Friends

• 21 It all began in Nazareth
  From Nazareth where the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary with the very first “Ave Maria" – “Hail Mary, full of grace” – to Bethlehem where the baby was born; Ein Kerem...

• 22 The Canaries – a perfect place for Christmas
  Over four million Brits prefer to celebrate Christmas abroad. Some of them choose snowy ski resorts in the Alps and Pyrenees, but many are looking to add a little sunshine to the last week of the year....

• 23 Five spectacular New Year plans
  Magical, musical New Year in Dublin Not satisfied with a single night of fun, the Irish capital is planning to ring in the New Year with the NYE Festival, a three-day extravaganza of music and entertainment....

• 24 Royal Madikwe: award-winning luxury with an eco-conscience
  Madikwe, the fourth largest game reserve in South Africa, is a joint venture between the state, the local community and the private sector and is a landmark in modern conservation and community development....

• 25 Paris: city of - Christmas - light
  They call Paris the City of Light, and at Christmas time the name's more appropriate than ever: the whole of the city on the Seine seems to be decked in magic. with glittering tinsel garlands, streams...

• 26 Celebrating an icy centenary
  2011 has been a big year for Norway: not only does it mark a hundred years since Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, but it is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of another famous polar explorer,...

• 27 The labyrinthine streets of Carcassonne
  The director, who is behind recent TV series The Good Wife and The Pillars of the Earth, as well as movie greats including Thelma and Louise and Blade Runner, has described Labyrinth as "a wonderful...

• 28 'Fado', the music of Lisbon
  The music of a country is one of the keys to its culture; Argentina has the tango, Spain has flamenco, and Portugal has fado. It's a musical form that draws on many different historical and cultural elements,...

• 29 Flying south for winter
  Usually a Monarch butterfly lives for just four or five short weeks. But by some miracle of nature, the last generation of the summer may survive for as long as seven months, allowing them to fly south...

• 30 Australia: the epic world Down Under
  In November 2008 People magazine chose Hugh Jackman as the sexiest man on the planet. We can't be sure whether they'd taken a peek at the trailer for Australia, which was to debut a month later, but if...

• 31 Oslo, capital of peace
  On the day of the award ceremony, all eyes wll be on Oslo Town Hall, the imposing red building where the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize will be presented to this year's joint winners: President of Liberia, Ellen...

• 32 Advent comes to Germany
  From the northern coast to the Alps in the south, hardly a city in Germany can resist setting up their own Christmas market and stuffing it full of music and handicrafts, tempting scents and delicious...

• 33 Twilighting in Washington State
  Up in the far northwest of America, on the border with Canada, the State of Washington is a land of contrasts with mountains, deserts, steppe landscapes and active volcanoes. Its Pacific edge boasts a...

• 34 Christmas carols and concerts in Vienna
  In Vienna, it's Advent rather than simply Christmas, that is celebrated with a pure magical passion. First there are all the little markets selling crafts and knick-knacks and home-baked goodies that blossom...

• 35 On location in the Moroccan desert
  When it comes to making a Hollywood blockbuster, cast and crew travel all over the wolrld to get just the right location and ambience for the different scenes. This was certainly the case for the team...

• 36 And the word is 'wonderful'!
  On-line, by phone and by text messages, thousands of people around the world have been involved in voting in this initiative launched by the New7Wonders Foundation. Chosen from a short list of twenty-eight,...

• 37 Autumn colours in Kyoto
  Recently the readers of U.S. magazine Conde Nast Traveler name Kyoto the best Asian city, ahead of Bangkok and Hong Kong in a survey whose result pays tribute to the time-honoured cultural wealth of the...

• 38 Puerto Rico: more than just rum
  It's not just Johnny Depp who has found Puerto Rico the perfect location: from the classic 1963 Lord of the Flies, to the up-coming Treasure Island starring Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver, the cluster...

• 39 Stromboli: volcanic fire and passion
  Some say that without the scandal surrounding the extramarital affair between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman during the filming of Stromboli, the film would have sunk into insignificance. There...

• 40 In the land of the hobbits
  When Peter Jackson was 18, he took a train ride across New Zealand's North Island – one of the two islands that comprise the country. On the trip he read The Lord of the Rings, the great J R R Tolkien...