This Friday the world’s most famous Christmas Market the Christkindlesmart will bring Christmas cheer to around 2 million visitors in Nuremberg, Germany. The market is a special place with magical scenes of snow, Christmas and decorations amongst the beautiful cobblestone streets and gothic lanes, with the Church of Sebadus , The Church of Our Lady and the lovely fountains being the centerpiece for this beautiful setting. The market dates back nearly 400 years and always opens on the Friday before the first Advent and runs up to Christmas Eve. There are about 180 lovely stalls all decked out in red and white canvas selling everything you could ever want for Christmas. There is arts and crafts, toys and some of the worlds best chocolate, confectionery and of course German gingerbread, and you know you’re in Germany with the fresh smells of grilling sausages and mulled wine.
The magnificent Hagia Sopia is probably Turkey’s most known building. A former basilica and mosque and since 1935 it has been a museum and is building alone is the museums greatest treasure. The massive dome measures over 30 metres and stands over 55 metres above ground level making it the world’s largest cathedral for over a thousand years until the Seville Cathedral was completed in the 1500’s. The building is beautifully decorated with gold leaf and amazing mosaics depicting many religious scenes many have been rediscovered in recent years when plaster and paint was removed from walls during renovations.
The Colosseum is probably the best known of Rome’s ancient buildings. It is a huge arena even in today’s standards and had seating for over 50,000 people and rising 160 feet above street level. The Colosseum has had many uses over its 2000 years including a scene for mock battles, gladiator battles, was flooded for naval skirmishes and was even the site where Christians were fed to lions. Sadly the arena has suffered serious damage due to stone robbers and earthquakes but the Colosseum remains an iconic symbol of Italy and is Rome’s most popular tourist attraction. Today the coliseum is still used for smaller performances and events, but only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated. Quiet a few superstars use the Colosseum as the backdrop to their Rome concerts, Paul McCartney and Elton John are two of the huge acts who have visited in recent years. Read the rest of this entry »
The Eiffel Tower is one of the world’s most beautiful structures and to think it was only built temporary and the city planned to pull it down before it became useful as a tower for antennas. Many visitors are thinking the queues are much to long to brave to visit the lookout but there is another way to experience this lovely piece of ironwork and opt for a more tranquil visit with a magnificent Parisian picnic on the beautiful lawns below the tower. Dusk is the most romantic time to visit when the 20,000 odd bulbs flash in shimmering display lighting up the Paris sky. For the visitor there are plenty of French Bakeries and food stores within 10 or so minutes walk where you can pick up some of the freshest bread, pastries, the worlds best cheese, pate and wine for you to have the picnic to remember. Read the rest of this entry »
The Fersehturm is one of Berlin’s more striking icons, close to Alexanderplatz this tour was built by the former German Democratic Republic and rises 268 metres above street level. There is a visitors platform at 204 metres which offers some spectacular views of Berlin stretching well over 40kms on a good day. As with all good towers it features a revolving restaurant and souvenir shop. The tower was built to house communications antennas for television, radio and the like but he tower also was used as a powerful expression of the East German Government to the west of their Utopian socialist dreams.
Nearly 4 million people queue for hours to visit the amazing history, artworks and culture of the Vatican Museums or Musei Vaticani. The museum has just celebrated its 500th anniversary and is home to some of the worlds most precious treasures. The list of artwork is astounding with collections by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Caravaggio to name a few. But the highlight of the visit for most people is the visit to the Sistine Chapel to see the ceiling by Michelangelo who’s fresco is breathtaking. Painted from 1508 to 1512 and commissioned by Pope Julius II this incredible piece has been painstakingly restored in recent years to what is believed to be its original colours. The museums will easily fill up a full day and art lovers will probably want to come back for more. The museums are closed special holidays on Sunday’s except for the last when the usual 13 euro charge is dropped but the crowds on this day make it a bad choice. Its much better to pay and come on a much quieter day.
The Gelmerbahn is Europe’s steepest funicular which is an inclined railway similar to a tram which is pulled up and down a incline with a cable. The Gelmerbahn in Switzerland is Europe’s steepest and ascends 450 metres up a mountain face. The trolley is pulled up a 110 percent gradient in only a few seconds offering spectacular views of the Grimsel pass and the surrounding valleys and lakes. The Gelmerbahn is open during the warmer months from June to October and is located just outside of Innertkirchen in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland. The funicular was actually built in 1926 for helping construct the Handeck Hydroelectric power station but is now purely a tourist service.
Donkey Kong is one of the most loved of the video games and has survived over quarter of a century. Today the game is celebrated in a huge display at Berlin’s Computer Game Museum or computerspielemuseum. The huge scaffolding covers the front of the museum’s facade complete with barrels, ladders and of course everyone’s favorite ape Donkey Kong.
The museum itself is an amazing display of everything computerized it will keep the geek in you interested for hours, there’s lots of early computers and games from simple ping pong right up to the latest state of the art computer games and gadgets of the present.
Well here’s a trip with a difference, imagine jumping in a black London taxi and touring the famous political icons of Belfast. This entertaining and informative tour takes in all the sites, the murals, the Falls and Shankill Roads and peac walls which have been so much a part of the political struggle over the last few decades in Northern Ireland. Tours vary a bit too depending on the point of view of the driver you get, so you never quiet know what you are in for. And if the tour wasn’t one of the best days you have in Belfast it only gets better at the end when you are treated to a tasty bowl of Irish stew and a pint of world famous Guinness. Each tour takes about an hour and a half but you can usually do a deal with the driver and cater it to your tastes for a few extra pounds.
The Ponte di Rialto or Rialto Bridge is one of Venice’s most famous landmarks. Dating back to 1588 the bridge spans the Grand Canal and was the only way to cross the canal on foot before the Accadenua Bridge opened in 1854. The bridge offers some magnificent views up and down the canal although it can become very busy. The centre of the bridge is jammed packed with souvenir stalls selling everything including a huge selection of Venician Glass and jewelry, you are probably better to buy it elsewhere to avoid the tourist markup. The bridge was designed by Antonio de Ponte and was very close in design to the wooden structure it replaced it features two incline ramps which are basically all steps and a central portico which carry the stores and shops.
