Tuesday's Dream Place to Visit

Recently, Egypt has become one of the top destinations to visit during summer vacations, here in Serbia. Unfortunately, we haven't had  the chance yet. Marron's been reading a book about Nefertiti (hey, here's material for future post), and that's what inspired us to take you to Egypt this time.


- Nile

photo by Ian Sewell

  The longest river in the world and  life source for one of the ancient civilizations, Nile is definitely a sight to explore. Cruising it will help you see far more than you would by foot or car, and the boats stop at many famous sights.

- The Valley of the Kings

photo by Nikater

The Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is a valley where tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom, for nearly 500 years (from 16th to 11th century BC). It's located opposite Thebes (modern Luxor), and in 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis. 

- Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine's Monastery

photo by  Tamerlan

picture by Berthold Werner

  Mount Sinai is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and it's a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments.  At the foot of the mountain is the Saint Catherine's Monastery, commonly known as Santa Katarina, Greek Orthodox monastery, which houses irreplaceable works of art: mosaics, some of the best collection of early icons, as well as liturgical objects. It's one of the oldestworking Christian monasteries in the world, and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

- The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza, the largest monolith statue in the world (73,5 m long, 19,3 m wide, and 20.22 m high) is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and it's commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra. The Sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head (generally believed it represents the face of Pharaoh Khafra) and it stands on the Giza Platou on the west bank of the Nile in Giza. The nose is missing, and there's the story that the nose was broken off by a cannonball fired by Napoleon's soldiers. Some sketches from 1738, show the Sphinx missing its nose. In addition to the lost nose, it's thought that the sphinx also had a ceremonial pharaonic beard,  although it may have been added in the later periods. 

 - The Egyptian Museum

 

photo by bjornfree 

 The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities, with around 120 000 items. It has many treasures of King Tutankhamun, including the shown Gold Mask, composed of 11 kg of solid gold. It rested over the bandages wrapped around his face, and it's believed it represents what he truly looked like. Unlike many others, his tomb was found mostly intact, but even though it held over 3500 artifacts, there had been at least two robberies of the tomb, perhaps soon after Tutankhamun's burial.

Tuesday's Dream Place to Visit

We think it's safe to say that one of our biggest dreams is to travel the world. We've been to a few nearby places, and never outside Europe; we're still hopeful that that fact will change soon (anyone feeling generous? contact us, pls :P)

 Japan's been on our "to-do" list (especially Margarite's) for a while now, as it's a wonderful combination of tradition and modernity that we appreciate. From skyscrapers, colourful shops and clubs, to temples, peaceful gardens and traditional houses. Take a look yourselves:

~ Koishikawa Kourakuen Garden

One of Tokyo's oldest and well known gardens, frequented a lot by tourists. Even though it's beautiful throughout the year, it's especially so during the fall, with rich vibrant red and orange colours. It's also interesting to see during plum and cherry blossom season.

~ Tokyo Imperial Palace Koishikawa Kourakuen Garden

 

Main residence of the imperial family, a large park-like location, with several buildings, including main palace, private residences, archive, museum and administrative offices. Visitors are able to enter the inner palace grounds on two occasions: January 2nd (New Year's Greeting) and December 23rd (Emperor's Birthday).

~ Shibuya

 

picture by  Guwashi

  Shibuya was historically the site of a castle of the Shibuya family from 11th century through the Edo period. In 1882, Aoyama Gakuin University was founded, and with opening of the Yamanote Line in 1885, Shibuya begin to emerge as a railway terminal for southwestern Tokyo and eventually as a major commercial and entertainment center. There are many famous fashion department stores, and probably the most famous major shopping centar near Shibuya Station is Shibuya 109. 

~ Meiji Shrine

 

A Shinto shrine,  located in Shibuya, is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shouken. It was officially completed in 1926, on a location of an iris garden, frequented by the Emperor and the Empress. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the World War II, and the present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in October, 1958. The area is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established.

~ Yoyogi Park

 

One of the largest Tokyo city parks, adjoined to Shibuya Station and Meiji Shrine. It's on a site where the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan took place by Captain Yoshitoshi Tokugawa on 19. December 1910. It's very busy in springtime, when people visit it to enjoy cherry blossoms during hanami.

~ Roppongi Hills

 

picture by Chris 73

Roppongi Hills is basically a city within a city. It's a new urban center of the Roppongi district, constructed by Minoru Mori, and it's opened in 2003. It features offices, apartments, shops, restaurants, a hotel, art museum, observation deck and more. The office floors are home to leading companies from the IT and financial sectors, and it could be said that Roppongi Hills have become a symbol of the Japanese IT industry. At the center stands 54-storey Mori Tower, one of the largest building in the city.

~ Harajuku

 

picture by TokyoFashion

Harajuku mostly refers to the area around Tokyo's Harajuku Station, located between Shinjuku and Shibuya. It's the center of Japan's teenage culture and fashion styles, with lots of shops and some historic sights.

~ Tokyo Disneyland

  Seriously, does it need any explanation?

You may noticed this post was basically about Tokyo, and that's by no means the only thing to see in Japan. So guess what? Stay tuned for more. Mata ne!

 

Pigeon attack!

For today we'd like to share Margarite's astonished expression as she's being 'attacked' by a cute pigeon in Venice more likely she attacked the poor pigeons. If you remember this post, you'll know we visited Italy around 10 years ago, and had lots of fun visiting Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice.

Tuesday's Dream Place to Visit

Actually, places.

During our last year in high school, we visited a few cities in Italy- Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. It was a very tiring journey, with so much to see in just a few short days, but that’s not to say it wasn’t fantastic.  Some of the highlights: Marron got proposed in Florence. Margarite got impressed by an amazing dessert. So much she had to eat Marron's portion, too. Don't judge, it was strawberries and whipped cream. 

At times we think it would maybe be better if we went there a little later, a year or two, cause we got more familiar with the monuments and places, and life in Italy in general, thanks to our career choice, but still it was a great experience  mostly related to shopping and food shhh but also art.

 

 Free standing bell tower of Pisa cathedral, mostly known as a leaning tower of Pisa. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt got partially corrected by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, so now the top of the tower is displaced horizontally by 3.9 meters from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical. 

 

The largest amphitheater in the world, and most certainly the largest one in the Roman Empire, is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It could hold between 50000 and 80000 spectators, and it was used in entertainment purposes (for gladiator contests and public spectacles), up until early medieval era. It had many other usages since (it was a fortress, and a Christian shrine, among other things). It's an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and one of main tourist attractions. In 2007 it was included in the New7Wonders of the World.

Basillica di Santa Maria del Fiore is a main church in Florence, located in the Piazza del Duomo, along with baptistery and Giotto's Campanile.  It has the largest brick dome ever constructed, a masterpiece done by Brunelleschi.

Last but not least- Piazza San Marco, St Mark's Square in Venice. the principal public square, with main attractions such as Basilica di San Marco, its enormous bell tower, Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove, and of course, the pigeons. To be honest, we spent most of our time there taking pictures with pigeons in our hands, squealing at how cute they are, and hence that remark in the second passage of this post.:P Joking aside, the trip to Italy, a land with such history and culture, made us feel like we're a part of it, and experiencing it all first hand, not just from the books and pictures, was truly a magnificent feeling. 

Tuesday's Dream Place to Visit

     

     2008. was a year of our trip to Vienna, capital and largest city of Austria. It's a birthplace of many notable people, with rich history, breathtaking architecture, and amazing museums (Kunsthistorisches Museum seemed like a neverending maze). Having in mind the amount of information we could share, this is gonna be a more picture oriented post. :P 

And so we go:

Here we have Marron, trying to imitate Empress Elisabeth of Austria (most commonly known as Sisi). We also visited her museum, located in the Imperial Apartments in the Imperial Palace, well provided with personal items she possessed and also with some of the most famous portraits ever done of her.

Here's Margarite on Maria-Theresien-Platz, a large square that joins Ringstrasse (Ring Road) with one of the largest cultural areas in the world, Museumquartier. 

A Hobbit in front of the Museum of Natural History. We still regret we didn't enter (one does not simply.. ok, ok)

 The interior of Saint Peter's Church (Peterskirche).

Belvedere

 

Hundertwasserhaus

And how better to conclude this post then with....... food.

 

Yes, you'll notice that Margarite looves to eat, but everything good has to end so... until next time!