In the past, the idea of the armchair traveler was one whose roots were based in real lived experience, and it’s still that way today. The armchair traveler of the past, however, was of a slightly different stock than the ones who travel today. Times have changed, and traveling the globe is no longer available only to the very upper crusts or to the heartbroken. Although extremely luxurious spas and cruises do have an appeal that is sometimes complimented with thoughts of joining the foreign legion, these kinds of nostalgia are not necessary for a real experience. Today, there are more people for whom traveling is not only an occasional event for vacations, but is in fact its own lifestyle. It is available for those looking to take a break from their high-power jobs, but it’s also available for history students looking for architectural clues about cornices or sconces from other parts of the world, or for students of life looking for new experiences.

World travel shifted considerably when hostels became more prominent and plentiful, and the circuit of kids exploring after college became more common. It did have origins in the patterns of the elite, where the idea of the well-rounded individual was something that was only available to a very select few, and only few of those took the opportunity to develop themselves. When costs became less prohibitive, however, the doors opened for a larger percentage of the population, and the idea of seeing the world has become something that is not available only to certain classes. In fact, the more adventurous spirits come from all walks of life, and the ones who are willing to stay in places that are more economical are more likely to get a more grounded taste of a place.

The elite traveler of the past was able to learn about other places first hand that could give them an edge in debates on how people do things in other parts of the world. Today, it’s a very different story. The first-hand information that was once only available to the super rich is now something that is rather more subject to reconsideration. The connections between venetian blinds in the 19th century and contemporary honeycomb shades are fascinating, and somewhat more likely to see from a first-hand experience on the streets of a European city somewhere. Today, it is far more likely to meet kids from more humble means traveling, finding out about other cultures, and making connections that are entirely unique and essential to a view of the world.

Traveling through Time, Cornices and Legions is a post from: The Map Seeker

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Boston is one of the great historic cities in this country that is extremely well known and respected not only for the role it played in the nation’s development but also for the great contemporary establishments. Among all of the famous theatres and symphonies as well as the significant historical landmarks, there are some incredible museums that represent the traditional cultural aspects of the city and region as well as displaying some of the world’s great art. Visiting museums is a commonly popular for tourists when visiting a new city and the five star hotels Boston are excellent resources for finding information on the city’s museums and other intriguing venues.

The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History is just one of the great and often times unique museums that represents various aspects of the nation’s history as well as that of Boston and the Common Wealth of Massachusetts. This museum features some of the most rare United States and world post office artifacts. There is also a family activity area and research center in this museum. And there is a museum shop where post office supplies as well as souvenir relics can be purchased.

Historic New England is a great place to begin your discoveries of the history of Boston and the surrounding region is with the Historic New England organization. Numerous homes and properties are included and they remain designed and equipped with the aspects of the culture that was relevant to them. The Nichols House Museum is another great place to go to view some early Boston history. The house presents a true and unique look into late 19th century domestic life on Beacon Hill in Boston. This four-story row house was built in 1804. Boston is one of the great American cities that has a lot of early colonial buildings and landmarks remaining in contemporary society. In addition to the famous memorials and landmarks that exist there, some of the city’s museums provide great insight into ways of life and various circumstances that were relevant to residents of the past.

History Museums in Boston is a post from: The Map Seeker

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Florence is a lovely place, and there’s no way to set foot here without being touched by a kind of magic that makes one miss it for the rest of their lives. The only remedy for it is to return, as many people do, or move, as some do, or to visit it with a clear consciousness so that every moment can be savored. Time here is like the wine, and like the best sauces, delicate and overpowering at once, and worthy of savoring.

Because a trip often carries memories of great food as well as the lodging, it’s important to take care in selecting the hotel. Florence the city will see to it to take care of the rest. There are so many great works of art that it does indeed live up to all the hype, and there are many artists who still call it their home. The power of the city, its history and its present, are inspiring.

But of all the artists who lived here, there was none who missed it so much as a writer, not a painter, a certain Dante . The poet who penned the Inferno, Paradiso, and Purgatorio was born in Florence, and was engaged to be married when he was only 12 years old. At the time, he had already fallen for another girl, a certain Beatrice, who was only 9. He married Gemma when he was 20, and spent the rest of his life writing about Beatrice.

She doesn’t appear in all the works, of course, but tends to run through everything, and certainly reappears when he was working on the masterpiece of his life. It’s interesting and terribly sad, too, that he couldn’t return to Florence, and died in Tuscany . He is one of the most articulate writers in any language about exile, and one wonders if the ideal love he found and nurtured when he was a boy was also an aspect of that same sense of loss and longing.

Florence and Exile is a post from: The Map Seeker

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We left McKinney Falls State Park and headed south to San Antonio, Texas. We made a stop at the town of New Braunfels, which we heard was a very nice place to visit, it’s a German town that was originally founded by a German prince alongside a substantial amount of German settlers. They really knew how to pick a fantastic spot located along a river. New Braunfels is pretty much a sleepy town with a Wurst Fest sometime in the Fall, a number of very old buildings built German style, a waterpark with no water running through it and some very interesting murals painted on some of the buildings. It was time for lunch, so we found a restaurant, German of course, and the food was very authentic and tasty. We then stopped off at the oldest bakery in Texas to get dessert, we both had the apple strudel.

It didn’t take us long to drive to San Antonia and into downtown to find the Alamo. It’s a lot smaller than we expected, we thought it would be this huge mission, but it’s basically a church and some old barracks with walls. We couldn’t take pictures while we were inside the church part, well anywhere inside any of the buildings. We thought the Alamo was a great historical site for any Texas, American and Mexico history buff. The place was really rather fun.

We left the Alamo and walked to the river. We past by many interesting shops, countless eateries, curio shops, bars and luxury hotels. San Antonio
Riverwalk was amazing. It’s a man-made canal that winds through much of the downtown, it’s really scenic. We even took the small water-taxi tour=http://www.kent360.com/files/EconomicDevelopment/waterfront/SanAntonioRiverWalk.jpg that points out several cool points of interest. We found that there’s a lot of art sold by craft vendors placed all over the riverwalk, as well as flowers, sculptures and small, little man-made waterfalls.

We were thirsty for a beer, so we made it over to the Tower of the Americas=http://www.toweroftheamericas.com/ , which has a rotating restaurant at the top spire, and we spent several hours in the British pub. Mind you, we only had a beer, it was the company that kept us entertained for those lost hours. By the time we left San Antonio, it was 9pm! It will be very late by the time we get into Austin.

San Antonio is More than the Alamo is a post from: The Map Seeker

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If you’re making a tour of the United States’ national parks, one you shouldn’t miss is the Gettysburg National Military Park, a park and museum that commemorates, at fifty-one thousand casualties, one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War, when the Union won over Robert E. Lee’s second and most ambitious try at invading the North.  Of course, the battle also gave President Abraham Lincoln the occasion to make his most famous speech, The Gettysburg Address.

Once you’ve checked into one of the fine hotels Gettysburg has available for its visitors, start your visit to the park’s museum and visitor center.  The center is a little over a year old, having its grand opening on September 26 in 2008.  You’ll find galleries on both Gettysburg and the Civil War; there’s a film titled, “A New Birth of Freedom,” as well as a bookstore and, what the park calls, a “refreshment saloon.”  The visitor’s center will help acquaint you with the park, and the museum itself gives you more of an understanding about the Civil War, tracing its history from beginning to end, including a number of Civil War artifacts.

If you can wait until summer to go, the Rangers have a number of interesting programs, such as battlefield walks, as well as anniversary battle walks.  The park also contains the David Wills House, a one hundred forty seven-plus year old house once owned by an attorney in 1863, now most famous for the giving President Lincoln a place to stay the night before he delivered his address.

Of course, if you’ve exhausted the parks and battlefields of Gettysburg, you may wish to check out the ghosts.  There are more than a few stories about ghosts, strange lights, sightings of soldiers in battlefields, visions and apparitions of the past, appearing and vanishing.  So, not only does Gettysburg have battlefield walks, but they have a ghost walk, too.  A tour guide will give you the history of the town’s ghosts, dressed in the clothes of the time period, going through the town that were once battlefields themselves.  If you’re a ghost hunter, or a fan of ghost hunting, this is certainly one of Gettysburg’s key attractions.

Battlefields and Ghosts of Gettysburg is a post from: The Map Seeker

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One of the many contributions that Benjamin Franklin made throughout his life was to the use of wood burning stoves and fireplaces.  He discovered that when a fireplace is put on the wall of a house, a wall that is an outside wall, with no other rooms behind it, that much of the heat the fireplace provides got lost.  He was the one who created the freestanding fireplace, or the firebox, which became known later as the Franklin stove.  Franklin was constantly inventing items, and the stove was his way to efficiently heat a room, or a house.  His stove was constructed of heavy duty cast iron, which heated up to the maximum temperature, and served to keep the house warm, long after the flames of the fire went out.  The only trouble with the first versions of the stoves, was that they had no vents.  A Philadelphia scientist named David Rittenhouse created a chimney pipe, that made it possible for the air to move through, and then take the smoke out of the house through this L-shaped chimney.

Not long afterward, the stoves were in use in most of the houses in the United States.  Although it was the chimney addtion that made these a successful and viable appliance, Franklin’s name was still used on the stoves.  Some houses now, still use these stoves.  I find that the heat is more evenly distributed than the modern heaters of today, with forced air heat.  They create a warmth that is much more like that of a radiator, than of hot and sometimes very dry air.  When I lived in Chicago, we had the option of both a free-standing stove, or the electric modern air heaters, and the only way to really thoroughly warm the house in the middle of the winter, was to use the stove.  Not to mention, it created a very cool atmosphere, to walk in from a snow filled city, into the warmth of the fire in the stove.

Benjamin Franklin’s Contribution to Fireplace Design is a post from: The Map Seeker

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