What Cool Historical Sites Have You Been To???

[Easy 6]

Being that i am a serious history buff, i thought it would be interesting to hear about the travels of you Planeteers.

With such a diverse cross-section of people here, there should be a very wide variety of great places.

Civil War battlefields???

The Great Pyramids of Egypt???

Maybe the wonders of Greece or Rome???

South American ruins of the Aztecs & Maya etc.???

My best 2 would have to be the Custer National Battlefield & the Old State Capitol here in Springfield.

On the drive up to live in Montana we went way out of the way to stop at the Custer site, i as a 9 year old boy only had a passing, 9 year olds knowledge of the event yet i was totally blown away by the vibe of that place. Even as a young boy i could feel the "heaviness" in the air on that barren, desolate plain. You almost felt as if it just happened. I have never been to a place that affected me more deeply. I have read a lot of books on it since. The on-site museum is killer as well.

At the Capitol building, it was very interesting to stand in the very spot that Lincoln stood, to look down & think that someone as important as Abe stood right where you are. There are actually a ton of places like that here in Springfield, Lincolns New Salem outside of town in Petersburg, Ill is a great place & still looks just like it did in the old days. They have festivals where actors dress up in period costume & give demonstrations on everything from how to make homemade butter to how to fish using old time technology. If you ever come to this area i recommend it. A very cool place for a romantic date.

So anyway, thats the best i've got, where have you been???

[Donger]

None.

History sucks.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Donger

None.

History sucks.

Thanks for droppin' by...

[Donger]

Originally Posted by scott free

Thanks for droppin' by...

I was kidding, of course. I have a love/hate relationship with history.

Growing up in Europe, it was kind of hard to avoid historical places.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Donger

I was kidding, of course. I have a love/hate relationship with history.

Growing up in Europe, it was kind of hard to avoid historical places.

Thats cool, i would imagine growing up around so much rich history could render it hum-drum after awhile, but theres always the history of other places to the east & here in the western hemisphere.

[bushmaster]

vatican city. bastogne. buckingham palace. alamo. dc. coliseum. athens. gettysburg. madrid. dodge city. lots of others.

[38yrsfan]

Originally Posted by Donger

None.

History sucks.

"HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools." - Ambrose Bierce

"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history" - George Bernard Shaw

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

"History is more or less bunk" - Henry Ford

"People always seemed to know half of history, and to get it confused with the other half." - Jane Haddam

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce" - Karl Marx

"History, a distillation of rumour." - Thomas Carlyle

"One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say" - Will Durant

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." - Winston Churchill

[Easy 6]

Nice quotes 38yrsfan & its usually true that history is written by only one of the sides that lived it.

But that doesnt diminish my thrill with standing on the same ground where great/interesting men & important events came together.

[boogblaster]

Few local sites Ft Row about 10 miles from home,old stage&army stop..Big Brutus the big earth-mover in seKansas,biggest at its time,ran off electricy..DodgeCity,Yellowstone,lots of old indian sites arrowhead hunting,woulkd like to see the Crazyhorse Carving went its done,plus Pearl Harbor...

[SCTrojan]

Been to many of the Civil War battlefields that others have mentioned.

Been throughout Europe - my favorites were Normandy Beach and some other battlefields like Belleau Wood and Ardennes.

Most recently, I saw the Ziggaraut of Ur, which, legend has it, is the site where Abraham made his covenant with God. It's hard to describe what that was like to stand in a place that has such religious implications.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by SCTrojan

Most recently, I saw the Ziggaraut of Ur, which, legend has it, is the site where Abraham made his covenant with God. It's hard to describe what that was like to stand in a place that has such religious implications.

In a word...AWESOME, that looks fantastic even in a small picture. Its pulling me in. Isnt Ur in whats now Iraq???

[SCTrojan]

Originally Posted by scott free

In a word...AWESOME, that looks fantastic even in a small picture. Isnt Ur in whats now Iraq???

Yep. It's just outside Talil Air Base.

BTW - downloaded that particular pic from the internet. I have some others that are in my work computer.

[38yrsfan]

Originally Posted by scott free

Nice quotes 38yrsfan & its usually true that history is written by only one of the sides that lived it.

But that doesnt diminish my thrill with standing on the same ground where great/interesting men & important events came together.

I'm a big "fan" of history; my library has grown so large my father-in-law has repeatedly expressed concern that the floor (2nd story room) is in danger from the weight of all of the bookcases/books. 35+ years of buying and collecting books, 90% historical works and references.

One of my favorite quotes but couldn't locate the original source is so very true;

"The victors write the history books"

An interesting read that illustrates this is The Russian Version of the Seconfd World War edited by Graham Lyons

[Darkwolfe]

Let's see...

Being from Texas, a lot of sites there... Bummed a few links from about.com for anyone interested.

Alamo- San Antonio, Tx

San Jacinto Monument- Houston, Tx
http://gotexas.about.com/od/landmark...e/a/SanJac.htm

Texas State Railroad- Palestine, Tx

Washington on the Brazos
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...on_the_brazos/

Battleship Texas (very cool)
http://gotexas.about.com/gi/dynamic/...xasbb35.com%2F

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (Frazod took us there when Jazzlovr and I were on our honeymoon in January. I mention it because the U-505 German Sub is there. My grandfather was in the Merchant Marine during WWII and would have been under 505's guns had it not been captured just before intercepting his convoy. Go see it, extremely cool.)

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico- Old battlements and the ruins of the original fort. Go, enjoy, buy t-shirts and cheap rum.

There's more but I'm derned if I can remember them all.

[BucEyedPea]

This too: Lost island of Atlantis?


Archaelogical excavation at Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini

This is an old volcanic crator island with black sand beaches. I forgot about the historical part which was at the end of the island that I visited. It was claimed to be the lost island of Atlantis. I never took it seriously at the time. This was in the early 90's. Then this year, I saw an amazing History Channel special on I believe it's correct, as it was Minoan civilization that was very advanced at the time. The volcano erupted and created a tsunami that wiped out Crete—also Minoan at the time. It's even claimed, iirc, that this wave is what drowned the Egyptians as they chased the Jews when they escaped through a shallow and marshy area of the Red Sea. Supposed to be at that same time.

This is some of what I saw...it was cool to walk through if you like that kinda thing, which I do. I entertained being an archaelogist at one time growing up.

Here's a link to more. Hotels and quaint B&B's line up on the terraced cliffs.

I also have these two exact shots, although this is not mine. I just found it on the web. I have a montage of these photos in different sizes on my wall.



I also have shots of this church from several angles. I would climb walls and even rooftops to get good shots and use different filters or go back when the light was right.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

This too: Lost island of Atlantis?


http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21121a/e211ua08.html]Archaelogical excavation at Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini[/url]

This is an old volcanic crator island with black sand beaches. I forgot about the historical part which was at the end of the island that I visited. It was claimed to be the lost island of Atlantis. I never took it seriously at the time. This was in the early 90's. Then this year, I saw an amazing History Channel special on I believe it's correct, as it was Minoan civilization that was very advanced at the time. The volcano erupted and created a tsunami that wiped out Crete—also Minoan at the time. It's even claimed, iirc, that this wave is what drowned the Egyptians as they chased the Jews when they escaped through a shallow and marshy area of the Red Sea. Supposed to be at that same time.

This is some of what I saw...it was cool to walk through if you like that kinda thing, which I do. I entertained being an archaelogist at one time growing up.

Here's a link to more. Hotels and quaint B&B's line up on the terraced cliffs.

I also have these two exact shots, although this is not mine. I just found it on the web. I have a montage of these photos in different sizes on my wall.

[img] http://www.decadevolcano.net/photos/....jpg[/img]

I also have shots of this church from several angles. I would climb walls and even rooftops to get good shots and use different filters or go back when the light was right.

Those are some great pics, those Mediterranian seaside villages are simply beautiful. I could TOTALLY see myself on one of the verandas, drink in hand, squinting thoughtfully into the sun as i pondered my next move in apprehending Le Chiffre.