's inner circle. Trained to function as businesspeople and shock troopers, these anonymous combatants are sufficiently capable of negotiating a profitable arrangement for the benefit of M.A.R.S., or coercing it from the tip of a sword. When not conducting business, the Iron Grenadiers are implemented as elite advisors to Cobra's ground forces, providing supplementary firepower to their engagements against G.I. Joe and its allies. Lethally effective as they are, the Iron Grenadiers place their loyalties to Destro above all else, much to the offense of Cobra Commander's noticeably fragile ego. As loyal and successful as Destro has proven himself and his compatriots to be, Cobra Commander only needs the slightest implication of treachery to forsake these bonds and cast him as a new enemy. The two have remained steadily aligned in spite of this, however, the mutual understanding that it is better for two powerful and dangerous minds to be on the same page. Destro is content to keep his ties to Cobra, but should the flow of money reveal itself in a more bountiful place, his inner businessman will act appropriately, whether at Cobra's side or not.
USCGC Kimball is the 7th multi-mission National Security Cutter with a unique advantage for worldwide deployment due to our homeport in Honolulu, Hawaii. With a range of 13,000 nautical miles, the advanced technologies of our cutter are designed to support the national objectives to maintain the security of America’s maritime boundaries, engage in critical Law Enforcement operations, and provide long range search and rescue capabilities.
“Lead, Train, Save”
This cutter's namesake, Sumner Increase Kimball, was born September 2, 1834 in Lebanon, Maine. After his graduation from Bowdoin College in 1855, Kimball was admitted to the bar in 1858 and elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1859. Kimball was appointed as the chief of the U.S. Treasury Department's Revenue Marine in 1871. He proceeded to completely overhaul the service and the assortment of lifesaving stations along the nation's coast. After the Civil War, the Revenue Marine came under intense congressional scrutiny and funding constraints. In order to address the ongoing scrutiny, Kimball championed efforts to reduce expenses and sought efficiencies by modernizing acquisitions and personnel practices that formed the backbone of the modern day Coast Guard. Kimball also put into effect a merit system to determine promotions. Kimball improved the quality of the Revenue Marine by establishing, in 1877, a school of instruction, to train new officers. It developed into today's Coast Guard Academy, which still trains the majority of the Coast Guard's officers. Since 1848, Congress only funded strictly volunteer lifesaving stations, paying for the station and its equipment but relying on the local community to provide unpaid crews when needed. Kimball convinced Congress to increase the funding of the service to provide for full-time, paid crews. New stations constructed around the coast were equipped with the finest lifesaving equipment available. In 1878, this growing network of stations was organized as a separate agency of the Treasury Department and named the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Kimball was chosen as the general superintendent of the new service. He served in that capacity until it was merged with the former Revenue Marine, now named Revenue Cutter Service, in 1915 to form the new U.S. Coast Guard. After a life of public service, Kimball passed away in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 1923.
www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Pacific-Area-Cu...
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
SVI's crew arrive at the Superior Propane spur but have to wait while one of the tank cars is being unloaded. My day with the E&N would end here as the rainfall increased and the light would fade.
December 27, 2017
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos,_Portugal
Lagos (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈlaɣuʃ], literally lakes, from the Latin lacobriga) is a municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal.[4]
The main town of Lagos (which includes only the parishes of Santa Maria and São Sebastião) has a population of approximately 22,000 residents, while the municipality supports a resident population of 31,048 inhabitants.[5] Typically, these numbers increase during the summer months, with the influx of visiting tourists and seasonal residents. While the majority of the population lives along the coast and works in tourism and services, the inland region is sparsely inhabited, with the majority of the people working in agriculture and forestry.
Lagos is one of the most visited cities in the Algarve and Portugal, due to its variety of tourist-friendly beaches, bars, restaurants, and hotels, renowned for its vibrant summer nightlife and parties. Yet, Lagos is also a historic centre of the Portuguese Age of Discovery, frequent home of Henry the Navigator, historical shipyard and, at one time, centre of the European slave trade[6]. In 2012, travel website TripAdvisor, classified Lagos as the number 1 travel destination, on a list of "15 destinations on the rise" worldwide.
Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2000 years of history. The name Lagos comes from a Celtic origin, derived from the Celtic Lacobriga, the name of the settlement was established during the pre-Punic civilizations. It became a early settlement of the Carthaginians, who recruited Celtic tribesmen in their war against the Romans (the Punic Wars). Owing to its already important harbour, it was colonized by the Romans and integrated into the Roman province of Lusitania, becoming known as Lacobriga. Quintus Sertorius, a rebellious Roman general, helped by the Lusitanians of Lacobriga (who had been oppressed under Roman Generals and members of Lucius Cornelius Sulla party), successfully defeated the Roman army of Caecilius Metellus Pius probably at nearby Monte Molião.
With the fall of Roma, the towns of Lagos were occupied in the 6th century by the Visigoths from the Kingdom of Toledo and later by the Byzantines.
The Moors arrived in the 8th century from North Africa, renaming the settlement Zawaia (meaning lago, or lake). It became part of the much larger coastal region of al-Gharb, which eventually became known as the algarve. The Moors fortified the town and established important trade links to Northern Africa from their bases in the Iberian peninsula. In 1174, the local Wāli gave permission for the Christian peoples to construct a church dedicated to São João Baptista, which was built outside the town's walls (becoming the oldest church in the Algarve).
Kingdom
Even as King Afonso Henriques advanced to the south, the Christian Reconquista never made it into Algarve and Alentejo, and remained under Moorish control. King Sancho I, with the support of Crusader forces used Lagos as a stepping stone to attack the fortress of Alvôr.[8] Zawaia was eventually captured by King Afonso III of Portugal in 1241, but was only taken definitively in 1249. From this period on the King began self-styling himself as the "King of Portugal and the Algarve", stressing the fact that the Algarve (which had for so long been ruled by the Moors as a foreign country) had been annexed into the dominion of the Portuguese. Lagos became an independent jurisdiction under the rule of King Peter I in 1361.
King John I assembled his fleet in the harbour of Lagos, before setting sail for the siege and conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415. This was the first step in opening the Muslim world to medieval Europe, which in fact led to the Age of Discovery with Portuguese explorers sailing across the whole world. By the 15th century, Lagos became the centre of Portuguese martime exploration, with ships ordered south to trace the shoreline of Africa in order to find routes to India. Infante Henry the Navigator, third son of King John, lived most of the time in Lagos. From here he directed expeditions to Morocco and to the western coast of Africa with caravels, lateen-rigged ships with excellent seafaring capabilities. Lagos was also the home port for Gil Eanes who was the first to sail beyond Cape Bojador in 1434, after a failed attempt in 1433 that put him out of favour with the, then considered the end of the world. The act of rounding the Cape, much like the later rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, permitted Eanes (and the navigators that followed) to advance into the African subcontinent. When, by 1443, Lançarote (then fiscal officer of the crown) had sailed as far as Arguim and brought back 275 Africans, the Portuguese had sufficient slaves to relieve the perpetual handicap of agricultural labour.[9]
Over the following decades, news of discoveries and achievements, and ships loaded with spices and goods would flow into the port of Lagos. It was also the gateway for the first African slaves into post-medieval Europe.[10] Even before Africa was opened-up to the Portuguese, the seamen of Lagos were already enthusiastic slave-catchers.[11] From the first slave markets in Lagos (the Mercado de Escravos, which opened in 1444), many Africans were dispersed throughout Europe, bringing a considerable income to the Portuguese monarchy and merchant classes, as well as cheap labour force.[10] As the major sponsor of these expeditions, Prince Henry received one-fifth of the selling price of every slave. The demand for the indentured labour force was so high that, by 1450, profit on Mauritanian slaves was 700 percent.[12] The discovery of gold by Alfonso Gonçales also increased activities in Lagos, whose residents petitioned the Infante Henry to establish a trading company to pursue gold deposits in the region.[13] This included Juan Dias (ancestor of Bartolomeu Dias who rounded the Cape of Good Hope), Gil Eanes, Lançarote de Freitas, Estevan Alfonso and Rodrigo Alvarez, who provisioned a squadron of six caravels to travel to isle of Garças in 1444, but returned with 150 Africans.[13]
Following the death of Prince Henry, and the expansion into the Atlantic and New World, the port of Lagos continued to receive shipments of goods and slaves, but its role began to decrease. Lisbon, began to prosper, with ships returning directly from the colonies of the Azores, Madeira and Brazil, while trading houses began to relocate to the capital. But, even as the wealth arrived in Lisbon and Lagos, the ostentation was widely on display in the royal residences.[14]
King Sebastian, obsessed with his plans for a great crusade against the Kingdom of Fez, assembled a huge fleet in Lagos in 1578.[15] During this ill-fated attempt he and most of Portugal's nobility were killed in the Battle of Ksar El Kebir in Morocco, eventually causing a succession crisis, that eventually resulted in the Iberian Union.
When Portugal came under Spanish rule, the Portuguese coast became a target for the English fleet. Lagos, close to the Spanish naval base of Cadiz, was attacked by Sir Francis Drake in the late 1580s, but was defended by its inhabitants, resulting in Drakes sack of Faro.[16] But, the coast was under regular attack of other pirates and corsairs, in addition to the Spanish who bombarded the Algarve during the Portuguese Restoration War (1640–1668), which led to the construction of a string of forts all along the coast. One of them was the late 17th century Ponta da Bandeira Fort in Lagos, which was completed between 1679 and 1690 (according to the stone inscription over the main door).
From 1576 to 1755, Lagos was a high-profile capital of the Algarve, until the old Portuguese town was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 1755. Although some walls from the 16th century still remain, as well as the governor's castle, many of the buildings are from the 17th century.
Two well-known naval battles took place off Lagos, reflecting its strategic location: in the Battle of Lagos (1693) a French flotilla defeated a combined Anglo-Dutch force, while in the Battle of Lagos (1759) a British force defeated a French force.
Geography
Physical geography
By its geographical position (east-northeast to west-southwest orientation) and lithological diversity, the Algarve stands out as unique stratigraphic and morpho-tectonicregion.[17] A peripheral Carboniferous unit of the Variscan orogeny, it constitutes the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary layers, deposited onto two totally distinct superimposed basins.[17] Between the Middle-Upper Triassic to Hettangian, sediments evolved from continental (fluvial red sandstone) to shallow marine over the entire region, which included instances of evaporates, tholeiite fissural magmas, lava flows, volcanic ash and pyroclasts.[17]
The area of Lagos, conforms to the Middle Miocene Lagos-Portimão formation (a band that extends along the coast from Lagos to Albufeira, abutting the Serra do Caldeirão to the north) and which corresponds to marine sedimentation over relatively stable, but a minorly deformed limestone shelf platform.[17][18][19] A period of calm during the intra-Miocene (of approximately 2.4 Ma) led to generalized exposure and development of karst, that influences the present day coastline.[17][19] The conspicuous horizontal bending of this profile in the cliffs of Lagos, much like the remainder of the Lagos-Portimão formation, is formed by alternating bands of siliciclastic and calcareous lithologies.[18] The low degree of cementation in the layers causes a high degree of instability of the cliffs.[18] The littoral and cliff sands are dominated by various bivalve organisms, bryozoans, larger benthic foraminifers and Coralline algaewith minor additions of echinoids and balanids implying a shallow-water depositional system of a warm-temperate climatic regime.[18] The locality of Cerro das Mós, from where a large crocodilian (Tomistoma schlegelii) tooth was collected long ago,[20] has also produced some Odontoceti teeth. These may be dated from the Serravallian, which, constitute the oldest marine mammal occurrence in Algarve.[
Ecoregions/Protected areas
Lagos has many natural interest sites, including:
•Ponta da Piedade (English: Mercy Point)
•Grutas da Costa d'Oiro (English: Golden Coast Grottos)
•Laguna de Alvor (English: Lagoon of Alvor)
•Mata Nacional de Barão de S.João (English: National Forest of the Baron of Saint John), representing a varied flora that includes Pine (Pinaceae), Acacia (Acacia), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) and Strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo), with six pedestrian trails and six campsites. In the zone of Pedra Branca, is a Paleolithic menhir, called the Menhir of Pedro do Galo, accessible through the pedestrian trails, visitors can use the tables and picniking areas near the guardhouse for barbecues, while small children have access to a playground. A public sports field and 100 metre interval obstacle course was also constructed to attract activity, near the picnic area.
Beaches
•Meia Praia (Half Beach) — consisting of soft, white sand, Meia Praia is one of the largest open bays in Europe, resulting in calm seas, permitting conditions for many nautical sports, while cliffs provide sheltered coves from strong windy conditions;
•Praia Solaria (Sunny Beach);
•Praia da Batata (Potato Beach) — a small beach tucked between two small cliffs (where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean), it is known for the small music festivals that take place there during summer;
•Praia dos Estudantes (Students' Beach);
•Praia da Dona Ana (Dona Ana Beach) - probably the most frequented beach by tourists, its areal is slightly thicker than the beaches in the surrounding area and it is surrounded by striking rock formations. At high tide the beach is split by the geomorphology of the cliffs;
•Praia do Canavial (Canavial Beach);
•Praia de Camilo (Camilo Beach);
•Praia da Luz (Beach of Light) - located in the parish of Luz, the beach is bounded in the east by Rocha Negra (English: Black Rock), providing summer vactioners with a popular escape during the summer.
Human geography
The municipality of Lagos is located approximately 35 kilometers east of the Cape St. Vincent coast, along the southern coast of the Algarve. It is surrounded along its borders by the municipalities of Vila do Bispo (to the west), Aljezur (to the northwest), Monchique (to the northeast) and Portimão (to the east).
To the north of Lagos is the road to Silves, the first capital of Algarve, Monchique (spa town/mountain), Milfontes, a coastal town and port/harbour of the city of Sines, that winds through the scenic protected landscape of the Southwest Natural Park (Costa Sudoeste Alentejana e Vicentina).
Population of
Lagos
(1801 - 2011)
YearPop.±%
18019,789—
184911,012+12.5%
190013,937+26.6%
193016,210+16.3%
196017,060+5.2%
198119,700+15.5%
199121,526+9.3%
200125,398+18.0%
200929,298+15.4%
201130,755+5.0%
The municipality is composed of the following 6 parishes:
•Barão de São João
•Bensafrim - with approximately 8600 inhabitants (2001 Census), the parish was based on the Arabic settlement of Benassaharim, developing slowly until the 20th century (when even in the 1950s donkey or oxen were used as means of conveyance). Its current claim to fame is their annual fair held on the 25–26 August;
•Praia da Luz - a tourist-oriented civil parish with less than 3068 residents (2001 Census), its growth was attributed vacationers and sunseekers who flocked to its beaches throughout the summer. Popular by foreign visitors, it was notoriously identified with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the resulting investigation in 2007;
•Odiáxere
•Santa Maria
•São Sebastião
towns — Sister cities
Lagos is twinned with:
• Torres Vedras, district of Lisbon, Portugal
• Ribeira Grande, island of São Miguel, Azores
• Ribeira Grande de Santiago, island of Santiago, Cape Verde
• Palos de la Frontera, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain
Economy
Lagos' economy, like many coastal towns in Portugal, has always been closely linked to the sea, and fishing has been an important activity since very ancient times. Since 1960, the city has embracedtourism, which has become its most important economic activity. It has beautiful beaches, good climate, the sea, a scenic coastline, and historical patrimony.
The Marina de Lagos has 460 berths and has become an important centre for long-distance cruisers, and it is also known for its modern drawbridge.
Lagos also has plenty of cultural and night-life entertainment venues.
Architecture
Prehistoric
•Menhir of Cabeço do Rochedo (Portuguese: Menir da Cabeço do Rocheado)
Civic
•Barracks of the Guarda Fiscal of Lagos (Portuguese: Quartel e Posto da Guarda Fiscal)
•Building of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos (Portuguese: Edifício da Caixa Geral de Depositos)
•Building of the Correios, Telégrafos e Telefonos (Portuguese: Edifício dos Correios, Telégrafos e Telefones de Lagos)
•Building of the Portagem (Portuguese: Edifício Antigo da Portagem)
•District Courthouse/Palace of Justice (Portuguese: Tribunal da Comarca/Palácio da Justiça)
•District Jailhouse of Lagos/Cultural Centre of Lagos (Portuguese: Cadeia Comarcã de Lagos/Centro Cultural)
•D. Maria Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Dona Maria)
•Fonte Coberta Dam (Portuguese: Barragem da Fonte Coberta)
•Gil Eanes Secondary/Commercial-Industrial School (Portuguese: Escola Industrial e Comercial de Lagos/Escola Secundária Gil Eanes)
•Hotel Tivolli Lagos (Portuguese: Hotel de Lagos)
•Municipal Hall of Lagos (Portuguese: Edifício dos Paços do Concelho)
•Lighthouse of Ponta da Piedade (Portuguese: Farol da Ponta da Piedade)
•Pillory of Lagos (Portuguese: Pelourinho de Lagos)
•Regional Museum of Lagos (Portuguese: Museu Regional de Lagos) - this modest regional museum is located next to the church of Santo António.,[22] housing the eclectic collection of archaeological finds from prehistory and the Neolithic, in addition to minerals, Roman mosaics, Moorish oil-lamps and pottery. The ethnographic section includes exhibits from life in the Algarve, that includes not only residential, but also military artefacts, such as swords, muskets and cannonballs, and the foral (charter) issued by King Manuel for Lagos. Religious artefacts are also prominent in the displays, that include the sacerdotal vestments worn by the canons who said Holy Mass to King Sebastian (before he left on his ill-fated conquest of Morocco), and a diptych (dating from the 16th century) with scenes from the Annunciation and Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
•Slave Market/Customshoues of Lagos (Portuguese: Mercado de Escravos/Vedoria/Alfândega de Lagos)
Military
•Bulwark of Alcaria/Freiras (Portuguese: Baluarte da Alcaria/das Freiras)
•Bulwark of Porta dos Quartos (Portuguese: Baluarte da Porta dos Quartos)
•Bulwark of Santa Maria/Porta da Vila (Portuguese: Baluarte de Santa Maria/da Porta da Vila)
•Bulwark of São Francisco/Jogo da Bola (Portuguese: Baluarte de São Francisco/do Jogo da Bola)
•Castle of Senhora da Luz (Portuguese: Castelo da Senhora da Luz)
•Fort of Meia Praia (Portuguese: Forte da Meia Praia)
•Fort of Ponta da Bandeira (Portuguese: Forte da Ponta da Bandeira) - also known as the Forte do Pau da Bandeira, the Forte de Nossa Senhora da Penha de França or the Forte do Registo, the fort, which guarded the entrance to the harbour, was originally dedicated to the Santa Virgem Senhora da Penha de França (to which it was referred).[23] This squat rectangular fort guards the entrance to the harbour, accessed by a smalldrawbridge, to terraced spaces (that overlook the town, beach and harbour) and the small chapel (decorated with 17th century azulejos tile). Until the late 20th century, the fort was used as a service depot for military forces and housed services linked to maritime activities (such as supplies for lifeboats and nautical sports). It was restored between 1958 and 1960, and officially acquired by the municipality of Lagos in 1983m where it was converted into exhibition displays of maritime history, with astrolabes and models of caravels.
•Fort of Pinhão (Portuguese: Forte do Pinhão)
•Military Barracks of Lagos (Portuguese: Edifício Militar em Lagos/Trem de Artilharia)
•Musketeers' Workshop/Warehouse and Saddlery (Portuguese: Edifício Oficina do Espingardeiro/Armazém do Espingardeiro/Selaria)
•Regimental Warehouse/Church of São Brás (Portuguese: Armazém Regimental e Desparecido Igreja de São Brás)
•Tower of Atalaia (Portuguese: Torre da Atalaia)
•Walled/Tower Fortifications of Lagos (Portuguese: Muralhas e Torreões de Lagos)
Religious
•Chapel/Hermitage of São João Baptista (Portuguese: Capela/Ermida de São João Baptista)
•Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo (Portuguese: Igreja da Nossa Senhora do Carmo)
•Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Portuguese: Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Luz)
•Church of Odiáxere (Portuguese: Igreja de Odiáxere)
•Church of Santa Maria (Portuguese: Igreja de Santa Maria/da Misericórdia)
•Church of Santo António (Portuguese: Igreja de Santo António) - its simple façade with the asymmetrical bell towers, date from 1715, and contrast sharply with the extravagantly decorated interior, which is covered in gilded wood carvings and blue-and-white 18th century azulejo tiles (talha dourada) which fill the walls of the nave, while six Baroque paintings by José Joaquim Rasquinho, representing the miracles of Saint Anthony are hung on its walls. The wooden vault was painted with a trompe-l'oeil effect, while polychrome statues of cherubs playing with animals and fishes are scattered within the interior. It was one of the few buildings to survive the Great Earthquake of 1755, reconstructed by the local commander of Regimental Infantry, who may have added the polychromatic statue of St. Anthony with military sash. Purportedly, King Sebastian attended his last mass in this church, before his ill-fated expedition to Morocco.* Convent of Nossa Senhora do Loreto (Portuguese: Convento de Nossa Senhora do Loreto)
•Church of São Sebastião (Portuguese: Igreja de São Sebastião/de Nossa Senhora da Conceição)
•Hermitage of São Pedro de Pulgão/Nossa Senhora dos Aflitos (Portuguese: Ermida de São Pedro do Pulgão/Nossa Senhora dos Aflitos)
•Ruins of the Hermitage of Santo Amaro (Portuguese: Ruinas da Ermida de São Amaro)
•Ruins of the Convent of the Trinity (Portuguese: Ruinas do Antigo Convento da Trinidade/dos Frades Trinos)
Culture
Many local traditions are celebrated in the municipality and range from gastronomy to traditional handicrafts.
In gastronomy, there are the local specialties: Dom rodrigos and morgados cookies based on local products, such as almonds, figs and eggs. Lagos is also a wine producing region and is famous for its moscatel wine, and also for a strong alcoholic spirit, the aguardente de medronho, made of berries of strawberry tree.
Notable citizens
•São Gonçalo de Lagos (c. 1370 - Torres Vedras; 15 October 1422), saint of the Order of Saint Augustine
•Soeiro da Costa (c. 1390 — c. 1472), navigator and one of the Heroic Twelve of the Lusiadas
•Gil Eanes (born 15th century - died 15th century), navigator and explorer of the 15th century
•Lançarote de Freitas (born 15th century - died 15th century), navigator and merchant during the 15th century
•Júlia Barroso (11 August 1930 - Lisboa; 23 December 1996) actress, singer and teacher
•Júlio Dantas (19 May 1876 — Lisboa; 25 May 1962), doctor, poet, journalist, screenwriter, politician and diplomat
•José Reis, first Portuguese geriatric medic
Face of best thought. (Why)
Last day, I am visited near polo forest for some monsoon photography and I met a this brilliant child. He was going to near village (a distance of 3 km) for study(tution class) by his bycle. And after studying , he returned to his village and teach others children what he had to learned without any fees.
He said others children are can't pay fees of tuition classes,so I taught them, what I had learnt in classes.
His thought " knowledge are increase by sharing with others"
#travelphotography #child #blackandwhite #exposure #india #thought #bestwork #respectthechild #photoofday #yourshot
since Covid restrictions have been lifted the number of cars passing the local bus stop have increased. the air pollution has increased . this bus stop would be one of the first in a new driving zone with or without charge , which the council are to introduce as part of their climate change policies
The history of exhibition on the site of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds dates to August 1876, with the staging of the first Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition. None of the buildings extant in 1876 have survived, but the grounds have increased substantially from an original 12 acres, and contain a variety of structures and facilities associated with the annual August Exhibition, which date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the present. The site has been the venue for Queensland's principal agricultural, pastoral and industrial exhibitions for over 125 years. It remains the home of the annual Royal Queensland Show and is Queensland's premier showground. Since 1876 only two annual exhibitions on this site have been cancelled: the 1919 Exhibition due to the influenza epidemic, and in 1942 when the grounds were occupied by military personnel.
Prior to the establishment of the Exhibition Grounds in 1876, the site was part of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society's grounds. In July 1863 this Society, established in 1862 to promote the introduction, acclimatization, propagation and distribution in Queensland of economically useful plants and animals, was granted 33 acres of land bounded by Bowen Bridge Road, O'Connell Terrace, Brookes Street and Gregory Terrace. At the northwestern corner of the site, fronting Bowen Bridge Road and O'Connell Terrace, the Society established a public exhibition garden [Bowen Park]. The remainder of the site was used for experimentation purposes, growing and propagating plants and seeds sent from other parts of Queensland, other colonies, and around the world, and raising various introduced animals. The Society played an important role in the beginnings of commercial agriculture in Queensland, introducing or trialling crops and plants such as mango trees, ginger plants, sugar cane, olive trees and choko vines.
Queensland's 1876 Intercolonial Exhibition was not the first competitive demonstration of agricultural and industrial progress in the colony. In 1854 squatters from the Darling Downs and Moreton Bay districts of New South Wales established the Northern Districts' Agricultural and Pastoral Association, modelled on the Scottish Highland Agricultural Societies. They planned to hold exhibitions [mainly of pastoral produce] at Brisbane, Ipswich, Warwick, Drayton and Gayndah, in rotation, and some shows were held before the Association became immersed in more political activities. Nurseryman AJ Hockings was instrumental in holding horticultural shows in Brisbane from 1855. In the 1860s other regional agricultural and pastoral associations were formed, among the earliest being the Darling Downs Agricultural Society [based at Toowoomba] in 1860, the Drayton and Toowoomba Agricultural and Horticultural Society in 1864, the East Moreton Farmers Association [based at Ipswich] in 1866 and the Eastern Downs Horticultural and Agricultural Association [based at Warwick] in 1867. These Associations conducted annual exhibitions of agricultural, horticultural, and pastoral produce and farm machinery. Prizes were awarded for best exhibits. The object was to encourage the exchange of knowledge and to foster better farm practice. Associations such as these proliferated in Queensland during the second half of the 19th century, and each held an annual 'show'.
In 1874 moves were initiated by Queensland's Chief Inspector of Stock, Patrick Robertson Gordon, to form a national agricultural society, to plan Brisbane's first intercolonial exhibition. He was supported by Gresley Lukin, editor of the Brisbane Courier and the Queenslander, and agricultural agent John Fenwick. In May 1875 an inaugural meeting, presided over by the Governor, Sir William Wellington Cairns, was held to form the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland. A constitution drafted by the headmaster of the Brisbane Grammar School, Thomas Harlin, was adopted in July, and the first meeting of the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland was held at the Brisbane Town Hall on 13 August 1875. Arthur Hunter Palmer, later premier of Queensland, was elected to the chair and other founding members included Joshua Peter Bell, George Harris, George Gromes, Thomas Harlin, Charles Stewart Mein and William Hemmant. At this meeting use of part of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society's grounds was discussed, and subsequently a lease of about 12 acres from the Society was arranged.
The alliance with the Acclimatisation Society was considered to be a sensible arrangement. There were common interests, the site was well supplied with water and convenient to the city, and it was thought at the time that many women and townspeople, who might have hesitated in visiting a purely utilitarian exhibition of produce, animals and farm machinery, may have been induced by the additional attraction of the Acclimatisation Society Gardens.
The Intercolonial Exhibition was intended to promote and showcase the agricultural, pastoral and industrial resources of the whole of Queensland. Whether it could be sustained beyond a single exhibition remained to be seen. The National Association did not wish to supplant regional agricultural societies and associations, but wished to encourage their organisation, and foster a spirit of friendly rivalry amongst them by holding a grand central exhibition for the competition of winners at minor shows [BC 25 October 1875]. To avoid clashing with local shows, and in order to hold the exhibition during fine weather, before the shearing season, and when good feed would be found along the roads, it was decided to stage the Exhibition in August 1876.
The first exhibition building was a large timber hall with side aisles and a central clerestory. It was erected in 1876 along Gregory Terrace near the corner of Bowen Bridge Road, at a cost of £1254, and was a modification of a design prepared by Queensland Colonial Architect FDG Stanley. Sydney exhibitor Jules Joubert added a rectangular wing to the northern side to increase the extent of his exhibition. Cattle, sheep and horse stalls of hardwood framing with corrugated iron roofing were erected in the grounds, and a small showring was established north of the Exhibition Building.
The first Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition was declared open by Governor Cairns on Tuesday 22 August 1876, and ran until 28 August. It proved immensely popular, with a total of £1045 taken at the gate. Thereafter, the Exhibition became an annual event.
In the period 1876-1888, the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland expended an estimated £7000 on the grounds. The main exhibition building was doubled in size for the 1877 exhibition, and another annexe was provided for horticultural exhibits.
In 1879, the National Association was awarded a lease of 23 acres of the 32 acre Acclimatisation Society grounds for a period of 50 years, for use as an exhibition ground. In 1881 the railway to Sandgate was constructed through the National Association and Acclimatisation Society grounds. [The line was later re-routed via Central Station, Brunswick Street and Bowen Hills, but the Exhibition Line still opens each year during the August show.] By 1882, the Exhibition Grounds comprised all the land south, southeast and east of the railway line and bounded by Bowen Bridge Road, Gregory Terrace, Brookes Street and O'Connell Terrace. A 1000 seat capacity grandstand, designed by Stanley, was erected in 1885 [not the first grandstand on the site]. In 1887 a timber residence designed by GHM Addison was constructed at the corner of O'Connell Terrace and Brookes Street for the Secretary of the National Association.
In 1887 the first exhibition building was destroyed by fire. The public called for it to be replaced with a masonry building, but the National Association was reluctant to commit to the necessary expenditure without more secure land tenure, against which they could borrow money for permanent exhibition buildings. In 1888 a temporary timber exhibition building was constructed for approximately £500, while the National Association called for competitive designs for a permanent exhibition building. Under the provisions of the National Association and Acclimatisation Society Act 1890, the land leased from the Queensland Acclimatisation Society for an exhibition ground was resumed and granted to the National Association as Trustees, who were also empowered under this act to borrow money from the Queensland Government to erect the new exhibition building.
The design competition was won by GHM Addison, the Brisbane partner of the Melbourne-based firm Oakden Addison and Kemp. In 1890 Addison amended his original design to a T-shape, incorporating a southern wing with a concert hall which could be rented out to offset repayments on the government loan. The new building was erected closer to the corner of Bowen Bridge Road and Gregory Terrace than the original building. The foundation stone was laid on 25 April 1891 and the builder, John Quinn, was required to have a section of the building completed for the August 1891 exhibition, with the whole of the building to be completed within 12 months.
A plan of the Exhibition Grounds published in The Queenslander on 15 August 1891 shows the new exhibition building, several smaller pavilions, a show ring in the position of the present main show ring, the 1885 grandstand [where the Ernest Baynes Stand is now located], animal shelters along the boundaries, and the secretary's residence near Brookes Street.
The new exhibition building was completed in 1892 and a public holiday was declared for 10 August 1982 to mark the official opening of the Exhibition. Despite the economic depression, 32,000 people attended on the holiday and more than 66,000 over the four-day course of the Exhibition. However, the National Association did not escape the effects of the 1890s depression, struggling to repay the government loan on the exhibition building. In 1897 the colonial government resumed the building and liquidated the Association's debts. The Exhibition Concert Hall continued to serve as a concert venue but the remainder of the Exhibition Building was refurbished for the Queensland Museum, which moved to the building from William Street in 1899. At this time the museum grounds were resumed from the National Association's land as a separate reserve. The National Association struggled to maintain the viability of the remaining Exhibition Grounds until 1902-03, when the Queensland government took control of the Association's assets, leasing the Exhibition Grounds back to the Association at an annual rental.
In the early 1900s the Queensland economy revived, and the National Association's financial position firmed. Substantial improvements and re-arrangements of the Exhibition Grounds were made in 1906 in time for the August show. A fine new grandstand, designed by Brisbane architect Claude William Chambers, was erected at a cost of £6248. [In 1923, this stand was re-named the John MacDonald Stand in honour of a long-serving National Association councillor]. The side show booths which had been located on the hill to the north of the main ring, were moved to the valley on the northwest side of the railway, their place being taken by machinery exhibits. The hill has since been known as Machinery Hill, and the valley as Sideshow Alley.
In 1909, the year of the Jubilee Exhibition [celebrating 50 years since the separation of Queensland from New South Wales], the Exhibition Grounds were extended with the acquisition of Petty's Paddock, an adjacent 6 acres bounded by Gregory Terrace and Alexandria, Science and Water streets, purchased for £4500. About 1910 a two-storeyed timber building with pressed metal ceilings and a prominent roof flêche, was erected along the northern side of Gregory Terrace near the main entrance. A section of this building was utilized as a Post Office by August 1933.
During the First World War [1914-18], a military recruiting and training camp, completed with rifle range, was established at the Exhibition Grounds, but this did not prevent the annual Exhibition from proceeding.
In the 1910s Brisbane architects Richard Gailey snr and Richard Gailey jnr established a relationship with the National Association which was to last through the 1920s and 1930s. In May 1914 they called tenders for the construction of a sheep, pig and poultry pavilion, and fencing along Gregory Terrace, and in 1917 for timber dog and horse pavilions.
In 1917, Toowoomba's Austral Hall [designed by architect William Hodgen and erected in 1904] was purchased for £1500 and re-erected at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds. It was the largest building of its type in Queensland. Reflecting the growing popularity of the motor car, the pavilion was occupied by representatives of the local automobile trade. It was the first Brisbane Exhibition pavilion to be dedicated solely to motor vehicle displays, automobile exhibits previously being located on Machinery Hill. In 1919 Austral Hall was renamed the John Reid Pavilion following the death that year of Brisbane merchant John Reid, a long-time supporter of the National Association.
Affleck House was completed by August 1918 for the showtime use of Stock Breeders' Association delegates. It was named after National Association councillor WL Affleck, who raised the finance for the construction.
During the influenza epidemic which swept Australia in 1919, following the return of service personnel from overseas at the end of the First World War, army huts were erected at the exhibition grounds as isolation wards for the nearby Brisbane General Hospital, and dining rooms were set up to feed and house the expected influx of seriously ill patients. Due to the threat of crowd contagion, and to save disturbing patients in the isolation wards, the Exhibition was cancelled that year.
In 1920 the Prince of Wales [later Edward VIII] visited the Exhibition, following which the Association moved to incorporate the word 'Royal' into its name as the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, which over the years has been reduced, unofficially, to the Royal National Association [RNA]. In recent years the RNA has registered as its trademark the word 'Ekka' [a long-standing colloquial shortening of the work 'Exhibition'].
During the interwar years many improvements were made to the exhibition grounds, with various buildings erected or extended during this period. A timber show hall was erected c1921 between Gregory Terrace and Water Street, and a brick exhibition building, designed by architects Atkinson & Conrad, was constructed in 1923 for Lever Bros of Sydney.
In 1922-23 the Ernest Baynes Stand was erected on the site of the 1885 grandstand. Designed by architect Richard Gailey Jnr and constructed by John Hutchinson, the building had two tiers with a seating capacity of 5000 and a total capacity of 7000. It was constructed with a steel frame faced with brick, the larger steel sections being imported from Britain and the smaller sections made in Australia. The foundation stone of the new grandstand was laid by Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan, in November 1922, and the stand was completed in time for the August 1923 Exhibition, at a cost of £26,884. The sub-floor contained a dining room which could accommodate 600 persons at a sitting, and a row of ten shops facing the lane at the rear of the structure.
A second show ring, intended principally for exhibiting dairy cattle, was established to the north of the railway line which transects the Exhibition Grounds, and was ready for the show of 1924. Its construction reflected the growing importance of the dairy industry to Queensland where, with Government encouragement, it became the State's second largest primary industry and sustained rural Queensland during the depression of the 1930s.
By 1925 the RNA Council Stand, located adjacent to the Ernest Baynes Stand overlooking the show ring, had been constructed. The Stand was originally two storeys. At some early period the northern end of the building was extended to incorporate an entrance to the seating in front of the stand. By 1938 a third storey had been added to the building, and later a two-storeyed extension facing Executive Street was constructed.
In 1927 legislation was enacted to grant the National Association perpetual lease of the grounds, at that time comprising just under 20 acres. There followed a burst of ground improvements, mostly designed by architect Richard Gailey jnr, including a dog pavilion, meat exhibition pavilion, more turnstiles, and a new lavatory block in 1927; and new horse and cattle stalls, and turnstiles at the corner of Costin Street and Gregory Terrace, in 1928. Also erected in 1928 were show pavilions for General Motors Pty Ltd, Brisbane Cars & Tractors Ltd, the Vacuum Oil Co. [concrete structure], and the Kodak Company Ltd, and a demonstration fibrous cement cottage designed by architect EP Trewern for James Hardie & Co.
At this period the RNA sought to make the grounds a first-class venue for cricket, football and other sports, but had limited success in attracting the big matches. The year 1928 was a high point for the Association's sporting ambitions, with the showground the venue for the first England versus Australia cricket test in Queensland, and the first in the 1928-29 series. Legendary Australian cricketer Donald Bradman made his Test debut at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds in 1928. More successful than cricket or football was Exhibition Speedway, established in 1926.
A new Lady Forster Creche was opened in Costin Street, near the main entrance to the Exhibition Grounds, in time for the 1928 show. [Previously the creche was located on the main showgrounds north of Gregory Terrace.] The centre was operated by the Creche and Kindergarten Association and provided baby care while parents were enjoying the rounds of the show. In 1939 the Creche was removed to a new location near the Anglican dining hall, north of Gregory Terrace.
In 1929 the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which since 1923 had been conducting a bank at the Exhibition Grounds during the annual show, constructed a purpose-designed bank building in the grounds, just to the south of the Council Stand. Although it was not uncommon for banks to establish agencies at showgrounds around Australia, this building is believed to be the only 'exhibition' bank building specifically constructed for the Commonwealth Bank. The northeast end of the building was extended in 1947.
Despite the severe economic depression of the early 1930s, the Exhibition continued to attract its strong annual August attendance. More land was acquired, including a further 2 acres 23 perches excised from Bowen Park in 1932, bringing the total Exhibition Grounds to about 40 acres. Improvements to the grounds at this period included more cattle stalls along O'Connell Terrace [architect Richard Gailey jnr] and a new show pavilion for Foggitt Jones Pty Ltd [architects Addison & MacDonald] in 1932; and a new dairy produce hall [architect Richard Gailey jnr] for the RNA in 1933.
As the economy recovered during the second half of the 1930s a number of substantial improvements were made to the RNA's exhibition facilities. In 1936 Gailey called tenders for a Wool Hall, additions to the pig and horse pavilions, new Stock & Station Agents' Offices and Dining Hall, and a new yearling sale ring. New concrete roads and additional seating accommodation were provided. The old Industrial Pavilion was demolished in 1938 and its replacement, designed by Richard Gailey jnr and covering an area of 3.5 acres, was completed along Gregory Terrace in June 1939 at a cost of £40,000. A new electricity hall at the corner of Gregory Terrace and Costin Street was also completed for the 1939 show - reputedly the first show pavilion in Australia dedicated entirely to electricity exhibits. [The Hall of Science, as it was later known, was demolished in 1986 to make way for a new Exhibition Building].
During the Second World War, the Exhibition Grounds were occupied from late 1939 to 1944 by military authorities as a venue for training, accommodation and embarkation of troops. [Showgrounds and racecourses with their ovals and existing toilet facilities were favoured places to temporarily accommodate service personnel.] Troops at the exhibition grounds slept in pig and cattle pens; the bars beneath the John MacDonald Stand became wet canteens; and troop trains departed from the railway platforms normally used by show patrons. In 1940 and again in 1941, the military vacated the grounds temporarily for the August Exhibition. Following the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, American troops were stationed at the showgrounds and the Exhibition of 1942 was cancelled, but was renewed in a limited fashion in 1943 and 1944. Following the war the RNA purchased a number of buildings from the military, for use on the site.
The 1950s saw further improvements and works to the grounds with the construction of a Beef Cattle Pavilion in 1950, the work being carried out by MR Hornibrook Builders at a cost of £206,000, and the addition of seating around the main oval near Machinery Hill. Also constructed in the 1950s was a new Dairy Industry Hall, adjacent to the John Reid Pavilion, on the site of the 1933 dairy hall. By the late 1950s, the grounds comprised approximately 50 acres.
A number of new buildings were erected in the 1960s. In 1962 the RNA moved its offices from the Queensland Primary Producers Association building in Adelaide Street to the Exhibition Grounds, and in 1970 a purpose-built RNA Administration Building costing $111,584 was opened. In 1963, on land acquired along Constance Street, a double pavilion known as the Agricultural Hall and Douglas Wadley Pavilion was constructed. The Agricultural Hall housed district and junior farmer exhibits. The Douglas Wadley Pavilion, extended in 1968 and again in 1977, housed dogs, and is used regularly for exhibitions in addition to the annual August show. In 1968 the Ring Control and Broadcast building was enlarged. By 1970, the grounds comprised approximately 55 acres.
The first animal nursery was established by RNA councillor Frank Robertson at the 1964 show. It has proved one of the must popular and enduring of the show traditions, and has been copied by show societies throughout Australia. At the 1972 Exhibition a purpose-built facility for the animal nursery was opened, named in honour of Mr Robertson.
In the late 1960s the face of Sideshow Alley, traditionally home to the weird and wonderful, began to change. The tents and booths largely disappeared, to be replaced with high technology rides, tests of skill, and popular music entertainment.
Controversy was generated in 1971 when the Queensland Government declared a state of emergency from 13 July to 2 August, during the South African Springbok Rubgy team tour, when demonstrations against apartheid were held in Brisbane and throughout Australia. The main show ring at the Exhibition Ground was commandeered to host the matches, as a safe distance could be maintained between spectators and would-be protesters. A two metre high chain wire fence was erected to separate spectators from players.
A new two-storeyed brick building for use by the police during the annual show was completed for the 1971 Exhibition. It was located inside the main entrance from Gregory Terrace, and replaced an earlier timber building. A new Members Stand was constructed in the 1970s.
Improvements and new buildings in the 1980s included: the refurbishment of the John MacDonald Stand in 1985; the construction of a new Exhibition Building in 1986 on the site of the Hall of Science building, at a cost of $2.5 million [with State Government assistance]; removal of the top seating tier of the Ernest Baynes Stand in 1986, following the Bradford Stadium collapse in London that year; and the opening on 28 November 1988 of the Walter Burnett Building, designed by architects Hulme and Webster, adjacent to the Frank Nicklin Pavilion which accommodates fine arts exhibitions. The auditorium of the Walter Burnett Building seats 1000 people and is equipped with a stage and dance floor. Besides its importance to the annual Exhibition, the building is in constant use for all sorts of activities, including expositions, balls and conferences. It was also the venue for the first public airing of the Fitzgerald Inquiry Report on corruption in Queensland, on 3 July 1989.
In 2008, Bowen Hills – including the area of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds – was declared an Urban Development Area under the Urban Land Development Act 2007 (replaced by the Economic Development Act 2012, with the term Priority Development Area superseding the term Urban Development Area).
The RNA launched a project to redevelop the showgrounds and in 2009, property and infrastructure company, Lend Lease, was selected as the RNA’s redevelopment partner. In 2010 the RNA and Lend Lease unveiled plans for the ‘Brisbane Showgrounds Regeneration Project’, a redevelopment of 5.5ha of the 22ha site; comprising an upgrade to the showgrounds’ facilities and the inclusion of new office, retail and residential spaces. This involved the demolition and clearing of various buildings and areas – mostly concentrated in the southeastern portion of the site (bounded by Alexandria Street, St Pauls Terrace, Costin Street, Constance Street and Gregory Terrace). Buildings and areas demolished or removed by 2015 included: the Frank Nicklin Pavilion, Walter Burnett Building and Auditorium, Agricultural Hall and Douglas Wadley Pavilion, Frank Roberston Pavilion, Building No.4, Main Parade Food Stall and Show Time Snack Bar, Agricultural Street Bar, Machinery Street Fish Place, Agricultural Open Area, Industrial Open Area, Police Exhibit, and chairlift. The plans for the project were approved in 2010 and construction began in April 2011. The project is expected to take 15 years to complete, at a projected cost of $2.9 billion.
The association with regional Queensland and the rural tradition has been and will remain central to the character of the Brisbane Exhibition and the grounds in which it is held, but the RNA has incorporated new ideas and technology to meet the expectations of today's show patrons. In recent years new attractions at the Exhibition Grounds have included communications technology displays.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
The Lake Placid Tower in Lake Placid, Florida, formerly named Placid Tower, Tower of Peace or Happiness Tower, is a closed observation tower 240 feet (73.2 m) tall according to early sources (before 1982) or 270 feet (82.3 m) tall according to late sources (after 1986). However, no physical modification of the tower occurred in the interim that would explain a 30-foot increase in height. It rests on ground 142 feet (43 m) above sea level (NAVD 88). As a warning to aircraft, the top of the tower, including antennae, is stated to be 392 feet (119.5 m) above sea level by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Thus, the height of the tower above ground, including antennae, is 250 feet (76.2 m) (392–142=250), which excludes a 270-foot architectural height, allowing only a 240-foot architectural height. Counting the tower's 8-inch (20.3 cm) courses yields a height above ground of 235–236 feet (71.6–71.9 m), so the lowest few feet of the 240-foot height, those resting on the foundation, are underground, providing space for an elevator pit.
According to early sources the tower has three observation levels, at 192 feet (58.5 m) behind windows, at 200 feet (61.0 m) on an open air balcony, and at 225 feet (68.6 m) in the open air crow's nest, Eagle's Nest, or Birds eye vantage point on top of the elevator shaft but below roof tracery. The apex of the tower is a flashing red aircraft warning light. The tower is 360 feet (110 m) above sea level according to two late sources, the latter stating that that elevation applies to the eagle's nest, which is consistent with the crow's nest elevation of early sources (142+225=367≈360). The tower offered a 40-mile (65 km) panoramic view.
Earnest Oakley Hunt dreamed of building an observation tower when he moved to Orlando in 1938, then moved to Sebring in 1947 and found the perfect location in nearby Lake Placid. He and Robert Gray formed Air View Corporation to build the tower. The tower was designed by architect A. Wynn Howell of Lakeland, built by Ridge Builders of Sebring in 1960 for $350,000 (equivalent to $2,300,000 in 2018), and opened January 1, 1961. Most sources state that it was the tallest concrete block structure in the world when it opened, with 90,000 concrete blocks, but the magazine Florida Architect states that it was built of reinforced concrete. One source states that the tower included 100,000 limestone blocks from Ocala while another states that it was faced with ceramic tile, implying that the tower has a facade of limestone tile.
The tower below the balcony is 25 feet 4 inches (7.72 m) square, with its four vertical corners replaced by grooves (each 8 inches (20 cm) per side). The section above the balcony is 21 feet (6.40 m) square, also with corner grooves. Each wall is divided into vertical thirds. The outer thirds are composed of reinforced concrete blocks with a facade of limestone tile.
The middle thirds are composed of decorative breeze or fence concrete blocks. The tower has a foundation made from 520 cubic yards (400 m3) of concrete reinforced with 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) of steel. The tracery atop the tower is made of gold anodized aluminum.
Because of low ticket sales, the tower closed in 1982 when the owner would not pay their Internal Revenue Service taxes, but it was re-opened in 1986. The small group of owners still faced sluggish sales, and the tower and its restaurant continued to struggle, despite features such as a petting zoo in its plaza, and a pay phone at the top billed as the "highest pay phone in Florida."The last owner who operated the tower as a tourist attraction was Lake Placid Tower Group owned by Mark Cambell since 1992. He sold it to CHL Tower Group on November 6, 2003 which has operated it as a cell phone tower ever since. Even though the tower closed about 2003, it still has two red "OPEN" signs at its top, facing north and south
Originally, the tower above the balcony had the same basic design scheme as that below it. But after the tower closed, the portion of the tower from the balcony up was redesigned with a white and cyan (blue-green) color scheme. The limestone tile of the outer thirds of the walls was covered with white stucco, and the middle thirds were covered with thin cyan-colored panels which blocked the bird's eye view. These panels covered the two opposing triangular openings in the middle third of each wall and the breeze or fence blocks between them. The roof tracery above and the balcony below them were also painted cyan.
The Tower View restaurant at the base of the tower closed in 2015. The tower is among 35 designated Lake Placid historic structures. It is one of three towers in Central Florida, including the Citrus Tower, built in 1956, 100 miles (160 km) to the north in Clermont, and Bok Tower, built in 1929, 50 miles (80 km) to the north in Lake Wales.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
made in Belarus - newest BKM 321 The Olgerd trolleybus passes by square at Finlyanskiy railway station of St Petersburg
in 2024-2025, BKM Holding will deliver 79 new trolleybuses of model 321 of the Olgerd series to St. Petersburg. Last year, Gorelektrotrans received 97 trolleybuses with an increased autonomous range of up to 20 kilometres, model 32100D. In the new ordered series 321 ‘Olgerd’ instead of a compartment with batteries - 5 seating passenger seats, 35 in total, so the reduction of autonomous travel to 250 m contributed to an increase in passenger capacity up to 96 people. The model for St. Petersburg is equipped with various options, including not only USB ports, video cameras, multimedia system, climate control, but also ‘Warm Floor’, ‘Talking City’, driver wakefulness monitoring system and other useful sensors. LED interior lighting and signal lines at the doors are used. The current collectors are equipped with an automatic boom catching system and a system of automatic placement on the catenary network, which does not require the driver to leave the vehicle. In the present trolleybus also you can see additional seat in the driver's cabine for an instructor.
History of BKM Holding
Olgerd trolleybuses are produced by the Belarus company Belkommunmash (BKM; Производственное Объединение «Белкоммунмаш», БКМ). BKM was organized in 1973 on the basis of the streetcar and trolleybus repair shop under the Ministry of Municipal Economy of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. During the first two decades the plant was repairing trolleybuses and streetcars of Minsk. After USSR breakage the independent Belarus got a strong incentive to develop its own vehicles production. Therefore a few articulated trolleybuses YMZ T1 (ЮМЗ Т1) were assembled at the plant in 1993 from engineering sets of Yuzhny Machine Building Plant of Ukraine. The enterprise also modernized trolleybuses of the ZIU models 100 - 101 produced by the Engels Electric Transportation Plant (later CJSC "TrolZa") in Engels, Saratov region of Russia. Later the company started to develop its own trolleybus models, the first model AKSM 201 (АКСМ 201) appeared in 1996, followed by models 213, 221, 321 (as in foto) and 333. Since 2000 the production of streetcars started: AKSM-1M, AKSM-60102. In 2016, the production of electric buses has been organized. Today the BKM Holding (ОАО «Управляющая компания холдинга «Белкоммунмаш» - ОАО «УКХ «БКМ) is the leading industrial enterprise in Belarus in the field of production and overhaul of rolling stock of urban electric transport.
Increasing shade from our hardwood trees has caused the Bermuda grass to resign. Lots of bare spots.
If you look carefully there is a little clover mixed in. That's really what I'm encouraging to grow.
Whitewall tires or white sidewall tires are tires having a stripe or entire sidewall of white rubber.
Early automobile tires were made of pure natural rubber with various chemicals mixed into the tread compounds to make them wear better. The best of these was zinc oxide, a pure white substance that increased traction and also made the entire tire white. However, the white rubber did not offer sufficient endurance, so carbon black was added to the rubber and greatly increasing tread life. Using carbon black only in the tread produced tires with inner and outer sidewalls of white rubber. Later, entirely black tires became available, the still extant white sidewalls being covered with a somewhat thin, black colored layer of rubber.
Groede, Zeeuws-vlaanderen, The Netherlands
A couple of years ago, I was passing through Smithville, and stopped to check up on the status of the then long-closed, and increasingly derelict, feed mill. The two big silos have continued to corrode and the scabrous rust as well as the lichens continue to expand their presence on the well-faded blue-green (teal?) paint job. The ladder on one of the silos remained, albeit in a very rusted state. The colours still appeal to me and I intend to continue my periodic visits in anticipation of their likely ultimate replacement with more housing. - JW
Date Taken: 2020-02-03
(c) Copyright 2022 JW Vraets
Tech Details:
Taken using a tripod-mounted Nikon D800 fitted with an AF Nikkor 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 lense set to 125mm, ISO100, Daylight WB, Matrix metering, Aperture priority, f/8.0, 1/30. PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Nikon RAW/NEF source file: set final image size to 9000 px high, use the Graduated Neutral Density/GND tool rotated to cover brighter right silo and darken that area to make it less of an attraction to the eye as well as better balancing its tonality with the right silo, increase contrast and Chromaticity (slightly) in L-A-B mode, recover shadow detail by using the Shadows/Highlights tool, slightly boost black level, further boost contrast and reduce saturation, slightly, sharpen edges only, save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: increase the contrast and slightly darken the frame using the contrast/brightness tool, add a transparent layer above the image layer and use it as a non-destructive dodge/burn layer, darken/burn the right edge to reduce its brightness, sharpen and save, scale image to 6000px high, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 3000 px high for posting online, sharpen very slightly, save.
Good morning everyone! Rise and shine and let this #sunrise reflection over #Raleigh brighten your day and increase your good weekend vibes! .
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#MorningReflection #MorningReflections #SunriseReflection #SunriseReflections #RiseAndShine #Reflection #NC #NorthCarolina #TravelBlog #WorldTravel #WorldTraveler #TravelBlogger #TravelPhotography #TravelPics #TravelPhotos #GlobeTrotter #PassportStamps #TravelTheWorld #TourThePlanet #BestPlacesToGo #TheGlobeWanderer #DiscoverEarth #FantasticEarth #TravelGram #FollowMeFarAway #Wanderlust #GuysWhoTravel #GayTraveler
Another Cessna of increasing rarity soaking up the early morning sun at Split Airport (SPU/LDSP). Cessna's final "clean sheet" piston twin, the 303 had initially been conceived as a four-seat training aircraft, not unlike the Piper Seminole or Beech Duchess. Eventually however, it would go one up and morph into a six seat touring machine aiming squarely at market segment occupied by the smaller Piper Seneca and faster Beech Baron.
With an large and airy cabin that was the envy of all its rivals - so much so that few observers would ever group it in the same bunch as the Seneca - the resulting T303 Crusader would end up being powered by two turbocharged 260 HP Continental TSIO-540 engines, slotting itself right in between the 220 HP turbocharged Seneca and the 300 HP normally aspirated Baron. As on the PA-34, the engines would be counter-rotating, spinning in opposite directions to avoid having what's called a "critical engine" (which has to do with aircraft behavior when one engine fails). Despite its large bulk, the Crusader would use this power well, registering pretty good cruise speed figures for its size and price - though with unremarkable performance overall.
However, being caught in the middle between two of the world's most popular touring twins did not do the 303 much good; between its introduction in 1978 and end of production in 1986, only 315 examples would be made, relatively few of which remain flying today.
Interestingly, of those 315 two would make their way onto the Croatian register; however, both would be lost in fatal accidents in the late 2000s, with a loss of seven lives between them...
Brazil 2014: The World Cup is coming...
• Increases in bus, train and metro fare in some major cities
• Multiple issues regarding infrastructure, education and health care among other public services
• High cost of living
• Increasing government funding of major sports events
• Feeling of alienation from government decisions
• Multiple scandals of corruption, embezzlement and overbilling in the government
• Multiple reports of abuse of special benefits conceded to Brazilian politicians
• Controversial law in discussion by National Chamber's plans limiting the powers of the Public Ministry to investigate criminal activities, among other reasons
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre) is the world's largest art museum and an historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres (782,910 square feet). The Louvre in 2016 was the world's most visited art museum, receiving 7.3 million visitors.
The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, but after Napoleon's abdication many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces.