London EyeMadame Tussauds Museum

New Year’s Eve in LondonBarcelona

Photos taken by Evelyn Kurg28Dec 2010 – 8 Jan 2011

London Eye

• 135-metre tall• Situated on the bank of the River Thames• It is the most popular attraction in the UK (3.5 million

visitors per year)• The wheel has 32 egg-shaped capsules• Each 10-tonne capsule takes up to 25 people• It was opened 31 Dec 1999 by Tony Blair (opened to the

public 9 March 2000)• It takes 30-35 minutes to make a rotation• On a clear day you can see 40 km

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum• Current museum has been situated on Marylebone Road since 1884• Museum is divided into 12 zones: A-list party ( Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt etc); Warhol’s Women ( Liza Minelli, Jerry Hall); Movie Room ( Julia roberts, Marilyn Monroe); Sports Zone (Tiger Woods, Mohammed Ali, Lance Armstrong); a Royal Appointment ( Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II) Culture (Shakespeare, Einstein, Picasso); Music Megastars ( Beyonce, Jackson, Lady Gaga); World Leaders (Putin, Obama); Chamber of Horrors and Screams ( Marie Antoinette); Spirit of London ride (takes you through 400 years of history); Super Heroes 4D

* Anna Maria "Marie" Tussaud (1761-1850)•A Swiss artist who founded a wax museum in London• In 1795, she married François Tussaud. They had two children, Joseph and François.• In 1802 Marie moved to London• In 1835 she established her first permanent exhibition in Baker Street

Robert Pattinson George Clooney

Brittney Spears Bob Marley

Christina Aguilera Amy Winehouse

Lewis Hamilton Tom Cruise

Nelson Mandela Nicolas Sarkozy Angela Merkel

Barack Obama Albert Einstein

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Michael Jackson

Pele Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Princess Diana London mayor Boris Johnson

Isaac Newton William Shakespeare

New Year’s Eve in London – 250,000 people gathered on the banks of the River Thames to see the fireworks

People started to gather at 6pm to guarantee a good viewing place, after 9 pm most gates were closed. People were dancing (BBC Radio 1 DJs played good songs live from 6pm till 4 am) , the atmoshere was friendly, joyous

The fireworks lasted less than 10 minutes, the show was shorter than last year, however more intense and same amount of gunpowder was used. After the fireworks everybody sang traditional Auld Lang Syne

Fireworks in London, New Year’s Eve 2010/2011

• http://www.colodec.com/london-2010-new-year-fireworks-hd.html

Barcelona

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/spain/

•The capital of Catalonia•Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula •The highest point is Tibidado, 512 metres• 1.21 mln people•Barcelona is the 12-th most-visited town in the world and 4-th most-visited in Europe (after London, Paris and Rome)• Architect Antoni Gaudi’s works belong to UNESCO World Heritage• 1992 hosted Summer Olympic Games

Antoni Gaudi•25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926•During his youth, Gaudí suffered many times from the rheumatic fevers that were common at the time. This illness caused him to spend much time in isolation, and it also allowed him to spend lots of time alone with nature.• devoted his life to Catholicism and his Sagrada Família.•On 7 June 1926Gaudí was hit by a tram. Because of his ragged attire , many cab drivers refused to pick him up for fear that he would be unable to pay the fare. He was eventually taken to a hospital in Barcelona. Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day. When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying "I belong here among the poor."He died three days later on 10 June 1926, at age 73, and was interred at La Sagrada Família.

www.wikipegia.org

SAGRADA FAMILIA, a Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudi

Casa Batllo and Casa Mila

Catalan National Art Museum, fountains work in the summertime. Built in 1929 for Barcelona International Exhibition, on the mountain of Montjuic.

Olympic Stadium – was renovated for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. It has a capacity for 55,000 seated spectators

FC Barcelona Club was founded in 1899. The present stadium, called Camp Nou was opened in 1957 and has 93, 053 seats. The pitch measures 105 x 68 metres and is 48 metres high. It is the biggest football stadium in the world

Tibidado

Funicular tram takes visitors to the top of Tibidado, the highest point in Barcelona (over 500 metres)

View from the top of Mount Tibidado

Parc Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudi, sponsored by businessman Güell

Gaudi used pieces of colourful tiles to make mosaic works of nature

Mediterrean climate is warm enough for tropical plants(1-6 Jan the daytime temperature was +10 - + 16)

Cable Car Clementine trees on Passeig de Gracia

La Rambla – shopping, entertainment and clubbing area

Barcelona almost doesn’t have private houses, blocks of flats of all sizes are common

Monserrat Mountains

The Pyrenees, between France and Spain

Landscape seen from the plane near Bristol Airport, in England