America's Most Walkable Cities, 2011

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Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, one of several palaces owned by the British Royal family, is one of the major tourist attractions in London.

History

The original building was constructed as a country house in 1705 by the duke of Buckingham, John Sheffield. King George III bought the house in 1761 for his wife and had it altered by William Chambers.

In 1826, King George IV asked famed architect John Nash to expand the house - then known as Buckingham House - into a palace. Meanwhile St. James’s Palace was still the principal palace used by the royals for ceremonies and receptions. 

King George IV as well as his younger brother and successor King William IV both died before the palace was completed. Queen Victoria was the first to reside in the palace. In July 1837, three weeks after her accession to the throne, she moved from Kensington Palace, where she grew up, to the new Buckingham Palace.

The palace was expanded in 1850 with a new east wing. The wing added a large number of rooms to the palace, including an expansive 40 meter (131 ft) long ballroom. The monumental façade of the east wing was built in 1913 by Aston Webb. It is this facade, facing the Mall and St. James’s Park, which is now known by most people.

Royal Family

A part of the palace is still used by the Royal family. A flag is hoisted each time the Queen is in the Palace. The palace is not only home to the royal family, there are also a number of staff members living here. The palace has about 600 rooms, including a throne room, a ballroom, picture gallery and even a swimming pool.

Some of these rooms can be visited during a couple of months in the summer - when the Royal Family is not in the palace - including the lavishly decorated State Rooms: the Throne Room, Green Drawing Room, Silk Tapestry Rooms, Picture Gallery, State Dining Room, Blue Drawing Room, Music Room and White Drawing Room are all part of the tour around the Buckingham Palace.

Another interesting part of the palace that is open to visitors is the Queen's Gallery, where works of art from the royal collection are on display. The palace's stables, the Royal Mews, can also be visited. Here you'll find a number of royal horse-drawn carriages.

Queen Victoria Memorial

Right in front of the building is the Queen Victoria Memorial, designed by Sir Aston Webb and built in 1911 in honor of Queen Victoria, who reigned for almost 64 years.

Changing of the Guard

The changing of the guard takes place daily at 11 o'clock in front of Buckingham Palace.

A colorfully dressed detachment, known as the New Guard, parades along the Mall towards Buckingham Palace and during a ceremony replaces the existing, Old Guard. The ceremony, which is accompanied by music played by a military band, always attracts throngs of onlookers.

London Eye

A recent but already very popular tourist attraction is the London Eye, a giant observation wheel located in the Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank. The 135 meter (443ft) tall structure was built as part of London's millennium celebrations.

A Landmark for the new Millennium

The structure was designed by the architectural team of David Marks and Julia Barfield, husband and wife.

They submitted their idea for a large observation wheel as part of a competition to design a landmark for the new millennium.

None of the entrants won the competition, but the couple pressed on and eventually got the backing of British Airways, who sponsored the project.

Construction

Construction of the observation wheel took more than a year and a half to complete. In the process over 1700 tonnes of steel were used for the structure and more than 3000 tonnes of concrete were used for the foundations. 

The futuristic looking capsules, accommodating up to 25 passengers, were transported all the way from France by train through the chunnel. Each egg-shaped capsule is 8 meters long and weighs 500kg. The 25 meter (82 ft) long spindle was built in the Czech Republic. The rim has a diameter of 122m (400ft), about 200 times the size of a bicycle wheel. 80 Spokes connect the rim with the spindle.

The Observation Wheel

The observation wheel turns slow enough for people to embark while it is moving. A complete turn takes about 30 minutes. Thanks to the construction of the glass capsules on the outer side of the view over London. Many famous landmarks are clearly visible, including the Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the House of the Parliament On a clear day you can see as far as 40 km (25 miles).

Make sure you get your tickets in advance, lines can be very long, both the lines for embarking and for ticket purchases. It's less crowded at night when the views are even more spectacular.

New York-Statue Of Liberty

For the many immigrants that flocked from Europe to New York, the Statue of Liberty was the first image they saw of the USA. The statue was a gift from the French government for the 100th birthday of America's Independence.

Design

The statue was designed by a young French sculptor, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who was striving to build a statue like the great Colossus that once stood at the Greek island Rhodes.

The statue's face was modeled after his mother's and the story goes that the body was modeled after a prostitute.

The crown of Lady Liberty, as the statue is often affectionately called, has seven spikes, symbolizing the Seven Seas across which liberty should be spread. In her left hand she holds a tablet with the Declaration of Independence and in her right hand a torch, symbolizing Enlightenment.

Construction                                     

The statue's steel framework was made by French engineer Gustave Eiffel, better known as the man behind the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Thanks to an ingenious construction consisting of copper plates attached to the metal framework, the statue is flexible enough to withstand heavy storms. Large iron bars attach the framework to a central pylon.

The Statue of Liberty was constructed in Paris, France. It took nine years before it was completed in 1884 after which it was sent to the USA in 214 crates. Even before the arrival of the statue, Bartholdi himself had traveled to the Unites States to discuss the location of the statue with president Ulysses S. Grant. Eventually it was decided to erect the statue at a small island in the harbor of New York City. Today the island is known as Liberty Island.

The biggest and most embarrassing problem was the construction of the pedestal, which had to be paid for by the Americans themselves.

The statue's torch was displayed in Madison Square Park for six years - from 1876 until 1882 - in an attempt to spark interest and attract funds. But it was only after publisher Joseph Pulitzer published the names of those who donated money for the project that the funds started flowing in. Eventually, the statue was erected 10 years late, in 1886, when it was officially inaugurated by president Grover Cleveland.

The Statue

The Statue of Liberty is 46,5 meter (151ft) high and together with the pedestal it reaches 93 meter (305ft). You can take the staircase inside the statue and walk all the way up the 354 steps to the crown from where you have a nice view over New York City.

If you want to enter either the pedestal or the monument's crown it is best to reserve tickets well in advance.

Quote Of The Day

The real struggle is not between the right and the left but between the party of the thoughtful and the party of the jerks.

~ Jimmy Wales ~

Brandenburger Gate Landmark Of Berlin And Symbol Of The German Unit

Brandenburger Gate, landmark of Berlin and symbol of the German unit, was built from 1789 to 1791 by Carl Gotthard Langhans. Ten years after the 30 year war, in 1658 were begun to extend Berlin into a fortress. In the place of the today's Brandenburg Gate, a town-gate was established.

In the outgoing 18th century, the middle class won ever more influence. The king wished himself a willful conclusion of the road "Unter den Linden". In 1769, one presented a plan for the adornment of Berlin, which also showed a model of the new gate. But some years went up to the conversion of the plan. Only in 1788 began one with the outline of the old Brandenburg Gate.

In contrast of the rulers following to him, the king underestimated however the historical meaning of the Brandenburg Gate and stayed away from the opening on August 6th, 1791. Neither a parade nor another opening celebration took place.

For the opening, the art objects and the Quadriga were still missed, but Schadow, Langhans, and the coppersmith Jury had already conceptions in 1789, how the Quadriga should look. Four years later, in the summer of 1793, the Quadriga was installed on the Brandenburg Gate.

However, it remained on the gate only few years. When the French troops invaded Berlin in October 1806, and marched through the Brandenburg Gate, the fate of the Quadriga was sealed. In December, Napoleon let the Quadriga decrease and removes on the water route to Paris. Only in April 1814, the Quadriga was returned again from Paris to Berlin, and had been set up on the Brandenburg Gate. Now however with a new Trophaee, the iron cross, crowned by the Prussian eagle.

Parades, marching-up, and demonstrations took place since then to feet of the Quadriga. Napoleon's troops marched at first through the gate, followed by the Aufstaendigen of the March revolution of 1848, and the troops of Prussia celebrated its triumphant advances. Hitler let 1933 the SA march through the gate from cause of the seizure of power.

In the last war days of May 1945, the Brandenburg Gate and Quadriga were destroyed. Berlin was divided in four sectors. The gate, now in the Soviet sector, became again fair its original function as a town-gate. It separated the British and Soviet sector, east and west. But still one could pass the gate.

In 1950, the relics of the Quadriga was removed at the instigation of the East-Berlin authorities and predominantly destroyed. In East-Berlin, one was still uncertain itself whether a new Quadriga should be built, or whether another symbol on the Brandenburg Gate should be enthroned. Fortunately, one decides for the Quadriga. But, the gypsum castings of the Quadriga was in West-Berlin, and between both quarters now a violent controversy inflamed about the repatriation of the gypsum castings to East-Berlin.

The reconstruction of the gate was decided 1956 by the East-Berlin municipal authorities. The West-Berlin senate grants to 1957 the financing of the production of the Quadriga. In July 1958, the restoration of the Brandenburg Gate was terminated, and on August 1st and 2nd, the Quadriga had been built up on Pariser Platz.

In the night from second to third August, the Quadriga had become however against all arrangements secretly removed, had been templorarily stored in the Marstall in East Berlin. In a further night and nebula action on September 16th, the iron cross and the Prussian eagle had been removed. On September 27th, 1958, the Quadriga had then been installed without cross and eagle on the Brandenburg Gate.

All these scandals were harbingers of a by far larger mischief. On August 13th, 1961, when the sector boundary to West-Berlin had been closed, the gate had been closed one day later. The area around the Brandenburger Gate had not become the restricted area. Driving through or strolling the gate was not possible any longer.

The gate remained closed nearly 30 years long. Only with the downfall of the wall in the night of November 9th to 10th, 1989, it opened the chance of the reopening of the gate. To 22.12.1989 it finally happened. At the "Brandenburger Tor" a border crossing had been opened, and within fewer months the wall disappeared.

In the meantime, the buildings at Pariser Platz, destroyed in the war, were reconstructed again. From March 1998, to 2002, cars could drive through the gate. However, since 2002, the passage is closed for motorized vehicles. The bus No. 100, from "Bahnhof Zoo", makes an elbow around the gate.

Today, a red line on the roadway in front of the Brandenburg Gate marks the former course of the border of the west wall.

German Regions

Germany is not uniform by any means. It holds distinct German Regions, each with its own share of history and physical arrangement.

The Northern part of the country is known for its sandy beaches while the Southern part is covered with snow high in the Alps. Two of the most popular German regions include the Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald) and the Black Forest (Schwarzwald).

The Bavarian Forest refers to the stretch of wooded landscape that drapes from the Danuve to the Bohemian Forest. As far as animals, there is no shortage with beats, wolves and mountains beasts calling the area home.

The Black Forest is most known for its clock making tradition, fresh air and pure water. If you want a therapeutic treatment, you can take advantage of the mineral spring on the valets.

If you’re a rural setting type of person, you will appreciate the German region of Allgau and Swabia (Schwaben). Its landscape is wide and varied with green forests and sky blue lakes ready to compete for your affection.

One final German region worth mentioning is the Baltic Coast, which runs 385 kilometers along the German border. It is recognized for its grand places and manor estates which sprawl across along with castle s and more than 200 lakes. The Baltic Coast is so popular that it is even the setting for many international films. Plus, it is one of the premier destinations for kiting activities.

Like cuckoo clock making in the Black Forest, the small kiting industry is very prominent here with all of the weather conditions supporting it.

All in all Germany offers a reach blend of different German regions all with their own distinct flavor.