Travel and Leisure

Northern Italy hosts a series of glacial lakes that are considered high-end real estate today. Lake Como (Lago Di Como) attracts famous people throughout the world, and all of them want to see Isola Comacina, the island that sets upon that lake.

Web search A-listers who are associated with real estate there. What attracts them to it? Realize that people have sought this place long before modern times. Ancient history is best revealed by an ancient, authoritative historian. Roman historian, Publius Cornelius Tacitus is a highly reliable information source. Tacitus wrote extensively about political power wielded by Roman Emperors Nero, Claudius, and Tiberius, as well as four other emperors in succession during the tumultuous year of 69 AD.

In his writing, Tacitus describes a Germanic people (the Suebi), as occupying the lake region of Northern Italy. Later historians further defined those Germanic people as “The Lombards,” from which the Lombardy Region of Northern Italy (where Lake Como resides) was derived. I would not say that Rome conquered the Lombards in that place, although they certainly did wage war on them and fought them there. It was more like the Romans assimilated the Lombards into their empire. Simultaneously, the Romans were seduced, over time, to appreciate and respect the Lombards, to take up residences among them and enjoy the beauty of the lakes.

As the Roman Empire receded, others filled the void: The Goths, the Franks, powerful feudal families like the Visconti family, and the influence of Charles V of Spain. The region also attracted many orders of monks, who established monasteries in some of the prettiest, yet somewhat inaccessible portions of the region, usually with the help of a powerful and wealthy benefactor who wanted the monks to record their personal or family history. The monks, always inwardly focused, also introduced a lot of agriculture, especially the growing of vineyards and the fermenting of wine.

Islam gives a man the freedom to choose. Have you ever thought that what is the point where you are no more searching for the truth but believing everything that comes across? Our attitude towards learning anything new is just getting worse by the time. The Internet has made the truth questing more difficult than ever. As a Muslim, there is some moral responsibility to on everyone. Before you share something or keep an opinion just be sure about it. Think about the journey of Hajj and Umrah, what are they all about? Isn’t it a struggle for the truth, the quest for the purpose of life, understanding the fundamentals of living? Yes, it is. So, this time when you’re about to choose your Hajj and Umrah Packages with Muslims Holy travel, ensure that you know the real purpose of the journey.

Today everyone seems to have an opinion about everything. No doubt its good thing because it shows that thinking minds are still alive. But imposing your opinion on anyone is one of the greatest sins. Islam doesn’t allow forcing even if you’re sure about being right. Try to convince, that’s your main responsibility but leave it if someone is not being influenced.

What does Islam teach About the Truth?
Truth is something that is revealed sooner or later. We have an example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He has been the best individual who stood by the truth regardless of the circumstances. He had faced a lot while spreading the truth of Islam. People didn’t believe him and remain ignorant. He stays firm, bear everything just for the sake of love of Allah (SWT). It was not only about the obedience but also about the loyalty that he possessed towards Allah (SWT). The religion that spread peace only can never be the one with abusive norms. It has been spread on the basis of the truth and will remain until the end of the world.

Islam has always supported the intellectual, people who love diving into the matter and the secrets of the world are only revealed to the people who strive for the truth. So, it is up to a person who is about to form an opinion without researching the truth. Muslims should take advantage of the Quran, the all of the life secrets are mentioned in it. It is only understood by those who looked deep into it.

Islam gives everyone a right to choose, there is no force acceptance on anything. It is completely up to your ability that how a person is supposed to respond on any piece of knowledge. Resources should be checked before you believe it or make an opinion about it.

At the highest point of an insignificant hill in Largo do Pelhourinho, Portugal, the crumbling ruins of Castelo Rodrigo endure the ravages of time and weather. Now a tourist destination, the remains of this Medieval Castle in Northeastern Portugal are symbolic of the transition from how organized humanity behaved and how it behaves now.

Medieval Europe experienced a social downturn between the 5th and 15th centuries. Also known as the Middle Age, this was a time of want, fear, and inward tribal focus in which people were more likely to organize to terrorize other people rather than to bring to others goodness, hope, and shared prosperity. Those who hid within the walls of Castelo Rodrigo did so when they received an alarm about an approaching army or a band of armed plunderers. They took with them to the castle their family, money, animals, and food.

In Medieval times, law and order extended no further than the armed strength of a King, Queen, Duke, Earl, or Steward (caretaker) who had assumed or been locally appointed to manage the castle. The leader and the people he or she protected lived by this motto, “Let us keep what is ours!” The armed mass of people who approached them lived by a different motto, “Let us take what is theirs!”

Close your eyes and think about today. In the United States, do we experience organized marauders who move among us to threaten us if we do not think or do as they say? Do we have castles? Yes, the marauders are called protestors. The castles are called institutions. Web search Matthew 7: 1-2. You have read clear, unambiguous guidance from God, delivered to you by his son, Jesus, the Christ. The verse is a warning. Believing in Jesus is the way that God will accept you.

We must not wall ourselves away from the world. If we are moral, we have an obligation to go out into the world to demonstrate that morality. That is how the dark Middle Age in Europe ended. Eventually, more went out to sow harmony than were going out to sow hate. You do not have to be born moral. Acquire morality by talking to God (prayer) in the name of Jesus Christ. Find your way out of the castle. Depart from the mob. Others will see you do this, and some will follow your lead. Feel the grace of God in your life every day. You will look back on your decision as the finest moment in your life.

InterCity Hobbiton and Waitomo Day Tour

Two of New Zealand’s most popular attractions can be found in the Central North Island: the Hobbiton Movie Set and the amazing Waitomo Caves. Now you can see both of them in one day on one great value InterCity day tour from Auckland!

Sit back and enjoy the lush rural scenery as you head south from Auckland central to a magical Middle-earth location: the private farm outside Matamata which has become famous worldwide as the filming location for Hobbiton in Sir Peter Jackson’s award-winning Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie trilogies.

Take a guided tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set and learn about how this breathtaking film set was created in impressive detail. You’ll see Hobbit Holes (including Bilbo’s house at Bag End), the Party Tree, the Green Dragon Inn, and hear behind-the-scenes secrets from filming.

After your tour, sit down to lunch at the Green Dragon Inn (included in your tour) and enjoy a feast worthy of Bilbo’s birthday party!

Then cross the countryside to the township of Waitomo and head underground into a world of stalactites, stalagmites and twinkling lights: the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

During your 45-minute tour of this natural wonder, you’ll travel through underground tunnels and see vast caverns made from incredible limestone formations. Learn about how the caves were created over millions of years, and experience the magic of an underground boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto – gliding silently through the darkness while glowworms twinkle overhead.

After your Hobbiton and Waitomo Caves day tour, return to Auckland or continue to Rotorua.

Availability: If the Waitomo Caves tour cannot operate, a free upgrade to the Ruakuri Cave will be provided subject to availability. If the Ruakuri upgrade is provided, the Waitomo Caves portion is non refundable.

Tour options

Choose from the following departure and return options:

Auckland return, departing at 8am & returning at 7pm. Available year-round (ICAWHA1)Auckland to Rotorua, departing at 8am & arriving at 6pm. Available year-round (ICAHWR)

Just want to visit Hobbiton? Book our InterCity Hobbiton day tour departing from Auckland, Hamilton or Rotorua from just $114* per person!

Tour includesFull day bus tour from Auckland to Hobbiton and WaitomoEntrance to Hobbiton Movie Set and guided tourLunch at the Green Dragon InnEntrance to Waitomo Glowworm Caves and guided tourFree onboard WiFiReturn or onward travel to Auckland or Rotorua

Banda Neira is one of several volcanic islands that form the Banda Archipelago. The term archipelago includes island chains or they can be clusters of islands set in a sea or other designated and named body of ocean water. Located in a cluster of islands set in the Banda Sea, south of Maluku, the area is central to a larger geographic region known as Indonesia, which consists of over 17,000 islands.

The Bandanese, a tribal people, slowly advanced in numbers by staying mostly hidden from the outside world, except for contact with other tribes on neighboring islands outside of their archipelago. For 8,000 years or more, the Bandanese subsisted on the bounty of the sea, on natural edible vegetation, and they began to grow crops. Somewhere in their history, they encountered other tribes that had tools or utensils that they had not crafted themselves. Rather, they had traded for those things by sharing something on their island with outside traders. That something, mostly was some form of spice.

It is common for an isolated land to produce flora and fauna that are unique in all the world. On the Banda islands, a spice known as nutmeg was unique. The Bandanese, ever distrustful of outsiders, likely accepted help from neighboring tribes to get their nutmeg to a larger market (Japan, China, and later to Arab traders, who introduced their nutmeg to European customers) via the larger island of Maluku, north of the Banda Archipelago.

For the pots and pans, tools, and forged weapons that they got for their nutmeg, their traded good fortune eventually got a visit from powerful European nation trading companies, the fabled East India Companies. The Portuguese were first, then, the Dutch, and finally, the British. During these times, the Bandanese fought the Europeans and lost. By disease, combat, murder, and slavery, the tribal population dwindled, but it did not extinguish.

Whereas a strong market for spices drove national interest, heightened trade, and immoral behavior toward third world people in the 15th century, what about today? Keep an eye and ear open on what your country is doing to carve out a monopoly or a controlling interest in rare earth metals (for computer chips) and lithium (for batteries in electric vehicles).

One of God’s Ten Commandments given to the Hebrews on stone tablets was, “Do not covet – (anything that belongs to your neighbor).” Covet means to yearn to possess, to make yours what was his or hers. But, cooperative trading is OK, unless you cheat the owner or take advantage of his or her limited knowledge of the value of their trade good in your world.