Did You Know? Joan of Arc’s greatest victory over the English in the 100 Years War occurred in Orleans (1429). The largest chateau, Chambord, has 440 rooms and 365 fireplaces. When Leonardo da Vinci came to the French court (1516), he brought the “Mona Lisa.” The valley’s Maison Cointreau produces
Did You Know...? Loch Lomond is Britain’s largest inland body of fresh water (27 square miles). Loch Katrine inspired Sir Walter Scott’s poem, “The Lady of the Lake.” Robert Louis Stevenson's “Kidnapped” was set in the Trossachs. The famous outlaw Rob Roy hid out in the dense forests of the
Did You Know ... ? Thomas Edison’s movie studio shot the 1902 “Moonlight on Lake Maggiore” at the lake. Mussolini and his mistress were captured and killed in 1945 on the shores of Lake Como. Lake Garda is Italy’s largest lake, with a surface of 143 square miles. Giuseppe Verdi
Did You Know ... ? Only one lake in the district is called a lake: Bassenthwaite Lake; all others use the words water or mere. The first pencils were made in the Lake District after graphite was found locally around 1500. Lawyers and politicians are banned from entering Cumbria’s annual
Did You Know ... ? Lake Arenal's dam produces 35% of Costa Rica's electric energy. The now-quiescent Arenal volcano began erupting regularly in 1968 after a 400-year hiatus. Arenal (the town) was relocated because the original site was flooded by the Arenal Dam. Costa Rica has 112 volcanoes, of which
Did You Know...? In most years, Italy is the world’s largest producer of wine. The Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Italy is the world’s No. 1 exporter of rose, with more than 40% of that market. There are roughly 350 official varieties
Did You Know? Pesto was created on the Italian Riviera. Bordighera supplies the palm fronds to the Vatican for Palm Sunday services. Portovenere’s seaside houses were built like a scrimmage line to protect against outside attackers. Liguria’s 40 marinas have about 25.000 boat berths, a quarter of all berths in
Did You Know? Dolomite native Reinhold Messer was the first person to climb Everest solo. Rome’s Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger were natives of the Lake Como area. Fiat’s name, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, means Italian Automobile Factory, Turin. Speakers of Ladin are descended from soldiers
Did You Know...? The waters around the Ionian islands are the deepest (up to 14,455 feet) in the Mediterranean. Britain’s Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was born on Corfu (1921). Odysseus (aka, Ulysses), hero of Homer’s “Odyssey,” was the legendary king of Ithaca. Levkas is surrounded by 24 islets,
Did You Know...? The port town Coxen Hole, on Roatan, was named for a pirate, John Coxen. The largest whale shark ever measured was 40 feet long. Christopher Columbus was the first European to encounter the cacao bean, on his 1502 visit to Guanaja. Roatan's Garifuna (African Carib) community was