China, the Worlds Most Enduring Culture

Since the time of Marco Polo, the west has been fascinated with China. You can join an exclusive list of cultural explorers as you travel to a nation where the past lives side by side with a limitless future. From the legendary Great Wall and mysterious Forbidden City to the booming modern side of Beijing, China pulses with a timeless energy.

Travel to Tiananmen Square, the largest public square in the world. Explore the Forbidden City, a vast network of palaces which have been home to 24 Chinese Emperors over 491 years.

Discover the Temple of Heaven where the emperor came twice each year to pray. One amazing highlight builds upon another.

As we talk highlights, let’s not forget the Great Wall. You certainly aren’t going to travel all the way to China and not see this legendary man-made structure. Created to protect the vast northern border, the Great Wall stretches for more than 3,700-miles east to west. Seize a rare chance to walk along this iconic national symbol.

Once isolated, China is now a major global power. Travelers today have the exceptional opportunity to visit during a key point in history. This is a journey that goes beyond sightseeing.

By: Johnny Quest and Collette Vacations

Freuds Fans

 

The inner city of Vienna is overflowing with superbly decorated historical architecture, but for decades its most famous address was actually an unassuming apartment building in a middle-class suburb—Berggasse 19. From 1891 to 1938, this was the home of Sigmund Freud, the brilliant thinker who invented psychoanalysis and discovered the power of dreams and the subconscious, changing the way we think about the human mind forever.

Today, the apartment, situated on a street sloping down to the Danube Canal, is the Sigmund Freud Museum, and it continues to lure streams of admirers from around the world, just as it did in the great man’s own lifetime. Each of the dozen rooms is filled with memorabilia: Freud’s birth certificate (born to a Jewish family, he changed his first name from Sigismund), his walking cane, battered travel bag with the initials S.F., his hat and sports cap hanging on hooks by the door—all give the impression that the pioneer shrink might be about to stroll back from a nearby coffee house for a session of “talk therapy” (as psychoanalysis was first called) with a patient.

Also on display are rare original books, including a first edition of “The Interpretation of Dreams,” published in Vienna in 1900, which was ignored for years but eventually became an international bestseller. On the walls are classic photographs of the bearded, avuncular Freud holding his ubiquitous cigar. When friends joked that, according to Freud’s own theories of sexuality, the cigar should be interpreted as a phallic symbol, he famously remarked, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

By 1938, at the age of 82, Freud was one of Austria‘s most famous and respected figures when Nazi Germany annexed the country and Gestapo officers began harassing Jewish residents. Soldiers visited Berggasse 19 and searched the offices, confiscating about $1,500 in cash. Freud at first refused to admit the danger, but he was finally convinced to emigrate, with an exit visa arranged by U.S. President Roosevelt himself and facilitated by a sympathetic German officer. He moved to England, where he died of cancer the following year, which is why Freud’s famous couch resides today in a small London museum rather than its long-time home in Vienna.

By: Globus

Around the World Adventures

                   

While most people save up for a week or two of adventure, some people are lucky enough to head out on a grand adventure around the world. RTW travel can free you up for a year to explore many places. Here is a brief Top 5 list of top Round the World experiences from G Adventures traveller Steve Clifford...

There were many highlights on my 10-month RTW journey but here are five memorable experiences from the Atlantic, England, Jordan, Syria and Nepal that I highly recommend to savour.

#5 Cross an Ocean by Ship — In the past most great adventures began from the deck of a ship and I was determined, at least once in my life, to unfasten my seat belt, look beyond my upright seat tray and cross an ocean at sea level. I was the only passenger aboard a small container ship sailing from Charleston, SC to Felixstowe, England, an 8-day crossing. In reality life aboard a working ship quickly becomes routine, especially if you're the only one not working. However the countless hours spent scanning the empty horizon are quickly forgotten when you finally glimpse your destination and arrive ashore with a new sense of scale and connectedness.

#4 Ramble on in North Yorkshire — I've followed many a footpath over the years but those that crisscross the moors and dales in God's own country are hard to beat. The breezy North Sea coastal footpath that winds its way between Staithes and Robin Hood's Bay is a favourite, as are the green pastures and stunning panoramas that surround you in Swaledale. Best of all, at the end of any walk, you'll find a welcoming Yorkshire pub where you can enjoy a pint (or two) of hand-pulled real ale. 

#3 Experience 40 winks in the land of 1001 Nights — Lying roughly between the ancient city of Petra and the Red Sea port of Aqaba lay Wadi Rum, a vast and windswept lunar-like landscape of biblical proportions. A lack of roads force Bedouin nomads and adventure travelers along ancient routes used by Nabataeans and more recently, Lawrence of Arabia. A visit to Jordan's Wadi Rum is an unforgettable experience, one you'll ponder long after you call it a day and stretch out on your camp cot under a blanket of stars.

#2 Clean up your act in a 500 year-old Hammam — Adventure travelers are down to earth but some are more down to earth than others. All that time spent at ground level can leave you dirty - but you don't know how dirty until you've been exfoliated by a 300 lb. Turk with an attitude. Hit a Turkish Hammam, a traditional public bath for a couple of hours as it will cost you less than US$10 and includes wet and dry saunas, an invigorating exfoliation, intense massage and, once pristine, a chance to kick back and sip tea with businessmen and royalty. 

#1 Stand at the foot of the Roof of the World — A trek in eastern Nepal to the foot of Mt. Everest was the definitive highlight of my 10-month journey around the world. The thin mountain air and the dazzling Nepali smiles are as intoxicating as the homemade raksi and chaang sampled along the way. I can still picture enthusiastic porters digging into platefuls of their beloved Dal Baht while strains of the Nepali folk classic, Resham Firiri, reverberated through the Himalayas. 

G Adventures Top 5: By: Steve Clifford and G Adventures

Prague

The Golem Of Prague

Prague boasts one of the world’s more peculiar city mascots: a lumbering clay monster known as the Golem. The creature is ubiquitous in the Czech capital, endlessly cloned into cute souvenir figurines, while Golem lends his name to local hotels, clothing boutiques, hairdressers, and even rock bands. Oddly, few Czechs remember that the Golem originated as a dark legend, born of the violence of the late Middle Ages.

In the 1500s, the Christians of Prague began a series of murderous rampages (pogroms) against the Jews in the city’s Ghetto. Later, when remembering that bleak era, the beleaguered Jewish Czechs began telling the story of the magical Golem that came to their aid. It was said that a learned rabbi named Judah Loew ben Bezalel (who was a real historical figure) fashioned a towering, man-like figure from the mud of the River Vltava, and used his knowledge of the kabalah to animate it with life. EMET, the Hebrew word for truth, was engraved upon the Golem’s forehead, and it would patrol the Ghetto and protect its inhabitants from mobs at night. But with no mind of its own, the Golem was over-literal in interpreting orders and went on its own murderous rampage against innocent citizens, both Christians and Jews. The rabbi was forced to erase the letter E from its forehead, replacing it with MET, the Hebrew word for “death,” thus, breaking the spell. He then interred the Golem’s remains in the attic of the oddly named Old-New Synagogue.

Today, the synagogue still stands in the Ghetto, and the current chief rabbi of the Czech Republic says that he has never dared enter its sealed-off attic. Meanwhile, the grave of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, who died in 1610 at the age of 100, is still a revered pilgrimage spot in Prague’s Jewish Cemetery.

By; Globus

Bremen, Germany

Bremen

It’s worth losing a few pounds before visiting the old city state of Bremen. Girth doesn’t matter in the roomy Market Square where the 15th century Rathaus (city hall), the St. Petri Cathedral and the medieval statue of the legendary hero Roland leave space for cafés, puppet theater and festivals. 

South of the Market, though, things get narrower in the Böttcherstrasse, the wonderful Art Nouveau/Art Deco lane created in 1931 by the inventor of decaffeinated coffee, Ludwig Roselius. Expressionist art abounds in the galleries and shops tucked into the red brick facades. A brilliant golden relief shines over the northern entrance to the street. 

Southeast of the Böttcherstrasse, thin people have the advantage in the Schnoor quarter. Once living space for fishermen and tradespeople in the Renaissance, the Schnoor is now a nest of small lanes – some so tiny, many visitors have to go through sideways. Today, it’s filled with art galleries, antique shops and cafés. 

On second thought, forget about watching your figure. If you did, you’d have to miss out on some of the best German chocolate there is, supplied by Bremen’s own Hachez Chocolatier, located just off the Market Square. If you prefer to get your calories from beer, cross the Weser River to Beck’s Brewery.

By: Globus

The Aussie Wine Industry

    

It’s hard to believe today, when Australia’s wines are world famous and fine vintages are readily available in every pub and café from Wagga to Oodnadatta, but it was not until the 1970s that Aussies really began to appreciate the virtues of the grape. Thanks to the post-war waves of immigrants from Italy and Greece, Aussies shifted away from their traditional passion for beer, port and rum and began what experts have dubbed the Great Wine Revolution. By 1985 wine consumption had tripled. But even many Australians don’t realize that the local wine industry is actually as old as white settlement itself.

The first vines were brought from Brazil and South Africa on board the very first convict fleet in 1788, and planted in the British Governor’s private garden. Twelve years later, a pair of French prisoners-of-war from Napoleon’s armies were purposely sent to Sydney to provide a little Gallic know-how. Although these two clumsy Frenchmen produced wines of “very indifferent quality,” by the 1820s Aussie farmers were gamely sending their best wines back to European wine competitions, with mixed success. (The persistence with which wine growing was pursued in the colony is hardly surprising, given the importance first settlers placed on alcohol as a panacea for loneliness and isolation; although rum was preferred, and even became the effective currency for many years, any drink was accepted).

Some of the great names of Aussie winemaking – Thomas Hardy, Dr. Henry John Lindemann – got their start in the mid-19th century in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney and Barossa Valley north of Adelaide, but production was hampered by a small local market and the dreaded phylloxera disease, which wiped out many vineyards in the 1870s. Today, there is no looking back, with some 1,500 wineries now scattered across every Australian state. Travelers will find wineries in some improbably remote regions, including the Margaret River in south-western Australia, the Yarra Valley near Melbourne and Tamar Valley of Tasmania – each offering a broad range of tastings to visitors, and many complete with their own elegant restaurants. Destinations have stories. We bring them to life.

By Globus

Secrets of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence

    

As the Nazis retreated from Florence during World War II, they blew up all of the bridges across the River Arno, except one: the Ponte Vecchio, which was evidently saved on Hitler’s personal orders. This was where he had met the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1938, cementing the “pact of steel” alliance. The Führer had been so impressed by the elegant “Old Bridge,” which had graced the spot since being built in stone in 1345, that he decided to save it. Instead, the German army blew up all of the ancient buildings on either side, so that the bridge could not be used by the Allies, but the Ponte Vecchio itself was salvaged for posterity.

Today, thousands flock to this glorious arched edifice to buy gold and silver from local vendors, much as they have since 1593, when the Grand Duke Ferdinando Medici ordered that metalworkers and jewelers replace the butchers and tanners who worked there. He wanted a more pleasant walkway and was offended by the stench of rotting meat and the pungent odors of hides that were cured in horse urine and washed in the river. A bust of Benevento Cellini, the most accomplished of all Renaissance goldsmiths, stands as a reminder of this great tradition.

In its heyday, like all bridges of the period, the Ponte Vecchio was bustling with merchants and crowded with domestic residences, taverns, and shops. Today, if you visit the bridge in the early morning or at night, when the vendors’ stone-walled stalls are closed, you can see city’s ancient symbol, a stylized lily (not unlike the fleur de lis), used as a decorative pattern on the metal hinges of all the wooden shutters.

But at any time of day, make sure you look up and spot the barred round windows in the top level of the bridge. Unbeknownst to most visitors, a secret passage runs above the Ponte Vecchio. It was added by the Medici family in 1565 so that they could get from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti without having to weave through the crowds and risk assassination. It is known as the Vasari Corridor after its designer, Giorgio Vasari, and its circular windows are called “the eyes of Florence.” Through them, the Medicis could spy on their subjects and even eavesdrop on conversations. It was actually in this passageway that Adolf met Benito back in 1938, in order to hatch their plans in privacy.

By: Globus

Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an

Underground Army Discovered by Chance

By: Globus

Xi'an – one of the most important cultural cities in China – was once the capital of the Chinese Empires for more than 1,500 years. However, when the center of China moved to the east, Xi'an quickly moved out of the spotlight and was soon known as a secondary city. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the discovery of the Terra-Cotta Warriors there put Xi’an back on the map.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors were actually a cultural landmark left by Emperor Qin Shihuang - the first Chinese emperor. Unlike the Great Wall, which Qin Shihung built to defend his territory while he was alive, the Terra-Cotta Warriors were buried on the side of the mausoleum to protect the emperor’s body and soul after his death – so that he would eventually come back to life some day. Although, the Terra-Cotta Warriors were such a large and distinguishable force that played a significant role in defending the emperor, surprisingly, they were totally untraceable in many of the history records and books. Therefore, the underground army went virtually unknown until they were accidentally found in 1974. More than 2,000 years had passed since the death of Emperor Qin Shihuang, and the burial site had become a piece of well-cultivated farm land. In the summer of that year, a few local farmers were digging a well for irrigation when they found the broken pieces of bones from the warriors’ arms and legs and heads. Terrified, they believed the "remains" were possessed by the ghosts. The farmers had no idea they had stumbled upon the most important archeological discovery in Chinese history.

The discovery of this underground army reconfirmed the location of the emperor's mausoleum and thus, ended centuries of academic debate. The farmers’ lives were also altered forever after they discovered the warriors – they were revered as heroes and rewarded by the local government. The farmers were also given jobs in the archeological museum that now stands at the burial site – ending their strenuous careers working the farmland. The enormity of the Terra-Cotta warriors and Emperor Qin Shihuang's burial site is a wonder best seen in person. 

Nice, France

By: Globus

Nice is located on the south east coast of France and is named after the saying Nice la Belle, which stands for Nice the Beautiful. It is the capital of the French Riviera and the fifth largest city in France, giving it a glittering reputation among tourists a year. It is a popular destination for visitors young and old, with something to offer for everyone. Having the advantages of a major city allows Nice to have fascinating culture, wonderful street life and excellent shopping and cuisine for everyone to experience.

The area of Nice is believed to be among the oldest human settlements in Europe. The spectacular natural beauty of Nice and its mild Mediterranean climate welcomes thousands of tourists each year seeking not only relaxation, but also inspiration. The clear and crisp air of Nice has welcomed some of the Western culture’s most outstanding painters. Their profound art work can be found in many of the city’s museums, enticing tourists from around the world to come and visit.

Nice is well known for its beautiful view on the Promenade des Anglais, its famous waterfront, and its ethnically diverse port city. Nice experiences a Mediterranean climate, with moderately hot summers and mild winters. Its great climate year-round offers tourists the experience to soak up the sun and visit must-see art museums and archaeological ruins of the Romans.

It’s time to prepare for your favorite vacation where you will encounter your most amazing memories and unforgettable experiences that will last a lifetime. Whatever comes your way, this vacation will surely be an unforgettable experience when you plan your trip with Globus. Escape to one of the most exciting cities in France and start exploring all that Nice has to offer!