LONGEST, FASTEST, OLDEST ETC

On a rainy afternoon I was thumbing through some diaries looking for something when I suddenly realized I was thumbing over some rather neat statistics, so when I found what I was after I detoured and wrote down some of the interesting facts. Good for nothing but maybe a category on Jeopardy! Enjoy.

Longest single span bridge—Sydney, Australia. 544 feet long and152


 feet above sea level. Built 1932-34

Longest tram system—Melbourne, Australia

Fairy Penguins found only in Australia

Oldest covered bridge—Lucerne, Switzerland 

 

Longest sky cable—7 ½ K5 mi Karunda, Australia from Caines

Steepest cog railway incline—48%

Longest tunnel—Furka, Swiss

Longest gondola in Europe—Swiss

Oldest building used as Methodist Church—Hawkshead, England

Longest suspension bridge—Capilano in Vancouver, Canada

Steepest funicular—Hong Kong

Largest Organ—St Stephens, Passau , Germany

Oldest restaurant Passau 1358

Largest coopery—Cognac, France at Remy Martin 

 

Oldest hospice—St. John’s, Bruges, Belguim

Oldest Medical School—Bruges 

 

Windmills—largest collection in one place—Kinderdijk, Holland

Highest palace in world—Lhasa, Tibet

Biggest clock—26’ face Zurich, Switzerland 

 

Largest painting in the world, 25 X 81 feet, is in Venice, Italy 

 

The only wave organ in world—Zadar, Croatia

Only rotating gondola –the Rotaire in Switzerland.

In North America the sun rises first at Cape Spear, Newfoundlander

The largest wine barrel—58,125 gallons—Heidelberg, Germany

Largest wine cellar—750-feet long—Wurtzberg, Germany

Largest public square in world---Tienanmen, Sq, Beijing, China.

Only winged Madonna—Quito, Ecuador.

Longest cave system—20 Km is Postujna, Slovenia

largest tree Latin America—Tule tree in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Only jaguar preserve in world—Belize

Largest tapestry 20 X 9 meters in Canberra, Australia. Lots of other big tapestries around world.

Oldest zoo at Schonbrunn, Castle, Vienna, Austria. Second oldest Budapest,Hungary.


Highest navigable lake in world---Lake Titicaca, Peru

The largest stain glass window in the world in the Yorkminster in York, England. Its 117 square 

panes represent 1680 square feet and is the equivalent size of a tennis court.

Any building in Scotland that has smoke stacks, or chimney pots as they are called, you know was 

built before 1967 when the clean air act was passed.

ANTIQUE CLOCKS

It seems every city has a major clock somewhere within its boundaries. I’ll relate a few that I’ve found interesting and have enjoyed in my many travels.

VENICE, ITALY—St. Mark Sq

This clock near the palace is several hundred years old. It strikes on the hour and the roman numerals move every five minutes. It’s fascinating to watch the little people up there strike the bell. The slowly rotating bell is struck in a different place each time.

VIENNA Anchor Clock, Ankeruhr.

Built between 1911 and 1917 it is situated at Hoher Markt, the oldest square in Vienna. The Art Nouveau designed clock forms a bridge between two parts of the Anker Insurance Company's building. The clock itself is adorned with mosaic ornaments. In the course of 12 hours, twelve historical figures or pairs of figures move across the bridge, Joseph Haydn and Empress Maria Theresa among them. Music from various eras accompanies the figures at noon each day as they all parade by. This tourist spectacle is a special kind of Viennese High Noon.

WERTHEIM, GERMANY:

The tower clock at the 1383 Gothic church is rather unusual. The tower was added 40 years later. On the town side is a normal clock with both minute and hour hands so workers would work to the last minute. But only an hour hand is on the clock facing the castle, as the rulers were only interested in the hour, not the minutes.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

There is a marvelous hanging clock in the center of the foyer of the QVC building in Sydney, Australia. Every hour on the hour loud trumpeters announce the display of a series of mechanically moving tableaux of British kings and queens. The exhibition ends with the beheading of Charles I. It is interesting to watch.

HALIFAX'S Citadel

On the harbor side of Citadel Hill is the Old Town Clock. Prince Edward, father of Queen Victoria, commissioned it in 1803. The clock on each side is a different size. The population in each direction, N,E,S,W, determined the clock size. Staring at this unusual four-sided clock all I could say was, “Amazing.”

MUNICH'S glockenspiel

Late morning we hurried to Maria Square to join a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance of the century old glockenspiel. In the tower of the new City Hall, which looks like a big Gothic church, the glockenspiel plays at 11:00 AM and again at noon. The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at the top crows three times.

Departing the square for lunch I said, “ What a fun performance, but I expected the rooster to move forward when it crowed.instead of flapping its wings.” 

VANCOUVER Steam clock

The famous antique steam clock is the first built in the world. Douglas Smith was the engineer who built the clock over a steam vent at a cost of $42,000 in 1977. Ray Saunders, a well-known inventor and clockmaker designed the 16.9-foot clock. Weighing two ton, steel weights go to the top and then drop by gravity. Every quarter hour Westminster chimes are heard, and on the hour a large whistle belches from the clock. The steam pipes are all underground and also heat many of the buildings as well as running the clock.

One evening at a nearby Japanese restaurant we listened to all its chimes and whistles while enjoying a delightful dinner.

Since the city of Reykjavik is totally run on an underground steam system it would be a great place for a steam clock.

YORKMINSTER

On one wall in York, England’s Yorkminster is a charming 400 year old clock. Oak figures strike the clock every fifteen minutes. The clock movements date to 1749. The 15^th century screen is decorated with statues of fifteen kings from William I to Henry VI.

PRAGUE

On the front of the Old Town Hall in Prague’s old square sits an astronomical clock that chimes every hour on the hour from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The clocks shows the year, month, day and hour as well as the rising and setting of the sun, east and west, the noon and the signs of the zodiac. But crowds gather on the hour to see the 1410 clock’s animated movements. The clock was restored in the 19^th century. When the hour approaches the window opens and the apostles move by.

Flanking the clock are statues representing the values of the day. The fellow looking in the mirror representing vanity perhaps saying he who spends time before a mirror has a poor life; he who helps others has a rich life. The miser represents greed saying spend your money, enjoy life, and have fun. The skeleton representing death says, enjoy life, it is short.. I don’t have you now, but I will. Finally is the Turk soldier representing pleasure and entertainment and not such a good life under them.

This astronomical clock is the third oldest in the world and the oldest still working. The legend is that the builder of the clock was blinded when his job was finished, so he could never duplicate his fine piece of work. I have heard this same legend about other artists being blinded in at least a couple of other places.

In Prague’s old Jewish Center on the Old Jewish Town Hall is a clock with Jewish numerals and the clock runs counterclockwise. Was the builder left handed? No, he was just following how Hebrew is read, from right to left. I really don’t know a lot about the clock, other than it is unique. Above it is a smaller clock with Roman numerals.

ZAGREB, CROATIA

Wandering around the capitol city I spied a wall with an unusual sun dial clock on it. A little over a half circle in size, it was divided into 12 pie-shaped sections with a roman numeral at the end of each pie. It was a most unusual clock and I have never seen another one.

TRIVIA 13

Stalin built the Moscow subway system in 1932-35. They were to be the best and most beautiful in the world----to outshine capitalism. Each station is a museum in itself and each is different. The first station we entered was lined with larger than life bronze statues of fighting men, the protectors. Another station had beautiful crystal chandeliers and another was literally an art gallery.

Our guide said, “The subway system is closed only four hours a day for cleaning. These wheat design bronze vents change the air in the system three tines a day. Some of the system is 350-feet below ground level. In fact Stalin had an underground command post within the metro system.”

The stations were spotless and there was no graffiti anywhere. They were really beautiful,and like all subways one must act quickly to get on and off the train. The trains run often, are reasonable and the system is easy to follow and a good way to get around the huge city.

A poffertje is the Dutch equivalent of fried bread. Many countries have a similar thing under a different name. Poffertjes are about half again bigger than a doughnut hole and flatter. Dusted with sugar they are eaten warm and are yummy. It was a great treat, especially on a dull cool day!

Leads and polymyas are biologically active zones of the frozen Arctic. A polymya is an area that remains ice-free all winter. A lead is a long crack broken in the sea ice by either tidal currents or wind and may remain open for minutes to several days.

In Sydney QVC is a Romanesque Revival style area that is now a shopping center. It was used for other things until its restoration in 1984-86. The Royal Clock activates on the hour displaying six scenes of English royalty accompanied by music. The money from the wishing well near the statue of Queen Victoria benefits blind and deaf children.

In the days of English witch hunts the thumbs of a supposed witch would be tied to her toes before being thrown into the water. If she floated she was quilty and if she sank she was innocent, but either way she was dead!

In France it seems everyone owns a dog, often a small one. The dogs go everywhere! It is strange for an American to see a dog in a store, market or restaurant. I was amazed how well behaved the dogs were, even when not on a leash. Barking was noticeably absent and I began to wonder if their voice boxes had been fixed. However, one should be aware of of where one steps as the French would never think of carrying a plastic bag, never mind a super duper pooper scooper!

In Germany I marvelled at how clean the cities were, how nearly all parking was underground and how almost no utility lines or billboards marred the lovely scenery.

FYI—good to know: The Canadian one-dollar coin is called a loony because a loon is on the back of the coin. The two-dollar coin is called a toony. The smallest paper money is a five dollar bill.

When traveling one frequently has to pay to take pictures, especially in museums in the third world.

In Melbourne Fitzroy Gardens/Park occupy 65-acres. Capt Cook's cottage was dissembled in England and shipped to Australia where it was reassembled in the park in 1934. The cottage is small and stands behind Cook's statue. The park has a restaurant and a large arboretum filled with gorgeous flowers many of which were foreign to me.