The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who seek them
Posts tagged Cities
100 Great Cities of the World
Feb 1st
1. Vancouver (Canada)
Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch “van Coevorden,” denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands. The largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver ranks third largest in the country and the city proper ranks eighth. The city of Vancouver has a population of just over 578,000 and its Census Metropolitan Area exceeds 2.1 million people. Its residents are ethnically diverse, with 52% having a first language other than English. (based on a wikipedia article) More >
Venice
Oct 25th
Scientists estimate that this world treasure is sinking about 2 1/2 inches (6.4 cm) per decade. Flooding is the most urgent problem. A plan to hold back the rising Adriatic with a system of mobile underwater barriers has met with controversy, and at any rate will not be completed until at least 2001.
Set on 118 separate islands, dredged out of a marshy lagoon and shored up on wooden pylons, Venice floats upon the Adriatic Sea like a mirage. Amsterdam and Bruges and few other European cities may have a network of canals draining their cityscape, but in Venice the canals are the cityscape – creating land to go with it was an engineering triumph over nature. More >
Berlin
Sep 13th
by Andrew Mason
Berlin is the most changeable city in Europe. Its physical face has been repeatedly torn asunder and reassembled. Its restless populace is as fickle as its is creative, making for an ever-evolving cultural and nocturnal scene, much as it was in the 1920s. A city of paradoxes, it exerts a magnetic charm that few can resist.
Munich may be richer and Hamburg more of a commercial powerhouse, but neither attracts the attention Berlin does. A colourful army of Zuzugler – newcomers – from all over the world and all walks of life have come and seem unable to leave. More >
Mexico City
Sep 12th
For sheer scale, Mexico City impresses; it is also North America’s oldest metropolis, and its layering of European nostalgia, rich indigenous culture and modern urban energy are as exhilarating as its size.
Set in a high, flat valley, Mexico City’s 350 crowded colonias neighbourhoods sprawl. The heart of the city, El Zocala and its surrounding museum-packed neighbourhoods and green expanses of the Alameda, form the Centro Historico. More >
Tel Aviv
Sep 12th
While Jerusalem is considered the spiritual centre of Israel, Tel Aviv, conversely, is the pop-cultural centre, with its cafes, Mediterranean beaches and Israeli trance music, which is loud and unavoidable. Around a third of Israel’s population lives in Tel Aviv. It is a predominantly Jewish city.
Tel Avivians are youthful and brash and totally unlike their neighbours in Jerusalem, which is only around 45 minutes away but may as well be on another continent. As a Tel Avivian once said, ‘In Jerusalem they like their religion, in Tel Aviv we like our drugs.’ It may not ring true for the entire city, but it certainly provides an insight. More >
