Things to Do in Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

Flagstaff Hill is the best known of the group of granite peaks which are Penang Hills. At 2,411ft (735m)  it provides brilliant panoramic views of the Georgetown, the Penang Bridge and the Straits of Malacca.

It is accessible via a keen 2-hour hike up walking trails where there are thoughtfully spaced refreshment stops and viewpoints along the way. Alternatively, the 100 year old funicular railway is the more thrilling and memorably steep experience.

Built within an old Chinese School, the Peranakan Museum explores the culture, traditions, artwork and history of the Peranakan communities. Travelers can explore three floors of interactive exhibits that link Singapore’s modern culture to its Chinese, Indian, Malay, Indonesian and European roots. Some of the museum is geared towards the younger set, making it ideal for visitors with small children. Travelers agree the reasonable fee and interesting galleries—like the traditional houses and wedding dresses—are the perfect way to spend an educational afternoon (especially on a rainy day!).

The Peter and Paul Cathedral is an orthodox cathedral and burial place of Russian emperors dating as far back as Peter the Great.

As the oldest cathedral in St. Petersberg, it is considered one the tallest orthodox cathedrals in the world and also one of the most remarkable achievements of the baroque era, with a rectangular base, and containing an enormous bell-tower and landmark needle, all resembling western European architecture.

The bell-tower is the tallest in the world and contains a carillon composed of 51 bells totaling a weight of 33,422 pounds (15,160 kg) and ranges in such of variety of notes that it is not outside of the range of any piece of music.

Atop the cathedral also is one of St. Petersburg’s most important symbols, its golden spire, sitting 404 feet (123 m) above ground level.

Dedicated in 2008, this roughly 2-acre site honors the 184 people who died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. Set on the west side of the Pentagon Reservation and landscaped with 85 maple trees, this quiet memorial is largely composed of 184 illuminated benches and reflecting pools which face the south side of the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building on 9/11.

Each illuminated bench, as well as a nearby granite wall, bears the name and age of an individual victim; the wall grows higher from east to west in relation to the victims’ ages. Visitors can see that the youngest person killed was three, the oldest was 71, and several of the 59 people killed aboard Flight 77 were family members.

An audio tour of the Pentagon Memorial is available by phone at (202) 741-1004. Parking is available at the Pentagon’s South Lot, and the memorial is adjacent to the Metrorail’s Pentagon station, which serves the Blue and Yellow Lines.

No visit to St Petersburg is really complete without spending a few hours at the site where it all began – the Peter & Paul Fortress. This is the original citadel of the city, built on Hare Island near the north bank of the Neva River between 1706 and 1740. And this is where you can get a feel for St Petersburg’s more than 300 year old history, from royal tombs to prison blocks to historical museum exhibitions.

The Peter & Paul Fortress was originally built to protect Russia’s new capital from a possible Swedish attack, but it never really served that purpose. Instead, it soon became a prison for high-ranking and political prisoners, beginning with Alexey, the son of Peter the Great. In 1872, a new prison within the walls of the Trubetskoy Bastion was built and over the next forty years, it held thousands of prisoners who were considered to be enemies of the state. These political prisoners included the likes of Feodor Dostoevsky, Leon Trotsky and Maxim Gorky and then, after the Bolshevik Revolution, members of the Tsarist government.  The prison was turned into a museum in 1924 and today you can walk through the corridors, visit some of the cells and view documents and photographs that tell the story of Imperial Russia’s main political prison.

The most visible landmark within the Peter & Paul Fortress is the Peter & Paul Cathedral, whose spire stands more than 400 feet tall and features an angel at the top holding a cross. Built between 1712 and 1733, the cathedral was one of the first in Russia to be decorated with paintings and icons. The iconostasis was carved by Moscow craftsmen in the 1720s and contains 43 original icons from the 18th century. The bell tower of the cathedral is the world’s largest Orthodox bell tower and at the base of the tower lay the tombs of the Romanov monarchs. Every tsar and tsarina from Peter the Great to Nicholas II is buried within the Peter & Paul Cathedral, except Peter II and Ivan VI. Connected to the main cathedral by a corridor is the Grand Ducal Mausoleum, built between 1896 and 1908 to serve as a burial place for non-reigning members of the Romanov family.

In the Commandant’s House within the fortress, you will find displays exploring the early history of St Petersburg in the 18th and 19th centuries, including paintings, maps and layouts and pieces of graphic and applied art. Another section of the house aims to provide insight into the daily life of St Petersburg citizens in the 19th century. Exhibits reflect themes such as commerce and banking, life in an apartment house, transportation and city fashion.

After visiting the main sites within the fortress, spend some time walking along the top of the fortress walls for superb views of central St Petersburg, including the massive St Isaac’s Cathedral.  If you are visiting St Petersburg in the summer, save some time to relax on the sandy beaches along the shores of the Neva. Finally, keep an eye out for temporary exhibitions that often provide even greater insight into St Petersburg’s vast history.

Centered along F Street from 5th to 10th Streets NW, and set North of Pennsylvania Avenue and south of Mount Vernon Square, between the White House and the Capitol, Penn Quarter is one of the most commercially-condensed areas of the city. This entertainment district in the east end of downtown unfurls around the Verizon Center, a sports, concert and events arena. Blending almost seamlessly with D.C.’s thriving Chinatown, Penn Quarter features a wide variety of its own nightlife, art galleries, restaurants, shops and more.

Some of the most popular attractions in Penn Quarter are the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the history of news-gathering and reporting around the world; the interactive International Spy Museum; the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, which inhabit the same building; and Ford’s Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

On Thursday afternoons and evenings (3 to 7 p.m.) from March to December, the FRESHFARM Penn Quarter farmers’ market is held on 8th Street NW, between D and E Streets.  A foodie destination, the neighborhood is especially renowned for restaurants and bars helmed by celebrity chefs like Jose Andres and Michel Richard.  

Street parking in this neighborhood is limited, and area lots tend to be expensive. However, Penn Quarter is within walking distance of two Metrorail stations: Chinatown-Gallery Place (Red, Yellow and Green Lines) and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter (Yellow and Green Lines).