Category Archive: History

A Dozen Gardens From Around the World

The days are getting longer, and with flowers blooming in the yard along with a few peeks of the sun in the sky, it’s a great time to be in Seattle. Spring is finally here! Since the flowers in my garden are not terribly impressive yet – things will be in full color in another few weeks – I turned to some of my blogger friends to get a take on some of their favorite gardens around the world. I selected a dozen of them, one for each month of the year, and hope you can work a visit into one of them during your next vacation. 1.Springtime tulips at Araluen Botanic Park, Western Australia Western Australia conjures up images of red desert, barren gorges and rugged wilderness, but half an hour’s drive from Perth we found Araluen Botanic Park. […]

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Postcard from Fort Vancouver

Located in the southern part of Washington state, Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost for the Hudson Bay Company. Today it is part of the National Park System, with living history events and a world-class archaeology collection. In the blacksmith shop, a top-notch nail maker could make one in 12 seconds flat.

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The Arc de Triomphe: The Triumph of Paris

Standing in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle (also called the Place de l’Étoile) at the western end of the Champs-Élyseés, the Arc de Triomphe is the largest triumphal arch in the world.  It honors those who bravely fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and beneath the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I, the grave marked by the very first eternal flame.  The flame burns in memory of those who died, but were not identified, in both WWI and WWII.  The English translation of the inscription reads “Here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914-1918.”  It’s said that this flame was the inspiration for an eternal flame being placed on the grave of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. The Arc de Triomphe stands about 165 feet tall, […]

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