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Five Places That You Should’t Miss in Prague

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:24:24 +0000

Prague, which is believed to be one of the most beautiful and picturesque city of Europe is also known as one of the most well-liked holiday destinations in the whole world. The popularity of this place has increased considerably owing to its rich culture and historical background. This captivating city is filled with spectacular medieval churches, castles, art galleries and museums. Those who want to avoid the regular tourist crowd should take a tour of the surrounding areas. This will give them a chance to the get a view of the real Prague. During spring time and fall Prague Tourism is at its peaks since this is the time when natural beauty of Prague is in full bloom. During this period the city is visited by large numbers of tourists from all across the globe.

Prague Castle

The Prague Castle considered to be the biggest medieval castle across the globe, appears as if it includes a small township within its walls.

The magnificent castle is of great historical importance since it is the place where the Holy Roman Emperors, Czech kings as well Czech Republic presidents once had their offices. The Prague Castle encloses the Golden Lane, Prague Castle Gallery, Powder Tower and Toy Museum.

Old Town Square

The Old Town Square is located in the center of the ancient town and is encircled by attractive baroque, rococo Gothic architectural marvel.

The square is one of the liveliest places in the whole city, flooded with locals and international tourists. The town square offers travelers with wide array of restaurants, shops, pubs, entertainment, museums and galleries.

Powder Tower

The Powder Tower also known as Gothic Gate was built in 1475 as the main entrance to the Old Town from the Royal Court Palace, which once proudly stood there. It is among the 13 earliest fortified gateways that lead to the Old Town.

Once King Vladislav II Jagiello left Royal Court Palace and started living in the Prague Castle, the construction of the tower was stopped half way through. At present this gothic tower stands tall, all by itself reminding visitors of the glorious past.

Charles Bridge

The Charles Bridge was constructed in the year 1357 to take the place of the 12th century Judith’s Bridge. Today it is considered to be among the most well-liked sight seeing spots in the city of Prague.

The place remains lively all throughout the day and night, swarming with entertainers and vendors. It offers visitors magnificent views of the surrounding places particularly during early morning and early evening, when a lot of tourists come here to witness the breathtaking view of sunrise and sunset.

Petrin Tower

The Petrin Tower, which looks very similar to the Eiffel Tower, is nearly 60 meter in height, made of steel framework. It was constructed in the year1891 as a transmission and observation tower.

At present it is one of the key tourist attractions. On a clear day, the tower presents the tourists with a spectacular sight of the city skyline.

Artistic Subway System Of Stockholm

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:54:14 +0000

When you enter the subway system in Stockholm, you’re not sure whether you’ve entered an art exhibition or a transport system. That subway system is said to be the longest art exhibition in the world, about 110 kilometers in length. There are 100 subway stations around Stockholm, and about 90 of them are decorated with old and new art. Everything from sculptures to paintings.

150 artists have participated in this project to make the Stockholm subway an amazing traveling experience, and it is part of a long tradition. When you sit on one of the trains and travel underground you feel like you are traveling through time. In some stations the roof has a bright and crazy color.

Another station looks like an archaeological excavation, while others have modern style several arrows painted in different directions. You can find all kind of art, and it’s open for everyone. Something completely opposite is this abandoned subway in Cincinnati.

Unbelievably Realistic Paintings

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:15:28 +0000

At first I thought this was real black and white photographs, but then I realized it was paintings. Amazing is the perfect word for Spanish painter Juan Bautista Nieto’s work. And if you wonder how he can draw such perfect human bodies, the answer is: he studied medicine before studying art.

He uses a combination of acrylic and oil paint, and he paints with an air-brush method. He uses a lot of time on each painting because he wants it all to be very detailed, so he produced a couple of paintings every year.

He says himself that only one painting take about 6 to 9 months to finish. In his work you will see a lot of female bodies, either dressed or half undressed.

The work is so delicate that you can sit a really long time just staring at them trying to figure out one flaw that would make it look more like a painting than a photo. Other realistic paintings are these cinematic paintings.

Detroit – Town That Is Falling Apart

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:36:10 +0000

Detroit has become a ghostly town. Its population has really fell from 1950 till today. It used to live about 2 million people, now it lives only 700 000. No jobs and poverty has driven away families to live outside the city.

When driving through the city you will notice lots and lots of abandoned houses. Some of the houses are torn down by now, but photographer Kevin Bauman did capture a lot of them in the 90′s.

He wanted to create a record for these homes. The style of photographing is straight-on, like it’s supposed to be in a commercial catalog magazine. Here you have a selection of the most beautiful abandoned houses of Detroit.

Some are still going strong while others are really rusty and old. It’s a bit spooky I’ll admit. Other abandoned places is this French town in Cambodia.

The Perfect 1960′s American Town

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:16:13 +0000

An typical American town from the 1960′s, untouched like it has frozen in time. How is that even possible? Well, at first glance this looks like a real town with all the Chevys parked around, the cinema, the toy stores and all the dining places. It’s like entering a movie scene, but where are the people?

You will maybe be disappointed when you hear that this is a miniature town built by Michael Paul Smith. He has called this little kingdom Elgin Park, and it’s a mental combination of memory and fiction brought to life by this great artist.

The photos he takes of his little town look freakishly real. He has even brought some rain to one of the scenes, and with the lights and all it just looks like reality. This is a proof that camera or photos can lie.

Photos of Elgin Park has been launched in a book that you can buy on Amazon. Speaking of miniature models, take a look at the world’s smallest aquarium with baby fish swimming around.

Puzzlewood – Tolkien’s Major Inspiration For LOTR

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:07:31 +0000

Puzzlewood is an ancient woodland site in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. It has become a popular location for filming, and as you may know, J.R.R. Tolkien has used this woodland as inspiration for Lord of the Rings.

Only he has called it Middle-Earth. This place is so magical that you would really think there are elves, wizards and hobbits there. When it comes to geology, Puzzlewood is full of scowles, and it has an amazing cave system.

It also include ancient trees and a confusing maze of paths. The owner of this woodland laid down a mile of pathways to provide access to the woods, but today it’s a tourist attraction.

Though Tolkien never used Puzzlewood as a movie locations, other BBC TV shows have, like Merlin, “The Labyrinth of Gedref” and “The Nightmare Begins”. Not far away you can find Hobbit-looking homes in Wales.

Via Flickr.

The Crannog of Loch Tay

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:42:34 +0000

The definition of a crannog has to be “artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters”. They have been variously interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay. The word “crannog” is from Old Irish and means young tree.

They were made to protect the more wealthy families of a population. Scotland has now 400 crannogs, but Ireland still holds the record with over a thousand of them. Besides being used by wealthy families, the crannogs have also served as non residential hunting and fishing stations, and holiday homes.

Now they have reconstructed a crannog on Loch Tay in Scotland, and it’s open to visitors everyday day from Easter to October. A team of archaeologists from Edinburgh University has given us a good picture of how the people lived in crannogs, so you can learn a lot by visiting it.

Speaking of floating residents, here you have the floating island of Lake Titicaca where people actually live.

Dark And Raw Movie Posters

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:00:49 +0000

These actually look like book covers, but they’re not, they are movie posters. Flickr User Traumatron Illustration form UK is the person behind them. He is drawing the movie posters with probably darkness as inspirations.

Because they are dark and raw, just like the covers of horror or fantasy books that you can find in the library. The movies that are represented are The Shining, Black Swan, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and many others very known films.

If you take a closer look at these movie posters, you will notice how scary the characters are, more scary than in the actual movies. The “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is working its creepiness. Some other amazing posters of famous movies are these minimalist ones.

Tataouine – A Desert Town Where Skywalker Was Born

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:51:14 +0000

Have you ever wondered if Luke Skywalker’s home planet is real? Well, the planet is still fictional, but the desert place we see in the movie is real. In the movie it’s called Tatooine, but the real desert town is named Tataouine, so I guess we all know where they got their inspiration from.

In the Star Wars movies Tatooine is a desert planet with two suns, but in reality it’s a small city in Tunisia in North Africa. The sand houses soon reminds you of Mos Espa, also the home of Luke’s father Anakin Skywalker that becomes a cruel Jedi.

In real life the houses are actually “cave dwellings” of the native Berber population, designed for coolness and protection. Today it’s a major tourist and film makers attraction.

A dream place for every Star Wars fan to visit. If you’d like to see a fun part of Star Wars, take a look at Darth Vader on vacation in Hawaii.

Hilarious Baby Handling Guide For Parents

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:34:41 +0000

Most of us have parents, or have had, or maybe are parents themselves. But what determines if you are a good or a bad parent? Some would say that a bad parent is someone who has lack of love for its child, which makes sense. Can you become a better parent?

Well, they say it’s hard to fix it if you’ve been a horrible mom or dad, but if you’re about to get a baby soon, or recently have, you should get this book. It’s the book that will show you in hilarious illustrations of what you can do and not with your baby.

It’s called “Safe Baby – Handling Tips”, and it got all these weird instructions on how to be a good parent for you little newborn. You will get tips on how to nurse a baby to how to check its diaper. It’s all there, and if you’re interested, you can buy it on Amazon.

It can be a great and funny gift for a couple with a baby. Speaking of parents and children, here are some freaky photo shoots of little girls that looks like their forced to pose nicely by their parents.