Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.

The Queen uses the Castle both as a private home, where she usually spends the weekend, and as a Royal residence at which she undertakes certain formal duties.

The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and it is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish, early 19th-century State Apartments are architecturally significant, described by art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste".

Windsor Castle is often used by The Queen to host State Visits from overseas monarchs and presidents. Foreign Heads of State enter the Castle in horse-drawn carriages through the George IV Gateway into the quadrangle in the Upper Ward, where a military guard of honour is drawn up.

The traditional State Banquet is held in St George's Hall (55.5m long and 9m wide), with a table seating up to 160 guests.

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Posted in: United Kingdom

Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park and Resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park site as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. In common with the other Legolands across the world, the park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models, and building workshops. The park was acquired by Merlin Entertainments in 2005, which now operate the park, with the Lego Group retaining part ownership (30%). The facilities are mainly targeted at children between three and twelve.

The entire grounds of Legoland Windsor occupy over 150 acres (61 hectares) and the area which is accessible to guests occupies 72 acres (29 hectares).

In April 2005, Lego made the decision to sell the Legoland parks, due to rising losses across the whole company. On 13 July 2005, Legoland was acquired by the Blackstone Group and control of the parks passed to Merlin Entertainments.

In 2012, the park had 2.0 million visitors, making it the second most visited theme park in the United Kingdom after Alton Towers, and the 10th most visited in Europe.

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Posted in: United Kingdom

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle is a splendid and dramatic fortress rising majestically from the banks of the River Avon on a site first fortified by William the Conqueror in 1068. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of 14th century military architecture. It was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978 when it was bought by the Tussauds Group.

Warwick Castle has been preserved magnificently: towers, dungeons, state rooms, all can be visited. Madame Tussauds, the operators have a special 'Royal Weekend Party' exhibit, where a young Winston Churchill and others are guests with the future Edward VII.

The castle is protected against unauthorised change as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in recognition of its status as a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, and is a Grade I listed building, together with its boundary walls, stables, conservatory, mill and lodge.

In May 2007 Tussauds was purchased by Merlin Entertainments who continue to operate the castle on a lease, having sold the freehold to Nick Leslau's Prestbury Group on 17 July 2007.

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Posted in: United Kingdom

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941. It has a capacity (depending on configuration of the event) of up to 5,272 seats; standing areas and stage specifications can change this. The Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or central and local government funding.

Opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, the Hall hosts over 360 events which include classical music, jazz, world music, circus, rock, pop, opera, dance, comedy and tennis.

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone, as a dedication to her deceased husband and consort Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort – the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the road Kensington Gore.

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Posted in: United Kingdom

Bicester Village

Bicester Village is located near the Cotswolds at the heart of rural Oxfordshire and enjoys a prime central location in England with exceptional transport links. Also within striking distance are renowned tourist destinations, among them the UNESCO World Heritage Site Blenheim Palace, the National Trust 19th-century Renaissance-style château Waddesdon Manor, and Oxford with its world-famous university and celebrated Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology.

Bicester Village is an outlet shopping centre on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire, England. The Bicester Village outlet shopping centre houses approximately 130 stores, encompassing a range of product categories. Bicester Village is now established as a tourist attraction, as well as being the United Kingdom’s leading designer outlet village. In 2001, it was able to charge stores the highest rental of any comparable outlet shopping centre in the UK.

Designed as individually defined boutique stores facing an open-air, landscaped pedestrianised mall, Bicester Village recalls the scale and ambience of the villages of south-east England.

As of 2012, plans are afoot to expand Bicester Village by a further 30 outlets. The scheme would involve the existing Tesco store being demolished, with a new Tesco superstore constructed at a different site nearby. This would create approximately 500 new jobs to Bicester Village.

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The Viking Ship Museum

The Viking Ship Museum presents great Viking ship discoveries from Gokstad, Oseberg and Tune as well as other finds from Viking tombs around the Oslo Fjord. 

The Viking Ship Museum is located at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. It is part of the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo, and houses archaeological finds from Tune, Gokstad (Sandefjord), Oseberg (Tønsberg) and the Borre mound cemetery.

The museum displays the world's two best-preserved wooden Viking ships built in the 9th century, as well as small boats, sledges, a cart with exceptional ornamentation, implements, tools, harness, textiles and household utensils.

 

In 1913, Swedish professor Gabriel Gustafson proposed a specific building to house Viking Age finds that were discovered at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The Gokstad and Oseberg ships had been stored in temporary shelters at the University of Oslo. An architectural contest was held, and Arnstein Arneberg won.

The hall for the Oseberg ship was built with funding from the Parliament of Norway, and the ship was moved from the University shelters in 1926. The halls for the ships from Gokstad and Tune were completed in 1932. Building of the last hall was delayed, partly due to the Second World War, and this hall was completed in 1957. It houses most of the other finds, mostly from Oseberg.

 

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Posted in: Norway

The Oslo Opera House

The Oslo Opera House (Norwegian: Operahuset) is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for the Norwegian government. The structure contains 1,100 rooms in a total area of 38,500 m2(414,000 sq ft). The main auditorium seats 1,364 seats and two other performance spaces that can seat 200 and 400. The main stage is 16 m (52 ft) wide and 40 m (130 ft) deep. It is the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since Nidarosdomen was completed circa 1300.

Officially opened in April 2008, the Oslo Opera House was designed by the acclaimed Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta. The opera, which took five years to complete, sits on the bank of the Bjørvika district, near the stock exchange and the central station. It is the largest cultural building to be built in Norway since the construction of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim at the start of the 14th century.

 

Oslo Opera has become a new landmark for the city and proved an instant success with both locals and tourists. In its five years since opening, over 8 million people have visited the house. Visitors grew by 20% between 2011 and 2012, and by the end of 2013 the total will pass 10 million visitors. 

From the outside, the most striking feature is the white sloping marble roofwhich rises directly up from the Oslofjord, allowing visitors to enjoy a stroll and take in views of the city. 

 

The opera has also won an array of awards, both at home and abroad, including the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Prize (2009) and the International Architecture Award 2010. It was also named World Cultural Building of the Year in 2008.

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Posted in: Norway