ANSWER: Austrians love to socialize, either at wine taverns or cafés where they hang out. Austrians love to ski, snowboard and even ice-climb in winter and hike/walk in the Austrian Alps and bicycle in Summer. They are also avid theater, concert and opera goers and even the small villages have bands, choirs, and folklore groups.

Photo courtesy: Austrian Tourist Office / Ascher

Photos courtesy: Österreich Werbung / J. Mallaun / Himsl

What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about Austria?

ANSWER: Austria is over 1000 years old and up until the 20th Century was one of the world’s largest empires. Austria became a European power not by warfare, but by strategically marrying into the other royal families of Europe thereby neutralizing any enemies. A good example of this is Empress Maria Theresa’s daughter, the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, who married King Louis XIV and ended up losing her head.

Top Photo courtesy: Austrian Tourist Office / Trumler
Bottom Photos courtesy: Österreich Werbung / Trumler / Lammerhuber

Share some aspect of Austria as regards to what it has contributed to the world.

ANSWER: In the field of music alone, composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Strauss, Josef Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg brought great joy to the world.

Photos courtesy: Österreich Werbung / Gruenert / Trumler

Photo courtesy: Austrian Tourist Office / Mayer

For further information about Austria, click-on: www.austria.info/us

The post The Austria You Didn’t Know appeared first on Traveling Boy.

What are some of the “things” or activities that people in Norway do for fun?

ANSWER: Friluftsliv, directly translated as “open air living”, is the Norwegian way of outdoor recreation and an important part of the Norwegian cultural legacy.

What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about Norway?

ANSWER: Norway has evolved from the poorest nation in Western Europe to the wealthiest – yet we don’t boast or show-off and still live a frugal lifestyle. Of course, we’re the only nation in the world who goes shopping in Sweden for bargains.

Share some aspect of Norway as regards to what it has contributed to the world.

ANSWER: I think the Trampe (Norwegian: Sykkelheisen Trampe) is the first and only bicycle lift and is absolutely more fun than anything else. The prototype was built in 1993 in Trondheim, and still in service today. Trampe is a Norwegian verb meaning “to stomp”. We also invented the Cheese slicer.

For further information about Norway, click on: www.visitnorway.com

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Question 1: What are some of the “things” or activities that the people of Kraków do for fun?

Answer:

Tourists: sightseeing, shopping, clubbing, eating in restaurants, walking (source: the annual research of tourist traffic in Kraków).

Inhabitants: shopping, going to day spa, eating in restaurants, going to the zoo and boulevards of the Vistula river.

Question 2: What is one thing the public probably does NOT know about Kraków?

Answer:

Lajkonik, Hejnal z Wiezy Mariackiej, Muzeum Bursztynu, Muzeum Witrazu, Muzeum Lotnictwa, Twierdza Kraków. Also The nuclear/air-raid shelters in Nowa Huta, Crèches, The Dragon Monument and The Dog Monument (called Dzok [Jock]), the symbol of fidelity.

Question 3: What has Kraków contributed to the world?

Answer:

Pope John Paul the II, The Jagiellonian University, Poet Wislawa Szymborska, Rynek Glówny – Main Market Square – the biggest medieval square in Europe.

The post Kraków, Poland appeared first on Traveling Boy.

ANSWER: In the South of France, the French play petanque. In the winter in the alps, many families go on holiday, especially in March, to ski and snowshoe. And the French enjoy the “art de vivre” [art of living], relax, cook, eat, spend time with family and drink wonderful French wine!

Photos courtesy: ATOUT FRANCE – France Tourism Development Agency

Photos courtesy: ATOUT FRANCE – France Tourism Development Agency

2. What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about France?

ANSWER: That France is the size of Texas. France has 22 regions and 88 departments, and that a region could be compared to a state and a department to a county in our US system.

Photos courtesy: ATOUT FRANCE – France Tourism Development Agency

3. Share some aspect of France as regards to what it has contributed to the world.

ANSWER: The X- ray, the moving pictures, and hot air balloons were all invented in France by French citizens.

The post What We Didn’t Know About France appeared first on Traveling Boy.

Question: What are some of the “things” or activities that people who live in Hanover do for fun?

There are numerous activities in Hanover that locals enjoy, including surfing on the Leine River right in the heart of the Old Town district. A surfable wave has been created there by installing a hydraulically controllable system, allowing water sports enthusiasts to engage in ‘rapid surfing.’

During summer, the annual Maschsee Lake Festival transforms the promenades around the Maschsee shores into one of Northern Germany’s largest open-air parties, featuring various stages and a wide array of entertainment acts.

In the winter, locals and visitors come together and drink mulled wine at the Christmas market. There are more than 100 festively decorated stalls selling culinary delights, as well as local goods, such wooden toys from the Erzgebirge.

Question: What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about Hanover?

One lesser-known fact about Hanover is its status as one of Germany’s greenest cities. The capital of Lower Saxony boasts over 2,100 acres of public green spaces, including the ‘green lung’ of the city, the Eilenriede, which alone extends to about 1,600 acres in the city’s center, nearly twice the size of New York’s Central Park. The city center also features Maschpark and Maschsee Lake, along with historic parks like the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, which include a renowned baroque garden.”

A hidden gem of the city is the singing manhole cover in the city center. A Germany-wide unique piece surprises onlookers with unexpected music and adds a playful touch to the cityscape.

Question: What has Hanover contributed to the world?

Hanover has made significant contributions to the world, particularly in the realm of music technology. It is the birthplace of the first vinyl record, the production site of the first music cassette, and the location where the first CD was pressed. These innovations have played a crucial role in Hanover being designated a ‘UNESCO City of Music’ in December 2014, a title that celebrates the city’s ongoing influence on musicians and music technology.

The post Three Things About Hanover, Germany appeared first on Traveling Boy.

1. What are a few things the public probably does NOT know about Northern Ireland?

Answer:

We’re surprised how many tourists are unaware that Northern Ireland, along with England, Scotland and Wales, make up the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” We share the island with our friends in the Republic of Ireland. The land that makes up Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. Belfast’s location at the mouth of the River Lagan made an ideal location for the shipbuilding industry. Harland and Wolff had the largest shipyard in the world when it built the RMS Titanic during 1911-1912. Titanic Belfast is the World’s largest Titanic visitor experience and must-see attraction in Northern Ireland. By 2014, the Catholic population in Belfast has risen to 49 percent, while the Protestant population has dropped to 42 percent, according to BBC News. Northern Ireland’s Tayto crisps are made at a 500-year-old castle. They are sent to Northern Irish people all around the world as a “taste of home.” The Game of Thrones TV series employs more locals than the civil service.

2. Question: What are some of the “things” or activities that people in Northern Ireland do for fun?

Answer:

The Golden Mile describes the area between Belfast City Hall and Queen’s University, with some of the best bars and restaurants in the city. Sports in Northern Ireland is important in the lives of many people. Most sports are organized on an all-Ireland basis, for example rugby union, gaelic games, basketball, rugby league, hockey and cricket, where as others, like association football and netball are organized on a separate basis for Northern Ireland. There’s also an annual bog snorkeling competition.

3. Share some aspect of what Northern Ireland has contributed to the world.

Answer:

We’re the country that built the Titanic, and the birthplace of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, the world’s oldest (legal) whiskey distillery.

We’ve also contributed to the world:

Van Morrison – musician
Kenneth Branagh – actor and director
George Best – Gaelic footballer
Liam Neeson – actor
Derek Mahon – poet
Phil Coulter – songwriter, pianist
Paula Malcomson – actress
Sam Neill – actor
Peter Canavan – Gaelic footballer
James Nesbitt – actor
Stephen Rea – actor

For further information, go to Discover Northern Ireland

The post Northern Ireland appeared first on Traveling Boy.

Q one: What was your first memory of Seattle?

When my family arrived from Canada, I was eleven, and was very naïve and ignorant of the ways of the world that day. So, my first memory was moving into a small apartment on Lower Queen Anne Hill. Eventually I would become a high school student on the top its hill, the first place I met my lifelong friend, Ed Boitano, now an editor of www.TravelingBoy.com.

As we unloaded our baggage, though there wasn’t much, for the small apartment was fully furnished, I noticed there was a strange buzz in the air, unlike anything I had ever heard before.

Later, I learned it came from concert at the site of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, by a rock group from Liverpool, who had shockingly long hair. They were named the Beatles, and in a few years would have a great impact in my own life. Soon I transitioned to John Lennon government issued horn rimmed glasses and began to wear my hair long.

Q two: When you were young, how did your parents transition into a new life in Seattle?

My father was a Cockney Londoner, who was a boxer before joining the British Merchant Marines. One of the vessels took him to Winnipeg, where he met and married a 14-year-old Canadian farm girl, who gave birth to my brother and me.

My father, Peter, found a graveyard position as a security guard in downtown Seattle’s new 50 Story Bank Building. We were proud of his new tenure, though others though it was absurb to take pride in such a low profession. But we would remind them, it was an honest job, and he was in charge of protecting a high building, which was then the tallest throughout Seattle.

Q three. You speak with admiration about your father. You must have gotten along with him.

As I said, my father was a Cockney from London, and my brother and I would laugh, when others could not understand what he was saying. And sometimes we would laugh at ourselves, too; for we couldn’t understand a single word he was saying either, and were given a one-way ticket to be alone in our bedroom.

In the early morning, around 6 a.m., his night of work was over, and he would pack our family in a Studebaker for a trip to Seattle’s Green Lake.

And it was there that he taught me how to swim and dive. Due to the early morning hour, the area that surrounded Green Lake was empty of people, and we had the lake to ourselves. And I enjoyed the solitude, for no others would see me struggle and swim, and laugh at me as I crawled up to the shore.

Our high school on the top of Queen Anne Hill was famous for its setting and spectacular city views. But for us it was just an old building and we would barely notice the views. Ed Boitano had Norwegian uncles who were QA Grizzly graduates in the 1910s. Recently, he informed me that General Leslie Groves, who was played by Matt Damon in the 2023 film, Oppenheimer, was QA alumni of the class of 1914.

My Seattle friend, Ed, would boast that he could watch the Space Needle’s construction from his elementary school playground at the Seattle district of Magnolia. He would also boast that he was a native Seattleite, while I was only a mere transplant from distant Canada. These things have always been important to him… for he likes to be one up on the next guy.

The post Memories of Seattle’s Queen Ann Hill appeared first on Traveling Boy.

Question: What are some of the “things” or activities that people who live in Hanover do for fun?

There are numerous activities in Hanover that locals enjoy, including surfing on the Leine River right in the heart of the Old Town district. A surfable wave has been created there by installing a hydraulically controllable system, allowing water sports enthusiasts to engage in ‘rapid surfing.’

During summer, the annual Maschsee Lake Festival transforms the promenades around the Maschsee shores into one of Northern Germany’s largest open-air parties, featuring various stages and a wide array of entertainment acts.

In the winter, locals and visitors come together and drink mulled wine at the Christmas market. There are more than 100 festively decorated stalls selling culinary delights, as well as local goods, such wooden toys from the Erzgebirge.

Question: What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about Hanover?

One lesser-known fact about Hanover is its status as one of Germany’s greenest cities. The capital of Lower Saxony boasts over 2,100 acres of public green spaces, including the ‘green lung’ of the city, the Eilenriede, which alone extends to about 1,600 acres in the city’s center, nearly twice the size of New York’s Central Park. The city center also features Maschpark and Maschsee Lake, along with historic parks like the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, which include a renowned baroque garden.”

A hidden gem of the city is the singing manhole cover in the city center. A Germany-wide unique piece surprises onlookers with unexpected music and adds a playful touch to the cityscape.

Question: What has Hanover contributed to the world?

Hanover has made significant contributions to the world, particularly in the realm of music technology. It is the birthplace of the first vinyl record, the production site of the first music cassette, and the location where the first CD was pressed. These innovations have played a crucial role in Hanover being designated a ‘UNESCO City of Music’ in December 2014, a title that celebrates the city’s ongoing influence on musicians and music technology.

The post Three Things About Hanover, Germany appeared first on Traveling Boy.