Italy Travel

Vicenza, Italy - Travel Photos by Galen R Frysinger,Sheboygan, Wisconsin Vicenza townsquare Vicenza (ancient Vicentia ), city in northern Italy, capital of Vicenza Province, in Veneto Region, situated at the junction of the Bacchiglione and Retrone rivers. Vicenza is a commercial and manufacturing center. Products include textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, and processed food. The town is noted for its splendid churches, palaces, and other buildings, many of which were designed by the architect Andrea Palladio. Parts of a 13th-century wall that encircled the town are still standing. so-called Basilica, or town hall, of Vicenza. (renovations started by Palladio in 1549) Vicenza was originally a Ligurian town. A free commune in the Middle Ages, it was ruled by Venice from 1404 to 1797 and by Austria from 1797 to 1866. The city was badly damaged in World War II (1939-1945). Population (1990 estimate) 109,333. Palladio, Andrea (1508-80), Italian architect, one of the most influential architects in European history. Palladio was born November 30, 1508, in Padua (Padova), and trained as a stonemason. Originally named Andrea di Pietro dalla Gondola, he received the name Palladio when he joined the academy of the Italian poet Giangiorgio Trissino, who oversaw Palladio's architectural studies. Trissino took him to Rome, where Palladio studied and measured Roman architectural ruins; he also absorbed the treatises of Vitruvius, possibly the most important of the Roman architects. One outcome of these studies was Palladio's Antiquities of Rome (1554), the principal guidebook to Roman ruins for the next two centuries. Palladio's first work of major importance was the renovation (begun 1549) of the facade and exterior supporting structure of the so-called Basilica, or town hall, of Vicenza. In and near Vicenza he designed many residences and public buildings. The best known of these are the Barbarano, Chieregati, Tiene, Porto, and Valmarana palaces and the Villa Capri, or Villa Rotonda. From about 1560 to 1580 he built several churches in Venice, notably San Francesco della Vigna, San Giorgio Maggiore, and Il Redentore. His last great work was the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, completed after his death (in Vicenza) in August 1580. Villa Rotonda Although the historical antecedents of Palladio's style are the classically Roman-influenced High Renaissance works of architects such as the Italian Donato Bramante, Palladio's own use of classical motifs came through his direct, extensive study of Roman architecture. He freely recombined elements of Roman buildings as suggested by his own building sites and by contemporary needs. At the same time he shared the Renaissance concern for harmonious proportion, and his facades have a noteworthy simplicityalmost austerityand repose. Palladio was the first architect to develop a systematic organization of the rooms in a house. He was also the first to apply to houses the pedimented porticos of Roman templesformal porches defined by a shallow triangular gable supported by a row of columns. Both these features are exemplified in the Villa Rotonda. Palladio's buildings were highly functional, often ingeniously so. In the facade of the basilica, for example, the arches are supported on slender columns; between the columns and the vertical piers that separate the arches are narrow rectangular spaces. (This pattern of an arch flanked by rectangular spaces was so widely imitated that it became known as the Palladian motif.) The arrangement allows the piers between the arches to be narrow, rather than wide and massive, and it allows more light to pass into the main building while giving the facade an open, harmonious appearance. Palladio was the author of an important scientific treatise on architecture, I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (1570, 2nd ed. 1580; trans. The Four Books of Architecture, 1571), which was widely translated and influenced many later architects. Its precise rules and formulas were widely utilized, especially in England, and were basic to the Palladian style, adopted by Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, and other English architects, which preceded and influenced the neoclassical architecture of the Georgian Style. Text by Microsoft Encarta building facade Fortress in Soave entrance courtyard carved stair post Return to Italy page Return to Europe page Return to People and Places

Russia Travel

David Tomanek's Russia Travel Page David Tomanek's Russia Travel Page This is one of the most unusual destinations I have visited so far.Below are some of the noteworthy facts you will appreciate knowing as a visitor. To a large degree unspoiled by the Communist system, Russians (and other nationals of the former Soviet Union) have kept up withtheir tradition of hospitality. While service personnel may be unfriendly, people are generally friendly, caring and helpful on a personal level. Culture in its original sense, not restricted to performingarts or architecture, and including culture of human relationships,is highly valued. It is truly a joy to get involved in a livelydiscussion with Russians about Art, Science or Politics, and feel theexcitement and deep desire to find the fundamental truth. This alonemakes an encounter with the Russian culture worth the trip. With amazing accuracy, locals spot foreigners even beforethey open their mouth. By default, foreigners are assumed to beAmericans. Ownership of a car provides drivers with a license to kill. To alesser degree, this also applies at pedestrian cross­walks,where car drivers exercise their right of way somewhat lessaggressively. The dual­pricing system, where foreigners are charged a higherrate than locals for the same service, is an outgrowth of plannedeconomy in desperate need for resources. More resources are believedto be generated using the well­established method to increase egg production by forcing chickens to lay several eggs a day, rather thanacquiring more chickens. This dual­pricing system has recently reached a new level ofabsurdity. As an example, the beautiful state Hermitage museum in St.Petersburg charges foreigners 15­20 times more than Russians. Individual tourism is efficiently suppressed by linking visarequirements to a hotel reservation. This provides hotels with aneffective monopoly on visa, and allowing for hotel rates, applied toforeigners, to be a multiple of those applied to locals. Individualtourists are often asked to pay the price of a western first­classhotel accommodation for a room without running water or toilet paper. One unusual exception from this rule is the American­founded Youth Hostel in St. Petersburg .It charges locals and visitors the same rate of US$ 19 per night perperson (as of Summer 1997) in clean rooms with few beds. Showers andtoilets are unusually clean by local hotel standards. There are noage restrictions. Most important, the hostel is run very efficientlyby an in­house travel agency that specializes in arranging visa. Thehostel/travel agency runs a server on the internet and a very useful Web site . The staff are helpful and experienced, and routinely make use oftheir in­house e­mail and fax facilities. ... back to David Tomanek's home page David Tomanek at Michigan State University tomanek@pa.msu.edu This page has been visited 1325 times. Last update: 15 July 1997.

European Vacation U.S. Front

U.S. Front Groups Take a European Vacation - Center for Media and Democracy Center for Media and Democracy Publishers of PR Watch Home Spin of the Day Dec 08, 2005 U.S. Front Groups Take a European Vacation U.S. Front Groups Take a European Vacation Topics: corporations | lobbying | global warming Source: The Independent (UK), December 8, 2005 Britain's Independent reports on a "detailed and disturbing strategy document" authored by a U.S.-based Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) official that seeks "to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change ." CEI's Chris Horner , also a senior figure in the " Cooler Heads Coalition ," is "a veteran campaigner against Kyoto." CEI has received "almost $1.5m from ExxonMobil ." Horner's plan "seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks , commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe," under the name " European Sound Climate Policy Coalition ." The coalition, Horner suggested, would be based in Brussels and have "anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking" devoted to undermining the accord. He pitched the plan to Ford Europe, Lufthansa and German utility company RWE; the document says that Lufthansa, Exxon and Ford "have already indicated their interest." Asked by the Independent whether a U.S. lobbyist funded in part by oil companies should be targeting European companies, Horner replied, "Everybody else does." login or register to post comments | printer friendly version Home SourceWatch PR Watch Spin of the Day Books Forum Volunteer News Feeds Donate Search this site advanced search About Us The Center for Media and Democracy About PR Watch Staff Biographies Financial Supporters Privacy Policy Contact Us Navigation recent posts news aggregator syndication Syndicate more User login Username: Password: Create new account Request new password Topics activism animal rights arts/culture corporations corporate social responsibility tort reform democracy education environment agriculture mad cow disease biotechnology global warming nuclear power sludge ethics gay/lesbian health food safety human rights international labor lobbying marketing advertising guerrilla marketing media citizen journalism internet journalism pundits pharmaceuticals politics left wing right wing propaganda public relations astroturf crisis management front groups issue management public diplomacy third party technique video news releases race/ethnic issues religion rhetoric science secrecy social justice think tanks tobacco U.S. government war/peace Iraq terrorism women Weekly Spin Enter your email address to get our free weekly bulletin about spin and propaganda in the media. Books Banana Republicans Weapons of Mass Deception Trust Us, We're Experts Mad Cow USA Toxic Sludge Is Good For You Recent blog posts USAID in Indonesia: Expecting Waves of Gratitude Tracking the Zigs and Zags of Issues The Victory of Spin Fake News: It's the PR Industry Against the Rest of Us Academic Freedom Ain't What It Used to Be One Step Forward (But Two Back) in the Fight Against Fake News Support Our Props The Emperor Doesn't Disclose: Why the Fight Against Fake News Continues The Wave of the Future: From Tragedy to Far-Reaching Policy, in Less Than a Month Jim Crow Propaganda more Active forum topics INTELLIGENT DESIGN Where are the Faceless Cowards at USCIS? Poll, Bush, politics The dark side of US For our readers in the right wing more Upcoming events Public Affairs Council's Annual "Grassroots" Conference (event) (26 days) International Conference on Disease-Mongering (event) (103 days) more Center for Media and Democracy 520 University Avenue, Suite 227 Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Phone: 608-260-9713 Email: editor AT prwatch.org

vacation packages. Inclusive Adult

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London Vacation: Earn 2nd

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