normanst

Niagara Falls: American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls


Niagara Falls comprises three distinct cataracts. The tallest are the American and Bridal Veil falls on the American side, separated by tiny Luna Island and plunging over jagged rocks in a 180ft drop; the broad Horseshoe Falls which curve their way over to Canada are probably the most impressive. They date back a mere twelve thousand years, when the retreat of melting glaciers allowed water trapped in Lake Erie to gush north to Lake Ontario. Back then the falls were seven miles downriver, but constant erosion has cut them back to their present site. The falls are colorfully lit up at night, and many say they're most beautiful in winter, when the grounds are covered in snow and the waters turn to ice.

The best views on the American side are from the Prospect Point Observation Tower (daily; 50￠), and from the area at its base where the water rushes past; Terrapin Point on Goat Island in the middle of the river has similar views of Horseshoe Falls. The nineteenth-century tightrope-walker Blondin crossed the Niagara repeatedly near here, and even carried passengers across on his back; other suicidal fools over the years have taken the plunge in barrels. One survivor among the many fatalities was the Englishman Bobby Leach, who went over in a steel barrel in July 1911 and had to spend the rest of the year in hospital. That practice has since been banned (though a couple of maniacs did it in summer 1995 and came away with minor bruises), for reasons which become self-evident when you approach the towering cascade on the not-to-be-missed Maid of the Mist boat trip from the foot of the observation tower (summer Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm; $8.50; 716/284-4233). From Goat Island, the Cave of the Winds tour leads down to the base of the falls by elevator to within almost touching distance of the water (mid-May to late Oct; $5.50). A combination pass for these and other attractions costs $16. Rainbow helicopter tours (716/284–2800) are a more expensive proposition at $40 per person for a ten-minute ride. To check the view out from Niagara Falls, Ontario, it's a twenty-minute walk across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side (25￠ each way; bring ID, and check with US Immigration officials before heading across), where you get an arguably better view, bigger crowds and even more tawdry commercialism. Driving across is inadvisable: the toll for a car is just 75￠, but parking on the other side is upwards of $15.

As you look on in awe, reflect that you're seeing only about half the volume of water – the rest is diverted to hydroelectric power stations. The full story of this engineering feat is related at the free Niagara Power Project Visitors Center in nearby Lewiston (July & Aug daily 9am–6pm; Sept–June daily 10am–5pm; 716/285-3211). With your own transportation it's also possible to trace the inhospitable Niagara Gorge two miles along the dramatic Robert Moses Parkway to the Whirlpool Rapids, a violent maelstrom swollen by broken trees and other flotsam.

Ten miles east of Niagara Falls, the town of LOCKPORT takes its name from the series of locks that raise and lower boats some 65ft at the western end of the Erie Canal. You can see the impressive flight of locks from the Pine Street Bridge, or up close on canal boat tours (May–Nov daily at 12.30 & 3pm, also 10am on Sat; $9; 716/693-3260).

normanst

A Brief History of No.10 Downing Street



The first domestic house known to have been built on the site of Number 10 was a large dwelling leased to Sir Thomas Knyvet, a Parliamentarian and Justice of the Peace. It was Knyvet who arrested Guy Fawkes for the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. After his death the house passed to his niece, Mrs. Hampden, the aunt of Oliver Cromwell.
The front part of the house we see today, and the adjoining house at Number Eleven, were built by a Harvard graduate and property speculator called George Downing. He acquired rights to the site during the brief period of Parliamentary rule in the 17th Century. A portrait of the man, who was widely regarded as a profiteering rogue, now hangs in the Entrance Hall.

The very ordinary address and the modest terraced fa硤e are deceptive, giving little clue to the real size and grandeur within. Number Ten in fact consists of two houses. The house which faces Downing Street is a typical late 17th century town house. But it conceals a complicated building which was refronted in the 18th C and enlarged in the 20th C. A corridor joins this house to what was once a mansion in its own right, with a walled garden and a view across Horse Guards' Parade. The two houses were joined in 1732 when the property became an official government residence. Sir Robert Walpole moved in in 1735, replacing the last tenant, Mr Chicken. At the time Walpole was First Lord of the Treasury and was informally seen as the first British Prime Minister. Walpole secured the property as a residence for all future First Lords of the Treasury. Today the Prime Minister still resides at Downing Street by right as First Lord of the Treasury, and accordingly his title adrorns the letter-box on the famous black front door.

The house has seen much restoration, alteration and tinkering over the years. It has changed to accommodate new functions for the building, the fashions of the times, the tastes of its occupants and sometimes even urgent need to shore up the very structure of the house itself.

Prime Ministers have overseen great changes both within and without the house. This has given the house a different atmosphere almost every generation. Viscount Goderich ordered the creation of a large dining room at No.10 in the 1820s. The houses on the South side of the street were pulled down in the 1860s to be replaced by the great buildings of state which now overshadow the modest terrace. Electricity replaced gas and candlelight in 1894, and telephones arrived soon after this. In the early 1960s major restructuring work was carried out in order to save the building from collapse and to create a better working environment for staff. In 1988-89 the architect Quinlan Terry was brought in to enrich the decoration of the drawing rooms. And in 1993-95 computer cabling, which has greatly changed the way No.10 staff perform their day-to-day duties, was installed.

Number 10 Downing Street stands close to the site of what was once the palace of Whitehall. This was an enormous rambling collection of buildings and gardens confiscated from Cardinal Wolsey by Henry VIII. It served as the official residence of the Monarch until it was destroyed by fire in 1698. The only part of the palace of Whitehall that remains is the Banqueting House, a spectacular building that can be visited and is almost opposite Downing Street on Whitehall.

normanst

Pearl Harbor



Almost the whole of Pearl Harbor, the principal base for the US Pacific fleet (just over one hour from Waikiki, beyond the airport, on TheBus #20), is off limits to visitors. However, the surprise Japanese attack of December 7, 1941, which an official US enquiry called "the greatest military and naval disaster in our nation's history", is commemorated by a simple white memorial set above the wreck of the battleship USS Arizona, still discernible in the clear blue waters. More than 1100 of its crew – who had earned the right to sleep in late that Sunday morning by coming second in a military band competition – are entombed there.

Free tours to the ship operate between 8am and 3pm each day, but it can be two or three hours after you pick up your numbered ticket at the Pearl Harbor visitor center (daily 7.30am–5pm) before you are called to board the ferry across the bay. Many of the 1.5 million annual visitors are Japanese; an even-handed twenty-minute film pays tribute to "one of the most brilliantly planned and executed attacks in naval history", and books and charts are on sale telling the Japanese side of the story. The USS Arizona memorial was partly financed by Elvis Presley's 1961 Honolulu concert, his first show after leaving the Army

normanst

London and Tower Bridge


Not much is known about the earliest London Bridge although it’s location is thought to be near the present one. The second bridge a wooden one existing in Saxon times seems to have given rise to the nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge is falling down’ which it did in 1014. In 1176 the first stone bridge was constructed. Houses sprung up on both sides of the bridge and stood until it was pulled down in 1831, making way for a more elegant, classic structure. This bridge was replaced in 1967 as it could no longer cope with the amount of traffic. The present London Bridge is more 100 feet wide.

The London Bridge preceding the current one was bought by the McCulloch Oil Corporation of California, which reconstructed it at Lake Havasu City, in a corner of America’s Arizona Desert. Rumour has it that McCulloch’s thought they were buying the much more spectacular Tower Bridge.

The Construction of Tower Bridge began in 1885 and it was opened 9yrs later by Edward VII the then Prince of Wales, Amidst pomp and ceremony. It is the only bridge in London that can be raised to allow ships to pass. Since the Thames is no longer used much as a trade and shipping route, the complex lifting mechanism is only used 4 or 5 times a week. The Tower bridge is often mistaken for London Bridge which is dull in comparison.

normanst

Sydney Opera House







Photo of Sydney Opera House courtesy of Andrew Watts

Sydney Opera House must be one of the most recognisable images of the modern world - up there with the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building - and one of the most photographed.

Not only is it recognisable, it has come to represent 'Australia'.

Although only having been open since 1973, it is as representative of Australia as the pyramids are of Egypt and the Colosseum of Rome.

The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the harbour. The skyline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the blue water of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House, viewed from a ferry or from the air, is dramatic and unforgettable.

Ironic, perhaps, that this Australian icon - the Opera House with a roof evocative of a ship at full sail - was designed by renowned Danish architect - Jørn Utzon.

In the late 1950s the NSW Government established an appeal fund to finance the construction of the Sydney Opera House, and conducted a competition for its design.

Utzon's design was chosen. The irony was that his design was, arguably, beyond the capabilities of engineering of the time. Utzon spent a couple of years reworking the design and it was 1961 before he had solved the problem of how to build the distinguishing feature - the 'sails' of the roof.

Sydney Opera House from the harbour, photo courtesy of Andrew Watts

The venture experienced cost blow-outs and there were occasions when the NSW Government was tempted to call a halt. In 1966 the situation - with arguments about cost and the interior design, and the Government withholding progress payments - reached crisis point and Jørn Utzon resigned from the project. The building was eventually completed by others in 1973.

Sydney Opera House facts and figures

The Sydney Opera house:

Was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon.
Was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.
Presented, as its first performance, The Australian Opera's production of War and Peace by Prokofiev.
Cost $AU 102,000,000 to build.
Conducts 3000 events each year.
Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each year.
Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances.
Includes 1000 rooms.
Is 185 metres long and 120 metres wide.
Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof.
Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons.
Has roof sections held together by 350 kms of tensioned steel cable.
Has over 1 million tiles on the roof.
Uses 6225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable.
The ABC screened The Edge of The Possible, a film about Jørn Utzon and the Sydney Opera House. The film includes the first interview Utzon had given to Australian TV in 25 years. The Edge of the Possible is directed by Daryl Dellora, produced by Sue Maslin and was screened on the actual anniversary - 20 October 1998 - at 8.30pm.

xpsal

Wow, interesting experience, once i decide to travel around the world, i will refer to your threads so that i would visit most of famous places....thanks

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Nana_Brazil

Nice work Normanst!!! So many interessing info about them all.
I congratulate you for your patience and dedication!!!
I have just told some friends they should show pictures and give us info about their countries, I mean everybody here should do that because it is a pleasure hearing such things by the natives, don`t you think so?