French Fashion World

Involved in the fashion world makes me interested to knowsomething about fashion. The rise of a variety of fashion brands willnot escape from some big name fashion designers or famous brands such as Prada, Chanel, Dior christian even my brand of ashoe that is Versace. My tour this time will be the theme of fashion.

Although Indonesia is currently in fashion trends from Asia such as Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, but this time I want to know a little fashion from a world fashion center of France.

Fashion has been an important industry and cultural export of France since the 17th century, and modern "haute couture" originated in Paris in the 1860s. Today, Paris, along with London, Milan, and New York City, is considered one of the world's fashion capitals, and the city is home or headquarters to many of the premier fashion houses. The expression Haute couture is, in France, a legally protected name, guaranteeing certain quality standards.

The association of France with fashion and style (French: la mode) dates largely to the reign of Louis XIV.  When the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became, arguably, the arbiter of taste and style in Europe. But France renewed its dominance of the high fashion (French: couture or haute couture) industry in the years 1860-1960 through the establishing of the great couturier houses such as Chanel, Dior, and Givenchy.

Chanel

In the 1960s, the elitist "Haute couture" came under criticism from France's youth culture. In 1966, the designer Yves Saint Laurent broke with established Haute Couture norms by launching a prêt-à-porter("ready to wear") line and expanding French fashion into mass manufacturing. With a greater focus on marketing and manufacturing, new trends were established by Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix in the 1970s and 80s. The 1990s saw a conglomeration of many French couture houses under luxury giants and multinationals such as LVMH.

Claude Montana

When talking about the French fashion is not separated from themajor brands that are the trend and become the fashion giant Louis Vuitton. LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A. (Euronext: MC), usually shortened toLVMH, is a French holding company and the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate. It is the parent of around 60 sub-companies that each manage a small number of prestigious brands. These daughter companies are, to a large extent, run autonomously. The group was formed after mergers brought together champagne producer Moët et Chandon and Hennessy, a leading manufacturer of cognac. In 1987, they merged with fashion house Louis Vuitton to form the current group.

Christian Dior, the luxury goods group, is the main holding company of LVMH, owning 42.38% of its shares, and 59.3% of its voting rights. Bernard Arnault, majority shareholder of Dior, is Chairman of both companies and CEO of LVMH. His successful integration of various famous aspirational brands into the group has inspired other luxury companies into doing the same. Thus Gucci (now part of the French conglomerate PPR) and Richemonthave also created extended portfolios of luxury brands. The oldest of the LVMH brands is wine producer Château d'Yquem, which dates its origins back to 1593.

This fashion house has noted the value of equity at the end of 2010amounted to € 18.20 billion and total assets amounting to € 37.16billion. With equity and assetnya jumalah so big companies get the profit amounted to € 3,032 billion at the end of 2010. this isinfluenced by current business plan aims to tightly control the brands it manages in order to maintain and heighten the perception of luxury relating to their products. For example, Louis Vuitton products are sold only through Louis Vuitton boutiques found in upmarket locations in wealthy cities or in concessions in other luxury goods shops (such as Harrods in London). This practice contrasts greatly with less exclusive brands which can be bought in shopping malls around the world.

Maintaining the quality is very important not only in the fashion worldbut in the other world. what about our online tour this time? I look forward to further reviews of other online travel about with variousthemes of interest of course. So enjoy the vacation. :)

Aragon and Ramon Berenguer IV

PROVINCIA DE TERUEL, ARAGÓN

My online travel times are still visiting the Spanish state of Aragon. I chose Aragon because of its history. Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English).

Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the region is flanked by Catalonia on the east, Valencia and Castile-La Mancha to the south, and Castile and Leon, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west.

Aragon has a very interesting history for me to learn more. The most I remember about the history of the Ramon Berenguer IV of Aragon. Who is Ramon Berenguer IV?

Ramon Berengar IV

Raymond Berengar IV or Ramon Berenguer IV (c. 1113 – 6 August 1162), sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who effected the union between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon. He inherited the county of Barcelona from his father Ramon Berenguer III on August 19, 1131. On 11 August 1137, he was married to the infant Petronila of Aragon, aged one at the time. Her father, Ramiro II of Aragon the Monk, who sought Barcelona's aid against Alfonso VII of Castile, abdicated on November 13 that same year, leaving his kingdom to Petronilla and Ramon Berenguer. The latter essentially became ruler of Aragon, although he was never king himself, but instead Count of Barcelona and Prince of the Kingdom of Aragon. He was the last Catalan ruler to use the title of Count as his first; starting with his son Alfonso II of Aragon the counts of Barcelona styled themselves, in the first place, as kings of Aragon.

The treaty between Ramon Berenguer and his father-in-law stipulated that their descendants would rule jointly over both realms. Even should Petronila die before the marriage could be consummated, Berenguer would still inherit the title of King of Aragon.  Both realms would preserve their laws, institutions and autonomy, remaining legally distinct but federated in a dynastic union under one ruling House. Historians consider this arrangement the political masterstroke of the Hispanic Middle Ages. Both realms gained greater strength and security and Aragon got its much needed outlet to the sea. On the other hand, formation of a new political entity in the north-east at a time when Portugal seceded from León in the west gave more balance to the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula. Ramon Berenguer successfully pulled Aragon out of its pledged submission to Castile, aided no doubt by the beauty and charm of his sister Berenguela, wife of Alfonso the Emperor, for which she was well-known in her time.

He died in 1162 in Borgo San Dalmazzo, Piedmont, Italy, leaving the title of Count of Barcelona to his eldest son Ramon Berenguer, who next year inherited the title of King of Aragon from the abdication of his mother Petronila of Aragon (Ramiro II was already dead), and, in compliment to the Aragonese, changed his name to Alfonso and became Alfonso II of Aragon. Ramon Berenguer's younger son Pedro inherited the county of Cerdanya and lands north of the Pyrenees.

The uninitiated or just want to know about the culture of Aragon would not hurt to know a little about Raymond Berengar IV.  So enjoy the vacation of culture Aragon with me...

Tourism in Andalusia (Spanyol)

Not yet felt holiday abroad? do not always make me despair. With internet facilities I decided to visit the beautiful city of Andalusia online on the internet.

No confusion because current with the latest technology separti browsing the Internet we can do to places around the world not to mention beautiful Andalusian city.

Due in part to the relatively mild winter and spring climate, the south of Spain is attractive to overseas visitors–especially tourists from Northern Europe. While inland areas such as Jaén, Córdoba and the hill villages and towns remain relatively untouched by tourism, the coastal areas of Andalusia have heavy visitor traffic for much of the year.

Among the autonomous communities, Andalusia is second only to Catalonia in tourism, with nearly 30 million visitors every year. The principal tourist destinations in Andalusia are the Costa del Sol and (secondarily) the Sierra Nevada. As discussed above, Andalusia is one of the sunniest and warmest places in Europe, making it a center of "sun and sand" tourism. 70 percent of the lodging capacity and 75 percent of the nights booked in Andalusian hotels are in coastal municipalities. The largest number of tourists come in August—13.26 percent of the nights booked throughout the year—and the smallest number in December—5.36 percent.

On the west (Atlantic) coast are the Costa de la Luz (provinces of Huelva and Cádiz), and on the east (Mediterranean) coast, the Costa del Sol (provinces of Cádiz y Málaga), Costa Tropical (Granada and part of Almería) and the Costa de Almería. In 2004, the Blue Flag beach program of the non-profit Foundation for Environmental Education recognized 66 Andalusian beaches and 18 pleasure craft ports as being in a good state of conservation in terms of sustainability, accessibility, and quality.^{[citation needed]} Nonetheless, the level of tourism on the Andalusian coasts has been high enough to have a significant environmental impact, and other organizations—such as the Spanish Ecologists in Action (Ecologistas en Acción) with their description of "Black Flag beaches" or Greenpeace—have expressed the opposite sentiment.

Together with "sand and sun" tourism, there has also been a strong increase in nature tourism in the interior, as well as cultural tourism, sport tourism, and conventions. One example of sport and nature tourism is the ski resort at Sierra Nevada National Park.

As for cultural tourism, Andalusia has some notable monuments dating back to the Muslim era: the Great Mosque of Córdoba (now a cathedral), the Alhambra in Granada and the Giralda in Seville. There are hundreds of cultural tourist destinations: cathedrals, castles, forts, monasteries, and historic city centers; the city centers of Úbeda and Baeza in the province of Jaén are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Each of the provinces shows a great variety of architectural styles: Islamic architecture, Renaissance architecture, Baroque architecture and more modern styles. Further, there are the Lugares colombinos, significant places in the life of Christopher Columbus:^[104] Palos de la Frontera, La Rábida Monastery, and Moguer) in the province of Huelva. There are also archeological sites of great interest: the Roman city of Italica, birthplace of Emperor Trajan and (most likely) Hadrian; Baelo Claudia near the Straits of Gibraltar; Medina Azahara, the city-palace of the Cordoban caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III, where major excavations still continue.

Andalusia was the birthplace of such great painters as Velázquez and Murillo (Seville) and, more recently, Picasso (Málaga); Picasso is memorialized by in his native city by the Fundación Picasso and Museo Picasso Málaga; the Casa de Murillo was a house museum 1982–1998, but is now mostly offices for the Andalusian Council of Culture. There are numerous other significant museums around the region, both of paintings and of archeological artifacts such as gold jewelry, pottery and other ceramics, and other works that demonstrate the region's artisanal traditions.

The Council of Government has designated the following "Municipios Turísticos": in Almería, Roquetas de Mar; in Cádiz, Chiclana de la Frontera, Chipiona, Conil de la Frontera, Grazalema, Rota, and Tarifa; in Granada, Almuñécar; in Huelva, Aracena; in Jaén, Cazorla; in Málaga, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Nerja, Rincón de la Victoria, Ronda, and Torremolinos; in Seville, Santiponce.

Monuments and features

• El Torcal, Antequera (Málaga)
• Medina Azahara, Córdoba
• Mezquita, Córdoba
• Alhambra, Granada
• Palace of Charles V Granada
• Charterhouse, Granada
• Albayzín, Granada
• Alcazaba, Málaga
• Puente Nuevo, Ronda (Málaga)
• Giralda, Seville
• Torre del Oro, Seville
• Plaza de España, Seville
• Seville Cathedral, Seville
• Alcázar of Seville, Seville
• Úbeda and Baeza, Jaén
• La Rabida Monastery, Palos de la Frontera (Huelva)
• Caves of Nerja, Nerja (Málaga) 

Already satisfied the tour? if not, I'll give the other info .. so enjoy the vacation guys ^ _ ^

Palembang: Arts and Culture

Musi

Remember the Pempek food, so the same origin of remember where my favorite food is coming from. Yup Pempek is derived from the region of Palembang. 

Palembang is located at 2 ° 59'27 .99 "S 104 ° 45'24 .24" longitude. Location of Palembang is strategic because it passed by the road linking the Trans Sumatra between regions in the island of Sumatra. In addition there are also in Palembang, Musi River, which traversed Ampera Bridge, which serves as a means of transport and trade across regions.

Due to its strategic location, would not be surprised if Palembang became one tourist destination for domestic and international tourists. This makes me interested to know the arts and culture from Palembang. Let's find out more inside!

Since ancient times, Palembang is a cosmopolitan port city absorbs neighboring as well as foreign cultures and influences. The influences and cultures of coastal Malay, inland Minangkabau, Javanese, Indian, Chinese, and Arab, has created rich Palembang culture. Throughout its history, Palembang has attracted migrants from other regions in the archipelago, has made this city as a multi-cultural city. Although today the city had lost its function as the major port city in the archipelago, the remnants of its heyday still evident in its culture. Most of its population was then adopted the culture of coastal Malays and Javanese. Even now it can be seen in its culture and language. Word such as "wong (person)" is an example of Javanese loanword in Palembang language. Also the Javanese knight and noble honorific titles, such as Raden Mas or Raden Ayu is used by Palembang nobles, the remnant of Palembang Sultanate courtly culture. The tombs of the Islamic heritage was not different in form and style with Islamic tombs in Java.

Art and culture of Palembang, among others:

1. Art Dul Muluk (traditional drama performances Palembang)
2. Dances "Tari tapak Tiga" and like Gending Sriwijaya held a reception to the guests, and dance that was exhibited in Tanggai wedding reception
3. Regional Songs such as Dek Sangke, Cuk Mak Ilang, Pempek Lenjer, and Ribang Kemambang
4. Traditional House of Palembang is Limas House and House Raft
5. Ornamental boat festival and competition in the River Musi bidar

Limas House

Palembang also held a variety of festivals every year, among others "Sriwijaya Festival" held in June in order to commemorate Palembang Anniversary, Bidar and Ornamental Boat Festival celebrates Independence Day, and various festivals commemorating the Islamic New Year, Month of Ramadan, and New Year's Day.

Wow, it appears that Indonesia is rich in culture. So there wonderingwhat else I could learn about culture, art, food and other attractions.

Culture of the Netherlands

Tulip Festival

Today I want to know the culture from the Netherlands. For centuries the Indonesian nation was colonized by the Netherlands does not necessarily make us know a bit of their culture. Tourism Culture tour this time is with the theme "Culture of the Netherlands".

The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters", such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruysdael and many others. Famous Dutch painters of the 19th and 20th century were Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan. M. C. Escher is a well-known graphics artist. Willem de Kooning was born and trained in Rotterdam, although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an American artist. The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza. All of Descartes' major work was done in the Netherlands. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms with a microscope.

In the Dutch Golden Age, literature flourished as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P.C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the 19th century, Multatuli wrote about the poor treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies. Important 20th century authors include Harry Mulisch, Jan Wolkers, Simon Vestdijk, Cees Nooteboom, Gerard (van het) Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans. Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl was published after she died in the Holocaust and translated from Dutch to all major languages.

Replicas of Dutch buildings can be found in Huis ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan. A similar Holland Village is being built in Shenyang, China. Windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, cheese, Delftware pottery, and cannabis are among the items associated with the Netherlands by tourists.

Source: wikipedia

Indian Sculpture

Temples were raised to the house the Gods and became the focal point for the community. They also became centres of learning and contributed to the advancement of such arts as sculpture, painting, music and dance. Mostly built by Kings, who were also the patrons of arts, encouraging a continuity and enriching rituals of worship, the earliest basis of the classical performing arts.

It was from the temple that the Devdasi cult (Temple Dancers who performed for the Lord) began. Once a practice countrywide - the Kulvantalu in Andhra Pradesh, the Maibi in Manipur, the Devdasi in Tamil Nadu and the Mahari in Orissa, all trace their roots to the temple. The countless sculptures of dance poses in the temples, hint at the potency of dance as a path to spiritual exaltation and lays out a complete lexicon of dance techniques.

For instance, it is said that the greater part of vocabulary of Odissi dance is preserved in stone.

A rich heritage to be brought alive by the artist.

Source: www.incredibleindia.org/ - India

Italian Cooking

Spagetti

Many non-Italians identify Italian cooking with a few of its most popular dishes, like pizza and spaghetti. People often express the opinion that all Italian cooking is pretty much alike. However, those who travel through Italy notice differences in eating habits between cities, even cities only a few miles apart. Not only does each region have its own style, but each community and each valley has a different way of cooking as well.

Every town has a distinctive way of making sausage, special kinds of cheese and wine, and a local type of bread. If you ask people, even in the same area, how to make pasta sauce, they will all have different answers. Variations in the omnipresent pasta are another example of this multiplicity: soft egg noodles in the north, hard-boiled spaghetti in the south, with every conceivable variation in size and shape. Perhaps no other country in the world has a cooking style so finely fragmented into different divisions. So why is Risotto typical of Milan? Why did Tortellini originate in Bologna? And why is Pizza so popular in Naples? This is so for the same reason that Italy has only one unifying Italian language, yet hundreds of different spoken dialects. Italy is a country of great variety, and cooking is just another aspect of the diversity of Italian culture.

This diversity stems largely from peasant heritage and geographical differences. Italy is a peninsula separated from the rest of the continent by the highest chain of mountains in Europe. In addition, a long spine of mountains runs down north to south through this narrow country. These geographic features create a myriad of environments with noticeable variations: fertile valleys, mountains covered with forests, cool foothills, naked rocks, Mediterranean coastlines, and arid plains. A great variety of different climates have also created innumerable unique geographical and historical areas.

But geographical fragmentation alone will not explain how the same country produced all of the rich, fat, baroque food of Bologna, based on butter, parmigiano, and meat; the light, tasty, spicy cooking of Naples, mainly based on olive oil, mozzarella, and seafood; the cuisine of Rome, rich in produce from the surrounding countryside; and the food of Sicily, full of North African influences.

The explanation is hidden in the past; the multitudes of Italian cooking result from its history. Divided for a long time into many duchies, princedoms, kingdoms, and states—often hostile to one another—political unification in Italy did not occur until 1861. Many populations in the past three thousand years have occupied Italian territory, and most of them contributed their own traditions. And the original people, the Etruscans and Greeks, left influences still felt today.

The Romans politically controlled the territory about two thousand years ago, integrated Greek civilization, and created an empire that laid the foundations of Western civilization. They imported all kinds of foods from all over the known world. Roman ships carried essential foods, such as wheat and wine, as well as a variety of spices from as far away as China, to satisfy the Romans’ appetite for exotic ingredients. Roman cooking habits fascinated and influenced generations in the centuries that followed. The fall of the Roman Empire was caused by unstoppable waves of invading people—barbarians who came from as far away as Tibet. They pillaged and destroyed, but they also brought with them new cooking customs. It took centuries before some order was restored and medieval peoples could begin to rebuild something that could be called a cuisine.
 

Medieval Banquet A Roman Banquet in a Triclinium. During much of the dinner, each guest leaned on his left elbow, leaving the right arm free. As three men lay on the same couch, the head of one man was near the bosom of the man lying behind him. The rule was that the number of guests should be no less than that of the Graces (3), nor exceed that of the Muses (9).
During medieval times, the absence of a powerful central authority allowed the creation of many fiercely independent cities. These Comuni, from the Alps to the border of the Kingdom of Naples, progressed faster than the other European towns of the time in wealth and in artistic and intellectual achievements. The cities of northern Italy developed mostly through trade in valuable merchandise, such as spices and fabric, with northern Europe and the East. A rich cuisine developed, offering great diversity from one town to another.
After the decline of the city states, the territory of northern Italy was partially occupied from time to time by France or Austria, which left additional culinary influences in the Northeast. The richness of the cities of northern Italy is reflected in particular in the creation of a “culture” of fresh pasta. While dry macaroni was an item of mass production, fresh pasta associated with eggs, cheese, sugar, cream, and other expensive items was a luxury item. Even though fresh pasta became diffused throughout the peninsula and outside the borders of Italy, it is in northern Italy that we find the most spectacular recipes. It is no coincidence that many consider Bologna the gastronomic capital of Italy.

Tuscany represents a phenomenon by itself in Italian history. Starting in the thirteenth century, the city of Florence in particular became rich during the evolution of the banking system. The De Medicis, a family of merchants and bankers, would become patrons of the arts and would accelerate the movement that became known as the Renaissance. It was the birth of a new way of viewing human beings as in conrol of their own destinies. New social rules were created here and exported all over Europe, which was on the verge of great transformation due to the discoveries of the age of exploration. The Renaissance initiated a great revolution in the arts, also reflected in spectacular and extravagant new ways of cooking. While the north would see the creation of many small independent political entities, the south of Italy remained mostly unified for a long time. Separated from the great trading routes with northern Europe, the south suffered greater poverty and isolation. The people of southern Italy made the best of what they had. But it is here, in southern Italy, that spectacular dishes like spaghetti and pizza originated. Born as the poor people’s way of cooking, these dishes were exported by groups of Italian emigrants and disseminated outside their regions of origin, making them extremely popular everywhere. Dry pasta is the greatest contribution from southern Italy.

Dry macaroni is suitable for storing, trading, and transporting. The invention of the bronze press industrialized the manufacturing of pasta, making macaroni affordable. Present in Sicily since Arab occupation, macaroni became extremely popular in Naples in the 1700s. It is from there that dry pasta started its journey conquering the world. Sicilian history is fascinating for all the different people that occupied the island during different times. The greatest influence was left by the Muslim occupation that lasted for two centuries. Muslims contributed greatly to Western cuisine with a variety of foods, including rice, spinach, alcohol, oranges, lemons, apricots, sugar, and more. In Sicily, their influence is still greatly felt today.

Pizza seller in the streets of Naples, engraving, early 1800s. The tradition of preparing and selling all kinds of pizzas in the streets remains well alive today in the small lanes of downtown Naples. Pizza and calzoni, panzerotti, and pizzelle fritte are delicious when eaten warm—prepared right on the spot—in the hundreds of small shops. As with fast foods, they can be either a snack or a full meal.

Local traditions result from long complex historical developments and strongly influence local habits. Distinctive cultural and social differences remain present throughout Italy, although today mass marketing tends to cause a leveling of long-established values. In a country so diverse, it is impossible to define an “Italian” cooking style, but traditional food is still at the core of the cultural identity of each region, and Italians react with attachment to their own identity when confronted with the tendency toward flattening their culture.

Sources: Anna Maria Volpi