Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 meters (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa (829.8 m/2,722 ft).
The height of 634 m (2,080 ft) was selected to be easily remembered. The figures 6 (mu), 3 (sa), 4 (shi) stand for “Musashi”, an old name of the region where the Tokyo Skytree stands.
Hibiya Park in Chiyoda City, Tokyo is Japan’s first public Western-style park. The vast, 16-hectare Hibiya Park has a rich history. It was feudal grounds during the Edo period (1603–1867) and then a military parade square in much of the Meiji era (1868–1912) before it was converted into Japan’s earliest Western-inspired modern park in 1903.
Map of Hibiya Park
Today, there are thousands of tall trees, including a gingko that is estimated to be about 500 years old. Hibiya Park is dotted with charming mementos from around the globe: a piece of stone money from Yap Island, a block of gneiss from Antarctica, a Viking stone epitaph, and a statue of Remus and Romulus donated by Italy in the 1930’s & Liberty Bell, donated by the United States in 1952.
The CA – 395 highway is used as an access route for both the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, and the lowest point in North America, Death Valley. The corridor has been used since the California gold rush, and before numbering was known by several names including El Camino Sierra.
We started this road trip from Santa Monica and ended at Lone Pine. Just wanted to share what we saw on our way up here on this iconic route!
Red Rock Canyon State Park
Stop #1 Red Rock Canyon State park: The park is located on CA State Route 14 Historically, the area was once home to the Kawaiisu Indians, who left petroglyphs in the El Paso mountains and other evidence of their inhabitation. The spectacular gash situated at the western edge of the El Paso mountain range was on the Native American trade route for thousands of years. During the early 1870s, the colorful rock formations in the park served as landmarks for 20-mule team freight wagons that stopped for water. About 1850, it was used by the footsore survivors of the famous Death Valley trek including members of the Arcane and Bennett families along with some of the Illinois Jayhawkers. The park now protects significant paleontology sites and the remains of 1890s-era mining operations, and has been the site for a number of movies.
The park features scenic desert cliffs, buttes and spectacular rock formations that had been featured in several western Hollywood movies like The Big Country, The Outlaw, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Jurassic Park, The Mummy & many more.
Stop #2 Garlock – A Ghost Town – Historical Land Mark #671 In 1896, Eugene Garlock constructed a stamp mill near this spot to crush gold ore from the Yellow Aster Mine on Rand Mountain. Known originally as Cow Wells by prospectors and freighters during the 1880s and early 1890s, the town of Garlock continued to thrive until 1898, when water was piped from here to Randsburg and the Kramer-Randsburg rail line was completed.
Stop #3 – Indian Wells Brewery: “Full-service brewery and soda pop manufacturer with a gift shop, tastings, and inside or outside seating” Indian Wells Brewing Company on Highway 14 is one of the great stops for the whole family to try bizarre drinks like ranch dressing and buffalo chicken soda.
Stop #4 – Olancha Sculpture Garden: Our next stop was at the off-the-beaten-path Olancha Sculpture Garden, a unique philosophy of life represented with the trashed metals by Jael Hoffmann. A very unique spread out in the desert, the sculptures convey the meaning of freedom, teach us the give & take policy, and the art really needs is a creativity in mind & thoughts. As quoted by her own words, “Sculpture gardens facilitate access to art. The rugged environments my sculptures chose to inhabit are not coincidental, but supportive of their unadorned messages.”
Stalheimsfossen is a waterfall located in a small village in Stalheim in Nærøydalen valley near Voss, Norway. It is one of the two waterfalls found in closer proximity to each other in the valley. This one is more powerful and it is 414 feet (126 meters) tall.
On our Norway in a Nutshell tour, the bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss took us through this valley and with 13 hairpin bends and the views of the specatucalr waterfall views, no need to say that the ride was awesome.
The Oslo Opera House is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighborhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. The innovative structure of the Opera House with its marble covered roof is an amazing place to visit and it is awesome both inside and outside.
Oslo Opera House’s website states: Please walk on the roof! 😘 and we did walk on the roof. The entire stretch was a beautiful surface meant to be stepped on.
Sculpture of Norwegian Opera Singer Kirsten Flagstad
The sculpture of Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano will greet as you enter the Opera House . She ranks among the greatest singers of the 20th century, and many opera critics called hers “the voice of the century.” She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
She Lies
‘She Lies‘ is a public sculpture by Monica Bonvicini made of stainless steel and glass panels measuring approximately 12 metres by 17 metres by 16 metres next to the Oslo Opera House, in Norway.
Baroque style architectural Oslo Cathedral is the main church for the Church of Norway Diocese of Oslo, as well as the parish church for downtown Oslo.
Formerly known as ‘Our Savior’s Church’, the present building dates from 1694–1697.
Oslo Cathedral
Norwegian Royal Family and the Government officials use Oslo Cathedral for their family weddings and funerals. In August 2001, Oslo Cathedral was the site of the wedding of Prince Haakon, the only son of King Harald V of Norway and Queen Sonja of Norway and heir apparent to the throne of Norway and Princess Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby.
Cobá, the ancient Mayan city on the Yucatán Peninsula, is located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Mayan site contains a group of large temple pyramids Ixmoja, part of the Nohoch Mul Pyramid is one of Coba’s main attractions.
Unlike Chichen Itza’s Kukulkan Pyramid, Ixmoja Pyramid is still open for the public to climb its 130 steps up to the top of the site. It stands towering at 42 meters tall (138 feet). At the top of the site, you will be rewarded with panoramic views of Yucatán and non-public areas of Coba.
Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic Period. It was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature.
Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second-most visited of Mexico’s archaeological sites and El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan) dominates the center of the site. The Temple of Kukulcan is considered one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.
The Maya name “Chichen Itza” means “At the mouth of the well of the Itza.” The power, the wealth and the decline of the mayans make this place a historical significance.
El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan) – the pyramid consists of a series of square terraces with stairways up each of the four sides to the temple on top. Sculptures of plumed serpents run down the sides of the northern balustrade. Around the spring and autumn equinoxes, the late afternoon sun strikes off the northwest corner of the pyramid and casts a series of triangular shadows against the northwest balustrade, creating the illusion of a feathered serpent “crawling” down the pyramid. The event has been very popular and is witnessed by thousands of visitors at the spring equinox, but it is questionable whether it is a result of a purposeful design, because the light-and-shadow effect can be observed, without major changes, during several weeks around the equinoxes.
El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcan)
Each of the pyramid’s four sides has around 91 steps which, when added together and including the temple platform on top as the final “step”, may produce a total of 365 steps (the steps on the south side of the pyramid are eroded) (which is equal to the number of days of the Haab’ year).
The structure is 24 m (79 ft) high, plus an additional 6 m (20 ft) for the temple. The square base measures 55.3 m (181 ft) across. Climbing access to El Castillo was closed after a San Diego, California, woman fell to her death in 2006.
El Castillo – Temple of Kukulcan
The list of new seven world wonders are the Great wall of China, Petra, Colosseum, Chichen Itza, Machu Pichu, Taj Mahal, and Christ the Redeemer.
Ik Kil is a cenote outside Pisté in the Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico. It is located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula and is part of the Ik Kil Archeological Park near Chichen Itza. Ik Kil is near the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, on the highway to Valladolid. It is open to the public for swimming from 9am to 5pm all year long.
The cenote is open to the sky with the water level about 26 metres (85 ft) below ground level. There is a carved stairway down to a swimming platform. The cenote is about 60 metres (200 ft) in diameter and about 50 metres (164 ft) deep. There are vines which reach from the opening all the way down to the water along with small waterfalls.
Ik Kil Cenote
We stopped here on our way to Chichen Itza, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The denote was crowded and beautiful and lush green. It is worthy to take a break here and a dip in the cool waters. You have facilities here. It is a ticketed entry.
Cenote Ik Kil is sacred to the Mayans and the Mayans used this Cenote Ik Kil for both relaxation and ritual services. Ik Kil was considered sacred by the Mayans who used the site as a location for human sacrifice to their rain god, Chaac. Bones and pieces of jewelry were found in the deep waters of this cenote by archaeologists and speleologists.
Ekʼ Balam ek-bælæm is a Yucatec-Maya archaeological site in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. From the Preclassic until the Postclassic period, it was the seat of a Mayan kingdom.
Ekʼ Balam means Black Jaguar. ‘Ek’ also means star so it can be called the Star of Jaguar. The site is noted for the preservation of the plaster on the tomb of Ukit Kan Lek Tokʼ, a king buried in the side of the largest pyramid.
With a length of 160m, a width of 70m and a height of 31m the acropolis is definitely one of the largest pyramids of the northern Yucatán peninsula and climbing to the top of it is an adventure itself.