The Brian Lara Promenade!

This picture was taken at the Brian Lara Promenade in Port of Spain. As seen, artistry is publicized here. The Brian Lara Promenade acts as a main attraction for tourists all over the world, especially those take interest in cricket. Brian Lara is one of the most infamous cricketers in Trinidad and Tobago’s history. He was born in 1969, and also carries nicknames like “The Prince of Trinidad" and “The Prince of Port of Spain,” which goes to show the love that the island and its capital city have for their record-breaking batsman. The restoration of Independence Square to its former glory has signified the revival of Port of Spain to an extent which has far exceeded the expectations of those involved. The Promenade is the first Business Improvement District (BID) in the country, and other municipalities such as San Fernando and Chaguanas, have expressed a desire to create similar BIDs, having witnessed its spectacular success. Many activities are conducted on the Promenade including entertainment events celebrating different national festivals and exhibitions. One of the most popular event held here is Jouvert and Carnival. This as a result appeals to an increasing amount of urban tourism within the city that can greatly affect the types of businesses that occur in the area. Due to the effect of the Promenade and it’s great force of attraction on people, there is an abundance of food places located very near the area as well as people of the informal sector selling snacks and beverages. It is estimated that over 127, 000 people cross the Promenade on any given day.

Below is a video of Brian Lara breaking his own world record once again and making history!!

Here is another video just to show the massive amount of people that the Promenade attracts to certain events.

Reference: “The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago.” National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago. http://www.natt.gov.tt (accessed March 17, 2013).

The Royal Botanic Gardens!!

This photograph was taken at the Botanic Gardens in Port of Spain. The amazing Royal Botanic Gardens are located to the north of Trinidad, in Port of Spain. It was established in 1818 and is one of the oldest gardens of it's kind found in the West Indies. The gardens display over 700 trees, of which 13 percent are indigenous to Trinidad. It also has 200 species of orchids. The area also contains a small cemetery reserved for the governors of Trinidad and dates back to as far as 1819. A botanic garden is a protected natural urban green area. An organisation creates landscaped gardens and holds collections of living plants which are all documented and filed. There are stores of plant accessions containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value for purposes of conservation, scientific research, tourism, education, public display, recreational activity and sustainable uses as well as the production of marketable plant based products and services. Urban geography talks about the effect of green spaces. Green spaces allow for many advantages some of which are, improving air quality, reducing energy consumption by countering the warming effects of paved surfaces, reducing temperatures in the area, and it can also aid in the natural aesthetic beauty of the city. Trees can improve air quality as they remove smoke, dust and other pollutants from the air. One tree can remove up to 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. This is the equivalent to 11,000 miles of car emissions. Trees also allow for shade. This temperature of the area under a shaded tree is much cooler than areas where there is no shade. The natural vegetation adds beauty to the environment as when the trees flower they carpet the area with multicolored flowers. Below is a video taken from Youtube showing the country's national flower, the Chaconia, found in The Royal Botanic Gardens in Port Of Spain. 

Reference : 

Bailey, Liberty Hyde &  Bailey, Ethel Z. (1978).Hortus Third, New York: Macmillan.

"Environmental Benefits - Project EverGreen ." Home - Project EverGreen . http://projectevergreen.com/why-green-matters/environmental-benefits/ (accessed March 10, 2013).

"Botanical garden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_garden (accessed March 10, 2013).

Trinidad's Indigenous Foods!!!

I hope you've had something to eat because after this blog if you hadn't you'd be craving for our Trini cuisine!!!This blog is dedicated to the culture of food in Trinidad. The above photograph taken in St.James illustrates one of the many roti shops in this area. St.James is called the "little city that never sleeps" and is famous for it’s chicken roti. It’s so famous that it was part of a show dedicated to Trinidad’s natural cuisine. The video below was shown on a travel network on television. It shows the different types of mouth watering foods found in this island paradise and St.James was one of the many areas visited. Trinidad’s cuisine is related to urban geography as the entire area in St.James is full of business of which places, one of the most prominent is food. The area is open late in the night and attracts many tourists. According to Hall and Barret, Urban tourism has economic, social and cultural impacts on its host communities. It is also argued that many jobs associated with tourism are low paid and highly seasonal. On the other hand, food is never seasonal!! If tourists don't buy it, some hungry person will!! But it still goes to show that this area is greatly affected by the art of making food such as the chicken roti and has become such a popular treat that it had to be featured on international television!

Reference: Hall and Barret. Urban Geography. London and New York, Routledge Publishing. 2012 (page 93).