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Turkey is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia. Turkey’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance.
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland’s 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km2) rural area.
Pierre Gagnaire at 6 rue Balzac in Paris (in the 8th arrondisment) is considered one of the finest in France, specialising in ‘modern French’ cuisine, and has garnered three Michelin stars. Pierre Gagnaire is the Head Chef and owner of the eponymous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant
In 2005 both restaurants were ranked in the top 20 in the world by industry magazine Restaurant with Pierre Gagnaire ranking third chef in 2006 and 2007.
A LONDON restaurant is asking customers to pay only what they want for meals in a bid to beat the credit crunch.
The Little Bay restaurant in central London will present diners with absolutely nothing when they ask for the cheque during February, leaving it up to them to decide what the meal was worth.
“Anything between a penny and 50 pounds ($111) will make me happy, it’s entirely up to the customer to decide,” restaurateur owner Peter Ilic said.
When Napoleon invaded Venice in 1797 he was so shocked at the excesses of the annual Carnival he banned it. No wonder. In the dying days of the Venetian Republic, the festival’s decadence knew few bounds, with masked merrymakers streaming into casinos to gamble, partygoers indulging in illicit liaisons, and crowds calling for blood at bullfights. Today the pre-Lenten event is more family-friendly. But there’s still a touch of hedonism as fancy-dress parties, concerts, fashion parades and firework displays transform the city into a vast alfresco theater.
This year, the 10-day Carnival kicks off on Feb. 14. To soak up the scene before the crowds descend, visit St. Mark’s Square on the first morning. An outdoor table at the 18th century coffee-house Florian offers a ringside view of the counts, sultans and harlequins as they swan about the piazza.
Snow storms brought travel chaos to western Europe, grounding most flights at London-Heathrow airport after one jet slid off a taxiway and killing at least five people in storm incidents.
Two climbers died on Mount Snowdown in Wales and three people were killed in accidents and from the cold in Italy.
London lay under 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow, the most recorded in the British capital in 18 years. The storms also hit France and Spain, closing roads and rail tracks, and spread as far south as Morocco.
