French Beauty (Corsica, France)

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Corsica is a very beautiful and scenic place to visit. It is one of 26 outlaying islands located in the sea south of Italy. It has its own language, Corsican with its own remarkable history and culture. Corsica is an excellent choice for any luxury villa rental and should be visited by anyone travelling to the area.

The island has numerous tiny coves and beaches with many enchanting mountain villages, each with their own appeal, welcoming visitors. Romantic in nature, the small towns and villages have their own fine restaurants with delightfully varied menus. Try the traditional foods produced on the island and taste the variety of local wines.

If you like to walk, there are many valleys and gorges ready to be explored. Easy to follow hiking trails criss-cross the island helping explore the mountain and valley scenery. With such a variety of paths, you will never be able to explore the whole place in one visit walking. As most of these treks are for serious walkers and climbers, you may wish to simply stroll along the beaches with your loved one. The beaches are plentiful and easily accessible. Settle into a seaside café with your significant other - the sparkling sea being a gorgeous place to just sit and ponder the beauty of the scenery. The crystal clear blue waters are warm and tempt many with a swim.

If you're looking for villas to rent in France, Corsica is an excellent choice. Plenty of beaches mean that there are many water sports ready for your participation. You can go scuba diving or just snorkel to see the extensive underwater life that is always present in the water surrounding the island. You might try sailing or windsurfing while you are there. There is nothing better than sitting on a boat enjoying the sea. The best time is early evening with a breathtaking sunset that that you will remember forever. Corsica gives you the chance to try something new while the evenings offer an opportunity to experience the nightlife of Corsica.

Corsica is famous for its mountain train that travels through Bastia (pictured), Ajaccio, and Calvi. During the journey, you can learn the history and distinct culture of the island. The extensive birdlife of the island is pointed out - a poetic relaxing sight. As the island boasts a large nature reserve, there is plenty of wildlife to be spotted. Make sure your camera is ready because you are not going to have such a chance back home. Capture the beauty of a bird that you have never seen before and may never see again.

For a great family vacation or a romantic honeymoon get away, visit Corsica, France. You will not be sorry.

Photo Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

Living with Martin Luther (Wittenberg, Germany)

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When Martin Luther hammered his 95 Theses into the wooden door of a humble church of a small German town in 1517, Luther started the Protestant Reformation and altered European and Christian religious history forever. Almost 500 years later, the travel wonder of Wittenberg continues to thrive on the legacy of Martin Luther. Small plaques litter the town marking aspects of Luther’s life which is strung out along one long main street that changes name from Schlossstrasse to Collegienstrasse at the elegant town square.

Luther was an extraordinary man. Risking death and ex-communication from the church, Luther opposed the idea that people could buy their way from God’s punishment of sin. This challenging the authority of the pope himself who was raising money for rebuilding St Peters in Rome by selling indulgences. Luther also published a German translation of the Bible (while hidden in Wartburg Castle) providing the foundation of the modern German language and making it accessible to the general population rather than the educated few who spoke Latin.

Though its wooden doors have long since perished in a fire, Castle Church stands proudly off Wittenberg’s square, bronze doors inscribed with Luther’s theses (in Latin) commemorating this challenge to church power.

Nearby is Luther’s house, once a monastery and now a museum full of historic documents including original prayer and hymn books (with hand-drawn illustrations) and many of his authored works. The rooms include a lecture theatre where he taught, the main living room (with a superb tiled stove), Luther’s original desk and a number of personal possessions.

The two other main characters in the Reformation from Wittenberg were Cranach the Elder, a significant painter of his times (and the city’s mayor) and Philipp Melanchthon, a highly educated teacher, philosopher and moralist. Melanchthon spent time trying to encourage the more practical education of the youth of the day by not limiting classes to Latin (and extending education to more people). It was visionary thinking for the early 1500s. Melanchthon assisted Luther in his translation of the Bible. Both people have their fine houses on display as museums with fine collections detailing their lives. A superb early printing press that still functions sits in Cranach’s house. In a nice symmetry, all three are buried in Castle Church and two have statues in the main square.

The main church of St Mary's sits on the main square and is where Luther was married and where he did most of his preaching. Most stunning is the main altar painting (by Cranach) of the Last Supper including both Luther and Melanchthon.

Wittenberg is a day trip from Berlin and a wonderful journey back through one of the most significant historic periods in Europe. The work and thoughts of Martin Luther permeate every building, street and wall in this small city, marked on the World Heritage List. Wittenberg helps understand the dramatic historic change visualising Luther hammering his famed document into the church door.

Monkeying Around in Kathmandu (Nepal)

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One of the travel wonders of Kathmandu’s overwhelming images is that of Swayambhunath perched high on a hilltop overlooking the Nepalese capital. As the humidity leaches energy from every pore as you clamber up the 365 step stairs to the revered and historic Buddhist Temple, its nickname of Monkey Temple becomes patently clear. Primates slink around the staircase, perch on the railings and joyously leap on unsuspecting travellers. Young monkeys cling to mother’s chests soaking in the lessons preparing them for a lifetime of leaping around this spiritual hill.

As the legs grow tireder, the large whitewashed dome of the temple looms into view. The colourful Buddha eyes stare forth, the hooked nose being the Nepalese number one symbolising unity and the third tiny piercing eye symbolising Buddha’s divine insight.

The mythological story behind the giant Buddhist temple (or stupa) is fascinating. The story goes that the entire Kathmandu valley was once a primordial lake (geologists support this claim). A lotus growing from the lake attracted an enlightened Buddhist who drained the lake and built Swayambhunath where the lotus sprung.

The temple area is awash with statues, religious icons and small shrines, along with makeshift vendors flogging postcards and pointless plastic trinkets. Somehow they seem so incongruous to the location but happily spread their blankets between the centuries-old sculptured figures eking out their living. Other Buddha statues are mixed with animal statues and symbols for the earthly elements such as water, air and fire.

Interestingly, in a world of increasing religious intolerance, the Hindus who represent the major religion in Kathmandu also revere Monkey Temple. Having also adopted the temple, the Hindus have built their own shrines and temples on the same mountain in harmony with the Buddhist Monkey Temple. In a healthy lesson, the two religions happily share this deeply spiritual location, statues and shrines intertwined across the hilltop.

Walking around the stupa (always in a clockwise direction), prayer flags flutter overhead while devotees spin the prayer wheel, the inscribed prayers and mantras sailing heaven-ward on the breezes. Many locals mark a daily pilgrimage circumnavigating the stupa several times after climbing the huge staircase, providing an inbuilt exercise program and calves like Olympic cyclists. The leathery grizzled faces of many of the pilgrims show glimpses of the hardened resilience of a tough life in Nepal, their strength of spirit showing through in each shuffled step as their wrinkled hands spin the prayer wheels in their daily ritual.

Worthy of a breathless climb up a sweeping historic staircase, Swayambhunath is one of the travel wonders of Kathmandu offering startling vistas over the city and highlighting the strange mix of travellers and pilgrims, souvenir-sellers and the faithful, all under the all-seeing eyes of Buddha.

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Photo of the Week - Manual Ferris Wheel (Kathmandu, Nepal)

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Tripping through the streets of historic Kathmandu, I ventured into a ferris wheel by the river and a break from the temples and incessant hassling to purchase souvenirs. Nothing first struck me as unusual about the ferris wheel - shrieks of joy from younger children on the ride, contented parents enjoying the afternoon views along the river and jostling in the queue as new passengers were loaded.

But then the surprise - the ferris wheel had no electric power. It was powered by two young guys swinging nimbly on crossbeams across the inner part of the ride. With all the poise and balance of an Olympic gymnast, one would leap to a high crossbeam and use his body weight to accelerate the wheel before settling his feet on another beam. The second guy would similarly grab a beam near the top of its flight and further accelerate the ferris wheel repeating the ritual until the ride reached a fair speed for several revolutions before slowing to offload the delighted passengers.

Père Lachaise Cemetery (Paris, France)

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guest post by Chris Zwierzynski, TripBase.com

Paris is often associated with the proverbial hustle and bustle of famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Notre Dame cathedral. However, there is another side to Paris, as chronicled in Travel Wonders’ own Hidden Wonders of Paris and we find that sometimes some truly interesting wonders of a given city get pushed into the background when compared to the might of the aforementioned world-famous monuments, landmarks and tourist “must see” spots. Such is the case with this glorious cemetery, testament to not only the past of Paris, but the history of the world in that some of the world’s most famous produced of Art (be it music, dance, poetry or thought) are entombed here.

When bringing up the Père Lachaise, one often finds that it’s mentioned in conjunction with phrases like “I meant to go there, but didn’t have time”, “there’s this place where famous people are buried...what was it called?”, “I never thought of going there” or even “I didn’t know about it”. Despite the general lack of public - at least outside of France - awareness of this unique Parisian locale, it is nonetheless an important and worthwhile place to visit, both in terms of historic and aesthetic value.

The cemetery itself houses such distinguished luminaries as Molière (French playwright), Oscar Wilde (Irish playwright, poet and novelist), Chopin (Polish pianist and composer) and Jim Morrison (American singer with band The Doors). So as you can see, the residents of this Paris cemetery are certainly cosmopolitan by nature, with this being but the smallest selection of those at rest there, which numbers around 300,000.

Allegedly also one of the most famous cemeteries in the world, it’s situated on Boulevard de Ménilmontant and is easily accessible via the city Métro, with two different stops at different entrances to the cemetery, allowing for varied approaches, depending on how you feel (one particular stop is preferred, as it tends to allow tourists to enter relatively near the grave of Oscar Wilde and from there, visit the rest of the cemetery.

The cemetery has been “active” for the past 200 or so years, having been established in 1804 by Napoleon. Being located in the east of Paris (as the original/official name, cimetière de l'Est, or East Cemetery, serves to indicate), there was concern over the fact that because it was far (in those days) away from the heart of Paris, it was attracting too few burials for it to be a viable place to have a funeral. This lead to an extensive and risky marketing strategy (marketing for a cemetery, imagine that) which involved the relocation of several high profile cemetery “residents” from elsewhere in Paris right into the Père Lachaise. Subsequently, people were dying (oh dear) to get into the place, to be buried with the social elite of France. Thusly, a cemetery legend was born.

Père Lachaise also has a unique aesthetic appeal to it, with its cobblestone “streets”, fine examples of tomb/gravestone architecture and artistry, all the while interspersed with plentiful flora. It might be a cliché to suggest that the place is peaceful, or has a peaceful aura about it, but in this case the cliché rings true. For there amongst the monuments and testaments to lives past and relatively present, man can experience the chill of mortality as he is reminded that one day he too will be consigned to such a final resting place, wherever it may be.


Chris Zwierzynski is a writer for TripBase.com, which also offers a travel blog offering insightful and interesting travel news and tips.