The Adventure Has Come To An End...

            I have really enjoyed writing these few blogs for the past weeks. I have found myself loving the world a lot more. There are so many things out there I have yet to see. I really wish I can continue writing these blogs but as of now there is just too much on my plate. I don't have enough time as it is to do my own things. So I had to make a big sacrifice and pulling a plug on my blogs. These blogs has taught me a lot and helped me realize I am a traveling person. I really wish I can go travel to the sites I have mentioned in my blogs and hope that one day I will actually be able to. Like I have said there are so many things out there I have yet to experience, the world is a big and scary place but there are also wonderful features of our big blue world. If I have time later I will come back and start researching and do more blogs about more famous sites. There are so much to talk about still. Sadly I don't have the time to sit down and write about everything. Some people might not get why I have chose to do a blog about tourist sites, that is because they don’t see the bigger picture! They probably don't find the world as interesting as I am. I was trying to reach those people who don't really care and try and convert them to actually caring for historical landmarks and what not. I don't know if it works or not but it was worth a try. With that off my chest, I have to say good bye for now. I will miss writing blogs a lot and it was a great new experience for me. It's so much easier than writing formally so much stress is taken off. Thank you all for reading my blogs and hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them! Until next time my friends! Take care!

                                                "Maybe… just maybe I will come back…"

                                                                                                "Bang."

Golden Gate of the Modern World

            I have talked about lots of different places around the world. Now it's finally time I write a blog that is more of a travel distant to all those who live by my area. The Golden Gate Bridge is not like the other places I have talked about in my other blogs. This bridge is not technically a tourist site rather it is more of a way to cross the Pacific Ocean. This uniquely colored bridge links the northern part of San Francisco to the Marin county located in the north San Francisco Bay Area. There are many ways to actually cross the bridge whether it is on it or not. Some of the ways to cross it is of course by car, walking, biking, or ferry. I prefer to bike across the bridge myself because I really love biking! Taking the ferry across seems like it is really fun too since there's no work that has to be done to cross it and I can enjoy all the scenery that is there for people to see.

Golden Gate Bridge at dawn

            Let's get this boring history part out of the way first. First thoughts about crossing with a bridge came up in 1872 by a railroad entrepreneur by the name of Charles Crocker. But no one really had the idea or any motives to actually work on the bridge until a newspaper editor brought it to attention in 1916! That's a really long time until someone finally decided to bring back up this plan for a bridge in my opinion. In 1919, the head engineer of the case O’Shaughnessy started having meetings with engineers across the country to see how much building the actual bridge would cost and in the end they came up with a total of 30million dollars. It took around nine years from the beginning of construction to the end for the bridge to be actually completed. The opening celebration for the bridge took place on May 27th, 1937 and the people partied for one whole week! I wish we had festivals like nowadays. Everyone is like too serious now, not enough parties and celebrations to hold. Both the official Golden gate bridge website and a traveling fact site states that the bridge is one of the seventhWonders of the Modern World!

Strauss design

            Alrighty now that the lame and boring part of the blog is over I can talk about some neat facts about this superb bridge. Even though the bridge is named "The Golden Gate Bridge" it is not actually gold, why? The answer to that is because the name didn't come from the color itself but instead it came from what it was referring to at the time it was being built. It was referring to the Golden Gate Strait that connects the pacific ocean to San Francisco Bay. Not many people know this but the Golden Gate bridge is the top suicide place in the world! More than 1,500 people have committed suicide on this bridge! That is way too much for one location and for that to be the pride and joy of San Francisco too! It's really shocking to see so many people died on it. The last interesting fact I am going to name since there is so many and I don't want to put anyone to sleep is that it is the second longest suspension bridge in the nation right after Verranzo Narrows Bridge in New York City.

Golden Gate Bridge

             I have only been to the Golden Gate Bridge once and it so happen to have been this year too. Like I said earlier this was a bit different than what I have been normally writing but I chose to do this bridge because I seen how beautiful it is myself and for all who live in this area they have a better chance to see this amazing site first hand too and wouldn't cost as much as going to the other places I have mentioned. So please if anyone has time go check out this bridge! Please don't go there for suicide though! It would give me lots of regret because I'll think it's my fault. So please go somewhere else to end your story not that I want people to die anyways. But yea anyways Bye!

            

Eiffel Tower of Japan

            So from my earlier post of The Eiffel Tower, I have mentioned that it was recreated several times around the world to display on their own turf. Well Japan was one of those countries to pretty much made a replica of the Tower in Paris. Japanese were inspired by the Eiffel Tower so they recreated one and it is located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The name of this beauty is called Tokyo Tower and it stands the second tallest man made structure in all of Japan at an amazing 1,093 feet. This tower was colored Orange for that is the international color and White so it will satisfy regulations of air safety. The colors of this tower is much more catchier and stands out more than the Eiffel Tower in my opinion.

Tokyko Tower Afterglow

            This Tower has been proposed for several purposes. The Japanese government had thought of this idea because they had feared for an overpopulation of lesser communication antennas that would crowd city's living spaces. The only solution was to build a bigger tower that has the radius of covering the whole region. This Tokyo Tower is also an symbolic icon to show that Japan is now one of the big economic power in the world. The owner of the Tower had hoped that this Tower would be taller that the United States' Empire State Building so it can be the tallest structure in the world, but due to not enough resources and funding, that idea did not become a reality. Tachu Naito was the person chosen to design the Tower because he was famous for designing really tall structures in Japan. This Tower has been built higher than the Eiffel Tower but it nearly weighs half the tower in Paris' weight.  Although it is no longer the tallest structure in the world due to other buildings and towers being built higher, it still stands as the tallest self-supporting steel structure worldwide.  The Tower was finally completed and opened to the public on December 23, 1958. It took about 2.8 billion yen, around 8.4 million US dollars, to construct this structure! Looks like that huge amount of money didn't go to waste other wise who knows what would have happen to this beautiful tower.

Tower's Base Construction

            Tokyo Tower pretty much has two jobs ever since t was built. It is to be used as an antenna leasing source and letting tourists come visit this landmark. This tower is now a family member of the World Federation of Great Towers broadcasting more than it was meant it. Radio antennas were attached in 1961 because it was able to support radio frequencies also, so ever since then it stopped only showing television shows, but also broadcasted radio channels. I think it's pretty neat for it to be a radio station too because now it has more than one functions and it can make more profit then ever!

Bent Antenna

            Since it's opening, more than 150 million people have came to visit this amazing structure. What is there to do at this Tower? Well there of course is a place to go for food and resting places at the bottom of the tower called FootTown. This building has four stories to it and each stories has different functions. At the first floor, there is a restaurant capable of holding 400 people and an Aquarium Gallery. Second story is pretty much a shop for snacks and water with a food court of four eating places including a McDonald  Third and Fourth floor is pretty much more tourist attractions. Then of course there are observation decks at the top to oversee the city which has pretty good views. I have been there only once but that was a long time ago when I was four years old. I don't really remember much about it but I would love to go visit it again to see what it looks like now since I can remember things more clearer as a grown up! 

      

Tower with FootTown

First Wonder of the World!

            Now we have arrived in Egypt. Because Egypt was one of the world's oldest Civilization, it has always fascinated me  on the living styles of such early civilizations. My attention has been drawn towards the Great Pyramid Of Giza! Just by the looks of the structure dazzles me. It looks really old and ready to crumble at the touch of it but it actually very sturdy and wouldn't break unless it was forced to. This Pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of The World. It is also the biggest and early built than the other three Pyramids in its family. This wonderful structure is located in El Giza, Egypt and has been there ever since 2560 BCE. That's a really long time ago! I am surprised it has been kept so well that it hasn't collapsed over time like other structures built several thousand years ago.

Pyramid

            Many Archaeologist believe that this Pyramid was built in dedication to the Pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, Pharaoh Khufu. Because this structure was made so very long ago there is no real way of telling who was the actual constructor of this pyramid. Many historians have said to believe that Khufu's vizier, Hemiunu was the engineer of the tomb. Because the pyramid has gone through such a long time span, people have said that originally it was suppose to be taller but due to natural causes, it has shrunk to its present day size. This exact pyramid had been the tallest man made structure in over 3,800 years! Pretty neat for a civilization that was fairly new to living.

Pharaoh Khufu

            This pyramid is pretty much made up granite, mortar, limestone and casing stone. Just a lot of stones! So many tones of materials were used to build this thing I wonder how strong the people had to be in order to lift it up to the top of the pyramids to place the stones there! Once all the limestones were in place, the Egyptians added another layer of casing stones for the pyramid to give of a little shine. But as time went on many of the casing stones eroded away leaving only the limestone layers for us to see nowadays. Many historians and archeologist fought over the facts about how the Pyramid was actually constructed. People have said that the blocks were dragged, lifted, or rolled into their places by many workers while others think Egyptians used slaves to help build this structure. Around 40,000 workers at maximum came to aid the construction and almost 15,000 people were the average amount who stayed to work on it. That is a very large number of workers consisted their civilization was new and life was pretty much new to everyone. I am surprised that there are so many skilled workers available to help build such a thing.

Casing Stone

            I need to go visit Egypt and see this Pyramid myself because the artwork really intrigues me. I have always been fond of ancient civilizations and this is definitely one of my favorite civilization to study along with Greeks and Romans.

   

Remember The Washington

If you are living in the United States or just simply visiting it, a place that an absolute must go to is the country's very own Capitol. Washington D.C. This fascinating place is home for the one and only Washington Monument. Stated in its name, this monument is dedicated to the one and only George Washington, one of the Founding Fathers of The United Stated of America. This monument is the world's tallest structure standing that is made up of marble, granite, and bluestone gnesis; it is the world's only structure to be purely made of stone and is a true obelisk. It stands at a height of about 555 feet, I really want to go see this monument and compare myself standing right next to it to see how many of me's can fit going up the tower.

Photo Cite: Washington Monument Dusk Jan 2006

This monument like I stated before is made in honor of the first leader of the United States, George Washington. He is to this day, the most publicly iconic person in US history. Even during his time period, many, many, many people admire his bravery, leadership, and characteristics. I too am a big fan of George Washington and for the longest time, I wanted to be like him until I found out I am public shy and cannot voice myself in public speaking. That's when I gave up my dream of being a leader.

At the end of the 18th Century, many Americans wanted to build a monument for the first President of America. But at the time, The Federalist Party lost its ground and the Jefferson party took power which ended all proposals of making a monument since technically Washington was a political enemy of Jefferson. The idea of building a memorial finally started up again in 1832 which coincidently was also the 100th anniversary of Washington's birth. Some loyal and dedicated American people formed a group and raised fundraisers to help complete the memorial. Robert Mills was the winner of a monument sketch contest held by the very same group who fundraised for the structure. I, myself really liked looking at this sketch of it because it is a lot more then what we have today. This drawing includes some Greek pillars and foundation but the one we have now doesn’t. I think it would have looked better with those pillars at the bottom of the memorial.

Photo Cite:Washington Monument Sketch

Progress on building the monument began in 1848 with the excavation for the foundation. Until 1854, constructing the monument was no problem, but funding was coming short and so construction has stopped completely. Little by little the memorial was worked on after funds from most of the states came rolling in. The practice of having state pay for building was approved because this way, the people felt like they all had a part in building this monument. The monument was opened to the public on October 9th, 1888. Over time the government slowly upgraded and added on to the monument to attract even more tourist to come see it. It was until recently the surrounding areas and the actual memorial was completely renovated. Someday I wish to see this marble obelisk with my own two eyes because I always hear great feedbacks from friends who went to DC and actually been to the Monument.

An Eye for A View

            People all the over the world should have heard about the London Eye. If you haven't, I shall tell you. Although it is not the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, The London Eye is still easily the largest one ever built. This structure is standing at 443 feet tall with the wheel diameter of 394ft! If you like riding on Ferris Wheels or if you like being in high places, this one is an absolute must to go on! This giant Wheel is located in The United Kingdom's right next to Big Ben hence the name London Eye. You literally can see everything to the horizon at the toppest peak of the wheel!

Photo Cite: London Eye Twilight April 2006

            The designs of the London eye came from not from just one person, but a whole group of people. These people include, Frank Anatole, Nic Bailey, Steve Chilton, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, and Julia Barfield and David Marks who were married together. Because this wheel was so large, it was built in sections over floating platforms on the water. Once it was completed, the whole wheel was lifted up to a standing position by a strand jack system prepared by Enerpac. Building this wheel was also an international business because parts for the wheel actually came from sic different countries. United Kingdom supplied the steel and Netherlands had the steel fabricated, cables came from Italy, Germany brought over the Bearings, and the spindle and hub were cast in Czech Republic. This wheel in total has 32 sealed and air conditioned passenger cars for people to enjoy its relaxing rotation and look at the beautiful view of the city. I want to go ride this Ferris Wheel with someone special and have the most romantic time with them. It sounds like a perfect date to go on.

     

Photo Cite: London Eye Construction

The London Eye had lots of interesting history that has happened to it. It was formally opened on December 31, 1999 but wasn't released to the public until march 2009 due to technical problems. Ever since 2005, The London Eye has been made the center for London's New Year's Celebrations. In 2012, The Olympic emblem was portrayed for the rest of the season. In 2008, 30 million people have rode on the Wheel ever since it's opening in 2000. With all these good events happening, there were times when the London Eye was close to shutting down because of financial problems and the people who funds of the wheel stopped funding it unless rent was raised from 64,000 pound to 2.5 million pound per year. I'm really glad the Ferris Wheel wasn't stopped or else I will never be able to get a chance to ride on it.

Photo Cite: London Eye New Year's Celebration

First thing I am going to do when I have a chance to go to London is to definitely get on The London Eye and experience it personally. I really enjoy being in high places and also really love carnival rides so the world's largest Ferris Wheel is something I definitely must go check out myself!

            

Viewing The World from The Peak

The Peak in Hong Kong is actually called Victoria Peak. It is located in Hong Kong and it's not the tallest structure in Hong Kong, but it stands at one thousand eight hundred eleven feet above sea level. There are sections of the mountain that are exclusively for tourist sightseeing while there is another part of the mount that is just meant for a privately owned radio company.

Hong Kong The Peak Tower

The Peak actually started off as a residential area for rich and wealthy people. That phase of the Peak was started by the Governor of the time, Sir Richard Macdonnell who built his summer home there around 1868. Other rich people who wanted to get away from the intense summer heat followed his example and built houses on the Mountain. The residential phase of the peak roughly ended after a forty something year long time period. At the time a tram had been made so those residents used sedan chairs to go up and down the mountain. The tram routes were in consideration and development to operate on the mountain in the year 1881. With the tram constructed and built, The Peak quickly became a popular tour site with the panoramic view of the city. The view is really breathtaking. You literally can over see the whole city and the tall buildings are so small it looks like they are toys or figurines. 

Tram Train Hong Kong

The Peak Hotel opened in 1873 but with little people wanting to hike to it business was slowly becoming bad. In 1882 the company assigned to building the tram called Hong Kong High Level Tramway Company was born. At first the trams were made of really cheap and unsafe materials like varnished timber and there were a lot of openings throughout the tram so people could have easily fallen off. Due to its massive popularity, on the first day the tram had around six hundred people riding it! In 1926, operators of the Tram switched from the coal engines to an electric powered. During World War II, when Japan took over Hong Kong, The Tram engines took a heavy blow and so it was out of commission until 1945 when it started to work again. A lot of work and money was put into the Tram system to make it what it is now today. The Trams were really packed the few times I've been there, I guess it helps proves to me that this site is really popular and famous since so many people know of it and would go visit it even on weekdays when people should be at work.

HK The Peak

 Every year around seven million people come visit The Peak and explore its fascinating wonders and tour the site for more memories. This tourist attraction is easily known as the famous major tourist attraction in Hong Kong along with Disneyland and Ocean Park. I myself have gone to this wonder several times when I visited Hong Kong to see my family. I was really amazed when we got to the top and when I looked down at the view. It was really breathtaking. I really encourage people who had never been to Hong Kong, to go and definitely visit this beautifully made scenery. I haven’t been back to Hong Kong in a while so I hope next time I go back and visit this place, it will be even more beautiful and breathtaking than I remembered it was!

Towering Over France

The Eiffel Tower is truly an amazing site! People instantly think of The Eiffel Tower when France is brought up into the conversation. It is the most iconic symbol in all of France. It has beautiful scenery and is admired all around the world. It was the world's tallest building until the American's built the Chrysler Building in New York. As of now it rises again to be taller than that of the Chrysler Building with the antenna added on.  The tower itself is at least 1050 feet tall! People in France can see it miles and miles away since it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Maurice koechlin pylone

The Eiffel Tower was first designed by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier around 1884 to be used as a display for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The first designs showed nothing like the final product we have now in France. It was really plain and dull until other architects and designers little by little added on to the design to make it so perfect. Building the actual tower took three years after the design was finalized until the new president for the engineering group was elected and determined how much they could actually spend on building. The tower itself took at least two years to complete! In 1887 they started on the base of it and slowly worked their way up to the top. Three hundred workers had worked on building this masterpiece! With all the safety precautions the head engineers did, only one person was unfortunately killed during the tower's building phase. I am quite relieved that not many casualties happened building this wonderful tower other wise it wouldn't have been worth it if too many people died working on the tower.

Stages of Construction 1887 through 1889

  Construction of the Eiffel Tower

The tower has gone through some hard times and some happy times in history. Many famous people have visited the tower including Thomas Edison, Adolf Hitler, and a pilot who died trying to fly a plane under the Tower named Leon Collet. It also has been damaged a lot throughout time with the Second World War, and some natural disasters like fire and burning. To be honest, I am glad this tower has gone through so much because I believe this tower is more memorable with all this past events. 

Eiffel-Tower-Paris

Now here are some fun facts about the tower after all that boring history  and what not. The Eiffel Tower is the most popular paid site in the world with over 250,000,000 people visiting it since its completion. There are only two restaurants throughout the whole site. One is named Le 58 Tour Eiffel and Le Jules Verne. One is located on the first floor while the other one is settled on the second floor. Because of the well known reputation of The Eiffel Tower, many people around the world want a copy of the tower for their for their city as an attraction. People also take advantage of its reputation by showing it in the media for television shows or in video games. In 1980s, there were talks about moving the tower for another expo, but that proposal ultimately failed because of trust issues. It is said that this original tower has been reproduced in other cities little miniature ones over thirty times! The Eiffel Tower now has lost its name of tallest structure in the world due to more and more taller buildings are being built. This tower has impressed me a lot because of its history and of its beauty as an architecture. I really want to go visit it because I love seeing beautiful buildings and scenery and this place has both so I just have to see it with my own eyes.