Well unlike Ogdenville, North Haverbrook, and Brockway Sydney didn’t quite need a monorail to put it on the map but they have one anyway and it is a great way to get around the city. The Sydney monorail first opened in 1988 as a way of getting people to the city’s new playground Darling Harbor. Today it is an important form of transport moving thousands around the city every day. The monorail links many of Sydney’s entertainment complexes including Paddy’s Market, China Town, Darling Harbor, The Exhibition and Convention Centres, Aquarium and IMAX with the downtown shopping and business district of the city. For a few small dollars you can loop the city gliding high above the traffic and pedestrian flow for a great view of Sydney.
In the late 1960’s city planners and designers thought the old Rocks area would make a great place for a futuristic (60’s style) high rise precinct. The entire area was to be bull dozed including some of Australia’s oldest buildings and replaced with steel and glass buildings of the day. Fortunately enough people had enough passion to stop this plan from becoming reality. Today the area is one of Sydney’s jewels, and the grand old lady has a few of them. Set under the Sydney Harbor Bridge the Rocks today is a tourist and leisure area with dozens of restaurants, hotels, cafes, craft and tourist shops and some of the countries oldest pubs. Saturdays and Sundays are made even more special with a huge craft market stretching the length of the Rocks. Many of the buildings have been restored to their former glory and will hopefully grace Sydney for centuries to come.
Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro has got to be one of the most spectacular cities of earth, with rain forest clad mountains surrounding a magnificent bay of islands the post card pictures are quiet amazing. There is no better place to see this party city than the top of Corcovado Mountain which is home to the huge Christ statue called the Redeemer here you can see the best views of the harbour and the monstrous Sugarloaf mountain. But you can’t visit Rio without seeing the bronzed beaches of Copacabana, Leblon and Ipanema, Brazilian’s love the suntan and to party and lets not forget the biggest party of them all is held in Rio…the annual Mardi Gra which is usually held in February or March. The city is bathed in golden sunshine all year round so there is no bad time to visit.
Kilimanjaro Mountain is an inactive strato volcano in north eastern Tanzania rising 5895 metres over the African savannah it is the continents highest peak. The surrounding plains are known as Kilimanjaro National Park and is home to one of Africa’s greatest game parks. Fortunate today most of the shooting in this UNESCO World Heritage Area is from cameras with thousands of people visiting each year to see the spectacular an in many cases threatened wildlife. Elephants, Zebra, Giraffe, Lion and Gazelle are only a few of the magnificent beasts who call the park their home. Many visitors come to the park to climb the mountain which offers great challenges to the climber with steep peaks and one of the few places in Africa which experience ice and snow.
The Viktualienmarket on the edge of Marienplatz in Munich Germany has bee peddling its wares since 1807. The farmers market has about 140 stalls of mainly food including fruit, vegetables, meats, fish and some delicious cheeses and ad houses a great outdoor beer garden. The beer garden is a very popular place to grab a tasty sausage in a roll and a stein or two of beer at lunch time or even join a table with the locals and settle in for the afternoon. The food is cheap and very tasty- don’t forget to try a giant pretzel they go well with a Munich beer. The market is open six days a week being closed on Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
Step back to a bygone era and ride the Star Ferry across Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour for an amazingly cheap and fun trip from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. With trips starting at only $2.20 HK each way you can cross one of the world’s most amazing waterways where you will see the skyscrapers of this bustling city and the rugged backdrop of the island’s mountains. The ferry service has been operating for over 100 years with the most popular service being between Central on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon, boat was the only way of crossing the water until the Cross Harbour Tunnel was opened in 1972. There are 12 ferries in service operating on four different routes and over 70,000 people use the services every day.
The Gold Coast in Queensland’is home to Australia’s only Polar Bears. These magnificent animals are the major drawcard at Seaworld and attract thousands of visitors a day. Seaworld has 3 polar bears Lia a female and the wild boys Hudson and Nelson who were orphaned in Quebec Canada before moving to Queensland in 2004 aged 9 months. The bears live in a magnificent enclosure which has fresh running water, plenty of space and room for fun. Visitors are treated with two viewing areas, one above and a special glassed exhibit where they can see the bears having fun underwater.
Nearby the Charles Bridge lays a wall which has been devoted to former Beatle John Lennon. Originally it started out as graffiti painted by a Mexican artist after Lennon’s death and it soon became a shrine inspiring more artists to add Lennon, Beatles and peace messages, poetry and paintings. During the Communist rule of the city there were many clashes with security police and students and hippies. The wall was repainted constantly by the authorities only to be repainted again by what the regime called alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism. Today the wall is remembered for helping bring the collapse of Communism to the former Czechoslovakia with the rise of the peaceful Velvet Revolution in November 1989. Today people enjoy the artwork and are often seen singing Beatles songs in the nearby Kampa park without the fear of persecution and risk of having a state paid holiday in the local prison. Read the rest of this entry »
Greek tourist ministry has released this colourful and vibrant ad to promote their wonderful country. Tourism comprises about 18% of Greece’s economy with many people traveling to see the historic monuments and ruins but there is much more to this country, beaches, sun, food, music and culture are only a few of the things Greece has to offer. Enjoy the Tripandom YouTube video of the week
Pier 39 is one of San Francisco’s most popular waterfront attractions and not only popular with people- seals love it too. These blubbery layabouts visited the pier in 1990 and have now taken over the entire dock space during winter the barking herd numbers close to 900.
The 45 acre Pier 39 has so much to offer along with the seals there are attractions, restaurants and plenty of novelty shopping. Houdini’s Magic Shop and Le beastro’s Dog Boutique are two of the favorites. There is always something going on at the pier, with performances, buskers and special events happening daily.
