Monart Spa in Enniscorthy, Ireland
van Tomek Bialek
delen
Monart Spa in Enniscorthy, Ireland |
|
|
The historic house of Monart (1740) forms an impressive entrance to one of Ireland's leading spas. Ne...
Enniscorthy Castle is a typical normand stronghold, situated at the center of Enniscourthy Town in I...
Gowran abbey ruins, gowran co Kilkenny, Ireland. didnt have great luck with the light on this one so ...
It was back in 1888 that John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish vet living in Belfast, replaced the solid tyres...
A storm front approaches the village of Duncannon in County Wexford, Ireland. This was a pleasant li...
Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland. A walled city of Viking origins, it retains much of it's med...
The Cathedral of The Holy Trinity, Christ Church has been a constant presence in Waterford, in one fo...
Kells was the medieval capital of Kilkenny. This Augustinian Priory was founded in 1193 by Geoffrey ...
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.
The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.
Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".
Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states.
Text by Steve Smith.
