Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburg PA USA

Phipps Conservatory "Collage", originally uploaded by visitPA.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a great steel and glass Victorian greenhouse, has been inviting visitors to explore the beauty and mysteries of plants since 1893. Set amidst one of Pittsburgh's largest greenspaces, Schenley Park, Phipps Conservatory stands as a cultural and architectural centerpiece of the city's Oakland neighborhood.
In recent decades, Phipps has evolved into one of the region's most vibrant, thriving cultural attractions, bringing fresh perspectives and artists into our historic glasshouse environment. Phipps has also become a strong advocate for advanced green-building practices, sustainable gardening and a new environmental awareness.
more @: http://phipps.conservatory.org/

Munich, Germany

Munich, originally uploaded by Werner Kunz (werkunz1).

Munich is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. I'm happy that I was privileged to live there once for a while. I usually try to visit the city once in year, if possible. If you do a Europe tour it is all the time worth to make a short stop in Munich. Not only for the Octoberfest ;-)

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Door to the Greek islands

Door to the islands, originally uploaded by Wolfgang Staudt.

The Greek Islands are a collection of over 6,000 islands and islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than 100 inhabitants.
The largest Greek island by area is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island is Euboea, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the central Greece periphery. After the third and fourth largest Greek Islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller.
The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: The Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic gulf near Athens, the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea, the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey, the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey, the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of Euboea, and the Ionian Islands, located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea (one of these islands, Kythira, is off the southern tip of the mainland, but still considered part of the Ionian Islands).

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Kiev Opera House, Kiev, Ukraine

A Snowy Night at the Kiev Opera House, originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs.

The Kiev Opera group was formally established in the summer of 1867, and is the third oldest in Ukraine, after Odessa Opera and Lviv Opera. Today, the Kiev Opera Company performs at the National Opera House of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko in Kiev.


Established in the summer of 1867 by Ferdinand Berger (? - 1875). Berger succeeded in inviting many talented singers, musicians, and conductors, and the city council (duma) had offered the newly created trouppe to use the City Theatre (constructed in 1856, architect I. Shtrom) for their performances. Officially, the theatre was named the City Theatre but was most commonly referred to as the Russian Opera. The day of the first performance, November 8 (October 27 old style), 1867 was made a city holiday. The performance of the opera Askold's Tomb by Alexey Verstovsky was the troupe's debut. The initial success is attributed to the vocal talents of that time of O. Satagano-Gorchakova, F. L'vov, M. Agramov but also to the captivating plot taken from some principal pages of the ancient history of the city.
Early performances were mostly Russian operas, including Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka, Rusalka by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Maccabees by Anton Rubinstein and The Enemy's Power by A. Serov, as well translated European operas including The Barber of Sevile by Rossini, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, The Magic Archer by Weber, Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti, and also operas by Giuseppe Verdi, which became the favorite of the Kievites.
On February 4, 1896, after a morning performance of Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, a fire erupted from the unextinguished candle in the theatre. The fire consumed the whole building within several hours. One of the largest musical libraries in Europe along with numerous costumes and stage props of many performances were lost during the fire. After the fire of the City Theatre, the troupe performed on other stages for several years, including Bergonie's Theatre (now the National Theatre of Russian Drama named after Lesya Ukrainka), Solovtsov's Theatre (now the National Theatre named after Ivan Franko) and even on the arena of the famous Krutikov's Circus.
After the fire, the City Council had announced the international competition to design a new building for the Opera Theatre in Kiev. The winning proposal was by Victor Aleksandrovich Shreter. The exterior was designed in Neo-Renaissance style and had accounted for the needs of the actors and the spectators. The interior was redesigned in a classical style and called Viennese Modern. However, his greatest achievement is considered to be the stage - one of the largest in Europe designed to the latest engineering standards.
On September 29 (September 16 old style), 1901, the solemn opening of the new premise of the theatre took place with a performance of cantata Kiev by composer Wilhelm Hartweld (1859 - 1927) and a presentation of the opera Life for the Tsar by M. Glinka.
In the first decade of the 20th century, the Kiev Opera Theatre attracted the most outstanding Ukrainian and Russian singers, including O. Petlyash, P. Tsecevich, K. Voronets, M. Medvedev, K. Brun, O. Mosin and O. Kamionsky and famous opera stars from the West often came on tours. Several unusual for the time performances took place on the stage: Die Walkure by Wagner, Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov and Mefistofele by Boyto.
As Kiev began to grow and with the conclusion of World War I, the Kiev Opera occupied a special place in the USSR and the world. The Kiev Opera Theatre was considered to be one of the most prestigious in Ukraine and Russia.
During the intermission of a performance on September 1, 1911, Dmitry Bogrov killed Prime Minister Peter Stolypin.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Opera_House_of_Ukraine

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Stockholm by Night, Sweden

Stockholm by Night, originally uploaded by diesmali.

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag (parliament), and the official residence of the Swedish monarch as well as the prime minister. Since 1980, the monarch has resided at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm and uses the Royal Palace of Stockholm as his workplace and official residence. As of 2009, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population, and contributes 28% of Sweden's gross domestic product.
Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden with a population of 829,417 in the municipality (2009), 1.25 million in the urban area (2005), and 2 million in the metropolitan area (2009).
Founded circa 1250, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia. Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North. Stockholm is the second most visited city in the Nordic countries, with around one million visitors in 2006.
The city's oldest section is "Gamla Stan" (Old Town), located on the original small islands of the city's earliest settlements and still featuring the medieval street layout. Some notable buildings of Gamla Stan are the large German Church (Tyska kyrkan) and several mansions and palaces: the Riddarhuset (the House of Nobility), the Bonde Palace, the Tessin Palace and the Oxenstierna Palace. The oldest building in Stockholm is the Riddarholmskyrkan from the late 13th century. After a fire in 1697 when the original medieval castle was destroyed, Stockholm Palace was erected in a baroque style. Storkyrkan Cathedral, the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Stockholm, stands next to the castle. It was founded in the 13th century but is clad in a baroque exterior dating to the 18th century.
As early as the 15th century, the city had expanded outside of its original borders. Some pre-industrial, small-scale buildings from this era can still be found in Södermalm. During the 19th century and the age of industrialization Stockholm grew rapidly, with plans and architecture inspired by the large cities of the continent such as Berlin and Vienna. Notable works of this time period include public buildings such as the Royal Swedish Opera and private developments such as the luxury housing developments on Strandvägen.
In the 20th century, a nationalistic push spurred a new architectural style inspired by medieval and renaissance ancestry as well as influences of the Jugend/Art Nouveau style. A key landmark of Stockholm, the Stockholm City Hall, was erected 1911-1923 by architect Ragnar Östberg. Other notable works of these times are the Stockholm Public Library and the Forest Cemetery, Skogskyrkogården.
In the 1930s modernism characterized the development of the city as it grew. New residential areas sprang up such as the development on Gärdet while industrial development added to the growth, such as the KF manufacturing industries on Kvarnholmen located in the Nacka Municipality. In the 1950s, suburban development entered a new phase with the introduction of the Stockholm metro. The modernist developments of Vällingby and Farsta were internationally praised. In the 1960s this suburban development continued but with the aesthetic of the times, the industrialised and mass-produced blocks of flats received a large amount of criticism.
At the same time that this suburban development was taking place, the most central areas of the inner city were being redesigned, known as Norrmalmsregleringen. Sergels Torg, with its five high-rise office towers was created in the 1960s, followed by the total clearance of large areas to make room for new development projects. The most notable buildings from this period is the ensemble of the House of Culture, City Theatre and National Bank at Sergels Torg, designed by architect Peter Celsing.
In the 1980s the planning ideas of modernism were starting to be questioned, resulting in suburbs with a denser planning, such as Skarpnäck. In the 1990s this idea was taken further with the development of and old industrial area close to the inner city, resulting in a sort of mix of modernistic and urban planning in the new area of Hammarby Sjöstad.
The municipality has appointed an official "board of beauty" called "Skönhetsrådet" to protect and preserve the beauty of the city.
Stockholm's architecture provided the inspiration for Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki as he sought to evoke an idealized city untouched by World War. His creation, called Koriko, draws directly from what Miyazaki felt was Stockholm's sense of well-established architectural unity, vibrancy, independence, and safety.
One of the most unusual pieces of "architecture" in Stockholm is the Jumbohostel, housed in a converted Boeing 747 located at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Japan

big swim, originally uploaded by anzyAprico.

The aquarium is a part of the Ocean Expo Commemorative National Government Park located in Motobu, Okinawa. The aquarium is made up of four-floors which hold attractions of deep sea creatures, sharks, coral and other tropical fish. The aquarium is set on 19,000 m² of land, holds a total of 77 tanks with 10,000 m³ of water. Water for the saltwater exhibits is pumped into the aquarium from 350m offshore 24 hours a day.
The main tank called the 'Kuroshio Sea' holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.
On 16 June 2007 at 10:25 PM a manta ray was born at the aquarium after a gestation of 374 days.
The aquarium holds 80 species of coral and is one of very few that keep whale sharks in captivity, and is currently trying to breed them.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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The Royal Pavilion, Brighton UK

The Royal Pavilion, originally uploaded by Tim Wilko.

The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in the early 19th Century as a seaside retreat for the then Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th Century.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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St Louis Cathedral ... Louisiana USA

St Louis Cathedral ..., originally uploaded by limeydog.

... and the Louisiana state museum

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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National Constitution Center - Philadelphia USA

National Constitution Center - Phila, originally uploaded by visitPA.

The National Constitution Center in historic Philadelphia is America's most interactive history museum. Located just two blocks from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, it is the only museum devoted to the U.S. Constitution and the story of we, the people.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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Temple of Hephaestus and Athena Ergane, Athens Greece

Theseion, originally uploaded by maksid.

On top of Agoraios Kolonos hill, which is delimiting the Ancient Agora of Athens to the west, stands the temple of Hephaestus, broadly known as ?Thisio?. It is one of the best preserved ancient temples, partly because it was transformed into a Christian church. According to the traveller and geographer Pausanias (1, 14, 5-6), two deities were jointly worshipped in the temple: god Hephaestus, protector of all metallurgists, and goddess Athena Ergani, protecting all potters and the cottage industries. The identification of this temple as ?Hephaesteion? (location of worship of the god Hephaestus) was ascertained by the excavations and investigations that brought to light metallurgy workshops on the wider area of the hill, thus outshining earlier opinions presuming that Theseus, Hercules or Aris (Mars) were the deities worshipped there. The temple was probably erected between 460 and 420 BC by a yet unknown architect, to whom, however, are attributed other temples of similar structure in the Attica region. The temple disposed of a pronaos (anteroom) and an opisthodomos (back section), both distyle (two-columned) in antis. On the exterior it was surrounded by a Doric colonnade having six columns on the narrow sides and thirteen columns on the longer sides. The entire building, from the crepis (stone base) to the roof, was made of marble produced in the quarries of Pendeli mountain (in Attica), while the architectural sculptures that adorned the temple were of marble produced in the quarries on the island of Paros. On the interior of the cella (in Greek sekos) was a two-part colonnade forming the letter Π and at the far end was a pedestal, that supported the bronze ceremonial statues of Hephaestus and Athena, created by the sculptor Alkamenis; according to the traveller and geographer Pausanias, they were probably executed between 421 and 415 BC. The lavish sculptural decoration of the temple featured highly interesting metopes that adorned the east and the west side of the external colonnade. The east side numbered ten metopes that were visible from the Agora: they depicted nine of the feats of Hercules. Furthermore, on the north and the south side are depicted four of the feats of Theseus, which probably were the reason why the people named this temple "Thision". The frieze does not run across all four sides of the cella, but only the across the pronaos and the opisthodomos. The pronaos features the victorious struggle of Theseus against the claimers of the throne, who were the fifty sons of Pallas; six gods also participate into the fight. The opisthodomos depicts the fight of the Centaurs narrated on the wall which is against the cella. Notable sculptural representations also adorned the pediments of the temple. The west pediment depicted the fight of the Centaurs and the east pediment the reception of Hercules on mount Olympus or the birth of goddess Athena. Several among these sculptures inspired statues that were found in the surroundings of the temple, such as the fragmented and partially preserved complex of two feminine figures, one of which transports the other on her shoulders, as if trying to save her life, ("Ephedrismos" = carrying on one's back), Museum of the Ancient Agora, no of finding S 429), or the trunk of a dressed feminine figure where the movement is intensely underlined; the latter could be one of the acroteria (ornamental corner pieces) of the temple ("Nereis" = water deity, Museum of the Ancient Agora, no of finding S 182). During the Hellenistic period, bushes or small trees in parallel order were planted into flowerpots around the temple; these pots came to light during excavation. In the seventh century AD, the temple was conversed into a church dedicated to St. George Akamas, and thus stayed in use until the liberation of Greece from the Turkish occupation. During the eighteenth century, many eminent Protestants, who died in Athens, were interred in the edifice, while in 1834 it hosted the ceremony of the first reception of king Otto. Hence the temple was used as an archaeological museum, until 1930, when the American School for Classical Studies in Athens started excavations in the Ancient Agora. Author Klio Tsoga, archaeologist

Caryatids of the Erechtheion

Caryatids of the Erechtheion, originally uploaded by macropoulos.

The famous Caryatids, originally from the north porch of the Erechtheion temple (on the Acropolis), as they are now being displayed in the new Acropolis Museum.
A caryatid (Greek: Καρυάτις, plural: Καρυάτιδες) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese. Karyai had a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryatid 

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Town Hall of Bamberg in Germany

Town Hall of Bamberg in Germany, originally uploaded by werkunz1.

In the past I showed you already the view over Bamberg. Now it's time to go into this beautiful city. Fortunately, Bamberg was not destroyed in the second World War.Such pearls are seldom, but they exist.

Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from getting near to Bamberg. Bamberg is home to nearly 7,000 foreign nationals, including over 4,100 members of theUnited States Army and their dependents. The name Bamberg is supposed to have its origin in the House of Babenberg.

Bamberg is located in Franconia, 63 km (39 mi) north of Nuremberg by railway and 101 km (63 mi) east of Würzburg, also by rail. It is situated on the Regnitz river, 3 km (1.9 mi) before it flows into the Main river.

Its geography is shaped by the Regnitz and by the foothills of the Steigerwald, part of the German uplands. From northeast to southwest, the town is divided into first the Regnitz plain, then one large and several small islands formed by two arms of the Regnitz (Inselstadt), and finally the part of town on the hills, the "Hill Town" (Bergstadt).

Bamberg extends over seven hills, each crowned by a beautiful church. This has led to Bamberg being called the "Franconian Rome" — although a running joke among Bamberg's tour guides is to refer to Rome instead as the "Italian Bamberg".

The Old Town of Bamberg is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage, primarily because of its authentic medieval appearance. The city established a documentation centre in 2005 to support World Heritage activities. Some of the main sights are:

• Cathedral (1237), with the tombs of emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II
• Alte Hofhaltung, residence of the bishops in the 16th and 17th centuries
• Neue Residenz, residence of the bishops after the 17th century
• Old Town Hall (1386), built in the middle of the Regnitz River, accessible by two bridges
• Klein-Venedig ("Little Venice"), a colony of picturesque fishermen's houses from the 19th century along one side of the river Regnitz.
• Michaelsberg Abbey, built in the 12th century on one of Bamberg's "Seven Hills"
• Altenburg, castle, former residence of the bishops

Railway

The InterCityExpress main line #28 (Munich - Nuremberg - Leipzig - Berlin / Hamburg) runs through Bamberg. To Munich the train journey takes about two hours. To Berlin it takes about four hours as of 2007; but construction of a new, shorter and faster connection through the Thuringian mountains has been underway for some years.
East-west connections are poorer. Bamberg is connected to other towns in eastern Upper Franconia such as Bayreuth, Coburg, and Kronach, with usually at least an hourly regional service. Connections to the west are hourly regional trains to Würzburg, which is fully connected to the ICE network. Tourists arriving at Frankfurt International Airport will have to change trains in Würzburg to get to Bamberg or take a detour via Nuremberg.

Motorways

Bamberg is not near any of the major (i.e. single-digit) Autobahns. But it is nevertheless well connected to the network: the A70 from Schweinfurt (connecting to the A7 there) to Bayreuth (connecting to the A9) runs along the northern edge of the town. The A73 on the eastern side of town connects Bamberg to Nuremberg (connecting to the A9) and Thuringia, ending at Suhl.

Air transport

Bamberg is served by Bamberg-Breitenau Airfield. At "Flugplatz Bamberg-Breitenau" are operating mostly public aircraft, although it is classificated as a military airport (IATA-Code: ZCD, ICAO-Code: ETEJ).
It is also possible to charter public flights to and from this airport.
Most international tourists who travel by plane arrive at Frankfurt International Airport or Munich Airport. The nearest bigger airport is Nuremberg Airport which can be reached within half an hour by car or one hour by train.

Water transport

The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal begins near Bamberg. With its completion in 1992, uninterrupted water transport was made possible between the North Sea and the Black Sea.

Local transport

Local transport within Bamberg relies exclusively on buses. More than 20 lines connect the outlying quarters and some villages in the vicinity to the Central Bus Station. In addition, there are several "Night Lines" (the last of these, though, tend to run around midnight) and some Park and Ride lines from parking lots on the periphery to the town centre.
A short-lived tram system existed in the 1920s.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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Restoration of the Parthenon

Restoration of the Parthenon, originally uploaded by dfworks (on leave).

The Parthenon (ancient Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction.[1]
The Parthenon replaced an older temple of Athena, called the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury, and for a time served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin. After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s, and it even had a minaret. On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, with Ottoman permission. These sculptures, now known as the Elgin or Parthenon Marbles, were sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. The Greek government is committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece, so far with no success.

In 1975, the Greek government began a concerted effort to restore the Parthenon and other Acropolis structures. The project later attracted funding and technical assistance from the European Union. An archaeological committee thoroughly documented every artifact remaining on the site, and architects assisted with computer models to determine their original locations. In some cases, prior re-construction was found to be incorrect. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use. The incorrect reconstructions were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began. The Parthenon will not be restored to a pre-1687 state, but the explosion damage will be mitigated as much as possible, both in the interest of restoring the structural integrity of the edifice (important in this earthquake-prone region) and to restore the aesthetic integrity by filling in chipped sections of column drums and lintels, using precisely sculpted marble cemented in place. New marble is being used from the original quarry. Ultimately, almost all major pieces of marble will be placed in the structure where they originally would have been, supported as needed by modern materials.
Originally, various blocks were held together by elongated iron H pins that were completely coated in lead, which protected the iron from corrosion. Stabilizing pins added in the 19th century were not so coated and corroded. Since the corrosion product (rust) is expansive, the expansion caused further damage by cracking the marble.
All new metalwork uses titanium, a strong, light, and corrosion resistant material.

Valencia, Spain ....The Twilight Knights

The Twilight Knights, originally uploaded by egold.

When I saw first time these fantastic Calatrava’s creations, my imagination immediately transformed these buildings into the helmets of two gigantic knights hiding under water and guarding this beautiful city - Valencia... It was not twilight time but it was dark atmosphere around and I called them The Twilight Knights... After that I saw them many times by different conditions but my first impression was the strongest...

Actually the names of these two buildings are El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía and L' Hemisfèric...
In 1989, the president of the Valencian Generality, Joan Lerma, assumed the idea of José María López Piñero, professor of history of the science of the University of Valencia, to build a scientific museum in the lands of the Garden of the Turia river that bordered the road with the mulberry trees. Lerma entrusted the creation of a team that articulated the project and that visited spaces of similar characteristics in Munich, Canada and London to devise a project of evident pedagogical appearance: an atom would serve of guide to the visitor to show him all the facets of the nature.
In May of 1991, the council approved the transfer of lands; four months later presented the project designed by Santiago Calatrava and at the end of that year gave the green light to the constitution of a public business, who served as the constructors of the bridge. The projects were initiated by the end of 1994. The team that had designed the museum did not see eye to eye with the form in which Santiago Calatrava conceived the building. Therefore, a couple changes were made.

In April of 1998 the complex opened its doors to the public with L' Hemisfèric. Eleven months later, the president Eduardo Zaplana inaugurated the Museum of the Sciences Prince Felipe, although the works were not finished. The museum was opened to the public twenty months later. December 12, 2002, was the opening of L' Oceanographic, the largest aquarium built in Europe. And October 8, 2005 the El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía was opened, but it lost its initial condition of headquarters of the Valencian film Library to be become the opera house of Valencia.

All complex of many buildings and bridges named The City of the Arts and the Sciences (in Valencian: Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències). It’s a cultural, architectural complex of entertainment for the city of Valencia and probably is the best architectural creation of our time.

Brooklyn, New York

Brooklyn, New York, originally uploaded by Grzesiek:.

... the empire state building, 

"down under the manhattan bridge overpass".

Historic Brooklyn NY is home to everyone from everywhere - we are the world's neighborhood, the borough that puts the "new" in New York City. Brooklyn is big, it's diverse, and it's got something for everyone - this is the real New York! You name it, Brooklyn's got it: history, beaches, including Brighton Beach, parks, New York's only aquarium, Coney Island, ethnic enclaves, night clubs, hip art galleries & museums, world-class shopping. It's all here, and you're invited to come and experience all that Brooklyn NY has to offer. And our Tourism and Visitors Center is here to guide you toward what you want to do and how to get there.

from wikipedia...

Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area. If the borough were a separate city, it would be the fourth-largest city in the United States. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State, and the second most densely populated county in the United States, after New York County (Manhattan).

Though a part of New York City, Brooklyn maintains a distinct culture, independent art scene, and unique architectural heritage. ManyBrooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves where particular ethnic groups and cultures predominate.

external links:

• Official site of the Brooklyn Borough President
• Brooklyn Tourism
• Brooklyn travel guide from Wikitravel
• Brooklyn Neighborhoods
• All About Brooklyn

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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