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The Eiffel Tower

2011-12-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, [tuʁ ɛfɛl], nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris . Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris ^[10] and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel , the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair .
The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, due to the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas , it is the second-tallest structure in France , after the Millau Viaduct .
The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift , to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by elevator. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.
The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France , often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

peruvian food

2011-10-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

Peruvian Food

Peru is famous throughout South America for its food. As a major fishing nation, fish is abundant, and prepared with imagination.
The primary ingredients found in nearly every Peruvian dish are rice, potatoes, chichen, pork, lamb, and fish. Most of these meals include one of the different kinds of "aji", or Peruvian hot pepper, which mainly are: yellow aji pepper, red aji pepper, red rocoto pepper
Chicken, pork and lamb were introduced to Peru 500 years ago, when Spaniards came to America. Other ingredients, like potatoes, were already being grow in the Peruvian Andes and were taken by the Spaniards back to Europe.
Today more than 200 varieties of potato can be found in the Lake Titicaca area. They range in color from purple to blue, from yellow to brown. Sizes and textures vary as well. Some are smalls as nuts; others can be as large as oranges.

Following are some of the dishes and foods that can found in Peru.
· Pescado y Mariscos (Fish and Seafood) – Anything with fish is a great bet. Ceviche is the most famous. Peruvians "cook" fine white cod in lemon juice, serve it chunky with onions and spices. In the mountains, you can find "trucha," the local fresh Andean trout, generally farm raised.
· Comida Criolla – This is the term for the traditional Peruvian dishes. Aji de gallina (spicy chicken stew), lomo saltado (stir-fry beef), chupe (fish stew) anticuchos (marinated beef heart). Vegetables play a major role in these dishes.
· Chifa – This is the term for Chinese restaurants in Peru. From very elegant to simple, all seem to serve excellent food in and around Lima. Peruvians love to celebrate events at the Chifas.
· Inca Cola – The color of this soft drink is bright yellow and it smells like bubble gum.
· Aji de Gallina: shredded chicken in a spiced milk sauce.
· Adobo de cerdo: Pork sauce, served with white rice.
· Arroz con Pollo: Boiled chicken seasoned with a green sauce. Served always with green rice (rice cooked with albahaca)
· Anticuchos: marinated grilled beef heart.
· Carapulca: It is made from dried and diced potatoes with pork, steak and rice.
· CauCau: Consists of tripe and diced potatoes
· Ceviche: Fish or mixed shrimp with lemon. The seafood is cut into small pieces and then mixed with lemon juice and left to sit for 1hr. Next, it is mixed with onions, celery, cilantro, salt and black pepper. The dish is served cold.
· Escabeche de pescado: Boiled fish seasoned with onions, aji and lemon juice
· Ocopa: boiled potatoes in a seasoned sauce of cheese and nuts
· Pachamanca: This is a typical dish from the desert. It consists of lamb, pork, meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a tamale. First, one has to heat rocks on the floor using firewood. When they are hot enough, the food is placed inside a sac and buried in the hot rocks. The food has to be repeatedly checked to see when it is done because the temperature is unstable.
· Papa la Huancaina: Potatoes served with a special spicy sauce, olives, lettuce and egg.
· Papa Rellena: meat-stuffed potato patties.
· Parihuela: Fish, shrimp crabs, mussels and octopus. Served with yuca and rice.
· Rocoto Relleno: Typical dish with meat, onions, peanuts, milk and eggs, everything baked inside of the delicious rocoto (pepper), with potatoes and cheese.
· Seco de frejoles: Boiled beans with a lamb stew in green sauce, always served with white rice and raw onions seasoned with lemon and aji.
· Roast cuy, or guinea pig, is considered a delicacy, and is traditionally served for very special occasions.
Western culture has made its mark on Peru, and one of the signs of change is the popularity of pizza. The Peruvians make it their own way, though, in the old-style, wood-burning ovens that have been part of the Peruvian landscape long before pizza was ever heard of here.
For an online cookbook with names and photos of many dishes, check out http://www.saboresdelperu.com/index.htm. However this site is in Spanish.

2011-10-27T11:53:00.001-07:00

showbiz

the inca Fortress

2011-10-12T08:02:00.001-07:00

Fortress of Saqsaywaman

Built on a hill west of the city of Cuzco. It bears a Temple of the Sun made of stone.

Its construction involved ten thousands of workers equipped with scarce tools.

It was built during the governments of Tupac Inca Yupanqui, Huayna Capac and Huascar.

It is huge construction based on enormous and heavy, carved stones put together with absolute precision.

It has three levels of platforms with more than 200 meters length each. On the top of the hill, a group of edifications and embankments include three circular buildings.

The central building is the biggest and comprises three concentric walls like rings. In the same sector was the Temple of the Sun and buildings used to deposit weapons, soldier clothes, metals, silver, gold, blankets and war doublets.

In the sector known as "El Rodadero", there are outstanding, carved rocks in the shape of embankments or little altars.

There are also a vestiges of a circular, artificial lagoon built for rituals; diverse aqueducts and subterranean halls-ways, many sides of which are carved with little niches and stairs. And finally, a huge carved stone kown as "La Piedra Cansada" (the tired stone).

The inca Fortress of Saqsaywaman is the contemporary scenario of the principal festivity of Cusco, which is carried out on June 24th., the Inti Raymi, or Festivity of the Sun.

The Nazca Lines

2011-10-12T07:47:00.001-07:00

The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. Although some local geoglyphs resemble Paracas motifs, scholars believe the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD.[1] The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, llamas, and lizards.

The lines are shallow designs made in the ground by removing the ubiquitous reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish ground beneath. Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes; more than seventy are zoomorphic designs of animals such as birds, fish, llamas, jaguar, monkey, or human figures. Other designs include phytomorphic shapes such as trees and flowers. The largest figures are over 200 metres (660 ft) across. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but in general they ascribe religious significance to them.

The geometric ones could indicate the flow of water or be connected to rituals to summon water. The spiders, birds, and plants could be fertility symbols. Other possible explanations include: irrigation schemes or giant astronomical calendars.[2]
Due to the dry, windless, and stable climate of the plateau and its isolation, for the most part the lines have been preserved. Extremely rare changes in weather may temporarily alter the general designs.

hola

2011-10-12T07:19:00.001-07:00

hola