San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh most populous city in the United States of America and the second most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1.3 million. It was the fastest growing of the top 10 largest cities in the United States from 2000-2010, and the second from 1990-2000. The city is located in the American Southwest, the south–central part of Texas, and the southwestern corner of an urban region known as the Texas Triangle.
San Antonio serves as the seat of Bexar County. The city has characteristics of other western urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city limits. San Antonio is the center of the San Antonio–New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. Commonly referred to as Greater San Antonio, the metropolitan area has a population of over 2.23 million based on the 2012 U.S. Census estimate, making it the 25th-largest metropolitan area in the United States and third-largest in the state of Texas. Growth along the Interstate 35 and Interstate 10 corridors to the north, west and east make it likely that the metropolitan area will continue to expand.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet (2,667 m) in elevation.
The park covers 86,367 acres (134.95 sq mi; 349.51 km2) and is in the same mountain range as Carlsbad Caverns National Park which is located about 25 miles (40 km) to the north in New Mexico. Numerous well-established trails exist in the park for hiking and horse-riding. The Guadalupe Peak Trail offers perhaps the most outstanding views in the park. Climbing over 3,000 feet (910 m) to the summit of Guadalupe Peak, the trail winds through pinyon pine and Douglas-fir forests and offers spectacular views of El Capitan and the vast Chihuahuan Desert.
Leipzig is a city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. It has around 530,000 inhabitants and is the heart of the Central German Metropolitan Region. Leipzig is located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Berlin at the confluence of the White Elster, Pleisse, and Parthe rivers at the southerly end of the North German Plain.
Leipzig has been a trade city since, at least, the time of the Holy Roman Empire, sitting at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important Medieval trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centers of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing.
Leipzig today is an economic center in Germany and has a prominent opera house and one of the most modern zoos in Europe. Leipzig is nicknamed as the "Boomtown of eastern Germany" or "Hypezig".
In December 2013, according to a study by Marktforschungsinstituts GfK, Leipzig was ranked as the most livable city in Germany and is one of the three European cities with the highest quality of living. In 2010, Leipzig was included in the top 10 cities to visit by the New York Times, and ranked 39th globally out of 289 cities for innovation in the 4th Innovation Cities Index published by Australian agency 2thinknow. Leipzig is currently listed as Gamma World City.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) and Upper Michigan. It is also known colloquially as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by the St. Marys River, on the southeast by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and on the southwest by Wisconsin.
The Upper Peninsula contains 29% of the land area of Michigan but just 3% of its total population. Residents are frequently called Yoopers (derived from "U.P.-ers") and have a strong regional identity. Large numbers of Finnish, Swedish, Cornish, and Italian immigrants came to the Upper Peninsula, especially the Keweenaw Peninsula, to work in the area's mines. The peninsula includes the only counties in the United States where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry.
Ordered by size, the peninsula's largest cities are Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba, Menominee, Houghton, and Iron Mountain. The land and climate are not very suitable for agriculture because of the long harsh winters. The economy has been based on logging, mining, and tourism. Most mines have closed since the "golden age" from 1890 to 1920. The land is heavily forested and logging remains a major industry.
Makarska is a small city on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about 60 km (37 mi) southeast of Split and 140 km (87 mi) northwest of Dubrovnik. It has a population of 13,834 residents. Administratively Makarska has the status of a city and it is part of the Split-Dalmatia County.
It is a tourist centre, located on a horseshoe shaped bay between the Biokovo mountains and the Adriatic Sea. The city is noted for its palm-fringed promenade, where fashionable cafes, bars and boutiques overlook the pretty harbour where many pleasure craft are moored. Adjacent to the beach are several large capacity hotels as well as a camping ground.
The center of Makarska is an old town with narrow stone-paved streets, a main church square where there is a flower and fruit market, and a Franciscan monastery that houses a sea shell collection featuring a giant clam shell.
Makarska is the center of the Makarska Riviera, a popular tourist destination under the Biokovo mountain. It stretches for 60 km (37 mi) between the towns of Brela and Gradac.
Split is a city in Croatia, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, centred on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. It is the second-largest city of Croatia, and the largest of the Dalmatian cities. Spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings, Split's greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands and the Apennine peninsula.
In the years following 2000, Split finally gained momentum and started to develop again, with a focus on tourism. From being just a transition centre, Split is now a major Croatian tourist destination. Many new hotels are being built, as well as new apartment and office buildings. Many large development projects are revived, and new infrastructure is being built. An example of the latest large city projects is the Spaladium Arena, built in 2009.
Omiš is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately 25 kilometres (16 miles) south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is where the emerald-green Cetina River meets the Adriatic Sea (Croatian: Jadransko More). Omiš municipality has a population of 14,936 and its area is 266 square kilometres (103 sq mi).
Trogir (or Traù) is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,818 (2011) and a total municipality population of 13,260 (2011). The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo. It lies 27 kilometres (17 miles) west of the city of Split.
Since 1997, the historic centre of Trogir has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
[Now will be some postcards from my uncle's Croatian vacations]
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea, in the region of Dalmatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Its total population is 42,615 (census 2011). In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik was historically based on maritime trade. As the capital of the Republic of Ragusa, a maritime republic, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Dubrovnik became notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy.
The beginning of tourism in Dubrovnik is associated with the construction of the Hotel Imperial in Dubrovnik in 1897. According to CNNGo, Dubrovnik is among the 10 best preserved medieval walled cities in the world. Although Dubrovnik was demilitarised in the 1970s to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) for seven months and received significant shelling damage.
Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of 1,447 metres (4,747 ft). The Commonwealth of Dominica had a population of 71,293 at the 2011 Census. The capital is Roseau which is located on the leeward side of the island.
Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled natural beauty.
The name Dominica comes from the Latin word for Sunday, which was the day on which it was spotted by Christopher Columbus. Its pre-Columbian name by the Caribs was Wai‘tu kubuli, which means "Tall is her body". The indigenous people of the island were the Island Caribs or Kalinago. Today the Carib have some reserved land, known as the Carib Territory, an area similar to the Indian reserves of Canada or the US.
