Travelers Tips

Rathaus-Glockenspiel at Marienplatz in Munich

By Whitney Hawkins | July 22, 2009

The town hall’s tower harbors the world famous carillon, which has existed since 1908. The figures of the carillon show parts of Munich’s history.  A joust is displayed in the upper part which was arranged for the marriage of duke Wilhelm V. and Renata of Lothringen.

The lower part of the carillon shows a famous dance of Munich, the “Schäfflertanz”. It was arranged at the time of the plague (1515-1517) and has since been traditionally performed every 7th year in Munich.

The whole show lasts somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes long depending on which tune it plays that day. At the very end a very small golden bird at the top of the Glockenspiel chirps three times, marking the end of the spectacle.

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Warnors Theatre

By Emil | July 21, 2009

A historic theatre in Fresno, California in the United States of America. It opened in 1928 as the Pantages Theatre, and became Warners Theatre in 1929 after it was purchased by Warner Brothers. The name was changed in the 1960s to Warnors to avoid copyright issues. The theater seats over two thousand in the balcony and main floor.

The theatre was designed by B. Marcus Priteca, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater has a pipe organ, which was manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company of Van Nuys, California and installed in 1929. The organ boasts 14 ranks built with 1,035 pipes and a four-manual console with 720 keys, pedals and combination pistons. The organ was used primarily for motion pictures until 1973. Because of the cost of paying orchestra members, most accompanying orchestras were replaced with pipe organs.

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The Secession Building

By Cami Williams | July 21, 2009

Located in Vienna, The building was built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto and exhibition hall for the secession group. Secession refers to the seceding of a group of rebel artists from the long-established fine art institution.

The building features The Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt, one of the most widely recognized artworks of Secession style, a branch of Art Nouveau, also known as Jugendstil.

The motto of the Secessionist movement is written above the entrance of the pavilion:

“To every age its art, to art its freedom”. Below this is a sculpture of three gorgons representing painting, sculpture, and architecture.

The building was recently selected as the main motif of one of the Austrian gold collectors’ coins: the 100 euro The Secession commemorative coin, minted in 10 November 10 2004. On the obverse side there is a view of the hall.

The building also appears, from a different perspective, on the regular €0.50 Austrian coin. A detail of Klimt’s work is featured on the reverse side of this coin.

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The Arch of Constantine

By Vanessa | July 20, 2009

This triumphal arch, one of only three left standing in Rome today, was dedicated in 315 A.D. It had been built to honour the emperor Constantine’s victory over the previous emperor, Maxentius, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge three years before. It is said that prior to the battle Constantine had a dream or vision in which he saw the image of the cross and heard the words ‘with this sign you will conquer.’ Because of this he ordered the sign of the cross to be painted on the shields of all his soldiers. At that battle Maxentius drowned in the Tiber river, and Constantine became the first Christian emperor of Rome, subsequently legalised Christianity throughout the emperor, and changed the course of history.

Many of the friezes and other sculptural elements on the arch itself were pillaged from previous monuments erected in honour of some of the great emperors of the past like Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. The arch straddles the Via Triumphalis, the triumphal way which was the processional route used by victorious Roman armies returning from war. An ancient fountain called the Meta Sudans once stood in front of it, but the fascist dictator Mussolini had this bulldozed in the 1930s because he wanted to be able to march his own troops under the Arch of Constantine without impediment. When the Olympics were held in Rome in 1960 the athletes running the marathon passed under the arch just before crossing the finish line. Nowadays there is a metal fence which prohibits people from walking underneath it.

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Travelers Stories

Unforgettable Milan

By Giorg Petterssen | August 5, 2009

We are on the train going from Milan to Venice. We flew into Milan from Delhi arriving Saturday morning, and did a little sight seeing in Milan before catching a train to Venice on Sunday at 1:30pm. I didn’t get my normal early morning walk because my neck is giving me trouble. I hurt my neck weigh lifting about 2 weeks ago and they don’t have chiropractors in Northern India, so I will try to find one in Venice on Monday morning.

I haven’t had to go to the chiropractor in over 3 years. One of my friends in the US who is a physical therapist taught me a few weight lifting movements that strengthened my back and held the vertebrate in place, so my visits to the chiropractor have been less often.

The train ride between Milan and Venice reminds me of California. Valya says I say that about everywhere. I think that is why California is the best place in the world to film movies. You can go anywhere in the world without leaving California; except maybe India. Within California and India, you could film movies about anywhere.

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La France

By Miha | July 20, 2009

It was time for my maiden trip to Europe. It was time to wear my tourist cap and head to Europe. The city of lights beckoned me and so did the swiss alps. After doing a bit of research as to where to go, I zeroed in on Paris and Switzerland.

Paris, as I wanted to know what the hype was all about! Switzerland, as it has this ‘paradise’ image in the minds of many! Switzerland’s landscape has been shown in many Bollywood movies and it has this image of a honeymoon destination! Anyway, I was traveling alone. I got a Schengen visa from the Swiss embassy in DC.

UK is still not a part of Schengen treaty so no trip to London this time. After trying airfares for Paris and Amsterdam, and a return from Zurich or Geneva, I settled on flying to Paris and staying there for 5-6 days and staying in Switzerland for the rest of my two weeks trip and fly back from Geneva. I stayed in Paris from June 20 to 25.

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