The Badlands (0)
Posted 26 February, 2008 in USA travel
If you’re a geologist, a naturalist, or just someone that’s interested in a place a bit off the beaten track, then The Badlands, South Dakota is the place for you.
A mixture of spires, valleys, buttes and sharply eroded sandstone, this mixed prairie grass preserve is a great place to go whether you’re a fossil hunter, or just interested in natural beauty.
Badlands National park is a gorgeous place - with unique and unusual sandstone rock that layers in ways that has to be seen to be believed. The spires, and erosions formed over several thousand millenia make for a unique skyline. Vegetation and fauna sprinkle crevices and valleys, making for interesting walks, and of course, the badlands are home to all kinds of wild animals, from Bison that graze by the side of the road as you’re driving through, to Prairie dogs, Elk, Coyotes, and wild Horses.
City of the Arts (0)
Posted 19 February, 2008 in Canadian Travel
Toronto, capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario, is an art enthusiast’s dream. The city, the fifth largest in North America, is home to several major galleries and museums.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the largest in Canada with more than 40 galleries. The museum displays both art works and natural history items and has the largest collection of avian and mammalian skeletons in the world. The museum’s Far East Collection, the largest collection of far eastern artifacts outside of China, is anchored by the Ming Tomb, a complete seventeenth century warriors tomb and the only complete Chinese tomb in the West.
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art was, at one time affiliated with the Royal Ontario Museum. This specialized museum is home to more than 2,000 pieces of ceramic art. Their collection features everything from pre-Columbian pottery to classic European porcelains of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Art Gallery of Toronto has strong collections of European and Canadian art. One of the main attractions of the Gallery is its collection of Henry Moore sculptures, one of the largest in the world. Henry Moore personally designed the exhibit space for this collection in 1974.
For more than thirty years the Textile Museum of Canada has celebrated international fiber art. Their permanent collection contains more than 12,000 textiles, from pieces as much as 2000 years old to modern designs, with samples from more than 200 regions of the world.
The Bata Shoe Museum is housed in a whimsical, shoebox-shaped building designed by architect Raymond Moriyama. The museum is home to a 4,500-piece, semi-permanent “History of Shoes” exhibit that highlights examples of footwear spanning time and the globe, from ancient Egyptian sandals to the sleekly sexy stilettos of 1990s. The Bata also has three additional galleries that display special exhibits throughout the year.
Bents Old Fort, Colorado (0)
Posted 12 February, 2008 in USA travel
Bents Old Fort is a reconstruction of a 1840s trading post. Now under the watchful eye of the National Parks Service, the original adobe fort was one of the few white settlements on the Sante Fe trail west of Missouri.
Although the Fort may not be worth a detour to many people, if you are in the area, and have any interest in 19th century US frontier history, Bents Old Fort not only shows the physical layout of how such an establishment was run, but also gives a good indication of the kind of natural elements the people who managed and traded at the fort lived with. With summer temperatures that can go above 100 F, and winter ones that can drop to 0 F during the day, the very brief quarter of a mile walk down the path from the arrivals area, to the fort gates, is a good indicator of how tough people had to be to cope with weather extremes.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (0)
Posted 5 February, 2008 in Canadian Travel
The bright red uniform jacket and broad-brimmed hat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are a symbol of Canada recognized all over the world. The well-known red serge coat, black riding pants with their yellow stripe, and red-banded Stetson are not part of the regular daily uniform for these police officers. The red, white, and black dress uniform is, generally, only worn for civic ceremonies, public relations events, celebrations and memorials.
The RCMP is a singular organization, since it is simultaneously a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. They provide total federal policing service to all Canadians. They are also under contract to provide policing services to eight provinces (all except Quebec and Ontario), the 3 Canadian territories, more than 200 municipal areas, 165 First Peoples communities, plus 3 international airports and several smaller airports.