Category: North America

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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The Butchart Gardens are a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island in Canada. Robert Pim Butchart (1856-1943), who worked in the industrialization of cement, stood with his wife on Vancouver Island. They had a quarry on Tod cove at the foot of the Saanich Peninsula on the island and in 1904, they added a saltwater pond, a bowling alley, tennis courts and an orgue. Jennie, his wife, two years later created a Japanese garden with the help of designer Isaburo Kishida. In 1909, the quarry was exhausted and Jennie decided to turn it into a sunken garden. They chose the name of their property ‘Benvenuto’ and they began to receive visitors arriving in boats. After a few years the tennis courts has been replaced by an Italian garden and the vegetable garden has been transformed into a roserie. There we find many varied flowers, shrubs, fountains, statues and a carousel. A high quality food and entertainment service are completed the sculpted gardens. There are five gardens:  the Sunken garden, the Rose garden, the Japanese garden, the Italian garden and the Mediterranean garden. They usually receive over a million visitors a year.

Tips

If you visit the gardens in July or August, you will find a lot of visitors so if you want to make beautiful pictures without so many people go early in the morning at the opening (9:00).
Note that if you are a smoker, you must comply with the restriction of no smoking and go only on both areas intended for it.

 

Key West, Florida, United States

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Key West is a wonderful and unique place, located at the southern end of the Florida Keys. The road that will take you there is surrounded by blue water and sky. The place is located 260Km south of Miami, this is the southernmost point of the United States. this is a place that has long attracted writers and artists … some famous like Ernest Hemingway who stayed there long, his residence is now a tourist attraction. Tennessee Williams has kept his permanent residence there until his death, today it is the turn of Michel Tremblay to establish residence there. This is a good place to live quietly.

Tips

There are of course historical visits to make, as the house of Ernest Hemingway. But it is especially the adventure sports that attract us to Key West. We also suggest go fishing in the marshes where you can catch all kinds of exotic fish. But the must is the visit of the coral reefs, beautiful, you can even see more by diving and snorkeling. There are also the old decorated barges where hippies lived.

Alcatraz, San Francisco, California, USA

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The prison of Alcatraz lies on the island of the same name, in the Bay of San Francisco, 2.4 km from the coast of San Francisco in California, in the West of the United States. On the island there were fortifications with cannons, after the civil war, technological advances made obsolete fortifications and armaments. The cannons were phased out. In 1868, after a development, Alcatraz officially became a place of detention for military prisoners. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz. Isolation, cold waters and the violent currents of the Golden Gate made Alcatraz a place which prisoners should not be able to escape easily . In 1909 began the construction by military prisoners of a large concrete block which included 600 cells, a kitchen, a refectory, an infirmary and offices, completed in 1912 the block became known on the nickname of ‘The Rock’. In 1934, the government decided to make Alcatraz federal prison a model of prison offering a maximum of security to prevent escapes and not giving privileges to prisoners who couldn’t negotiate their conditions of imprisonment. On March 21th, 1963, the general Attorneyof the United States Robert Kennedy decided its closure because the costs were too high. The federal government felt ultimately that it was more economical to build a more modern prison than renovate Alcatraz to keep it in service. Alcatraz has hosted the most dangerous prisoners in the country: Al Capone, George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, Alvin Karpis, Robert Stroud and Arthur ‘Doc’ Barker. Lots of 1.576 prisoners that passed by Alcatraz were detained because they refused to comply with the rules in other federal prisons, were considered violent or were at high risk of escape. The prisoners had 4 rights: to eat, to be dressed, be sheltered and receive medical assistance in case of need and they could work, correspond with the outside world and receive visits. The prison had a library and also organized activities like painting and music. During the weekend the detainees could play baseball or softball for a few hours . During its existence, 36 prisoners tried to escape during 14 different attempts. There were just 3 of them who have never been found but that they assume that they were drowned.
Alcatraz is visited by more than a million people per year.

Tips

The only way to get there is to take the ferry from San Francisco. Departures begin at 9:00 every morning and it is advisable to make a reservation during the summer season. The visit is free of charge and the price of the crossing includes an audioguide. You must calculate between 2 and 3 hours for the visit. There is no possibility to sleep on site, or buy food.
If you like taking photos, you can get beautiful views of the city of San Francisco, the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge from there.