Archive for July, 2010

The Hamburg Fish Market An Unforgettable Experience

When you visit Hamburg, Germany, one of the must see places in this city is the Hamburg Fish Market. This market is open every Sunday morning from 5 A.M. to 9:30 A.M. Customers come from all over the country to bargain with the vendors in the stalls selling a lot more than just fish.  You can buy anything here from a needle to an anchor, but you never pay the asking price without haggling first. This traditional open-air market is the oldest of its kind in Hamburg, dating back to the early 1700.

Located at the foot of the Fish Auction Hall, this market has sights and sounds that you won’t hear anywhere else. Vendors scream out the prices of their wares and there is music that will have you tapping your toes. Enjoy a delicious breakfast inside the Auction Hall as you listen to a wide variety of musical selections. The style of selling is quite different from what you are used to seeing in such markets.

When you visit Hamburg, the public transportation will take you to the port and to the location of the market. The area is quite crowded but the atmosphere is very pleasant.  As you leave the market, take time to explore Hamburg Port, which is one of the most important ports in the country. Here goods are unloaded from all over the world destined for markets in Germany and in other countries of Northern Europe. You can take a tour of the harbour and sail past these large container ships that sail the Seven Seas.

From the port make your way to Hamburg Stadium and the Volkspark located right behind the stadium. This is certainly worth the visit as it gives you a glimpse of a 5-star arena that has been the setting for many international matches in various sports.

Other must sees when you visit Hamburg include a visit to the Museum of Hamburg History. The displays and exhibits will bring the history of the city to life before your eyes as you learn of the escapades of the feared pirate Stortebeker to the story of the Beatles visit to the city and the crowds that went to hear and see them at the Star Club. Some of the exhibits in this museum are quite large and all have English sub-titles so that you can understand the story if you don’t speak the German language.

Cruise the Alster Lake, a trip that takes only two hours, but includes nine stops. You can hop off at one location and explore the attractions or dine at one of the restaurant and then get back on the boat when it returns to this spot. Have a humbling experience by taking in the three organ concert that takes place every day at noon in St. Michael’s Church. From the tower of this church you also have a magnificent view of the city one that will remain in your memory forever.

Hamburg is also the home of the largest shopping centre in Europe the Europa Passage which houses over 100 stores on five floors. You will certainly find what you are looking for in this location if you didn’t already do so at the Sunday Fish Market.

North American Architecture & Interesting Facts

Atlanta is a very rapidly growing city, an impressive notion about Atlanta; however, is the ability to really keep “green” in mind. Although there isn’t much park space in Atlanta, trees are very important here, they’ve planted over 68,000 trees. When visiting Atlanta, a few things you may want to view are: The bank of America plaza, which is the 3rd tallest building in the US, the Atlanta aquarium, which is th elargest in the world, and one of many, many museums.

Austin isn’t really known for their buildings or parks, but rather the people who live there, Austinites are known to be people of the best personalities. Austin is really proud to honor small businesses and focuses on trying to keep large Company’s from taking over.

Boston was an early trend starter by being the first American city to open a public school, a college, and a subway system. Since then, with over 250,000 college students attending colleges of art, technology, music, fine arts, etc… Boston has become one of the main educational hubs in America.

Chicago has the world’s tallest skyline. Chicago has a vast amount of architectural style throughout the city; however, including high rise towers, low rise towers, and single family homes.

Dallas is a very diverse city; it isn’t a city you could categorize as having any specific style. Many city streets are mixed with older Victorian homes to newer modernized homes and everything in between. In the list of 20 worlds tallest Dallas comes in number fifteen.

Denver has a real sense of originality, a large portion of the city has been around since WWII, and therefore there are a lot of buildings made of brick. Even many of the newer homes being built in and around Denver are trying to recreate the feeling and appearance of old neighborhoods.

Houston something very unique and brilliantly planned about Houston is the fact that they’ve built tunnels and skywalks filled with shops and restaurants that connect from building to building. This was planned very well considering it saves people from walking in the extreme weather conditions of Houston.

Las Vegas is one of a kind! First of all it has the brightest skyline, but the buildings that make it up are what make this city a true gem. Brilliant architecture takes place here, mini cities, such as little Italy, little New York, etc… from all over are what makes up the biggest little city ever.

Los Angeles as the only major American city to be bisected by mountains, another interesting fact is that all of the neighborhoods that it’s divided into, many of them used to be individual towns until the growth of Los Angeles blended them all together. Los Angeles is known to have the most landmarks in one city alone.

Miami the cleanest city in the USA is known for much more than just that. Miami is worldly known for Finance, International trade, and Cruise Departures, not to mention the beautiful beaches. Another appealing thing would definitely be the diverse housing. Miami is home to many single and two-storey homes, as well as many high rise residential towers, and the infamous Coconut Grove where you would find beautiful historic homes and estates dating back as far as 1825. This is also where you would City Hall.

Minneapolis: Due to the great amount of water from lakes, rivers, creeks, and waterfalls to the arts and theatre aspect that Minneapolis is known for, it’s really no wonder why people from everywhere are calling Minneapolis one of the “coolest” places to live.

Nashville: What is there to say about the capital of Tennessee? Other than what it’s known for, which is Music; Nashville has a beautiful skyline of Downtown. It’s a short skyline with only a few glass skyscrapers towering over the shorter brick building, and overlooking the Cumberland River, makes this a truly distinctive looking city.

New York: Some of the nicknames given to New York are very fitting such as The Big Apple or The City That Never Sleeps, because it really is the big apple, a city made up of a vast amount of park space and beaches, nicely blended into one of the largest cities in the world, it’s incredible to find so many attributes in one place. New York is known worldwide for their skyscrapers, having more in the city than any other in the world. Most of the homes you will find here will be row homes made of brick and stone

Orange County: As the home of some of America’s most expensive neighborhoods, with so many tourist attractions, beaches, parks, and open spaces for outdoor recreation it’s no wonder that Orange County is a major tourist destination. Much of Orange County has kept it’s 1950’s image.

Philadelphia: Is in general, an older city, with most of it’s housing being of the 20th century or older. The most common type of housing found here would be the Row House. The buildings found in the downtown area and throughout the rest of Philadelphia are of all different construction, from log to brick, and steel & concrete buildings to glass & granite skyscrapers. Philadelphia is definitely a must see for historians.

Phoenix: Is a dessert city, it’s very brown from the land to the buildings, as lots of brick and stone are used here. A couple groups of people that frequent Phoenix would be those who golf, and those in the technology business, as it is a technical hub. Phoenix is home to many large company headquarters.

Portland:Some people would call Portland Volcano City due to the fact that it is locate don a volcano field and surrounded by volcanoes; you are able to see Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens from Portland. A truly unique feature in the design of the city is that you can find suburban neighborhoods and farm homes within the same city blocks as each other. One thing that they’ve focused on when planning out the city is making it pedestrian friendly, which they have been able to achieve by making narrower streets.

Raleigh: Is a very historic city, with buildings as old as 1923. Raleigh is a separated city, by which I mean it’s divided into parts as many cities are, but each part here is generalized. Old Raleigh is what it says it is, very historic, East and West Raleigh is suburban homes, North is newly built homes, South is home to few houses, and Southeast ahs some of everything from new developments to poor inner-city homes.

Sacramento: Is a much desired place to live. It has a very beautiful skyline, due to the different types and styles of buildings. All in one place you could find very modern glass and articulately designed buildings, old historic buildings, buildings made of stone, brick, and even bridges you see here stand out in a crowd. It’s truly magnificent to see such diversity all blended together in one place.

San Diego: Is a tourist haven; it sees much tourism every year, with so many tourist destinationsand the beauty of the city from beaches and even the beautiful weather. San Diego’s port also brings many tourists in on the cruise ships.

San Francsco: There are some things about San Francisco that don’t need to be mentioned because San Francisco has become very known for particular things. These would have to include The infamous Golden Gate Bridge, which you can view from most beaches, Cable cars are also a known means of transportation, and of course another famous viewpoint would be Nob Hill, one of the steepest known hills, and of course Fisherman’s Wharf. This is just to name a few, San Francisco has definitely made a name for itself.

Seattle: It’s a given that cities such a

s Seattle with it’s port is going to bring in much tourism, but something you may not know, is the residents of Seattle are generally quite laid back, some would blame this on the relaxing surroundings such as the ocean views and the large amount of trees and forest land. Seattle residents tend to spend a great deal of their free time drinking coffee or spending the day at a local park, whether they be cycling, jogging, or just enjoying a day outside.

Washington DC: Named after America’s first president, George Washington, this city has many monuments and buildings named after previous presidents, also it is home to many major banks headquarters and the three branches of US Governments centers are located here. It’s no wonder why many people refer to this city as a Political Place.

Calgary: People who live in Calgary, often known as Calgarians are very proud of where they’re from, and rightfully so. First of all Calgary is a very beautiful city with a high, high rise downtown and views of the Canadian Rockies from many parts of the city. If you’re lucky, once in awhile you can even see the northern Lights. A few other things that keep Calgarians proud is the fact that Calgary is the fastest growing city in Canada and noted as the cleanest city in the world, a little ironic due to the fact that it also plays a huge role in the oil industry. One thing about Calgary that some may not be too fond of is the weather, you can expect snow to fall at anytime of the year, snowfalls aren’t unheard of even in June. Calgary gets a lot of summer evening Thunderstorms and unexpected hailstorms which can sometimes be damaging.

Edmonton: Although Edmonton has a very long winter every year it’s become quite popular for outdoor activities. Golfing is a major sport here mostly because Edmonton has extended daylight so golfers are able to play longer into the evening. Also Edmonton has the highest area of parkland per capita in Canada with many great hiking and biking trails.

Montreal: Has a couple main notable characteristics, the most visible one would be the amount of historic buildings, Montreal is known world-wide for this. The second would be the underground city, which many don’t even know about. This is an incredible example of how to really utilize space. There are over 1600 shops, banks, museums, etc… you can also get around by using the underground transportation where you can travel by train or bus. This making Montreal truly a one of a kind city.

Ottawa: To those of you interested in Government may have traveled to Ottawa, it’s Parliament Hill is home to many landmark government buildings, not to mention the number of national museums, memorials, etc… Rideau Canal is a beautiful addition that goes through the city. Because Ottawa has extreme hot summers and extreme cold winters, Rideau Canal freezes so solid in the winter that it becomes a huge natural ice skating arena.

Toronto: Has got to be most popular for its diversity, from people to buildings. Toronto is the immigrant capital, with 49% of it’s population being born outside of Canada, the diversity expands onto buildings as well, there isn’t a particular architectural style in Toronto, there are buildings from the 1800’s – 2000’s and a mix with design as well, with glass and steel recently becoming the most popular, mainly with the increase of high-rise residential buildings. Toronto is often labeled as one of the most desirable places to live in the world; unfortunately it’s also one of the most expensive in Canada.

Vancouver: Is known world-wide for the fact that it’s a much desired place to live and travel. Also known as Hollywood North, the main reason that the filming industry has taken such a huge interest in Vancouver is due to the fact that there are mountains, ocean, flat lands, new development, old development, etc… you can create Vancouver to look like almost anywhere. Vancouver has one of the highest qualities of living in the world, but unfortunately also has unruly expensive real estate.

Victoria: Is a huge tourists destination, many of which whom arrive by cruise ships. Downtown Victoria is a well planned out area for tourists because it is all clustered together with bars, museums, theaters restaurants, and many annual events are held all within close proximity of each other.

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