A climber on the eastern face of Mont Blanc – source Ben Tibbetts (click on photo to enlarge)
Ben Tibbetts is an adventure photographer and aspirant British Mountain Guide based in Chamonix, France. He currently offers Alpine and British guiding, logistics and guiding in Greenland and adventure photography services worldwide.
If you want to take your adventures further, get in touch with Ben here!
As legend has it, Rome, Italy, was founded by the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, in 700 B.C. The former Caput Mundi, or Capital of the World, sits beneath Palatine Hill, where the ruins of its original incarnation are open for exploration.
No Rome tour is complete without stopping by the remains of the Temple of Saturn and Arch of Septimus, both located in the Roman Forum. Get in touch with your inner gladiator and stop by the Colosseum, a relic of Roman bloodsports and perhaps the most recognizable element of the city.
Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure you’ll return to Rome one day; don’t toss in two coins unless you’re ready to fall in love with a Roman. Continue your Rome sightseeing in St. Peter’s Square, home of St. Peter’s Basilica. The world’s largest church, designed by Michelangelo, is both a remarkable structure and a tribute to faith. You can look down from the famous dome to the Holy Square, which is usually filled with the faithful looking to obtain a blessing from the Pope. After this, it’s just a few steps to restaurants filled with Italian food. Forget coming back to Rome – you’ll never want to leave.
What’s your favorite memory of Rome?
Click here to visit our La mia Roma Italian language travel guide page for more information or to plan your next vacation!
This 38-second video shows three hikers walking across the clear frozen lake. And while many viewers were amazed, others doubted that the video was real.
As reported by Daily Mail, one experienced tourist Igor Ludma, from Slovakia, was able to give a scientific explanation for the fact that the ice look like glass, saying: ‘It is only possible when the temperatures fall from being relatively mild to very cold very quickly, and at the same time it’s important that there has not been any snow which tends to make the ice very cloudy. And we have had those conditions lately which would explain this very clear ice.’
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Manchester Christmas Markets from a helicopter – taken by the National Police Air Service
Following Transport for London’s (TfL) tender for proposals to improve pedestrian links across the river, Heatherwick Studio and actor and campaigner Joanna Lumley have developed an idea for a new pedestrian ‘Garden Bridge’ across the River Thames; a scheme to connect North and South London with a garden.
Joanna Lumley with a model of Garden Bridge
The ‘Iconic’ Thames project – the Garden Bridge over the Thames, was approved and granted planning permission by Lambeth council last Monday. The project has also received huge approval from Londoners – 88 per cent of people who live in the capital and 94 per cent who live outside it.
The £150 million structure — designed by Thomas Heatherwick, mastermind of the London Olympics cauldron — will span the river between Temple and the South Bank.
The bridge will contain 270 trees representing 45 species, as well as shrubs, climbing plants, hedges and flowers. It is believed that the bridge will become a key landmark and tourist attraction linking both riverbanks.
Crossing the bridge — more than 90ft wide in places — will be a “transitional experience”. The sections will include marshland, ornamental gardens, wild glades, fruit trees, evergreens, clifftop plants and pines. All the species have been selected for their ability to thrive in an exposed, windy setting.
Seating will be provided — but with an “irregular top surface” to discourage rough sleepers from colonising the bridge, which will be lit after dark to let evening walkers enjoy the gardens.
The bridge will open from 6am until midnight and use will be free.
Construction could begin in December next year if the necessary funding can be raised. So far more than £90 million has been pledged by the Government, Transport for London and private donors. It is hoped the bridge will open to the public in 2018.
November 9, 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall. On this day the world’s eyes will look at Berlin once again.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the LICHTGRENZE (The Border of Lights), an extraordinary light installation, is produced, following the former route of the so-called Berliner Mauer.
For 28 years, the Berlin Wall separated the German capital into east and west and became the symbol of a divided Germany. And it has been almost equally as long since the wall was opened as a result of political changes on the evening of November 9, 1989. That momentous event enabled the reunification of Germany and the abolition of the longstanding divisions in Europe.
From the 7th – 9th of November the 15.3 kilometer frontier that once divided the city center is re-imagined in light by the 8000 battery powered balloons. Running through the center of Berlin, from Bornholmer Straße to the Oberbaumbrücke, the installation stretches past the Mauerpark, along the Berlin Wall memorial on Bernauer Straße through to the Brandenburg Gate, over Potsdamer Platz to Checkpoint Charlie and on to the East Side Gallery. The brothers Christopher Bauder and Marc Bauder conceived the idea of the LICHTGRENZE in 2011.
And those who can’t be in Berlin during the days surrounding the 9th of November celebration, will still be able to experience and learn about the division of Germany through our year-round language programs in Berlin – please click here for more information.
