Big Ben, One Of The Iconic Symbol Of London, UK

Big Ben is actually the nickname used for the Great Bell of the clock located on a tower and this clock tower is located at the north end of the building (Palace of Westminster) in London on the bank of River Thomas.   

The original name of the Big Ben Clock Tower is Saint Stephen’s Tower, while often used name Big Ben Clock is a wrong one. Although the entire structure of tower is known by people as Bing Ben in London, or Big Ben of London. In tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on her Diamond Jubilee the Tower name was changed to Elizabeth Tower in 2012. Since then, it is the official name of the tower.  This Elizabeth Tower is the third tallest free standing clock tower in the world while it has the largest four-sided chiming clock.

The Big Ben Tower is 315 feet (96.0 m) tall. The Big Ben is located on the banks of River Thames. It has four clocks and the outer faces of the clocks are 23 square feet in size. When it was completed the clock was biggest of its kind. The structure of the tower was completed between 1843 and 1858. It was built for the building named Palace of Westminster recently known as the Houses of Parliament.

Huge Clock in Big Ben, London

The Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower are among London’s most iconic landmarks of UK. This big clock has big hands too; the hour hands are 09 feet long, while the minute hands are 14 feet long. Pieces of the clock face can be removed easily due to its special design, to allow the cleaning and maintenance.  There are 312 pieces of glass used in each dial. Big Ben Tower’s clock is remarkably durable and rarely stopped, as the clock continued to chime and was running accurately even in WWII when the Parliament was nearly destroyed with bombing.  

The Great Bell in the bell house within the Big Ben Tower in London is the largest bell in the tower and a part of the Great Clock of Westminster. This massive bell weighs almost 14 tons. The hour bell was probably takes its name from the man who the first commissioner of works, Benjamin Hall. The Big Ben first time rang across Palace of Westminster on 31 May 1859. The overseas tourists are not allowed to visit the tower. However the UK residences can tour the Tower, there is no lift facility so people can only climb via stairs to reach top.

A Night view of Big Ben and the House of Parliament

Millennium Park Chicago, A Top Attraction In Chicago, USA

The Millennium Park of Chicago is a huge park with unique artwork and has green, flowered gardens. It is the Park having a huge area of 24.5 acre and is seen as the crowning glory among the city’s public.

 Skyscraper Around Millennium Park Chicago Looking More Gorgeous

The Park is so famous among the tourists too and it is true that your tour to Chicago cannot be completed without visiting to Millennium Park. It is a modern park and its location on Lakefront raises its popularity.  The park was controlled by Illinois Central Railroad for almost 150 years from 1850 to late 20^th century. According to history, it was feel that the area around the railroad track had no attraction, considered by Daniel Burnham (a Chicago’s develop planner), so the planners developed Grant Park around the area but much of the area remained untouchable than Chicago’s other beautiful spots for many years.

Panoramic View of Millennium Park

Panoramic View of Millennium Park

In 1977 a Civic groups proposed government to build a new park with a modern pavilion here but due to less interest of government the plan remained incomplete till 1997 when Mayor Richard M. Daly proposed the Millennium Park. Mayor Daly’s dream was to build new parkland in Grant Park and converts the unattractive railroad tracks and parking lots along the lakefront (edge of lake). He also decided to create a plan for a new music venue there.

People Sitting in the Ground

According to name the first plan was to open the park in 2000 but due to many problems and hurdles the project went delayed and finally the park was opened on 16 July 2004 with a grand opening ceremony attended by over 300,000 people with three days celebration. The attendance of visitors at opening festival was much higher than expectations.

Attractions for Tourists:

Today, without any doubt the 24 acre large Millennium Park has an award winning beauty and center of art, music, architecture, and landscape design. It has many absolute magnificent features tourists can found in the park. Some of them are discussed bellow.

Jay Pritzker Pavillion:

Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park

 The most popular feature of Millennium Park in Chicago is the Jay Pritzker Pavillion, beautifully designed by popular architecture Frank Gehry. This ultra modern concert venue has 4000 seats with rooms along with an additional seating place for 7000 in a bigger lawn. It is the home of musical and different types of concerts and events held at Pritzker Pavillion.

Cloud Gate:

Tourists who have no interest attending a festival or concert in Millennium Park Chicago, there are still a number of worth seeing attractions for them such as the Cloud Gate designed by Indian born British artist Anish Kapoor. This 33 feet high and 110 ton steel sculpture is famous as “The Bean”.  The structure was inspired by liquid mercury and considered as the largest sculpture in the world of its kind. Its polished stainless steel plates shines and reflects the Chicago Skyline. Its curved surface displayed amazing reflections to people. A popular thing for visitors to do here is to walk under The Bean and enjoy the distorted (pulled or twisted) reflections and take pictures of your reflections.

Crown Fountain:

There are some other activities and attractions for tourists in Millennium Park Chicago, such as Crown Fountain one of the most popular tourist spot designed by Jaume Plensa a Spanish artist. It is a black granite sparkling reflecting pool consists of two 50 feet high glass-block towers. The water fells down with continuous shower from the tower that fills the plaza to a depth of 1/8 inch. The water fells down the towers outer side in a cascade on three sides. It can be fun to walk through the shower especially children love to take this shower. The fourth side of towers is featured with banks of different colors of leds what when viewed from a short distance give the illusion of projected video. In the daylight the towers displays the different faces of Chicagoans each face takes about 10 minutes and in final minute a spout of water fells out from their mouths.    

Other Attractions:

There are some other attractions such as 2.5 acre large Lurie Garden in Millennium Park of Chicago. The garden is full of colorful flowers and lush green grass covered ground and beautiful walking tracks. Visitors can enjoy the native plants too. For people who like to enjoy indoor concerts or theater, Harris theater will not disappoint them. It is a theater for music and dance.

BP Footbridge is 925 feet long zigzag snake-shape bridge also known as Snake Bridge popular to take a walk. It was designed by Frank Gehry, tourist enjoys the view of Michigan Lake and Chicago Skyline while walking over bridge.  

Cloud Gate, Top Tourist Attraction in Chicago, USA

Cloud Gate, Chicago

Cloud Gate is a huge public cloud shape sculpture in Chicago. Due to its different shape and design it very soon became the one of the Chicago’s most attractions. It is also known or called The Bean, because of its bean shape. The official name however is Cloud Gate. This huge sculpture is made of highly polished stainless steel exterior people can see the reflection of buildings around it. This giant Cloud was made during 2004 to 2006, made up of 168 big stainless steel plates welded together, measuring 33 feet high by 66 feet long. This amazing showpiece consists of 168 plates, each 1 cm thick. Its 100 tons weight makes it one of the largest sculptures in the world.

Cloud Gate, Chicago

The design of Cloud Gate was created by Anish Kapoor an artist came from London but born in India. In 2004 the Cloud Gate was fully ready for the inaugurated of Millennium Park in 2004. The officials were eager to show the 23 million dollars valuable sculpture to the public. But due to its uncompleted structure official faced many critics because it was unpolished and was looking uncompleted clearly. Kapoor was also unhappy with this as it was unveiled to public in an unfinished state. Soon after the inauguration of park, the sculpture was taken under wraps, not until it was completely finished in 2003. Now it became with a new magical appeal visible.

Cloud Gate, Chicago

The New Cloud Gate with shiny, seamless, and polished attracts the visitors and show great reflection of skyline of Michigan Avenue, it also reflects the people standing nearby. It also became the visitor’s most popular joy to admire Chicago’s famous skyline and their own reflection in the sculptures. The famous Cloud Gate or The Bean is often seen on the shirts and postcards too. Visitors brings mobiles or camera with themselves to shoot out the yourself with Been’s highly reflective surface.

Cloud Gate, Chicago

another most beautiful thing which people enjoys often at night the ground around The Been displays beautiful boxes with different color. it looks very beautiful when watch on first time.   

Evening time displays more gorgeous The Been

Beautiful scene of Cloud Gate people enjoying the amazing light effects

Willis Tower, An Iconic Symbol of Chicago, USA

Willis Tower of Chicago is also known as Sears Tower. The tower was completed in 1973 and at that time it was the tallest tower of the world leaving behind by 25 meters to the twin towers of WTC. The building remained the tallest title for nearly 25 years until the twin Petronas towers were build in Malaysia in 1998.

The former Sears Tower was sold out in 1993 after moving to the suburbs. The old name was left unchanged until 2009. In 2009 it was renamed with Willis Tower by one of the skyscraper’s tenants, a British insurance company.

Willis Tower

A Night View of  Willis Tower

The Willis Tower or the former Sears Tower is located on Wacker Drive West Loop Chicago. There are also commuter railway stations located here. The building became popular soon after its completion in 1973. The building has beautifully designed 108 stories consisting of strong steel columns and beams having beautiful 13100 bronze-tinted glass windows.

 Willis Tower View at Night

 A Nice View of Willis Tower

The Willis Tower is the tallest skyscraper of Chicago, leaving behind the Trump International Hotel and Tower by 27 meters (the second highest tower of Chicago), and the Aon Center building by 96 meters. Willis Tower Chicago is 1450 feet tall, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Chicago. Today Willis Tower is at number 9 in world tallest buildings list.

A View of Willis Tower

The Willis Tower consists upon on 09 numbers of tubes, takes you to different height in the building. Originally it was planned that it will be fifteen tubes into the building, but after the hotel was taken out of the project, finally it was decided that nine tubes will remain in use. At the height of 49^th floor, two lifts end. While at the end only two tubes reaches at the full height of 442 meters.

Sky Balcony The Ledge

The Chicago Skydeck at Willis Tower is on height of 103^rdfloor stands at 1353 feet above the earth. This Skydeck of Willis Tower is one of the Chicago’s most popular attractions. Most amazing experience for tourist is to enjoy view from a balcony named “The Ledge”. The balcony is made of glass extending 4.3 feet from the wall where you can look straight down. It makes most people uneasy at first.  On a clear day tourists can be able to see the Great Plains of Illinois as well as the area across from Lake Michigan. There are knee high windows for kids. Skydeck have powerful telescopes allow you to see the city with detail.    

Willis Tower Image at Night

Park Guell, Barcelona's Top Attraction, Spain

Pavilion View

Park Guell is a famous public park beautifully constructed with gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill, in La Salut (it is located in north of Garcia District of Barcelona).  The park Guell’s main staircase and fancy pavilions were originally designed and built by famous artist Antoni Gaudi.

 Stairs Leads to the Sala Hipostila

 Meet Dragon-Like Lizard in the Center of Stairs 

Actually this place was constructed for some housing society in 1900, in which many houses were to build to sell them. But unfortunately they cannot sell even a single house. So the project went failed. According to story a popular Catalan industrialist named Eusebi Guell take a big area of about 17 hectare on a hill station of district Gracia. The area was very near in north of Barcelona. The idea was to make this plot into residential garden village (the idea was taken from English model villages). The project started and development was in progress. They built several public houses along with beautiful gardens.  In early 19th century the industrialist hire famous Antoni Gaudi with his support he also hired architects such as Josep M. Jujol and Francesc Berenguer. Antoni Gaudi was involved 10 to 13 years with this project since Guell declare it a failure project, because he failed to sell a single house. The project was abandoned in 1914. Since then Guadi had created 3 Kilometres long roads and walks, a plaza and two main gatehouses in his different style of creation. Soon the state of Barcelona acquired this property and declared this area as a public park.

 Columns are Standing under Sala Hipostila's Roof

There are two Hansel and Gretel buildings at the entrance of the park with curved roofs and decorated with colored tiles and ornamented spires. The pavilions, designed by Gaudi also the staircase at the entrance of the park. There can be a beautiful view from the top. The staircase is also guarded or decorated by a huge dragon lizard at the center. The stairs lead to the Sala Hipostila a building standing with 86 big columns. This is a huge hall under a plaza which is on the top of Sala Hipostila. This plaza was originally built as a market for the people living there. This plaza is beautiful bordered with beautiful tiled bench. A curving bench sinuously around its perimeter and designed by architect Josep Jujol, Gaudi’s nearest friend. Bench is snakelike twisted around the plaza. Tourist can enjoy a wonderful view of the city from plaza.

Roof of Casa Hipostila 

There is a house to the right is called Casa Museu Gaudi. A building with a small tower you can recognized far from. In this building Gaudi spent most of his last years from 1906 to 1926. The house was designed by Francesc Berenguer in 1904. Today the house serves as a museum. It contains some Gaudi’s furniture (including some items from La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, and Casa Calvet) and some more other memorable historic items. Buildings in the park are laced through a covered path many of them are supported by tree like columns.

Covered Paths

In 1984 the park was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, duo to its antique look. It is another honour for Gaudi’s creation.     

Decorated Benches in Park Guell

Decorated Benches in Park Guell