The Old Havana charms any person who is interested in innermost places. When talking about holidays, this city is something very special for the most exquisite travelers, a Cuban feast for the eyes.

It’s particular contrasts stimulate dreams and make it an obligation for tourists to capture such a beauty in a picture and, much better, in an unforgettable memory of the active rest.

That’s why it constitutes a real pleasure the necessary walk through the paved streets of the old part of the wonderful island’s capital.

So, as a part of the efforts to provide the Cuban capital city with a more and more cultural and historical tourism, comes into being the San Beltrán de Santa Cruz hotel in the old Conde de Jaruco’s house, considered today an innermost resting place.

This hotel, managed by the touristic company of the City Historian’s Office, Habaguanex S.A, which is responsible for the amusement in La Habana Vieja, could be considered as a cultural jewel; the perfect lodge.

Located in Calle San Ignacio 411, between the streets of Muralla and Sol in Old Havana – declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1982 – shows now an appropriate elegance and intimacy.

This hotel is composed by 11 colonial rooms, one suite and the other 10, standard rooms. It also boasts a breakfast-room called “San Juan de Jaruco” and a snack-bar baptized as “Don Gabriel”.

According to historians, in 1732, Don Gabriel Beltrán de Santa Cruz ordered the construction of a house at the Plaza Vieja, – the Conde de Jaruco’s house – but he died at the beginning of the works.

Hes widow, Doña Antonia Aranda y Avellaneda, daughter of the major of the San Salvador de la Punta fortress, extended the project and asked the contractor to build a small imitation of it in the backyard of the main house, called since then “La Casa Chica” (1739).

During the time, several families and prominent personalities of the society of the capital city lived in the house like the Count of San Juan de Jaruco, Pedro Beltrán de Santa Cruz and the sister of the Marchioness of Cárdenas de Monte Hermoso, Josefa Catalina de Santa Cruz.

In that mansion were received and lodged the most prominent personalities that visited the city, including the Baron Alexander von Humboldt, an eminent German scientist, and three French princes: the Count of Beaujolais, the Duke of Montpensier and the Duke of Orléans, who became later the king of France, Louis Philippe.

“La Casa Chica” hasn’t suffered great transformations, preserving its old components and its colonial ambience. This great house is located near the Plaza Vieja and has opened its doors as a new charming hotel, combining antique and modern elements with an attractive design.

This hotel is part of a very delicate structure admired by hundreds of travelers from all over the world; especially Europeans that are daily accommodated in this houses of the old part of the city.

Djenne is a historically and commercially important small city in the Niger Inland Delta of central Mali. It is just west of the Bani River. It has an ethnically diverse population of about twelve thousand in 1987.

The Great Mosque of Djenne is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences.

The mosque is located in the city of Djenne, Mali on the flood plain of the Bani River. The first mosque on the site was built in the 13th century, but the current structure dates from 1907. As well as being the centre of the community of Djenne, it is one of the most famous landmarks in Africa.

The entire community of Djenne takes an active role in the mosques maintenance via a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year, mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity.

In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to cure but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosques built in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque.

Another group of men carries the plaster from the pits to the workmen on the mosque. A race is held at the beginning of the festival to see who will be the first to deliver the plaster to the mosque. Women and girls carry water to the pits before the festival and to the workmen on the mosque during it. Members of Djennes masons guild direct the work, while elderly members of the community, who have already participated in the festival many times, sit in a place of honour in the market square watching the proceedings.

The original mosque presided over one of the most important Islamic learning centres in Africa during the middle Ages.

The historic areas of Djenne, including the Great Mosque, were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. While there are many mosques that are older than its current incarnation, the Great Mosque remains the most prominent symbol of both the city of Djenne and the nation of Mali.

Greece offers an array of opportunities for a fantastic gay vacation. Gay travel to Greece will naturally include amazing sunrises, relaxing on white, sandy beaches, trekking to historical sites to explore ancient ruins, and ferrying between several of Greece’s breathtakingly beautiful islands. Whether you dream of a vacation that includes family fun like picking olives and exploring museums, a restful respite in a seaside resort with your partner, or a rowdy week of taking in the Athens nightlife with a group of friends, Greece will undoubtedly prove to be an ideal setting for your travel plans.

Athens has much to offer to those on a vacation, including an enticing array of clubs and bars, LGBT-friendly and LGBT-owned coffee shops and caf