Posts from ‘July, 2007’

The Trabant has had a bit of a dodgy history, it was a East German produced vehicle which was pretty awful but has now gained a cult following of a icon of the former communist Germany. For visitors to Berlin there couldn’t be any more fun than going on a Trabi Safari in one of these weird little cars. This great tour takes in many of the Marxism and Leninism’s of Berlin where you pass some of the remaining Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and other interesting memorabilia from a time gone by. The cars are pretty special they have a whopping 26 horsepower and will do 30km through the Berlin streets and there is a great commentary with directions on the Trabant’s not so state of the art radio. You will see Berlin from a totally different perspective and you even get your own Trabant driving license on completion of your tour. Read the rest of this entry »

The Goldenes Dachl is one of Innsbruck in Austria’s most popular attractions. There isn’t too much to do here just take a photo of the beautiful gold leaf roof and then go find some Schnapps or maybe some of Austria’s beautiful crystal or chocolate. The building was built for the Tirolean sovereigns in the early 15th century. A royal balcony was built at the front of the residence so the royals could sit in luxury and watch tournaments in the square. To make the balcony even more special the roof of it was covered with more than 2600 gold plated copper tiles. Today the beautiful golden roof still glows in the bright Austrian sun and is well worth a visit, even at night the roof glows in the lit square and is quite spectacular.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Melbourne Cricket Ground or MCG or even more familiar the G is Australia’s favorite sporting arena. It has served as a home for the 1956 Olympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, Its seen the Pope and huge music artists including Madonna, The Rolling Stones and U2 play there but it is best known for its sport in particular Cricket and Australian rules football (AFL). Known as the peoples ground, the arena has recently been upgraded with state of the art facilities and can hold close to 100,000 fans and has one of the world’s largest playing surfaces measuring 174 x 149 metres. There are 6 massive light towers with 884 computer controlled lights to eliminate any shadow in night games. Two huge LCD screens and some of the worlds best corporate and hospitality facilities. The MCG is also home to a great sports museum where many Australian sporting treasures live and the centre also offers tours of the ground when it isn’t game day. But to experience the MCG at its best catch a game of Aussie Rules Footy or some international cricket.

Read the rest of this entry »

You have got to hand it to Disney they sure know how to make a great themepark. Disneyland is known as the happiest place on earth so Disneysea in Tokyo must be teh happiest place on sea. It is one of Disney’s most spectacular and fun parks with fun for young and all. Situated right next door to Tokyo Disneyland this new park features seven themed worlds and some of the best rides and atttractions Disney has to offer including an Indiana Jones ride better than the one in California, an amazing Tower of Terror exerience and centrepiece of the park Mount Prometheus an ‘active’ Volcano which features an adventure ride to the centre of the earth. But the highlight of Disneysea would have to be the incredible nightly spectacular called BraviSEAmo! here dragons of fire rise from the waters, smoke, lights, fireworks and music come to gether in an amazing show which leaves everyone brethless.

Read the rest of this entry »

Venice is one of the most amazing places you could ever visit, but like all popular spots it is geared for the tourist, over commercialised and geared to catch the tourist dollar. But there is an easy fix just get yourself lost, go for a walk up some of the more backstreet lanes- they are relatively safe and you are sure to find a ‘real’ Venice cafe or restaurant the people will be friendly and the prices will usually be much lower than what you will see around the square and best of all there wont be thousands of tourists. Try some real Venice pasta, not the mass produced bland stuff made for the tourist’s taste buds. Many of the smaller establishments are family ran so you will enjoy some traditional cooking and friendly faces it will really make your trip to Venice more memorable. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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 »