Archive for August, 2009
Edinburgh Attractions And Accommodation
Edinburgh is one of the top tourist destinations in Europe and it boasts a wealth of attractions and different types of accommodation. Here you will find a selection of the most popular attractions in Edinburgh and information on the various types of accommodation available.
Edinburgh Castle
The castle is perhaps the best known and certainly the most popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh. It sits on an elevated site overlooking Princes Street Gardens and the city centre.
Visitors are free to roam around the castle and learn about the rich and interesting history from any of the knowledgeable guides which are on hand to guide you round.
If you visit during the festival season you also have the option of taking in the Military Tattoo which takes place in the castle each year. There are temporary stands erected and you get to witness a mass of bagpipers and marching bands from all over the world from inside the illuminated castle grounds.
Edinburgh Festival
During the main summer season Edinburgh comes alive with festivals and events taking place throughout the city. The biggest event is the International fringe festival which has been running since 1947.
Here you can enjoy a wide variety of acts some shows are free and others require tickets usually only 5. The most unique aspect of the festival is that it is open to all performers; people can just turn up and perform. This makes it a great platform for up and coming stars to come and try and make a name for themselves.
Edinburgh Zoo
Opened in 1913 and consisting of over 82 acres of parkland the zoo is one of Edinburghs most popular attractions with over 500000 visitors each year. The zoo is walking distance from the city centre it is situated in Corstorphine which is close to Haymarket railway station.
The most popular attraction at the zoo are the penguins and especially the penguin parade which takes place on a daily basis. The zoo also has the United Kingdoms only koala bears.
Scottish Parliament
Since Scotland was granted a devolved government in 1999 a parliament was requires for the first time in hundreds of years. After much debate on both the location and the architecture of the building the Scottish parliament was built at Holyrood.
There continues to be much debate on the building and particularly the look of the building as it is designed as a modern and contemporary building completely unique from the traditional and elegant structures normally found in Edinburgh. Its cost of 431 million double the original budget also did not go down well with the Scottish public.
Visitors can visit it and make there own minds of whether to love or hate the structure there are free tickets available to tour round and see Scottish politics in action.
Botanic Gardens
The Botanic Gardens are a great attraction for the family to enjoy and best of all admission is Free. The gardens in Edinburgh have been around since 1670 and that makes them the second oldest in the UK.
There are a total of 70 acres of gardens and they are in a great central location only a few minutes walk from the city centre. There are 7 of the worlds total plant species on display and its the perfect way to spend a sun filled day in Edinburgh.
Luxury Accommodation
There is a wide selection of luxury hotels in Edinburgh all of the major hotel chains such as Ramada Best Western and Hilton have hotels in the city centre. It is however perhaps best to try one of Edinburghs more iconic hotels.
The two most well known are probably the Balmoral Hotel and the Scotsman both have excellent city centre locations and offer high quality luxury accommodation.
Edinburgh accommodation is not all five star luxury and 100 a night prices you can pick up more affordable options if you opt to stay at a bed and breakfast or a hostel.
The cheapest option is to choose one of the many hostels that are available in Edinburgh. You can pick up a five star hostel dorm for only 12 per person. A bargain when you consider some of the excellent facilities available such as free internet and travel advice and also city centre locations.
About the writer: The author of this article is an internet entrepreneur whom has extensive knowledge of affiliate marketing and Search Engine Optimisation. He has designed and developed a small group of travel websites which include Rooms in Scotland.
Discover The Magic Of Santander
The Cantabri had a fearsome reputation. Of all the ancient Iberian tribes they put up the fiercest resistance to the invading Romans. Nevertheless the Romans overcame them humiliated them and marched on. The punchdrunk Cantabria died out dreaming of a rematch. When History flexes its muscles and offers to fight any man in the house it is sornetimes better to don a bow tie and grab a seat in the front row than to step into the ring. Yet two thousand years on the high peaks that rise at Torrelavega in the province of Santander and stretch across Asturias towards Galicia are known as the Cantabrian Mountains Cordillera Cantabrica and not the Sierra Romana.
Cantabria is now synonymous with Santander a province so mountainous that it is known colloquially as The Mountain. It covers 5289 square kilometres 2042 square miles and its southwestern border with Asturias is marked by some of the most impressive mountains in the chain the limestone miniEverests of the Picos de Europa which rise to over 2620 kilometres 8600 feet. In the north the province ends abruptly on the shores of the Bay of Biscay.
Judging by the incredible prehistoric paintings and etchings found in the Altamira cave 30 kilometres west of the region’s capital city even the Cantabri were relative latecomers to the mountains. A hunter stumbled on the cave in 1868 but it was a nobleman from Santander Marcelino de Sautuola who made it famous. Remarkable really since he seems to have been either as blind as a bat or the unfortunate victim of an arthritic neck which prevented him from looking upwards. He first visited the cave in 1875 and had no problem picking up bones and flint tools from the floor.
However it was not until four years later when he took his young daughter Maria along with him that the paintings came to light. While Marcelino was scrabbing in the dust looking for more bones to add to his collection she yawned stared lethargically upwards and said ‘Papa bulls’. The bulls were actually bison but the child may be forgiven for that. The cavern roof was covered with vivid red black and violet paintings of them. Among the 150 or so there were a couple of wild boar a few horses a hind but this was unmistakably the inner sanctum of the Cantabrian Bison Society.
His attention belatedly drawn to the existence of an unparalleled prehistoric art gallery which he had previously failed to notice despite unerringly retrieving microscopic pieces of bone from the dust of millennia the world’s worst archaeologist now began shouting his discovery from the rooftops. In 1880 his published descriptions of the paintings were initially greeted with scepticisrn. Many denounced them outright as forgeries. After all it did seem passing strange that their existence had gone unnoticed by the hunter who found the cave in 1868 and by Marcelino himself in the four years he had spent skulking around the cave before the fortuitous visit of his daughter. But despite their suspicions no one could recail seeing hirn heading for or returning from the cave with a paintbrush and by the turn of the century most experts accepted them as genuine. They had to. By then the paint was dry.
Santander is one of the provinces of Old Castile and its capital lies on the southern shore of the rocky peninsula of Cabo Mayor in an inlet of the Bay of Biscay known as Bahia de Santander. It was a natural place to build a town and sorne historians equate it with the lost Roman settlement of Portus Victoriae. That would have been a characteristically triumphal name to have given a town after the final crushing of the troublesorne Cantabri. Rubbing the noses of vanquished foes in the dirt was de rigueur for the Romans. But there are always historians willing to see evidence of lost Roman settlements on every hillside and in every scrape of an excavator’s trowel so we should be wary.
Despite their military success the Romans never felt entirely safe in Cantabria. Their influence was largely restricted to the new towns that they founded and when they and their empire were swept away in 410 AD few tears were shed in the hills. In innumerable villages and towns their demise passed virtually unnoticed. For more than 150 years the rugged mountain folk remained stubbornly independent of all that happened around thern. In 574 the Visigoths tried to impose sorne order by creating the Duchy of Cantabria but History was soon flexing its muscles again and with the coming of the Moors Cantabria and its neighbour Asturias became the front line of resistance and the embryo of the Reconquest. The boundaries of Cantabria became less distinct and ultimately its western sector was swallowed by Asturias while the eastern part was absorbed by Castile.
A lesser people might finally have given up the struggle and allowed themselves to be sucked into oblivion but Cantabria was far from finished. The province of Santander was created as part of the wholesale restructuring of Spain in 1833. Cantabria was back albeit under an assumed name and for the first time it had its own capital and administrative centre. It would prove in the words of the popular song to be the start of something big.
The l9th century was a period of great progress and expansion especially for the capital which grew into one of Europe’s most important ports. It is also a beautiful city with excellent beaches and over 30 parks. Culture is important here as it is throughout Spain. Frorn humble beginnings in 1948 when someone thought it would be a good idea to bring a little musical enlightenment to the students of the Menendez Pelayo International University UIMP the International Santander Festival has become one of Europe’s premier cultural events. A touristic triumph.
Beyond the capital the mountain nature reserves are a Mecca for the adventurous particularly those able to deal nonchalantly with the occasional appearance of bears and wolves. Cantabria’s unique situation is highlighted by the Pico de Tres Mares Three Seas Peak. Depending on which route it takes down the mountain rainfall here might end up in the Atlantic via the Rio Duero the Sea of Cantabria the Rio Nansa or the Mediterranean the Rio Ebro. Amazingly two years into the 2lst century no one has yet devised a method of turning this phenomenon into a TV game show. The fit and those with illusions of fitness can canoe ski parachute and hurtle down mountain rivers on rafts to their hearts content. If necessary they can stiffen their sinews beforehand with a sip or two of orujolebaniego a local beverage distilled from the grape refuse left over after pressing. Its history of physical isolation and the indomitable independence of its people has made Cantabria unique. And in its hills there are still mysteries.
Garabandal is a village close to the Picos de Europa. There on the evening of June 18 1961 four young girls playing on a hillside saw a vision of the Archangel Michael. The following day he appeared again and told them that if they came back on July 2 they would see the Blessed Virgin. Word spread and on the appointed day a Sunday the girls were followed by a vast crowd who saw them apparently consumed with ecstasy at a vision which only they could see. They received and passed on messages both of hope and of coming apocalyptic doom. More visions followed and the girls took to wandering around the village in and out of houses uninvited. Such behaviour would in normal circurnstances have resulted in a hefty clout from the nearest broom but now the intrusions were welcomed as an honour. The apparitions lasted until November 1965 during which time only one other person a 38yearold Jesuit priest Father Luis Marie Andreu claimed to have seen the Virgin. That was on August 8 1961 and so overcome was he that he went straight home and dropped dead of joy.
In her final visitation the Virgin promised to return one day to proclaim a new era in human history. This will be preceded by a warning followed by a miracle. Details of both were given to the girls but they were allowed to reveal only that the miracle would occur on a Thursday at 20.30. Swarnped by the technological wonders of our age we may well have lost the ability to distinguish genuine miracles from computer graphics but in the ancient mountains of Cantabria who knows? Who knows?
About the writer: With more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry Rudi van der Zalm is the founder of one of Europe’s most popular websites for rural holidays in Spain. A wide selection of country houses in Cantabria and rural lodgings in Santander can be found at http://www.ruraltour.com
Discovering Paris Arrondissement 1
Just like many big cities Paris consists of departments each with its own history its own spirit and charm. Each of them lives its own life the left bank is unlike the right one and some even say that often two different metro stations are like two different worlds.
Don’t trust those who say they know Paris like the back of their hand this is impossible. Those who don’t have enough time to study Paris thoroughly are advised to choose one or two districts or regions or arrondissements or whatever you want to study and walk them far and wide. On your next visit you will definitely want to continue your studies. So what shall we start with?
The first arrondissement of Paris contains lots of attractions. It is located on the right bank of Seine also covering the west end of the Ile de la Cite the very heart of Paris the place from where it started. It contains the oldest the most historic and the most Parisian points of interest. We will try to give a brief overview of what is worth seeing there.
Pont Neuf 1607. Even though the name is translated as the New Bridge Pont Neuf is the actually the oldest city bridge. The bridge is made of stone construction was finished during the reign of Henri IV. The bridge was of great success the French people liked its halfround arches which made it exceptionally elegant. The looks of the bridge hasn’t changed till nowadays.
Le Louvre. The largest museum in France and the royal gallery of arts. It reflects many epochs and those who want to see it all in one day are… not advised to do this. A thorough survey needs some time. King Philip Augustus wanted to make it a fortress for this he constructed the “Old Tower” which was both an observation tower and a shelter. Francois I started its transformation into a Renaissance palace. King Henry IV united the Palais du Louvre with the Palais des Tuileries. Two galleries were constructed which contained royal pieces of art. In 1793 the palace was turned into a museum. In 1981 the Louvre’s courtyard was reconstructed there was a new entrance to the museum the Pyramide built and the underground area was transformed into a huge space with restaurants souvenir shops book stores etc. This is where modernity interweaves with history.
The Tuileries Garden is also a place not to be missed. It is beautiful majestic and at the same time intimate and individual. In 1666 Andr Le Notre transformed the small garden of the Tuileries Palace into a park with spacious lanes that were the sketch for the future Champslyses. Hundreds of statues adorned the new park making it look like an outdoor museum.
Palais Royal. North of the Louvre there is the Palais Royal the old residence built by the project of the the architect Jacques Lemercier. This is where Louis XIV spent his childhood until the Fronde made him leave the place. After the fire of 1761 the palace was reconstructed and after the Revolution there was the French theatre the seat of the ComdieFranaise added to the building. Nowadays the palace houses the Constitutional Council and the Ministry of Culture.
Other objects worth seeing here are La Samaritaine Grand Magazin which started the architectural tendency for the numerous commercial buildings constructed in the beginning of the 20th century and Rivoli Squat chez Robert electron libre an unusual old building decorated with bottles angels wings and what not. This is a kind of manifestation more than 200 artists squatted the building in 1999 and refused to leave it. The decoration of the building is a kind of their demonstration of freedom and independence.
About the writer: Hotels in Paris online hotel reservation.