A climber on the eastern face of Mont Blanc – source Ben Tibbetts (click on photo to enlarge)
Ben Tibbetts is an adventure photographer and aspirant British Mountain Guide based in Chamonix, France. He currently offers Alpine and British guiding, logistics and guiding in Greenland and adventure photography services worldwide.
If you want to take your adventures further, get in touch with Ben here!
As legend has it, Rome, Italy, was founded by the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, in 700 B.C. The former Caput Mundi, or Capital of the World, sits beneath Palatine Hill, where the ruins of its original incarnation are open for exploration.
No Rome tour is complete without stopping by the remains of the Temple of Saturn and Arch of Septimus, both located in the Roman Forum. Get in touch with your inner gladiator and stop by the Colosseum, a relic of Roman bloodsports and perhaps the most recognizable element of the city.
Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure you’ll return to Rome one day; don’t toss in two coins unless you’re ready to fall in love with a Roman. Continue your Rome sightseeing in St. Peter’s Square, home of St. Peter’s Basilica. The world’s largest church, designed by Michelangelo, is both a remarkable structure and a tribute to faith. You can look down from the famous dome to the Holy Square, which is usually filled with the faithful looking to obtain a blessing from the Pope. After this, it’s just a few steps to restaurants filled with Italian food. Forget coming back to Rome – you’ll never want to leave.
What’s your favorite memory of Rome?
Click here to visit our La mia Roma Italian language travel guide page for more information or to plan your next vacation!
This 38-second video shows three hikers walking across the clear frozen lake. And while many viewers were amazed, others doubted that the video was real.
As reported by Daily Mail, one experienced tourist Igor Ludma, from Slovakia, was able to give a scientific explanation for the fact that the ice look like glass, saying: ‘It is only possible when the temperatures fall from being relatively mild to very cold very quickly, and at the same time it’s important that there has not been any snow which tends to make the ice very cloudy. And we have had those conditions lately which would explain this very clear ice.’
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There are now more cuisines, ingredients, cooking shows and recipe books than ever before. Today it seems most of us know the difference between prosciutto and pancetta, sushi and sashimi, but how foods and drinks influence and communicate identities in social and domestic settings?
We are what we eat. Or are we? If you are what you eat, what food makes you? Join here our Communication & Languages Group on LinkedIn and let us know what you think.
We have prepared for you the following article to spice up our discussion and to give you more ideas and flavor of what to expect at our “debate in English” meetings. So, let’s start with the truly fantastic travel photo essay around the world in “What the world eats”:
Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio traveled the world documenting that most basic of human behaviors — what we eat. Their project, “Hungry Planet,” depicts everything that an average family consumes in a given week–and what it costs — laid out in thought-provoking detail. Their results will be exhibited by The Nobel Peace Center to give viewers a peek into kitchens from Norway to Kuwait, and to raise awareness about how environments and cultures influence the cost and calories of the world’s dinners.
The Sturm Family of Hamburg. Food Expenditure for One Week: € 253.29 ($325.81 USD). Favorite foods: salads, shrimp, buttered vegetables, sweet rice with cinnamon and sugar, pasta.
The Ottersland Dahl Family of Gjettum. Food expenditure for one week: 2211.97 Norwegian Kroner; $379.41 USD. Favorite foods: fresh baked bread with butter and sugar, pancakes, tomato soup with macaroni and cold milk, yoghurt
The Glad Ostensen family in Gjerdrum. Food expenditure for one week: 4265.89 Norwegian Kroner or $731.71. Favorite foods: mutton in cabbage, lasagne, and chocolate.
The Ukita family of Kodaira City. Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25. Favorite foods: sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips.
The Manzo family of Sicily. Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11. Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks.
The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp. Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23. Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat.
The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City. Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45. Family recipe: Chicken biryani with basmati rice.
The Revis family of North Carolina. Food expenditure for one week: $341.98. Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken.
The Caven family of California. Food expenditure for one week: $159.18. Favorite foods: beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream.
The Fernandezes of Texas – Food expenditure for one week: $242.48. Favorite Foods: Shrimp with Alfredo sauce, chicken mole, barbecue ribs, pizza.
he Casales family of Cuernavaca. Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09. Favorite foods: pizza, crab, pasta, chicken.
The Dong family of Beijing. Food expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06. Favorite foods: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce.
The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna. Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27. Family recipe: Pig’s knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips.
The Ahmed family of Cairo. Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53. Family recipe: Okra and mutton.
The Ayme family of Tingo. Food expenditure for one week: $31.55. Family recipe: Potato soup with cabbage.
The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar. Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02. Family recipe: Mutton dumplings.
The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis. Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15. Favorite foods: avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream.
The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village. Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03. Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork.
The Browns of River View – Food expenditure for one week: 481.14 Australian dollars or US$376.45. Family Recipe: Marge Brown’s Quandong (an Australian peach) Pie, Yogurt.
The Mendozas of Todos Santos – Food expenditure for one week: 573 Quetzales or $75.70. Family Recipe: Turkey Stew and Susana Perez Matias’s Sheep Soup.
The Kuttan-Kasses of Erpeldange – Food expenditure for one week: 347.64 Euros or $465.84. Favorite Foods: Shrimp pizza, Chicken in wine sauce, Turkish kebabs.
The Natomos of Kouakourou – Food expenditure for one week: 17,670 francs or $26.39. Family Recipe: Natomo Family Rice Dish.
The Melansons of Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory – Food expenditure for one week: US$345. Favorite Foods: narwhal, polar bear, extra cheese stuffed crust pizza, watermelon.
The Le Moines of Montreuil – Food expenditure for one week: 315.17 euros or $419.95. Favorite Foods: Delphine Le Moine’s Apricot Tarts, pasta carbonara, Thai food.
The Madsens of Cap Hope – Food expenditure for one week: 1,928.80 Danish krone or $277.12. Favorite Foods: polar bear, narwhal skin, seal stew.
The Celiks of Istanbul – Food expenditure for one week: 198.48 New Turkish liras or $145.88. Favorite Foods: Melahat’s Puffed Pastries.
By viewing food (and drink) both as cultural practice and cultural expression, we may learn about such concepts as: cultural identity, values, practice, experience, language/meaning, and aesthetics.
We are what we eat. Or are we? If you are what you eat, what food makes you? Join here our Communication & Languages Group on LinkedIn and let us know what you think.
Manchester Christmas Markets from a helicopter – taken by the National Police Air Service
Following Transport for London’s (TfL) tender for proposals to improve pedestrian links across the river, Heatherwick Studio and actor and campaigner Joanna Lumley have developed an idea for a new pedestrian ‘Garden Bridge’ across the River Thames; a scheme to connect North and South London with a garden.
Joanna Lumley with a model of Garden Bridge
The ‘Iconic’ Thames project – the Garden Bridge over the Thames, was approved and granted planning permission by Lambeth council last Monday. The project has also received huge approval from Londoners – 88 per cent of people who live in the capital and 94 per cent who live outside it.
The £150 million structure — designed by Thomas Heatherwick, mastermind of the London Olympics cauldron — will span the river between Temple and the South Bank.
The bridge will contain 270 trees representing 45 species, as well as shrubs, climbing plants, hedges and flowers. It is believed that the bridge will become a key landmark and tourist attraction linking both riverbanks.
Crossing the bridge — more than 90ft wide in places — will be a “transitional experience”. The sections will include marshland, ornamental gardens, wild glades, fruit trees, evergreens, clifftop plants and pines. All the species have been selected for their ability to thrive in an exposed, windy setting.
Seating will be provided — but with an “irregular top surface” to discourage rough sleepers from colonising the bridge, which will be lit after dark to let evening walkers enjoy the gardens.
The bridge will open from 6am until midnight and use will be free.
Construction could begin in December next year if the necessary funding can be raised. So far more than £90 million has been pledged by the Government, Transport for London and private donors. It is hoped the bridge will open to the public in 2018.
