Kensington Palace - 17th Century design

Kensington Palace is located in the Kensington Gardens next to the well designed Hyde Park. Kensington Palace was the London residence of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It was built in the 17th century.

Diana and Queen clothing, and hat display, the gardens and the information provided by the audio tour will surely make this your most enjoyable London attraction. You will find Restaurant/cafe on premises for your convenience.

Kensington Palace is still the residence of several members of the royal family, while others have offices here. But they allow the common folk to come enjoy their finery. The building itself is stunning. There is a long walkway where you can enjoy the formal gardens. If you like art and architecture take a tour of this property. Admission includes an audio tour. The cassettes come in several languages. You can tour at your leisure. Here you will see furniture, jewels, photographs, and personal items from the royal families who have resided here. You may find the tapes quite lengthy. One of the favorite displays you will find here is the collection of royal ceremonial dresses. You can see the room where Queen Victoria was born and baptized. Check out the state rooms, which have a very large and impressive collection of 17th-century paintings.

Useful link

Tel: (+44)020 7376 2716

Nearest station:

High Street Kensington Underground
Notting Hill Gate Underground
Bayswater Underground

Empire State Building NY NY

Empire State Building was preceded by Chrysler Building and surpassed by the World Trade Center as the world’s tallest building. Standing on prestigious Fifth Avenue, this is the country’s second tallest building after the destruction of the World Trade Center. With 102 stories the ESB soars more than a quarter mile into the Manhattan skyline.

Designed and built by architects Shreve, Lamb and Harmon at a cost of $41 million USD, the ESB has a classical facade and serves as home to more than a 1000 offices. The one year build time was outstanding at a speed of approx. 2 stories per week. After completion it had an equally spectacular opening ceremony on May 1, 1931, when US President Herbert Hoover turned on the building's lights all the way from the capital.

While you are there, go over to the observation decks on 86th and 102nd floors. With clearer skies you can see farther than 80 miles from the lower deck while the upper deck is smaller and closed on high traffic days. Get there in the morning when it is less crowded, or take in magical views at night.

The ESB has special lightening at special occasions when the top 30 stories are lit up by colored lights. The lobby serves as a host of colorful events through out the year. Banking, dining and shopping options are available on-site.

After you are done at the ESB, designers will like to walk down to the Bryant Park, see the historic Grand Central Terminal, while food lovers can explore the many dining options and voguish shops of fashionable Times Square.

At Toledo (212-696-5036) on 6 E 36th St, between 5th and Madison Avenues; you can meet with the business types enjoying Spanish and European cuisine. The cozy ambience and a refined setting makes it an outstanding neighborhood spot.


Hours:
Daily 8am-11:15pm

Admission:
Adult $18;
Senior and Student (12-17) $16;
Child (6-11) $12, under 5 Free

Credit Cards accepted:
Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express

Address:
350 Fifth Ave,
New York, NY 10118
Tel: (212) 736-3100

Location: On 5th and 34th St.

Trains:
6 to 33rd St;
B, D, F, N, Q, R to 34th St

Web address: http://www.esbnyc.com

St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest and most historic palaces. It is situated on The Mall in London, just north of St. James's Park. It was built in the late-1530s by Henry VIII, on the site of St James's Hospital, a former leper hospital. The palace was a primary royal residence only briefly, during the reign of Elizabeth I and the late-17th and early-18th centuries.

In 1952, Elizabeth II made her first speech as Queen from St James's Palace. The Tudor palace is still the Court's official headquarters and tradition dictates that foreign ambassadors to the UK are known as 'Ambassador to the Court of St James'.

Although St James's Palace is closed to the public, you can explore Friary Court on Marlborough Road and attend Sunday services at the Chapel Royal. Charles I took holy communion at the Chapel Royal on the morning of his execution, and Victoria and Albert were married here.

Today St. James's Palace remains a busy working palace. The State Apartments are being used for entertaining during in-coming State Visits, and for other ceremonial and formal occasions. Most of the charities associated with the Royal Family attend official receptions here.

Clarence House, the former London home of the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, is within the St. James's Palace environs and provides a London home for The Prince of Wales and his two sons.

Lancaster House, another building in the Palace complex, is used for government hospitality.

St James's Palace
The Mall, London SW1

Construction and masonry tiles

A concrete block is also called cement block or foundation block. It is a large rectangular brick commonly used in construction of homes and other buildings. For higher density, sand and fine gravel is mixed with cast concrete, i.e. Portland cement. While lower density blocks are made by using cinders instead of sand and fine gravel. These low density blocks are called cinder blocks in the US and in UK breeze blocks or clinker blocks. In clinker blocks bottom ash or clinker is used. Since concrete is a heavy building material; to reduce weight the blocks are built with hollow centers. This also helps to improve insulation.

A lot of contractors use blocks because they can be layered in designs.
For a hard, glossy finish these blocks can be coated with glaze used in pottery. This way you can also color the blocks to your choice while making them water resistant.

For contractors, where sanitation codes matter; these masonry blocks serve the best in the design and build of such places as car washes, pools, locker rooms, shower stalls and dining areas such as cafeterias and commercial kitchens.

Glazing such as that used for pottery can also be applied to concrete blocks, resulting in a hard, glossy finish on this construction material. This finish often can be made virtually any color and, with integral water repellents, can be made water-resistant, ideal for design use in homes.

This makes glazed masonry an ideal fit for building areas in which special attention must be paid to moisture issues and sanitation codes. This includes construction of car washes, pools, locker rooms, shower stalls and dining areas such as cafeterias and commercial kitchens.