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All photos shown are original and have not been altered except for some basic exposure and contrast corrections.
Vianden is a commune with city status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on the Our river, near the border between Luxembourg and Germany. The town of Vianden is known for its impressive castle and beautiful location in the Our valley. Tim and Miaomiao visited Vianden and its castle in June 2014.
A weekend trip to The Hague to see the musical `Tarzan` in the theater of Scheveningen. We also visited the Binnenhof, Peace Palace, Mauritshuis (with paintings such as `Girl with a pearl earring` By Johannes Vermeer), and Panorama Mesdag.
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city`s development. Arnhem has 144,101 residents (2008). We visited the christmas market in 2007.
�ze is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France, not far from the city of Nice. The area surrounding �ze was first populated around 2000 BC as a commune situated near Mount Bastide. The area was subsequently occupied by not only the Greeks and Romans but also the Moors who held the area for approximately 80 years until they were driven out by William of Provence in 973. By 1388 �ze fell under the jurisdiction of the House of Savoy, who built up the town as a fortified stronghold. In the next few centuries French and Turkish troops seized the village under orders from Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1543, and Louis XIV destroyed the walls surrounding the city in 1706 in the war of the Spanish succession. Finally in April 1860, Eze was designated as part of France by unanimous decision by the people of Eze. �ze has been described as an `eagle`s nest` because of its location overlooking a high cliff 427 metres above sea level on the French Mediterranean. We visited the town on a day trip from Nice in the spring of 2016.
On our third trip to Beijing, we visited Tiananmen Square, the National Art Museum of China, the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, the Temple of Heaven, the Houhai neighbourhood and other sites in the city center.
Rhenen is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. The municipality also includes the villages of Achterberg, Remmerden, Elst and Laareind. The town lies at a geographically interesting location, namely on the southernmost part of the chain of hills known as the Utrecht Hill Ridge, where this meets the river Rhine. Because of this Rhenen has a unique character with quite some elevation through town. Directly to the east of the built-up area lies the Grebbeberg, a hill with a top elevation of about 50 metres. We visited the Ouwehands Dierenpark, a zoo founded in 1932.
Los Cristianos is a town in Spain with a population of 21,235 (2017), situated on the south coast of the Canary Island of Tenerife. Located in the municipality of Arona between the cone of the mountain Chayofita and the greater mountain Guaza. The town centre is around the Los Cristianos bay, but is rapidly expanding inland with modern development. The town is a popular tourist resort and includes a ferry port. Unlike its bustling neighbour, Playa de las Am�ricas, this town has a history that predates the tourist boom of the 1970s and 1980s. For many years this holiday hub was a quiet fishing village and evidence of its humble origins can still be seen in the typical Canarian architecture of the older buildings. Nowadays however, the town offers a holiday experience, with two sandy beaches, a multitude of bars and restaurants and its year round sunny climate. There is a wealth of accommodation to suit all budgets, including hotels, self-catering apartments and timeshare resorts. There is also a wealth of excursions focused around the town`s busy port including dolphin and whale watching as well as game fishing trips and party cruises. We visited Los Cristianos on New Year`s Day 2019.
Qionghai is one of the seven county-level cities of Hainan province, China. Although called a `city`, Qionghai refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. Within this area is the main city, Qionghai City. It is located in the east of the island at the mouth of the Wanquan River, 86 kilometres from the provincial capital of Haikou. It has an area of 1,692 square kilometres and in 2010, it had a population of 483,217. We visited the city on our way from Haikou to Sanya.
On this fourth trip to the Efteling, we visited the attractions Fata Morgana, Diorama, Land van Laaf, Carnaval Festival and more.
Marseille is the second-largest city of France and forms the third-largest metropolitan area, after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1.6 million. We visited the Old Port.
Shaoshan is a county-level city in Xiangtan, Hunan Province. It is most popularly known as the birthplace of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People`s Republic of China. We visited Mao`s former residence and other sites related to Mao Zedong.
Goa is India`s smallest state in terms of area, and is a former Portugese colony. Two of its most important cities, Panaji and Margao, were visited, as well as some of Goa`s many beaches.
We visited the Pixar exhibition at Amsterdam Expo and the city center with the Ming dynasty exhibition at the Nieuwe Kerk church.
On our second visit to Marseille, we visited the Old Port, the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica and the La Canebi�re shopping street.
Longkou, formerly Huang County, is a port city in northeastern Shandong province, People`s Republic of China, facing the Bohai Sea to the north and the Laizhou Bay to the west. Longkou, a county-level city, is administered by the prefecture-level city of Yantai. The total population of Longkou is 620,000. We visited the Nanshan Temple and a fish restaurant on the seaside.
Sk�gafoss is a waterfall situated on the Sk�g� River in the south of Iceland at the cliffs of the former coastline. After the coastline had receded seaward (it is now at a distance of about 5 kilometres from Sk�gar), the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland. The Sk�gafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 25 metres and a drop of 60 m. Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow is normally visible on sunny days. According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, �rasi ��r�lfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. At the eastern side of the waterfall, a hiking and trekking trail leads up to the pass Fimmv�r�uh�ls between the glaciers Eyjafjallaj�kull and M�rdalsj�kull. It goes down to ��rsm�rk on the other side and continues as the famous Laugavegur to Landmannalaugar. Tim and Miaomiao visited Sk�gafoss during their trip through Iceland in the winter of 2013.
On this sixth visit to Rotterdam, we visited Miniworld Rotterdam, the Natural History Museum Rotterdam and the Markthal.
During this eleventh visit to Amsterdam we visited the exhibition `Late Rembrandt` at the Rijksmuseum, as well as some other sites in the city center.
Our second trip to the visitor centre of the Eyjafjallaj�kull glacier, in the summer of 2018.
Best is a municipality and a village in the southern Netherlands. It is situated northwest of the city Eindhoven, and is also part of the agglomeration of this city. We visited BestZoo, the village`s zoo, in the autumn of 2016.
Maastricht is a city in the Southeast of the Netherlands. It is the capital city in the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse river, at the point where the Jeker River joins it. In history Maastricht developed from a Belgic settlement, that in the Gallic Wars was conquered by the Romans and thus became a Roman settlement, to a religious centre, a garrison city and an early industrial city. Nowadays, it is known as a city of especially culture and education. Maastricht`s rich history shows from the fact that in this town no less than 1677 national heritage sites (Rijksmonumenten) are located, which is the second highest amount in a Dutch town, after Amsterdam. Furthermore, it has become known, by way of the Maastricht Treaty, as the birthplace of the European Union, European citizenship, and the single European currency, the euro. The town is popular with tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large growing international student population. Tim and Miaomiao visited the city briefly on their way to Luxembourg in June 2014.
A SC 2003 Conference visit of Tim to the desert state of Arizona, in the southwest of the USA. Phoenix is the fifth largest city of the United States with a population of 1.5 million.
San Crist�bal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands (Spain). The city is the third-most populous city of the archipelago and the second-most populous city of the island. La Laguna`s historical center was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. In 2003 the municipality started an ambitious Urban Plan to renew this area. The city was the ancient capital of the Canary Islands. La Laguna lies right alongside the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, thus the two cities and municipalities form a single large urban center, linked by tram. The city is home to the University of La Laguna which is home to 30,000 students; these are not included in the population figures for the city. La Laguna is considered to be the cultural capital of the Canary Islands. In this city one finds the legendary house of the spectre of Catalina Lercaro, as well as the incorrupt body of Sor Mar�a de Jes�s, and the Christ of La Laguna. Another emblematic building of the city is the Cathedral of La Laguna, which is the Catholic cathedral of Tenerife and its diocese. We visited La Laguna on a day trip from Costa Adeje in January 2019.