I had someone ask me recently how many UNESCO World Heritage Sites I had been to . It was pretty handy that I already had a list made that I began a few years ago. Today I was thinking briefly about some of the places I have been and some of the places I want to go and how they compare to some of the sites which have attained the titular significance or being a World Heritage Site.
Here is my list of World Heritage Sites I have visited:
Fuerte De Samaipata (Bolivia)
Mesa Verde National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Waterton/Glacier National Park
La Fortaleza & San Juan National Historical Site (Puerto Rico)
Grand Canyon National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Egyptian Pyramid Fields (Egypt)
Ancient Thebes and its Necropolis (Egypt)
Memphis and its Necropolis (Egypt)
Nubian Monuments (Egypt)
Old Cairo (Egypt)
Aksum (Ethiopia)
Lalibela Rock Hewn Churches (Ethiopia)
Gonder (Ethiopia)
Mt. Kenya
Lake Malawi
Robben Island (South Africa)
Cape Floral Region (South Africa)
Zanzibar/Stone Town (Tanzania)
Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
Serengeti Plain (Tanzania)
Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania)
Virunga National Park (Rwanda)
Westminster Abbey (England)
Westminster Palace (England)
Tower of London (England)
Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe)
City of Quito (Ecuador)
Jebel Barkal (Meroite Pyramids in Sudan)
Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (Melbourne, Australia)
Sydney Opera House
Old Town and New Town Edinburgh (Scotland)
Historic Center of Macau (Macau/China)
There are a number of notable omissions that I have been within a few miles or less from but since I did not visit them I have left them off. One prominent future site to visit is Olympic National Park here in Washington.
I am always interested in learning where others have been and where I could go in the future so if you have been to any UNESCO World Heritage Sites I would like to hear about them.
p.s. no pictures today :-(
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Panorama Pictures
Today I want to share some panorama pictures. I really enjoy using this setting on my camera when I am traveling and here is a sample of some of my favorite panorama pictures I have taken.
This is Hong Kong looking down from Victoria Peak at the harbor.
This is Sydney harbor in Australia with the opera house and the harbor bridge.
This is a place called Queen's View in the highlands of Scotland near Pitlochry. It got it's name because in the late 1800s Queen Victoria went there and took in the view.
These are some of the immense sand dunes in the dune sea, which is part of the Namib Desert in Namibia.
This is in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and is a good picture of the floor of the crater and the abundance of wildlife there.
This is a picture I took from Robben Island in South Africa. In the center is Cape Town and Table Mountain, to the rightmoving down the cape are the 12 Apostles and on the furthest right is the Cape Point.
This is Hong Kong looking down from Victoria Peak at the harbor.
This is Sydney harbor in Australia with the opera house and the harbor bridge. 
This is a place called Queen's View in the highlands of Scotland near Pitlochry. It got it's name because in the late 1800s Queen Victoria went there and took in the view. 
These are some of the immense sand dunes in the dune sea, which is part of the Namib Desert in Namibia.
This is in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and is a good picture of the floor of the crater and the abundance of wildlife there. 
This is a picture I took from Robben Island in South Africa. In the center is Cape Town and Table Mountain, to the rightmoving down the cape are the 12 Apostles and on the furthest right is the Cape Point. 
Friday, February 26, 2010
Mt. Rainier
For those of you readers in the Pacific Northwest you are familiar with "the mountain" but there are tidbits that you might not know, that even I didn't always know!
Feel free to add tidbits you know that I didn't mention.
Things you knew or probably knew:
Mt. Rainier is the tallest mountain in Washington and is 14, 411 feet tall.
It is the tallest mountain in the Cascade range and is protected as a National Park.
It is a volcano! duh
It is on the Washington state quarter
It is on the Washington state quarter
Things you didn't know or probably didn't know:
Mt. Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 states (Mt. Baker is #2)
There are 26 major glaciers on Mt. Rainier (not just one big one)
Mt. Rainier is about half the height of K2 (the second tallest mountain in the world at 28,251 feet) but Mt. Rainier has a higher topographic prominence than K2
There are 3 summits on Mt. Rainier: Columbia Crest, Point Success and Success Cleaver (seen in picture below)
Feel free to add tidbits you know that I didn't mention. Thursday, February 25, 2010
Precious Metals/ Olympic Medals
I was thinking about Olympic medals and how they are gold, silver and bronze.
How precious is the metal in these three medals?
How precious is the metal in these three medals? Gold is currently sells for about $1100 per ounce
Silver sells for about $16 per ounce
Silver sells for about $16 per ounce
Platinum sells for about $1500 per ounce
Palladium sells for about $420 per ounce
Bronze isn't even a precious metal but rather an alloy of copper and tin. Copper sells for mere pennies per ounce.
This puts a different spin on the metal medals that are awarded at the olympics. Perhaps the medals should be made of Platinum, Gold and Palladium in order of their value as precious metals?
Treehouse/Hotel! What could be more fun?
Today I was reminded about a hotel I looked up last year in southern Oregon. It is called Out'n'About Treehouse Treesort. It is in (or rather outside) a town called Takilma. There are 15 rooms/treehouses and each has a different construction, height and price. Their website, which I know you all will go visit since I am posting about it has fun with the word "tree" as you will see.
This is the Forestree and it costs $200 per night in the summer and sleeps 4 people.
The Forestree is 35 feet off the ground and you have beds, toilet, sink and a refridgerator inside.
This is the Peacock Perch and is $130/night for 2 people
This is a picture of two treehouses, the Treeloon is in the lower left and the Cavaltree is on the right.
The Cavaltree is a 2-story treehouse that can sleep up to 7 people but the rate is $140 a night for 4 people.
The Treeloon is a treehouse that looks like an old-west style saloon and is $130 a night for 2 people.
OK, that is enough of that. Phew, I feel like an advertisement! Now lets have some fun with the words they have made with the word tree in it. Here are some of the terms on their website:
"Root Costs" - room rates
"Facilitree"
"Photogatree"
"Legalitrees"
"Treemail"
"Activitrees"
"Activitrees"
You get the picture, right?
Just in case any of you are traveling from a galaxy far far away, here is their galactic map with their location in the Milky Way!
It looks about right to me ;-)
Here is their website:http://www.treehouses.com/index.cfm
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Curling, Curling Stones and Curling Pants!
OK, so once every 4 years anyone not from Canada or Minnesota hears about and gets to watch this intriguing sport called Curling. I admit I joined the every four year bandwagon in 2006 during the Turin games as Curling was shown in the morning before my classes due to the time difference having the games in Italy. I found it pretty entertaining.
Curling Pants are probably the most intriguing part of this post. The Norwegian team has raised some eyebrows and brought additional attention to their sport this year as they wear the pants pictured above. I personally find the pants AWESOME!!!
Curling links-
About curling: http://assets.olympic.org/AFP/JO2010/infographic/en/data/cu/indexen.html
Equipment, Glossary and History: http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/All-Sports/Curling/Curling-Equipment-and-History/?Tab=0
Alisa Craig/Stones: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/curling/news?slug=dw-curling021810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Curling terms:
Stone - this is made of a special hard granite that is found only on one small island along the coast of Scotland
Button - This is the name for the center of the bulls-eye
House - This is the circular scoring area I like to call a bulls-eye
Skip - Decides team strategy and plays last
Vice-skip - Assists the skip and plays third
The Second - Surprise, surprise! this person plays second
The Lead - Plays first and either plays a blocking stone or aims for the "button"
Now that we are done with that - there is actually much more to the terminology see the links below - we can move onto the stones and the much awaited pants!
Curling stones as I mentioned are only quarried from one place in the world as they have been for 500 years. This place is an uninhabited island off the coast of Scotland. The blue hone granite is only found here and it is especially hard and it slides true on ice and can stand up to the punishment of hitting other stones, while also preventing any moisture from getting into the stone. The photo above is Ailsa Craig. As the article link below indicates it is possible to run out of this stone and in essence make the sport extinct at some point in the future.
Curling Pants are probably the most intriguing part of this post. The Norwegian team has raised some eyebrows and brought additional attention to their sport this year as they wear the pants pictured above. I personally find the pants AWESOME!!!Curling links-
About curling: http://assets.olympic.org/AFP/JO2010/infographic/en/data/cu/indexen.html
Equipment, Glossary and History: http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/All-Sports/Curling/Curling-Equipment-and-History/?Tab=0
Alisa Craig/Stones: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/curling/news?slug=dw-curling021810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Picture Entry - Namibia Giraffe
A faithful blog reader requested an entry with a picture so I felt compelled to fulfill their wish.
This is obviously a picture of a giraffe but it is also a picture that I took myself, while I was in Etosha National Park in Namibia. That was 3 years ago in February 2007. Generally it takes giraffes quite a while to get into a drinking position as this is when they are most vulnerable to attack from predators. I was fortunate enough to skip all of the time this one took preparing as I had just driven up to this water hole on one of my self-drive safaris and it was already drinking.
This is one of my favorite pictures and was a memorable moment that I captured during an entire trip full of great moments.
I will strive for brevity with this post but I am happy to answer any questions about the picture, Etosha, Namibia etc. or whatever.
This is obviously a picture of a giraffe but it is also a picture that I took myself, while I was in Etosha National Park in Namibia. That was 3 years ago in February 2007. Generally it takes giraffes quite a while to get into a drinking position as this is when they are most vulnerable to attack from predators. I was fortunate enough to skip all of the time this one took preparing as I had just driven up to this water hole on one of my self-drive safaris and it was already drinking. This is one of my favorite pictures and was a memorable moment that I captured during an entire trip full of great moments.
I will strive for brevity with this post but I am happy to answer any questions about the picture, Etosha, Namibia etc. or whatever.
Odd and Interesting Holidays This Week
What is a holiday?
A holiday is simply a day that is designated as having a special significance. There are several types of holidays including national holidays like the 4th of July or Australia Day, secular holidays like Earth Day or Labor Day and religious holidays like the Eid days in Islam, Yom Kippur in Judaism and Easter in Christianity.
We may focus our attention on these holidays and in particular ones that create 3-day weekends for the additional leisure time they provide but there is literally a "holiday" every day of the year!
There is an additional category of unofficial holidays. These unofficial holidays are often very specific and can include very diverse areas of interest. Some examples are: Talk Like a Pirate Day in September, April Fools' Day or National Corndog Day in March.
This week there are a number of interesting days to observe:
Feb. 22 - George Washington's Birthday, Be Humble Day, Walking the Dog Day and International World Thinking Day
Feb. 23 - International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day and Tennis Day
Feb. 24 - National Tortilla Chip Day
Feb. 25 - Pistol Patent Day
Feb. 26 - Carnival Day, National Pistachio Day and Tell a Fairy Tale Day
Feb. 27 - Polar Bear Day and No Brainer Day
Feb. 28 - Floral Design Day, Public Sleeping Day and National Tooth Fairy Day
For more information on specific holidays and when they are observed throughout the year check out Holiday Insights
http://www.holidayinsights.com/
A holiday is simply a day that is designated as having a special significance. There are several types of holidays including national holidays like the 4th of July or Australia Day, secular holidays like Earth Day or Labor Day and religious holidays like the Eid days in Islam, Yom Kippur in Judaism and Easter in Christianity.
We may focus our attention on these holidays and in particular ones that create 3-day weekends for the additional leisure time they provide but there is literally a "holiday" every day of the year!
There is an additional category of unofficial holidays. These unofficial holidays are often very specific and can include very diverse areas of interest. Some examples are: Talk Like a Pirate Day in September, April Fools' Day or National Corndog Day in March.
This week there are a number of interesting days to observe:
Feb. 22 - George Washington's Birthday, Be Humble Day, Walking the Dog Day and International World Thinking Day
Feb. 23 - International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day and Tennis Day
Feb. 24 - National Tortilla Chip Day
Feb. 25 - Pistol Patent Day
Feb. 26 - Carnival Day, National Pistachio Day and Tell a Fairy Tale Day
Feb. 27 - Polar Bear Day and No Brainer Day
Feb. 28 - Floral Design Day, Public Sleeping Day and National Tooth Fairy Day
For more information on specific holidays and when they are observed throughout the year check out Holiday Insights
http://www.holidayinsights.com/
Monday, February 22, 2010
Weiner Mobile
This post is relevant to my morning commute today as I saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile for the second time in the last few months parked in a hotel parking lot along my bus route.
I thought it would be interesting to find out more about this hot dog on wheels.
The first Weinermobile was created in 1936, was 13 feet long and cost $5000 to make. The current Weinermobile is nearly 30 feet long (about the length of 55 hotdogs). The horn plays the Oscar Mayer jingle. Since 2008 there has also been a Mini Weinermobile that is built on the chassis of a Mini Cooper car. I have only ever seen the large Weinermobile.
For more information about the evolution of this cultural icon over the last 7 decades look here: http://brands.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer/omm_wienermobile.htm
I thought it would be interesting to find out more about this hot dog on wheels.
The first Weinermobile was created in 1936, was 13 feet long and cost $5000 to make. The current Weinermobile is nearly 30 feet long (about the length of 55 hotdogs). The horn plays the Oscar Mayer jingle. Since 2008 there has also been a Mini Weinermobile that is built on the chassis of a Mini Cooper car. I have only ever seen the large Weinermobile.
For more information about the evolution of this cultural icon over the last 7 decades look here: http://brands.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer/omm_wienermobile.htm
Profundity
Here is a brief note about the title of the blog. The term profundity means to have intellectual depth or the state of being profound or deep. Ongoing posts will be as the blog title presumes, without any significant profound meaning or influence. I intend some posts to have information that may be new, providing opportunities to learn but I will not take myself too seriously and pretend for a moment that these posts will a profound impact on anyone in particular.
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