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St. Pete Beach, Florida, formally known as St. Petersburg, Florida, is a quaint tourist destination on the west side or gulf coast of Florida. The downtown area is centered on Corey Avenue where there are many restaurants and bars. For those who like to shop whether a tourist or not there are also quite a few shops to feed your habit. Take a trip and join in the fun. You can relax at a St Pete Beach Florida resort or hotel.

The Lewis and Clark expedition traveled thought the northwest region looking for the Northwest Passage. By 1811 people started navigate the Columbia River and companies such as the North West Company, the Pacific Fur Company, and the Hudson’s Bay Company were dominating the Pacific Northwest. The resources of this area are still plentiful and a very important aspect of the region not just for business, but for tourism as well. The beauty of the Pacific Northwest no matter the season is an attraction like no other. If you want to relax or have a wilderness experience come travel to Oregon and see what is has to offer.

Scuba dive in the Florida Keys the way it should be by scheduling some time at the Ocean Quest Dive Center. Check out their website and find all the information you need about equipment, accessories, tip and tricks, safety and much more. Ocean Quest also has an academy for training and aid training as well as learning about the history of diving and the vast underworld of the waters off the coast of Florida. Learn the latest and greatest techniques at Ocean Quest and let your scuba diving experience be the best possible one yet.

The Cibeles fountain (better known simply as the people of Madrid’s Cibeles) in the city is Spanish in Madrid , in the plaza of the same name . He settled in 1782 in the Salón del Prado , near the Palacio de Buenavista , facing the fountain of Neptune (now at the center of the Plaza de Canovas del Castillo , in the Paseo del Prado near the Palacio de Villahermosa , current Thyssen Museum -Bornemisza , and the Hotel Palace ). Includes the Read the rest of this entry »

El Campo Del Moro is a city garden in Spanish in Madrid . Declared a historic-artistic interest in 1931 , occupies a surface of about 20 acres, extending from east to west, from the western facade of the Palacio Real to the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto. From north to south with its boundaries set by the Cuesta de San Vicente (north side) and the Cuesta de la Vega and the Park of Athens (south side).

The gardens save a steep slope, caused by Read the rest of this entry »

The Teatro Real (literally Royal Theatre) or simply El Real (as it is known colloquially), is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.

Europe is literally littered with palaces spanning the medieval era and beyond and Spain is no exception to this trend. However, Read the rest of this entry »

The Puerta del Sol (Spanish for “Gate of the Sun”) is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains Read the rest of this entry »

The hallmark of any great city is its urban park! Commonly located at the center of its core, urban parks play a significant role in providing traffic-choked cities with much-needed green lungs. As well as recreation, sporting and cultural venues for residents and visitors alike. Here’s a look at some of the larger urban parks from across the world, as seen in through the lens of Google Earth.

The Buen Retiro Park (Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro, literally “Gardens” or “Park of the Pleasant Retreat”, or simply El Retiro) is the largest park of the city of Madrid, Spain.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is a spectacular urban oasis of 1.4 km2 (350 acres) ( 130 hectares) park of aromatic bay leaf trees, ponds, rose gardens, stunning fountains and museums, at the edge of the city center, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado Museum. The Retiro Park features the former grounds of Real Sitio del Buen Retiro Palace, a 17th century weekend palace of King Philips IV. Although the original palace has since been torn down, two remaining palace buildings remain within the park, which now serve as museums. The main park entrance sits behind the Alcala Gate in the Plaza de la Independence.

The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is the most popular park in Madrid. It can get crowded during weekends when many Madrilenian families go for a stroll in the park and street musicians, sidewalk painters, fortune tellers, jugglers and street performers animate the crowd.

Features of the Park

Close to the northern entrance of the park is the Estanque del Retiro (“Retiro Pond”), a large artificial pond. Next to it is the monument to King Alfonso XII, featuring a semicircular colonnade and an equestrian statue of the monarch on the top of a tall central core.

The Rosaleda rose garden, among the many rose bushes of all kinds stands the Fountain of the Falling Angel, erected in 1922, whose main sculpture El Angel Caído (at the top) is a work by Ricardo Bellver (1845–1924) inspired by a passage from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which represents Lucifer falling from Heaven. It is claimed that this statue is the only known public monument of the devil.

The Artichoke fountain has been a beloved Madrid landmark since architect; Ventura Rodriguez constructed it from granite and white stone in 1781. Originally located in the Glorieta de Atocha, a busy Madrid street, it was relocated to the Retiro Park because all the attention it garnered caused traffic problems. The fountain features an elaborate baroque design complete with tritons, Greek gods and of course, an artichoke.

The few remaining buildings of the Buen Retiro Palace, including Casón del Buen Retiro and the Museo del Ejército, now house museum collections. The Casón has a collection of 19th and 20th century paintings, including art by the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla. The Ejército is one of Spain’s foremost Army museums and it houses “La Tizona” the sword of the famous Spanish warrior El Cid. There are displays of armor, a cross carried by Christopher Columbus on his sea voyage to the New World and other artifacts.

Since assuming its role as a public park the late 19th century, the “Parque del Retiro” has been used as a venue for various international exhibitions. Several emblematic buildings have remained as testimony to such events, including the Minig building, popularly known as the Velázquez Palace (1884) by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, and the Palacio de Cristal (“Crystal Palace”), a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London, undoubtedly the gardens’ most extraordinary building.

Built along with its artificial pond in 1887 by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco for the Philippine Islands Exhibitions, it was first used to display flower species indigenous to the islands. The landscape-style gardens located in the former “Campo Grande” are also a reminder of the international exhibitions that have taken place here in the past.

The Paseo de la Argentina, also popularly known as Paseo de las Estatuas (“Statue Walk”), is decorated with some of the statues of kings from the Royal Palace, sculpted between 1750 and 1753. There are now art galleries in the Crystal Palace, Palacio de Velázquez, and Casa de Vacas.

In the Retiro Park is also the Forest of the Departed (Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial monument to commemorate the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks.

Activities

From late May through early October, every Sunday at midday, the Banda Sinfónica de Madrid gives free concerts from the bandstand in the park near the Calle d’Alcala. Manuel Lillo Torregrosa composed ‘Kiosko del Retiro’ to this bandstand. The Park also features an annual Book Fair.

Around the lake, Retiro Pond, many puppet shows perform, and all manner of street performers and fortune tellers. Rowboats can be rented to paddle about the Estanque, and horse-drawn carriages are available.

Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. But it wasn’t always this democratic, as in the 17th century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally dressed to enter.

Tourist Accommodation Near the Retiro Park-

• Hotels

• Apartments & Aparthotels

• Hostals (small hotels) & Youth Hostels

 A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid’s premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.

The Plaza Mayor was built during the Habsburg period and is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few Spanish blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta Del Sol.

As you walk down Calle Mayor from Puerta Del Sol towards the Royal Palace, you might think Read the rest of this entry »

Plaza de España (or “Spain Square” in English) is one of Madrid’s largest and most popular squares of tourist destination, located in central Madrid, Spain, at the western end of the beautiful Gran Vía. It is one of Madrid’s busiest streets. It features a large fountain and famous monument to honoring the Spanish writer Miguel de Read the rest of this entry »