Glasgow (UK)
Glasgow's history stretches back almost two thousand years and has been rich and varied. Originally a small salmon-fishing village at a crossing point on the River Clyde, Glasgow has been shaped by Battles, World Wide Trade and Heavy Industry to become a truly International City.
Founded by a Christian missionary (St Mungo), Glasgow became a major religious centre. Mungo's original church was destroyed by the wars which swept the country in the years after his death. Today's Cathedral dates from the 12th Century and has been added to in the years which followed.
Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow was built over 500 years ago for the Lord of Provan, an official of the Cathedral. The house still welcomes visitors today to view its proud history.
In 1451 Glasgow became a University City. Glasgow University was originally built in the High Street area of the city, but was moved to its present site in Glasgow's West end in 1870.
Glasgow has also been the site of many battles. Bishop's Castle once stood on the site now occupied by Glasgow's Royal Infirmary. Here, in 1300, William Wallace (of "Braveheart" fame) with 300 men defeated an army of 1000 English Knights who had taken possession of the castle under the English Bishop of Durham.
Two centuries later the castle was again the scene of battle when two opposing forces fought for control of the Crown of Scotland then in the possession of the baby, Mary Queen of Scots.
Due to its location on the west of the country, Glasgow was well positioned to send shipping to the West Indies and America. By the 18th century many merchants had acquired great wealth by importing sugar, rum and tobacco. Thus were born the Tobacco Lords who built fabulous mansions （大厦）in the city.
However, life was very different for the city's poor. By the 19th century the influx （流入）of people looking for employment spawned the emergence of tenement （房屋）accommodation. The poorest families were forced to live in "single ends", one roomed homes where the entire family, often including grandparents, would live together. An example is displayed at The People's Palace. Many families had to share common lavatories and wash facilities.
However, the struggle for survival generated a common bond between the tenement dwellers and a great sense of community spirit, kindness and sharing dominated everyday life.
The existence of vast deposits of coal and iron ore （矿石）in the Glasgow area shaped the next two centuries of Glasgow's history.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, aided by technological advances designed by Clydeside inventors such as James Watt, Heavy Industry in the shape of Railway Locomotives and Shipbuilding flourished.
Locomotives were exported throughout the world. "Clyde-Built" became synonymous （同义的）with quality and reliability. The launch of the three "Queens" - luxury passenger liners - was the pinnacle （顶点）of Glasgow's shipbuilding achievement. (Many of the original shipping models are on display in the beautiful "Clyde Room" at the Transport Museum)
Sadly, the changing pattern of industry means that the Clyde no longer employs the vast throngs of workers in the shipbuilding trades, although there are notable exceptions. The proud "Clyde-Built" traditions are still in evidence among the workforces of Kvaerner Govan and Yarrows, to name but two of Clydeside's remaining shipbuilding yards.
Today the city beckons tourists from all over the world. Glasgow's art treasures are world renowned and most of the city's museums and art galleries offer free entrance to view their treasures. The city boasts a fine Concert Hall, International Conference Centre, Science Centre, Sports Arena and shops rivalling the best in the land.
All this combined with Glasgow's unique friendliness and hospitality makes the city a favourite destination for visitors from all nations.
时间: 2004-11-5 15:56
作者: bluesnan
Birmingham (UK)
Surrounded by sprawling motorways, bisected by canals and punctuated by modern shopping centres, Birmingham can seem like a concrete maze（迷宫）. Best to set your bearings on the massive Council House, one of the few 19th-century buildings spared by World War Two, which has a domed facade overlooking the pedestrian precinct（区域） in the heart of town. This precinct comprises Victoria and Chamberlain Squares, which boast the most attractive architecture in the city. West of here are Centenary Square, the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall. Also to the west are the trendy bars and cafes. To the northwest is the colourful Jewellery Quarter. Southeast of the pedestrian area are the Pallasades and Pavilions shopping centres and the City Plaza.
Birmingham doesn't have a peak season as such. The main theatres shut for the summer, but all other attractions remain open. Large conventions and exhibitions run year-round, and accommodation can be harder to find at these times. As a rule if you go between May and September you're more likely to get blue skies than during the colder winter months, but, as any Anglophile（亲英派） knows, the heavens could open at any time.
It's hard to believe that the sprawling Birmingham we know today used to be nought but a small market town. The first rumblings（隆隆声） of its industrial future came in the 16th century when local metal workers gained a national reputation, but it wasn't until the Industrial Revolution that Birmingham hit the big time. Luminaries of that age include Matthew Boulton and James Watt, who built the first steam engine in Handsworth in 1775; William Murdock, who invented gas lighting（煤气灯）; printer John Baskerville and chemist Joseph Priestley. As the local coal and iron trade boomed and jewellery became an important industry, a massive system of canals was built to cope with the traffic.
The enormous growth of the 18th and 19th centuries led to grotty（差劲的；恶劣的） housing conditions. Joseph Chamberlain (1869-1940) introduced civic improvements during his time as mayor and in 1911 the city's boundaries were enlarged to make it the second largest in England.
Unfortunately WWII bombs destroyed much of Chamberlain's good work and attractive buildings were replaced by some of the eyesores（废墟） for which contemporary Birmingham is known.
The 21st century sees a Birmingham whose industries are at the mercy of a strong British pound and faltering foreign investment. It's still a successful conference city, with the NEC (National Exhibition Centre), ICC (International Convention Centre) and NIA (National Indoor Arena) continuing to host high profile events. The city even put in a bid to host the national stadium but lost out to Wembley, only to see those plans buried under escalating costs. Like much of the rest of the country, tourism in the Midlands suffered with the crisis over spiralling petrol prices, extensive flooding, and then the foot and mouth epidemic, which allegedly cost Birmingham and the surrounding area ￡10 million a week at its height.
Birmingham refuses to be beaten. New construction work is still going ahead and multi-million-pound regeneration（重建） schemes are giving the city a much-needed makeover（翻新）. Clubbers give the nightlife a thumbs-up and the cultural scene is undeniably happening. It may still be overshadowed（失色） by cities like Manchester and of course the capital, but Birmingham is determined to compete.
时间: 2004-11-5 15:59
作者: bluesnan
London (UK)
Buckingham Palace
The British capital is more eclectic and electric than it's been in years. There's almost a feeding（渐渐增强的）frenzy（狂热）setting out to prove that London is the most pulsating （搏动的；悸动的）, vibrant （充满生气的）city on the planet, even rivaling New York for sheer energy, outrageous art, trendy restaurants, and a nightlife equal to none（无与伦比的）. Newsweek hailed London as a "hip （时髦，时尚）compromise between the nonstop newness of Los Angeles and the aspic-preserved （这里指固定的，不变的）beauty of Paris--sharpened to New York's edge." Wine Spectator proclaims more modestly that "The sun is shining brighter in London these days."
Experimental theater is taking over stages that were built for Shakespeare's plays; and upstart（暴富的）chefs are reinventing the bland dishes British mums made for generations into a new and inventive cuisine; for the first time ever, Brits （英国人）are even running the couture houses （高级服装店）of Dior and Givenchy. In food, fashion, film, pop music, the visual arts, and just about everything else, London stands at the cutting edge again, just as it did in the 1960s.
However traditional London still lives, basically intact（原封不动的；未受损伤的). From high tea at Brown's to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the city abounds with the culture and charm of days gone by.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul's Cathedral is the symbolic heart of London.
Discovering London and making it your own can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you have just a little time. Even in the 18th century, Daniel Defoe found London "stretched out in buildings, straggling（蔓延）, confused, out of all shape; neither long nor broad, round nor square." The City of London proper （真正的伦敦城） is merely one square mile of very expensive real estate around the Bank of England. All the gargantuan rest of the city is made up of separate villages, boroughs（自治市镇）, and corporations（市政府）--Westminster, Chelsea, Hampstead, Kensington, and many more--each with its own mayor and administration ready to fight for its independent status. Together, however, they add up to a mammoth metropolis, once the largest on the globe.
Luckily, whether you're looking for Dickens' house or the Dr. Marten's Superstore, only a minute fraction of London's huge territory need concern you. The heart of this behemoth（原意是巨兽）is one of the most fascinating areas on earth, and for about a century, one-quarter of the world was ruled from central London. With almost every step you take, you'll come across signs of the tremendous influence this city has exerted over our past, both in thought and action.
London is a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, it's a decidedly royal city, studded （点缀）with palaces and court gardens. Yet it's also the home of the world's second-oldest parliamentary democracy (Iceland was the first).
时间: 2004-11-5 16:01
作者: bluesnan
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
The Netherlands Architecture Institute is much more than a museum. It is a cultural institution, open to the general public, that concerns itself in a variety of ways with architecture, urban design and spatial planning.
The resilient（本意指有弹力的，迅速恢复精力的）port city of Rotterdam has come back from the dark days of World War II, reborn as a modern metropolis from the ashes of the German bombing raids in 1940. The bombing virtually destroyed the port and harbor areas, which were rebuilt, however, with modern facilities that gave it an edge（优势）over older ports. Today, Rotterdam is the major terminus （终点港）not only for shipping produce and other goods from Europe; it's also the world's most important oil terminal （集散地）, with five major oil refineries（炼油厂）located at the port.
The city's reconstruction also gave a new generation of Dutch architects a chance to build on their talents. The result: A cityscape （都市风景）alive with the kinds of quirky （古怪的） constructions more commonly found in newer cities like Miami. Piet Blom's Picasso-esque cubist （立体主义的；立体派画家的）houses at the Blaakse Bos are local landmarks of weirdness, where furnishings have to be adapted to the tilted（倾斜的，翘起的）structures. The new Netherlands Architectuurinstitute （即Architecture Institute）showcases the best of Dutch design, while the Boymans-Van Beuningen Museum offers a world-class collection of modern art and earlier masterpieces.
These houses in the Blaak were designed as cubes resting on vertices of poles. They look like trees, hence the name Blaakse Bos (wood). They are also called cube or pole houses.
Though Rotterdam's one-time harbor, the Oude Haven, was decimated（被毁灭）by the bombing, the medieval Grote Kerk was lovingly rebuilt by the locals. And in front of the church, the 1622 bronze statue of Erasmus (born in Rotterdam in 1469) still holds court. The former harbor itself has become a maritime museum. At the nearby Leuvehaven harbor, the Prins Hendrik Maritime Museum traces the city's watery heritage. Also moored（停泊）there is the Museumschip Buffel, a 19th century warship-turned-museum.
Today's Rotterdam still owes its fortune and fame to the watery ways that have long made it an international destination for trade and tourism. Butnow,its lost history is part of its allure（魅力）, and its present dominance as a world trade center is steering the city's course (带引本市的发展方向）into the next century.
时间: 2004-11-5 16:05
作者: bluesnan
Tell me if u like it
时间: 2004-11-5 17:08
作者: 往事不用再提
I'm looking forward to a tour of these places!
时间: 2004-11-7 15:52
作者: DaPanDa
UP!
Rotterdam and New Amsterdam in Netherland,my dream city!
Hopefully not in the far future, i will be able to make a dream tour of Netherland.
时间: 2004-11-11 13:43
作者: bluesnan
One day, your dream will come ture.
时间: 2004-11-11 13:47
作者: bluesnan
Genoa
Genoa's economy has centered around the port, Italy's largest in terms of water surface area.
Genoa (or Genova) is the hometown of Christopher Columbus（克里斯多弗-哥伦布）, and one of Italy's classic seaports. The city is centrally located in northwest Italy's Liguria Region （利吉里亚区）, which curves around （环绕）the Gulf of Genoa's north shore.
Genoa has suffered economic decline recently, but the city has a grand cultural heritage（文化遗产）. It's streets are filled with medieval cathedrals, glorious palaces, and Renaissance fountains（文艺复兴时代建的喷泉）.
Since the 13th century, Genoa's economy has centered around the port, Italy's largest in terms of water surface area. Now, in addition to shipping and freight transfer（货运）, metallurgy（冶金）, food processing, and tourism employ many of the city's 760,000 residents.
Visitors are attracted by Genoa's port city character, its art treasures, and nearby beach resorts. Popular local festivals include a variety of regattas（赛船大会）, an international boat show in the fall, and the Niccolo Paganini Pemio di Violino competition（以意大利著名小提琴家帕格尼尼命名的小提琴演奏比赛）, named for another of Genoa's favorite sons.
Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840) Paganini's works always contain musical substance that goes way beyond technical bravura.
时间: 2004-11-11 13:58
作者: bluesnan
Salzburg (Austria)
The hills are alive with the sound of tourists in Salzburg, known to the world for its musical legacies and legends. The hometown of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart（奥地利著名作曲家）and the setting for the beloved Julie Andrews musical （音乐片）about the singing von Trapp family （音乐片《音乐之声》里的一家人）, Salzburg is a lyrically （抒情地，极热情地）lovely city on the Salzach River.
Salzburg, a city of 145,000 near the German border, has many nicknames （绰号，浑名）, among them "Festival City," so-called for the world-famous summer Salzburg International Festival (of music); and "The Golden City of High-Baroque （注重装饰和新奇怪异的巴罗克艺术风格）," a title earned by the city's wealth of Baroque architecture.
Landmarks for both Mozart and the movie musical are swarmed （挤满；群集）by tourists year-round. Pop a chocolatey "Mozart Kugeln （一种称做Mozart Kugeln的巧克力）" in your mouth before strolling the Mozartplatz （莫扎特广场）, a city square named for Salzburg's favorite son, where street musicians often play his music. Then tour such sites as Mozart's Birthplace and his Residence, or visit exhibits like the multi-media Mozart Audio and Video Museum.
Salzburg has made its fortune from the likes of Mozart and the movie musical, yet it's intriguing （有趣的，有魅力的）to note that the locals were late-comers to their praise. Only after Mozart's death was he recognized as a hometown treasure (many of his peers saw the brash （傲慢的，目中无人的）composer as a spoiled brat （宠坏了的孩子）, and "The Sound of Music," despite having been filmed here in 1964, flopped （拍动，拍手）with a decidedly unmelodious thud （不悦耳的拍击声）when it opened in Salzburg. Perhaps the locals didn't need to see the sights on film when the real thing was just outside the theater doors.
时间: 2004-11-11 14:33
作者: bluesnan
Kos (Greece)
The third largest island in the Dodecanese（希腊的多德卡尼斯群岛）, after Rhodes and Karpathos （喀帕苏斯岛）, Kos （科斯岛）lies between Kalimnos （卡利姆诺斯岛）and Nissiros . It is mainly flat with a mountain chain -Mts. Dikeos (875 m.) and Simpatras-- running along （绵延）the south coast.
Famous as the birthplace of Hippocrates （希腊名医希波克拉底）, the father of medicine, Kos is also known for its lovely, gentle scenery. It is both lush （繁荣的）and fertile（富饶的）, with an abundance of （大量的）springs and streams, gorgeous beaches and a marvelous climate.
Inhabited since prehistoric times, Kos, like Rhodes and the other Dodecanese, has known periods of great prosperity but also times of great hardship over the centuries.
During the Mycenaean （迈锡尼文明的）period (15th - 12th century B.C.), the island was densely settled and took part in （参与）the Trojan War （特洛伊战争）. In the 7th and 6th century B.C., it was the sixth city-state -- along with （除……以外）Halicarnassus, Knidos, Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros- in the Dorian （多里斯的）hexapolis.
After the end of the Persian Wars it became a member of the First Delian （爱琴海中的得洛斯岛）or Athenian Confederacy（联盟）.
In the 2nd century A.D., however, Kos fell under the sway （受到……的统治）of Rome and sank into （陷入）obscurity.
The long centuries under Byzantine（东罗马帝国的）rule were beneficial to the island, but by the 11th century, it was under constant threat from Saracen （撒拉逊人）and pirate raids before passing into the hands of the Venetians, the Genoese and, eventually, the Knights of the Order of St. John in 1315.
In 1522, the Turks finally conquered it after a series of unsuccessful attempts. The Turks held it until 1912, when the Italians occupied it and the other Dodecanese, and Kos did not become united with Greece until 1947.
Kos today has developed into a cosmopolitan resort（世界性的旅游胜地）, which is becoming more and more in demand （非常需要的）for apart from（除了）its physical beauty, it possesses some remarkable archaeological sites and important monuments -- leftovers （残留物）of various eras - excellent facilities for tourists and, furthermore, it is easy to get to whether by boat or by plane.
