• Historic Windmill

    24 de junho de 2013, Países Baixos ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    This beautiful windmill was on the way to a lakeside / seaside village.
    Apparently it is a big tourist attraction for obvious reasons and unfortunately I cannot remember much about this specific windmill suffice to say that it’s primary function is to pump water around the canals for the farmers.
    Most of the Netherlands is below sea level so there has been a massive reclaiming of land to protect the country from the rising water table.
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  • Clogg Farm

    24 de junho de 2013, Países Baixos ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Unfortunately the photos of the artisan making the cloggs did not download…pity because watching him at work was quite mesmerizing especially how quickly he moulded them from blocks of wood.
    Wood is actually a clever product to use for footwear when the surrounds are generally wet and muddy as they appear to be the most adaptable type of foot ware for the area.
    Such a skill to be able to craft something from a block of wood and I am pretty comfortable that cloggs are made from a soft wood timber.
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  • Cosmopolitan City

    24 de junho de 2013, Países Baixos ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Amsterdam is a very unique city with all sorts of quirky concepts such as marijuana cafes and of course the red light district where sex is peddled in the front windows of small houses.
    There is of course the marijuana cafes where they sell all manner of cannabis products…namely cookies and cakes etc…cool.
    We also went to visit Anne Franks house however the queue was very long and there were so many other things to see.
    I someone asked me to summarize Amsterdam in the short time we were there I would say: Bikes, Canals, Sex Shops and Cafes.
    I noticed that lots of the homes in the city were two to three storeys and had a beam protruding from the roof just before the roof tiles.
    I asked the guide what that was for and he said that most houses have these so that they can move furniture in and out as apparently the doorways are very narrow.
    Pretty smart and we were able to see this in action.
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  • First Glimpse

    23 de junho de 2013, Países Baixos ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    One of the things that I noticed as soon as I arrived were the canals and the number of bicycles used in the cities.
    There are literally bikes everywhere chained up or in use. Some it appears have been chained up for years as the bikes are in various states of disrepair.
    We were intending to visit Anne Franks house yet when we arrived the line stretched right around the block and with limited time we choose to walk around and experience more of the city.
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  • Borough Market

    21 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    This was indeed a great tourist destination and an amazing array of food and delicacies. One of note was the prosciutto tasting where they shaved the ham directly from the leg of the beast…quite a fascinating and delicate process.Leia mais

  • Warwick Castle

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Warwick Castle was the first glimpse I got into the medieval period and the importance of strategic location. Warwick castle is built on a small hillock with steep sides and a moat which would have made it very difficult for foreign raiders.
    It is made out of stone and is a imposing castle both in size and with its battlements.

    Warwick Castle is situated in the town of Warwick, on a sandstone bluff at a bend of the River Avon. The river, which runs below the castle on the east side, has eroded the rock the castle stands on, forming a cliff. The river and cliff form natural defences. When construction began in 1068, four houses belonging to the Abbot of Coventry were demolished to provide space. The castle's position made it strategically important in safeguarding the Midlands against rebellion.
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  • Stratford Upon Avon (July)

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Unfortunately some of the pictures did not transfer across…hmmm. Fortunately I managed to get one of a bronze statue of Falstaff, the Shakespearean character from Henry IV part one.
    I also managed to get a shot of one of the many locks that regulate the water level of the canals in the area and allow boats and punts to traverse the area.Leia mais

  • Stratford Upon Avon

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We got a chance to visit this quaint English town and the home of Shakespeare.
    The home had been faithfully restored and was quite interesting both from an architectural perspective and an insight to the period of the time.

    Stratford-upon-Avon commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north-west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham and 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Warwick.
    The estimated population in 2007 was 25,505, increasing to 27,445 at the 2011 census. As of 2018, the population that resides in the Stratford-on-Avon district has reached a figure of 130,098.
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  • Oxford (cont’d))

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Oxford is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire.
    In 2017, its population was estimated at 152,450. It is 56 miles (90 km) northwest of London, 64 miles (103 km) southeast of Birmingham, and 61 miles (98 km) northeast of Bristol.

    The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and has buildings in every style of English architecture from late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science.
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  • Oxford (cont’d)

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    The university is made up of thirty-nine semi-autonomous constituent colleges, six permanent private halls, and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions. All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. It does not have a main campus, and its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments.Leia mais

  • Oxford

    20 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We travelled around the town of Oxford and also visited the Oxford University and some of the more famous parts…the Grand Hall for instance.

    The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge.Leia mais

  • West End Theatre

    19 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We managed to book to go to the theatre in the West End of London and enjoyed watching Mama Mia the musical.
    Managed to incorporate some other pictures of the London area as well. I thought that they were all quintessentially LondonLeia mais

  • Trip to Harrods

    19 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Harrod’s is one of those must see sights in London as it is an institution in the city.
    It has a long history of elegance and expensive merchandise which we can attest to.
    For example on the day that we visited they were having a shoe sale and the shoes on sale were in an elegant tub near the entrance of one of the stores. Unfortunately the shoes despite a hefty discount were still selling for between $500-$600 dollars.
    Part of any visit should also include the experience of having scones with jam and cream in the special tea room…very pleasant and very British.
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  • River Thames

    19 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Some of the sights of the River Thames and most noteworthy in my opinion is the old Shakespearean theatre which still stands albeit with some considerable maintenance work.

    The River Thames known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London.
    At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.

    In relation to the Shakespearean theatre, Shakespeare moved to London to further his passion for writing and the theatre separating from his family. He built this based on proceeds from the success of his plays.
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  • Tube

    19 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    The London Underground better known as the Tube.

    The underground railway or tube as they prefer to call it has been a feature of the infrastructure of London for some time.

    The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

    The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 was used for 1.357 billion passenger journeys, making it the world's 12th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passenger journeys a day
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  • Kensington Gardens

    18 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Park, in western central London. The gardens cover an area of 107 hectares (265 acres). The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James's Park together form an almost continuous "green lung" in the heart of London. Kensington Gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

    Kensington Gardens are generally regarded as being the western extent of the neighbouring Hyde Park from which they were originally taken, with West Carriage Drive (The Ring) and the Serpentine Bridge forming the boundary between them. The Gardens are fenced and more formal than Hyde Park. Kensington Gardens are open only during the hours of daylight, whereas Hyde Park is open from 5 am until midnight all year round.

    Kensington Gardens has been long regarded as "smart" because of its more private character around Kensington Palace. However, in the late 19th century, Hyde Park was considered more "fashionable," because of its location nearer to Park Lane and Knightsbridge.
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  • Albert Hall & Kensington Gardens

    18 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity (which receives no government funding). It can seat 5,272.

    Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941. It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces.

    The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier. It forms the practical part of a memorial to the Prince Consort; the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by Kensington Gore.
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  • Stonehenge

    18 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    This was one of my favourite parts of our trip to Britain. So much history and interest in this sight and still fascinated about how it was built and for what reason.

    Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical Sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is orientated towards the sunrise on the summer solstice. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli (burial mounds).Leia mais

  • Roman Baths

    18 de junho de 2013, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The Roman Baths are preserved in four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House, and a museum which holds artefacts from Aquae Sulis. However, all buildings at street level date from the 19th century. It is a major tourist attraction in the UK, and together with the Grand Pump Room, receives more than 1.3 million visitors annually. Visitors can tour the baths and museum but cannot enter the water.Leia mais

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