Uffizi Gallery in Florence

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, is a popular museum that is known for its famous pieces, including the Birth of Venus and thePrimavera, both by Botticelli.

The Uffizi Gallery was designed in 1560 by Vasari, one of the prominent architects of the day. He planned the design so it could be built directly next to the Medici Palace since Granduca Francisco de Medici requested it. The shape of the gallery is rectangular and starts from the Signoria Palace and ends at the Arno River.

Since this museum is a very popular tourist attraction, groups with large numbers are broken into smaller groups and only specific numbers of visitors are allowed to go in each section at a time. There is a special phone number that visitors can call to book their spot to avoid standing in huge lines. That number is 39-055-294-883. The cost of the ticket is 6.50 Euros. Some of the more popular rooms to consider staying in during your visit include the Botticelli Room, the Leonardo Room, and the Rubens Room.

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is the largest known rift in the world. The canyon is a steep-sided gorge that was made by erosion from the Colorado River in northern Arizona. It is because of heavy mineral deposits that the canyon is bright red, brown and orange in color.

This canyon is a part of the large Grand Canyon National Park designated by former president Theodore Roosevelt. The park is almost 277 miles long and varies from 4 to 18 miles wide. The canyons are the main point of attraction in the nation park. Theodore Roosevelt used to come to the national park for relaxation and hunting.

Science shows that the canyons were carved out by the Colorado River some six million years ago with the deepest canyon depth being of over one mile. It is said that the river started cutting layers of rocks from the west initially and gradually moved to the east. The area was inhabited by Native Americans who lived within the caves. The Grand Canyon was considered a holy place for many pilgrims. The first European to explore this part of the world was Garcia Lopez de Cardenas who arrived from Spain in 1540. During the year 1869, Major John Wesley Powell made the first recorded journey down the Green and Colorado rivers through the Grand Canyon.

Some of the best adventures that a tourist can indulge in are river rafting, helicopter tours and other guided tours via land. Visitors can stay in the upscale Grand Canyon hotels and lodges to make the journey even more memorable.

Golden Pavilion Temple

The Golden Pavilion Temple, also called Kinkaku-ji in Japanese, was built in 1397 and it is located in Kyoto, Japan. It was initially made to serve as a villa for retirement for Shogun Ashikaga. It was quite later that his son converted the building into a Zen temple. The Golden Pavilion burned down in 1950 when a monk set fire to the temple.

The Golden Temple is a building with three stories. The upper two stories are covered with a pure gold layer. The main purpose of the pavilion is to work as a shariden, storing relics of the Buddha. One can see a typical Chinese architectural style on the top floor. The second floor has a Zen style and the ground floor is made in the shinden-zukuri style.

The entire temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden with a pond in the front called the Mirror Pond. The stones in the pond give a representation of the Buddhist era. In the year 1987, some parts of the temple were recoated in thicker gold and some of the interior of the temple was remodeled in 2003.

Delphi, an Archaeological Site in Greece

Delphi is a modern town in Greece which is famous for its archaeological site in the valley of Phocis, among other things. The city is located in the center of Greece on the terraces that border the slope of Mount Parnassus. It also includes the Sanctuary of Apollo, a place where the ancient Oracle once lived. It was the place of the Delphic Oracle in Greek mythology when the main god of worship was Apollo. It is a site that is a must view for those who have always been influenced by the charm of the Oracle. The history shows that Delphi was populated during the Neolithic era.

During 100 B.C., Delphi became an important center for religious and political activities. While the exact function of the Oracle cannot be found in any of the prehistoric documents, the importance of Delphi has been well-documented.

Delphi of Greece was considered to be the center of the world and the Oracle was a religious naval that was famous for predicting the future. Since the Oracle could predict the future, most of the kings and common people used to consult the Oracle on matters that were of great importance. These matters would include things like small house hold disputes to big war conditions. Because of its future telling capabilities, it created a name and a reputation of its own not just in Greece but in the entire world. Some of the common sites to visit in Delphi include the famous temple of Apollo, the Tholos, the Delphi Museum and the Charioteer of Delphi. The drive to Delphi from Athens is almost 90 minutes. One can reach Delphi by air or road.

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, was built by Ivan the Terrible between 1555 and 1561. According to legend, the builder of this cathedral was blinded so that such a beautiful structure could never be built again. The cathedral is vividly colorful and contains redbrick towers that add to its beauty. The church’s design consists of nine chapels, each mounted with its individual dome that marks the assault on the city of Kazan.

The design of St. Basil’s Cathedral provides strong religious symbolism and is based on architectural designs found in Jerusalem. Eight of the domes make a circular formation around the ninth dome, which looks like a star when viewed from the top. There is a deep contrast between the interior and the exterior of the St. Basil’s Cathedral. The interior contains modest decorations and the corridors are narrow, leaving little space for seating worshippers.

Several times throughout its history, this cathedral has suffered damage due to fires, looting, and other incidents. In one legend, the French ruler Napoleon even wanted to take St. Basil’s Cathedral back to France with him, but due to the lack of such technology, he ordered his army to destroy it so that no one else could occupy it. His army had prepared to attack the church and had also lit up the gunpowder, but a mysterious rain shower prevented any explosions from occurring.