On the banks of the River Thames The Tower of London is one of London’s most popular tourist attractions. The history of the tower dates back to 1078 and has had dozens of rebuilds and extensions and just as many uses. For most of it’s life it has been a fortress but has also been a prison and home of torture and execution. The fortress has also been an armory, a mint, somewhere to house public records, even an observatory and a zoo. Today it is the home of the Crown Jewels which have been kept in the tower since they were stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303. The burly Beefeaters guard the tower along with ravens which have been kept at the tower for over 100 years. Legend says that if the ravens ever leave the tower the British Monarchy will fall- Good Old Lizzie better hope they don’t find a better place to live.
To celebrate the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989 La Grande Arche was commissioned as a modern interpretation of the Arc De Triomph which is Paris’s most important war monument. The Grande Arch was designed by Danish Architect Johann Otto Von Spreckelsen and is a nearly perfect cube with a height of 108m a depth of 112m and width of 108m. The huge concrete structure is covered in marble from Italy and glass. Inside the arch houses an exhibition centre, government offices and viewing platform with views across Paris. Visitors rise in a glass lift which runs along a very impressive scaffolding like structure in the centre of the structure.
Anglesea on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road has a very unique Golf Course where you play your 18 holes with herds of Kangaroos watching on. Established in the 1950’s the golf club is one of the premier clubs in the region. The club is visited by hundred’s of visitors every day who stop by for a close up look at these beautiful animals. The kangaroos don’t seem to care too much about the flying balls and can be often seen enjoying the sun right in the middle of the green while golfers are trying to play shots.
During the Vietnam War in the late 1960’s early 1970’s the area of Cu Chi was heavily bombarded by the American’s using their huge B52’s and monstrous fire power. The Viet Cong in the area moved their offensive underground in an expanded tunnel system first used during the war with the French in the late 1940’s. The tunnels were an incredible maze holding hospitals, storage for food and weapons, schools, weapons factories and command centres not forgetting hundreds if not thousands of people. They stretched over 200km through the country and had an amazing array of booby traps and security mechanisms built in for protection. The entrances doors were in many cases no bigger than a A4 piece of paper and very well disguised.Today the some of the tunnels remain and have been widened to allow visitors to experience the conditions and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. Many small tourist operators from Ho Chi Min City offer day trips to the tunnels which are about 70 km out of town.
Mount Prometheus is an active volcano on Mysterious Island which can be found off Tokyo Bay in Japan. Well its not quiet active, although it spits lava and smoke out and makes some pretty deep bellowing noises. It’s also not a real mountain, it’s made out of a lot of steel and concrete- in fact it is the centerpiece of DisneySea at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. The mountain is a ride based on the Jules Verne novel Vulcania. It is a fast moving (75km) an hour journey to the centre of the earth in a drilling capsule designed by Captain Nemo. The three minute ride is one of DisneySea’s most popular, people queue up for hours to experience the ride which travels through mine shaft which goes to the Earth’s core, well at least into the bowels of DisneySea. Read the rest of this entry »
Tokyo is one of the worlds most populated cities and Shibuya the busiest place in Tokyo. More than 2.4 million people use the Shibuya station on a workday but the Shibuya is more than just a mass of humanity, there’s great shopping, restaurants, cafes, bars and of course plenty of people watching. The huge crossing which is outside the station is the busiest in the world, you might remember it from films like Lost In Translation or the Fast and The Furious- Tokyo Drift.
If you have seen any TV shows featuring Seattle like Kramer, you would have seen the Space Needle its just huge, built for the 1962 World Fair this 605 feet tower has had over 45 million visitors to its platforms to see its amazing views. The obeservation deck is at 520ft above ground level and gives fantastic views of not only the Seattle skyline but the Bays, islands and surronding mountains. The trip to the top takes a mere 43 seconds and the centre is linked by a monorail system
In 1962 The Committee Hoping for Extra-Terrestrial Encounters to Save the Earth (CHEESE) claimed to have plans that the needle was constructed to send transmissions to advanced beings in other solar systems- no proof has ever been forthcomming. http://www.spaceneedle.com/
It’s well known that China is one of the most populated countries on earth, but have you stopped to think how they all get around? Check out the video above of a intersection in Shanghai, there are about 2000 new cars a day sold in China and all those car have got to go somewhere and it seems like its every man for themselves when you to to an intersection without traffic lights. Traffic jams are a constant part of life in the busy cities of China so if you plan to get around over there opt for the train over the bus. Read the rest of this entry »
With so many budget flight operators in Europe ,Dublin is easily accessible for as little as 100 Euro return from some cities so it’s a popular spot for a day trip or a fun weekend. Today we take a look at a lovely little slideshow on YouTube showing some of Dublin’s popular sites. Dublin has a rich history and has plenty to offer – don’t forget to try a Guinness Beer they are delicious.
In the late 1950’s a milkshake salesman came across two brothers Mac and Dick McDonald running a small but innovative hamburger restaurant in Bernardino, California. He got friendly and ended up going into partnership with the brothers and later buying them out in 1961 for $2.7 million dollars- the rest is history. Now McDonalds is the worlds biggest restaurant chain stretching to the four corners of the globe. The first branded McDonalds was opened in 1955 at Des Plains in Illinois, after decades of modifications and change what was left of the original building was demolished but a faithful replica of the original building has been built on the site using the original blueprints. It has been transformed into a museum with plenty of photos, memorabilia and presentations from the famous franchise. Strange thing is you can’t buy your favorite hamburger there, but there’s a nice new McDonalds just across the street.
