Places Facebook Hates

Let me pose the important question first: Have you sold your Facebook shares? The company is collapsing, and its performance over the last months is a shambles. People have been wantonly banned form commenting or posting for no reason at all. A whole town was ostracized over one of it's beauty spots. Facebook 'algorithms' were blamed, where Facebook illogirithms would describe it better if in a novel way.

 

New World Art Capital: Athens

If you are interested in art, then Athens should be the place to go to next. The art scene in Athens is booming. New cultural spaces open almost daily. Studios and apartments are turned into galleries. For artists, living in Athens is cheaper than elsewhere. Artist have moved their studios from London and Berlin to Athens. And art is seen in Athens, not only bought.

Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment

One of the things you do when in London is walking along the Thames. That will inevitably bring you to the Victoria Embankment where Cleopatra's Needle is standing tall. The needle is an obelisk, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Cleopatra. Otherwise the name is apt.

Slow Travel: Walking From Somerset to India

Parents like to remind their children to eat slowly. And slow cooking has progressed from being a fad to being a way of life. Time to think about slow traveling. And quite frankly, you can't see anything when doing Europe in three days. My advice, take a page out of Thomas Coryat's book and start walking.

Superhighway from Londinium to Isca

A Roman road was uncovered in Puddletown Forest in Dorset. While the existence of the road was a well-known historical fact, it had been well hidden by the forest that it could not be located so far. The harvesting of a planting of Norway spruce firs by the Forestry Commission brought parts of it to light finally.

The Real Tower Bridge in London

Everyone knows one of the most iconic buildings to be seen in London: The Tower Bridge. The Olympic Rings had been suspended between its two towers and its raising platforms have fascinated generations. Have you seen it? Stupid question, you might think, pictures are all over the internet. But have you seen the working bridge? Because what you see is not what you get.

Why You Should Visit St Botolph-without-Aldgate in London

The church of St Botolph without Aldgate had a curious show piece, a head in a glass case. The provenience of the head is a great mystery. Different theories as to its history have been proposed, but there are no clues as to whom the head was once attached to. And it looks like the mystery will remain unsolved. 

When Visiting London, Get an Oyster Card

When visiting London, the first thing you should get is an Oyster Card from Transport for London (TfL). The card can be used on all public transport in London and offers a pile of advantages over buying single tickets. You will travel at a discount and it even saves you some advance planning. 

Stonehenge Tourists 3,500 Years Ago

Tourists in Stonehenge are not an invention of our times. Skeletons found by archaeologists suggest that there were visitors from all over Europe to Stonehenge 3,500 years ago. The most recent find is one from a youth originating in the Mediterranean. 

Drinking Tea at Buckingham Palace

There are several ways you may go about getting your tea at Buckingham Palace. Apart from the obvious ways as a family member or a ruling head of state, there are the invitations for the garden parties of the Queen. The newest way to get your tea at the Palace, though, is the Café just opened for the new tourist season. 

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Come to London in 2012

There are ten obvious reasons why you shouldn’t come to London in 2012, against only two reasons why you should. If you’re into betting, this alone should convince you. If you aren’t, maybe you should have a closer look at the drawbacks. And should you decide to come to London against my advice, please don’t blame me for ‘I told you so’ after you didn’t enjoy it. 

More Pieces in The Puzzle of Stonehenge

Sheffield University presented preliminary evidence on a further circle near Stonehenge found near the river Avon. After blue stone chips found on the site they named it Bluehenge. The circle is not evident as a stone circle anymore, but 27 holes on a ramped mound bear witness to its one time existence. It is time to rewrite the history books (again). 

St. Michael The Door Warden

Besides many other jobs assigned to him by God, St. Michael is the foremost door warden. As such, his churches and chapels may often be found on doorways to the Otherworld. Therefore, whenever you find some building dedicated to St. Michael, it is worth while investigating its history. It might stand on one of the doorways to the Otherworld. 

Britannic's Lost Organ

The ocean liner Britannic was the later built sister ship to the Olympic and the Titanic. Being unfinished at the start of the Great War, the ship entered service as a hospital ship and sunk in 1916 in the Mediterranean Sea. An Organ was obviously not needed on a hospital ship and it disappeared from history to surface in 2006 in Switzerland. 

Bruce Castle (and a Ghost)

Bruce Castle is a misnomer; it is a manor house in Tottenham in London. But living up to a grand name, it has a history and a resident ghost, as well as quite a few open questions that still need to be worked out. 

Light and Shadow in The Gardens

Chatto & Windus published Christopher Lloyd: His Life At Great Dixter by Stephen Anderton. What started out as a biography of a great gardener became a double biography of Christo and his mother Daisy. But there is reason and system to this. 

The Isle of Glass

Approaching through the dense September morning’s mist, St. Michael’s tower looms dark and brooding in the half darkness on the sunless island. By perception warped and cloaked in misty shroud, the tower seems to scale the sky, a dominant power heralding either doom or just plain power to the traveler coming its way. Its indistinct outlines blurred by the wet droplets in the air and in the eyes make it seem slim and incredibly high, part of the stairs to heaven, a reminder of the Tower of Babel. 

A Room for Every Day of The Year

Knole House in Kent is the family seat of the Sackville-West family. The house came into Sackville hands during the reign of Elizabeth I. The present Lord Sackville describes the family and the house in his new book. 

The Mystery of St. Sophie’s Treasure Heist Solved

St. Sophie’s was a church in Dresden. Valuables found there during its destruction became known as St. Sophie’s treasure. The treasure was on show in the Museum at Dresden until one day it disappeared in broad daylight. 

Archaeologists Find The Tomb of Queen Edith

German archaeologists were baffled and confounded by the find of Queen Edith’s remains. The remains were found in her grave in Magdeburg’s cathedral what nobody could have expected. The remains are currently at Bristol University for testing to prove that the bones really are Edith’s.