Tag Archives: transportation

May22

The Aqueduct of Segovia – Spain

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

Segovia is a Spanish city of about 55,000 people in the Castile-Leon province of Spain, about an hour north of Madrid.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old city of Segovia is spectacularly situated atop a long, narrow promontory.

It contains a wealth of monuments, including a cathedral, a magnificent ancient Roman aqueduct, and the beautiful fairy-tale spires of the Alcázar, or castle-palace, that towers over the countryside below.

Scattered about the city are a half a dozen Romanesque churches of great interest, and a church that was once a synagogue.

The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, probably built c. A.D. 50, is remarkably well preserved. This impressive construction, with its two tiers of arches, forms part of the setting of the magnificent historic city of Segovia.

The Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula. It is the foremost symbol of Segovia, as evidenced by its presence on the city’s coat of arms.

At the end of the 20th century, a German archaeologist managed to decipher the text on the dedication plaque of the aqueduct by studying the anchors that held the now missing bronze letters in place. Using this method, he was able to determine that in actuality it was the Roman Emperor Domitian who ordered its construction.

The aqueduct transports waters from Fuente Fría River, situated in the nearby mountains, from the city in a region known as La Acebeda.

The first reconstruction of the aqueduct took place during the reign of the King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. A total of 36 arches were rebuilt, with great care taken not to change any of the original work or style.

The aqueduct is the city’s most important architectural landmark. It had been kept functioning throughout the centuries and is preserved in excellent condition. It even provided water to Segovia until recently! Because of decay of stone blocks, water leakage from the upper viaduct, and pollution that caused the granite masonry to deteriorate and crack, the site was listed in the 2006 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. Contrary to popular belief, vibrations caused by traffic that used to pass under the arches did not affect the aqueduct due to its great mass.

Spain brought together the Ministry of Culture, the regional government of Castilla y León, and other local institutions to collaborate in implementing the project, and provided assistance through the global financial services company American Express. The Aqueduct is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We walked the entire length of the Aqueduct, while gazing up in wonderment. You can actually walk along the top………of course chicken Tin Man said no to that idea!

It was quite amazing to see this impressive architectural achievement. The excitement and physical activity worked up an appetite, so off in search of culinary delights, we went.

We found an ancient place, Meson El Cordero

and what a delight it was….

The Bean Soup was our very favorite….it is a traditional dish from the area….

….followed by the Roast Suckling Pig…

…and a marvelous assortment of sweets…

Thank you for joining me in this walk under the Aqueduct of Segovia…

…we have been traveling about Europe for the past six weeks and I plan to share many more stories with you soon….

Dec24

Tea & Cakes….and perhaps some Welsh Rarebit

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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If you have been reading the exploits of the Tin Man, you know that he often travels to Media, Pennsylvania to visit the Marvelous, Magical Mary.

…………so in usual Tin Man fashion, here is a bit of history of the place called Media….

The borough of Media was incorporated in 1850 and is the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

In June 2006, it became the first fair trade town in America.

The history of the town goes back to William Penn, who was named proprietor of the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681 by King Charles II of England.

William Penn

The Delaware County Institute of Science was founded in Media in 1833.

Media promotes itself as “Everybody’s Hometown”.

Peter and William Taylor bought the land where Media is now located, directly from Penn.

Thomas Minshall, a Quaker, was an early Media resident, settling just outside the small village then known as Providence, along the Providence Great Road. The village then included a tailor shop, blacksmith shop, wheelwright shop, barn and other buildings. Minshall bought 625 acres from William Penn and arrived in 1682. The Providence Friends Meeting was established at his house in February, 1688, and a meetinghouse was later built on land he donated for the purpose. The original meetinghouse was built out of logs in 1699 or 1700 and the current building dates to 1814.

Minshall’s house still stands and was given to the citizens of the borough in 1975.

The John J. Tyler Arboretum occupies part of Thomas Minshall’s original property. This farm was used by the underground railroad. The land was donated to a public trust in 1944 by an eighth generation descendant. The arboretum was started as a private collection by brothers Jacob and Minshall Painter. In 1825 they began systematically planting over 1,000 varieties of trees and shrubs. Over 20 of their original trees survive including a giant sequoia.

Media may be best known for secret government documents which were illegally seized there by activists in 1971 and distributed nationwide. On March 8 of that year, the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI raided a FBI “resident agency” in Media. They later released thousands of documents to major newspapers around the country. These documents revealed controversial and illegal FBI tactics, like the recruitment of Boy Scouts as informants, and confirmed for the first time the existence of COINTELPRO, a FBI program to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” dissident groups in the US.

Now back to the Tea Room…..

Downtown Media is a plethora of restaurants, shops and art….

We love to walk the streets and run across them to avoid the Trolley Cars, exploring all the marvelous culinary delights.

On a recent trip, we went to explore the delights of an English Tea Room… Tea & Cakes

what a delightful and interesting place. ……. one of the owners sits in the Tea Room and joins any and all conversations she desires…and she is quite opinionated!

We had some delightful fare……

A plate of High Tea Sandwiches and Sweets…

….of course Welsh Rarebit with Toast Points….

and Tea…Marvelous Tea…..

….back outside to run in front of the Trolleys!…..wish me luck……….

Dec18

Havre de Grace

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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Whilst driving from Baltimore to Philadelphia, it was time for a break from the road and there before us was a sign for

HAVRE de GRACE, MARYLAND

Well the rusty old jaw of the Tin Man still has difficulty pronouncing this one correctly

(after all the Emerald City is located in Texas!!)

But off we did go………..

Havre de Grace is a city in Harford County, Maryland It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay.

On May 3, 1813, during the War of 1812, Havre de Grace was attacked by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The American Lieutenant John O’Neill single-handedly manned a cannon to help defend the town. He was wounded, captured by the British, and soon released. In gratitude, Havre de Grace made O’Neill and his descendants the hereditary keepers of the Concord Point lighthouse marking the mouth of the Susquehanna River.

The Town is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once ”Le Havre de Grâce”, “Haven of Grace”.

In 1789, Havre de Grace was in serious consideration to be the permanent capital of the United States.

Havre de Grace was a candidate for the honor of being named capital of the United States, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the new permanent U.S. capital,

the vote was tied between Washington, D.C. and Havre de Grace—with the tie-breaking vote cast by the House Speaker, in favor of Washington, D.C.

WOW………..and all we really wanted to do was stretch our legs and find a public restroom!!!

We found a marvelous place to rest and decided to have a bite to eat, since the view was so magnificent.

The Tidewater Grille

We got a great table that looked out over the water and a wonderful railroad bridge.

Two railroad main lines pass through Havre de Grace. More than 8 daily passenger trains on Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor speed through Havre de Grace at 90 mph on an elevated line.

The double track bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1904 & 1906

for its New York City & Washington, D.C. line.

Well, I don’t know about you, but every time I am in Maryland I MUST have all the crab I can possibly consume!

So I began with a marvelous Cream of Crab Soup

Followed by the server’s recommendation of Susquehanna Hash…………and since we were sitting at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, it seemed appropriate.

It was a marvelous Hash made with Maryland Crab ( lots of it!) and Tasso Ham, topped with an Egg..one of the best dishes I have ever eaten!

We enjoyed our meals and watched the trains as they sped along the tracks over the Susquehanna River and imagined the Capital Building sitting here, but for one vote!

Then it was off to explore more of the town and have a coffee at Java by the Bay

For joy! The fragrances of the coffee beans was so wonderful in the Shoppe…….

……and the coffee so pleasing, as it was quite windy and cold outside.

Well, hope you enjoyed our little visit to Havre de Grace, now it’s time to get back in the car and continue our journey……

Jul18

Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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Automotive

William Nelson (1879-1903) was a General Electic employee who invented a new way to motorize bicycles.

He then fell off his prototype bike during a test run.

Aviation

Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (1003 – 1010) was a Muslim Kazakh Turkic scholar from Farab, he attempted to fly using two wooden wings and a rope.

He leapt from the roof of a mosque in Nishapur and fell to his death.

Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier was the first know fatality in an air crash when his Roziere balloon crashed on June 15, 1785, while he and Pierre Romain were attempting to cross the English Channel.

Franz Reichelt (1879-1912) who was a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his coat parachute. It was the first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance that he would test it first with a dummy (referring to himself?)

Henry Smolinski died in 1973, when he was killed during a test flight of the AVE Mizar,

a flying car based on the Ford Pinto and the sole product of the company he founded.

Michael Dacre died in 2009, after testing his flying taxi device

designed to accommodate fast and affordable travel among nearby cities.

Medical

Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889-1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help other lift him from bed. This system was the eventual cause of his death when he was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55. He is more famous and infamous for developing not only the tetraethyl lead (TEL) additive to gasoline, but also chlorofluorocarbons (DFCs)

Physics

Marie Curie (1867-1934) invented the process to isolate radium after co-discovering the radioactive elements radium and polonium.

She died of aplastic anemia as a result of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from her research materials.

Punishment

Li Si (208 BC) was Prime Minister during the Qin Dynasty

and was executed by the “Five Pains” method which he had devised.

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (1581) was executed in Edinburgh on the “Scottish Maiden”

which he had introduced to Scotland as Regent.

Space Exploration

Wan Hu, a sixteenth-century Chinese official, is said to have attempted to launch himself into outer space in a chair to which 47 rockets were attached.

The rockets exploded and, it is said, neither he nor the chair was ever seen again……….perhaps it worked??!!?

Jun12

Paraprosdokian

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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So let’s have some fun………shall we…….

bring in the paraprosdokians

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.

It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists.

Some paraprosdokians not only change the meaning of an early phrase, but they also play on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a form of syllepsis.

Where there’s a will, I want to be in it