Return to Islamabad

BRITISH Airways has today announced that it will fly from Heathrow to Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, from June 2nd next year.  

It is the first time the carrier has flown to #Pakistan in more than a decade.  The airline stopped flying to the country after the Marriott hotel in the capital, #Islamabad, was bombed in 2008, killing more than 50 people.

It is a hub for culture with a rich heritage and has an impressive collection of museums, markets, mosques and hiking trails, as well as restaurants which serve a variety of cuisines from local Pakistani dishes to food from around the world.

The airline has a long history of flying to the city and offered its first scheduled flights between London and the Pakistani capital in 1976.  Islamabad is one of four long-haul routes being launched by British Airways in 2019, its centenary year.


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Udaipur’s City Palace Museum

ONE of India’s finest heritage destinations, the City Palace Museum in Udaipur, #India is unveiling a packed programme of events, festivals, celebrations and exhibitions for visitors. The schedule taking place in the heart of regal Rajasthan includes a recital by world-renowned French cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton and lecture by Professor John S. Hawley.  

Special exhibitions commemorating the bicentenary of the Mewar-British East India Company treaty, Eternal Mewar festivals, celebrations, guest lectures and youth events are all set to take place over the coming months in and around Udaipur’s spectacular 450-year-old palace complex, along the shores of Lake Pichola. 

The 200,000 sq ft City Palace Museum is hailed as a jewel in India’s heritage crown and is Udaipur’s prime tourist attraction. In 2014 a record-breaking one million visitors passed through its gates. The museum houses exceptional collections of paintings, photography, silver, armoury and textiles.

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Art in the Arab world

LOUVRE Abu Dhabi opened its doors to the public on 11 November 2017. It is the first museum of its kind in the Arab world: a universal museum that focuses on shared human stories across civilisations and cultures.

Located in #AbuDhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pritzker Prize winning French architect Jean Nouvel has designed a museum city (Arab medina) under a vast silvery dome. Visitors can walk through the promenades overlooking the sea beneath the museum’s 180-metre dome, comprised of almost 8,000 unique metal stars set in a complex geometric pattern. When sunlight filters through, it creates a moving ‘rain of light’ beneath the dome, reminiscent of the overlapping palm trees in the UAE’s oases.

On display will be the museum’s important collection of artworks, artefacts and loans from France’s top museums. These span the entirety of human existence: from prehistorical objects to commissioned contemporary artworks, highlighting universal themes and ideas and marking a departure from traditional museography that often separates according to origin. In addition to the galleries, the museum will include exhibitions, a Children’s Museum, a restaurant, a boutique and a café.

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Get mobbed in Las Vegas

THE Mob Museum – The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, located in downtown #LasVegas, has been named No. 20 on TripAdvisor’s list of the Top 25 U.S. Museums in its 2017 Traveler’s Choice Awards.

It is the only #Nevada museum to appear on the list. Travelers’ Choice Awards represent the very best in travel, as chosen by millions of travelers. The Mob Museum has been open for just over five years and this is the second year in a row it has made the list.

The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides a world-class, interactive journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines.

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Long Nights in Cologne

EVERY year, Cologne’s cultural institutions kick off the autumn cultural season in the Rhineland with a series of “Long Nights”. 

On September 30, Cologne's vibrant music scene will be showcased at the music night. 

www.koelnermusiknacht.de

While the city's multitude of theatres will play host to a range of taster performances at the theatre night on October 2 www.theaternacht.de

The museums night has long been a popular and successful highlight, and will be taking place on November 4 www.museumsnacht-koeln.de

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Polka dot pumpkins

A Yayoi Kusama Museum is set to open in Tokyo’s Shinjuku on 1st October 2017.  Yayoi Kusama is one of Japan’s most famous and prolific artists. Even when people don’t recognise the name, mention her spotted pumpkins and everybody lets out an ‘aaah’ of acknowledgement.

So it’s very exciting news for one and all that the internationally famed artist will have an entire museum dedicated to her polka-dot works from this autumn onwards, located in one of Tokyo’s most central and well-trodden districts.

The five storey Yayoi Kusama Museum will house a gift shop on the first floor, with floors two and three dedicated to exhibition spaces. On the fourth floor, the artist will create Instagram-friendly immersive installations. On floor five, visitors can expect to find a reading room with documents and material relating to Kusama’s works.

Each year, Kusama will run two rotating exhibitions, the first of which will be titled: “Creation is a Solitary Pursuit, Love is What Brings You Closer to Art”. This exhibition will run from 1st October 2017 until 25th February 2018. Tickets will go on sale from 28th August, and will cost around 1000 yen (£6.40) for adults, and 600 yen (£4.20) for children.

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Great Heritage

ENJOY a fabulous trip back in time by simply downloading the Great Heritage 2017 Guide to the best castles, museums, historic houses, gardens and churches across the Lake District and Cumbria. 

Full of ideas for intriguing days out the guide is brimming over with quirky things to discover, from a Bee Penthouse to a Sleeping Giant and a Viking helmet chandelier to a Faerie Glen!

There is also the opportunity to win a 2-night break with luxury accommodation and FREE entry for one year to any of our attractions. 

www.cumbriaslivingheritage.co.uk/competition-2017-2/

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Tunnel: The Archeology of Crossrail

A new virtual version of the exhibition Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail at the Museum of London Docklands gives people the chance to explore the huge array of artefacts unearthed by Crossrail during construction of the Elizabeth line. 

The construction of the Elizabeth line, London’s newest railway opening in 2018, has given archaeologists a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore some of the Capital’s most historically significant, but normally inaccessible, sites. Since work began in 2009, archaeologists have uncovered more than 10,000 artefacts spanning 55 million years of the city’s history.

The immersive website has been created using a series of 360-degree panoramic images from the exhibition.

The online exhibition takes visitors on a journey along the route of the new railway, with photographs and footage captured during archaeological excavations revealing the stories of Londoners ranging from Mesolithic tool makers and inhabitants of Roman Londinium to those affected by the Great Plague of 1665.

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Tyranosaurus Rex Visits Cumbria

THE Rheged Centre in Penrith, #Cumbria will be hosting an exhibition from the Natural History Museum in London from July 12 - September 3.

The #Dinosaurs Encounter #exhibition features ten more intricately detailed models, with state of the art animatronics and sound effects that will transport you back millions of years in time. Study replicas of ancient fossils taken from the Natural History Museum’s Archives, compare your feet to the footprint of a T-Rex and examine a replica of its skull which you can touch and feel!

£6.50 Adult, £5.50 for concessions, £5 for children (16 and under) and Children 2 and under are free.  Timed exhibition entry daily every 1.5 hrs from 10:45am – 3:15pm.

Or Book your tickets online in advance and skip the Box Office queue 

www.rheged.com/event/dinosaur-encounter-family-exhibition/

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Musical Milan

KNOWN as the Temple of Opera, La Scala one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world there are seasonal choral and orchestral events held throughout the year. Designed by Giuseppe Piermarini and inaugurated in 1778, Teatro alla Scala was recently totally refurbished under the supervision of the renowned architect, Mario Botta.

Adjacent to La Scala, the former Ricordi Casino hosts the Museo Teatrale alla Scala which was founded in 1913. You can explore a rich collection of musical instruments, documents, memorabilia related to the opera and the theatre, as well as a gallery of portraits and busts dedicated to several of the great artists who performed there. Unless a rehearsal or show is in progress, visitors can admire the auditorium from a box and actually watch the set-moving machinery in action.

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Top urban destinations for 2017 from Travel Squire

TOP #urban #destinations from Travel Squire the online travel information resource and the reasons why they're on the list . . .

Chicago, Illinois: Architecture, Cubs rule, some of the best hotels in the US.

Hamburg, Germany: One of the top ten most livable cities in the world (The Economist), new Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall.

Honolulu, Hawaii: Waikiki Beach - $330 million facelift; first Arts Biennial - March 2017; world's largest open-air shopping center; new vibrant culinary scene; historic landmarks.

Madrid, Spain: Host to the 40th anniversary of the first LGBT Pride demo; cultural activities galore.

Manchester, England: First industrialized city in the world! First passenger railway station, first programmable computer, first professional football team, and today: great museums, galleries, boutiques.

Montreal, Quebec: Happy 375th Birthday! Free activities, tastings, guided tours, and the unveiling of an urban boardwalk connecting Mont-Royal to the St. Lawrence River-Promenade Fleuve-Montagne.

Tokyo, Japan: 204 museums featuring fine art to fat wrestlers (sumo) and a new museum dedicated to the artist Hokusai! 277 parks -- nature between big buildings; unsurpassed culinary scene -- more Michelin starred restaurants than Paris and New York combined; newly opened Train Hostel Hokutosei, with guestrooms laid out like sleeping cabins!­­

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Whizz Pop Bang . . .

QUEENSLAND is preparing to host another supercharged celebration of science when the World Science Festival Brisbane returns from 22-26 March 2017.

Speaking from the #Queensland Museum, Science Minister Leeanne Enoch today unveiled program highlights confirmed for the 2017 festival.

“The #WorldScienceFestival 2017 will build on the momentum of this year’s incredible inaugural event that saw more than 120,000 people attend Festival activities and injected more than $5 million into the Queensland economy,” Ms Enoch said.

“Next year’s festival will welcome the return of family-favourite free program, Street Science!, alongside new theatrical performances, workshops and curated discussions on cutting-edge science and discoveries.

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Magnificant Minerals at the Museum

ONE of the world’s most colourful and flawless large gemstones, the Ostro stone, will go on permanent show in the British Natural History Museum’s Minerals gallery from October 19.

The gemstone weighs in at an impressive 9,381 carats - around 2 kilograms, similar in weight to two bags of sugar. It is the first large cut topaz of its kind to go on display at the Museum and will go on show alongside specimens from one of the world’s most important mineral collections.

The Ostro stone will be available for the public to view at the Museum through a long term loan from philanthropist Maurice Ostro OBE. It has been in the family vaults for three decades since it was discovered in its natural form by his father gemstone pioneer Max Ostro in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is 15 centimetres in length, 10.5 centimetres wide and its vivid blue colour is exceptional as the various treatment procedures are commonly used for such stones and rarely result in such an intense blue.

Mike Rumsey, Senior Curator of the Minerals Collection at the Natural History Museum says:

"This stone is an excellent example of how as humans, we have crafted beautiful and desirable objects from the natural mineral specimens we find around us, like those that we preserve in the collections at Museum. It will be on display alongside some of our world leading collection of minerals and gems, which is studied by scientists here to find new sources of minerals, gemstones and metals."

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