Travelsmartplanet

High tech telephones can be found in most of the rooms (even his bathroom) of Sir Henry Pellatt’s castle-like home, Casa Loma – and this was in 1913! 

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The home of Sir Henry Pellatt was one of the first in America to have recessed lighting installed in the domes of some rooms creating glowing ceilings.

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The famous Oak Room of the splendid Edwardian era home of Sir Henry Pellatt. The finished panels fruit, flowers, ribbons and birds took 3 years to carve and were so exquisite that in 1913 when they arrived they were first exhibited in Montreal’s Musee des Beaux Arts before being installed in Casa Loma. 

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Who would guess a shoe museum could be such fun, so informative and so creative? The history, the designers, the famous shoes and the oddities will please just about anyone who comes here.

Tags: art, Bata, Bata Shoe Museum, Bata Shoes, chaussures, creative, design, designer, famous, fashion, footwear, History, history of shoes, informative, Museum, Oddities, shoe, shoe designer, shoemaker, sights, sightseeing, style, tour, tourist, travel, travelblogger, vintage, works of art

Women who love shoes will love this museum. It traces the history of shoes from thousands of years ago to today.

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St. Peter’s Basilica has the tallest dome in the world. Michelangelo had a large part in its design. The lantern is 17 metres high. It was used as a model for other domes in the western world such as Saint Paul’s in London (1675), Les Invalides in Paris (1680-1691) and the Capitol building in Washington, DC (1794-1817).

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As you enter St. Peter’s Basilica, in one of the first niches as go to the right, you can see Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of the Pieta, Madonna and child.

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St. Peter’s Basilica is the largest church in the world with the tallest dome in the world. This Renaissance architecture was designed over the centuries by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

On 1 January 1547, Michelangelo, then in his seventies, was Pope Paul III’s 3rd choice to be the superintendent of the building program. So way beyond the Sistine Chapel, he was the principal designer of most of the building as you see it today.

 Michelangelo, who did not want this job, wrote “I undertake this only for the love of God and in honour of the Apostle.” In order to take the assignment, he insisted he be given a free hand to achieve his ultimate design by whatever means he saw fit.

The Basilica is supposedly the burial site of Saint Peter, first Bishop of Rome whose tomb is supposedly directly below high altar.

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Have fun looking for the trompe l’oeil Gian Lorenzo Bernini planned in the center of St Peter’s Square. There are 2 semi-circles surrounded by 4 rows of columns. You can see the rows from any place in the piazza except from 2 spots (look for the metal plates in the ground) where the illusion allows you to see only 1 row of columns and not the four.

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Entrance to the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo’s ceilings in the Sistine Chapel is right near here.

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