Have you heard of Ohrid, the ‘Pearl of the Balkans’? The city in northern Macedonia is well worth a visit – and who better to introduce you to it than a local? Gjoko Kostoski has a few tips for you, starting with a boat trip on Lake Ohrid – one of the oldest lakes on earth. For a culinary treat, here you’ll find tasty Ohrid trout. Watch the video to find out how the lake is connected to the secret of Ohrid’s pearls – popular with tourists and royalty alike. Gjoko also recommends a visit to Samuel’s Fortress, and the well-preserved old town. Medieval Ohrid – with its wealth of cultural monuments, churches, and monasteries – was a holy center of Christianity, known as the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’.
5 recommendations for Ohrid: 00:00 Intro 00:31 Visit Samuel’s Fortress 00:59 A stroll though the old city 03:22 Visit a pearl craft shop 05:00 Take a boat ride on Lake Ohrid 05:50 Try Ohrid trout
Segovia is a historic city northwest of Madrid, in central Spain’s Castile and León region. Its centuries of settlement have resulted in a rich architectural legacy, including medieval walls, Romanesque churches, a former royal palace and a Gothic cathedral. Its iconic ancient Roman aqueduct has more than 160 arches, most in the original mortarless granite, and stands above Plaza Azoguejo in the heart of the city.
India, country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. Its capital is New Delhi, built in the 20th century just south of the historic hub of Old Delhi to serve as India’s administrative centre. Its government is a constitutionalrepublic that represents a highly diverse population consisting of thousands of ethnic groups and likely hundreds of languages. With roughly one-sixth of the world’s total population, India is the second most populous country, after China.
Tbilisi is the capital of the country of Georgia. Its cobblestoned old town reflects a long, complicated history, with periods under Persian and Russian rule. Its diverse architecture encompasses Eastern Orthodox churches, ornate art nouveau buildings and Soviet Modernist structures. Looming over it all are Narikala, a reconstructed 4th-century fortress, and Kartlis Deda, an iconic statue of the “Mother of Georgia.”
What’s it like to grow up underneath the aurora borealis, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean? Photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva describes leaving—and returning to—Tiksi, a Siberian coastal village that during her childhood became a ghost town in the wake of the Soviet collapse. That experience taught her to find beauty in unexpected places—riding reindeer with nomadic herders, visiting isolated Arctic weather stations, and following mammoth ivory hunters.
Andorra la Vella is the capital of Andorra, in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. It’s known as a duty-free retail hub, with shops lining Meritxell Avenue. The 12th-century Sant Esteve church has baroque altarpieces. Former parliamentary seat Casa de la Vall, dating to 1580, features 16th- and 17th-century murals. The nearby area of Vallnord has resorts with trails for winter sports, plus a bike park.
The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion Center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles.
Sanya, a city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island, has several bays with large beach resorts. Yalong Bay is known for upscale hotels, while Wuzhizhou Island and its coral reefs are destinations for scuba diving, surfing and other water sports. At the city’s expansive Nanshan Temple complex, a 108m-high Guan Yin bronze statue rises on an artificial island.
Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 1:09 Nanshan Temple 45:00 Big Tree Hotel 50:35 Sanya Bay Beach 59:50 Sanya International Duty-Free Mall 1:31:29 Night Market Of Houhai Village 1:44:10 Another Version Of Duty-Free Mall
The Broad Gate in Ludlow, Shropshire — the home of Sir Keith and Lady Thomas — is a 13th-century fortification that defined medieval Ludlow has been transformed into a Georgian townhouse. John Goodall examines its remarkable story and restoration, with photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
