Amber is a fossilized tree resin, formed in the Baltic part 40 to 60 million years ago. But it was in the mid-19th when the Baltic started to be very popular and fashionable. Our ancestors used amber for heat, and in the average ages it served as a currency. For the tribal Prussians inhabiting the Baltic Sea’s southeast shores around 12,000 BC, rubbing it was the best way to generate static electricity. During the 12th century, it was said to ... Read More

 For a start I would like to offer you a little advise: you’ll save a lot of time and money if you do a little homework – do a good research if you buy a carpet in Dubai ( or in the Middle Eeast generally). In the early 1900s, rug makers started using fast-acting chemicals and machines to streamline the arduous processes of carding, washing, dying, and spinning wool into thread, leaving only the actual weaving to be done by hand. One hundred ... Read More

  January New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo) – JANUARY 1st January 1, is a huge Natioal Holiday! Parades, religious observances, parties, and fireworks are during the celebrations of the New Year everywhere. In traditional indigenous communities, new tribal leaders are inaugurated with colorful ceremonies rooted in the pre-Hispanic past. Three Kings Day (Día de Reyes) – JANUARY 6th, nationwide.  Commemorates the Three Kings’ bringing of gifts to the Christ Child. On this day, children receive gifts, much like the traditional gift giving that accompanies Christmas in the United States. ... Read More

Constructed on the site of a palace dating to Kublai Khan and the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the Ming emperor Yongle established the basic layout of the Forbidden City between 1406 and 1420. The grandiose battalions of laborers and crafts workers – by some estimates there may have been up to a million of them – to build it. The palace lay at the heart of the Imperial City, a much larger, walled enclosure reserved for the use of the emperor and ... Read More

The magnificent Forbidden City, so called because it was off limits to commoners for 500 years, occupies a primary position in the Chinese psyche. To the Han Chinese, the Forbidden City is a contradictory symbol. It’s a politically incorrect yarn from a pre-Revolutionary dark age, but it’s also one spun from the very pinnacle of Chinese civilization. It’s not therefore surprising that more violent forces during the Cultural Revolution wanted to trash the place. This gargantuan palace complex – China’s largest and ... Read More

Founded 1500 years ago on a cluster of mudflats in the centre of the lagoon, Venice rose to become Europe’s main trading post between the West and the East, and at its height controlled an empire that extended from the Dolomites to Cyprus. The melancholic air of the place is in part a product of the discrepancy between the grandeur of its history and what the city has become. In the heyday of the Venetian Republic, some 200.000 people lived in ... Read More

Costa Rica is a magical land known for its beautiful scenery and appealing people. Its historic political stability and intriguing Spanish culture make it an important draw for all kinds of vacationers. Don’t expect either the obvious poverty or indigenous customs of Mexico or Guatemala here. Costa Rica is a cosmopolitan country blessed with an exotic landscape and an uncommon landscape perfect for eco-tourism. It is not as inexpensive as the rest of Central America, or even as cheap as it ... Read More