200th Anniversary of Trafalgar

This year marks a momentous day in British history, the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson. To honor that day, there are two major programs going on in the UK starting in July. If you are coming to the UK you won’t want to miss the opportunity to take part in some of the activities associated with each. English Heritage is supporting the summer long SeaBritain 2005 program. www.english-heritage.org.uk/seabritain. It is a series of events planned around the country relating to the sea and Trafalgar. There will be stage events with pirates, Vikings, and smuggles, maritime films, tales and fireshows, and on July 28th, a Tall Ships Parade party at Tynemouth Priory. What a sight! Check out the SeaBritain site for times and details.

The second program is a major exhibition on show at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich called Nelson and Napoleon. It will examine the reputations and personal lives of each, along with the political and military conditions that brought them together. It will further explore the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleon on Britain in order to reach an understanding of the roots of the 19th century conflict. New insights into Nelson, his tactics and the myths associated with him will be revealed.

This exhibition was 10 years in the making and includes rare unseen materials, letters, iconic paintings and personal items. The museum’s collection is complemented by loans from galleries and private collections throughout Europe. Entry is by timed ticket and may be procured online at:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.15503

Antiques Shows in London

If you ever dreamed of seeing the best of the UK antique and fine art dealers in one place, this is the month to do it. On show now at the Olympia Exhibition Center in London is the Summer Olympia, and this weekend, the Grosvenor Art and Antique Show will commence in Mayfair at Grosvenor House. The added bonus is that both shows also feature dealers from the international community.

Olympia happens 3 times a year, summer, fall and winter. The current (2005) show runs from 9-19 June, and Grosvenor runs from 16-22 June. The next Olympia will be 7-13 November, and the Winter show is 28 February – 5 March, 2006. Olympia is a highly regarded show with over 330 distinguished dealers. You will have the opportunity to see paintings, fine furniture, jewelry, ceramics, sculptures, and decorative arts. The quality is superb and the prices vary from modest to very high depending on the item. See more on Olympia at http://www.olympia-antiques.co.uk.

If your tastes run higher than those at Olympia, there’s the Grosvenor Art and Antique Show. It has all the sophistication one would expect from a Park Lane address. And while you will find some museum quality pieces at Olympia, at Grosvenor it’s more the rule than the exception. It is truly one of the greatest fairs in the world with outstanding art treasures from many countries and periods. The past patron of the show was Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and she had lent many items from her personal collection to be viewed there. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra now carries on the royal patronage. To find out more about Grosvenor see www.grosvenor-antiquesfair.co.uk.

The Savvy Traveler - Site back online!

We've survived a severe DDOS attack which took our site down for about 4 days starting 30 May 2005. We are glad to say we are back up and running, finally.

Do check out the new design and watch for lots more content. We will be posting trips, tours and unique itinearies on the site on a regular basis.

You should be able to reach us at http://thesavvytraveler.com orhttp://thesavvytraveler.com, from now on, but our emergency URL can always be used to access our site:

http://thesavvy.s407.sureserver.com/index.html