City Of The Day

[Bebe Reptar]

Jun 28, 2012 2:29:55 GMT -5 @bestintheworld said:

June 28th, 2012 - Providence, Rhode Island, United States

O HAI, my college was right near here.

Providence was really trashy for a number of years, mainly a working town, until the last few decades or so when it's really been built up and is a popular destination for eating. The Providence Place Mall is pretty expansive, a three-floor shopping palace, and The Dunkin' Donuts Center is a decent arena for concerts. Federal Hill, which you pointed out, is also really nice.

Thayer Street is a pretty popular destination as well. It's right near the Brown campus and has a great mix of local hot spots, including restaurants, clothing stores and a tiny movie theatre.

There's literally a Dunkin' Donuts or a Starbucks on every other block, so Fact #2 is absolutely right (although I guess that's true of New England as a whole. I would know.)

Thanks for posting about it!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the insight! If I lived in that area, I would definitely try as many of the restaurants as I could. I'm not too into the whole doughnut/coffee thing, but Providence seems to have something to offer to everyone.

[Deleted]

July 4th, 2012 - El Paso, Texas, United States











City Hall:



The El Paso star:




7 Facts About El Paso:

1) With a population right around 650,000, El Paso ranks as the 6th largest city in Texas and the 19th largest in the nation.

2) El Paso is closer to four other state capitals than it is to its own state's capital. Santa Fe, New Mexico; Phoenix, Arizona and two Mexican state capitals lie closer to it than Austin.

3) While the city wasn't established until 1850, the region has history dating much farther back than that. It was settled by Spanish explorers in 1598, and the land had been used by Native Americans for thousands of years prior.

4) The city is considered to be among the nation's safest.

5) The Star on the Mountain, or El Paso star, is the world's largest illuminated star. It was erected in 1940 by El Paso Electric, a company that remains in business to this day.

6) While some U.S. cities did not have large Hispanic populations until recent decades, El Paso is quite different. Given its history as a Spanish settlement and its close proximity to Mexico, it has always been predominately Hispanic, and today 80% of the population is.

7) Unlike most of the United States, where July or August are the warmest months, June is the warmest month in west Texas. Average highs in June are a hot 96F (36C), slightly warmer than average highs during July.

[FreakyFlyBry]

El Paso is likely a place I'd stop by in if I'm somewhere nearby... looks very scenic with the mountains in the backdrop!

Not surprised about being closer to other state capitals than its own... after all, everything is bigger in Texas!

Also not surprised about the Hispanic dominance given it's right beside Mexico!

Also of note is that it's in the Mountain time zone, unlike most of Texas which is in Central.

[Deleted]

July 7th, 2012 - Saint Petersburg, Russia



















Winter Palace, a main site during the Soviet Revolution of 1917:





A peak inside the palace:



Saint Isaac's Cathedral, one of the iconic buildings of the city:



A much different view:



Church of the Savior on Blood, another iconic building:



Grand Cascade Park:



The Saint Petersburg docks:



Some examples of the Soviet-style apartment buildings that can be found throughout the city:












7 Facts About Saint Petersburg:

1) With over five million residents, Saint Petersburg is the 2nd most populous city in Russia. It is also the northernmost city on earth with a population of over one million.

2) The city was called Leningrad from 1924-1991, and Petrograd for a decade before that. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city went back to its traditional name of Saint Petersburg.

3) During World War II, it was the site of one of the longest and most devastating sieges in world history, at the hands of the Germans. The Siege of Leningrad took place for 871 days between 1941-1944, and resulted in an insanely high death toll of close to 1.5 million. Most of these deaths were due to starvation.

4) Saint Petersburg has some of the deepest metros in the world. On average, stations are located 60-70 meters (197-230 feet) below ground!

5) It is considered to be an important port city of the Baltic Sea.

6) As you would probably expect, winters here are long and cold. The city experiences three full months with average highs below freezing (December-February), and cold weather is common as early as November and as late as April. Summer is considered the best time to visit.

7) Despite being founded by Peter the Great, it is ironically named after St. Peter.

[FreakyFlyBry]

Russia would be an interesting country to visit, and due to its history, St. Petersburg would be one of my top choices of cities to visit there.

Not surprised about the long winters there, though I'm sure they make the best of them.

The inner views of that palace are very stunning. ;D And that is quite deep for their metros, I'm sure it's to isolate them from the cold weather.

[mikeespinho]

I've been in Saint Petersburg back in 2005. We had a study trip to Saint Petersburg and Moscow in the context of my history studies in Salzburg. I really liked this City although on the very first day my new digicam was stolen in the metro. Here are some impressions from my trip to Saint Petersburg.

Let's start with the accommodation and a view inside of one of those Soviet-style apartment buildings.




An impression of the metro in Saint Petersburg



And here is the police at work.



You have seen pictures of the Grand Cascade Park. The car on the next picture we saw on our way to this park.

[Deleted]

Those are some great photos. Thanks for posting them! These give a very personal type view of the city...what do you think that car was for?

[mikeespinho]

I don't have any idea what this car was for. In our group we found it interessting to see efforts to get forward in the developement on the one hand. And on the other hand we often saw signs like this car for example that the way to reach this goals is long for the most Russians.