Mar 20th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
When walking in London, keep an eye out for the Blue Plaques. These historic markers will tell you where famous people once lived, and occasionally make for strange combinations.
One blue plaque at 23 Brook Street in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood tells how Jimi Hendrix lived there from 1968-1969. Next door at number 25 is another Blue Plaque, this time for Classical composer George ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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The Historic Homes Where Jimi Hendrix And George Frideric Handel Were Neighbors (250 Years Apart)
Mar 20th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
When walking in London, keep an eye out for the Blue Plaques. These historic markers will tell you where famous people once lived, and occasionally make for strange combinations.
One blue plaque at 23 Brook Street in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood tells how Jimi Hendrix lived there from 1968-1969. Next door at number 25 is another Blue Plaque, this time for Classical composer George ...London Crossrail Project Unearths Black Death Burial Pit
Mar 15th, 2013 at 11:00AM: "Bring out your dead!"
If you lived in London in 1348-50, you'd hear that call a lot. All of Europe was swept with the Black Death, a virulent plague that killed an estimated one-third of the population. London, like other congested urban areas, got hit hard.
Now archaeologists working in London have uncovered a mass grave of Black Death victims, a Crossrail press release reports. Digging ...Castle Drogo, England, Opens To Public
Mar 10th, 2013 at 12:00PM:
The last castle to be built in England is opening to the pubic, BBC reports.
Castle Drogo is more of a stately home than a castle, since it was built long after artillery made castles obsolete. It was started in 1910 by Julius Drewe, founder of the Home and Colonial Stores, near Exeter in Devon. World War I and the Depression slowed down construction and it wasn't completed until 1930. The ...Fabled Sunstone Discovered In English Shipwreck
Mar 7th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
A team of French archaeologists believe they have found a sunstone, a strange crystal that was said to help mariners locate the sun even on overcast days.
Some of the medieval Norse Sagas mention this device. In "Rauðúlfs þáttr," King Olaf asks the hero Sigurður to point out the sun in the middle of a snowstorm. Sigurður points to where it is behind the gray ...Victoria & Albert Museum Showcases Treasures From Royal Courts
Mar 7th, 2013 at 2:00PM:
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has just opened a new exhibition about the development of trade and official relations between Russia and the United Kingdom.
"Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars" brings together more than 150 objects for a look at the interaction between both courts from the accession of Henry VIII in 1509. He and later Tudor ...Can You Afford To Stay At A Celebrity-Owned Hotel?
Mar 4th, 2013 at 3:00PM:
Tennis star Andy Murray, one of the U.K.'s most famous athletes and the reigning Olympic gold medalist, recently purchased the Cromlix House Hotel near his hometown of Dunblane, Scotland. Now closed for renovations, the country manor is expected to reopen in the spring, in time for the 2014 Ryder Cup golf tournament.
Perhaps more than any other sport, tennis requires its stars to become ...Live A Day In The Life Of 'Downton Abbey' At These English Castles
Feb 14th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
The British TV series "Downton Abbey" has taken America by storm with millions of viewers tuning in each week to watch the lives of the wealthy Crawley family unfold. The glamorous outfits, the decadent dinners, the lavish estate – it's a splendorous life most of us can only dream of.
But take a trip to England and you'll see that sprawling country estates like Downton Abbey are very ...Search Is On For Another Lost Medieval English King
Feb 7th, 2013 at 12:00PM: In the wake of the media blitz around the discovery of King Richard III's remains under a parking lot in Leicester, England, archaeologists have announced they're looking for another medieval English king.
The Times reports that archaeologists are seeking permission to exhume an unmarked grave at St. Bartholomew's Church in Hyde, Winchester, that they think contains the remains of King Alfred ...Scientists Confirm Remains Of King Richard III Have Been Found
Feb 4th, 2013 at 2:00PM: Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have confirmed that they have found the remains of King Richard III beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England.
Richard III was the last of the Plantagenet kings and fought an epic struggle with the Tudors during the War of the Roses for control of England. He was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Support for the Plantagenet line crumbled ...Ashmolean Museum In Oxford Receives Major Gift Of Renaissance Art
Feb 4th, 2013 at 12:00PM:
Oxford's Ashmolean Museum has received a major bequest in the form of nearly 500 works of Renaissance gold and silver from the collection of Michael Wellby (1928–2012), the museum has announced.
Wellby was a well-known antiques dealer specializing in German and Flemish silver of the 16th and 17th centuries. He ran a shop in London for many years. As is typical with antiques dealers, he ...The Shard, London's Tallest Skyscraper, Opens To Public Today
Feb 1st, 2013 at 3:00PM:
Today London officially opens its newest landmark, a 1,016-foot skyscraper that has been under construction since 2009. As you can see above, the irregular pyramid-shaped building is entirely covered in glass, and resembles an icicle or chip of glass – hence the name, The Shard.
At 87 stories, the building is the tallest in the European Union. From the 68th to the 72nd floor, the ...Ancient 'Toilet Paper' Discovered In Fishbourne Roman Palace
Jan 31st, 2013 at 2:00PM:
An examination of some strange ceramic disks found at the Fishbourne Roman Palace is changing how we look at some of the most private aspects of Roman life.
Excavations at the palace in the past 50 years have uncovered dozens of pieces of broken pottery that had been deliberately shaped into flat disks. Archaeologists tentatively called them gaming pieces but were never convinced that was ...Lost And Found: How Uncertainty Makes Travel Memorable
Jan 31st, 2013 at 12:00PM:
As the bus begins to pull away from the bus stop in Chania, I catch the old man's eye again, giving him a thumbs-up through the window. He stares back blankly – then leaps to his feet, waving his arms, pointing, shouting. I raise my hands in an uncomprehending shrug, keeping the palms turned inward to avoid flipping him a mountza, the traditional Greek insult. He shouts louder, as if ...ARTSPACE London Showcases Photography Of Iraqi Artist Halim Al Karim
Jan 27th, 2013 at 9:00AM: ARTSPACE London is one of London's lesser-known art venues for out-of-town visitors. It opened in May of 2012 and focuses on Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art. The original ARTSPACE is in Dubai, and the owners decided to open a London branch to expose these Eastern artists to a Western audience.
The latest London exhibition is of Iraqi photographer Halim Al Karim, opening ...Global Giveaway Sends Students Traveling Worldwide
Jan 10th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
In July 2012, People to People Ambassador Group sent students to Japan for the first time since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit in 2011. Partnering with MTV, People to People also ran an Act for Japan contest to give away one full tuition travel scholarship. Now the organization is partnering with actress Holly Robinson Peete to award five students with travel scholarships to ...Reassembling The Skeletons Of Medieval Royalty
Dec 24th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
A team of scientists from Bristol University are using DNA analysis to identify the remains of early medieval English royalty.
The bones are kept in several mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral and include the remains of King Cnut, a Norse ruler who conquered England and ruled it from 1016-1035. The other remains are of Emma, his queen, and later kings Harthacnut, Egbert, Ethelwulf and ...Best Places To Live In United Kingdom Named
Dec 23rd, 2012 at 12:00PM:
Thinking of relocating to the United Kingdom? Halifax Bank's annual survey of the best places to live in the UK has just come out, with the district of Hart in Hampshire coming out number one.
Various factors were taken into account, including average wage, cost of living, crime, and average lifespan. While this survey is obviously geared towards residents and not visitors, a nice place to ...What's The Difference Between Holland And The Netherlands? This Video Tells You
Dec 22nd, 2012 at 11:00AM:
Remember that fast-talking fellow with all of the nifty geography lessons? The guy who sorted out the difference among Great Britain, England and the UK for us in one dandy film? Well he's back, and he's here to explain the proper use between The Netherlands and Holland. I won't ruin the surprise for you, but the geographic difference was quite enlightening.
His name is CGP Grey, by the ...
Tourist Trinkets From The Roman Empire
Dec 21st, 2012 at 9:00AM:
The Roman Empire is remarkably familiar to the modern eye. It had highways, indoor plumbing, religious tolerance, and even fashion violations such as wearing socks with sandals. It's like a primitive version of our own culture, with more similarities than differences.
And now it turns out they had tourist trinkets too.
A press release from Hadrian's Wall Trust announces that a new book ...Totnes: South Devon's Alternative Village
Oct 13th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
Totnes, an Elizabethan town in the South West English county of Devon, isn't your average West Country village. Totnes is what is increasingly known as a Transition Town – in fact, it is a model Transition Town.
What is a Transition Town, you ask? A Transition Town is a municipality focused on sustainable local economic growth by encouraging the use of local resources and local ...
