Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Clavert Vaux , New York’s Central Park is one of the worlds’ great urban spaces. Taking up a huge 1.32 square miles or 843 acres on Manhattan Island the park plays host to over 25 million visitors every year. The park is a very popular tourist attraction for visitors with so much to see and do year round. There are magnificent landscaped greens with lovely plantings and two spectacular lakes, many sporting facilities including plenty of paths for jogging, bike riding and just strolling. The park is home to the Central Park Zoo which is one of the world’s great zoological gardens and the park is a well known venue for entertainment, with plays, opera, open air theatre and some of the biggest music events ever being staged in the park. The park is home to 37 playgrounds making it a favorite with the young and there is plenty of wild life, birds, chipmunks and plenty of squirrels. The park has some spectacular pieces of art and many monuments including the moving Strawberry Fields which is dedicated to the Late John Lennon who was murdered outside the Dakota Apartments overlooking the park in December of 1980.
Sydney is not only home to the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House and what is probably the world’s most beautiful waterfront city, it also boasts a monorail The monorail links the entertainment districts of Darling Harbor and China town with the shopping and business precincts of the city. The loop is elevated above the city streets offering a great way to get around and a different perspective on this amazing city. The monorail is ran by the city’s Metro Transport and operates from around 7 am until 10 pm in the evening. There are eight stops along the 12 minute loop and a monorail usually comes past each station within about five minutes. The monorail system commenced operation in 1988 in what at the time was a fairly controversial project, but over the 20 plus years of service the monorail has become a familiar and much loved form of transport around Australia’ s largest city taking thousands of passengers every day.
Only a little over an hours drive from Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando Florida is the Kennedy Space Centre home to the Apollo Missions and the Space Shuttle, it was also the setting for the popular ’60’s comedy I dream of Jeanie. The centre offers an amazing chance to get up close to some of the world’s most amazing technology and for some lucky people even the chance to see a launch. The centre has an incredible visitors centre with many artefacts and even an IMAX cinema but the highlight is catching a bus and going out onto the facility and visiting the launch pads where the space shuttle is launched and to visit a proper Apollo rocket and Saturn V modules. The size of these objects are just staggering and the items on display are breathtaking. The centre offers a great option to escape the hustle and bustle of the theme parks for a day and see up close an important piece of America’s history. Read the rest of this entry »
Fair Lane is the property built by Henry Ford founder of the Ford Motor Company. Located in Dearborn a suburb of Detroit in the USA. Work commenced in 1913 and the Ford family moved in in January of 1916 and hundreds of craftsmen were used to construct the sprawling house all set in magnificent gardens and natural forest. Built of rough Ohio Limestone the house had some amazing technological and architectural features including its own hydro electric PowerStation, a bowling alley and magnificent carvings and lead lights. The budget for the residence was set at $250,000 but final cost blew out to a staggering $1.8 million dollars (remember that is 1916 money) and then there was another $175,000 spent on decorating. Today the estate is a National Historic Landmark and is owned by the University of Michigan and is open for tours by a dedicated team of volunteers.
Alcatraz Island or the Rock as it is commonly known is one of the major tourist sights in beautiful San Francisco. Located in the centre of San Francisco Bay the island has had a long history as a fort and more notably both a military and a federal prison, becoming home to many of the most notorious criminals of the USA before it closed in 1963. Today the island is administered by the National Park Service and ferries leaving Pier 33 near Fisherman’s Wharf offer trips and tours of the facility. The island has an abundance of wildlife and rare plant life and is nesting grounds for many birds. The island is free to visit although ferries are the only way to get to the island, which have a transportation charge, booking should be made in advance as only so many people can be transported a day. The tour thought the grounds and the prison facility is accompanied by a fantastic audio tour which really give you a first hand experience of what the prison was really like- its quiet eerie.
Safari Parks are always a bit of a hoot, some of our favorites animals at many safari parks are the baboons who can be clever little devils as seen in the video above put out by the Knowsley Safari Park in the UK. Apparently the baboons have figured out how to open luggage boxes you find on top of cars to get to all the treats inside. The park is asking people who have the boxes to avoid the baboon section and staged the video above to show us all how the baboons get into the boxes. If the little rascals ever get to see any of the Planet of the Apes movies we could all be in trouble.
The Statue of Liberty has been fully reopened to visitors after closing in September of 2001 after the terrorist attacks on New York City. For the last few years visitors have only been able into the pedestal of the grand old lady but now are able to climb the narrow winding stairs to the top to see the spectacular view of Manhattan through a series tiny windows in the crown. It is expected the climb will be open for two years and then closed for another period for some maintenance and safety works. Due to the restricted space only a limited number of people are able to climb the statue every day, the number is around 30 an hour, so it is going to be one of the most sought after things to do in New York City. Tickets can be purchased up to a year in advance from the cruise companies, and for added security people must show ID matching the names on the ticket to use them. Good news is the tickets only cost $3 each on top of the usual $12 ferry ride.The Statue of Liberty has been looking over the skyline of Manhattan since October of 1886 and is the world’s most recognisable statue, with smaller copies in Paris and Tokyo also much loved and are regular stops on tourist tours of both cities.
The Bonsecours Market can be found in the French speaking city of Montreal in Canada and is a beautiful domed building dating back to 1847. The market is the central point of Old Montreal which features some of the city’s most beautiful and historic buildings. Designed by architect William Footner the market was home to the City Hall and also briefly housed the Parliament of United Canada back in 1949. The building today is home to a variety of specialty stores, cafes, and quaint boutiques offering some beautiful 17th century splendour. The market houses huge exhibition spaces which are booked for fairs, and other events, there are also some wonderful art exhibitions which are well worthy of a visit.
After the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House, Sydney’s Luna Park would have to be the third most famous icon on Sydney Harbour. dating back to 1935 the theme park has had a somewhat chequered, troubled and sometimes tragic existence but remains one of Sydney’s most loved places. Today the park is home to quiet a few heritage buildings and some fun amusement rides, including a historic carousel and 35 metre high Ferris wheel. Luna Park plays hosts to plenty of events during the year, including private functions and music festivals, it has also played host to major TV events like the MTV Australia Music Awards a few years back. The park is a favourite weekends and in particular school holidays, admission is free and you only pay for the rides and attractions. Make sure when visiting to take your camera on the Ferris wheel the views of Sydney harbor are just sensational. Read the rest of this entry »
The KL tower or Menara in the Malaysian capital is a magnificent place to view the city. The tower is actually the city’s highest observation tower, the Twin Towers only offer public viewing from the skybridge linking the towers. Being the fifth highest telecommunications tower after towers in Canada, Russia, China and Iran the structure is a pretty impressive engineering feat. The tower features an antenna reaching 421 metres and viewing pod and revolving restaurant at 276 metres and offers some breathtaking views. The tower open-ended in 1996 and has been one of KL’s major tourist destinations ever since. The tower now features a mini zoo with some amazing native animals including reptiles, amphibians and monkeys, a interesting themed snow park complete with cement polar bears, penguins and snowmen and some magnificent rainforest including a 100 year old jelutong tree which was saved from construction of the tower.
