Known to the Ancient Egyptians as Abu or Yabu – meaning elephant – Elephantine Island is truly ancient site resting as it does at the First Cataract of the Nile and creating a natural boundary between Egypt and Nubia. It is said that Khnum – the ram-headed god of the cataracts, dwelled in caves beneath the island and controlled the waters of the Nile. These days the southern tip of the island holds the ruins of the Temple of Khnum. Up until 1822 there were also temples to Thutmose III and Amenhotep III on the island, but the Ottoman government destroyed them. Photo by: .Angeli

Elephantine is delicate island, steeped in ancient history and blessed with significant artifacts. Transported instantly back in time, you hike under banana trees and date palms through colourful Nubian villages with narrow dusty alleyways and mud houses, painted or carved with crocodiles or fish. Photo by: monopthalmos

On the edge of the island is one of the oldest Nilometers in Egypt – a stone ‘yardstick’ used to measure the height of the River Nile. It was last reconstructed in Roman times and was still in use as late as the 19th century. Its 90 steps, leading down to the river, are marked with Hindu – Arabic, Roman and heieroglyphic numerals and  inscriptions carved deep into the rock during the 17th century can be seen at the water’s edge. Elephantine Island is green oasis of calm – lapped by the turquoise waters of the Nile and clinging quietly to its exotic past. Photo by: Templar1307

When to go: Very hot between June and August (daytime temperature around 40 degrees). So December and February are great if you hate the heat. The other months of the year give warm days and fewer crowds. Population: 2,000. Getting there: Motor launch or felucca from Aswan; plane, train or boat from Cairo. Photo by: gabindu

It is the second largest underground chamber in the world – big enough to fit ten jumbo jets into the floor space (also it is gigantic enough that the great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt would just about fit inside). Located in a remote area of the Selma Plateau at 1,380 m above sea level in the Sultanate of Oman, Majlis al Jinn is a single chamber measuring about 300 m by 200 m, with a domed ceiling 120 m high. The deepest part of the cave is 178 m. The volume of the chamber is approximately 4,000,000 m³ and covering an area of around 60,000m².

This is an extremely difficult cave to negotiate, and it is important that the expedition is not undertaken lightly and without professional guidance and specialist equipment. This is an amazing cave that can be accessed through a fissure in the ground with a rope. To enter the cave, one must initially be lowered down on a free-hanging rappel. There are two drops into the chamber: one of over 150m and the other of almost 120m.

Alexandria is a tremendous city situated on the north coast of Egypt. This is where Euclid sired geometry, Aristarchus deduced that Earth revolved around the sun and of course, the young Alexander the Great founded the city as his capital in 331 B.C.

The city developed through the 19th century as the place of Egypt’s commerce, especially the trade with cotton drawing a cosmopolitan mix of Greeks, Italians, French and Jews, who brought their languages, architecture and food. The picture shows the Roman Amphitheater.

White and Blue Restaurant, also emerged as the Greek Club, is in the Hellenic Nautical Club at the end of the Corniche by Fort Qaitbay. A full dinner including grilled sea bass, served the Egyptian way (with tomato and basil) or Greek (with potatoes), is 120 Egyptian pounds.

During the last years preservationists and the government have made an effort to restore its luster after the city’s cultural grandeur began to crumble [around the 1950's]. The first sign of the city’s renewal was the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the glimmering vision in steel and glass that opened on the Corniche in 2002.

 

The hotel disposes with 150 rooms, 19 apartments, 2 VIP apartments and 4 rooms for disabled people, 3 restaurants – one for healthy food, 7 bars, library, mini golf and etc. The spa complex, set on 2500 sq. m. is well-equipped with the latest inventions in the medical industry and offers various kinds of therapies.

 Legend:
Kneipp track – a walk with alternating hot and cold feet baths
Turkish bath – a combination between aromatherapy and refreshing procedures
Egyptian bath – a combination between solarium, mud therapy and steam bath
Finnish sauna – the special Russian bath for relaxation
The Fountain of Life – a combination between underwater massage in a pearl bath, aroma and color therapy.

Today the new Museum of Islamic Art opens its doors in Doha, Qatar. The museum is placed on its own island and may be will transformed Qatar into a spectacular art destination. Qatar is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula.

The building seems austere by the standarts of the flashy attention- grabbing forms that have associate with Persian Culf cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Some people said that the museum recalled a time, when architectural expression was both, more earnest and more optmistic. The museum houses manuscripts, textiles, ceramics and other treasures, collected over the last 20 years. There’re origins of its artifacts range from Spain to Egypt to Iran, Iraq, Turkey, India and Central Asia.

The construction of the building is very strong and simple. There’s nothing superfluous.

Hospes Palacio is sitted in the middle of Cordoba, which is a historical city centre next to the Plaza Colon in Spain. The whole resort has a balanced contemporary design from 16th and 18th centuries and Moorish decorative elements with painted ceiling, rich fabrics and textures and polished marble.

Hospes Palacio resort is aggregate of several buildings arranged around in a beautiful courtyard. The main courtyard is spectacular, due to the traditional paving, which has been replaced with a glass floor.

Almost everywhere inside there’re restoring paintings and frescos from the 19th century which is an example of the care and attention given to the revitalisation of past beauty at the Hospes Palacio .

The Food & Drink area is at the SENZONE Gastronomic Restaurant, which is a place to enjoy fresh, natural and local cuisine in a contemporary atmosphere.

Each villa has broadband internet connection, safe, flat-screen TV, DVD, cordless telephones, finest quality Egyptian cotton bed linen and terry towelling, set of natural essence toiletries, bathroom accessories, hair-dryer, air conditioning and central heating, private parking.

The resort also offers BODYNA Spa & Fitness area (sauna, treatments, steam bath, ayurveda, vichy showers), 5 outdoor Andalusian patios, garden, outdoor swimming pool, living room and daily press.

The 45 guest rooms feature damask bedspreads, down pillows, and Egyptian linens. Amenities include cable TVs, dial-up Internet access, individual climate controls, hairdryers, mini-bars, in-room safes, and complimentary toiletries.

Hotel Urban is situated in the cultural centre of Madrid, Spain. The hotel has absolutely fantastic interior and offers a variety of exhibits with its private collection of ancient art and an Egyptian Museum. As well as the hotel is closed to Prado Thyssen and Princesa Sofia museums.

Hotel Urban is designed by ‘Triade Studio’, which has the amazing abilities to bring intimacy and community, function and fantasy, art and design. For the good-music connoisseurs there is a stunning Urban Glass Bar, where quests can experience colourful crowd and beautiful design elements.

In fine on the rooftop visitors will bump into spectacular pool and outstanding restaurant, allowing to view night sky and night life of Madrid. The restaurant offers a variety of delicious and authentic meals. For lovely weather, La Terraza Lounge boasts a refreshing menu, such as an imaginative wine list and cheese cart made of ebony round out the ethnic motif.

Each room in this marvelous place owns air-conditioning, CD players, LCD TV’s, fax, wireless internet connection, stylish parquet flooring, hairdryer, bathrobe, valet parking.

The Urban Hotel is perfect destination for business assignments because of its 3 fully-equipped private dining and conference rooms with accommodating up to 200 people.

Deep in the Hokkaido winter, for 7 days in mid February every year, hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures line the streets of Sapporo City. The Sapporo Snow Festival now attracts more than 2 million people every year to Hokkaido making it one of the biggest events of Japan’s festival calendar. The festival is best known for the ice sculpture competition attracting artists from around the world, competing to create the largest and most elaborate artworks from ice and snow. For these seven days in February, these statues and sculptures turn Sapporo into a winter dreamland of crystal-like ice and white snow.

The Snow Festival began in 1950, when local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park along the city’s main street. The sculptures attracted an unexpected amount of attention and gradually it became a custom for the people of Sapporo to build sculptures there every year. The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The festival’s famous large snow sculptures, some more than 15 meters tall and 25 meters wide, are exhibited there. They are lit up daily until 22:00.

The Claris Hotel is absolutely luxury five star hotel situated in the very heart of Barcelona. Its good location gives the opportunity to visit the Pasco de Gracia, the Plaza Catalunya and Avenida Diagonal. As well as the location is perfect for business assignments.

The hotel is really extraordinary place with its style of old Egypt and India. The exterior is a mixture of design and exhibited pieces of art. The hotel has a museum where part of the private collection of the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona is on display and to which visitors have free access.

The rooms of the hotel are spacious, large and decorated with one-off art pieces, indian sculptures, antique Napoleonic furniture and engravings. On the top floor terraces there is a fantastic swimming pool with great views and a gym.

For the gourmets the “East 47“, which is a very exclusive restaurant offers delicious cuisine.The restaurant connects the art and the brilliance of Andy Warhol with gastronomy and music, to the flavours of sushi, fresh caviar…

Monrat is a eco spa luxury hotel in southeast Ireland. The hotel lie at the root of 100 acres of woodland, and is being lauded as one of the finest destination spas in the world. 68 bedrooms are contained in an accommodation block nestled within Monrat’s private woodlands. All of the room offer a balcony with a lake or woodland view and the Italian marble bathrooms.

All the beds are from Pocket Pillow-Top range, the latest technology in bedding and are dressed with goose feather down duvets and Egyptian cotton 300 thread count sheets.

Day Spa programmes at Monrat (from EUR 120.00 per adult) include Day Spa and Thermal Spa. Day Spa programmes include: a select choice of 2×1 hour private treatments, a healthful lunch and access to the Gymnasium and Light & Dark Relaxation rooms. Thermal Spa include a healthful lunch with complimentary Spa refreshments.

There is also a restaurant which serves light and modern dinner fare, each evening & Sunday Lunch to both guests and non-residents.

Everything is so sophisticated and the other facilities are: 2 Suites in 18C Monart House, healthful dining Spa Cafe, 2400sqm. Spa Leading edge Thermal Spa contains; pedi spas, kneippe pool, experience showers, salt grotto, caldarium, sanarium, aromatic steam room, traditional Finnish sauna, outdoor Swedish log sauna with ice bucket shower, 55sqm. natural spring water hydrotherapy pool, traditional hammam and mud chamber Gender neutral private treatment rooms, hair salons, yoga room, outside activity classes, walks and hikes.

This icon, which is covered in silver gilt and enclosed in a shrine of tortoise shell and mother-of-pearl, holds an eminent position in the church, also see the Icon of Virgin Mary which in 1997 it is said was miraculously weeping for a whole month. Will then have the opportunity to visit the tomb of Archbishop Makarios III, the first President of Cyprus. His tomb is set among the pine forest of the Troodos foothills, 3Km west of Kykkos Monastery, where he served as a novice. Then on to Pedoulas village stroll through the villages small back streets.
The iconographic style of the icon of the Mother of God “Kykkotissa” differs from all other icon types of the Virgin Mary. It shows her with her child. Christ sits on the right side of the Virgin with his naked legs hanging down. At the beginning of the twelfth century, this icon type – “Kykkotissa” – was adopted by the Orthodox Christian world: by Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and larger areas in the Balkans. In the seventeenth century, thanks to the intellectual and cultural links with Cyprus, the “Kykkotissa” type was also adopted in Russia.
The icon was kept in the imperial palace at Constantinople. When Boutoumites heard the hermit’s wish he was taken aback because he considered such a thing impossible. Then Esaias explained to him that it was a matter of divine wish and they agreed to travel together to Constantinople for the realization of their aim.