Redwood National and State Parks

Redwood National and State Parks

Redwood National and State Parks are home to the tallest trees in the world, the coast redwood. The Redwood National and State Parks include parks operated by both the National Park Service and the California State Park Service. There are a total for four parks included in the group: Redwood National Park, and the state parks Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods.

The state parks were established in the 1920s after years of logging in the old growth forests devastated the landscape and led to a movement to save the remaining forests. When Redwood National Park was established in 1968, almost 90 percent of the forests had already been destroyed.

In addition to the massive redwoods, the park offers oak trees, rivers, prairies and 37 miles of coastline.

Deadhorse Alaska

Deadhorse Alaska

Deadhorse is a small, remote community in the far north of Alaska, which exists primarily as a base for oil workers and has more recently become a popular tourist spot. Famous for its extreme conditions, Deadhorse has featured in several recent TV shows, one of which showcased the truckers who drive through Dalton Highway – a dangerous and grueling job over rough terrain and frozen lakes, battling avalanches and whiteouts.

Visitors come to Deadhorse to experience a unique lifestyle and to view the arctic wildlife, like grizzly and polar bears, arctic foxes, caribou, arctic squirrels and hares, and a variety of waterfowl. Tour buses take tourists to check out the highway, communities, and the vast, harsh wilderness of Alaska.

Alte Oper in Germany

Alte Oper  in Germany

Alte Oper, or Old Opera, was an opera house and is today a concert venue, home to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Designed by Richard Lucae in the Renaissance style, the opera house opened in 1880 and is known for its impressive architecture.

During World War II, a bomb was dropped on the city in 1944, destroying the Alte Oper. Years later, there were plans for new construction on the site, but the people of Frankfurt fought to have the Alte Oper reconstructed. The Alte Oper, using parts of its original façade, was rebuilt and opened its doors on August 28, 1981.

Though Frankfurt has a new opera house, the Alte Oper still operates as a venue for concerts, performances, and plays.

Devils Tower National Monument United States

Devils Tower National Monument at Wyoming, United States

Spanning over an area of 1,347 acres, the Devils Tower is a monolith – an igneous intrusion of phonolite in Crook County, Wyoming in the Unites States. The Devils Tower is a United States National Monument located in the Black Hills above River Belle Fourche. Towering over the surrounding region at a height of 5,114 feet (above sea level), the monolith is a favorite with visitors who love the adventure of a good climb. More and more visitors these days are gravitating towards traditional climbing techniques due to the hundreds of natural cracks on its surface. The Devils Tower attracts over 400,000 visitors each year.

The Devils Tower stands out of the surrounding prairie like a God towering among mortals. This is perhaps the reason the tower is revered as a sacred spot by the Lakota and other native tribes of the region. The eight mile trekking trail is lined with dozens of varieties of wildflowers during spring. A ranger-led tour takes about an hour and half and is an educative experience opening up to the geography, culture, and biolife of the region.

Lago de Atitln in Guatemala

Lago de Atitln Guatemala

A crater lake (and an endorheic lake, meaning it does not flow into the sea), Lago de Atitln is the deepest lake in Central America, with a maximum depth 340 meters (1,115 feet). The lake is surrounded by the Maya people, whose towns offer a view into the local culture.

Three volcanoes loom over the southern bank of the lake, called San Pedro, Tolimn, and Atitln. The Atitln Lake formed after a volcanic eruption 84,000 years ago, its name meaning “at the water” in the local Nahuatl language. The volcanoes have left rich soils that are great for the cultivation of typical Central American crops, including coffee and squash, and support a variety of wildlife.

 Visitors to the lake can participate in many types of water activities, including swimming, diving, and kayaking. Other activities include tours of the volcanoes and hikes around the lake, and experiencing the local culture and markets in the towns.

Monument Valley in USA

A Picture from The Monument Valley at Arizona, United States

Monument Valley is a sweeping but desolate landscape within the precincts of the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah-Arizona border. The Monument Valley represents the quintessentially American West with the towering mesas and buttes breaking the monotony with bright reds and flaming oranges. Monument Valley has been extensively filmed and is the favorite backdrop of most Hollywood Westerns.

The sandstone buttes that interrupt the terrain reach up hundreds of feet, the largest rising over 1,000 feet from the ground. The region is itself part of the Colorado Plateau and the general elevation is between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level. A drive or a horse-ride through the 17-mile will take you through some of the most spectacular parts of Monument Valley such as the Hunts Mesa and the Mystery Valley.

Overnight camping trips, hot air balloon flights, and small airplane flights are often available over the peak tourist season from May through September. The eroded sandstone cliffs, the ancient cave dwellings, and monuments take visitors into a long forgotten time

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

Shedd Aquarium is home to more than 25,000 fish and over 32,000 creatures in total, from about 1500 species including fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects. With about 2 million visitors annually, Shedd has been the most visited aquarium in the country multiple years, and is a major attraction in Chicago. Shedd became the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection after shipping millions of gallons of salt water from the Atlantic waters of Florida.

Major exhibits at Shedd Aquarium include a miniature version of the Amazon River and its jungles. Animals that are part of this exhibit include anacondas, rays, and crocodiles, which are found in the wilderness of the Amazon.

The Caribbean Reef is represented in its own exhibit, which houses a green sea turtle, a moray eel, rays, and sharks. The oceanarium features an aquatic show, starring Pacific White-sided dolphins and Beluga whales, with sea otters and sea lions.

The Snowy Mountains in Australia

The Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, Australia

The Snowy Mountains, informally known as the ”Snowies”, form part of the larger Australian Alps and the Great Dividing Range. They are the highest mountain range of Australia and boast of Australia’s tallest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko. Historians believe that the mountains were inhabited by indigenous tribes for twenty thousand years. The mountains were explored only during the nineteenth century, by the Europeans, in the year 1835.

The region is well known for grazing and skiing. It is also the largest producer of fine wools, lamb and stud cattle and sheep. The major tourist attraction of the place is the high country that is replete with Australia’s premier ski fields. These ski fields attract a lot of tourists and facilities. The amenities available in the centers of Thredbo, Perisher, Smiggins and Guthega are world class.

Historic Centre of Macau in China

Visitors at the Historic Centre of Macau in China

Macau is a port city with an unique history and modern mix of cultures. Once a Portuguese colony, Macau was under Portuguese administration from the mid-sixteenth century until 1999, when it fell under Chinese rule. Macau had been inhabited by Chinese fishermen and seafaring merchants, who established fishing villages. Portuguese traders arrived and settled in the port as part of its trade route, making Macau a prosperous port town. A population influx in 1949 brought many Chinese refugees, and Macau then became a Chinese territory administered by Portugal. Today, the city of Macau is considered a Special Administrative Region of China, and displays a fusion of cultures coexisting and connecting.

The port of Macau is an important and long-lasting point of international trade – the trade of goods as well as culture. The Macau Historic Centre exhibits the merging of East and West, with architecture, technology, and culture influenced by both the Portuguese and Chinese inhabitants. Its streets are European, yet Asian, a development of something entirely unique to Macau.

Two zones in the Historic Centre, with about 25 historical buildings with architecture influenced by both Portuguese and Chinese styles were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Visitors to the Historic Centre of Macau can take the Macau Heritage Walk circuit to view examples of some of the earliest Western architecture in Asia, including styles from the Renaissance, Baroque, and neoclassical periods. Though these are in Western style, they incorporate characteristics from Chinese culture, including Chinese murals. Temples and homes in the Chinese style are also found in the historical city center.

The Guia Fortress, which includes a fort, a chapel, and a cemetery, were built around 1622 to 1638. The lighthouse on site is the oldest lighthouse in South China.

Other notable historical sites include several churches, including the ruins of Saint Paul’s church, though the façade is all that remains. The A-Ma Temple, situated in Barra Square, is a Taoist temple that may have contributed to the name of the city Macau. Dom Pedro V Theater was the first Western theater in China, constructed in the neoclassical style. The Moorish Barracks are also neoclassical design, featuring verandas and granite work. Macau Historic Centre includes several town squares, a library, many churches, and historical homes.

Holy Trinity Column in Czech Republic

Holy Trinity Column at Olomouc, Czech Republic

The Holy Trinity Column is a Baroque style monolith in the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Constructed from 1717 to 1754, the column was intended to honor and praise God for ending the Plague, which had killed many people, and ended just two years before the tower’s construction began. The structure, also known as a plague column or Marian column, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Holy Trinity Column is one of the most impressive examples of its kind because of its grand size, including a chapel housed within the base, and elaborate decorations, and the use of stone and gilded copper.

Olomouc was once the capital of Moravia, before it became Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. The builders of the Holy Trinity Column mostly came from Olomouc, and much of the artwork that decorates the column has symbolic connections to the city. Many of the craftsmen who worked on the column suffered various misfortunes and died before the work could be completed. The sculptures were completed by a local artist, Ondrej Zahner. The style they created eventually became known as Olomouc Baroque.

The completed column was consecrated during a ceremony on September 9, 1754, which the Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I attended. The Prussian military attacked Olomouc in 1758, causing some damage to the column. Though the column was soon repaired, a stone shot was added to the column to symbolize the history of the monument. The Holy Trinity Column stands as a testament to the religious traditions and history of the city of Olomouc.

The column sits atop a circular base with a hexagon stacked on top of it. The ground level contains a chapel, and has a pedestal at each point of the hexagon, each with a statue of a saint. The same concept is used on the middle tier and the top tier. Each of the major saints from the Baroque period are featured, along with the virtues. From the top tier extends a pillar, which stands 10 meters (33 feet) tall. The pillar is decorated with various sculptures of the Virgin Mary and angels, Jesus on the cross, a globe, and the Archangel Michael, and a dove representing the Holy Spirit.

The Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace – The residential abode of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

The Buckingham Palace was built way back in 1702 and the palace also served as the residence of Queen Charlotte. Ever since its inception, the palace has undergone renovations a number of times but the original architectural grandeur has remained intact.

Today, Buckingham Palace is the residential abode of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Not only this, the palace also serves as the administrative headquarters of the British monarchy. The palace also serves as the venue where Her Majesty meets and entertains guests.The 45-minute change of guards ceremony at the Buckingham Palace is witnessed by thousands of locals and tourists each year.

As far as art and paintings are concerned, the Buckingham Palace in London has one of the world’s richest collections of art work. These are displayed in the State Rooms and great works of art from legends like Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Poussin and Claude can be seen at the palace.

The grandiose State Dining Room located to the west of the palace is a room worth visiting where many distinguished persons have dined in the past with Her Majesty.

There is also the Music Room where guests are introduced to the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. The Music Room was the place where The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and Prince William were christened.

The regal and grandiose Drawing Room and the marvelous Bow Room are worth visiting. The Bow Room was built for King George IV to serve as a library but it never materialized.