Virtual Tripping » North America

Welcome to the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, North America on Virtualtripping.com

Mark — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:59:53 +0000

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Regina, Mosaic Stadium, home of the Roughriders football team.
Welcome to the city of Regina it is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Regina is now the second-largest city in the province, behind the largest city of Saskatoon, it is also a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. And to no surprise it is governed and run by the Regina City Council. Regina is a cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox, Dioceses of Regina and the Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle.The locals of Regina are known as Reginans and the city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Sherwood No. 159. A while back in history, the city of Regina used have the seat of government of the North-West Territories. Back then the seat was shared with the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and of the District of Assiniboia. The name Regina, came from daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise, who was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, and he was the Governor General of Canada. Who named the city in 1882 after Victoria Regina.

Photo by daryl_mitchell

This is a picture taken from flickr of The Queen City.

Photo by jimmywayne

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.
So here is some of the history of this city, well it started differently, to other planned cities in the Canadian West, it appears that this was a natural area and that man took on himself to create an area that became the city of Regina, this was known as a tabula rasa, without topographical features other than the small spring run-off Wascana Creek. So the people of that day, decided to take advantage of such opportunity by damming the creek to creating a decorative lake to the south of the central business district, they then constructed an the elaborate 840-foot or 260 miles long Albert Street Bridge which went across the new lake. The city then grew and became more and more important, when it was offered the opportunity to become the new province of Saskatchewan, capital in 1906. The main attraction of this city is the Wascana Centre, which was made around the focal point of Wascana Lake, and has the Provincial Legislative Building, inside aswell as the campuses of the University of Regina, the provincial museum of natural history, the Regina Conservatory (in the original Regina College buildings), the Saskatchewan Science Centre, the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery and the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts. So you will find plenty to do and see within this city, including places to eat, drink and be merry, and you will find plenty of places to stay and as i have said above, plenty of attractions to be found to.

Photo by thelastminute

This is a picture taken from flickr of Regina City in the Snow.

Photo by Ben Lawson

This is a picture taken from flickr of Saskatchewan Legislature, on Lake Wascana.
So what else is there to se and do, well if you head outwards from Regina to her Residential neighbourhoods, you will notice that they are largely indistinguishable from those in other western Canadian cities, you will find some beautiful natural or man-made sites from several precincts beyond the historic city centre, which are a must to see, namely the Lakeview and The Crescents both of which lie directly south of downtown. There is alsoto the north of the central business district, an old warehouse district, is is where you will find shopping and residential development, there. This is nothing like what you would find in other western cities of North America, where they will have the shopping malls and big box stores. So this is a very interesting and beautiful area to visit in Canada.

Photo by Wat Peace (formerly wat suandok)

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

This is a post on St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

Mark — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:22:02 +0000

ST. John\’s Episcopal Church Richmond Va.
St. John\’s Church Richmond, VA
So what is this post going to teach us, well article is about St. John’s which is an Episcopal church, you will find this building on 2401 East Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia. This is a very important church to the city of Richmond, as it is formerly been made up from several earlier churches, and these churches have now created a big church, which is known as St. John’s. But the reason why it is so special is because it is the oldest church in Richmond, and was built by Colonel Richard Randolph in 1741 and giving its name to the Church Hill district. But on top of that it really is an amazing church, because it has become well-known for two important conventions in the period which lead to the American Revolutionary War, and also where Patrick Henry gave his closing speech at the Second Virginia Convention with the famous quotation “give me liberty or give me death.”

Now St. Johns has become a place that many tourists like to go and visit when in Richmond, the reasons being are because of above, but also because, there is a small souvenir shop which can be found within the churchyard, and this is where regular tours begin. So you will find that there is an active church with a ministry and congregation, but even so the tours still go on, and they begin with the tombstones, where some of are actually of archaic design, which have marking’s on the graves of many important or famous Richmond and Virginia residents and the tours ends when you reach the insideof the church where the background to the historic events preceding and during the Revolutionary War is described. Two very important individuals, who are buried at St’ John’s are George Wythe, who was the first law professor in the United States, aswell as a delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. And then there is Elizabeth Arnold Poe, she was the mother of author Edgar Allan Poe, her exact burial spot is unknown, but a memorial marks the general area. so whether you are religious or not, this is a place of peace and tranquility and i am sure you will enjoy visiting this special church.

Welcome to my post about the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, which belongs to the U.S.A.

Mark — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:31:32 +0000

Guam USA, Paradise Island

HAGATNA VILLAGE ~GUAM~

So where is Guam, well it is located in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. This Guam is the largest island out of the Mariana Islands, and it’s capital is Hagåtña, it used to be known as Agaña. Guam and the Mariana Islands are one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. The island of Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations.

Photo by chotda

This is a picture taken from flickr of the guam commercial port.

Photo by Guanlong D.

The history of Guam’s people dates back approximately 4,000 years ago and they were known as the Chamorros, Guam’s indigenous people and the first to have populated the island. Now Guam has alot of history, where the European colonialism, took place. It was first discovered by a man known as Ferdinand Magellan, this was when a Spanish expedition took place on March 6, 1521, when first colony was established in 1668 this was when Spain brought over settlers which included, Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. A for a time the island of Guam, became an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons that crossed the Pacific annually. And Guam stayed as a Spanich territory until 1898, when the island was handed over to the United States during the Spanish-American War after defeat and later formally ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris.

Photo by Guanlong D.

Now going back to World War II, Guam was the largest island in Micronesia and at the time was the only island that belonged to the U.S. And because of this the Japanese attacked and took over the island on December 8, 1941, just hours after bombing Pearl Harbor, and was occupied for two and a half years. Sadly, thought during the occupation of Japan, the people of Guam went through alot, they were tortured, beheaded and raped,and had no choice, but to accept the Japanese culture. Relief came for the islanders on July 21, 1944, when the United States attacked and managed to beat the Japanese army, but it wasn’t easy for them. This date has now become a very important day for the islanders and they celebrate Liberation Day, every year. Funny enough today the island’s economy has become strong due to the support of its principal industry, tourism, which you will find is mainly, visitors coming from Japan and the island’s second-largest source of income is the United States military.

The history of the “Christmas Elves” on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:30:02 +0000

christmas elves
Arthur Christmas \”Elf Down\” Movie Clip Official 2011 [HD]
JibJab crazy singing elves

Photo by amanky

Photo by alwaysmnky

Well with Christmas vastly approaching , i can imagine it must be hard work being a Christmas elf, these guys live with Santa Claus in the North Pole and they are the major helpers, when it comes to making the presents and getting them ready for delievery. You do not hear much about elves, because they only appear to come out around Christmas time. What do they look like, well they are usually look like green or red cladded with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats. They spend nearly all of their lives in creating toys and gifts in Santa’s workshop, but they do also look after the animals especially the reindeer, which are usually among other tasks.

Photo by lierne

Photo by Cockburn Libraries

So where do these elves originate from, well supposingly, they first arrived on earth, when a European folklore was written and in this folklore, they were introduced into the Santa Claus tale during the 19th century, this happened in the United States. But there is also a possiblity, that Santa Claus himself may have also been an elf, there is some question on that. So what is the reason for earth to have elves, well it is that the main job for an elf is to make presents and because of this the Christmas elves became a part of an American Christmas tradition that was to go around the world, with Santa Claus. But of course like some of the American folklore you will find that they often originated from Northern Europe, this was when the settlers brought their own Christmas traditions with them and that then developed into the American Christmas that was later exported around the world, along with other aspects of American popular culture. But if you look into old English folktales, you will find that they come from the early modern period and that Santa’s assistants can be different. This will depend on other countries traditions, but whatever the elves look like, they are still elves.

Photo by Cockburn Libraries

It has been said that modern Christmas elf, first appeared in a book that was written and not published by Louisa May Alcott in 1856, it was completed, and called the “Christmas Elves”. There have been engravings from another book in 1873, known as Godey’s Lady’s Book, this shows the elves surrounding Santa whilst at work. But there was also another book written by Edward Eggleston‘s in his 1876 work “The House of Santa Claus, a Christmas Fairy Show for Sunday Schools”. So they must be real, because there appears to be books about the Christmas Elves and Santa Claus, and if you believe in Father Christmas, then you really must believe in the Christmas Elves. So why all you children are getting excited for christmas, the poor little elves are working very hard to make sure you get your presnts on christmas morning.

Canada’s Remembrance Day (English) or le jour du Souvenir(French) on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:20:46 +0000

A Canadian Remembrance Day Tribute
Remembrance Day ceremony in Windsor, Ont., Canada

Photo by Canada in Afghanistan / Canada en Afghanistan

Photo by nznationalparty

Canada has beeen involved in the world wars and their country remembers Canada’s heroes on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month every year. Like in the U.k the Canadians remember their dead soldiers aswell as the soldiers fighting today. Over there though they take Remembrance Day is a public holiday, but it is not taken by all the provinces and territories like Ontario and Quebec. The Canadians also have a Veterans Affairs Canada, a federal entity, states that the date is of “remembrance for the men and women who have served, and will continue to serve for their country during times of war, conflict and peace”. But the rememberance day is though specifically, for the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and all conflicts since then in which members of the Canadian Forces have participated.

Photo by .m for matthijs

Photo by Enokson

This department known as Veterans Affairs Canada, is basically a department built within the Canadian Government that runs a program called Canada Remembers with the mission of helping young and new Canadians, this is for alot of young canadians who do not know much about the wars, and because of this program they will come to understand and appreciate what those who have served Canada in times of war, armed conflict and peace stand for and what they have sacrificed for their country. But the department is for other services, for the war veterans. So it is quite alot the same as many other rememberance days around the world.

Photo by Enokson

Welcome to the State of Idaho in the U.S.A on Virtualtripping.com

Mark — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:17:51 +0000

Beautiful Idaho

Tour Boise Idaho

Photo by Stephen A. Wolfe

This is a picture taken from flickr of Nez Perce National Historical Park.

Photo by Brian Auer

This is a post about the Idaho this is a state in the Northwestern United States. The largest city and capital is in Idaho is Boise. And the locals are known as “Idahoans“. This state of Idaho joined the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state in the U.S.A. This happens to be a fascinating state as it is mainly a mountainous state, and Idaho has become the 14th largest state by land area, with an area larger than that of all of New England. Idaho is a landlocked state and is surrounded by the states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and the Canadian province of British Columbia.So it shows how big Idaho is, when you see six states and one province. Now due to the of dams and locks on the Columbia River and Snake River , this makes the city of Lewiston in Idaho the farthest inland seaport on the Pacific coast of the contiguous United States.

Photo by Jodene

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Hells Canyon near Oxbow dam.

The nickname for the state of Idaho is the Gem State, because nearly every known gemstone has been found there.But this is a special place because apart from the Himalaya Mountains, in Pakistan and India, Idaho is the only other place where you can see star garnets and is the only place six-pointed star garnets have been found. Finally, Idaho has also been called the Potato State this is because of its popular crop. And the state motto is Esto Perpetua in Latin for “Let it be forever”. So alot of people who live in Idaho love it with it’s mountains, lakes, falls, dams and forests, there really is plenty to see in this magnificent state. But one of the reasons i wanted to write about Idaho was because there is a place there which has the University of Idaho and it is known as Moscow. Which happens to be the name of the Capital city of Russia, Moscow to.

The 10th Anniversary of the World Trade Centre, Lower Manhatten, New York City, U.S.A.

Mark — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:27:26 +0000

This is a Youtube video with dramatic music showing the events on the 11th September in lower manhatten, New york city.
11 september attack

Photo by savethedave

Today is a sad day around the world, as many people will remember the tradegy on the 11th September 2001, when just under 3,000 people lost their lives, it was a disgraceful and disgusting act by the human race, what is wrong with people i will never know. Youdo not like to hurt yourself, so what gives people the right to kill others, it is so WRONG. Anyway let me tell you the version of the events that i have picked up on from Wikipedia. Well the original World Trade Centre happened to be complex of seven buildings featuring the landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. So the complex was completed and opened on 4th April 1973, and sadly was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. They are now using the siteto build five new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks. At the moment they have only managed one skyscraper with four more expected to be completed before 2020. They may even build a sixth tower, but that is still awaiting confirmation. The reason why the attacks were so successful was because the World Trade Centre buildings 1 and 2 were the tallest buildings in the world, surpassing the Empire State Building, also in Manhattan, meaning they would be easy targets for the planes to hit them.

Photo by wallyg

The other World Trade Center buildings included the Marriott World Trade Center; 4 World Trade Center; 5 World Trade Center; 6 World Trade Center, which housed the United States Customs. These buildings were built between 1975 and 1981. and the last building was constructed 7 World Trade Center, and this was built in 1985. For film fans out there the second building was featured in King Kong in 1976. The World Trade Centre, sadly brought alot of bad luck to itself, because back on February 13, 1975, these buildings experienced a fire and then a bombing on February 26, 1993. It survived both of those and in 1998, the Port Authority decided to privatize the World Trade Center, leasing the buildings to a private company to manage, and awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001.

Photo by savethedave

Now it is the morning of 11th September, 2001,this is where it all started to go wrong, Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two 767 jets into the complex, one into each tower, in a coordinated terrorist attack. This was to cause alot of damage and after 56 minutess of burning the South Tower, which was tower 2 collapsed, this was followed half-hour later by the North Tower, which was tower 1, with the attacks on the World Trade Center resulting in 2,753 deaths. Later in the day World Trade Center building 7 collapsed and even though the other buildings, did not collapse, they had to be demolished because they were damaged beyond repair. The process of cleanup and recovery at the World Trade Center site has taken up to eight months. In may 2006, the first new building at the site was 7 World Trade Center, which opened. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), established in November 2001 to oversee the rebuilding process, organized competitions to select a site plan and memorial design. Memory Foundations, designed by Daniel Libeskind, was selected as the master plan, which included the 1,776-foot (541 m) One World Trade Center, three office towers along Church Street and a memorial designed by Michael Arad. Sadly we has a peoples often need to remember that with tragedy comes strength and the people of Lower Manhattan, New York City and the United States of America have done that. So well done to them for sticking up for themselves and proving that they are a strong nation.

Photo by shurav

But it is not just them but the peoples from around the world have also done the same with disasters like the earthquake in New Zealand, the floods in Australia, the aircraft disaster in Russia with the polish government, the aircraft disaster in Russia with the Ice Hockey Team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the Chinese earthquake and i can imagine many more disasters, but 9/11 was a definate terrorist attack, long live the people of Lower Manhatten.

This is the Holiday World’s Splashin’ Safari water park in Santa Claus, Indiana, in the US.

Mark — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:55:04 +0000

What i love about doing these posts is that i can find places that i have never even heard of and this post today is about the Holiday World Splashin’ Safari, which is a family-owned and -operated theme park and water park combo, located near Interstate 64 and U.S. 231 in Santa Claus, Indiana, USA. These are the type of places that families love, you don’t just have a amusement park, but a waterpark aswell. But this is also a place where you can visit Santa Claus and see his village, working hard for this christmas coming. It just sounds great to me.

Now this a special theme park because it celebrates Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July with rides, live entertainment, games, and attractions. Plus you have Holiday World which has now become known for its wooden roller coasters, The Raven, The Legend, and The Voyage and then you have the water park which has become known for the world’s longest water coaster, a number of family raft slides, two wave pools, two lazy rivers, two family “tipping bucket” water-play attractions, various water slides, plus water activities for children. But that is not all the establishment offers guests free unlimited soft drinks, since 2000, free parking, free use of inner tubes and life jackets, free sunscreen plus free Wi-Fi hotspots, WOW, now that is good.

Photo by Curtis and Eric

Photo by alandberning

Have reading Wikipedia, i have found out that the park is currently celebrating its 65th anniversary, which month of the year, i unfortunately do not know. Right a brief bit of history. Holiday World was opened on August 3, 1946, it was founded by Louis J. Koch under the name Santa Claus Land. But this park, Holiday World, was actually the first themed amusement park in the world, it was built nine years before Disneyland by nine years. And back then it offered rides, food treats, an antique toy collection, and a wax museum, as well as a Santa Claus impersonator. This was a small park, which was themed around Santa Claus and Christmas. And Santa Claus has a large statue at the entrance of the park, so that it can be remembered as the park built around Santa Claus. They really do go out of their way, you will find in the park a large Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene, plus there are visits each day with Santa Claus. So this park appears to cater for many peoples needs and tastes.

Photo by alandberning

Photo by Edward Beavers

This is the Port of San Fransico in the City of San Fransico, California, U.S.A.

Mark — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:22:42 +0000

Lets have a look at the Port of San Fransico, it lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. This port is known as being one of the three great natural harbors in the world, even though it took two long centuries for the navigators of Spain and England to actually come up with the anchorage, which was originally known as Yerba Buena. It became known as the port, because back in its early days,it was said that all the fleets of the world could find anchorage. You will find on Google Maps, that it will show Fisherman’s Wharf, which is part of the Port of San Fransico and is a very popular tourist destination.

You will find that the large waterfront area goes from the anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Marina district, all the way around the north and east shores of the city of San Francisco, this includes, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Embarcadero, and southward to the city line just beyond Candlestick Point. From what i have picked on Wikipedia, the Port is a semi-independent organization, which is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. Alot of people like to live or visit this area of San Fransico, because even though the city is a brilliant place to live, it sadly has a Nickname and this is known as the Fog City. But it does have many Nicknames, like: The City by the Bay, Fog City, Frisco, The City that Knows How, Baghdad by the Bay, The Paris of the West. And it also has a Motto: Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra, which in spanish means, “Gold in Peace, Iron in War”. And because it does get foggy over there at times it is nice to go to the sea and enjoy the fresh air.

Photo by dony31

Photo by jwinfred

Photo by Richard Standbrook

Laval city in Quebec, Canada.

Mark — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 08:50:53 +0000

This is a post about the Canadian city of Laval , in french it is said laˈval. It is not just a Canadian city , but it is also a region in southwestern Quebec. It happens to be the largest suburb of Montreal, and third largest municipality in the province of Quebec. In 2006 the population was 368,709 and this then made Laval the 14th largest city in Canada. Now in 2011, the population continues to grow and the suburb is estimated at 398,667.

It happens to be a very popular city because of the it being geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. It is a a large area Laval and it occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.If you look carefully on Google Maps, you will notice it is an island, this island has developed over time, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west river banks. So how come it is an island, well it is bordered on the south by Montreal this is across the Rivière des Prairies, on the north it is bordered by MRC des Moulins and by MRC de Thérèse-de-Blainville and on the west by MRC de Deux-Montagnes across the Rivière des Mille Îles. It is completely surrounded by water, it is not joined to any of the mainland, like you get with somes, isles or island in the America’s.

Photo by -AX- (off until may… or june… or july…)

Photo by douaireg

Now if you are looking for tourism within the city, you will find plenty of places to stay and eat, with restaurants and clubs and bars. There are places galore to visit, like shopping centres or malls, entertainment complexes, churches, parks, cinemas, river boat rides, golf club’s, amusement park, gardens centres, nature park, a farm and so on and on. You will find enough to keep you occupied. It is probably better to go in the spring, summer and the autumn as in the winter months, it snows quite alot and can be quite cold to. So if you are a family and fancy going somewhere different, but entertaining, go to Laval in Quebec, Canada.

Photo by dalbera