Tuesday, June 29, 2010

New Webcam at the Port of Vancouver

Port of Vancouver, Gastown, Burrard Inlet and the Second Narrows Bridge

The Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons. The port amalgamated with the Fraser River Port Authority and the North Fraser Port Authority in 2008 to form Port Metro Vancouver.

In terms of container traffic measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the port ranked in 2006 as the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, the fourth-largest port on the West Coast of North America, and fifth-largest in North America overall.

Monday, June 28, 2010

New Webcam - London City Streets around Covent Garden

London City Streets around Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located in the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwestern corner of the London Borough of Camden. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers, and entertainment facilities, and it contains an entrance to the Royal Opera House, which is also widely-known simply as "Covent Garden", and the bustling Seven Dials area.

The area is bounded by High Holborn to the north, Kingsway to the east, the Strand to the south and Charing Cross Road to the west. Covent Garden Piazza is located in the geographical centre of the area and was the site of a flower, fruit and vegetable market from the 1500s until 1974, when the wholesale market relocated to New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms. Nearby areas include Soho, St James's, Bloomsbury, and Holborn.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Swimming Pool in the Sky! Marina Bay Sands Resort, Singapore

Featured in the news today, the opening of the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore, featuring a massive swimming pool suspended in the air above the city - we have a webcam view looking right at it:

Singapore city skyline, looking at the Marina Bay Sands Resort and Casino


Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$5.7 billion), including cost of the prime land.

When complete, the resort will feature a 2,560-room hotel, 120,000 sq-meter convention-exhibition center, The Shoppes mall, six restaurants, an Art & Science museum, two Sands Theatres, two floating pavilions, a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a a 150m swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67m. The 51-acre resort was designed by Moshe Safdie.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Canary Island Webcam - Lanzarote Beach Live!

Playa de Las Cucharas Beach, Costa Teguise Resort

Lanzarote is the easternmost island of the Canary Islands and has volcanic origin. It was born out of fiery eruptions and has solidified lava streams as well as extravagant rock formations. Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands. The first recorded name for the island, given by Angelino Dulcert, was Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, after the Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello, from which the modern name is derived. The island's name in the native language was Titerro(y)gatra, which may mean "the red mountains"

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Albena Webcam - Bulgaria Beach Scene

Albena Beach and Black Sea, Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 92th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 364,292 (503,999 in the metro area).

Commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, business and university centre, seaport, and headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine, as well as the centre of Varna Province and Bulgaria's North-Eastern planning region (NUTS II), comprising also the provinces of Dobrich, Shumen, and Targovishte.

Glastonbury Live - Festival Webcam

Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm, home of the Glastonbury Music Festival

The Glastonbury Festival 2010 will take place between 23 and 27 June 2010. Tickets went on sale on 4 October 2009, with the £50 deposit scheme introduced at the previous festival being continued. Unlike the previous two years and more in common with earlier festivals, the tickets for the 2010 Glastonbury had sold out in less than 24 hours from being released for sale. U2 will no longer headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday night at Glastonbury 2010, due to Bono sustaining a back injury early May 2010. According to the media, Bono was "gutted", even having written a song especially for the festival. Muse and Stevie Wonder will play the other two headline slots, with Muse playing on Saturday and Wonder on Sunday. The following day the replacement to U2 was confirmed as Gorillaz. It would be Damon Albarn's second headlining act in 2 years.

My World Webcams - Guest Blogger!

We were very pleased to be asked to provide a guest blog post for the popular travel blog Cheapoair, and wrote the following feature:

Thailand – Sand, Sea and Mai Tai’s Galore!

A holiday in Thailand is a holiday like no other, exotic, exciting and, in the grand scheme of things, incredibly cheap. I’ve spent many a happy holiday there, and still check out the live views on the beach webcams every day.

If you’re thinking of heading to Thailand, I can highly recommend Phuket as a location to base yourself. Staying in Karon Beach is a perfect base for venturing out, exploring and making the most of your time there.

In the mornings you can jump in a tuk tuk to Kata Bay to sunbathe on one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see and partake in some of the many water sports available. I’ve spent many a leisurely day just soaking up the sun and swimming in the Andaman Sea, then taking in some shade whilst feasting on iced sticks of pineapple sold by the lovely Thai lady who wonders down the beach selling her wares.

In the evenings you can head into Patong which is only a short ride from Karon and has a lively environment with a multitude of bars, restaurants and night clubs.

Make the most of the excursions available as well, there are too many to choose from, but here are some that I have been on myself:

- A speed boat ride out to Coral Island, where we went snorkeling – brave of me as I’m terrified of the water but it’s something you just can’t miss out on!

- A boat trip out to Phang Nga – You get to visit James Bond Island and Koh Panyee (the floating village) where we stopped for lunch which was delicious.

- A weekend stopover in Kho Phi Phi where we took a long tail boat out for some more snorkeling and had a picnic on a deserted island.

- A night out at Simon cabaret – an excellent show and I still can’t believe that they weren’t women!

- A night out watching an authentic Thai Boxing match

- Elephant trekking – another amazing experience!

Another thing not to miss is a sunset at Prom Thep cape (about 15 minutes drive from Karon). It is really most dramatic and something you’ll remember for a very long time.

Don’t forget there is also Phuket town to see and enjoy some serious shopping (favourite pastime!) Although the clothes sizing can make one feel a bit on the big side as the Thai women are a lot smaller than a robust Scottish lass!

The Thai people are incredibly friendly and it’s easy to get embroiled in a competitive game of Jenga whilst indulging in some very strong Mai Tai cocktails – I think it’s their game plan!

An experience to remember.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

England v Slovenia - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Live view from the stadium, sitting right on the coast in the picturesque city of Port Elizabeth as England's fans gather for the crucial World Cup clash with Slovenia:

Port Elizabeth City Skyline and Nelson Mandela Bay World Cup Stadium


Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a 48,000-seater stadium in Port Elizabeth. The five-tier, R2 billion (approximately US$270million) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadium built in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It regularly hosts large scale football and rugby matches. The stadium has also been used as a concert venue. The stadium hosted 8 games during the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament. It will host 5 group games, as well as a round of 16 game, a quarterfinal and the 3rd/4th playoff will be played at the stadium.

Located at the end of the picturesque Garden Route along the Cape coast, the city is one of South Africa's major destinations for tourists, many of whom come simply to enjoy the many fine beaches in and near the city.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Stonehenge Live Webcam View

Stonehenge Prehistoric Monument, near Salisbury, Wiltshire

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. It is at the centre of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists had believed that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC, as described in the chronology below. One recent theory, however, has suggested that the first stones were not erected until 2400-2200 BC, whilst another suggests that bluestones may have been erected at the site as early as 3000 BC The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Monastery of El Escorial Webcam

View of the Monastery of El Escorial

The basilica of San Lorenzo el Real, the central building in the El Escorial complex, was originally designed, like most of the late Gothic cathedrals of western Europe, to take the form of a Latin cross. As such, it has a long nave on the west-east axis intersected by a pair of shorter transepts, one to the north and one directly opposite, to the south, about three-quarters of the way between the west entrance and the high altar. This plan was modified by Juan de Herrera to that of a Greek cross, a form with all four arms of equal length. Coincident with this shift in approach, the bell towers at the western end of the church were somewhat reduced in size and the small half-dome intended to stand over the altar was replaced with a full circular dome over the center of the church, where the four arms of the Greek cross meet.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Phang Nga Bay, Koh Yao and James Bond Island

Our latest webcam offering from Thailand:

Live webcam view Phang Nga Bay, Koh Yao and James Bond Island

Ko Yao Yai (island) is the largest island in the Ko Yao Archipelago. The island group is situated in the Phang Nga Bay in the Phang Nga province of Thailand. Ko Yao Yai means Big Yao Island. The other main island of the group is Ko Yao Noi (Little Yao Island), located off Ko Yao Yai's northern side and separated from it by a narrow sound.

The population of Ko Yao Yai is about 8,000, whereas the population of Ko Yao Noi is about 4,500. Phang Nga Bay is a 400 km² bay in the Andaman Sea between the island of Phuket and the mainland of the Malay peninsula of southern Thailand. Since 1981 a big part of the bay is protected as the Ao Phang Nga National Park. It is situated in Phang Nga Province, at 08°17'N 098°36'E.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill - Live Feed

The live video feeds of the incident provide a quite frightening insight into the scope and level of the oil spill - we have one of the feeds now featured on our site at:

http://www.myworldwebcams.com/usa/louisiana/oil_spill.html

Background info: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster or the Macondo blowout) is a massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, now considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history Some estimates placed it by late May or early June, 2010, as among the largest oil spills in the world with tens of millions of gallons spilled to date. The spill stems from a sea floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others.

New Italy Webcam Views

You can travel virtually through some of the most breathtaking scenery in Italy with some of our new webcam additions - we have scenes from the Alps, the Dolomites and the Italian Riviera.

Check out the new views at:

Alpine town at Cortina d'Ampezzo and Dolomite Mountains

Mountains and Commune at Ala, Trento Province

Beach at Andora, Savona Province on the Italian Riviera

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Johannesburg Webcam, Soccer City World Cup 2010 Stadium Web

Johannesburg city skyline, Soccer City World Cup stadium

Soccer City, formerly known as the FNB Stadium, is a stadium located in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located next to the South African Football Association headquarters (SAFA House) where both the FIFA offices and the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup are housed.

A football-specific stadium, Soccer City is currently the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at Soccer City and the venue is better suited to these events than the Ellis Park Stadium, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.

It was the site of Nelson Mandela's first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison. It was also the site of Chris Hani's funeral.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

World Cup Webcams

Our range of webcam views from around the football stadiums and cities of South Africa are proving especially popular during the FIFA World Cup tournament.

Most viewed webcams over the first 5 days of the tournament have been:

Green Point Cape Town soccer stadium, venue for World Cup 2010 South Africa

Johannesburg city skyline, Soccer City World Cup stadium

Peter Mokaba Complex, South Africa World Cup 2010 football stadium

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Costa Blanca Webcams

View of the Andalucia hills, Marbella and Santa Clara golf course

Marbella is a city in Andalusia, Spain, by the Mediterranean, situated in the province of Málaga, beneath La Concha. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 circa 135,000.

Marbella and the nearby Puerto Banús are important beach resorts of the Costa del Sol. The town is famous for being a playground for the rich and famous. Marbella is famed as an exclusive destination for wealthy tourists from Northern Europe, as well as for the well-heeled from the UK, Ireland and Germany.

The urban district of Alcoi, the industrial cradle of the Region of Valencia

Alcoy (in Spanish) or Alcoi (in Valencian) is a city and municipality located in the province of Alicante, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal term of Alcoy

The first traces of human presence in the area date to c. 60,000 years ago, when Neandertal hunters settled here. A site with rock paintings, dating to c. 10,000/6,500 years ago, has been discovered near la Sarga. From around the mid-3rd millennium BC people started to move from the caves to the plain where cereals were grown, while mountain fortifications were erected (Mola alta de Serelles, Más del Corral, Más de Menente, el Puig).

Alicante Old Town, streets leading to the Cathedral

Alacant or Alicante is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,757, estimated as of 2009 ranking as the second-largest Valencian city. Including nearby municipalities, Alicante conurbation was populated by 458,843 residents. Population of the metropolitan area (including Elche and satellite towns) was 795,034 as of 2009[update] estimates, ranking as the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Best Beaches in the World

We now have featured a very extensive range of some of the best live beach views in the world, with webcams pointing at some of the most glorious golden sands and dramatic stretches of coastline in the world.

A few of our favourites (from Australia these ones - will return later with some from other parts of the world, we have many in Europe and Asia too)

Bondi Beach, NSW

Broome's famous surf ocean beach in Western Australia

View of the beach at Byron Bay, New South Wales

North Steyne Surf Beach at Manly

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Famous Landmark Webcams

Ever fancied visiting some of the most famous landmarks on the planet but don't have the time, money or inclination to actually physically get there in person?

Well, just about the next best thing is to take in a live webcam view of the spots you would love to visit - with many webcams now streaming live it can actually seem like you are there - watch the local people going about their daily lives, check out the weather and generally just enjoy a bot of good old people watching!

Just some of the famous worldwide landmarks featured on My World Webcams are:

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Eiffel Tower in Paris

The Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt

Saturday, June 12, 2010

England Gathers to Watch the World Cup

England expects as the world cup finally gets underway for the 3 lions, and in homes, pubs and clubs across the country people are gathering to watch England's first game of the tournament against the United States.

Some of the more popular venues are the big screens popping up across the country, allowing big crowds to gather and enjoy the summer sunshine while watching the match in plenty of like minded company.

My World Webcams has webcams on a few of these locations, including:

Millenium Square in Leeds city centre

London's very busy Trafalgar Square

FIFA World Cup 2010 Webcams - live views from South Africa

A number of live views from cities and stadiums across South Africa now featured in conjunction with the ongoing world cup tournament.

Some fantastic games in store today, with England getting their campaign underway against the USA, and a great match expected as Maradona's Argentina meet the Nigeria Super Eagles.

South Africa World Cup Webcams

Friday, June 11, 2010

My World Webcams on the BBC!

On the day the World Cup starts, we're delighted to find our webcam listing from Johannesburg being featured on the BBC Radio 2 Steve Wright in the Afternoon Webcam of the Day section on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/steve-wright-in-the-afternoon/webcam-of-the-day/

World Cup Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony will be held at the newly-renovated Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg at 8:00 p.m. local time (GMT+2). The concert will feature musical performances by most popular African artists that include queen of pop Shakira. Shakira is expected to sing the official song of the World Cup 2010 — “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”.

The video is of the song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” is currently available on the web. The video also features Portugal’s star Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

Besides Shakira, a long list of celebrities including past and present football legends will be present at the auspicious occasion.

Football fever has started spreading among the fans. The entire world is looking forward to the World Cup Opening Ceremony 2010, so as I. Friends, please share your ideas about World Cup 2010.

Johannesburg city skyline and World Cup stadium

World Cup Webcams

As the FIFA 2010 Football World Cup gets underway in South Africa, featuring countries and fans from all over the world, we have a special feature on South African views, from the major cities and stadiums across the country - see our South Africa webcams page for more details.

Top live web cam views include:

Green Point Cape Town soccer stadium, venue for the opening World Cup game

View of Table Mountain from across Cape Town city

Johannesburg city skyline, and the Soccer City World Cup stadium

Thursday, June 10, 2010

New Madrid Webcam

Madrid city skyline, Chamartín railway station, and Torre Caja de Madrid

Torre Caja Madrid (Spanish: Caja Madrid Tower) is a skyscraper located in the Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid, Spain. With a height of 250 m (820 ft) and 45 floors, it is the tallest of the four buildings in the Cuatro Torres Business Area complex, surpassing Torre de Cristal by less than a metre.

Designed by Lord Foster, it was first known as Torre Repsol and would have served as headquarters for Repsol YPF oil and gas company. During the construction of the tower, Repsol decided to change the location of its future headquarters and the financial institution Caja Madrid purchased the building for €815 million in August 2007. Cuatro Torres Business Area (CTBA) (Spanish for Four Towers Business Area) is a business park located in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid (Spain), on the former Ciudad Deportiva of Real Madrid.

Webcam at Verona Opera House

Verona Arena, Roman Amphitheatre in Italy's Veneto region

The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind.

The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Piazza San Marco, Venice Webcam

Piazza San Marco, also known as St Mark's Square, in central Venice

Piazza San Marco (often known in English as Saint Mark's Square), is the principal square of Venice, Italy.

A remark often attributed to Napoleon (but perhaps more correctly to Alfred de Musset) calls the Piazza San Marco "The drawing room of Europe". It is one of the few great urban spaces in a Europe where human voices prevail over the sounds of motorized traffic, which is confined to Venice's waterways. It is the only urban space called a piazza in Venice; the others, regardless of size, are called campi.

As the central landmark and gathering place for Venice, Piazza San Marco is extremely popular with tourists, photographers, and pigeons.

New Webcam - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Pensacola Beach, Santa Rosa Island on Florida's Emerald Coast

Pensacola Beach is an unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is situated south of Pensacola, connected via bridges spanning to the Fairpoint Peninsula and then to the island, on the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 2,738.

Pensacola Beach occupies land bound by a 1947 deed from the United States Department of Interior that it be administered in the public interest by the county or leased, but never "disposed"; its businesses and residents are thus long-term leaseholders and not property owners

Monday, June 7, 2010

New Webcams in Asia

A middle eastern flavour to today's latest webcam updates, with 2 new webcams in Israel added, as well as a city view from Beirut in the Lebanon

Loads more great webcam views are scheduled to be uploaded this week, so keep visiting to see them all as they appear.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Finding the Best Beach Holidays in the World

Everyone loves to look at some great live beach views , especially if you’re planning a holiday, or even still deciding where you would like to go. There’s a number of ways you check out which beaches are the best out there – once you’ve decided on a short list you can hit the computer and start Googling away to look for images and reviews of the places you’re considering going to. You can guarantee there’ll be a wide range of pictures and descriptions out there.

For those who are more up to date with some of the more recent high-tech technological developments you might even download yourself a copy of Google Earth and go for a live satellite view of the places you have under consideration. Or how about taking to the streets with Google’s street view? It may not get you right onto the beach itself, but you can get pretty close with many promenades and piers featured, getting you right up to the action in some cases.

So you may come up with a list of definite maybes – there’ll almost certainly be some Australian beaches in there, Bondi, Manly or Palm Beach perhaps, Florida is likely to feature, with Miami and Clearwater among the popular names, or in Europe you might like the look of Paphos in Cyprus, the Greek Islands of Naxos or Crete, or any number of golden sand stretches on the Algarve in Portugal. In Africa, there are some lovely stretches in Kenya and Egypt, and who can leave out the white sands and glamour of the Caribbean. But how do you know the beach you’ve found will match up to the pictures and satellite images in real life?

One of the best ways is to find a webcam, where you can get an actual live view of the places you’re considering. A recently launched world webcam directory , myworldwebcams.com features live beach scenes form dozens of the most well known and popular beaches all around the world, as long as a fair few you might not have heard of – but aren’t the hidden gems often the best? The beauty of the web cam view is it allows you to check out a place in live format, at different times of the day and year to see exactly what it’s like, how busy it gets and whether it’s the kind of place you would like to spend your holiday. So next time you’re looking for your perfect beach holiday, make sure you take a little time out to use My World Webcams.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

North East England Webcams

A range of new web cam listings uploaded today, focusing on the North East region of England, including 2 different views of the River Tyne Quayside area and Gateshead Millenium Bridge, one from Northumbria University and a fabulous panoramic view of Durham Cathedral.