Travel

Stockholm's landmark Ericson Globe turns 20

Stockholm's landmark Ericson Globe turns 20 Stockholm  - Pop stars, ponies, Pavarotti, ice hockey players and the late pope have all been guests at the Ericsson Globe, a Stockholm landmark building that has just turned 20.

From afar, the white building resembles a giant golf ball. Special flood lighting can, however, change the outer colour.

Since the official opening in February 1989, the arena has been the venue for the world ice hockey championships in 1989 and 1995, the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest and the late Pope John Paul II celebrated mass there in June 1989.

Sustainable tourism not derailed by economic downturn, experts say

Sustainable tourism not derailed by economic downturn, experts say Bonn, Germany  - The worldwide economic downturn will not necessarily put a damper on sustainable tourism, according to experts.

"At the moment, no change in booking behaviour is evident," Heinz Fuchs, senior policy advisor for Tourism Watch, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Tourism Watch is an agency of the Bonn-based Protestant Development Service (EED).

New York and Amsterdam celebrate 400 years of common history

New York/Amsterdam  - The history of the Big Apple began 400 years ago when the Dutch ship, the Halve Maen, commanded by Captain Henry Hudson arrived at what is now Manhattan.

The ship embarked on its journey in Amsterdam and both cities are celebrating the anniversary over the coming months with a series of parties, parades and concerts.

Amsterdam is hosting New York jazz nights while the Big Apple has invited some big names from The Netherlands such as Dans Theater II and the country's symphony orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Events begin on April 6 - the 400th anniversary of the day the Maen, flying under the flag of the Royal Dutch East India Company, began its journey westwards with the Englishman Hudson on board.

Water fights mark Thai New Year festival in April

Water fights mark Thai New Year festival in April Frankfurt, Germany  - Thais celebrate New Year in April with the Songkran Festival, which starts as a major spring cleaning before regularly escalating into good-natured water fights.

The festival is traditionally marked by cleaning one's house, Thailand's tourism authority said in Frankfurt. At the same time, the superiors of Buddhist monasteries bathe the Buddha images in the temples. Over the years, these ritual washings came to include Thais dousing each other with water.

Old West lives on in southern Arizona desert

Tucson/Bisbee  - Sunny worked for over 30 years in the copper mines of Bisbee, a town nestled in the Mule Mountains of southern Arizona about 10 kilometres from Mexico. He still heads underground almost every day with his hard hat, miner's lantern and slicker. But he no longer needs a hammer and chisel, and he leaves his metal lunch box at home, too.

Nowadays, Sunny is a tour guide at Bisbee's Copper Queen Mine, now inactive, where tons of gold, silver, copper and zinc were hacked out of the rock from 1881 to 1975. It is just one of the many attractions awaiting tourists in the desert of southern Arizona.

Hikers should not overdo it in winter

Kassel, Germany  - Even though the wintry weather in central Europe is right for hikes in the snow, hikers should not exert themselves, warned Hans-Ulrich Rauchfuss, president of the Kassel-based German Hiking Association.

Exercise in cold weather was generally good for the body, Rauchfuss added. But people who exerted themselves or perspired heavily and then cooled down could easily put excessive demands on their body's defences. So hikers should pace themselves.

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