The Caves of Hercules
The beauty of the place, their archaeological and mythological value make the caves of Hercules an unusual place to visit in Tangier. The mythological comes as it is here where it is said Hercules rested after performing one of his 12 labors, after separating Europe and Africa , and waiting to perform the next task assigned – pick the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides .
You get there by a small road , 5 miles from Cape Spartel and 20 minutes from the city of Tangier . Although part of the cave has an artificial origin – rocks for making mill were extracted from here-, its origin is mainly due to the action of strong waves , which has shaped these caves in curious ways. For example , if you see the cave opening to the Atlantic, you will see drawn silhouette of African continenente flipped. Inside the cave , a handful of vendors and artisans offer their ceramic products , souvenirs and postcards with the image of this famous opening .
Picture: imad khleeh
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Poblado Spaghetti Western Townslos Spaghetti Western
About 30 kilometres from Almeria is Tabernas, a very dry desert region of Spain that is one of the driest areas in Europe. In spite of that, the area has cultivated a certain tourism charm due to having been used as the set for numerous spaghetti westerns (including For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) and over one hundred westerns.
Some of those sets are still standing; three Western towns that Sergio Leone built for his films and that have since become a tourist attraction for people wishing to see live shows performed by stuntmen. They are: the town of El Fraile, the so-called Mini Hollywood, the first to be built and the set used on For a Few Dollars More; the larger town of Fort Bravo, which was used on ‘For a Few Dollars More’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’; and Western Leone.
It is also possible to explore the Tabernas Desert nature reserve by following the numerous low-difficulty hiking routes that have been prepared for visitors.
Picture by Gordito1869
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more infoToykio. Come play with us
- If shopping is supposed to be an experience rather than simply raiding the rails and shelves, there are only a few places that can live up to your expectations and truly surprise and inspire you. Toykio is one of them. After some successful years as an online shop and a pop-up gallery on Königsallee, the guys from Toykio built their new headquarter in the Japanese district of Düsseldorf, just off Immermannstrasse. With its shiny black ceramic tiles and colourful neon signs, it is a hybrid between toy store, art space and a café where you can find pretty much everything your inner child desires.
- Action figures, robots, Qee bears, labbits, comics along with coffee table books, vinyl records and premium poster prints – every item seems to be hand picked by shop owner Selim Varol. The gallery in the basement features a variety of more or less known artists from urban- and pop-art, lowbrow, surrealism and photography, just as Banksy, JR, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Ricky Powell, KAWS, and D*Face. And though it is unlikely – if you ever should get tired in Toykio, you can just sit down and enjoy one of the best coffees in town at the very Brooklyn-like pastry bar.
- By Lukas Blasberg from METAL
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Monreale Cathedral
A forty-minute by bus ride from Palermo takes you to the Cathedral of Monreale. This cathedral was constructed during the reign of William II of Normandy, between 1172 and 1190, and is a living example of the fusion of cultures and religions that existed in Sicily during that period. It boasts a syncretic style as it was built by combining Norman architecture with aspects of Moorish art. It consists of a main nave with two wings and an apse. The most surprising features are the interior walls, as they are covered with more than 6,000 m2 of Byzantine gold mosaics inspired by those in the Palatine Chapel in Palermo. The mosaics recount episodes from the Bible, from the creation to the passion of Christ in chronological order from left to right. An impressive Christ Pantocrator crowns the apse leaving visitors speechless.
Adjacent to the cathedral can be found the cloister and its 228 columns, each one supporting a different ornament, along with a number of Arab-inspired arches.
You can travel to Monreale by bus (number 389), which passes by the Piazza Independencia in Palermo. It costs nothing to get into the cathedral but you can hire an audio-guide for 5 euros. Entry to the cloister costs 6 euros.
Image:Urban
By Isabel Romano from Diario de a bordo
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