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VPG-DVD-233 - ZANZIBAR Zanzibar is a paradise-like island just off the Tanzanian coast. An island of spice and exotic aromas, sultans' palaces, harems, shining white beaches and fiery red sunsets. The ancient oriental city of Zanzibar derived its name from its many old stone buildings. Charming and mysterious they have witnessed much of the island's dramatic past and the tangled architecture of coral stone and shell lime serves as a fascinating backdrop to this colourful city that is strongly influenced by an Arabian way of life. In the north of the old town is one of the island's most beautiful buildings, the Ismali Dispensarium. It was built by a wealthy Indian businessman and was originally a hospital with an adjoining pharmacy. Today it contains a cultural centre. The house of the infamous Tippu Tip who was once Zanzibar's biggest slave trader, has not yet been restored. He was an extremely unpleasant man who sent his servants into the African bush to catch slaves who were later sold in Zanzibar Livingstone House was built in 1861. The famous missionary and explorer once resided there prior to going on his final expedition. He was frequently the guest of Tippu Tip who offered Dr. Livingstone various maps that were based upon his slave routes. A tropical paradise just off the African coast with the flair of the Orient, historic architecture and the colours of Africa. Zanzibar is most assuredly a legendary and fairy-tale island of global culture.
Vista Point ZANZIBAR...
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m24s
Views: 30  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-173 - VANCOUVER Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada and one of the most beautiful on the American continent, a dynamic metropolis set in a beautiful location with a temperate climate throughout the year. Close to the harbour area the city's skyscrapers have proliferated in recent years. The capital of the southwestern province of British Columbia has developed into an economic centre of renown. The city's oldest buildings were built less than a hundred years ago because the former wooden houses of old Vancouver were destroyed by fire. Several buildings reflect the origin of their inhabitants and are similar to those in the United States and Europe. Inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, an elegant structure of pink stone and glass, Canada Place, is located in the busy centre of the new harbour district and is also the city's most recent landmark. Close by is Harbour Centre, a modern skyscraper complex with a shopping centre and a Skylift to the top floor. A glass elevator transports visitors to a one hundred and sixty seven-metre high observation platform where the view across the city, harbour and bay is overwhelming. The exciting Skytrain is the city's most popular means of transport, an ultra-modern train built on posts that zig zags its way through the city. Each of the city's most important destinations are easily accessible and it has reduced the city's traffic problems considerably. For the World Exhibition of 1986, on the edge of Chinatown gardeners and craftsmen from Suzhou in China established Canada's first classical Chinese garden, the Doctor Sun Yat Sen Garden. Its ponds, bridges and small pavilions are similar to those in China, masterpieces of Far Eastern garden design. Everything in Vancouver is youthful, attractive and dynamic, a place in which Canadian politeness unites with the Pacific way of life!
Vista Point VANCOUVER Canada
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m28s
Views: 27  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-216 - VALLETTA Valletta is the capital city of the Mediterranean island of Malta and is also known as The City of Palaces. It was once inhabited in turn by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Turks and in 1530 the Order of the Knights of Malta moved its main residence to this section of the island. Malta's pre-historic epoch is demonstrated by its primeval stone temples and graves. They belong to the Menhir period that extended to the British Isles. The St. John's Co-Cathedral was built in1577 by Gerolama Cassar as a monastic church of the Order of the Knights of Malta. At the command of Pope Pius the 7th, in 1816 it was designated as a cathedral and was given the same privileges as the bishop's seat in Medina, thus its somewhat strange title of 'Co-Cathedral'. Situated on the northernmost point of the peninsula is the famous Saint Elmo Fort, a dominant feature of the coast. Throughout the centuries it has been witness to many bloody battles and much courageous resistance. It reached its zenith during the time of the Knights of Saint John who expanded the fortress and made it almost totally impregnable. Its walls successfully fended off the Turks and later the French blocked off the harbour entrance to the British fleet. During the Second World War anti- aircraft artillery were positioned on the fort's upper levels to defend against both German and Italian bombers. The Orient and the Occident have both left their traces in Valletta a picturesque location carved from stone. The former City Of Knights in which the future joins with the past.
Vista Point VALLETTA Malta
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m27s
Views: 24  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-103 - TUSCANY Tuscany was named after the Etruskans, who were called 'Tusci' by the Romans. The kingdom was eventually divided into independent dukedoms and, from 1531, the Medici ruled, a family of businessmen and bankers. Capital of Tuscany is Florence, a city of art and joie de vivre and past home of important artists and sculptors such as Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, plus the writers Dante and Boccaccio, not to mention the scientist, Galileo Galilei. Lucca, one of Tuscany's most important historical towns, rises from the lower reaches of the Serchio river, on a former swamp. Dating from the Middle Ages, it is surrounded by a massive 4.2 kilometre long brick wall which helped the town retain its independence, and also protected it from the floodwaters of the Serchio. The precarious imperfection of The Leaning Tower Of Pisa is in stark contrast to the grandiose palaces and religious buildings of the Medici family and the natural contours of the hills and mountains of this European nirvana complete the connection between art and nature. Tuscany satisfies all the senses!
Vista Point Tuscany Italy
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m34s
Views: 29  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-121 - TORONTO Toronto is a sensational city. Canada's 'secret' capital: boomtown, show town and financial metropolis, clean, safe and with five million inhabitants. Gigantic skyscrapers and with a frenetic lifestyle, Toronto is where many Canadian banks and multi-national companies have their palatial offices of steel and glass built in what was once a waterfront wilderness. The old City Hall was built in 1899 in Victorian style and consists mainly of sandstone. Its Venetian clock tower faces an array of modern skyscrapers and almost opposite is the futuristic looking new City Hall, a symbol of the city's cosmopolitan flair. It's easy to become disorientated in Toronto's Underground City. Most of this subterranean complex extends beneath the financial district and is the largest of its type in the world with countless shops, restaurants and subway stations. An endless network of corridors and passages connects these vast shopping centres and offices to the Central Business District. Since 1975 the city has possessed a unique monument, the Canadian National Tower or, the C.N.Tower. At a speed of six metres a second four external elevators zoom to the top of the building and it takes only fifty-eight seconds to reach the Skypod platform. The massive Skydome stadium is home to the Blue Jays baseball team. The huge pitch contains a hundred and six rolls of light green turf and is illuminated by more than seven hundred two thousand watt spotlights. The building is multi-functional and has a movable dome that can be opened and closed as necessary depending upon the weather. Niagara Falls, although extremely touristy, is an unforgettable experience. For the adventurous there are bridges and platforms close to the raging waters and the roar of the mighty torrent can be heard from a great distance while the awe-inspiring view of the waterfalls make it easy to forget the surrounding hustle and bustle of fellow sightseers. The Indian meeting place of bygone times has been transformed into a huge city that is a true gem among Canada's other great cities. Toronto is without a doubt the most multicultural city in the world!
Vista Point TORONTO Canada
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m39s
Views: 24  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-162 - MEXICO CITY Mexico City is a vivid metropolis and cosmopolitan city situated on a plateau in the central highlands at an altitude of 2, 286 metres - where the food is spicy and the Tequila flows freely! The city's fascinating history is reflected in both its art and architecture with age old charm, Indian roots and elegant buildings. Until the Spanish conquest the Templo Mayor was the setting of coronations and human sacrifice. The remains of the walls within which thousands of priests once lived are only a few steps from the buildings of the country's former Spanish conquerors. Construction of the country's largest cathedral, the Catedral Metropolitana, took two hundred and fifty years. The lower section is quite plain but the upper section is of Baroque and Neo-Classical design. Spanish administrative buildings and private houses in the heart of the city have replaced the temples of ancient Mexico and has resulted in a synthesis of both old and new architectural styles. An elevator ascends the Torre Latino America, an earthquake-proof tower that was built in 1958. A viewing platform provides a wonderful panoramic view that includes the Palacio De Bellas Artes and the Juarez Monument. Located fifty kilometres from Mexico City are the ancient remains of Teotihuacan that was once a centre of trade, art and ritual ceremonies. At its zenith in 500 A.D. it was as large as Rome and its Sun Pyramid is one of the greatest building achievements of ancient times. In 1988 Unesco attributed this complex as being 'one of the most important cultural centres of Mankind'. The author Pablo Neruda once said: 'No other land on Earth possesses such remarkable human profoundness than Mexico and its inhabitants'. For surprises, sights and history galore, Mexico has to be at the top of the list!
Vista Point MEXICO CITY...
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m5s
Views: 16  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-133 - MACAU After four hundred and sixty-six years, Portugal handed back the city of Macau to China. It is small and museum-like, a fine example of colonial Portugal on the South China Sea. The Fortaleza Do Monte is a typical Portuguese fortified complex strategically located on a hill above the old cathedral in the heart of the city. Its many old canon and mighty fortress walls are reminders of those times when invasion was a constant threat. The old centre of the city is the triangular Largo Do Senado, Senate Square. Its wonderful colonial buildings with their light-coloured facades were built at the end of the 19th century and completely renovated in the final decade of the 20th. Macau's largest Buddhist temple, Kun Iam Tong, dates back four hundred years to the Ming Dynasty when its original foundations were built. Beyond its main gate just off a busy street in the north of the city, is a peaceful oasis of silence and contemplation, a mystic place in which stone lions, golden Buddhas and all who visit are surrounded by serene, aromatic wisps of smoke. The beautiful Jardim Lou Lim Ioc Park is situated in the northern, less touristy business district of the city. It was designed in the 19th century by a wealthy Chinese trader, Lou Kau. This marvellous oasis is an idyllic setting with a lotus pond, rocks, grottos and waterfalls. Excursions are available on restored motorised junks that leave from the City's harbour several times a day. Taipa is the largest of the two islands that belong to Macau. The tangled and narrow alleys in the centre of Vila Taipa abound with rural character and Portuguese street signs are painted on azulejus. The island's shops and light-coloured houses would be equally at home in Portugal. Although the Macau of today has much contemporary flair it continues to enjoy a rich colonial inheritance that is well worth seeing.
Vista Point MACAU China
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m44s
Views: 26  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-229 - LAPLAND Finnish Lapland is a region of around ninety four thousand square kilometres covered by forests and marshland, similar to Swedish Lapland. The local inhabitants live in harmony with nature and the six thousand five hundred Sami people have managed to preserve their unique landscape right up until the present day. Rovaniemi is a modern and lively main town in northern Finland and the gateway to Lapland. The famous Arktikum Museum provides a comprehensive insight into life in the Artic Circle. Two large rivers, the Ounasjoki and the Kemijoki, meet in Rovaniemi from were lumberjacks and gold prospectors once embarked upon their pioneering adventures. Today the city is a centre of tourism. Pajakyla is the home of Santa Claus and is open throughout the year. In the Arctic Circle eight kilometres north of the city is a special attraction that attracts six hundred thousand visitors each year: several tiny log cabins contain Santa's work rooms and a number of his helpers in traditional Lap costume offer a variety of colourful arts and crafts. In Lapland each season of the year has a special charm. The summer months are warm, in autumn the leaves shine out in golden yellow and in winter the landscape is covered with snow and ice. The hilly landscape of the large Pallas Ounastunturi National Park is located in the north west, close to the Swedish border and its treeless slopes make it one of the most popular winter ski resorts in Finland. Lapland is a land of countless myths and legends where remoteness, adventure and romance have managed to survive and where the power of nature is still very much alive.
Vista Point LAPLAND Finland
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m27s
Views: 25  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-114 HABANA La Habana, capital of Cuba, the Caribbean metropolis that for many decades has been so little loved and so badly neglected, with breathtakingly restored beauty alongside unbelievable ruins - the queen of the Antilles in a country that lies between sun and socialism, between Rumba and Revolution! As early as 1553, the Spanish Conquistadors chose Havana's harbour as a rendezvous for ships that traded gold and silver in its colonies and, to protect this 'Gateway To The New World' from attack by looters, several forts were built, the oldest of which being the Castello El Morro whose construction took more than two decades. As standards of living progressed, pirates and buccaneers came here and repeatedly destroyed parts of the growing town but each time they did so it was rebuilt and improved. La Bodeguita Del Medio was once Hemmingway's local drinking place and nowhere else is the ‚Mojito' mixed better: three year old white rum, lime juice, soda, sugar, ice and mint. Whether it be the Teatro Marti, the Old Tobacco Factory, the famous Bacardi House, or the Floridita Bar, everywhere there is a feeling of nostalgia and when the Daiquiri is served one almost expects Fidel Castro to be seated at the next table! The Nacional Hotel, which was built in 1930 with Mafia money and once accommodated prominent people from the film and business world, exudes nostalgic dreams of unmitigated pleasures. A city whose riches once seemed boundless, La Habana now rests in sleepy magic waiting to be discovered once again.
Vista Point LA HABANA...
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m17s
Views: 13  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-199 - KØBENHAVN Copenhagen is the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark and is situated on the east coast of Sæland Island on the Öresund, the link between the North Sea and the Baltic. It is a European capital of culture, home country of the Little Mermaid and a successful combination of Scandinavian elegance and Middle-European joie de vivre. In 1167 Bishop Absalon Of Roskilde was granted by King Valdemar an area of land on Öresund to which the small settlement of Havn also belonged. For the protection of both fishermen and traders he built a fortress and the settlement developed into Kobmandshavn, the Harbour Of The Traders. Copenhagen was born and the fortress was continuously enlarged until in 1376 a castle was built on its foundation. The huge Christiansborg Slot extends across the larger part of Slotsholmen, Castle Island and it has been Denmark's power base for hundreds of years. The huge statue in the square features King Frederik The 7th on horseback, a monarch known in Danish history as the 'King Of Democracy'. Each day crowds of people make for Copenhagen's world famous landmark, The Little Mermaid, created by artist Edward Eriksen. Tiny and elegant and seated on a stone she gazes yearningly across the sea oblivious to the city's hustle and bustle. The Rundetårn is an unusual building that was built at the command of the Renaissance king, Christian The Fourth. Its circular tower is thirty-six metres high and has a diameter of fifteen metres. In place of a conventional stairway royal architects Hans and Morten Van Steenwinkel constructed a winding two hundred and nine metre long ramp. Thus the somewhat rotund king was able to travel without difficulty by carriage to the astrological observatory at the top! Copenhagen is a friendly metropolis in which tolerance and openness are the order of the day, a 'City On The Sea' that fascinates all who experience it.
Vista Point Copenhagen...
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m20s
Views: 10  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-140 - CHENGDE The Qing emperors knew exactly where to shelter during Peking's hot summer months: in the Valley Of Coolness, at that time a beautiful forested river valley two hundred and fifty kilometres north east of Peking. In former Rehe, today's Chengde, is the old summer residence of the Manshu Dynasty that took more than a century to construct. The Forbidden Palace and its park and gardens are now open to the public. Just as in Peking the emperor went about his official business in the southern front hall with the royal living quarters situated in the rear section of the complex. The huge garden with its many ponds and bridges is encircled by a ten kilometre wall beyond which are several large valleys. The garden covers five hundred and sixty hectares and is the largest Imperial park complex in China: a unique architectural work of art. The temple monastery of Xumi-Fushou-Miao is one of the most impressive buildings in the city. Translated, the temple's name is, "Happiness And Longevity Of The Summer Hill". The temple was built in 1780 to mark the visit to China of a senior Tibetan religious dignitary, the sixth Panchen Lama, and is a replica of what was his own monastery in Tibet. The Mahayana Pavilion is the centre of Buddhist religious belief, namely, Sumeru Mountain. Thus the five-storey building is located in the middle of an architectural mandala. The magnificent opulence of the Pavilion was a reflection of China's vast wealth. Each one of the architectural elements that are situated close to the Mahayana Pavilion adhere to the disciplined structure of the Buddhist Universe. In the 18th century China had become the greatest and most prosperous Empire in the world. The magnificent summer residence of the Qing Emperor and its surrounding buildings are a glorious and remarkable demonstration of ultimate power.
Vista Point CHENGDE China
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m33s
Views: 13  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
VPG-DVD-170 - BUDAPEST Budapest, capital of Hungary, is the pearl of the Danube and a constantly changing metropolis. Hungary was once a kingdom but then came the Turks who were followed by the Habsburgs and Maria Theresia who became 'Queen of Hungary'. The historic centre of Budapest is dominated by its noble castle that towers above the banks of the Danube. A one hundred metre long cable railway that dates back to 1870 is both a practical and fascinating way to ascend the hill to the castle. Each day the area around the castle, the Fischerbastel, that has never played a military role, attracts large numbers of tourists. Margareten Island is set amid the Danube and is Budapest's vast entertainment area. It was at its most colourful during the Romantic period of the 18th and 19th centuries when it was a meeting place for poets, philosophers and artists. A small hotel was built for its creative community and it became an island of artists and dreamers. In the area of the city called Pest there is a splendid building with a mighty cupola, The Parliament, the city's main landmark and an important part of Hungary's historic past. In 1867 Buda and Pest were acknowledged by the Emperor as the seat of the Hungarian government with its own parliament. The building resembles London's Houses of Parliament. Hungary is a fusion of two different cultural regions as indicated by its architecture and lifestyle and it is very much where the order of the Occident unites with the calmness of the Orient.
Vista Point BUDAPEST Hungary
Categories: Holiday Location and Places 
Added: 209 days ago
By: travel-video
Runtime: 1m46s
Views: 11  | Comments: 0
Rating: Not yet rated
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