The interior of the Doge’s Palace is lavish even by Venice’s excessive standards. As chief magistrate and leader of the Republic, the Doge was the symbolic embodiment of its power and prestige, and his residence was filled with its most ornate, wood-paneled offices, with sun-filled porticoes commanding the best views of the Lagoon where it meets the Grand Canal. Read the rest of this entry »
Changing the Guard dates to Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509) and was designed to show military discipline as well as ceremony. The tall bearskin hats were introduced in the 18th century to make the soldiers look taller and thus more frightening, and they were adopted for ceremonial use in 1832. The ceremony we know today started in the late 1800s and involves real soldiers who fulfill all military duties, guarding the Queen being just part of their service. Read the rest of this entry »
Originally a religious ritual born nearly 2,000 years ago, The Lantern Festival – or Yuanxiao Jie – began when Buddhist leaders lit lanterns on the 15th day of the first lunar month, on the last day of the Chinese New Year, to show respect to their spiritual founder. Shortly after this religious observance developed, the ceremony spread to the Imperial Palace by edict of Emperor Mingdi and Chinese society followed by turning it into a national celebration. Read the rest of this entry »
When a resident of Cologne returns after even a short stay outside the city, it just isn’t home until they’ve seen the black towers of the “Dom” against the sky. Germany’s largest gothic cathedral can’t be described with the usual words – monumental, awe-inspiring, beautiful, majestic. It’s more than that. It’s been known to perplex visitors about what makes this cathedral so visually overwhelming. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s hard to believe today, when Australia’s wines are world famous and fine vintages are readily available in every pub and café from Wagga to Oodnadatta, but it was not until the 1970s that Aussies really began to appreciate the virtues of the grape. Thanks to the post-war waves of immigrants from Italy and Greece, Aussies shifted away from their traditional passion for beer, port and rum and began what experts have dubbed the Great Wine Revolution. Read the rest of this entry »
The Galapagos Islands are home to some of the rarest animals in the world. No animal is more synonymous with the Galapagos Islands than the giant tortoise. Indeed, the saddle-back shape of the shell in many of the tortoise races reminded the early Spaniards of a type of riding saddle called “galapago,” and this term is also applied to the tortoises. Read the rest of this entry »
For nature-lovers, a visit to the Great Barrier Reef is a quasi-religious experience. The 1600 mile long organism, which can even be identified from space, is actually a web of 2,900 self-contained reefs that lie between 40 and 100 miles off Australia’s north-east coast. From a plane, the Reef looks like a giant blue rash, but beneath its placid waves lie canyons of brilliant coral, each one a mini-galaxy of sea life, including wildly colored fish and anemones, giant turtles, moray eels, sharks and manta rays so large they can blot out the sun’s light as they pass overhead. Read the rest of this entry »
