Wednesday 5 November 2008

Travel Magazine: Article about Syria


Published
"Reader’s Letter of the Month"

in GEO Saison

GEO Saison is one of the most prestigious German travel magazines – and with over 125.000 copies it is also the most widely circulated. Established in 1989 as a monthly journal, it continues to cover a wide range of travel- and holiday-related topics. Cover reports in 2008 included amongst others “India” (November), “The best hotels below 100 euros” (September), “Hamburg” (July) or “Italy for explorers” (March). The high acceptance of GEO Saison is also reflected in more than 40.000 subscriptions that are delivered every month.

GEO Saison

My personal attention was drawn to GEO Saison this past July, when an article about Syria was published. Aptly named “Ton, Steine, Scherben” (= "clay, stones, sherds" in allusion to a German pop music band), it was written by the renowned German journalist Charlotte Wiedemann. Interested of course in a travel report about the country where my wife and me had lived and worked for one year in 2005-06, we acquired a copy and began to read. And we loved it.

The article shows a passionate view on a beautiful country and its marvellous people. A sense of openness, hospitality, friendliness and a genuine interest in other people characterises the inhabitants of Syria, and Charlotte Wiedemann wonderfully manages to bring this notion across in her article. Furthermore, her allusive description of the immense cultural heritage accumulated over more than five millennia evokes a pure and straight longing to pack and discover this country.

For those able to understand German, the article can be found in the July issue of GEO Saison and is also available for download as a podcast:

GEO Saison Ausgabe 07/2008

„Ton, Steine, Scherben“ Podcast


Happy to have encountered an article that painted such a welcoming picture of Syria, the country we have gotten to know and love, we decided to express our appreciation by writing a reader’s comment and sent it to the editor. Additionally, we suggested three more highly interesting cultural sights that we thought were worth mentioning: Apamea with a 2-km long Roman columned street; Bosra with a Roman theatre in black basalt stone; and Ma’aloula, a tiny mountain village where Aramaic (the language of Jesus Christ) is still spoken.

Not only was our feedback warmly welcomed, it also received the privilege of being published in the current October issue of GEO Saison, on page 6, and comes also published below!

And as the selected “Reader’s Letter of the Month”, we were additionally presented with a very nice trolley set as a gift – a treat that certainly will accompany us on any future trip to Syria.



Andreas Hauser


____________________________________________________


Syrien
"Ton, Steine, Scherben", 7/2008

Wir möchten der Autorin Charlotte Wiedemann ein großes Kompliment machen für den exzellent recherchierten Artikel über das Land Syrien, seine Menschen und seine Kulturgüter.

Wir haben selbst während eines einjährigen Arbeits-aufenthaltes in Damaskus 2005/06 das Land schätzen gelernt. Stets sind wir mit offenen Armen empfangen worden, in den Städten wie auf dem Land. Die überwältigende Gastfreundschaft kommt in dem Artikel sehr liebevoll zum Vorschein, in den Fotos ebenso wie in den berührenden Erzählungen der Autorin. Auch die Empfehlung zu Hotels und Restaurants sind toll gewählt und zeigen die stets wachsenden Möglichkeiten, das Land touristisch zu erleben.

Drei kulturelle Highlights möchten wir gerne noch nennen:
  • In Apamea, westlich der Straße von Homs nach Aleppo, ist eine zwei Kilometer lange römische Säulenstraße zu bewundern – unseres Wissens nach die längste noch existierende der Welt.

  • In Bosra, rund eine Stunde südlich von Damaskus, liegt das am besten erhaltene römische Theater aus schwarzem Basaltstein.

  • Ma'aloula, rund eine Stunde nördlich von Damaskus, ist einer von drei Orten, in denen noch aramäisch gesprochen wird (die Sprache von Jesus Christus). Der Ort hat eine bezaubernde Altstadt sowie mehrere alte, christliche Kirchen.

Weitere Damaskus-Erlebnisse schildern wir in unserem Blog:

http://einjahrindamaskus.blogspot.com


ANDREAS & MICHAELA HAUSER, Planegg



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