Photo Gallery_all the ways___

A little word about Vilnius

Vilnius has been rapidly transformed, and the town has emerged as a modern European city. Many of its older buildings have been renovated, and a business and commercial area is being developed into the New City Centre, expected to become the city’s main administrative and business district on the north side of the Neris river. This area includes modern residential and retail space, with the municipality building and the 129-metre (423′) Europa Tower as its most prominent buildings. Vilnius was selected as a 2009 European Capital of Culture, along with Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. Its 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration, marking the event, featured a light show said to be “visible from outer space”. In preparation, the historical centre of the city was restored, and its main monuments were renewed. Besides the many official programs for the Cultural Capital year, there have been efforts to promote subcultural venues, such as the Kultflux and Vilnus Triennale program, showing young arts from all over Lithuania and Europe to a general public, both in public spaces, such as on the river shore of Neris river, and in several vacant buildings within the city centre.

Užupis

Užupis means “the other side of the river” in the Lithuanian language (Belarusian: Зарэчча, Polish: Zarzecze). The district has been popular with artists for some time, and has been compared to Montmartre in Paris and to Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, due to its bohemic and laissez-faire atmosphere. On April 1, 1997, the district declared itself an independent republic (The Republic of Užupis). Since the first of November 2014 Jaap van Ark is president of republic Užupis.

Here’s other pictures of Vilnius:

Vilnius – Aušros vartai 360 Panorama

Tap or click here

Vilnius live street camera

Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society.

Where to eat cheaply in Vilnius? Recommended ‘budget’ place in center of city for lunch, save money on food.

I recommend these addresses of this restaurant, take a look map. Relatively nice places for lunch, there you can eat dense for 7-10 Euro.

zooming
Of course, I want recommend the Gusto Blynine. Relatively nice places for lunch, there you can eat dense about 6-10 Euro.

Visit place to stay in Vilnius for more information.

A pictures and panoramas of Vilnius photo gallery taken:

14 of October, 2006.
09 of June, 2012.
7-8 of May, 2016.

Nature___

Village of Capernaum – Church of the House of Peter

Capernaum is an ancient fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It’s home to a celebrated Byzantine-era synagogue as well as the house where Jesus healed a paralytic and St. Peter’s mother-in-law.

Capernaum is frequently mentioned in the Gospels and was Jesus’ main base during his Galilean ministry. It is referred to as Jesus’ “own city” (Mt 9:1; Mk 2:1) and a place where he lived (Mt 1:13). He probably chose it simply because it was the home of his first converts, Peter and Andrew (Mk 1:21, 29).

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law…

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up.” (Mark 1:21-22, 29-30)

Many familiar Gospel events occurred in this village. Capernaum is where Jesus first began to preach after the Temptation in the wilderness (Mt 1:12-17) and called Levi from his tax-collector’s booth (Mk 2:13-17). It was while teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum that he said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn 6:54)

Capernaum is where Jesus healed a centurion’s servant without even seeing him (Mt 8:5-13; Lk 7:1-10), Peter’s mother-in-law (Mt 8:14-15; Mk 1:29-30); the paralytic who was lowered thorugh the roof (Mk 2:1-12), and many others who were brought to him (Mt 8:16-17). And it was Capernaum that Jesus had set out from when he calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mt 8:23-27).

Jesus was harsh with his adopted home when it proved unrepentent despite his many miracles. “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you” (Mt 11:23-24).

Capernaum was a Jewish village in the time of the Christ. It was apparently poor, since it was a Gentile centurion that built the community’s synagogue (Luke 7:5). The houses were humble and built of the local black basalt stone.

Christian presence is attested early in Capernaum and the village was predominantly Christian by the 4th century AD. Rabbinic texts from the 4th century imply considerable tension between the Jewish and Christian communities of the town.

Both the church and synagogue were destroyed prior to the Islamic conquest in 638. One possible scenario is that the Persian invasion of 614 gave the Jews the opportunity to act on their resentment of the now-powerful Christian community and demolish the church. In 629, the Byzantine emperor and his troops marched into Palestine, and under this protection the Christians may have destroyed the synagogue.

The synagogue of Capernaum is located just inland from the shore with its facade facing Jerusalem. It has been difficult to date, with scholarly opinion ranging from the 2nd to 5th centuries. It stands on an elevated position, was richly decorated and was built of imported white limestone, which would have contrasted dramatically with the local black basalt of the rest of the village. All of this would have given the building great beauty and status.

What to See? The ruined synagogue and the Greek Orthodox church stand quite close to each other near the shore, with ruins of 1st-to-6th-century houses in between. Also on the place are finely carved stones that belong to the synagogue, and a new Greek Orthodox church nearby.

Around the Greek Orthodox church the remains of the village have not yet been excavated, unlike the synagogue of Capernaum and the buildings around it.

This pictures have been taken on 27 of September, 2011.
This photo gallery is as Israel Travel Photo Guide.

wikipedia.org

Cities___

Szczuczyn town in winter and summer.

Fast walk around central streets of the town. Szczuczyn town, Belarus.
Starting from the XVI century Szczuczyn (Schuchin) became a small town, making part of the Lida District, the Vilnya Province of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. An opening of the specialized school of the Catholic Monastic Order of Piares, founded in the year 1669, became an important event in the Schuchin history of the XVIII century. The Seym resolution as of the 1726 year ratified the Piares Collegium. Its founder was a Polotsk officer Khlebnizkiy Yuzefovich. The collegium was considered to be the most prominent one in Belarus, it owned a piares seminary and even a high school where even the Oriental languages were taught. The pedagogical and scientific activity of M. Dogel, К. Nar-but, S. T. Yundzil, A. Dov-gird, the important scientists of the XVIII — of the first part of the XIX century, is connected with Szczuczyn. A number of scientists, who made the science famous in many countries of the world, graduated from the Schuchin specialized school. Ignatiy Domeiko should be included in this number first of all.

Nowadays Szczuczyn is an administrative and an economical-cultural center of the Region. Such important enterprises, as the works “Avtopro-vod”, a creamery-cheese factory, a forest economy operate here. The following architectural monuments have been preserved: the Roman Catholic Church of Teresa (the year 1829), the St. Michael’s Orthodox-Church (Mikhailovskaya Church), the end of the XIX century.

Pictures taken in January, 17, 2009; July, 25, 2015.

Nature___

Keukenhof park, Netherlands

Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, is the world’s largest flower garden. It is situated near Lisse, Netherlands. According to the official website for the Keukenhof Park, approximately 7,000,000 (seven million) flower bulbs are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares.

It is accessible by bus from the train stations of Haarlem, Leiden and Schiphol. It is located in an area called the “Dune and Bulb Region” (Duin- en Bollenstreek).

Keukenhof is open annually from mid-March to mid-May. The best time to view the tulips is around mid-April, depending on the weather.
OPENING HOURS: 8H00 – 19H30 (ticket office closes at 18H00).

wikipedia.org

Pictures taken in 16 of April, 2013.

Cities___

Braunschweig, Germany. Weihnachtsmarkt season.

Braunschweig is a city of 250,556 people, located in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. A powerful and influential centre of commerce in medieval Germany, Braunschweig was a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th until the 17th century, and the capital of the state of Brunswick until its disestablishment in 1946.
On 28 February 1974, as part of a district reform in Lower Saxony, the rural district of Braunschweig, which had surrounded the city, was disestablished. The major part of the former district was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig, increasing its population by roughly 52,000 people.

In the 1990s efforts increased to reconstruct historic buildings that had been destroyed in the air raid. Buildings such as the Alte Waage (originally built in 1534) and the Braunschweiger Schloss now stand again in their pre-war glory.

See photos of Braunschweig (including the glow of festive illuminations, the scent of hot mulled wine and roasted almonds, all among the most impressive, historical ambience), in this travel photo gallery from Verde Wanderer. Pictures taken at 14 of December, 2013.

wikipedia.org