USA - Sightseeing

10,000 butterflies belonging to150 different species can be seen at the biggest butterfly park in the... world. The nicest thing is that the animals are very trusting. They might land on the visitors' head, the shoulder or the hand. The insects fly freely in well-climated aviaries amidst a rich, tropical plant kingdom. Because most butterflies are breeded locally, one can also see nymphs and caterpillars. Furthermore, exotic birds and fish live here. The different butterflies are explained at the associated museum. Living spiders, huge water bugs or palm-sized cockroaches in their terraria can be seen at the Bug Zoo. more

The South Florida Art Center is not an art museum in a traditional sense since visitors can experience... art and artists up close - and everything free of charge. The charitable organisation provides contemporary artists with affordable studios. In three buildings (800, 810 and 924 Lincoln Road), up to 85 artists can be observed through large windows while working. Guided tours are offered if booked in advance. All sorts of art genres are on display, ranging from paintings, photographies, video installations as well as sculptures. All works can also be purchased. Changing exhibitions take place in a gallery located right next to the Art Center more

Founded in 1916, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park stretches from the coastline to the summit of the world’s... biggest shield volcano, the Mauna Loa 13,680 ft (4,169 m) high. Lava fields, volcanic craters and cinder cones characterize the scenery – steam rises from many spots and the thought occurs that the volcano is just about to erupt. The national park, which was declared an international biosphere reserve, is the result of 70 million of years of volcanism and evolution. Since volcanism can be experienced directly, Hawaii Volcanoes is known as one of the most impressive national parks throughout the USA. Kilauea, the most active volcano on earth, offers a fantastic insight into the formation of the Hawaiian Islands as well as great sights of the primordial landscape. more

The 46 m high Statue of Liberty on its giant throne base greets visitors to the metropolis from far away.... Between 1892 and 1924 in particular, she welcomed millions of immigrants arriving in New York by ship. The statue itself, a present from France, embarked on its own long sea journey across the Atlantic to America in 1884, dismantled into small sections and packed in 200 boxes, as a symbol of friendship to the people and love of freedom. A year later on 28 October 1886 she was unveiled in all pomp. The internal framework of the statue was designed by Gustave Eiffel, father of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Alsace sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi completed the rest. Since the renovation, you can now venture inside the statue once more. However, if you want to walk round the lady's crown, you may need to book some time in advance. Only the base, the museum and the visitors' platform are freely accessible. The crowds are nevertheless still huge and visitors require patience, particularly in the afternoons, as the waiting times for the ticket booths for the ferry, on the ferry itself and then again at the statue are massive. more

The Museum is in the Washington/Mason Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse, built in 1887. This is also the... place where the cables of the cars are driven to keep the famous cable cars in motion. The story of the transport, so typical of the city, is shown in a vivid way. The drive station, the workshop, the depot and historic wagons, partly deriving from the 1870s, can be seen here. One can watch, from a gallery, how the round about 4.6 mi (7.5 km) long and 1.3 in (3,3 cm) thick cables are sent electronically to the streets via a system consisting of wheels, rolls and guide channels. Furthermore, pictures, models and a film educate on the operation and history of the Cable Cars. more

Pearl Harbor is a harbor and United States Navy base in Hawaii. It became famous through the kamikaze-attack... by Japanese fighter jets against the US-Pacific fleet on December 7th 1941. This event, during which 2,400 Americans were killed, triggered the involvement of the United States in World War II. Today, the USS Arizona Memorial is anchored above the wreck of the sunken battleship USS Arizona and can be visited by boat. The oil, which still leaks from the wreck, is referred to as “tears of the Arizona”. Additionally, one can visit the sumbarines USS Bowfin and USS Missouri. The Missouri was the site of the signing of Japan’s capitulation on September 2nd 1945. more

Since 1967, Hanauma Bay has been a marine reserve that provides a wonderful opportunity for snorkeling... or diving. The bay’s coral reef is home to countless colorful tropical fish. Their identification is aided by so-called “Fish ID Cards”, laminated cards with pictures of the fish species, available in the Marine Education Center. Moray eels and water turtles can be observed here. The ocean floor is formed by the crater of an old volcano, which was flooded by the ocean. An obligatory film shown in the award-winning Marine Education Center provides information about the bay’s underwater world. Hiking paths lead along the coast and provide beautiful views of the ocean and the fine sands of the beaches. more

Ala Moana Beach Park is located west of famous Waikiki Beach. The 800 m long magnificent beach was artificially... created, when sand was heaped up here. Since the beach is protected by the offshore coral reef, the water is very calm – ideal for swimming. However, the coast drops quite steeply, so less experienced swimmers should be careful. The beach is very popular among Honolulu locals, since it is less crowded than Waikiki. On weekends, they arrive with their entire family in order to spend the day barbecuing in the shady picnic areas or on the pretty lawns. Toilets, showers and lifeguards are available. more

The two 411-meter (1348-ft) tall towers of the World Trade Center had been the highest buildings in New... York and a symbol of the economic power of the city for more than 30 years. But then, after the horrible 9/11 attacks, the proud Twin Towers collapsed. Now a deep hole can be seen where the towers once stood - Grund Zero. This will also be the sight of the new World Trade Center with several skyscrapers. Among others, Norman Foster an David Childs designed the plans. A memorial sight for the 2,749 victims is planned to be the heart of the complex. But until then the victims are honored at the Tribute World Trade Center (120 Liberty Street, Mon, Wed-Sat 10am-6 pm, Tue noon-6 pm, Sun noon-5 pm, http://www.tributewtc.org.) Tours are also offered. more

Since the 18th century, Honolulu, the “protected bay”, may have become an economic and cultural center... of the Hawaiian Islands; nevertheless, the people stick to their motto “Hang loose!” Besides the University of Hawaii, numerous museums and galleries, the State Capitol is worth seeing. The Aloha Tower is Honolulu’s best-known landmark, which offers a marvelous view of the harbor (http://www.alohatower.com). Iolani Palace is the greatest building of the city (http://www.iolanipalace.org), in which the last Hawaiian queen resided. The scent of incense and spices in China Town gives the formerly dingy district a nostalgic flair. With its present legendary beach, Waikiki, a district of Honolulu, advanced to a tourist magnet. Crowds of tourists bustle in Kalakaua Avenue. Besides the many shopping malls, such as the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center (http://www.royalhawaiiancenter.com), the International Marketplace invites for a stroll through many small stores (http://www.internationalmarketplacewaikiki.com). more

The longed for Manhattan near enough to grasp, the Statue of Liberty in sight – nowhere else has the... American Dream been dreamt of as intensively as on Ellis Island. From 1892 to 1917, the ‘Island of Tears” was an outpost for immigration authorities. The immigrants had to endure a tough bureaucratic and medical procedure of 3 to 5 hours before they could continue their journey to New York – or they would belong to the tearful 2 percent of those deported. Up to 1 million immigrants a year passed through Ellis Island at that time. The island’s Immigration Museum tells their history in the historical halls. Around 40 % of the ancestors of today’s Americans passed through Ellis Island en route to the USA. 500,000 names are engraved on the 183 m long Immigrant Wall of Honour in the north of the island. Ellis Island can be reached using the Liberty Island Ferry from Battery Park. more

Imagine you are in New York and have had enough of the hectic hustle and bustle of Manhattan's streets,... enough of hooting cars, of the noise, of the exhaust fumes. Central Park offers you relaxation in natural surroundings, right in the middle of Manhattan, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. New York's 337 hectare 'green lung' was created by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Clavert Vaux in the style of the English landscaped gardens in the mid 19th Century. Today Central Park is an El Dorado for joggers, skaters and walkers, a venue for open-air concerts in summer, an oasis for peace and quiet for everyone who wants to escape the hustle and bustle in the city, and last but not least a home for an amazingly large variety of birds. At night, Central Park is the haunt of shady characters and should therefore be avoided after dark. more

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the largest collections of art in the world. If there were... enough space in the brick building opened in 1880, visitors could see (but not on one day) more than 3 million exhibits. In reality, one quarter of the collection is on show with masterpieces from almost every cultural area amongst the select works of art. Visitors will be as likely to find Egyptian, Roman and Greek art as examples of European art from the Middle Ages or exhibits of American handicraft. Visitors should also include a tour of the 'Lila Acheson Wallace Wing' (opened in 1987) with its roof garden from which you can enjoy a fantastic view of Central Park. more

The newly restored Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, which devotes itself exclusively to modern works of art... and exhibits 5,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings and installations is a highlight not only for lovers of art but also for architecture fans. In addition to a small but very select collection constantly on show, names like Kandinsky, Picasso and Klee appear as representatives of classical modern art, visitors also have the opportunity to see exhibitions that usually change every quarter. The building (known by New Yorkers as 'the Wedding Cake') was designed by the star architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Inside the museum, a single corridor wends its way up to the sixth floor. Today there is not enough space to exhibit all the works, consequently a branch has been opened in SoHo (Guggenheim Museum SoHo, 575 Broadway) which is well worth seeing. more

The National Museum of the American Indian, founded in 1994, is directly across from Battery Park. The... historic Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House hosts the museum. The neoclassical building alone, planned by Cass Gilbert in 1907, is worth a visit. The facade reminds one of a Greek temple. On the inside, the floors are made of marble and paintings adorn the ceilings. The exhibition rooms are set up around a rotunda flooded with light. The collection of more than 800,000 exhibits derives from the private collection of the rich New Yorker Gustav Heye (1874-1957.) Art and arts and crafts of the American Indians from different epochs as well as contemporary art can be seen. more

The four towers of the World Financial Center, heavily damaged during the 9/11 attacks, are opened again... after extensive repairs. The heart of the building is a winter garden with 14-meter (46-ft) tall palm trees. It was designed by the Argentinian architect César Pelli. Here free of charge concerts, dances, theater and screenings take place (htp://artsworldfinancialcenter.com). Major companies like the Wall Street Journal, American Express or Merril Lynch, subsidiary of the Bank of America, as well as the New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest physical commodity future exchange, all have their headquarters right here. Many stores and restaurants are also inside the building. more

The classical building designed by George Brown Post has been home to the NYSE since 1903. The facade,... adorned with impressing pillars, reflects the importance and power of the New York Stock Exchange. It is the most important stock exchange in the world, next to Tokyo and London. Billions of shares are traded here everyday. 24 merchants founded the New York Stock Exchange in 1792. The NYSE has experienced many ups and downs throughout the course of its history. "Black Thursday" on October 24, 1929 - called "Black Friday" in Europe because of the time difference - is certainly the most famous. A devastating Stock Market Crash signaled the beginning of a financial crisis affecting the entire world. Since 9/11, the NYSE is closed to vsitors for security purposes. more

The 87 m (285 ft) tall Flatiron Building (or Fuller Building) designed by Daniel H. Burnham in 1902 is... one of the oldest skyscrapers in the city. The tapering architecture pointing towards Fifth Avenue and Broadway is very impressive. From above it looks like an iron, hence the name "flat iron." Because of its unstable looking shape the New Yorkers were afraid that it might collapse. However, due to the steel bracing, it can withstand any amount of wind force. Downdrafts do occur though because of its aerodynamic shape. And that is why at the beginning of the 20th century men gathered here to catch a glimpse of women's dresses being blown up by the wind. This even went so far that police had to step in and look after things. more

The Catholic St Patrick's Cathedral is an oasis of tranquility amidst the buzz of Midtown Manhattan.... The big neo-gothic church has room for more than 2,000 people and is the seat of the archdiocese of New York. The church (1858-1878) is richly ornamented with pointed gables, rosettes and tracery windows dedicated to the patron saint of the Irish, and is made completely out of marble. Both 99 meter (325 ft) tall towers were added later between 1885-1888. Inside, the artful windows catch one's eye. They were designed by artists from Chartres, Birmingham (England) and Boston. The altar of St Michael and St Louis was made by the company Tiffany & Co. The big organ with its 1480 pipes is the center of attention during the many concerts. more

The Grand Central Terminal is probably the most frequented building in New York. Half a milion people,... mainly commuters from the suburbs, pass through the gigantic terminal station consisting of 67 tracks on two levels. The Art-Nouveau building, opened in 1913, almost fell victim to construction rage in 1968. The impressive facade and the Main Concourse are especially worth seeing, the latter one often served as a film set. A starry sky and zodiac signs adorn the ceiling and are represented in a mirror-inverted way - God's view, so to speak. The space between the brass clock and the two-flight marble staircase is a popular meeting point. Dining at the food court is good and affordable. Free-of-charge tours of the station can be attended. more

On June 30, 1864, Abraham Lincoln declared the area around Mariposa Grove the nation's first State Park.... 26 years later, Yosemite became a National Park. Unfolding in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, it reveals a dreamy landscape consisting of waterfalls, rock formations, groves of mammoth-sized trees and mountain meadows for nature lovers. Virtually no other national park commands such a broad diversity of natural sights or is as overrun by tourists. Yosemite Valley occupies a modest 7 of the total 1,169 square miles (748,000 acres). Bridal Veil Falls, at 186 m (610 ft), only provides a taster for the highest waterfall in the USA, Yosemite Falls, a little further north where the cool water falls an unbelievable 730 m (2,400 ft). Those with the stamina to climb up to the edge of the gorge will be rewarded with a fantastic view of the El Capitan and Half Dome. more

Death Valley lies nearly 100 miles west of Las Vegas. The 230 km (140 miles) long rift valley is surrounded... by mountain peaks up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high. Several vista points reveal a breathtaking display of colours in brown and ochre tones in the shimmering heat. Only for a brief period shortly after the extremely seldom rainy days between November and May, millions of yellow and purple spots of colour cover the shifting dunes and salt lakes. Furnace Creek, Death Valley's only town, lies in the centre of the valley. The visitor centre (open all year round from 8 am-5 pm, tel. +1-760-786-3200) has information on the flora and fauna. The lowest spot in the western hemisphere can be found at 86 m (280 ft) below sea level at the desiccated Badwater salt lake 20 km (12 miles) to the south. Even in an air-conditioned hire car, it is not advisable to drive through the valley during high summer because temperatures of over 50 degrees Centigrade quickly cause an engine to overheat. The name "Death Valley" should be taken seriously. more

The 150 km² (93 mi²) Mono Lake is located on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada and is famous for... its unusual tufa rock formations. As it is two-and-a-half times more saline and 80 times more alkaline than the ocean, fish cannot survive in the lake’s water. For this reason, it is also known as California’s Dead Sea. Brine flies and saltwater crabs are the sources of food for the almost two million migratory birds that rest here each year. However, the lake’s unique ecosystem is in danger: in order to cover the increasing water requirements for Los Angeles, five mountain rivers that should actually flow into the lake have been diverted. Approximately one kilometer (0.6 mi.) to the north of Lee Vining Creek is a small visitor’s center, which provides information about the water drainage and the lake’s threatened ecosystem. more

The Muir Woods are only around 15 km (9.3 mi.) away from San Francisco in Marin Country and protect the... last California redwoods in the Bay Area that escaped intensive deforestation. The nature park was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt and is named after the naturalist John Muir. Visitors can wander through the 2.2 km² (1.2 mi.) Redwood forest on a tour that takes approx. one hour. The trees in the park are up to 70 m (229 ft) tall and are 500-800 years old on average. The oldest redwood tree in Muir Wood may even be 1100 years old. As the giant trees only allow a small amount of light to filter through to the ground, hardly any other trees thrive here except for the California Bay Laurel and the Bigleaf Maple, which have adapted to the specific living conditions. more

When passing the abandoned houses and rusted car bodies in the ghost town of Bodie, a little bit of the... gold rush fever that struck there can be felt in the air. The heyday of this gold mining town only lasted around 50 years. The first person that found the valuable precious metal here was William S. Bodey in 1859, causing a huge number of people to move to the area. Over 10,000 people lived in Bodie in 1880, and the lawless city boasted about the fact that one murder was committed per day among its population. Over 100 million dollars worth of gold was claimed in 20 years. When the gold rush ended, the city was abandoned in the 1930s. After a major fire in 1932, most of the houses were destroyed; as of today there are only 170 buildings still standing and available to see, including a church with its cemetery, saloons, a school, a warehouse and several goldmines. more