Destinations

• MANCHESTER / UK
Few cities in the world have embraced social change so heartily as MANCHESTER.
From engine of the Industrial Revolution to test-bed of contemporary urban design, the city has no realistic provincial English rival.
Its domestic dominance expresses itself in various ways, most swaggeringly in the success of Manchester United, the richest football club in Britain, but also in a thriving music and cultural scene that has given birth to world-beaters as diverse as the Hallé Orchestra and Oasis. Moreover, the city's concert halls, theatres, clubs and café society are boosted by England's largest student population.
Manchester's rapid growth was the equal of any flowering of the Industrial Revolution – from little more than a village in 1750 to the world's major cotton-milling centre in only a hundred years.
The spectacular rise of Cottonopolis, as it became known, came from the production of competitively priced imitations of expensive Indian calicoes, using machines evolved from Arkwright's first steam-powered cotton mill, which opened in 1783.
Waterways and railway viaducts form the matrix into which the city's principal buildings have been bedded – as early as 1772 the Duke of Bridgewater had a canal cut to connect the city to the coal mines at Worsley, and the world's first passenger rail line, connecting Manchester with Liverpool, was opened in 1830.
The Manchester Ship Canal, constructed to entice ocean-going vessels into Manchester and away from burgeoning Liverpool, was completed in 1894, and played a crucial part in reviving Manchester's competitiveness.   For more information, please visit www.visitmanchester.com


• ATHENS / GREECE
For most visitors the highlight of a visit to ATHENS (Athína in Modern Greek) is the stunning vestiges of the ancient, Classical Greek city, most famously represented by the Acropolis and its surrounding archaeological sites.
Even on a brief visit, however, it is a shame to see Athens purely as the location of ancient sites and museums.
Although the neighbourhoods may lack the style and monuments of most European capitals, they are, worth at least some exploration.
The old nineteenth-century quarter of Pláka , in particular, is a delight, with its mix of Turkish, Neoclassical and Greek-island architecture, and an array of intriguing little museums devoted to traditional arts, ceramics and music.
Just to its north, the bazaar area around Athinas and Eolou, retains an almost Middle Eastern atmosphere in its life and trade, while the National Gardens, elegant Kolonaki and the hill of Lykavitos offer respite from the maelstrom, Further afield, but still well within the limits of Greater Athens are the monasteries of Kessariani and Dhafni the latter with Byzantine mosaics the equal of any in Greece.
For more information, please visit www.breathtakingathens.com


• ERBIL / IRAQ
ERBIL is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is the third-largest city in Iraq after Baghdad and Mosul.[1] The city lies eighty kilometres (fifty miles) east of Mosul. The city is the capital of Kurdistan Autonomous Region and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city has been under the rule of many regional powers during that time, such as the Assyrians, the Persians, Sasanians, Arabs, and Ottomans. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-Islamic objects.
Wikipedia on Erbil     More information on Erbil Airport


• BAGHDAD / IRAQ
The name of Baghdad used to evoke images of Arabian Nights, Harems and Sultans. Baghdad has had its fair share of warfare in its long history. The fairytale city it once was, capital of the Abbaside Caliphate, was destroyed by the Mongol invaders in 1258. Baghdad did recover but it never regained the supremacy over the Middle East again. There are still a lot of impressive monuments in Baghdad. The Mustansiriyah School, the Abbasid Palace, Khan Murjan and the Al-Khadhimain Mosque are worth a visit. There are also a few good Museums, especially the Iraqi museum should not be missed
Wikipedia on Baghdad


• SULAIMANIYAH / IRAQ
Sulaimaniyah, with an estimated population of 1.5 million. It is located east of the regional capital Erbil, in north-eastern Iraq. Named Sulaimani by the Kurds, its regarded as the countrys most secular city. Sulaimaniyah is often called the 'Paris' of Iraq for its vibrant cultural life and its wide tree-lined boulevards
Wikipedia on Sulaymaniyah