TRAVEL TUESDAY 554 - SAN FRANCISCO, USA

“I left my heart in San Francisco, high on a hill, it calls to me to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars…” - Douglass Cross

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San Francisco is a vibrant, consolidated city-county located on a 46-square-mile peninsula in northern California, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. Renowned for its steep rolling hills, distinct microclimates, and iconic historic landmarks, it serves as a major cultural, financial, and technological hub for the western United States.

Several iconic attractions make this destination a popular tourist haunt, and amongst them are: Golden Gate Bridge —The world-famous international orange suspension bridge linking the city to Marin County. Alcatraz Island —A historic former federal prison located in the chilly waters of the bay. Cable Cars — The nation's only moving historic landmark, pulling riders up towering slopes. Lombard Street — A uniquely crooked street featuring eight sharp, manicured switchbacks. Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf — A bustling waterfront area famous for sunbathing sea lions and clam chowder bread bowls.

The city's strong bohemian and tech-forward culture thrives within various colourful districts: Chinatown — The oldest and one of the largest enclaves of Chinese culture outside of Asia. The Castro — A historic epicentre for LGBTQ+ culture, activism, and nightlife. Haight-Ashbury — The birthplace of the 1960s counterculture movement, now filled with indie shops. The Mission — Known for its rich Latino heritage, vibrant street murals, and famous Mission-style burritos. Union Square — The central shopping hub packed with premier retail therapy options.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 427 - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

“One of the great things about Sydney is that it has a great acceptance of everyone and everything. It's an incredibly tolerant city, a city with a huge multicultural basis.” - Baz Luhrmann

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Sydney is known as the Harbour City and with good reason as it is built around a magnificent natural harbour. It is the largest, oldest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia with an enviable reputation as one of the world’s most beautiful cities. It is full of history, culture, art, fashion, cuisine, design and within the city or a short distance from it are areas of great natural beauty, The city is set next to kilometres of ocean coastline and sandy surf beaches. Recent immigration trends have led to the city’s reputation as one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in Australia and the world. The city is also home to the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, two of the most iconic structures on the planet.

The Greater Sydney area is a vast sprawling metropolitan area with the suburbs spreading up to 100km from the city centre. The traveller visiting the suburbs will find less crowded beaches, parks, cheaper shopping, commercial centres, cultural festivals, and hidden gems. The Eastern Suburbs are between the City and the sea, and include the world-famous Bondi Beach and other city beaches, which are strong drawcards for visitors and residents in the city during summer.   The City Centre is the busy centre of government and finance, but also home to many famous attractions, fine restaurants, and shopping. Just to the west of Circular Quay, is the Rocks, the first colonial village of Sydney and the iconic Harbour Bridge, which are now a cosmopolitan and touristic area.

Immediately to the west of the CBD is Darling Harbour, an extensive leisure and entertainment area. You can see restaurants, boardwalks, aquariums, wildlife, and museums by foot or with the public transport. In the City South district is the Haymarket, Chinatown and Central Station, being an area home to markets, cafes, Chinese culture and cuisine, and some cheaper accommodation and shopping. In the City East region, are Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Woolloomooloo and Moore Park. It’s here where you can sample the busy nightlife, trendy coffee shops, fashion and entertainment. The City West area is best seen in early morning, with a trip to the bustling fish markets, and then exploring the Powerhouse Museum, finding a maritime pub or visiting the Casino.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 406 - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

“The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn.” - David Russell

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Brisbane is the port and the capital city of Queensland, Australia, and Australia’s third largest city. It lies astride the Brisbane River on the southern slopes of the Taylor Range, 19 km above the river’s mouth at Moreton Bay. The site, first explored in 1823 by John Oxley, was occupied in 1824 by a penal colony, which had moved from Redcliffe 35 km northeast.

The name of the City honours Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales, when the convict settlement was declared a town in 1834. Proclaimed a municipality in 1859, it became the capital of newly independent Queensland that same year. Gazetted a city in 1902, it was joined during the 1920s with South Brisbane to form the City of Greater Brisbane. Its municipal government, headed by a lord mayor, holds very broad powers. The Brisbane statistical division, including the cities of Ipswich and Redcliffe, has close economic and social ties to the city.

The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane. It is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia. The road across the bridge is named Bradfield Highway. The bridge connects Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. The Story Bridge opened in 1940 and was tolled until 1947. It is named after prominent public servant John Douglas Story.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 344 - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

“The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn.” - David Russell

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of Sydney, New South Wales, and Australia. The bridge is nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design.

Under the directions of Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough and opened in 1932. The bridge's design was influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. It is also the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m from top to water level. It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 274 - IRONBRIDGE, UK

“I learned that a long walk and calm conversation are an incredible combination if you want to build a bridge.” - Seth Godin

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Ironbridge is a village on the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire, England. It lies in the civil parish of The Gorge, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin. Ironbridge developed beside, and takes its name from, the famous Iron Bridge, a 30-metre cast iron bridge that was built across the river in 1779. The area around Ironbridge is described by those promoting it as a tourist destination as the “Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution”. This description is based on the idea that Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, in Coalbrookdale, allowing much cheaper production of iron.

However, the industrial revolution did not “begin” in one place, but in many. Darby’s iron smelting was but one small part of this generalised revolution and was soon superseded by the great iron-smelting areas. However, the bridge – being the first of its kind fabricated from cast iron, and one of the few which have survived to the present day – remains an important symbol representative of the dawn of the industrial age.

The grandson of the first Abraham Darby, Abraham Darby III, built the famous bridge – originally designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard – to link the two areas. Construction began in 1779 and the bridge opened on New Year's Day 1781. Soon afterwards the ancient Madeley market was relocated to the new purpose-built square and Georgian Butter Cross and the former dispersed settlement of Madeley Wood gained a planned urban focus as Ironbridge, the commercial and administrative centre of the Coalbrookdale coalfield.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 270 - SYRACUSE, SICILY

“Sicilians build things like they will live forever and eat like they will die tomorrow.” – Plato

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Syracuse (Italian: Siracusa; Sicilian: Sarausa/Seragusa; Latin: Syrācūsae; Ancient Greek: Συράκουσαι, Syrakousai) is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the Ionian Sea.

The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, of which it was the most important city. Described by Cicero as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”, it equalled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire. After this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.

In the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there. The patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy; she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucy’s Day, is celebrated on 13 December.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 213 - PAU, FRANCE

“The quality of life is so different in France. There is the possibility of living a simple life.” -  Johnny Depp 

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Pau is a commune on the northern edge of the Pyrenees, and capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Département in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The city is located in the heart of the former sovereign Principality of Béarn, of which it was the capital from 1464. Bordered by the Gave de Pau, the city is located 100 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 kilometres from Spain. This position gives it an exceptional panorama across the mountain range of the Pyrenees as well as on the hillsides of Jurançon.

Archaeology has asserted that the site has been occupied at least since the Gallo-Roman era. Nevertheless, it wasn't until the first half of the 12th century that the first mentions of Pau as a settlement are found. The town originated from the construction of its castle, likely from the 11th century by the Viscounts of Béarn, to protect the ford which was a strategic point for access to the Bearn valleys and then to Spain. The city thus took its name from the stockade (pau in Bearnese) which set the boundaries of the primitive castle. The village which was built around the castle took advantage of its strategic position as well as the protection of the Viscounts of Béarn to widely develop over the following centuries. Pau became the capital of Béarn in 1464, thus becoming the political, cultural and economic centre of this small State which continued to defend its independence from the neighbouring French, English and Spanish peoples.

The town and its castle took on a new dimension by becoming the seat of the Kings of Navarre, at the capture of Pamplona, by the Kingdom of Castile in 1512. Pau became a leading political and intellectual centre under the reign of Henry d'Albret and his wife Marguerite. The history of Pau is marked by the birth of Henry of Bourbon 13 December 1553 in the castle of his grandparents. He gained access to the throne of France in 1589 under the title of Henry IV. The image of the city is since widely associated with that of this monarch made famous for his willingness to put an end to the seemingly endless Wars of Religion. With the end of Béarnaise independence in 1620, Pau lost its influence but remained the same at the head of a largely autonomous province. It was home to the Parliament of Navarre and Béarn which wrote its texts in Occitan until the Revolution and its dismantling to create the Department of Basses-Pyrénées (becoming Pyrénées-Atlantiques in 1969).

The Belle Époque marked a resurgence for the Béarnaise capital with a massive influx of wealthy foreign tourists (including English but also Russian, Spanish and American), they came to spend the winter to take advantage of the benefits of Pau's climate described by the Scottish physician Alexander Taylor. Pau turned widely with the construction of many villas and mansions to accommodate these wintering rich people, the city also developed all elements of modernity for their comfort: Baths, funicular and railway station. It was at this time that Pau became one of the world capitals of the nascent aerospace industry under the influence of the Wright brothers, crowned heads then pressed there to observe the flight of the first flying school in the world.

With the decline of tourism during the 20th century, the Pau economy (and its suburbs) gradually shifted towards the aviation industry and then to that of petrochemicals with the major discovery of the Lacq gas field in 1951. Pau today is a city of about 80,000 inhabitants, the main urban area of Pau and of the Communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées with 30 neighbouring communes which carry out local tasks together. The Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, founded in 1972, accounts for a large student population. The city plays a leading role for Béarn but also for a wide segment of the Adour area. An administrative capital, it boasts a dense economic fabric including service activities.[note 4] Pau also plays the role of cultural capital with many events, including sports. Pau's heritage extends over several centuries, its diversity and its quality allowed it to obtain the label of City of Art and History in 2011.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #193 - PALAIOKARYA, GREECE

“Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge.” - Stephen Levine 

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Τhe old, one-arched stone bridge of Palaeikarya was built around 1525, and has a length of 26 metres, an arc opening of 19 metres and a height from the river bed 10 metres. Behind it is a 12 metre high waterfall, with the river continuing after the bridge to a lesser waterfall 2 metres high. The river that passes through the spot is Palaiokaritis and if we continue the journey downstream we reach the gorge of Palieokarya where there is still a functioning watermill where one can watch flour being milled.

The bridge of Palaiokarya joined Thessaly to Epirus and was a busy route at that time. Now it is in a deserted spot and is surrounded by great natural beauty. The bridge frames steep, high rocks with much low-lying vegetation and trees. A large variety of herbs and rare wildflowers grows in the area in Spring and Summer. There is also a great number of animals and birds in the forest around the old bridge.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #175 - PONT-DU-GARD, FRANCE

“Nothing requires the architect's care more than the due proportions of buildings.” - Vitruvius 

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The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and, along with the Aqueduct of Segovia, one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 because of its historical importance. The aqueduct bridge is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometre system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes). Because of the uneven terrain between the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that called for a bridge across the gorge of the Gardon River.

The bridge has three tiers of arches, stands 48.8 m high, and descends a mere 2.5 centimetres – a gradient of only 1 in 18,241 – while the whole aqueduct descends in height by only 17 m over its entire length, which is indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve, using simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 200,000 m3 of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It may have been in use as late as the 6th century, with some parts used for significantly longer, but a lack of maintenance after the 4th century led to clogging by mineral deposits and debris that eventually choked off the flow of water.

After the Roman Empire collapsed and the aqueduct fell into disuse, the Pont du Gard remained largely intact, due to the importance of its secondary function, as a toll bridge. For centuries the local lords and bishops were responsible for its upkeep, in exchange for the right to levy tolls on travellers using it to cross the river, although some of its stones were looted and serious damage was inflicted on it in the 17th century.

It attracted increasing attention starting in the 18th century, and became an important tourist destination. It underwent a series of renovations between the 18th and 21st centuries, commissioned by the local authorities and the French state, that culminated in 2000 with the opening of a new visitor centre and the removal of traffic and buildings from the bridge and the area immediately around it. Today it is one of France's most popular tourist attractions, and has attracted the attention of a succession of literary and artistic visitors.

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