Following the Equator

Park Guell in Barcelona

EF Group Leader Jeremy Van Hof, whom we profiled back in March, writes the best group leader blog that we've come across.

Jeremy, an English and newspaper teacher at DeWitt High School in DeWitt, Mich., is prepping his students for their EF tour this summer to Italy and Spain. His blog does a great job of providing not only tour-specific information to his travelers but also interesting insights about their destinations: Rome, Florence, Barcelona and Madrid.

In the past week, Jeremy started a series of posts called "What We'll See" to "detail some of the amazing things that we'll see on this trip." Today, Jeremy posted this video about architect Antoni Gaudí's famed Park Guell in Barcelona:

If you have a blog for your own EF group that you'd like to share, we'd love to know about it. You can post it in comments below or just email me.

Friday Fun Fact: Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle, the famed Bavarian castle near Hohenschwangau, is the most  photographed building in Germany even though public photography is not permitted inside the castle.

The castle was built by King Ludwig II, who was known for his eccentricities. He was sometimes referred to as der Märchenkönig ("the fairy-tale king"), which is quite appropriate considering that Neuschwanstein served as the inspiration for several Disney castles—including the Cinderella Castle at Disney World in Florida and the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland in California.

Photo: storem via Flickr

Leaning Tower of Pisa saved for 300 years

Photo: irene. via Flickr

Whew! The Leaning Tower of Pisa is not going to topple—at least for another 300 years.

The impressive Italian icon, which underwent a major stabilization effort in the 1990s, yesterday was declared safe for at least three more centuries.

“All of our best expectations have been confirmed,” said Michele Jamiolkowski, emeritus professor of geotechnical engineering at Turin Polytechnic, who led the project to safeguard the tower. “Now we can say that the tower can rest easy for at least 300 years.”

The Leaning Tower, which began tilting five years after construction began in 1173, has never been on solid footing—literally. The tower was situated on unstable clay. Various attempts through the centuries to decrease the dangerous decline have never fully developed. Until now.