In 2025, Osaka in Japan has claimed the top spot in the Yanolja Attractiveness Index, overtaking Kyoto, also in Japan, (#3) and surpassing long-established tourism powerhouses such as Paris in France (#2), New York in the United States (#4), and Seoul in South Korea (#5).
Tag: Dubai
QATAR | Hamad International Airport (DOH) in Doha
Autumn 2024. Ten years after my first trip to Seoul in 2014, I am returning to the Republic of Korea, better known as South Korea. Not solo this time, but with Oriol, who has never been to Korea. On the itinerary: flying with Qatar Airways to Incheon via Doha, the capital Seoul, the historic city…
REVIEW | Qatar Airways – economy – Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – Brussels to Doha
Autumn 2024. Ten years after my first trip to Seoul in 2014, I am returning to the Republic of Korea, better known as South Korea. Not solo this time, but with Oriol, who has never been to Korea. On the itinerary: flying with Qatar Airways to Incheon via Doha, the capital Seoul, the historic city…
UPDATE | 65 countries where gay sex is illegal in 2025
The tally of countries with anti-homosexuality laws has again risen to 65 with last month’s official publication of a homophobic new penal code in Mali in West Africa, Erasing 76 Crimes reports. This means that in January 2025, 65 countries (and other entities) criminalise gay sex.
Dubai: embracing the artificial
With nearly 17 million visitors in 2023 Dubai is the third most visited city in the world. I am a regular viewer of the European edition of CNN, a channel on which Dubai is often promoted as a tourist destination. This and my urge to travel to new places brought me to Dubai. It’s a…
ANTWERP | Jewelry Days on 30 November and 1 December 2024
Coming weekend, the Antwerp Diamond Exchange is hosting the Jewelry Days, aimed at promoting the diamond and jewelry market in Antwerp.
FLEVOLAND | Lelystad
From December 2024, the Benelux train Brussels in Belgium to Amsterdam in the Netherlands will not terminate at Amsterdam Central Station, but at Amsterdam South (Zuid). There the Brusselaar or Amsterdammer will become a domestic train to Lelystad. An excuse for Danny and I to travel all the way to the province of Flevoland to…
UPDATE | 64 countries where gay sex is illegal
On 22 April 2024, the High Court of Dominica in the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean struck down its ant-sodomy law. Time for an update. Both ILGA World and Erasing 76 Crimes count the countries and US states which have laws against gay sex. Spoiler alert: the number of countries criminalising gay sex…
UPDATE | 66 countries where gay sex is illegal
On Friday, 14 April 2023, the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean decriminalised homosexuality by repealing the law “indecent acts between males”. Time for an update of the list. Both ILGA World and Erasing 76 Crimes count the countries and US states which have laws against gay sex. Spoiler alert: the number of countries criminalising…
ANTWERP | Instant divide over Daniel Libeskind’s transformation design for Boerentoren
If billionaire owner Fernand Huts gets his way, Antwerp‘s own skyscraper Boerentoren or Farmers’ Tower will get a huge ‘crown’ designed by star architect Daniel Libeskind. The landmark is being endowed with a new crown that will provide a 360° panorama across the northern port city. It’s far from a surprise the concept divides public…
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