Travels and Visits: March 2012

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

London Eye

The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, and then the 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008. It is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the wheel is supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the Nanchang and Singapore wheels).

London Eye

Friday 23 March 2012

Walt Disney World

The Walt Disney World Resort (also known informally as Disney World) is the world's most-visited entertainment resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, approximately 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of 30,080-acre (47.00 sq mi; 121.7 km2) and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels (excluding eight more that are on-site, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company), including a campground, two spas and physical fitness centers, five golf courses, and other recreational venues and entertainment. It opened on October 1, 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom theme park and has since added Epcot (October 1, 1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (May 1, 1989) and Disney's Animal Kingdom (April 22, 1998).

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World

Disneyland

Disneyland Park is a theme park in Anaheim, California, United States. It is the first Disneyland. It was opened on July 17, 1955, by Walt Disney, the man who invented Mickey Mouse. It is one of the most popular theme parks in the world. Disneyland Park celebrated its golden, or 50th, anniversary on July 17, 2005. In 2001, the area around the park expanded into a resort with three hotels, a shopping and dining area called Downtown Disney and a second theme park, Disney's California Adventure. The area is now called Disneyland Resort. Walt Disney worked very hard to run his movie studio. He liked to spend weekends with his two daughters. The family liked going to carnivals and fairs.

Disneyland

Thursday 22 March 2012

Mumbai International Airport

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport formerly Sahar International Airport, is the primary international airport in Mumbai, India, and is named after the 17th century Maratha Emperor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle. The Airport's IATA code – "BOM", is derived from Bombay, Mumbai's former name. The airport is South Asia's second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and the busiest airport in India in terms of international passenger traffic and the second busiest in terms of overall passenger traffic. The airport has five operating terminals spread over an operational area of 1,450 acres (5.9 km2) and is India's and South Asia's largest and most important airline hub; it handled more than 29.9 million passengers and 670,235 tonnes of cargo in 2010–2011.

Mumbai International Airport

Mumbai International Airport

Mumbai International Airport

Dubai International Airport

Dubai International Airport is an international airport serving Dubai. It is a major aviation hub in the Middle East, and is the main airport of Dubai. It is situated in the Al Garhoud district, 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of Dubai. The airport is operated by the Department of Civil Aviation and is the home base of Dubai's international airline, Emirates and Emirates SkyCargo; the Emirates hub is the largest airline hub in the Middle East ; Emirates handles 60% of all passenger traffic, and accounts for 38% of all aircraft movements at the airport. Dubai Airport is also the base for low-cost carrier, Flydubai. As of July 2010, there are over 6,000 weekly flights operated by 130 airlines to over 215 destinations across every continent except Antarctica.

Dubai International Airport

Sunday 11 March 2012

London Aquarium

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the EDF Energy London Eye. It first opened in March 1997 as the London Aquarium and remains the capital's largest collection of aquatic species and hosts about one million visitors each year. In 2005, the aquarium displayed three robotic fish created by the computer science department at the University of Essex. The fish were designed to be autonomous, swimming around and avoiding obstacles like real fish. Their creator claimed that he was trying to combine "the speed of tuna, acceleration of a pike, and the navigating skills of an eel."

London Aquarium

Egyptian Pyramids

The Egyptian Pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt. There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found at Saqqara, northwest of Memphis. The earliest among these is the Pyramid of Djoser (constructed 2630 BCE–2611 BCE) which was built during the third dynasty. This pyramid and its surrounding complex were designed by the architect Imhotep, and are generally considered to be the world's oldest monumental structures constructed of dressed masonry.