Archive for the ‘Features’ Category
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
March 17th is the traditional date when everyone goes green! Not ecologically, or even politically, just green everywhere. Hats, glasses, clothes, beer, food, fountains and grass are all green for St Paddy. Where better to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than in the Irish capital, Dublin. Merrion Square is the place to be for family friendly events. The main parade begins in Parnell Square North and makes slow and rambunctious progress around the city. The celebrations actually start days earlier with drama, music and dance.
Across the pond and lagging the usual 5 hours, New York does the Mother of all parades. It may be cold, but that does not hinder the partying of this Irish rooted immigrant community. Around 34 million Americans claim Irish ancestry so it’s a good thing they moved out of the tiny Emerald Isle, to be sure.
Of course, the best place to find the most authentic Irish cuisine and celebrations is in an Irish bar, if you can squeeze through the door. The New York parade runs along the Fifth Avenue, best known for its upmarket boutiques, and it starts at 11am and finishes around 5pm, if you’re lucky. Some of the best views can be seen from Central Park, or from a live New York webcam on Times Square ! Checkout Alary’s bar webcam for more St Patrick’s Day action in St Paul’s, Minneapolis.
Sharpen your knowledge of St Patrick with a few facts below:
Although St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland he was born in Britain around 385AD.
He was captured as a boy and carried off to Ireland as a slave herding sheep.
He later returned to Ireland as a missionary to the pagan Celts.
He used the shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity in his preaching.
March 17 AD461 is the date of the death of St Patrick and is a national holiday in Ireland, Newfoundland and on the island of Montserrat!
The largest festivities in the southern hemisphere are in Sydney , which are probably also the warmest.
St Patrick is attributed to driving all snakes and serpents out of Ireland.
A popular toast on St Patrick’s Day says: “May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out”.
And on that happy note, cheers and have a great St Patrick’s Day!
Tags: Dublin, Irish, March 17, New York City, St Patrick's Day, St Paul's
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Thursday, March 11th, 2010
When it comes to parties, the Spanish know how to fiesta in style. Any excuse is a good one for them to put on their dancing shoes and have a good time.
Valencia on the Costa Blanca is known for its sandy beaches, historic mountain villages and its lively entertainment. The area is well covered with live webcams of Valencia’s best attractions. Right now they are gearing up for one of the biggest festivals of the year (of which there are several!). Las Fallas “Fire festival” begins on March 15, 2010 and lasts for a whole week of fun. It celebrates St Joseph, who was of course a carpenter, and Las Fallas are his monuments. The Fiesta attracts an amazing 2 million people to see the parade of giant papier-mâché characters, mostly caricatures of well known political figures and famous international figures. However, being featured in the parade is a dubious honour, as you will soon see. The figures are an unwieldy 4 metres tall and the highlight of the festival is when the effigies are burnt, accompanied by a fantastic firework display.
As you can imagine, an enclosed plaza with 2 million spectators and burning paper is a slight fire hazard and 250 firemen are on standby to pour cold water on the event, literally, if it gets out of hand. Where the EU regs stand on this I am not sure. Too busy getting the obliging Brits to consider taking a competence test and buying a licence in order to own a ‘dangerous’ pet pooch, it seems.
For those in Valencia next week, have fun. The main event takes place in the Plaza Ayuntimiento or Main plaza and there are events each day at 2pm leading up to the Grand Finale. The real smart visitors will already have their rooms booked overlooking the square so they can watch from a safe distance.
While you are online, why not browse the many other webcam views of Spain, from beaches to mountains and pick out your next vacation in the sun.
Tags: Fiesta, Fire festival, La Fallas, Spain webcams, Valencia
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Monday, March 8th, 2010
Innovative farmers in the ailing farm industry have been transforming their working farms into Farm Parks, and there is a difference. The whole raison d’être of farm parks is to welcome visitors, particularly children, to feed, pet, cuddle and generally enjoy baby animals. It’s a matter of out with the Friesians and in with the pet bunnies, lambs, goats and other long-suffering creatures.
Farm parks are going one step further, and several have live webcams to view the young animals. Leader of the pack, as you might say, is Denbury Farm in Somerset. After dark there is even the opportunity to view badgers, foxes and other nocturnal creatures on the prowl.
The idea has been a great success and families now treat a day at the local farm park on a par with any other theme park or zoo. Along with the animals, farm parks offer tractor-pulled haycart rides, mini JCB’s in the sandpit, nature walks, picnic areas and playgrounds. Some even have campgrounds so families can have a holiday based on the farm.
Feeding time is great fun, as young calves and lambs can be bottlefed, and who can resist that. The live farm webcam on Peter’s farm in the Netherlands has great views of cows and calves in the barn, or search some of the many Lamb cams which pop up at this time of year. For the not-so-squeamish you may even witness the birth of a baby lamb. Aaaah!
Or should that be Baaaaa!
Tags: animal webcams, Denbury farm, farm park cams, farm parks, lamb cams, Peter's farm
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Monday, March 1st, 2010
Today is Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant, or in plain English, St David’s Day, the feast day of the patron saint of Wales. March 1st is in remembrance of the death of St. David, over 1400 years ago, in 589. David was recognized as the national patron saint at the height of the Welsh resistance against the Normans.
Celebrations include concerts, a welsh food fest and a parade in Cardiff. The Royal Welsh Regiment is changing the guards at Cardiff Castle and visitors each receive a tube of daffodil bulbs as they are the national flower of Wales. A leek is also a national emblem of Wales and to celebrate St David’s Day, the Welsh wear either a leek or a daffodil pinned to the jacket, so visitors definitely get the best deal with the daffs!
Incidentally, Cardiff is a great place to visit on other dates throughout the year, especially the newly opened Cardiff Bay. The former docks have now been transformed into a 500-acre freshwater lake for leisure and watersports. The waterfront is home to many shops, restaurants and attractions including the Techniquest Science Centre and the National Assembly building so there is always plenty going on for all the family. Checkout the latest happenings from the Cardiff Bay webcams.
Note that our newly re-shuffled webcams of Great Britain are neatly categorized and all the sights of Wales from Aberystwyth to Wrexham can now be enjoyed from our dedicated Wales webcams section. Happy browsing!
Tags: Cardiff, Cardiff bay, Cardiff castle, daffodils, leeks, St David, Wales
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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Live webcams have come a long way in the last few years and their uses are as wide as the imagination. Webcams have been used for crime spotting, pet-sitting, baby-minding and more. There is even a webcam focused on Loch Ness just in case “Nessie” makes an appearance. The Nessie webcam has a camera attached so that if the viewer sees something strange, they can capture it on record.
Hampton Court Palace has many tales of strange sightings and chilling experiences. On one occasion security guards spotted that fire doors were frequently opened and on checking their camera footage saw a figure in period dress stepping through.
BBC Lincolnshire has innovatively put their webcam to a new use. Whilst two of their webcams show live webcam views of their presenters on air, the third has been set up in what appears to be a derelict building. Or is it?
In the old Radion Buildings there have been spine-chilling tales of a pale apparition. The building is reputedly haunted by…..a ghostly ice-cream lady. Perhaps I should tell you that the building was once used as a cinema. If you have the nerve, you can checkout the ghost webcam for yourself. Rather than pay to have the webcam monitored, BBC Lincolnshire is hoping that listeners, or rather viewers, will spot evidence on the webcam and let them know.
A similar ghostcam is set up inside the Willard library in the US state of Indiana. Live webcams are monitoring the library in the children’s room, the basement and the reading room. So far the results are inconclusive, although the still photos are pretty spooky……
Tags: BBC lincolnshire, Ghost cams, Hampton Court, Loch Ness, spy cams, webcam cameras, Willard Library
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Dublin’s good for more than just the odd stag party. This historic city has great historic attractions, museums, art galleries, whiskey distilleries, more than 600 taverns and a great castle! Take a look at views around Lower Gardiner Street to see what’s currently happening in this buzzing city! Dublin is also the home of the annual JDIFF. That’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, in case it had slipped your mind.
Running from the 18-28 February 2010 there’s still plenty of time to grab a cheap flight or ferry ticket and head on over. Launched by silver screen greats Colin Farrell and Kristin Scott Thomas, the festival opens with a European premiere of Neil Jordan’s new film, Ondine, starring the aforementioned heartthrob, Mr Farrell. Further highlights are the screening of KST’s french film, the Irish premiere of Partir, three films featuring Patricia Clarkson and the Closing Gala “I am in Love” attended by actor Tilda Swinton. In all there will be 100 film screenings from over 30 countries. This is a great festival for Dublin, especially in drizzly February, as it is a mostly undercover event.
Incidentally there are three Irish nominations in the 82nd Oscars so fingers crossed for the “Secret of Kells”, “The Door” and “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”.
If you fancy heading to Dublin at any time for a weekend away, see what’s going on from these live Dublin webcams. The Dublin City Centre streaming webcam includes views of O’Connell Street and the River Liffey whilst the view of O’Shea’s Pub really captures the atmosphere.
Tags: Colin Farrell, Dublin, Eire, Film Festival, Lower Gardiner Street, O'Shea's Bar
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Sunday, February 14th, 2010
February 16th 2010 is Shrove Tuesday when the British prepare for Lent by tossing and eating pancakes. With lemon juice. We really know how to show the world a good time!
Meanwhile the rest of the world is celebrating “Mardi Gras”, which means “Fat Tuesday”. One of the places which really knows how to Mardi Gras Big Time is New Orleans. They spend all year preparing floats, practicing dance moves, honing their jazz, sewing elaborate costumes and polishing their Harleys ready for the Big Day. Each district has its own “Krewe” who choose a theme and organize their own parade, in fact New Orleans has so many parades that they start a good week before with a couple of parades each night! Traditionally the float riders throw sweets, sorry – candy, and coloured beads to the crowds which is fun. In fact so many beads are thrown that at the end of the 2-hour parade, you have serious whiplash from walking around with all that weight around your neck!
I had the privilege to attend a Mardi Gras Parade and I recall that as the last float passed, people quickly picked up their belongings and hurried away. We stood there bewildered, looking around and wondering what all the hurry was about when along the street a strange scrape, scraping noise could be heard. A moment later, into view came road sweepers, using plastic lawn rakes to gather all the broken beads, crushed sweets and debris. They were followed by a couple of huge water tankers which thoroughly hosed down the street – no wonder the locals had cleared the area smartish!
Other places which will be celebrating Mardi Gras in grand style will be the Rio Carnival (they set up viewing stands for their do), Venice has a Masquerade Carnival, along with lively Viareggio and Cologne does its bit too. Live webcams at Carnivals all over the world will share the festivities, so once you’ve finished your pancake, checkout how the rest of the world celebrate Carnival and Mardi Gras with a host of live Carnival webcams!
Tags: Carnival, Live webcams, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Pancake Day, Rio, Shrove Tuesday, Venice, Viareggio
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Thursday, February 11th, 2010
The Chinese New Year is actually a moveable feast. Like many ancient customs, it follows the lunar calendar as well as the Gregorian calendar and consequently the New Year can begin anytime from late January to mid February, unlike our own thankfully fixed date. As various scholars have calculated the year from the reign of Huangdi, this year is either 4708, 4707 or 4647, but don’t accept cheques with any of these dates!
February 14th will be the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, one of the 12 symbols of the Chinese zodiac. Those born in the year of the tiger will be born leaders, noble and fearless, unpredictable, always in a hurry and fearless fighters. They have a lot to live up to!
The New Year is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays and is a great event for Koreans, Tibetans, Mongolians and the Vietnamese too. The festivities are very colourful in Chinatown Singapore. Many ex-pat Chinese hold large and colourful celebrations in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US so checkout some webcams of your favourite ethnic communities. London has huge celebrations planned in Trafalgar Square and LeicesterSquare on Sunday Feb 21st. Chinatown London will of course be celebrating in style on the 14th.
Like all good parties the Chinese New Year involves exchanging gifts, decorations, special food and new clothes. The family traditionally clean the house to sweep out ill-fortune and make way for the incoming good luck. Red is the colour of the festival and windows are decorated with red paper cutouts and money is given in red envelopes. The end of the old year is concluded with the Lantern Festival and dragon dances, lion dances and fireworks herald in the New Year.
Tags: Chinatown, Chinese, London, New Year, Singapore, Year of the Tiger
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Sports enthusiasts the world over will be limbering up in preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – and that’s just the spectators. For the 5500 athletes from more than 80 countries, this is the culmination of a lifetime’s dedication and hard work. The opening ceremony of the 21st Winter Olympics will take place on February 12, 2010 and events begin on the 13th. The Canadian host flag will be carried by speed skater, Clara Hughes, herself a five time Olympic medalist.
The 106-day journey of the Olympic flame began when it was lit in Olympia, Greece on October 22, 2009 and is now on home turf, making its way across Canada.
Ski jumping, alpine skiing, ice hockey, speed skiing, freestyle skating, luge, ice hockey, figure skating, snowboarding, cross country skiing and curling are just some of the entertaining events, along with many people’s favourite, the bobsleigh run! The coveted gold medals are all “hotly” competed for, even in these sub-zero temperatures. British hopefuls are the men’s curling team and the world champion two-man bobsleigh team (who happen to be women!) Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke, who are tipped for gold. Zoe Gillings looks promising on snowboard cross and Sinead and John Kerr are going for figure-skating gold. Can you believe it is 25 years since the glory days of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean?
Many of the events will take place in Whistler, a gorgeous place at any time of year, and on Cypress Mountain. There are two Olympic Villages; one at Whistler and the other located about 117km away in Vancouver on beautiful False Creek. Checkout views of this lovely city in British Columbia through one of our newest webcams additions showing West Vancouver.
Tags: 2010, Vancouver, Whistler, Winter Olympics
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
It seems in the last day there’s been a bit of a flurry of webcam-related news in the headlines.
Skipping back a bit further to the 24th January, the Sun told the story of the first ever recorded birth of a black bear… which was being watched on its mother’s “Den Cam” by allegedly thousands of avid fans.
In a similar vain, it was reported yesterday that a baby Rhino had been born live on cam. The story here seems to be that the safari park in Scotland which housed the mummy rhino were blissfully unaware this was taking place until a viewer from Cyprus decided to ring them up and let them know there was a bit of a gooey mess on the floor.
Following on, in a similar vain – if it weren’t for someone’s bizzarely obscure and acute sense of “something’s not right here”, then an amateur German photographer would have frozen to death. He took a stroll out to photograph sunsets and found himself strolling perhaps a little too far, ended up on ice and completely lost in the darkness. Weirdly, this webcam happened to be trained on that exact spot and a viewer noticed the flashes going off and decided that was enough to call the police… amazing!
Back to giving birth, thought I’d mention it’s not just wild animals being watched. It was reported yesterday that Sandra Taylor of Edmonton, Canada gave birth to her baby daughter live over the internet from the delivery room at the hospital, thanks to a laptop and a webcam… and apparently a friend ‘typing updates’ (I’d love to see that transcript!) but thankfully in this instance there was just one viewer – the baby’s father, a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. Awww. I think.
Tags: baby cam, birth, den cam, rhino cam, webcam, webcam news
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