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Switzerland, Lucerne: Lion Monument in Lucerne
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Gletschergarten Lowendenkmal is massive heartrending stone relief which was carved to remember the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution when defending Louis XVI. Swiss Guards were and are famous as brave sentries. Today, they still surround the Pope. When the revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, more than 800 were killed during the fighting, after surrender, or died in prison of their wounds. 300 lucky survived because they were with the detachment which King Louis XVI had sent to Normandy to escort grain convoys. Two surviving Swiss officers went on to become senior ranked guards for Napoleon.
In 1880, Mark Twain had this to say about it ” His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.
Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.”
US: College Park, MD – Try a Flight Simulator at World’s Oldest Continuously Operating Airport
How appropriate to house an aviation museum at the oldest continuously operated airport in the world, The College Park Aviation Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
The first person to greet you is Wilbur Wright -who else? This animatronic man tells you how he came to this airfield in 1909 to teach military officers how to fly. The gallery contains historic and reproduction aircraft associated with the history of the airfield, highlighting the display of unique aircraft and artifacts and tells the story of the airport’s many 1st in flight to today.
College Park Aviation Museum is family-friendly and filled with hands-on, interactive exhibits for children of all ages. Touch, explore, and sit in the cockpit of their “Imagination Plane“, a 1939 blue Taylorcraft. Fly away in a 1911 Model B Flight Simulator where you can fly over this airport using hand controls and state-of-the-art visuals. Visit their hands-on room to learn about flight and to dress like a pilot.
Look for exhibits on the first US Postal Air flight in 1918 and the first controlled helicopter flight by H. Berliner. The airport runway is just out side the rear glass windows of the museum, so you can watch take-offs or landings as today’s pilots take to the sky.
Location: College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive, College Park, MD 20740
Hours: Daily 10am – 5pm (Closed Sun, Jan 1st)
Tel: 301- 864- 6029
collegeparkaviationmuseum.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions:
visitmaryland.org/city/college-park