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Hyde Park London
Once the hunting ground for Henry VIII, this large royal park is best known for its famous Speakers’ Corner, where people speak their minds; Rotton Row, a famous horse-riding area; and Serpentine Lake, home to waterfowl and oarsmen.
Read more at: http://www.travelpod.com/ad/Hyde_Park-London

Travel blogs from Hyde Park:
- “… The everlasting love of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert is commemorated all over London, especially in the area of Hyde Park and Kensington Park …”
- “… We got up pretty early and caught the Tube up to Hyde Park …”
- “… To get into town we grabbed a ticket on the National Express coach and headed for the Astor Hyde Park hostel located in Bayswater …”
- “… earth quake simulator, which dont actually think it was anything like a real earth quake, but it was fun We went for a walk in Hyde Park which took ages, but was absolutelz a great idea as we got to see squirrels everzwhere! This is the first time ive …”
- “… I spent most of today roaming around Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Oxford Street …”
- “… We thought a park would be great, but Hyde Park was a little too far for walking …”
- “… I remembered Hyde Park from my first visit to London in 1995, in Springtime …”
- “… We have been here before, but only for ANZAC day ceremionies, and as they have now moved the ANZAC day ceremony to Hyde Park corner, we haven’t been there for at least three years …”
Read these blogs and more at: http://www.travelpod.com/ad/Hyde_Park-London#blog_content

Photos from:
- London, England, United Kingdom

Photos in this video:
- “Malinda at Marble Arch outside of Hyde Park” by Malinda65 from a blog titled “Welcome to Jolly Good England!”
- “The Queen Mother gates to Hyde Park” by Cmyusep from a blog titled “London Towne – last night here!”
- “View – Serpentine – Hyde Park” by Quintonk from a blog titled “The Convict Arrives”
- “The Serpentine in Hyde Park” by Malinda65 from a blog titled “Majestic London full day tour 8am-5pm”
- “Contemplation In Hyde Park” by Lmcfarland from a blog titled “Landing & Launching”
- “Canada Gates to Hyde Park” by Keithfamily from a blog titled “Her Majesty’s Guards”
- “Skater Girl – Hyde Park” by Jbushie from a blog titled “”Abbey Road”"
- “Enterance to Hyde Park” by Helenm from a blog titled “5 Sept 2005″
- “Hyde Park in the rain” by Happywayfarer from a blog titled “Last few days in London”
- “Squirrel in Hyde Park” by Moriartyho from a blog titled “On the buses”
- “Hyde Park in March!” by Emmab from a blog titled “Top 10 Things To Do In London, by a Londoner”
- “Hyde Park Fountain” by M.stuart from a blog titled “The Puzzle of London”
- “In Hyde Park” by Mrandmrsmurrell from a blog titled “Wedding day”
- “Hyde Park” by Pollies from a blog titled “London”

Duration : 0:2:24

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Technorati Tags: england, Hyde, London, london buses, Park, photography, queen hyde park 2005, scuirel in hydepark, show, slide, slideshow, squirrels hyde park, trip, tripadvisor, tripwow, united kingdom, vacation

Preview of Mefox13′s blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mefox13/1/1271367030/tpod.html

This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator.

Entry from: Philadelphia, United States
Entry Title: “America’s Birthplace”

Entry:

“Today I visited the historic center of Philadelphia. The two main attractions in this area are the Liberty Bell Center and Independence Hall.

I stopped at the Liberty Bell Center first and made my way through the museum that described the history of the bell, and how it came to be a symbol synonymous with liberty and freedom for all sorts of rights movements across the nation and around the world. The bell itself is mounted at eye-level in a tall white room just before the exit from the museum, and it still has it’s original wooden support; although, no one is quite sure what type of wood it was made from. The wall behind the bell is made all of windows that look across the street at Independence Hall. The bell itself was cast in a British foundry and cracked the very first time it was ever tested, as workers were preparing to hang it in the Pennsylvania State House. Johns Pass and Stow were hired to re-cast the bell and despite multiple attempts the bell never reached its full potential. It was used during many significant events throughout history, including the opening of the first continental congress, and its last use was in 1846 when it developed a series of cracks too severe to repair while being rung to commemorate Washington’s Birthday. Today, on every 4th of July, descendants of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence meet at the bell and symbolically tap on it 13 times to signify the 13 original states.

My next stop was across the street at Independence Hall. It was in this building that both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were created. Numerous security personnel surround the block of buildings with Independence Hall, and the building has been well maintained to stay exactly as it was. Visiting inside Independence Hall only takes place in guided group tours, and if you are ever planning on visiting, you should make sure to reserve tickets online. If you don’t, there is a good chance you won’t be able to get in. If it’s any indication of the site’s popularity; I was there on Easter Sunday, and the tours were still completely full. The volunteer guides do have a lot of information to share, trivia like the fact that the Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2nd, the document was dated July 4th, and the signing of the hand-written document that is on display at the National Archives didn’t actually occur until August 2nd. They also told a story about the chair that George Washington sat in as he presided over the Federal Convention while they decided on the details of the Constitution. In the back of the chair, there is carved a sun, and as the final members were signing the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin is said to have remarked that he often looked at the chair, “without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting, but now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting sun. It was definitely a worthwhile visit to see the very place where all of those great minds met together and toiled to forge the documents that are the backbone of our country.

After leaving Independence Hall, I wandered around the area a little while and took some photos before heading back to the parking garage to get my car and drive back to a Wal-Mart out near the piers.”
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mefox13/1/1271367030/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. “Pennsylvania State Sign”
2. “Liberty Bell & Independence Hall”
3. “Overexposed Liberty Bell”
4. “Independence Hall”
5. “Washington Statue”
6. “Historic and Modern Buildings”
7. “B. Franklin Burial Site Marker”

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00e5-ebf8-2ed8?ytv4=1

Duration : 0:1:51

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Technorati Tags: Americas, americas birthplace, birthplace, pennsylvania, philadelphia, photography, photos, slideshow, trip, tripadvisor, tripwow, united states, vacation, where is americas birthplace

Preview of Hancocjb’s blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hancocjb/jandksworld/1181265060/tpod.html

This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator.

Entry from: Somewhere, United States
Entry Title: “The travelbug has got us in it’s clutches”

Entry:

“My interest in travel and exploration is not limited to international travel. Not in the least. California, the west coast, and the whole United States has an incredible amount of fascinating varied coast lines, forests, kitsch tourist sites, national parks, geologic formations, cute towns, unique populations, and clearly enough stuff to keep me interested and entertained for years. Practically as soon as I was back in Berkeley, and even before John had returned to the states, we were rearing to go and planning our next adventure…this time a short road trip to Oregon and Idaho to visit my friend Britta and her baby (now little boy) Henry.

9 days was all we had, because John had to get back for a job, so we packed up my old ’89 volvo which is beginning to reek with character, and headed north. Strangely, even though I’m a born and raised Californian through and through, I’ve never ventured too far north of San Francisco. Mendocino, Eureka, and Ukayah are incredibly familiar names and now I’m glad to say “I’ve been there, I know where that is”. I’m pretty sure that it was during the first day’s drive, on the picturesque one lane road through the Mendocino wine country, that John and I decided that as we travelled through different states and towns, we’d try to eat as locally as possible. Most directly this meant nothing like fast food, no sodas, no wheat thins, we’d have to give up our normal driving staples: coke and sour patch kids, and opt for whatever local products we could find instead. Eating locally is getting tons of publicity at the moment and seems to be the new newest branch of the natural organic food trend. Generally I do think that it’s great to eat foods produced near your home town in order to support the local economy as well as hopefully eating foods that are safer and more nutritious; while traveling though, I find it to be even more important to try your best to eat locally. What would be the fun if while driving through California, Oregon, and Idaho you only ate KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut? It would be easy and convenient. Going out of your way is more exciting though, especially if ventures into local towns mean dinners of local trout, wild boar, yummy organic beer, and special oregon jams.

Eating locally went great. What didn’t go quite as well was the camping situation. Three summers ago while driving back from Colorado to California, we had been happy and comfortable pulling off the side of the road into a national park to find ourselves a secluded private campsite. This time around however, our minds weren’t nearly as at ease. On a few occasions we had fellow campers tell us never to camp without dogs, never to tell anyone where you’re camping, and to watch out for meth-heads; all a bit disconcerting. Because of this advice and sometimes our gut instincts, we ended up camping in actual campgrounds surrounded by RV’s 5 times the size of my car. We had the little volvo and a two man tent. Not much. Our neighbors would be taking up tons more space with multiple vehicles, boats, bikes, and walk in tents. Do people really need to bring the television and the entire kitchen to go camping? I suppose what I need to remember is that car camping and hike-in camping are fundamentally different activites. Both enjoyable, but you can’t expect any private nature time when the next camp site is three feet away from you over memorial day weekend.

Aside from camping and eating, we honestly didn’t do much else. We would have liked to hike and explore some of the beautiful national parks but everywhere we went there was snow. So instead of being active, we’d just return to the car and pop in another CD of a book on tape. Oh life is hard.”
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hancocjb/jandksworld/1181265060/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. “Camp cooking”
2. “Clear water falls”
3. “Crater lake”
4. “Crater lake with snow”
5. “Hiking with Britta in Idaho”
6. “Mountain flower”
7. “Oregon dunes”
8. “Prefontaine’s home”
9. “The volvo”

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-012e-bef0-7a1b?ytv4=1

Duration : 0:1:18

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Technorati Tags: clutches, it's, oregon, photography, photos, riverside, slideshow, the-travelbug san francisco, travel bug california, travelbug, trip, tripadvisor, tripwow, united states, vacation

Mike walks across America from New York to San Francisco. Here’s a Google Map of our journey:

http://bit.ly/brNULW

Produced by Conscious Minds

http://www.conscious-minds.com

Directed by Sam Griffith

Music – “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
http://www.myspace.com/edwardsharpe

Duration : 0:1:54

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Technorati Tags: 5d, across, america, and, bucket, canon, conscious, edward, francisco, google, guy, hipster, II, lapse, las, levis, list, lists, magnetic, man, map, maps, mark, minds, motion, mount, new, productions, road, rushmore, san, sharpe, states, stop, the, time, travel, trip, united, usa, vegas, video, walk, walking, walks, york, zeros