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In Frisian Waves – our second 'Letter from Europe' this year – we recall the 'Grote Mandrenke' ('great drowning of man'), a fierce flood that 650 years ago caused the inundation of land and huge loss of life along the North Sea coast. Closer to our own time, the Danish island of Jordsand disappeared beneath the waves. In hidden europe 26, we published an article on Jordsand that we feature here.
Much of the focus of the international debate on climate change and its impact on coastlines relates to the effects of global warming in low latitudes. But Europe is not immune to the effects of rising sea levels. About one quarter of the territory of the Netherlands is below sea level. While geographers ponder the likely fate of tropical islands, tides are taking their toll on some of those islands' European counterparts.
Within historical times, several islands have simply disappeared in the Venetian lagoon. The former island of San Marco in Boccalama once housed a large monastery until the monks could hold back the rising tide no longer. They even sunk two ships to shore up the…
Latest Note:
Plymouth to Portsmouth by boat
Devotees of unusual ferry routes will find a few gems tucked away in Brittany Ferries’ winter schedules. From next week until the end of March 2012, there will be a seasonal Plymouth to St Malo service. The service kicks off next Monday with a morning sailing at 11.30 from St Malo. The passage time is eight hours.
Letter from Europe:
Across the Dardanelles
Çanakkale is a mere dot on the map, but mere dots in distant lands so often turn out to be bustling cities. And thus it is with Çanakkale, a seaport and fortress town on the east side of the Dardanelles. Çanakkale is a community of more than 100,000 people. Choose your vantage point on the waterfront with care, and you will be rewarded with fine views across the water to the great fortress at Kilitbahir across the west side of the Dardanelles.
Current Issue:
hidden europe 35
Slow travel is the thread that weaves through hidden europe 35. We take the slow boat from Iceland, the slow train through the valleys of Germany’s Harz Mountains and savour slowly unfolding landscapes on a local bus through the valleys in mid-Wales. We wander through the Bukovina area of Carpathian Ukraine, explore the border between Russia and Estonia at Narva, visit the Lenin museum in the Finnish city of Tampere and ponder on the fruits of Paradise.
