Category: <span>architecture</span>

On the way to Monaco,quick stop over in Alesund,Norway

February 20, 2020
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Ålesund is mostly known for its unique Art Nouveau architecture, which was in fact the result of a disaster. In 1904, the larger part of Ålesund was destroyed in a devastating fire. In an act of excellent foresight, it was decided to rebuild the town entirely in Art Nouveau, the fashionable style of the time. Most of this beauty has been preserved. If you look up as you explore the town, you will be enchanted by the rounded towers, sinuous lines and foliate forms typical of Art Nouveau.

By the picturesque harbour you find the landmark Holmbua. This warehouse, built in 1861, escaped the great fire and now holds the fisheries exhibitions of Ålesund Museum. Experience the exciting displays and learn more about the town’s production of dried cod and other fish produce. A trip to Aksla Mountain in the middle of the town is a must. Walk the 418 steps to the top and you will be rewarded by unforgettable panoramic views. The Art Nouveau Centre in Ålesund documents the town’s unique architectural history. Enjoy the fascinating history that brings you back to the fire in 1904.

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Green Gold Villa and Crystal Lavvos

February 20, 2020
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Green Gold Villa is located amongst the Lyngen Alps, meaning that the views from the villa are spectacular. It provides an ideal base for Northern Lights activities due to its rural setting and mountainous surroundings. The owner, Francisco, takes pride in giving his guests the best possible service and also acts as your guide while you are staying in his accommodation. Staying here offers a very intimate experience, as the villa provides for small groups. If you decide to sleep in a Crystal Lavvo, you are still free to use the villa and all of its facilities.

crystal lavo 2crystal lavo 3crystal lavo 4crystal lavo 5crystal lavo 6crystal lavo 8crystal lavo1crystal lavo7crystal lavo9crystal lavo10Facilities

The villa has fibre internet connection
Bathroom facilities are shared. There are two bathrooms inside the villa which are shared between four bedrooms and three insulated, outdoor bathrooms for guests staying in the Lavvos
Breakfasts typically consist of eggs and smoked salmon, while dinner is usually fish or lamb with vegetables. Francisco will try his best to accommodate any other preferences
The villa’s kitchen has hot drinks facilities and a coffee machine for you to use at your disposal
Room Type

OPTION 1: CRYSTAL LAVVO

Sleeping in a Crystal Lavvo is a fantastic and adventurous way to spend the night. This ‘glamping’ experience provides you with the excitement of camping, but with added comfort. The lavvos are located in the forest behind Green Gold Villa and insulated bathrooms with hot water are only a few metres away. The lavvos are wooden constructions but have a glass roof, so that each night you can lie back and admire the Arctic sky and, hopefully, the Aurora. Each lavvo has a double bed or two single beds and a wooden stove, which you will be taught how to use, to ensure that you are warm and comfortable during your stay.

OPTION 2: DOUBLE ROOM IN THE VILLA

Each room in the villa offers a king-sized bed and a wardrobe for clothing storage. Hot drinks and kitchen facilities are all provided in the shared kitchen of the villa. Hairdryers are provided in each bedroom. Two bathrooms are shared between four rooms.

Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg ,Svalbard

November 17, 2019
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Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg will give you an unprecedented cosy hotel experience. Located 78° North, on the island of Spitsbergen, comfortable rooms, sauna, outdoor jacuzzi and exceptional local cuisine await your visit.

Depending on the time of year your, stay will include magical landscapes, wildlife, Northern Lights or Midnight sun. Our guess is you will want to return again and again to experience the different seasons and adventures Svalbard has to offer.Today, Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg consists of a pleasant courtyard surrounded by three buildings; the mining rig, the luxury rig and the transportation rig. Accommodation is in the form of 17 single, 19 double, four family rooms and our polar night suite. Facilities include the AuroraSpa and the restaurant, Vinterhagen.

Created in 1999 by owner Mary-Ann Dahle, the hotel was transformed from its previous life as miners barracks carefully and lovingly into what we have today. Over the past 20 years, Mary-Ann has been growing and updating each building with new ideas to make sure guests have a special experience while visiting Svalbard. Many items throughout the hotel are from the old coal mines in the area including the red miners bus which stands outside the bar area and serves as a smoking shelter complete with fairy lights.D32B6AAC-244F-4BD4-B18F-3E82E3E5A864_1_201_aAEB0A50F-0347-4DBB-9C73-796E4B02136CD2E6C397-CE02-4A51-BE13-575AF899748FE618490C-7ABE-40B7-9AC6-3BDC78B941C23F824A25-33AD-434F-8466-749302808BD8BFFCB144-6590-4B2F-880C-55A984A541DC835A4848-9D42-45D3-A5EF-27BF9736334B6E40B913-574B-4509-A489-737568C7B96200E42467-8D64-4FA0-B3F9-2092B7EC91BA131944EE-A61A-4AEC-A5C8-E396045E72E2316A6F9D-A3D6-4AE3-837D-8B09587CEAE2A631B7D3-5520-4A17-A64B-CBC272FAA493

Otaru Hokaido

June 18, 2019
architecturefunmountinsNaturephotosporttravel
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Otaru, a port city on Hokkaido (Japan’s northernmost island), lies northwest of Sapporo on Ishikari Bay. The city is known for glassworks, music boxes and sake distilleries. Nishin Goten (“herring mansion”), a former fish processing plant built in 1897, explores the industry’s key role in the city’s earlier years. Completed in 1923, the Otaru Canal is now lined with cafes and shops in converted old warehouses.

Naritasan Shinshoji Temple

June 18, 2019
architecturefunNaturephototravel
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Narita-san Shinsho-ji Temple (usually just called “Narita-san”) is a large, picturesque Buddhist temple complex in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, just a few kilometers from Narita International Airport. Japanese religion, nature, art and community come together here, making for a memorable visit.

Narita-san is a very popular temple visited by millions of people every year, and is the second most visited shrine or temple in Japan after the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.

Sakura old Samurai houses

June 17, 2019
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Numerous old samurai houses still remain in the Sakura City and three of the five samurai residences still standing along the street called Bukeyashiki-dori are currently open to the public. They are the former Kawara House, a Chiba Prefecture-designated Cultural Asset, the Tajima House, and the Takei House, a Sakura City-designated Cultural Asset. All three of them were constructed in the latter Edo period and inhabited by samurai of the Sakura domain. The Kawara House, the oldest of samurai houses in Sakura, exhibits furnishings that well represent the lifestyle of the samurai clansmen back in the day. The Tajima House has been at this place since the Edo period, and it is allowed to go inside for a viewing. Inside the Takei House are the excavated artifacts related to samurai houses on display. The street facing the samurai houses are lined with earthwork and hedges, in which the vestige of the castle town Sakura can be seen. These samurai houses are also used as the locations for shooting TV dramas and films. It is a 15-minute walk from the JR’s Sakura Station or a 15-minute walk from the Keisei Sakura Station

Manila streeat view

January 13, 2018
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Shorncliffe Pier,Queensland Australia

August 10, 2017
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Shorncliffe Pier is a historic pier in Shorncliffe, Queensland, Australia, situated near Saint Patrick’s College and lower Moora Park. The pier with its white faded timber railings, colonial street lamps spaced out along the stretch of pier, and resting shelter towards the end was a much visited attraction for families, residents and tourists to the area. Reaching 351.5 metres out into Bramble Bay it is the largest timber pier in Brisbane and one of the longest recreational piers in Australia. The renewed pier was reopened to the public in March 2016

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Glenorchy and Skipper Canyon,New Zelland 

April 16, 2017
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Glenorchy, a true slice of New Zealand paradise, sits a spectacular 45-minute drive northwest of Queenstown at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu.Surrounded by magnificent snow-capped mountains, pristine lakes and rivers, ancient beech forests and at the edge of Mount Aspiring and Fiordland national parks, the frontier town of Glenorchy has provided the backdrop for many films, including The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. There are a range of accommodation options as well as numerous activities that will get you out into the great outdoors for which this area is famous. There are also food and beverage options, a new camp ground and general store and a friendly community.

.The nearby settlements of Kinloch and Paradise are also known for their stunning scenery and tranquil setting. The area is also the gateway to several world-famous multi-day hikes including the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. For walks closer to town, there are well-graded walkways that lead to points of interest including the Glenorchy Walkway, Whakaari Conservation Area and Mt Judah, where the remains of scheelite mines can be found.

Explore Glenorchy’s natural beauty
There are a number of exciting ways you can explore the beauty of this pristine area. Take the sites in by horseback and ride through braided rivers, native forests and across open fields. By water you can journey into the heart of glacier country with a jetboat, canoe or kayak. Take a stunning scenic flight into unexplored wilderness or experience the thrill of a skydive over landscapes that have remained untouched for centuries. Or grab a backpack and hiking boots and use Glenorchy as a base for one of the many spectacular walking tracks including the Routeburn, Greenstone and Caples Tracks. Anglers will find salmon in the local rivers, while hunters enjoy seeking out a wide variety of game in the surrounding hills. There are also farm tours available and off road four wheel driving and photo safaris. 


Skippers Road clings to the side of Skippers Canyon, which drops vertically to the Shotover River, once known as “the richest river in the world”. Rental car companies won’t allow their vehicles on this narrow, unsealed road, but there are plenty of local operators available to take you up the canyon. If you want to test your fitness, mountain biking is also an option.

The road was built during the gold rush, when a precarious pack track was the only access to Skippers township and the Upper Shotover diggings. Constructed between 1883 and 1890, the Skippers Road was considered a major engineering feat in its day. One three-kilometre stretch of the road involved hand drilling and blasting solid rock to create a platform 183 metres above the Shotover River. This daunting task required workers to hang on ropes high above the raging river. This section, aptly named Pinchers Bluff and the Devils Elbow, is a highlight of the road to Skippers.

Some people are lured up this precipitous road with adventure on their mind. There’s rafting on the Shotover River, jetboating with Skippers Canyon Jet and 4WD adventures to Skippers. Others want to discover the amazing Upper Shotover scenery – dramatic schist bluffs and rock tors stand like sculptures in the tussock landscape. The road commands views of the Richardson Mountains to the west and the Harris Mountains to the east

Dunedin railway station 

April 7, 2017
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Built in Dunedin in 1906 when the city was New Zealand’s leading commercial centre, this magnificent railway station remains, fully restored to its former glory.An excellent tourist excursion service is the only train now using the station. Much of its ground floor is used as a restaurant, and the upper floor houses an art gallery and a sports hall of fame.

In an eclectic, revived Flemish renaissance style, (Renaissance Revival architecture), the station is constructed from dark basalt from Kokonga in the Strath-Taieri with lighter Oamaru stone facings, giving it the distinctive light and dark pattern common to many of the grander buildings of Dunedin and Christchurch. Pink granite was used for a series of supporting pillars which line a colonnade at the front of the building. The roof was tiled in terracotta shingles from Marseilles surmounted by copper-domed cupolas. The southern end of the building is dominated by the 37-metre clocktower which is visible from much of central Dunedin. The sheer size, grandiose style and rich embellishments of the station earned architect George Troup the nickname of Gingerbread George.

The booking hall features a mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles. A frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain runs around the balcony above it from which the floor’s design (featuring a locomotive and related symbols) can be clearly seen. The station’s main platform is the country’s longest, extending one kilometre.

The building’s foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Railways Joseph Ward on June 3, 1904. The Prime Minister Richard Seddon was also present. The station was opened by Ward, by then Prime Minister, in 1906. The construction of the building was kept within budget, and cost £40,000.

Created to be the jewel in the crown of New Zealand Railways, the Dunedin Railway Station has an atmosphere and character unique to any public building in the country, and is regarded as the most photographed building in New Zealand.

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