Posts from ‘August, 2007’

When most people think of holidaying in Florida they think of the theme parks in Orlando but only an hours drive away is the home of the Kennedy Space Centre. This is the place where the missions to the moon and the space shuttle were launched and is an amazing place you shouldn’t miss if visiting Florida. Here you can see first hand some of America’s amazing space technology with an amazing collection of artifacts, spacecraft and information on America’s space exploration but the highlight will be the informative trip through the swamplands to the actual launching grounds of these amazing space vehicles. If you are really lucky you might even see the space shuttle being prepared for its next flight or even see it launch. The tour takes you up close to a full size Apollo and Saturn Rockets. The centre also has Imax theatres a full size space shuttle mock up to explore and is home to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. This attraction will fascinate young and old

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On the banks of the Thames housed in the old Bankside Power Station the Tate Modern is one of London’s newest and most popular attractions. Here there are 88 galleries displaying a huge collection of modern art. The Tate has some of the worlds most precious modern art pieces including works from Dali, Matisse, Rothko, Picasso and Warhol. Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych which was painted in 1962 is one of the more popular of the artworks. For book lovers the centre also has a book shop which claims to have more books than any other store in London, they have over 10,000 titles on hand, but many believe Waterstone’s in Piccadilly has thousands more. The best thing about the gallery is it is free except for special exhibitions.

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How’s this one kids, a huge rocking horse, well it doesn’t really rock unless its pretty windy but is sure is cute. This great family attraction can be found in the Barossa Valley in South Australia’s wine country at Gumeracha about 40 minutes drive from Adelaide. After a few of those beautiful wines you might think you are seeing things but this horse is real. It is actually the outside a toy factory which manufactures a range of wonderful wooden toys. The rocking horse is a very popular attraction with thousands climbing it every week- and what’s even better you can get a certificate of achievement award for climbing this monstrous pony and the views of the rolling hills are great.

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The best way to see Venice is by water, but unless you our out to impress your lady the Gondola ride can be an expensive way to get around, with prices anything from 50 to 200 Euros. For something less romantic but just as good try one of the small ferries which travel around the larger canals, tickets are only a few Euros and you can even get a cheap day pass for only a little more. Sometimes the ferries are busy but you always get a great view of the canal city. The most magical time to travel is around sunset when the lights come on in the palaces and the long shadows stretch along the canal. Read the rest of this entry »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skPo_FIcMvY

Pleasure Beach is an amusement park in the popular holiday town of Blackpool UK, it is most well known for its huge rollercoaster the Pepsi Max Big One. The imaginatively named “Big One” was opened in 1994 and at the time it was the tallest in the world but has since lost the title to two other coasters in Rust, Germany and Fujiyama, Japan. The coaster was featured in the TV series “engineering at the cutting edge”. Sitting on the edge of the beach it takes a bit of foundations to get the thing to stay where it is, reportedly costing as much as the coaster itself. Along with Pleasure Beach, there are many tourist attractions and amusements in Blackpool which is well known as a popular UK holiday destination. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tower of London on the north bank of the Thames River has had a very colorful life over its 930+ years of existence. IT was originally built as a fortress and has been used as a royal palace, prison, a mint and observatory a treasury building and even a zoo. Today it is the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and one of London’s most popular tourist attractions.
The Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Wardens or Beefeaters as they are more popularly know and the ravens. Ledged maintains if the ravens were to leave the tower the British monarchy would tumble. Read the rest of this entry »

Elephants are a very important part of Thailand’s culture and over the centuries have become one of the countries most important animals and a symbol of power and strength. Their admiration can be seen in Thai symbols, buildings, statues and the like. Still today elephants are used in many traditional roles including working in the forest and mountains, used for transportation and are an important tourist drawcard to the country. Today most of the 2600 or so elephants live and in many cases work in elephant camps. One of the more popular elephant parks for tourists at Mae Sa which is outside of Chaing Mai here visitors can see the elephant’s amazing skills and even visit the elephant nursery where the little elephants grow up. Several tour groups also offer elephant trek tours where you can ride elephants through the farmlands and forest of Thailand.

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Many people would know Khe Sahn from the classic Australian song of the same name by Cold Chisel or for references in Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Khe Sahn was the site of a very bloody battle fought in the Vietnam War. In 1968, Khe Sahn was one of the most remote outposts of the war and ended in one of the biggest sieges of the war between the American Forces and the People’s Army of Vietnam. Today Khe Sanh’s horrid history has been mostly overgrown with wilderness except areas including the old airstrips which were poisoned during the war. The old combat base now houses a small museum of relics from the war and the area is extensively farmed for with coffee and banana plantations. There are several tourist operators from Dong Ha which offer tours to Khe Sahn and the DMZ and give you a good insight into this terrible time in Vietnam’s history. Just as a post note the term sappers refers to the people who extracted sap out of rubber trees.

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Charters Towers is about 130km south west of Townsville in central Queensland Australia. It is known for its rich mining fields of gold and tin and also its tasty beef. Visitors to Charters Towers can call in and see the trill of the weekly cattle sales every Wednesday at Dairymple Saleyards just out of town. Charters Towers is not only the beef capital of North Queensland it is home to some beautiful historic properties which are reminders of the rich times of the Gold Rush. The town was one of Australia’s richest towns in the late 1800’s Today the region has so much to offer, heritage, friendly hospitality and some of the coldest beers and freshest steaks you will find anywhere in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

The world’s most beautiful Chinese restaurant is Lau Yee Chai in the Waikiki Shopping Centre at the Ambassador Hotel in Hawaii. How do we know you may ask, well the huge neon sign out the front says so. Inside you will see why this restaurant has made such a claim, because it probably is the worlds most beautiful. Decorated in rich reds and some of the most lovely artwork and furniture it is truly magnificent.
The restaurant is also Hawaii’s most exquisite and has been around for about 75 years serving authentic Chinese cuisine like their signature dish the Hong Kong Style Roasted Garlic Lobster, which is deep fried to perfection and roasted with diced red pepper and spring onions.

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