Elephants - Traveling Thru History

Top Historic Sites in Europe, Part 2

Erin — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 09:58:19 +0000

Welcome to Part 2 of my Top Historic Sites in Europe series! I’m glad you came back to check out some more fantastic sites. Europe is a region that has had human activity for over 37,000 years and is just full of history. Last week we looked at 10 famous sites in Europe and why they’re worth visiting. Today we’re looking at 10 more of the amazing places around Europe that you really shouldn’t miss. England – Tower of London The Tower of London has had a lively history in the thousand years it has been standing and has been used for a variety of purposes over the years, ranging from a royal residence, a prison for the elite, an armory, a menagerie, home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, home of the Crown Jewels, and, most recently, a museum. The hill on which the Tower of London sits was first settled in 1066 when the Norman’s, led by William the Conqueror, conquered England. The White Tower, the most prominent building in the fortress and where the fortress draws its name, was built around 1078. The buildings around the White Tower was added during the 1190s by Richard the Lionheart, and a wharf was built in 1285 by Edward I. The Tower of London was the home of England’s royalty until the year 1547. After that, the Tower of London was only used by royalty during the few days before the coronations of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. By the time Charles II was crowned in 1660, the castle fortress’s royal accommodations were in such disrepair that he opted to forgo the tradition of staying in the Tower of London the night before his coronation, then ending the tradition. After the royal residence was moved from the fortress, the most famous use of the Tower of London began: that of a prison and execution ground for nobility. Though, the Tower prison was a bit more comfy than our modern view of a medieval prison. The prisoners here were mainly members of the royal family and wealthy nobility who were able wander the grounds at times and to also purchase comforts such as tapestries and higher-quality food. There were cases of torture during the Tower’s reign as a prison, but during the roughly 200 years the Tower was used as a prison, there are only 48 documented cases of torture being used. As for executions, only 7 people are known to have been executed inside the fortress walls between 1066 and the First World War. The 112 other known executions took place on a hill adjacent to the fortress, which is known as Tower Hill. And then there are all those who went ‘missing’ from the Tower, but that’s another story. Another famous use for this site is as the home of the Crown Jewels. The Crown Jewels have been housed at the Tower of London since the reign of Henry III in the 13th century. The Jewel House was destroyed in 1669 and the Crown Jewels were moved to Martin Tower, where Colonel Thomas Blood constructed an elaborate, but failed, plot to steal them. The Crown Jewels have been housed in various locations around the Tower of London until 1994, when the Crown Jewels were moved to the Jewel House inside the Waterloo Block, which is behind the White Tower. The most unique and unknown historic fact about the Tower of London is that a Royal Menagerie was once kept inside the fortress. King John first brought lions to the Tower during the late 12th or early 13th century and until 1830, a wide range of exotic animals, such as leopards, hyenas, baboons, wolves, bears, elephants, and tigers, were kept on the grounds. Now, all that is left are wire sculptures of wild animals and six live ravens. These are kept due to a prophecy that says the city of London will fall once ravens leave the Tower. Erin Tracy is the owner and author of this blog, Traveling Thru History, which she uses to share her love of history, culture, and travel with her readers. You can also find stories and pictures of her travels on her Facebook page. Slovakia – St. Elizabeth’s Cathedral Often described as the easternmost Gothic cathedral in Europe, St. Elizabeth’s Cathedral in Košice is Slovakia’s largest church and, together with the nearby St. Michael’s Chapel and Urban’s Tower, a National Cultural Monument. Construction of the cathedral was done in five staves beginning in the late 14th century and finishing in the early 16th century, at which time it was dedicated to a Hungarian saint (today’s Slovakia was part of the Hungarian empire). The cathedral consists of five naves, two towers, and three chapels, and is adorned with some of the finest Gothic stonework, altarpieces, windows, and frescoes. The main St. Elizabeth altar includes one of Europe’s largest sets of Gothic paintings, of which there are 48 total. The church’s architectural significance rests in how the central nave and the transept have the same length, forming a Greek cross. This also creates a large indoor space, and allows for three large decorative gables outside. St. Elizabeth follows the style of many other medieval cathedrals in that it has its own crypt, which houses many famous remains. The most famous are the remains of Francis II Rakoczi, the Hungarian nobleman and national hero who led an 18th century independence uprising against the Habsburgs. The cathedral also boasts several legends. The most popular holds that somewhere within the walls there is a hollow building stone, which, if removed, would cause the entire cathedral to collapse. Another says the only non-zoomorphic gargoyle, that of a woman holding a goblet and a bottle, is the alcoholic wife of a builder who immortalized her thusly in revenge for her tarnishing his name. Yet another legend has it that the St. Matthias lantern has the power to absolve the criminal guilt of anyone who can climb into it. St. Elizabeth’s is very dear to the people of Košice. They view this cathedral as the city’s crown jewel and unofficial symbol. It was the first of its Seven Wonders, as voted by a poll of the city’s residents in 2009. The best time to visit are outside of mass, which times can be found here. On sunny days, climbing to the top of Sigismund Tower rewards visitors with a 360-degree view of the historic Košice downtown and surrounding areas. Peter Korchnak is a Košice native and an author. He blogs at Where Is Your Toothbrush?, a food travel website, and several other outlets while sharing his adventures on Facebook. Latvia – Riga Cathedral Located in the heart of Riga’s Old Town, Riga Cathedral stands proudly for all to see. The Cathedral is the biggest medieval church and one of the oldest religious buildings in Latvia and also the whole Baltic region. While the original foundation stone was laid in 1211, the actual construction wasn’t get underway until 1215. Riga Cathedral was originally envisioned as a basilica, but the design was later changed and a hall church was built instead. One of the most unique construction features for this cathedral is that the materials changed over time from natural stone to brick. At the beginning of the 15th century, the hall church was enlarged by building the western cross-nave and side chapels. The tower of the Cathedral can be first seen in a cosmography dating back to 1559, so it is estimated the tower was added during the early . According to records, Riga Cathedral Tower was the highest spire in the whole city of Riga at that time. The cathedral was damaged by a city-wide fire in 1547 and the Gothic spire burned down entirely. A new tower was built in 1595, and the famous Riga Cathedral Rooster, which visitors today see a replica of, can be dated back to this post-fire reconstruction. The Gothic spire was demolished in 1775 due to structural concerns and was replaced with the Baroque style present-day tower. Riga Cathedral has undergone numerous renovations throughout the 20th century. At one point from the late 1950s, the Cathedral was converted into a concert hall as religious ceremonies were prohibited under Soviet rule. The Cathedral has since been restored to replace the altar and the seating. Today, visitors can appreciate the beautiful brick architecture combining Romanesque, early Gothic, Baroque, and Art Nouveau influences. The Cathedral serves as a busy cultural hub for performance, worship, and art – and don’t forget to wave to the Rooster high atop its perch! Lisa and Eric of Penguin and Pia are a German and Canadian travel couple brought together by Instagram. Now, they travel the world, inspire others to waddle, and tell stories in two languages, which you can follow on their Facebook page. Turkey – Hagia Sophia The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has quite a history, both culturally and architecturally. It was first a Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, then it was a Roman Catholic cathedral, then it was a Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, again, then an imperial mosque, and now it is a museum. Hence, if there was one place in Istanbul that combines the different stages of Turkish history, it is definitely the Hagia Sophia. Constructed in 537 AD, Hagia Sophia was once the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople. For a short period between 1204 and 1261 it was converted into a Roman Catholic cathedral by the invading Crusaders, but after they left it resumed its function as a Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica. In 1453, Hagia Sophia became an Ottoman mosque and remained a mosque until 1931, when it underwent renovations to make it into a museum. The museum opened in 1935 and, since then, has been a popular site for tourists travelling to Istanbul. Not only is Hagia Sophia located in an area that is perfect for anyone who would like to visit mosques and get an insight into Istanbul’s history, but it is also a truly magical place. One of the most striking features of Hagia Sophia is the massive dome. This feature is striking both the interiorly and exteriorly. Such a feat was considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have literally “changed the history of architecture.” That’s just the exterior. The interior of the dome is striking in its adornment of beautiful mosaics and stunning marble pillars. When visiting Hagia Sophia, visitors can explore two floors. When entering through the Imperial Gate, visitors will be wowed by Byzantine relics and stunning mosaics. Then, as you start making your way into the upper gallery, you will enter the nave and find several mosaics and runic graffiti. This is the best place to have a look at the dome. The dome is one of the most interesting parts of Hagia Sophia and still drives many art historians, architects and engineers crazy as it has a very innovative way compared to what the original architects actually envisioned for the dome. The first few domes placed on top of Hagia Sophia collapsed due to poor design and natural disaster, but ancient architects finally found a way to make this one stay, in spite of natural disasters, which continues to baffle those who study it. Aside from the dome, Hagia Sophia has other unique design elements. Apart from typical elements that you can find in most churches or mosques, such as Christian mosaics and Islamic minarets, the Hagia Sophia hosts some very special features: figurative decorations of Christ, prophets, and historical figures that were added during the second half of the 9th century. The list of things to see at Hagia Sophia is endless you’ll want to set aside several hours to take it all in properly. Clemens Sehi and Anne Steinbach found the online travel magazine, Travellers Archive, which combines detailed travel documentaries and in-depth travel guides to mostly unexplored destinations. You can follow their adventures on Facebook. Bosnia & Herzegovina – Mostar Bridge The Mostar Bridge (a.k.a Old Bridge/Stari...

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Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

Erin — Tue, 10 May 2016 07:03:35 +0000

In October Troy and I went with a handful of his coworkers to check out this neat little place about 1.5-2 hours northeast of Kuala Lumpur. Along with being a scenic roadtrip away, it boasted the opportunity to feed and interact with elephants. I was soooooooo excited and couldn’t wait to get there.The elephant sanctuary is located in a very rural area that is fairly easy to get to……..if you’re paying attention. We got turned around a little bit because our gps told us to turn right when we should have turned left and we ended up at this compound with barbed wire around it. Yikes! After a quick turn around and navigating by eye instead of using the gps, we got there safely. There were several signs that we had missed that directed us straight to the entrance. lol. The parking lot for the sanctuary was surprisingly empty. There were only a handful of other cars there. I had thought it would be really packed, but we were there kinda early. The sanctuary opens at 10:30 and we got there around noon. Nothing really interesting happens until about 1:00. The schedule says the elephants wander around a trail in a fenced area, but they weren’t doing that when we got there. So, we just hung out in the common areas, took some pictures and ate lunch. After eating, we walked about and learned a bit more about the place. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary is an elephant preserve that has been around since 1989. It is there to provide a place for elephants who have gotten into the plantations around Malaysia to go and be cared for before they are relocated to different preserves or national parks in the country. Some elephants are injured and stay there until they are healthy enough to be in the wild on their own. The sanctuary staff teaches the elephants to be comfortable around humans and to help out with heavy-labor tasks, such as moving trees and clearing out large pieces of timber. They try to get the elephants moved out within a few months, but some end up staying longer due to illness or injury. The main purpose of the sanctuary is to help and preserve the elephants in Malaysia since they are on the Critically Endangered list. To do that, they focus on educating and making the public aware of the plight of the Malaysian elephants. In the common area, they have this information station that has large tablets with information, pictures, bones and other elephant-related items. It was pretty neat. There were a lot of really neat facts about Malaysian elephants and some really big skulls! They also had an example of the size variation between mammoths, Asian elephants and pygmy elephants. Of course, we had to get our pictures next to it. Yay! I’m taller than a pygmy elephant! After hanging out and killing an hour, we were able to watch a really neat video that talked about the purpose of the sanctuary and then a documentary on what they do there. It was neat seeing how they capture an elephant that is damaging a plantation. Though, I think they should say that the plantation destroyed the elephant’s natural habitat and the elephant is just trying to find out where its home went. But, anywho, the video shows how the elephants are captured, cared for and then released back into the wild. I really enjoyed seeing how they do all of this and the care they take while doing it. The workers there really love the elephants. After watching the video, we were able to go to the middle of the preserve and see the elephants! By this time, there were a whole lot of people there. When we first got to the area where the elephants were, we got to visit with some of the smaller elephants. We’d brought food with us, so our snacks became snacks for the elephants! I absolutely loved how excited this lady looked to have a picture with the elephants, so I snuck a picture of her, too. After about 15 minutes, they had a mini procession of the larger elephants going from the jungle area over to the river where we got to watch them play in the water. It was pretty fun. Usually they let people swim in the water with the elephants, but if they think the elephants are stressed for any reason, they don’t allow people to go in the water with them. They also don’t allow people in the water if the water is too high or the weather is bad. The weather was beautiful when we were there, but the elephants were stressed out, so we just got to stand in a gazebo and watch the elephants in the water. It was fun watching them play and have a good time. One thing to keep in mind while you are there is that there are a lot of people and you will get pushed and bumped a lot. This guy was being a bugger and trying to spray people with water. White they were in the water, the elephants enjoyed a good scrubbing by the mahout. Watching these men interact with the elephants, it’s so clear to see how much they love these animals. After the elephants played in the water for a bit, the handlers took them over to a little arena area where they did a small presentation. There were a few English-speaking people there who complained about the ‘lameness’ of the ‘show’, but these aren’t show elephants. They are wild animals who are just being taught a few simple things before being returned to the wild. Some of the elephants are domesticated enough to help with the translocation process of the wild elephants, but none of them are for show or entertainment. I enjoyed the presentation that demonstrated how strong elephants are and how good their balance was. It’s always neat being able to see the strength and intelligence of the animals around us. Pardon the shakiness. We were getting pushed and jostled quite a bit. After the presentation, we got to feed the elephants! I didn’t even realize there were baskets of fruit laying about until the end of the presentation. I’m glad Troy noticed sooner than I did so that we could grab some fruit to feed the elephants. We’d brought celery, carrots and some apples to snack on, so we still would have been able to feed them, but it’s always fun having a lot to give them. We got some pretty fun pictures of us feeding the elephants. After feeding them a bit, Troy thought it would be fun to pick an elephant’s nose. While we were feeding them, I decided I wanted to do something silly and see if the elephant would take an apple out of my mouth. Troy didn’t think I’d do it, but here’s the proof! I feel like the elephant was laughing at me. “Silly girl, that apple is mine!” The people we went with were all talking about how cool it was that I did that, so Troy tried it, too. His attempt didn’t work out quite as nicely as mine. I think he forgot the part about it needing to be in his mouth. lol. Or maybe the elephant learned and was quicker to grab the apple this time. Overall, the entire experience was fun. It was a bit crowded and a little crazy, but we still had a good time feeding the elephants and learning more about the sanctuary’s mission. Any effort at animal conservation is a noble thing. So, if you ever find yourself in Malaysia and want something to do, check out the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary. Here is the schedule listed on their website: Time Activities 10.30 am – 12.00 pm Elephant observation along the interpretive trail. Visitor will be able to observe the young elephant roaming freely within the secured electric fencing area. 1.00 pm & 1.30 pm Video show A documentary shows translocation of wild elephants to their new habitat 2.15 pm Bathing and cleaning of elephants by mahout The visitors will watch the elephant bath given by mahout with explanations by NECC staff. 2.45 pm – 3.15 pm Elephant conservation talks at interpretive stage. Visitors will be introduced to each of the elephants which include their background and ability. Note: Please be informed that there are no elephant rides provided in this centre. They used to allow people to volunteer at the center, but they cancelled that program in 2011. I snagged a screen grab off their blog as to why: I am sincerely appalled that one (or several) of my countryman would behave in such a manner as to cause an entire program to be shut down. I am so sorry this happened. I hope one day the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary will be able to resume their volunteer and internship program. I’m sure it helped a lot of people better understand elephants and the effort to help them. And here are directions to the center: By Road From Kuala Lumpur, take the Karak Highway heading towards Lancang District, passing the Karak Village along the way. Once in Lancang, you should be able to see a BP gas station by the side of the road. Turn left into the road before the gas station, then follow the ample road signs along the way and head towards Bolok. You will pass an Orang Asli settlement and at the end of that road, you will reach the Kuala Gandah Elephant Orphanage Sanctuary. The journey takes between 2 to 2 1/2 hours and is 160km from Kuala Lumpur. As for the price, it’s free! They do ask for a donation when you leave, so it’s nice to give at least a little bit. This place wouldn’t be able to operate if people didn’t donate, so show your appreciation for the work they are doing and your ability to go and be around these magnificent creatures. Every little bit helps. 🙂

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