To avoid confusion: the header image depicts the famed Houses of Parliament, per se the epitome of London for many, since long before its swingin’ times… next to perhaps Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge or the V&A museum. Just to name a few. And then there is Westminster Abbey, exclusive site of coronations since 1066, Lady Diana’s emotional funeral ceremony or glamorous royal weddings (like Queen Elizabeth’s with Prince Philip or William’s with Kate), all broadcast world-wide to a community held in the lasting grip of a magic royal spell. So, the premises ought to be familiar.
Right next door, the Church House Conference Centre may have witnessed events different from those mentioned before – but its own history lacks nothing in drama.
Posts about Venues
Germania – Lady Guardian over the River Rhine
The Niederwald Monument – another Statue of Liberty
Her body mass index may cause reason for concern: at a height of 12,35 metres and a weight of 32 tonnes, she may well be considered obese. Any serious physician would long have thrown in the towel over a patient so negligently indulgent as to tolerate an unbelievable BMI of 210! In Germania’s case, she’s innocent. She was designed as a symbol of prowess and was thus cast in virtually indestructible iron bronze – to make her last forever. Planning and building phases together took twelve years.
Germany: Wuppertal’s Historic Town Hall
Up and above
For an international meeting planners’ audience not familiar with Germany, the city of Wuppertal may not come to mind instantaneously when looking for a destination suitable for a glitzy function. If they knew, what Wuppertal – pretty close to Duesseldorf and Cologne and their airports – had in stock, they would surely be envious of its 350,000 inhabitants and its numerous visitors and might rapidly change their attitude. The town, embedded in the lovely scenery of the Bergisches Land situated in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, may rather be associated with down-to-earth features. But especially for these two cases of the „elevated“ variety, quite the opposite is true.
The most extraordinary attraction is perhaps the suspended monorail inaugurated in 1901 and in operation for public transport since. It’s most stunning property may be this one:
Kyoto: For Protocol and ancient Venues
“A natural medley of willows and cherry blossoms weave themselves into a brocade, the Heian-kyo” romanticises an ancient verse about Kyoto, Japan’s capital and residence of emperors between 794 and 1868. Wars and raging fires destroyed Kyoto – formerly called “Heian-Kyo”, Capital of Peace – repeatedly over the course of many centuries. Astonishingly, not so during WW II: thanks to its precious historic value, and the presence of mind of acting warlords, the city was spared the fate of being melted into contaminated grounds by a malign nuclear bomb or of being struck by hostile air raids. Other Japanese destinations were less fortunate. A wealth of cultural properties of the past like temples, shrines and other traditional structures was, thus, successfully preserved in Kyoto.
The fastest Guide in all of Mexico
A Jungle Safari at Cyberspeed
Arrribaaa! The bright red jeep perfectly fits the fiery temperament of its driver. Juan virtually swathes the participants joining in the excursion into the hinterland of Puerto Vallarta in his lively personality. The wiry bundle of energy with an endearing Spanish accent and sly eyes sparkling under comb-resistant hair resembles an information automat in human form.