11 Search Results for "column"

• Piazza San Marco in nighttime

  • From: tpal
  • Description:

    Nighttime is when the magic comes alive in Venice's Piazza San Marco. Gone is the hustle and bustle, replaced with romance. The square becomes aglow with lights from under the colonnades and from every column and pilaster. Music can be heard from every corner.

  • 3 weeks ago
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• Ionic Column - Acropolis

  • From: kkg4678
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  • 4 months ago
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• Reichstag

  • From: lprice
  • Description:

    This building was amazing. The line is long to get in but it is a free attraction with great views of the city from the top. The mirror column travels through the center of the double-helix ramps and directs your eye downward into the Parliament chamber. This architectural statement is a way of reminding those in leadership positions that the people are always watching.

  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 156

• Poland - Part 4 (Central Polan

  • From: lprice
  • Description:

     

      Today we left Gdansk  for Elblag and some more World War II history. This city is especially debated in Polish society and represents a huge dispute within the architecture community that has been ongoing since the years after the war, especially since the city was demolished by the Russian Army. Should the community build anew and build in a modern way and forget what was there before or rebuild exactly as it was so that the structures look like they were there all along...and the debate goes on. The city decided on the former and now tends toward a Miami sort of feel. The city church, St. Mary has been turned into an art gallery and is worth

    the time. The Old City Gate is also fun to

     see, especially the ruins of the city that have yet to be rebuilt.

     

    We piled back in the van with a promise that our next stop, Olsztynek, would allow us some time to stretch our legs and boy did it. I wish we had spent more time there. It could easily take an entire day. The open-air ethnographic park has reconstructed historical structures taken from Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland. There are houses, windmills, wells, churches, wagons and outbuildings. The houses are even decorated as they would have been in their time periods. The park also has animals which help to envision the past. This would be a fun and easy teaching trip for the kids.

     

    Note: Be warned, the goats tend to escape at frequent integrals. They look cute but they are wild so be careful and don't get too close...trust me.

     

    Onto the capital of the country,Warsaw (Waszawa), just in time for the massive partying for the EU induction and their Independence Day. We stayed outside of the Stare Miasto on the edge of the Wilanow Park at Hotel Logos. This was probably my least favorite stay, but the hotel was clean and well priced so I can't complain. It is a little far from the city center but if you aren't opposed to walking or taking a bus you should be fine. 

    

    We started in the The Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy) as we moved towards the Old City. The square is unusual as the Trasa W-Z tunnel travels under the square. Part of the construction of the tunnel even exposed some of the original Gothic bridge. The square also shares its space with the King Zygmunt III Vasa Column. The column was erected on the 1640's  and was destroyed during World War II in the destruction of Warsaw. The new column, erected in 1948, was created out of granite from a local mine and moved to face Ulica Krakowskie Przedmiescie. Don't miss the view at sunset. The Baroque Church of the Holy Cross is also located on the square and houses the heart of Chopin among other well-known statesman.

     

    

    
    We were getting hungry by this time so we continued on to the Market Square to look for a good place to stop and eat. The square was originally laid out in the 13th century, the same time the city was founded. The market square was 90% destroyed during the war and all the buildings you see were precisely recreated using historic drawings of the original details. Down the street separating the Old City (Stare Miasto) from the New Town (Nowy Miasto) is the Barbican of Warsaw. 

     

    As you continue past the Barbican keep an eye out for the modern Hall of Justice where the Monument to the Warsaw Uprising is located. It is made up of two sets of statues including on representing the sewer channels. The entrance to one of the sewer channels was actually incorporated into the statue itself.

    

    Continue down the road of consulates and past the Polish "White House", the Presidential Palace. The road empties out by the theater and into a huge square/park. We arrived in Warsaw on their Independence day. The soldiers and citizens were lining up getting ready for the parade across the square. 

     

    From here you can see the Palace of Culture and Science which is a debate in its own right. The building was originally a gift from the Russian people (read Stalin) to Poland and is still a sore spot today. Some want to keep it and others want to destroy it. I think the Poles may have reached a compromise though. Last time I was there, three huge skyscrapers were planned at the corners that would obscure the tower from view in most parts of the city. Whether this became reality or not, I don't know, but the foundations were in place. Whether you like it or not, I would definitely make sure that you go in and see the observation deck on the 30th floor which gives great views of the city.  

    
    

     

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  • 5 months ago
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• Poland - Part 2 (Greater Polan

  • From: lprice
  • Description:

     

    I totally love this hotel. I don't want to leave. The restaurant on the ground floor was great. But all good things must come to an end, back to the bus as we head to the Wielkopolska region. 

     

      Our first stop of the day was at Antonin, the hunting lodge of Prince Antoni Radziwill. It is a yellow octagonal- shaped home with a huge column in the center if the home. Animal lovers, be forwarned, there are deer heads covering the three story column. Karl Friedrick Schinkel, a famous German architect, built the home in the 1820's. 

      Out front you can't miss the Chopin bust that looks as if it is floating above the hedges. Chopin apparently lived here for a while and taught the Prince's daughter piano lessons. He composed several pieces here, including the Introduction and Polonaise in C-Major op. 3. He also dedicated the Piano Trio op. 8 to the Prince himself. This is a great place to stretch your legs and wander around the huge park that the estate sits on. 

     

      Our next stop is at a beautiful French Chalet of Goluchow set in the middle of the Polish countryside. You enter into the courtyard with an arcade overlooking it and part of the grounds. The home was rebuilt in the late 1800's and was turned into a museum with a huge collection of Greek vases, paintings, military equipment and prehistoric tools. The museum was one of the largest private museums in Europe until 1939. The museum was looted in World War II and part of the grounds destroyed. The grounds were designed in the English park style, similar to the Biltmore. The grounds are still the largest arboretum in Poland. After hiking across the grounds for a bit it was time to go see a modern castle. 

     

      We stopped in the city of Kornik for lunch before we headed to the castle complex.

    I am not sure if I was just starving or what, but the Bolognese Spaghetti that I had from the restaurant was amazing. 

      The castle was renovated by the Dzialynski family in the Neo-Gothic style that we see today. The castle was under repairs when we went through the home. We ended up sliding across the wood floors with our cloth booties created to protect the floor. The house has been turned into a museum now. It has a great armor collection and period furniture from different eras.

     

    
    Gniezno was the first Polish capital until the 11th century. There is a large cathedral that was built in 1342  and is on the UNESCO World Cultural Treasury list. The relics in the cathedral are of St. Adalbert, the first patron of Poland. If you haven't had lunch yet, there is a great field at the bottom of the hill where the Cathedral is located. It would be a great option for a picnic lunch. 

     

      Strzelno is a photographers dream at sunset. There are two structures on the parish land. The Bascilica looks Baroque but is much older. Check out the Romanesque column that they found during restoration. After you have wandered around the nave, head outside to St. Adalbert's Hill and the rotunda shaped Church of St. Prokopus. The red light of the sunset bounces of the brick and makes it look like it is on fire. Well worth the trouble to get there at sunset.

     

    Torun is the home of gingerbread, mmmmm, and Nicholas Copernicus. There is a statue dedicated to him in the Old Market Square next to the Old Town Hall. We got to Torun late so we toured the city in the dark which was interesting, but I think we all agreed that the best part was the Leaning Tower. Yes, you heard right, Torun has a leaning tower too.

    If that isn't good enough, they also made it into a bar. Not the nicest thing to do to your drunk patrons, but hey at least it was entertaining. The tower leans a  whopping 1.4 meters. You might not think that sounds like a lot but walk around in the tower and let me know if you don't have the fun house effect. 

     

    PTTK Guesthouse was where we settled in for the night after a beer or two. Check with the staff. This was a great hostel, but it might be reserved for students under the age of 26. It also has a fairly early lock-out time so beware nightly party animals. 

     

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  • 5 months ago
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• Hever Castle

  • From: CliffK
  • Description:

    Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, is a beautifully restored castle just south of London that makes for a great day trip from the big city.  It was Fall when we visited, and the foliage was starting to turn.  Walking through the Italian Gardens, I came across this column and was struck by the beautiful variety of colors on the leaves.

  • 6 months ago
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• brancusi column

  • From: gregcons
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  • 6 months ago
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• Buddahs on column

  • From: dni
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  • 10 months ago
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• Temple of Saturn

  • From: antfern
  • Description:
    The Temple of Saturn (Aedes Saturnus) also called Tempio della Concordia, is the oldest temple in the Forum Romanum, consecrated for the first time in c. 498 b.C. It is located in the west end of the Forum. There were three temples dedicated to Saturn on this location. The eight surviving columns of red and grey granite are from the third temple as reconstructed on 42 b.C. under Diocletian after a fire destroyed the second temple. It was originally used to house the “Aerarium” or the treasury of Rome. The fact that the columns show significant differences is an indication that in the reconstruction of this temple, they made use of materials coming from other ruined temples.
  • 1 year ago
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• trajan's column, rome

  • From: stareyedl
  • Description:
  • 1 year ago
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• 23 hours in London

  • From: travelblogwriter
  • Description:

    We arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 on time. No problems getting through customs, collected our bags and headed to the tube station. I had purchased all travel passes for London via the internet. It was the same price as if in person, but a whole lot more convenient. We headed over to Victoria Station with a change some where along the line only having to cross the platform, and not battle witht he stairs. That fight came later.

    I was surprised to see that at Victoria Station, one of the busiest stations in all London, we could not find a lift (elevator) or escaltor. We had to shlep our bags up something life 3 flights of stairs. We did have some help from a few strangers. Thank you who ever you where. We than headed off to our hotel, which we (i) had also booked and paid for on line. It was a bit of a hike, and by than it all seemed up-hill and of course against the earth's rotation. (I am sure it was not.) I had us booked at www.easyHotel.com 2 small rooms (understatement) price 35pounds each ($70). The lady working the front desk must have taken pity on us, gave us a ground floor room, the larger one, approx 8-9 sq metes, with a window. Sophie and I had a room 1.5 flights up no window and the one I reserved 7-8sq meters. We arrived approx 11am and check in was not until 3 so we stored our bags (10 pounds or all of them) and headed into the city.

    A bit more on the rooms.... I had checked numerous web sites looking for affordable rooms, hard to find in London. I figured it was only 1 night, all we really needed was a bed and bathroom. The room mom and Illi had was the first one we saw. It was small, but than it had all our bags in there. It actually about 2 feet of space at the end of and next to the bed. Our room did not have either space. Our bed was right up to the wall on 3 sides, with the bathroom right behind the entry door, and just enough room to crawl in. It was however one of the best night's sleep of the whole vacation. I am not sure weather it was beacause I was so exhausted, beacause it was so dark, or because the bed was so comfortable, because it really was. The sheets crisp and white. I hated to wake up when my cell phone alarm went off, my watch alarm went off and the wake up knock came.

    Ok, where was I... we headed off to see the sights. First stop, Buckingham Palace to visit the queen. It was as beautiful as I remember. A bit more crowded than the last time I was there, which was in Oct of 2000. But we walked on towards Big Ben, one of the 2 two must see/do for ophie. We (I guess I should say "I" since I was navigatior/tour guide, again) did not take the road that I had planned, but one over. This let us see a few extra sights along the road called The Mall. From there, we took more photo's this time of the Horseguards Parade Building. than we cut through St. James ark. We than cut down King Charles St, right through the courtyard of the Treasury. While walking here, we heard Big Ben chiming. The look on Sophie's face was filled with excitement and anticipation, it was great. We snapped a bunch more pics of Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the arliment. The buildings where just amazing. Sad to say the traffic was to. We marched onward from there, hopped on the Tube and headed to the Westend.

    For this vacation I looked at many tour books and decided on Rick teve's. I know some think he is lame, but I found in his books what I wanted for this trip. I used the "Eastern Europe 2008" edition for BUD and Krakow. BUD I know like the back of my hand, can hop on most any bus and figure out where I am. But wanted some info on the castles, Eger, and the Statue Park, all of which he had. In Krakow, since our time was so short, I wanted to hit the main highlights. So the book worked out perfect for that. As we headed to London, my plan was to do some of the London "Walks". For this I found Rick Steve's London 2008 was just the book. It had the walks all planned with lots of info on what was along the way. But let me add a big HOWEVER, London did not turn out the way I had planned. We only got to do bits and pieces of the the walks I had planned. There was lots that I wanted to see, but did not get a chance to, I guess they have to be saved for the next trip.

    So we headed over towards the Westend. It was not one of the walks that I had planned, but when I gave Illi the printed out material, she said that one sounds pretty interesting to her. So I added it since it was something she found of interest. We took the tube over to Leicester (pronounced Lester) q. This area is considered the theater district of London. It is quaint with lots of charm. We snapped more pics and walked towards Covent Gardens, a large market area with street preformers, St. Pauls Church (not cathedral) and tons of activity. It was a tad crowded, but I did manage to hit a tea shop and buy of all things Turkish Apple tea. It is quite authenitc. Tasting just like I remember when in Istanbul in the 1990's. Here is where things started going wrong.

    I think it was the fact that everyone's blood sugar levels where starting to drop, the fact that the Covent Garden tube station was closed, and being exhausted finally got to us. I will leave it at that. I decided the best thing to do was head back to the hotel. Like I mentioned, the tube station was closed, some sort of problem at the start of the line near Heathrow. We headed back to Leicester Sq station, with grave difficulty. I could find our location on the map and the streets, but so many roads at the intersection left me dazed. We did make it back to the station, but of course with Covent Gardens being down, it was also packed. We waited about 15mins for the tube and did our best line backer imitation and managed to have all 4 of us make it on the first train. It was needless to say jam packed. We got off at the second stop, changed trains, and headed to Victoria tation. Things cooled between us a little after having to stick together on the tube. We decided it was best to get some food before we headed to the hotel.

    We did not want to spend to much, but also did not want fast food and most important we wanted something that was close by. We decided on a restaurant called " hakespear" As it turned out, it was the same restaurant that Duncan and Raeanne and I ate in when we met up in London in Oct 2000. The food was ok, it looked good, but it was all kind of dry. Mine was not, I had soup, hehehe. From there we headed back to drop off our collected loot for the day and drop of mom and Illi and Sophie where going to head off to check off #2 on her list. The double decker bus. We also checked to see where our bus left from in the morning for our trip to Gatwick.

    We dropped off the loot and mom and Illi decided since the price of our day pass also included the bus, that they would come with us. We headed back to Victoria Station, which was now down to a 10 minute walk. We picked the first double decker we saw and headed for it. Sophie was so happy escpically when she got the front seat up top. Mom and Illi a few rows behind her, and I got a seat in the back. I am not complaining, I got to sit. Yeah... We got off at a place that looked like another busy depot, I asked for directions and headed to the approiate numbered stop to for the bus. We got lucky this time, it was almost empty. Sophie and I both had front row, upper deck seats. She was thrilled to be riding so high to see everything. We headed back to Vic tation. We trudged back up hill to the hotel and showered and all collapsed exhausted. (I missed it somewhere along the way we did walk through Trafalgar Sq and see Nelson's Column, which was getting ready for some sort of outdoor concert.

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  • 1 year ago
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