We didn't think ol' Queen Elizabeth II was getting so many gigs these days, but today she's journeying to the Slovak capital of Bratislava to do a spot of monument unveiling.

In fact she'll be just outside Bratislava at the old ruin of Devin Castle, on the border to Austria. Her Majesty will officially open an iron sculpture sitting on the spot where the Iron Curtain--in this case a barbed wire fence between Austria and Slovakia--used to stand.

Today it'll be all fanfare and nice cups of tea, but it wasn't that long ago that you could've been shot for trying to cross over that part of the border. Of course if the 82-year-old Queen tries walking around the rickety walls of Devin Castle, it'll be just as dangerous for her, so we hope plenty of Slovaks are there to catch her if she falls.

Related Stories:
· British Queen to Unveil Iron Curtain Memorial at Devin Border [TASR]
· Devin Castle [Official Site]
· Slovakia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: themanwithsalthair]]]> amandak 2008-10-23T09:00:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/15/181313/593

Take a break from reality this weekend and hit up the theater to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the next installment in the series of the the Pevensie sibs.

This time the charming English foursome find that hundreds of years have passed since their last trip to Neverland, er, Narnia, and a new villan, King Miraz, has taken over the throne. Of course they enlist help from all the Narnia creatures and then have to figure out how to get home. This one's full of mythology, some new local characters and even a night raid on a castle.

In that vein we encourage you to explore Narnia this week. We kid, we kid. Instead, try checking out some of the below hotspots in Poland, where parts of the film were actually shot:

Where to Stay: Hotel Grodek, Krakow Part of the Donimirski family of boutique hotels, the Grodek features distinct rooms (you can view them all online and decide before booking) and is tucked away in the Old Town area of the city.]]> sedona 2008-05-16T09:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/25/23950/0933

If you've finished reading your new Harry Potter book then perhaps it's time to start planning a trip to a spot that's already featured in a couple of the films. Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England, is a gorgeous medieval castle that's still inhabited.

But it's not just as a stand-in for Hogwarts that Alnwick is famous. It's also home to the world's largest treehouse! And if that doesn't grab you, perhaps the poison garden will. Ninety species of dangerous plants are housed there, and (sensibly enough) you can only enter the garden with a guide. Perhaps a few Hogwarts deaths can be explained by Alnwick's poisonous plants. Visit if you dare.

Related Stories:
· Hotels in England [HotelChatter]
· Harry Potter Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: nickmilleruk]
]]> amandak 2007-07-25T09:09:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/10/23/41633/132
There's nothing we like more than a record-breaking tourist attraction, and Prague Castle makes it into Guinness as the largest castle complex in the world. That's reason enough to stop by, but not only is it huge, it's also impressive in other ways. The president still sits there, but the Bohemian crown jewels do too, and every hour there's a changing of the guard to rival London's, with a musical addition at midday when band members stand in various windows of the castle and peform.

The official castle visiting information site can give you more details on what there is to see, but it also includes a disturbingly long list under the headline "What you cannot visit." Some rooms only open for concert performances, some manage to open up on two random days a year, and some parts are just plain closed. Just think positive and be sure that the friendly Czechs have opened the good bits, at least, for the world to see.

[Photo: Psycho Crow]]]> amandak 2006-10-23T09:51:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/5/24/103716/855

Over 60 years ago the Dracula Castle was seized by communists, and yesterday, the Romanian government announced they would hand it over to its former owner, a New Yorker.

Dominic van Hapsburg, (yeah, those Hapsburgs) a New York architect who inherited the pop tourist attraction way back when, will resume ownership and will not be allowed to make any changes to the castle for the next three years.

So for the time being, peasants can keep selling Dracula sweaters, hand-knitted from the thick wool of local sheep, and Vampire wine at the gates of Bran Castle.

First Rocky beats Drago, then the Berlin Wall comes down, now a New Yorker owns the Dracula Castle--ttthhheeee Yankees win.

[image via mgleaves/Flickr]

Related Stories:
· Dracula caslte returns to bloodline [CNN]
· Bran Castle [Wikipedia] ]]> markj 2006-05-24T10:42:43-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/