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I visited this WHS towards the end of June 2019. Even though I was expecting much from Ivrea, I really wasn't prepared for the appalling state of this newly inscribed WHS.

To me, the only positive aspects of this WHS were the nomination dossier and the informative website and map. However, that's it! What's left of Olivetti's legacy in Ivrea, perfectly illustrated on paper and electronically on the website, definitely doesn't match what I witnessed while visiting the 19 locations of this industrial WHS with 20th century architecture. Most of the locations are in a totally abandoned and neglected state.

The Former Sertec offices (main photo on our site) is now a condemned building with squatters and drug dealers/addicts occupying the building every now and then. Most window panes have been smashed, the interior partition walls have been dismantled, most of the exterior has been vandalised, small trees are growing into the roof and rainwater is slowly destroying the building which has almost no intact windows left. Unfortunately, the same applies to many of the other locations which are not as bad as the former Sertec offices but definitely not in any tip-top condition, let alone exuding any OUV whatsoever.

The only two buildings in Corso Jervis worth mentioning are the glass-paned ICO workshops which are very similar to the architectural style of the Fagus Factory WHS in Germany or the Van Nelle Fabriek in the Netherlands, as well as the Former Olivetti joinery building which is …

Probably the best natural site in DR (although PN del Este/Isla Saona comes close the tourist crowds made it drop to second) and quite a stretch off any big city if coming from the east and even from big hotels. There are Eco lodges just outside the park but I knew arrival would be late so I picked the last hotel on the main road, got an early start and did both areas in one day.

The first one, Laguna de Oviedo, is close from Barahona and you could be satisfied with just coming here. It saves a ton of time driving towards Haiti, avoids the rough roads towards the end plus is cheaper and more rewarding for fauna. You can technically just stay at the shore and view the flamingos but there are dozens of boat trips on offer that take you around the lake to see more birds. Binoculars recommended. I spent a couple of hours here and for birdwatching this is the place to be on DR.

Driving all the way around to the west of Jaragua you reach a dirt road leading to the park entrance. Entrance is cheap but you must have a 4WD to be allowed inside. So you get the choice of a taxi to take you down the bumpy road (I didn't ask the price) or a $40 boat ride to Bahiá de la Águilas. If you share the ride it comes down to $10 per person but then you …

Easily the best cultural site in the DR. I only visited the Pomier caves and don't know if the other caves are accessible). To get here you will need transportation but it is not far from Santo Domingo to make it an affordable ride. The last stretch to the park is through a mining area and don't trust Google map for any shortcut suggestions, follow the signs!

The entrance ticket is cheap but you are forced to take a guide from the looks of it. I would be interested to see what they would do if you just refuse and bring your own torch and walk inside.

Anyhow you can choose to see from 1 to 4 caves. Cave 1 is the easy access that you should pick if you don't want to climb. Cave 2 is small and has more cave art but otherwise you are fine with just one. Cave 2 involves some seriously tight climbing to get in anyway so most regular folk would hate that.

Oh right, what do you get to see? Taíno cave art! You can find that in other places like Puerto Rico but Pomier has the biggest amount, 55 caves, and probably is the best example. The pics I post has only a few of them. The first cave also has carvings, pictographs, thousands of bats, a snake the guide claims is his amiga, and a demonstration that without light the cave is entirely pitch black.

The art …

Somewhat uniquely for a grand church in a town with uneven topography, Cathedral of Saint James does not occupy a commanding highest point. Stairways run up from the cathedral square to residential quarters that sit at higher elevations, some directly overlooking St James. The landing by the church of Svih Svetih offers one of the best-known perspectives. Exterior of the cathedral is full of interesting features, the most striking of which is the band of human faces (numbering 71 in total). The interior did not strike me as having extraordinary features that I have not seen elsewhere; it is also relatively small. Nonetheless, beautiful decorative elements can be found throughout the space; the ceiling contrasts that with a grungy vibe.

Šibenik's relatively lower profile among Dalmatian Coast towns is well explained by the fact that beyond the major point of interest that is the cathedral, there is only the hillside old quarter that does not take long to get a fill of. Šibenik was not deserted on a July morning, but the volume of visitors was significantly lower than in Split or Dubrovnik or even Zadar or Trogir during the same week. There are several minor churches, museums, and monasteries that you can see, but I doubt many people budget time for those. I did stop by the pleasant small garden of the Monastery of Saint Lawrence for about 15 minutes, and walked around a bit, but did not see much that would lead me to a recommendation for …

Noone actually expects Basseterre to be inscribed, especially with such a horribly short document that sounds more like something taken from a brochure you picked up at the airport.

It is entirely possible to skip town. The "nice" resorts are to the east and the airport to the north. I stayed at a place to the west. Cruise ships are stopping right at the port though (with a second being built). I even took a bus into town, walked through the Independence Square area and then took another bus towards the airport. Was it worth it? Absolutely not, but no big deal because it is so quick to get it done.

We got delayed in Nicaragua a little longer than planned so spent about a week in Granada. It is by far the most touristic and popular town in the country and not without reason. It is relaxed, pleasant and within striking distance of a number of other nearby attractions/activities. 

The colonial architecture dominates the majority of the city core to varying degrees of preservation. In common theme to other small touristic cities the world over, they have freshly painted the buildings of the most popular streets in multiple colours making it quite photogenic. There are a handful of churches to visit though most are in need of some fresh paint and upkeep. The lakefront was an undeveloped disappointment. 

Overall, while this is a nice place to linger in and a must visit if in Nicaragua it doesn't really add any more value to the already saturated Spanish colonial towns portion of the WHS list. If they'd nominated it much earlier it would've had a much better chance but now they'll have to get really creative to justify an inscription. 

Cornwall voted for Brexit. This is somewhat surprising as Cornwall receives plenty of EU funding, being one of the poorest regions in the UK and qualifying for EU regional funds as a consequence. When visiting, I ran into plenty of "Funded by the EU" signs.

One part of the answer are myths about fishing rights. But I think parts of the answer are related to this world heritage site.

I had been to Cornwall as a kid and I had very fond memories of the place: It has great beaches and the weather tends to be better than in the rest of the UK. You can even find palm trees.

We did not pay attention to the decaying industrial heritage of the region, so I had to come again. I started my visit in the St. Just mining district, coming in by bus from Penzance where I had stayed for the night. The coast line around St. Just is dotted with very scenic abandoned mines on cliffs. Simply spectacular. I walked along the coast line and took picture after picture.

From there, I went to Hayle and found myself downloading the official Unesco map to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Hayle was an important town and harbour during industrialization. During it's heyday, the town was home to two major foundries, the Cornish Copper Company and Harvey & Co. You can still see their buildings in the town center. The town is now …

Magnificent temple complex. Story of Lord Buddha is sculpted in different panels across the different layers/levels. Kudos to the Indonesian government for the way it is maintained.

Maintainance(score): 8Site Experience: 10Date Visited: 27/07/2019 (Morning 6 AM)Hours stayed at the site: 5 hoursEase of reaching the site: Very easy. Both public and private transport are all available. 

I didn't quite know what to expect, when I made plans to visit the Orkney Islands. On the one hand, it's a neolithic site and those tend to be rather simple, if not outright dull. On the other hand, I have been curious about the Orkney Islands in general. Add to this me getting a WHS tick and I was good to go. As it turned out, this was the highlight of my 2019 UK trip.

The site covers so much for a neolithic site: two stone circles (Ring of Brodgar, Stones of Stenness), a winter solstice oriented tomb grave (Maeshowe) and really tangible remains of a neolithic village (Skara Brae). The cherry on top are the viking inscriptions in the tomb and the active excavation site at Ness of Brodgar (picture). And the gorgeous landscape of the Orkney's which is effectively part of the site as the tomb grave was aligned for the winter solstice with the hills of Hoy, the neighboring island.

Getting There

There are fairly expensive direct flights from Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness). You can also connect by plane to the Shetland Islands.

Seeing it’s an island, the other options always involve a ferry ride. Existing ferry lines are:

• Scrabster to Stromness: Scrabster is connected to the Scottish Rail network (Thurso).
• John o’ Groats to St. Margaret’s Hope: There is a direct bus connection from Inverness including the ferry ride.
• Aberdeen to Kirkwall: Long …

History of the Caribbean is not in our curriculum, and I wonder if it is on any even in the Caribbean. The main thing people know is probably pirates, and maaaaybe that Columbus landed here instead of the main Americas continent. The importance of the Nelson dockyard is thus way beyond what I know and I need a lot of research for this site. In truth I didn't so maybe that's a big negative thing but also should I really need to spend so much extra time? In fact the site is proudly saying the dockyard is a great example of a British naval yard from the 18th century but the site is much more than that. 255 hectares of archeological sites. Only visiting the Nelson dockyard is thus not enough. Without transportation it is not ideal to get around though, not even the interpretation center. The bus (#17) goes from the West bus station in St John's directly to the entrance of the dockyard, called English Harbor. It is also super cheap, barely $1.50 (3.75 EC I believe). The buses are frequent and go back to town all day.

The dockyard area (21 EC entrance ticket) is unfortunately a big waste of time. It has some old houses, most used for modern shops and restaurants, which is almost shocking for being declared a world heritage site, but maybe I am just under the impression that having paid an entrance fee I am supposed to get "ruins" and "museum" …

The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose has been added to Belgium’s Tentative List earlier this year. The hospital of medieval origin is located in the Walloon town of Lessines, a municipality of 18,000 inhabitants best known as the birth place of painter René Magritte. I visited it on a stormy Saturday as a day trip by car from my home.

Getting There 

The site would become another addition to the Brussels Hotspot – it lies some 55 km south of the Belgian capital. The building is only open in the afternoon, from 14-18.30h, every day except Monday. As Zoe indicated in her review, there is parking right in front of it in a dead end street. However this was full when I arrived, so I ended up at a large (free) public parking just beyond the market square and within walking distance of the hospital. The hospital / museum complex has an informal restaurant on site, which opens already at 12. Entrance to the buildings / museum / gardens costs 13 EUR. French, English and Dutch are all spoken well by the reception staff and most information panels are in those 3 languages as well.

What is it about

The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose was founded in the 13th century as a charity to accommodate the homeless and poor of the town. It formed a completely autarkic system: it had its own gardens, was a large regional landowner and handicrafts from …

Burgos Cathedral was probably my favorite of the many cathedrals I saw on my trip to Spain this past May. The bright vaulted openness of the interior, and the exquisite design of its aisles and chapels made for a memorable visit. I was glad I went on a quiet weekday afternoon, since there were few visitors to distract as I wandered around staring at walls and ceilings. The cathedral offers an audio tour, which I recommend, since it helps give context to the Gothic and Rennaissance influences in the cathedral's architecture, such as the beautiful Chapel del Constable and the Golden Staircase, which serves to connect the main floor of the cathedral to the elevated street behind the cathedral. Burgos Cathedral was technically my first stop on the Route of Santiago de Compostela, and is inscribed twice on the World Heritage Site list as part of Spain's Camino Francés. Though the Burgos city center is not a World Heritage Site, it makes for a pleasant visit, and there are many tributes to local and national hero El Cid, who is buried in the cathedral.

Logistics: The cathedral is a short walk from the central bus station in Burgos, and makes for an easy stop when traveling between Madrid and cities in northern Spain, such as Bilbao.

I visited this WHS towards the end of June 2019 on a very hot and sunny day. Originally I had already planned to visit almost two years ago, prior to inscription, and I had already bought my Puy de Dome return train ticket online (valid for 2 yrs and getting more expensive every year!). However, after postponing my road trip several times, I decided to visit as a convenient stopover before heading to the Frejus border between France and Italy.

Although the train departures are officially every 20 minutes during the summer season, when we visited departures were only taking place every hour, officially due to the high temperatures. The fact that there's only one small train going up and down the Puy all the time, means that more often than not, the official timetable might not be followed to reduce the possibility of the train breaking down. So keep this in mind when you plan your visit.

The Puy de Dome is a pelean volcano, a specific term used to describe energetic eruptions similar to those of the Pelee mountain in Martinique. The volcano is characterised by the lack of a proper crater. The lava builds up underneath the dome and the subsequent explosions typically cause glowing clouds. If you have more time available, the hike to the Puy de Come (1253m) and the Puy de Pariou (1209m) are worth doing but it won't provide any further interesting panoramic viewpoints. The latter is a strombolian volcano which …

I visited this tentative WHS in June 2019 as a half day trip from Lima. Although the museum isn't large, it has an interesting collection of artefacts, statues and pottery found in the archaeological complex of Pachacamac and it gives you a good overall picture of the ruins. The complex itself is in ruins and at times it can be very hard to tell the mounds and 'adobe pyramid structures' from the sand dunes. The location between sea and desert and overall structure is pretty similar to that of the minor sites around Caral Supe though its state of conservation and overall structure are inferior.

Apart from the Calle Norte-Sur which leads to already inscribed Qhapac Nan location, allow a good 2-3 hours if you want to cover the whole archaeological complex. The structures worth visiting, even if only from the outside (of what's left anyway), are the three pyramids with ramps, the Palacio Taurichumpi, the stone canals covered with slabs, the remains of different walls surrounding the complex, the Acllawasi and last but certainly not least the Templo del Sol which was once covered by a layer of red plaster (still visible but full of graffiti).

The only highlight worth mentioning were the 5 different types of construction from different cultures which made use of the Pachacamac archaeological complex or sanctuary, namely the Adobes Ychma, the Cimientos Lima, the Cimientos Ychma, the Incan Architecture (similar to the foundations and walls in Cusco and elsewhere), and the Adobitos …

This is a new listing but actually consists of old ones, or at least I think it does, or should, and might not be clearly mentioning that it does. So you see the old sites are still listed as a tentative place and should not not be listed extra if they were included (which I am not sure about).

Wait, huh? Let's start again. The Caribbean was a massive sugar production during the colonial times and there are remains all over southern Dominican. I visited two places southwest of Santo Domingo, a third I couldn't find, and with some more time I may have gone to one in the far east. However, from what I saw they are not worth checking out and any extra effort is wasting time. Perhaps with some promotion and expansion of the ruins it would be interesting.

Site 1, Ingenio Boca de Nigua, is in excellent condition and my recommendation. The main building is still 50% intact, there are a couple of surrounding buildings that are closed and even some sugar depots are visible. Was it rebuilt? It almost looks too good in some places. The back of the mill had trash and smelled like wee so maybe avoid going there. Just looking around barely takes 10 minutes.

Google map doesn't have the road but on Satellite you can see one going right to the mill with only a bit of gravel road, parking is easy plus it's all free! Makes you …

Zadar is already on the World Heritage list, or at least its fortifications are as part of the Venetian Works of Defense serial site. Additionally, a collection of buildings and points of interest in the center of the old town may be up for inscription in the next couple of years. The group includes the Cathedral of Saint Anastasia, the church of Saint Donatus, the Roman Forum, the monastery of Saint Mary, the archaeological museum of Zadar, and a few other structures. On a recent visit to Zadar, I explored the first three, and looked from the outside on all others.

The Forum is not too large, clearly laid out in patterns that suggest its museum-like design, free to walk through, and draws a significant part of its appeal purely due to its location at the focal point of the town. Saint Anastasia, whose façade opens on a small square away from the Forum, is very reminiscent of a typical Romanesque cathedral found in a midsize Italian town; the cathedral’s interior is no more than just ok; the reliefs and the stonework of its portals are probably the most impressive features here. The cathedral tower is fairly easy to climb and the views from the top are quite worth the effort. The round church of Saint Donatus is almost entirely empty, but the reliefs and the column capitals are quite beautiful, although not necessarily worth the entry fee.

None of these sights raise to the level of exceptional …

In July 2019, I made the nearly 200 km and three hour day trip from Kazan to Bolgar, on the shores of the Volga River. The day before my trip, I took a Yandex to Kazan's port to see if I could get tickets for the supposed boat trip to Bolgar, but (and I'm not sure what I was told by the ticket agent) either the boat doesn't run on weekdays or at all or was sold out, but, in any event, I left empty handed. I also learned that the bus schedule from Kazan to Bolgar wouldn't allow a day trip. So, a friendly and helpful receptionist at my hotel used her BlaBlaCar app to book me a day trip from Kazan to Bolgar. Apparently, an enterprising local, whose sister lives in Bolgar, has decided to make nearly daily trips from Kazan to Bolgar, departing from the MegaMall (a short drive from Kazan's city center) at 11:00am and returning from Bolgar at 5:00pm (so allowing three hours at Bolgar, which was sufficient) for ₽400 each way (about $6.30). Since I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find him at the MegaMall, I paid an extra ₽200 ($3.15) each way for him to pick me up and return me to my hotel. So, a total of less than $20 for the nearly 9-hour day trip.

I shared the BlaBlaCar driver's WhatsApp contact details with Els, so if she's able to repeat the trip and thinks it worth …

Our 2019 meetup location was supposed to be St. Kilda. As pointed out by Els in her blog post, the boat didn't go. I think in the process we gathered some valuable lessons learned and I would like to document them here.

Getting In

First things first: St. Kilda is an island roughly 100km off the coast of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. The only way to get there is by boat. Several operators offer day trips. The trips are subject to cancellation as you are going out into the Atlantic ocean and the weather and the sea can be rough.

Boat trips are offered from the islands of Harris and Uist in the Outer Hebrides and from Skye in the Inner Hebrides. The distance from Skye is significantly longer than from Harris or Uist. Boats from Harris and Uist go from 8:00h to 19:00h with 4,5h to 5h on the islands. The boats from Skye travel from 7:00h to 20:00h with 4h on the island.

There are also some expensive cruises that visit the islands.

Getting There

If you travel by car, Skye is significantly easier as you can take a bridge. It takes less than 6h from Edinburgh to Skye by car. It takes nearly 9h to get to Harris or Uist as you need to take the ferry from Uig on Skye. If you are arriving from the North, the ferry would be in Ullapool. Note: Ferry times are tricky …

I squeezed my way out of the tiny van. The last section of the cramped ride had been the worst, with the van straining in first gear up a seemingly never-ending hill. I was glad to escape the airless interior and stretch my legs. A cooling breeze blew up from the lowlands below, bringing the scent of dry herbs and the clonking of goat bells. And across the valley, ruddy in the evening sun, the most magnificent castle I had ever seen stood.

Of the two castles named in this inscription (Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din) I have only visited the first. I’m not sure how much I can add to the understanding of this place. Lawrence of Arabia called Crac des Chavaliers “the finest castle in the world”. I have yet to see a castle to convince me otherwise.

First, the historical basics. It’s a great spot on a tongue of land protruding from the southern end of the Jebel Ansariyya hills. Below lies the traversable Homs Gap. And across that rises the Anti-Lebanon range. A perfect spot for a chokepoint. The Crusaders seized the area at the start of the 12th century during the First Crusade. Raymond II, Count of the Crusander County of Tripoli, granted the area to the Knights Hospitaller in 1142. They then spent the next 30 years perfecting the very embodiment of a classic medieval castle. It was known as ‘Crac de l’Ospital’, after this particular order of knights …

First off I love how the ride apps in India have really made it convenient for tourists to arrange a trip out of town without hotel prices or having to haggle with a driver to get a decent price. I also find this less discriminating and if you feel "guilty" that the driver doesn't earn Western standard you could always tip him. I did get a driver pretending the app doesn't work and renegotiate but don't fall for it. So this is an easy day trip from Hyderabad to see all 3 sites. The fort is probably the least interesting one.

After a few weeks in India the temples feel very jading. Try to recommend someone to see more and they will probably reject the idea, but if you are interested in an upcoming world heritage site and I'm quite certain it is getting inscribed, you may want to spend the extra time. If you only go to Warangal to see the two sites there you could theoretically squeeze it into half a day and do the Hyderabad sites in the afternoon, but that would mean getting up early.

As for the specific recommendation to inscribe it, that gets a little very specific. The evolving art doesn't seem clear from the tourist point of view. The temples are "nice" and great site to explore, the "thousand" pillars are a worthy sight (not as unique as they might claim but still great) and my personal favorite are the gates …