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You can’t leave Florence without visiting one of the most important art galleries in the world. Here you can admire numerous works of art by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Giotto, Cimabue, Masaccio.
Founded by Francesco de’ Medici to delight himself during his walks, the Uffizi Gallery has become through the centuries one of the most famous and admired museums in the world.
It was Francesco I de’ Medici who created an art Gallery on the second floor of the Palazzo degli Uffizi to delight himself, during his walks, with the collection of paintings, sculptures and arrases belonging to the Medici family.

Continue reading Uffizi Gallery is the Star of Florence

Niagara Falls is the second largest falls on the globe next to Victoria Falls in southern Africa.
One fifth of all the fresh water in the world lies in the four Upper Great Lakes-Michigan, Huron,Superior and Erie. All the outflow empties into the Niagara river and eventually cascades over the falls.
length of brink: 1060 feet
height: 176 feet (due to rocks at the base actual fall is 70 feet)volume of water: 150,000 U.S. Gallons per second
The word “Niagara” is derived from the Iroquois Indian word “Onguiaahra” meaning “the strait” There is an international boundary between the United States and Canada. Before the invention of film, tourists would sketch pictures of the Falls. The flow was also halted over both falls on March 30th 1848 due to an ice jam in the upper river.

Continue reading Where is one of the largest falls on the Globe?

The Eiffel Tower, an immense stucture of exposed latticework supports made of iron, was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of England) officiated at the ceremonial opening. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, one was unanimously chosen, a radical creation from the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (b. Dec. 15, 1832, d. Dec. 28, 1923), who was assisted in the design by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre.

However, the controversial tower elicited some strong reactions, and a petition of 300 names — including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Garnier (architect of the Opéra Garnier), and Dumas the Younger — was presented to the city government, protesting its construction. The petition read, “We, the writers, painters, sculptors, architects and lovers of the beauty of Paris, do protest with all our vigour and all our indignation, in the name of French taste and endangered French art and history, against the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower.”

Continue reading The most famous tower on the Earth

The origins of Shwedagon are lost in antiquity, its age unknown. Long before the pagoda was built, its location on Singuttara hill was already an ancient sacred site because of the buried relics of the three previous Buddhas. According to one legend, nearly 5000 years had passed since the last Buddha walked the Earth, and Singuttara hill would soon lose its blessedness unless it was reconsecrated with relics of a new Buddha. In order that such new relics might be obtained, King Okkalapa of Suvannabhumi spent much time atop the hill, meditating and praying. A series of miracles ensued and eight hairs of the historical Buddha were, somewhat magically, brought to the hill. To enshrine the relics, multiple pagodas of silver, tin, copper, lead, marble, iron and gold where built one on top of the other to a height of twenty meters. During the following centuries, passing from myth to historical fact, the pagoda grew to its present height of ninety-eight meters. Much of the continued construction of Shwedagon was actually reconstruction following disastrous earthquakes. During the 17th century the pagoda suffered earthquake damage on at least eight occasions. A particularly bad quake in 1786 brought the entire top half of the pagoda to the ground and its current shape and height date from the reconstruction of that time.

Continue reading The mountain of gold

Stonehenge is surely Britain’s greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance. Its original purpose is unclear to us, but some have speculated that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities. It has been called an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar. Others claim that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from the societies of long ago.

While we can’t say with any degree of certainty what it was for, we can say that it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something very important to the ancients would have been worth the effort and investment that it took to construct Stonehenge.

Continue reading Planning Your Visit to Stonehenge

With its huge dome and immense dimensions, Hagia Sophia was a surpassed. Sinan accomplished this difficult task. He reached to an excellence far-surpassed Hagia Sophia’s heavy monumentality (see Suleymaniye and Selimiye Mosques). The achievement of Anthemios real challenge for the Ottoman architects. It was an inspiration source and also a representative of a conquered culture, which was to be and Isidoros was the placement of a huge dome (32.5 m.) over an oblong basilica. Entrance vestibules (narthex) lead to a breathtaking central space. Four exedrae, apse and two semidomes on the east and west, the gallery arcades on the north and south, and the dome above circumscribe this lofty space.

Continue reading The church of Hagia Sophia

The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku) is a three-story viewing and pleasure pavilion constructed on the edge of a pond as the focal point to a much larger garden on the grounds of the Rokuonji Temple. It gains its more popular name of ‘Kinkakuji’ from the gold plating on the exterior of the pavilion.

Continue reading The Golden Pavilion is literally covered in gold

The four days and nights of carnaval in Rio are the lavish self-indulgent anything-goes exotic exhibitionist spectacle the world sees. They are the result of year-long planning organizing practicing and fantasies – and a lot of hard work!

The dates change from year to year. Check the schedule for Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval Dates. To get to any of the carnaval locations, you’ll need travel arrangements. Compare and select flights from your area. You can also browse for hotels and car rentals.

Carnaval came to South America from Europe as celebrations before the beginning of the forty day Lenten season of fasting and prayer. The word carnival is thought to come from the Italian carne vale or farewell to meat which was not eaten during Lent. These late winter celebrations in Europe gave root to the high-summer frenzy of carnaval in South America.

In Brazil, the Portuguese traditions of entrudo throwing water flour and mud at unsuspecting passers-by evolved into a more lighthearted flour and water or egg tossing spree in Brazil. At the beginning the celebrations were a form of merry-making that the higher classes celebrated privately in their homes while the poorer classes took to the streets in unplanned and unformed revelry. The aristocratic gentry might have looked down on the street frolics but it wasn’t long before the more adventurous among them ventured out heavily masked and disguised to join the fun.

Continue reading Carnival in Rio has been called the world’s most famous party

The Air Travel is maybe more complcated than most of the passengers feel it should be.

It has lots of different prices, deals, rules and regulations and a little research, planning and preparation can go a long way in helping you avoid hassles and get you back on your way when you run into trouble. Here i have prepared for you some tips of how to get a better rate on Airline tickets.

Continue reading Travel Tips – How to get a better rate on Airline tickets