Posts Tagged ‘Europe’
Medieval architecture and beer in Freistadt, Austria
Freistadt is located in the Austrian Region of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), the is the largest town of the Mühlviertel region. This used to be one of the last border fortresses on the route leading to Bohemia. Today, it’s just a few kilometers from the border of the Czech Republic. Freistadt has impressive medieval architecture, including…
Read MoreA spring day in seaside Sperlonga, Italy
During the Easter weekend, my kids and I had a perfect day in the beautiful beach town of Sperlonga, Italy. I’ve already written about this pretty little beach town on teh Tirrenian Sea, half-way between Rome and Naples. See my earlier post about the resort town once the favorite of Emperors. But my day-long escape…
Read MoreThermal Tuscany – San Filippo ai bagni
Tuscany, Italy, is a pretty nice travel destination. Every time I go to the Tuscan countryside, I find myself fantasizing about moving to some old, Tuscan farmhouse and spending my time in that peaceful, rolling landscape. My son goes to a running camp in the Tuscan region south of Siena, and I’ve already written about…
Read MorePrague’s Old Town Square clock
Every hour on the hour in Prague’s historical center, Town Hall’s historic, astronomical clock chimes the hour as the crowds below watch. The astronomical clock, on Prague’s Old Town Square (Staromětske naměsti) stands at the base of the 14th century Town Hall. The clock itself was constructed in 1410, making it the third oldest astronomical…
Read MoreVienna’s plague column
I’ve already written about Plague art in Vienna in an earlier post, concentrating on the impressive Plague column and the monumental Karlskirche. Both of these monuments were erected to commemorate Vienna’s emergence from tragic outbreaks of the Plague, and both are well-known landmarks of modern-day Vienna. The Plague, otherwise known as Bubonic Plague or ‘Black Death’…
Read MoreQueuing up for the London Eye
As anyone traveling with kids knows, travel plans alter radically once you are lugging along pint-sized companions. On a trip to London with my children, I had plenty of activities to fill our days, but none of them included queuing up for kilometers to go on a giant ferris wheel. Unfortunately, the London Eye is visible…
Read MoreExplore Palais Ferstel’s Passage, Vienna
In Mitteleuropa and Eastern Europe, I always love peeking into the spectacular ‘passages’. Vienna is no exception and the beautiful Freying Passage of the Palais Ferstel is well worth a visit on your next visit to stately Vienna. The palace is named after Heinrich von Ferstel, the architect who built it in 1860. The passage…
Read MoreMacabre memories in Sedlec, Czech Republic
Close to the pretty town of Kutna Hora, an oft-visited town close to Prague and famous for its spectacular Gothic church – Svata Barbora (Saint Barbara), see my earlier post – lies another impressive must-see. Only two kilometers northeast of Kutna Hora lies the suburb of Sedlec. While the town is nothing special, it’s a destination…
Read MoreThe view from the top of St Vitus’ bell tower, Prague
Admittedly, I may have a problem. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, when I visit a city, I always want to make a beeline to the highest vanatage point to enjoy the views from a bird’s eye perspective. This includes skyscraper tourism in modern cities, and – most commonly- church bell towers…
Read MoreA round-up of European Christmas markets to visit
This year, I couldn’t manage to escape to one of the Christmas markets I love in Europe, so instead on this post I’ll pine away thinking about great Christmas markets of the past take a look at some of the Christmas markets I’ve posted about in European cities. Should you find yourself in any of…
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