During Darwin’s Dry Season from May to October the Mindil Beach Market is one of the most popular attractions. Operating on Thursday and Sunday evenings along the beautiful foreshore of Mindil Beach the markets attract thousands to the huge range of art and craft and one of the best selections of multicultural food you could find anywhere. There is food from over 20 countries, Greek, Italian, Thia, Indonesian, Timorise just to name a few and of course the good old Australian tucker, including some of the more unusual treats, like camel, crocodile, possum, kangaroo and the Territory’s favorite fish barramundi. There is also a great selection of the freshest of tropical fruit. Many of the stalls sell magnificent Aboriginal artworks including paintings, carvings and other handycrafts. There market also features some fantastic entertainment including local bands, comics, buskers and roaming entertainment- fun for all ages.
When the Chernobyl reactor disaster occurred in 1986 a 30 klm area was set up as the Zone of Alienation and everyone that lived in that area was evacuated leaving everything behind, this included the 50000 residents of the town of Pripyat around 5 klm from the reactor and the 14000 residents of the town of Chernobyl around 14 Klm from the Reactor. Today these towns are modern day ghost towns that are slowly falling into ruin and they give us a good glimpse of what 1980s Soviet Russia was like.
Day trips from Kiev in the Ukraine (about 130 klm’s away) can be organized to visit the area, it’s claimed to be fairly safe for short visits and the guide is armed with a Geiger counter so you know where not to stand. If the idea of copping a bit of radiation turns you off visiting the area check out these videos instead, they are mostly of Pripyat, the town closest to the reactor. The town of Chernobyl has got a few plant workers and scientist living in it and what is left is looked after, unlike Pripyat.
This time next year the 2008 Olympic Games will be a memory. The Olympic flame will burn brightly over the Beijing National Stadium with its amazing bird nest like architecture. Designed by Herzog & De Meuron from Switzerland the stadium is 330 metres long and 220 metres wide. The structure’s 69 metre high walls house over 36km of steel. The stadium will hold about 100000 people during each session of the Olympics including the main track and field, opening and closing ceremonies. This weeks You Tube of the week shows some fantastic computer animations of the stadium.
40km north of Seattle on America’s west coast is the Boeing Factory where their enormous aircraft are assembled. The complex is open to the public and offers an amazing insight into the design and construction of the worlds most popular commercial planes. The assembly building is the largest building by volume in the world and has a perimeter of 3.5km. The company offers a fantastic tour which starts off with the Future of Flight Aviation Centre which is an amazing interactive display with flight simulators, computerised attractions and quite a few full size displays of various parts of the planes. Then its off to the Boeing Everett Factory on a one our guided bus tour where you can see the planes being constructed. Once inside the factory you can see various types of planes in different stages of construction.
Situated on the beautiful Lake Constance with and surrounded by the Alps Fridrichshafen is one of the more senic harbour towns in Germany. It is also home to the Zeppelin Museum which has over 43,000 sq feet of exhibition space and is quite worthy of a visit. The lovely art deco building was once the Harbour Railway Station and now houses a huge array of artifacts, artwork and memrobilia of these magnificent giant flying machines. There is a very faithful reproduction of a 33 metre section of the LZ 129 Hindenburg which is open for exloration. The museum features a very comprehensive history of the airships for both military and civilan use. The centre has a very good archive section, library, speical exhibition space and of course a giftshop where you can buy a multitude of Zepplin souvenirs including publications, models, toys and the like. Friedrichshafen is in easy reach of Stuttgart and Munich being only a few hours drive from both centres and also easily accessble from Zurich or Innsbruck in Austria.
Situated in Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam Madame Tussaurds Wax Works is one of the city’s most popular attractions. The exhibition is quite large and is spread over four floors including an entire floor dedicated to Dutch History. There are plenty of famous faces on display including all your favorite Hollywood Movie Stars and pop starts. Plenty of politicians, sport stars and other famous people in history. Although the Amsterdam centre only opened in 1971 Madame Tussaurd’s dates back 200 years and now has several places around the world including London, Las Vegas, New York, Hong Kong and Changhai. The company also has interests in Lego land, several sea parks and other tourist parks around the world.
Located in Shanghai the Oriental Pearl Tower is a TV tower that is the 3rd tallest tower in the world and at 468m it’s the tallest in Asia. Looking like a building from the Jetsons the buildings observation decks, shopping mall and hotel are given names like Space Module, Space City and Space Hotel. The building itself has become a symbol of Shanghai and modern China, it’s one of the most photographed buildings in Shanghai, especially at night when the light show takes over. The building attracts around 3 million visitors a year so if you ever in shanghai make sure you check out it out, there are 3 observation decks, shops, bars and a revolving restaurant located in the building as well as a small hotel.
It is estimated that 30 million people visit Paris every year making it the world’s tourist hot spot. Tourists will stand in long queues for hours to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa at th Louvre or take a picture on top of the Eiffel Tower but there city has so much to offer. The best way to see this amazing city is on foot using Paris’s extensive subway to get from place to place. There is so much to see and explore on street level. Cafe’s botiques, along the wide boulevards and the quaint little cafe’s and markets along the lanes and alleys make it an experience to remember. Athough it is easy to spend all you have, you can have a great time in Paris on the cheap, there are plenty of places to get fresh and cheap food, look for bakeries for the best baguettes and pasteries many not more than an Euro. Counter cafe’s also offer good value dining. Read the rest of this entry »
The Airbus A380 made a rare low flyover across Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour yesterday. The sight of a passenger jet flying this low over the city was reminiscent of the days when Kai Tak Airport was operating almost 10 years ago, so the event drew a big crowd. Airbus is wooing Chinese airlines with the A380 and is hoping the planes seating capacity of between 525 to 853 people will be just the ticket to win over the Chinese with their booming population and economy. Singapore Airlines is expect to receive the first A380 in October with other Airlines receiving 13 planes throughout 2008. When first shown to the public Airbus touted features like gym’s bars and shopping malls to be optional equipment in the planes, so far no airline has ordered these options instead packing the panes with seating.
For over 600 years the Charles Bridge spanning the Vltava River has been one of the main focal points of Prague has held battles, processions and even executions and since the fall of the Berlin Wall it has became increasingly popular with film directors who what to add some beautiful scenery to their latest blockbuster. The construction of the bridge dates back to 1357 and has been an important trade route in and out of Prague over the centuries. Built from Bohemian sandstone the bridge is an amazing engineering feat being 516 metres long and nearly 10 metres wide resting on 16 huge arches. The Gothic tower and city skyline is a favorite of the artists who paint on the bridge. It is best to visit either early morning or late in the day as the bridge can get chaotic with people. There are some 30 statues most depicting religious stories, these are all now reproductions, the originals stand in the Lapidarium of the National Museum for safe keeping.
It is estimated that 30 million people visit Paris every year making it the world’s tourist hot spot. Tourists will stand in long queues for hours to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa at th Louvre or take a picture on top of the Eiffel Tower but there city has so much to offer. The best way to see this amazing city is on foot using Paris’s extensive subway to get from place to place. There is so much to see and explore on street level. Cafe’s botiques, along the wide boulevards and the quaint little cafe’s and markets along the lanes and alleys make it an experience to remember. Athough it is easy to spend all you have, you can have a great time in Paris on the cheap, there are plenty of places to get fresh and cheap food, look for bakeries for the best baguettes and pasteries many not more than an Euro. Counter cafe’s also offer good value dining. 
