Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Austria: Overnight in Graz (November 14, 2011)


Since most of Europe follows the same time zone (+1 GMT), as you go further east, the sun sets earlier. Our plan was to explore Graz, Austria in the afternoon and spend the night there. But we left Ljubljana a bit late and thus managed to arrive in Graz a few minutes after sunset which was at about 4 p.m.


The City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We didn't have time to make it up to Eggenberg Castle. But at least we got to see the city center. For dinner, we had Krainer with Kren (horseradish), Ketchup & Senf (mustard) at the Hauptplatz. Here are more photos of Graz, Austria from the Ivan About Town Facebook page.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Pampanga: Congratulations to the winners of Giant Lantern Festival 2011!


First and foremost, thank you to the two busloads of happy eaters who joined Ultimate Philippines Tours for the 5-way lechon dégustation at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung and the Giant Lantern Festival. We had as much fun touring you around as you did enjoying the sights, sounds and flavors of Pampanga!



And congratulations to the winners of this year's Giant Lantern Festival for your well-deserved wins. The champion this year was last year's champion, Barangay Santa Lucia. Second place went to Barangay San Jose. And third place went to Barangay Del Carmen. Again congratulations!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Portugal: Historic Centre of Porto (UNESCO World Heritage Site)


I suddenly found myself in enchanting Porto, Portugal, a city familiar to me because of its wine. The previous night, I had arrived close to midnight at Aeroportos Porto after close to 19 hours of traveling from Manila, including a stopover at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol where my KLM flight landed. My ICOMOS colleague Luisa was so nice to meet me at the airport, and brought me to the Pousada de Juventude de Porto where I stayed while I was in Porto.



It was early morning and I was walked from my hostel to the venue of our conference for the day, the Palacio de Bolsa. We attended the International Conference on World Heritage Status: Opportunities for Economic Gain for Tourism Destinations – The Case of the Douro Valley, Portugal. I walked along the banks of the Rio Douro and was charmed by the architecture just across the river. It turns out this was no longer part of Porto but a separate city, Vila Nova de Gaia.



The Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) itself is a very interesting building. It is located in Praça Infante D. Henrique. Since it was a gathering of heritage professionals, we were shown around various rooms, including one undergoing restoration. While the Neoclassical structure was completed in 1850 by the Commercial Association (Associação Comercial), the lavish interiors and decoration were finished in 1910.


During the break, I took time out to visit the nearby structures of the Historic Centre of Porto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Right beside Palácio da Bolsa is the Igreja de São Francisco. In fact, the property of Palácio da Bolsa used to be the cloisters of the convent of São Francisco until 1832 when they were destroyed by fire during the Liberal Wars.



The interior of the Gothic structure is extensively decorated with Baroque gilt wood work or talha dourada by local wood carvers. No doubt, it is among the most impressive in Portugal.



For dinner, we were guests of Mário Ferreira, CEO of Douro Azul, on one of his river cruise ships. So we walked over to the Praça da Ribeira port area where the ship was docked. Of course, you can get a really nice view of the Dom Luís I Bridge from there.


It was a good thing it was summer, so the sun set quite late. And we were able to enjoy the architecture of Porto as seen from the Douro River. When visiting old cities, river cruises are more often than not on my to-do list.



The next day, we proceeded to the Estação de São Bento (São Bento Train Station) for a train ride deeper into the Douro Valley. Note the magnificent azulejo tile panels in the vestible. In total, there are more that twenty thousand tiles painted by Jorge Colaço from 1905 to 1916. The ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee was to meet in Lamego.



On the way to the station, we saw the elegant buildings along Avenida dos Aliados and Praça da Liberdade. More photos of Porto & Douro Valley, Portugal at the Ivan About Town Facebook page.

Pousada de Juventude do Porto
Rua Paulo da Gama, nº 551, 4169-006 Porto, Portugal
Tel. +351 22 617 7257 | Fax. +351 22 617 7247
Linha da Juventude 707 20 30 30
porto@movijovem.pt

You can book your youth hostels all over Portugal in the Pousadas de Juventude website.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Slovenia: Around Ljubljana's historic center (November 14, 2011)


Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. From Trieste, Italy where we spent the night, we drove to Ljubljana. It's actually has a relatively small historic center and is quite easy to explore. We drove up to the Ljubljana Castle (Ljubljanski grad), a medieval castle that overlooks old Ljubljana. From there, we drove to the city center where we spent a few hours walking around. More photos of Ljubljana, Slovenia in the Ivan About Town Facebook page.

Friday, December 09, 2011

Italy: Venice and its lagoons (November 13, 2011)


Who in his right mind would not want to visit Venice? The City of Canals has always been on my mind, especially when I listen to the music of Vivaldi. The former capital of the Venetian Republic, Venezia is actually built on 117 small islands connected to each other by hundreds of bridges.

Landmarks include the Piazza San Marco with St. Mark's Basilica and Campanile, the Doge's Palace, and the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge among many others. Too bad we weren't able to try out the gondola ride since it comes out quite pricey if there are just a few of you sharing the cost. But we did hop on one of their vaporetto (water buses) to see the architecture along the Grand Canal. Photos of Venice, Italy are in the Ivan About Town Facebook page.
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