 Have you ever heard of Space Archaeology? Well, let's learn about it for today's virtual travelogue!
What is Space Archaeology? There are a few different definitions, but the type we're going to look at today is basically the study of the Earth's past from space. Archaeologists like Sarah Parcak analyze photos taken by satellites orbiting the Earth to then map hidden archaeological sites. It's such a fascinating subject! National Geographic has a really cool Space Archaeology project, and you can even help! Learn more about their GlobalXplorer community and watch some amazing videos of the work they've done in Peru here: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/space-archaeology/ National Geographic also has some cool videos on their YouTube page about archaeology from space! For a short overview, you can view "Space Archaeology: A New Frontier of Exploration" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxD32LRC1QE There is also a great Nat Geo Live! video entitled "Risk Takers: Archaeology from Space" for anyone wanting to learn a little more about Space Archaeology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNVbQ2a3N3g More information about Sarah Parcak, as well as her TED Talks and some interesting articles can be found on the TED website and from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.ted.com/speakers/sarah_parcak https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/space-archaeologist-sarah-parcak-winner-smithsonians-history-ingenuity-award-180961120/  Let's travel around the world today, looking at how different countries and cultures define the word "home" for today's virtual travelogue!
Google Earth has a fantastic interactive tour called "This is Home" that enables you to travel from Madagascar, to Peru, to Greenland (and more!) in just a few clicks. There are more than 20 different traditional homes to tour, each one different and beautiful. This tour is a fascinating glimpse into the homes and lives of indigenous peoples around the world! Click on the button below to start your tour!
For today's virtual travelogue, let's visit insitutions devoted to two of America's favorite sports!
First, let's visit Cooperstown, NY to check out the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with Google Arts & Culture! You can take a virtual 360 degree tour here: https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/national-baseball-hall-of-fame-and-museum/ggF3-JuCkOikMA. Also, be sure to check out their online exhibits and amazing photo collections: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-baseball-hall-of-fame-and-museum. There are additional online exhibits on the Hall of Fame's website as well: https://baseballhall.org/discover/online-exhibits. Then, let's head to Canton, OH to virtually visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame! You can watch a video tour here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=257779962116349. If you want to learn more about the artifacts that they have on display, you can check those out on their website: https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/artifacts-archives/. They also have a timeline detailing the NFL Draft History, which is really informative: https://www.profootballhof.com/draft-timeline/.
In honor of National Book Lovers Day coming up on Sunday, let's visit a few of the historic sites around England that inspired the novels of some beloved 19th century authors.
First up, Google Arts & Culture has a really interesting set of virtual tours of places that inspired Jane Austen's writing, as well as some of the filming locations for the movies based on her books. Take tours of Sydney Place (where Austen lived for a time), Lyme House (setting of the iconic Mr. Darcy scene in the 1995 film version of Pride & Prejudice), and more here: https://artsandculture.google.com/theme/10-virtual-tours-for-lovers-of-jane-austen/wALyslg9JF3OJA. If you want to dive a little deeper into the places Austen lived and visited during her life, Smithsonian Magazine has you covered! They have a fantastic interactive map that lets you explore all of the houses and towns that inspired her works. You can find it here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/take-stroll-through-jane-austens-england-interactive-map-180964030/. Finally, take a virtual literary tour of the world of the three Brontë sisters with Google Arts & Culture. Visit the waterfall near their home that the girls would regularly visit, Ponden Hall, inspiration for novels by both Emily and Anne, and more here: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/9QWhjZvqsL57MQ.  For today's virtual travelogue, we're going to take a long trek to visit the natural wonders of South Africa!
South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa, and boasts a range of different habitat types and a lot of diverse wildlife. You can view some of these through Discover Africa, with 360 degree interactive tours of Kruger National Park and more here: https://www.discoverafrica.com/southafrica360/. (For thrill seekers, there is a really cool bungee jumping video in the virtual tour of Garden Route National Park that you won't want to miss!) Additionally, South Africa National Parks has live cams of Kruger National Park and Addo Elephant National Park on their website here: https://www.sanparks.org/webcams/livecam.php. The live view of the different watering holes can be very serene, even without any animals around!  Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! For today's virtual travelogue, we'll visit London to view a virtual tour of the British Library's Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition, as well as the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of the sets used in the films!
The Harry Potter exhibit was on display at the British Library in 2017, but you can tour the entire thing virtually from home right now: https://artsandculture.google.com/search/exhibit?project=harry-potter-a-history-of-magic. But Google Arts & Culture has so much more than just the exhibition that you can view, including some neat videos and articles: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/harry-potter-a-history-of-magic. The magic doesn't end there though, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London has a YouTube channel full of video tours of the movie sets. So you can visit the sets of Gringott's Bank and the Forbidden Forest, among others, without having to worry about dragons or acromantulas! View the tours here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLNLll2qswZmc6KbHpHg8vg?feature=emb_ch_name_ex.  Today seems like the perfect day to jet off to Amsterdam and wander some of the city's amazing museums. So for today's virtual travelogue, we'll do just that!
First, we'll visit the Rijksmuseum, which exhibits thousands of pieces of Dutch art. The building itself is also beautiful, so be sure to check out all of the different views! Take virtual tours of different parts of the Rijksmuseum here: https://artsandculture.google.com/search/streetview?p=rijksmuseum&hl=en. Google Arts & Culture has in-depth looks at some of the pieces, including The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, which are really interesting and can be found here: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/rijksmuseum. Next, let's pop over to the Van Gogh Museum. This museum houses the world's largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh! You can view each floor of the museum here: https://artsandculture.google.com/search/streetview?p=van-gogh-museum. If you'd like to learn a little more about the artist, Google Arts & Culture has a couple of online exhibits looking at the books he read and his love life, which can be found here: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/van-gogh-museum?hl=en. Do you want to know even more about Vincent van Gogh? You are in luck, because there are a few different films about him and his works available on Kanopy! You just need your library card number to log in and watch. Two of the films available right now are Loving Vincent (https://eurekapl.kanopy.com/product/loving-vincent-1) and Exhibition on Screen - Van Gogh (https://eurekapl.kanopy.com/product/exhibition-screen-van-gogh). Enjoy!  For today's virtual travelogue, let's take a hike and visit our friendly neighbors to the north!
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has 360-degree virtual tours of several of their sites, and they are all absolutely stunning! There is also a wealth of information about each of the conservation areas, including the different species that you might see around the trails, in case you want to plan a future trip! Check them out here: https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/google-trekker/. You can also view interactive virtual tours of 39 of Canada's National Parks with Google Earth! Take a moment and gaze upon the natural beauty of the parks here:  Today is the 51st anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the Moon! For today's virtual travelogue we'll learn more about the US Space Program and take a virtual tour of the Moon!
NASA has video footage of the Apollo 11 spacewalk, along with audio from the astronauts and a lot of interesting information, on their website: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html. There is also extensive information about all of the Apollo missions here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html. You can also check out photos of the sites that the astronauts visited on their different space missions here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/revisited/index.html. Take a high-definition virtual tour of the Moon with NASA here: https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/168/tour-of-the-moon-4k/. Want to learn more about space flight? The National Air and Space Museum has a feature on their website called Air and Space Anywhere, so you can take virtual tours of their facilities, view panoramic cockpit tours, watch videos with astronauts, and more! View all of that, plus info and videos about the history of aviation on their website here: https://airandspace.si.edu/anywhere.  Let's view some beautiful street art from around the world, including some just across the river, for today's virtual travelogue!
FIrst up, Google Art Project has created a fantastic set of interactive virtual tours, complete with audio guide, of street art in New York City, Argentina, and Sweden. There are also online exhibits to check out and some really neat GIF art, as well. You can find all of that, and more, here: https://streetart.withgoogle.com/en/. If you want to learn a little more about street art and the artists behind the works, Google Arts & Culture has a great collection here: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/street-art. Want to view street art made by artists a little closer to home? Hello Peoria has you covered! You can view the stunning murals that are all over Peoria, right from your couch: https://hellopeoria.co/category?category=Mural. If you want to get out of the house and view the works in person, while safely social distancing, Big Picture Peoria has created a mural map of where you can find this amazing art across the city: |
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August 2020
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