Oh what joy I had today when I found some “new” pages on Google Earth (I use new in inverted commas as I am not actually sure now new they are, they may have been around for some time but such was my excitement at finding these that I thought I would share them, incase others had not had the opportunity to see them yet!).

Google Art Project

I knew about the Google Art project before, it allows you to browse and zoom into the collections of over two hundred galleries around the world, from the comfort of your screen.  You can search by artist by gallery, or alternatively browse some of the many collections available which you or other users have created.  It is simple to create your own personal gallery, all you do is browse the works and then click the little pencil and cube icon at the side of the screen.  You can choose to share your collection or make it private, which is an added bonus.  These are some of the most interesting things I have found so far:

• Tate collections of J M W Turner
• search by keyword for a place (e.g. Brighton)
• Highlights from the National Gallery of Scotland 
• a user collection of impressionist works
• it is not just paintings… here is a “Bristol sauceboat” in porcelain, held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston

Google Street view in Galleries

Would you like to see inside a gallery and virtually wander to the front of a famous piece of art, and put yourself nose to pixel with it?  Here is a John Constable work, in Tate Britain.

There are several international galleries with this feature, view the current list here.

Google Plus slideshows

I can almost smell the espresso of Piazza San Marco through this feature…

We are no doubt all familiar with entering results in Google search bar and getting a list of relevant sites.  If you type in the name of certain famous sites  you can get a stream of text information, maps and reviews of the places in question, and if you click on any of the photographs it gives you a full screen slideshow all about this area.  I am yet to explore Google+ and its social side, but as I understand it, if you are registered for this it allows you to post information and share it with friends in your circle (or publicly) so I think this might be a good tool for people planning a group holiday.

World Wonders

This site allows you to view UNESCO world heritage sites, and lots of informative background information about their importance and history.  This interface allows you to view collections of sites, and search by country, continent or theme.  You can even dive under the Great Barrier Reef!

Here is a rather lovely looking Stonehenge:

Here are the Trulli houses in Puglia, you can actually “walk” up and around the streets there.  One day I will go and see these in real life, but  in the mean time I have this site to entertain and delight me.

Happy browsing, I would love to hear of some of the places which you find out there.