Westminster Abbey or as it is really know the Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster is London’s most important churches. With a history dating back to 616 the abbey was built during the 1500’s with construction commissioned by Henry III in 1245. The church has become an important coronation and burial site for many English monarchs over the years. The abbey is today recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is still used as one of London’s most important churches. The beautiful gothic western towers as seen on our photograph were built between 1722 and 1745 and were constructed out of Portland stone which is the same limestone used on Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral it is mined from the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Inside the Abbey is some of England’s most beautiful treasures, artworks, sculptures and magnificent tile work and stained glass windows make this abbey astonishing. Over a million people visit the Abbey each year and thousands come each day to worship, details on guided tours and opening times can be found on the official website.
The Gendarmenmarkt in the heart of Berlin would have to be one of the most beautiful plazas in Europe. It is home to the Schauspielhas Theatre which is now a concert hall and the Franzosischer Dom and Deutscher Dom which are both cathedrals. The Deutscher Dom or German Cathedral was built in the 1700’s but was completely destroyed by fire in 1945 and was rebuilt in the 1990’s and now is a German history museum. The Franzosischer Dom or French Cathedral is nearly an identical copy of the Deutscher Dom and was built early in the 1700. The Dom now houses a Huguenot museum, a restaurant on the top floor and a viewing platform where spectacular views of the area can be seen. Recently luxury hotels and the Friedrichstadt Shopping Arcade have been built near the square which has only made the precinct more popular.
The Trocadero is a huge sandstone monument on across the river from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and is one of the best places to get some magnificent photographs of the tower. The Trocadero was originally built in 1867 for the World Fair, along with the Eiffel Tower, originally to commemorate the Battle of Trocadero which was in Southern Spain back in 1823. The building was replaced with what we have today in 1937 which was also built for an Expo, the Exposition Internationale of 1937. The building uses a modern classical style, with a hint of art deco it was designed by architects Louis Hippolyte Boileau, Leon Azema and Jacques carlu and features two wings which form a wide arc, which actually sit over the original foundations. The building is features some magnificent sculptures and artwork and inside is home to a naval museum (Musee national de la marine), the Musee de L’Homme which is a ethnology museum on the right wing while the left wing has the Musee national des monuments francisas and the Theatre national de Chaillot. One chilling piece of Paris’s history was the Trocadero was the place Adolf Hitler was photographed during his tour of the city after it fell to the German’s during the Second World War. Read the rest of this entry »
The Frauenkirche or the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady is one of Munich’s most recognisable and magnificent landmarks. The two monstrous red brick towers were built in 1525 and is the largest church in the Bavarian capital located right in the heart of the city at Frauenplatz 1. Visitors can climb the 100 metres of the south tower for magnificent views of the city and through to the alps on a fine day. The church received some very nasty damage during the Second World war with the roof collapsing and one of the towers very badly hurt but major restorations over the last 60 years has brought this building back to its former glory. Inside the cathedral there is room for over 20,000 people and it features an amazing collection of 14th to 18th century artwork including works by Jan Polac and Ignaz Gunther. One of the church’s highlights is the Teufelstritt or Devil’s footstep at the entrance, ledged has it that it is the place the Devil stood to ridicule the church and the builder. Read the rest of this entry »
Valencia in Spain is home to the world’s largest aquarium in Europe, it is home to 45,000 animals and over 500 different species including sharks, penguins, dolphins, seals, walruses and these amazing beluga whales. The beluga whale comes from Arctic regions and grows to about 5 metres long. As you will see from today’s You Tube video its not hard to see why they are the aquarium’s star attraction. They are extremely intelligent and from the the centre is part of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies which is a huge complex with some amazing architecture and also features an opera house, Imax, planetarium, laserium and a huge science museum all set out in beautiful parklands and waterways. Read the rest of this entry »
Located in Alexander Park in St Petersburg is Russia’s oldest zoo. It was founded in 1865 by Sophia and Julius Gerhardt and is today home to over 400 species of animals. The Zoo has had a bit of a sad past, in the early 1900’s the zoo was very run down and closed to visitors. But in 1918 the zoo was restored and hunting expeditions were sent out to capture animals from around the world. But the Second World War brought more problems the poor old hippos had to eat sawdust porridge to survive the city’s siege by the evil Nazis. And although the people of Leningrad were starving the treasured elephants were kept fed and happy until they were sadly killed by bombs in an air raid in 1944. The city’s people were devastated, and the zoo closed for a while before re opening with a new elephant and some other exotic animals. Today the zoo is back to its former glory and a favorite for young and old. Read the rest of this entry »
After decades of being just too hard for visitors, Moscow is starting to become a popular destination for tourists. Things still are not as easy or as safe as the other big cities in Europe but things are changing and the city has so much to offer. Magnificent architecture, lovey parks and gardens and friendly people are only some of the what this amazing city has to offer. Today’s You Tube video gives you a few tips for visiting this former Soviet capital which for so long the West was nervous of.
Hunderfossen Park in Norway’s Lillehammer is fun for all ages with over 50 activities and attractions. One of the highlights is Troll Park where a huge Troll guards the activities including Norwegian themed water rides and other amusement rides. The park also features and Eldorado which features a petting zoo, car rides for the young and even a gold digging area. There is a great 4D theatre experience based around Petra the bug and her creepy beetle friends and for the bigger kids some great rafting attractions. The centre of the park has a huge fairytale palace set in a magic forest where traditional Norwegian folk stories are told here you can meet the Hunderfossen king and queen and plenty of trolls. Kids love it!
Liverpool the home of the Beatles has just opened a brand new 4 star hotel paying homage to the fab 4. Called Hard Days Night the hotel has transformed one of Liverpools’ classic buildings not far from the Cavern Club into another Beatles landmark. The hotel features some magnificent artwork including what is called the Shannon Collection which is a series of commissioned works telling the story of the Beatles. The hotel even features artworks and photographs from Paul, Ringo and photographers Paul Ygartua and Klaus Voormann. The hotel has all the trappings of a luxury hotel including a great bar called Bar Four which is fast becoming one of the hottest places in Liverpool and a restaurant which has a Sergeant Pepper’s inspired theme and brasserie which has a very cosmopolitan menu. The hotel features 110 rooms and are well decked out and even include interactive services like online shopping. The top of the line suites are called the Lennon and McCartney suites and feature things like white pianos and even a Knight’s suit in the McCartney room. Total indulgence.
We all know the French like their cheese, snails, garlic, frogs legs and of course wine, so it’s no wonder they have a Corkscrew Museum. The Musée du Tire-Bouchon has over 1000 exhibits with some dating back to the 17th century. No one really knows where the corkscrew originated but is believed it may be English dating back to the end of the 17th century. Back then they were very simple not like the ones we have today, some nearly needing an engineering degree to work. The Corkscrew museum is part of the Domaine De La Citadelle estate who make a lovely selection of wines including the La Chataigneier and Les Artemes which uses old vine grapes from the lovely southern Rhone Valley, so its well worth a visit to the vineyard when you visit the corkscrew museum.
