The German ICE train from Frankfurt and the French TGV train from Stuttgart zoomed out yesterday towards a milestone in the long hold dream of a Europe-wide high-speed rail web. The trains pulled into Paris 35 minutes late which was an embarrassment for the project partners, France’s SNCF and Deutsche Bahn AG of Germany. SNCF Chief Anne-Marie Idrac enthusiastically touted the new joint venture, called Alleo to brush off the delay. A high-speed line that will reach four countries: France, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg are scheduled to open next month and this journey was a symbolic step in its preparation. The new route will cut travel from Frankfurt to Paris to 31/2 hours from 6 hours, 15 minutes today running at speeds of up to 199 mph. Two high-speed axes that meet in Strasbourg, the other linking Hamburg, Frankfurt, Lyon and Barcelona are also planned. Eventually the contract would be signed by nine European railways. This venture is described as a way to help Europe compete against Japanese high-speed train developers. The line between Frankfurt and Strasbourg is the same one on which a TGV broke the world rail speed record last month, reaching 357.2 mph. Second class ticket on the train service will cost $133 for trips between Frankfurt and Paris and $127 for travel between Paris and Stuttgart.
Have you ever been lost as a small group in a lonesome forest? In the ancient days, the situation might have made you a target for human sacrifices. This very much was part of the life of ancient tribes in Europe. Archeologists believe that Common Stone Age graves in Europe which include the remains of physically disabled people hint at ritual human sacrifice there. These burial sites are between the period 26,000 and 8000 B.C. Skeletons such as those of a teenage dwarf and a girl with malformed bones were found buried alongside able-bodied dead. Previous such hints have been obtained from ceremonial burial sites in Russia, the Czech Republic, and Italy. An interesting discovery was of double burial of the children, unearthed at Vladimir, Russia, some 120 miles (193 kilometers) east of Moscow. Perforated arctic fox teeth, ivory pins, and carvings, as well as disk-shaped pendants and giant spears made of mammoth tusks were also found. Since each bead would have taken more than an hour to make, the children’s burial may have been planned before they died some 24,000 years ago. Is it that these young kids were offered as human sacrifice by those tribes back then? Evidences also indicate that often the disabled, drawfs and children were chosen for sacrifices. Thankfully we are not part of those morbid times.
It’s time to make plans for the International Music Series at the Manchester International Festival, a 16 day event that will be held from June 28 to July 15, 2007. This festival is intended to become a major cultural event in the international calendar, encouraging local, national and international visitors to Manchester. It’ll encompass all areas of the art, culture and innovation including performance and cinema and the emphasis will be on music, acknowledging the city’s pivotal involvement in the development of popular culture through music. Main events of the festival: (1) The launch event Monkey: Journey to the West is a circus opera for the 21st century, composed by Damon Albarn. You can easily get the tickets for which you’ll have to shell just £10.00. Damon Albarn. (2) There will be internationally acclaimed artists including PJ Harvey, Beth Orton, The Blue Nile and Happy Mondays, Kanye West and Smokey Robinson. PJ Harvey will be appearing for the first time in the UK on Saturday, 7 July, 2007, a day of luck and a day of great music. (3) The weekend is jammed with hits as it’s followed up by the beloved Happy Mondays on Sunday, July 8th. (4) Unknown Pleasures: A series of musical events that will showcase the most exciting up-and-coming international and home-grown musical talent. (5) Three exclusive dishes created by Heston Blumenthal, the acclaimed three-Michelin-starred chef. These dishes will be sold exclusively in the Festival Pavilion. (6) A screening of the film version of Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen accompanied livey the Halle on July 11. (7) A stage version of The Pianist, based upon the wartime memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, from July 3-15. Another attraction of the festival is the funky Virgin train specially designed by Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett and graffiti artist Chu to celebrate the festival. This train will travel four times a day between Manchester and London. To learn more about the Manchester International Festival, visit Manchesterinternationalfestival.com Book your tickets now, if you wish to be the part of this three-week long biennial Manchester International Festival!
The Dali Museum is one of the most bizarre, interesting and popular museums in Northern Spain. Salvador Dali was an eccentric Spanish artist who wanted a place where his artwork could be housed after he died. So, he designed "the largest surrealistic object in the world" in Figueres, Spain. Figueres was Dali’s home town and the museum is home to one of the largest collections of his work. Even the building itself is a work of art and like no other you would have seen before. The museum contains 4,000 works of art which certainly is the largest such collection in the world. Once you arrive in Figueres you will have a 15 min walk to the museum. There are signposts from the station to help you find your way. Opening Hours: July to September 09:00 to 19:15 January-June / October-December 10:30 to 17:15 Tickets: 10 Euros. No matter if you love or hate the artwork of Salvador Dali, but this museum will pretty much blow you away!
The Bode Museum is one of five monumental treasure-houses on the German capital’s Museums Island. It houses many sculptures and paintings from a lot of different eras and artists.
Visitors to the Eiffel Tower usually go for the spectacular views of the French capital but this June they will be able to cool off by scuba diving in the pool at the foot of the landmark. Professional scuba instructors are offering free one-on-one lessons in the heated, above-ground pool at the foot of the tower. Wet-suits, scuba gear and even a biodegradable towel are provided for 10-minute plunge in the pool. The lessons last about 30 minutes and include a how-to demonstration, a safety lecture as well as the swim. The pool is 50 feet by 50 feet in size and just 4 feet deep. It’s safe for beginners and children aged 8 and older. To add a touch of realism, the bottom of the pool is studded with waterproof photos of fluorescent fish. This is not the first time the Eiffel Tower has become a sporting venue. Three winters ago, an ice-skating rink was installed on the lower of its three observation decks to draw Parisians to the monument that mostly attracts tourists. Organizers are expecting 3,000 people to dip in the pool during the 10-day event, if the weather improves.
This is one French destination, which will give you a wide variety of things to do. Located near the Mediterranean coast, a wind-swept river delta, is one of Europe’s most important wetland sites, a nesting ground for pink flamingos and home to hundreds of other species of birds and other wildlife. Image credit Flamingos can be seen in thousands, wading, feeding and flying in formation over the shallow lagoons of the Park of the Camargue, a half hour’s drive south of Arles. Image credit: Elfis What does this park hold for you? An intricate patchwork of salt fields, rice farms, ranches and swamps is protected by the French government, which has built a network of information centers, nature trails and observatories through the marshes and lagoons. Image credit The French ranches are locally known as manades they always welcome visitors and allow them to observe up close activities in the ranches. Arles has excellent museums to offer, a vibrant outdoor market on Saturdays, an international photography festival in the summer. The Romanesque church, the Pioch Badet Tzigane Museum, the Baroncelli MuseumGiraud and the Ornithological Park are places worth a visit. Image credit: Blue djinn This area offers a great quantity of activities available to visitors, such as horseback riding, mountain biking, bull fights, races, sunbathing at beaches, lots of water sports like kite surfing, scuba diving and more. There is something for everybody.
Have you ever traveled on a super fast train that zips you to your destination? If you are in Europe, traveling from France do get tickets for its newest super fast link. You would probably reach your destination in record time! The TGV Est will dramatically reduce travel times. The TGV, or train a grande vitesse line, links Paris with eastern France and neighboring parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. Trains on the new line, outfitted with chic interiors by fashion designer Christian Lacroix, will travel 199 miles an hour, faster than any other European train. TGV engines and rail cars are built by French engineering group Alstom, in factories like this one in Belfort, France. The service cuts the Paris-Frankfurt journey by two and a half hours to three hours 50 minutes and brings the southern German city of Munich within six hours of the French capital. Inside of the train, chic and comfortable. The first scheduled passenger train to whiz along the state-of-the-art new tracks was an Inter-City Express (ICE) train, operated by Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, that left Paris at 6:43am and headed to Frankfurt. Paris’s Gare de l’Est train station It was on this stretch that the TGV broke its own world speed record in April, hurtling into the history books at 574.8kph. The line cost 4 billion euros ($A6.4 billion) to build, took some 10,000 workers over five years, and used up 78,000 tones of steel. Image credit The cost of the project was shared among 22 financial partners including the French government, Luxembourg, the European Union and the SNCF. Image credit Already 600,000 tickets for travel on the new Paris-Strasbourg line have been sold and it is hoped it will carry more than 11 million passengers annually by 2010. The scenic track. This rail link sure has become a stepping-stone towards a truly pan-European rapid transit network free from airline hassles.
Fed up with routine activities on a weekend? And want to spend a quality time with your gags, wags and kids. Come let us take you to a trip of a different kind. We’ve picked five different picnic destinations for you. Imagine, you are sitting with your wife on sand and your kids are involved in different activities. Yes, Gower – Worm’s Head, Wales – is a majestic place to visit. You will get the food served at your chosen place. The place is famous for the high tides though is suitable for the surfing. But it is more famous for its picturesque landscape at sunset time. An Indian eatery at Edinburgh, provides you a lunch packet comprising dal, curry, nan and desserts. So throw away yours daily sandwiches and enjoy the bewitching world at Botanic Garden with some real good cuisine. If you have planned to visit Pickering castle in the beautiful Yorkshire, don’t forget to freak-out at the award winning delicatessen owned by Tim Wilson. Cotswolds attracts tourists from all around the world, you can spice up the visit to this beautiful place by buying a home-made lunch including cutlery, napkins etc. The experience is on of its own kind, which you’ll love to share with your closed ones. What about picking up a food from Picnic Fayre deli in Cley-next-the-Sea and walk to the sea is a ultimate experience in itself.
Do not let your dislike for a communist regime make you miss this alpine town set 6,000 feet high in the Bavarian Alps. Ever since Allied troops captured it, Berchtesgaden has struggled under the weight of the Hitler heritage, and the question of whether it could ever return to being simply a nice place to visit. The Eagles nest, Image credit Kehlsteinhaus, the Eagle’s Nest was built as a 50th birthday present to Adolf Hitler from the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. The Kehlsteinhaus was designed by architect Roderich Fick as a wooden frame structure, but it consists of 80% concrete. The Eagles nest, Image credit The road up to the House is a masterpiece of road building is 4 miles long, winds through 5 tunnels and has a series of dangerous hairpin bends. Image credit: Pete Burzynski Today the Eagle’s Nest is a restaurant, it has a spectacular view of the entire Salzach Valley and of the Bavarian Alps. Berchtesgaden itself, a five-mile winding drive downhill from the Nest, is a cozy village with pubs, sausage restaurants and mountain views. The restaurant now serves wonderful bavarian food, Image credit The idea of Hitler’s hideaway becoming a place of fun offended many intellectuals and Jewish groups in Europe. Linda Pfnuer, the head of the center, said enjoying the beauty of Berchtesgaden and the luxury of the InterContinental had to go hand in hand with preserving the memory of the evil that inhabited the valley. Berchtesgaden, Image credit: Tony Triolo A picture of a mass execution of Jews, children and adults; the recorded voice of a Holocaust survivor the exhibits are the bleak counterpoint to the bucolic scenes outside. Alps above Berchtesgaden, Image credit: Jen Initially, the center expected 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a year. Last year it got 166,000, and last month it welcomed its millionth visitor. Berchtesgaden, Germany, Image credit: TateWeb If places have been houses to evil, redemption comes through nature and purity.
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