Austria's scenery was even more breathtaking in person than it was in the opening scene of The Sound of Music. The Austrian-German countryside has a rugged beauty with its castles and churches speckled along the highway between mountains on either side of the Rhine river. The Rhine Valley which houses the river has been an important trade trade route into central Europe and a string of small settlements has grown along its banks. The Swarovski Kristallwelten or Crystal World Museum was a really fun pit stop to make along the way. The museum tour ended in the crystal shop where all [View Full Entry]

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Venice is built on over one hundred small islands, and holds one hundred and fifty canals. Transportation within the city remains, as it was in centuries past, entirely on water or on foot (Venice is Europe's largest urban carfree area.) Although the city appears small, it is really quite extensive for its size. While most tour guides don't recommend getting lost in major cities (especially in Italy) Venice is the place to go meandering through and get hopelessly lost for a day. The 'real' Venice is the perfect place to walk for hours on end and can only be found by [View Full Entry]

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Rome is the capital city of Italy and is one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II relatively unharmed. Central Rome remains Renaissance and Baroque in character and the State of the Vatican City, which is the smallest nation in the world is an enclave of Rome. The Colosseum is the most antiquated monument from ancient Rome. The Colosseum was stage to the most gruesome leisure activities for the ancient Romans: prisoners marked for death were torn to pieces by ferocious beasts, animals were killed by archers and there were fights to the death between “profession [View Full Entry]

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Vatican City, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. The City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres). Vatican City is an elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The Pope is ex officio head of state and head of government of Vatican City and the term Holy See expresses the totality of his governance and pastoral ministry. The Vatican City State has the distinction of having the smallest and oldest regular army in the world, the Pontifical [View Full Entry]

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Florence´s centro storico has more artistic treasures per square metre than any other city in the world. Some say that, of the 1,000 most important European artists of the second millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence. Of all its many squares, the Piazza Della Signoria is Florence’s showpiece piazza. Containing the Palazzo Vecchio and copy of Michelangelo’s David, along with Donatello’s Marzocco and a few nymphs and satyrs splashing in Ammanati’s Neptune fountain, I found it difficult to contain my trigger happy camera fingers! Central Florence is dominat [View Full Entry]

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Go see this forgotten wonder while you still can! Construction began on the Tower of Pisa in 1174 by Bonanno Pisano and work ceased during construction of the third story because it started sinking into the ground. The tower remained unfinished for 90 years until engineers built higher floors with one side taller than the other in an effort to compensate for the tilt. Although this monument can be considered a real masterpiece of architecture, it is mostly famous for its strong inclination. This inclination is undoubtedly due to a sinking of the ground right from the time of its constr [View Full Entry]

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The French Riviera is one of the most famous resort areas in the world. It includes Monaco, Nice, Antibes and Cannes, all of which are along the Mediterranean coast. I have never seen more beautiful water than in the Côte d'Azur region of Nice (pronounced Niece.) Monaco is the world's most densely populated country and the second-smallest independent state in the world, after Vatican City. Monte Carlo is the wealthiest of Monaco's 4 quarters, known for its casinos, gambling, glamour, and for sightings of famous people. Monte Carlo has been visited by royalty as well as the general publ [View Full Entry]

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Here are some pictures from a day spent in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was everything I imagined it to be and more. The view from the top is spectacular but the queues are forever long. Its worth the wait the first time around, but I think that I will climb the stairs for a shorter queue the next time I visit. The Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world. With rents as high as $1.25 million a year for 1,000 sq ft of space, it remains the 2nd most expensive strip of real estate in the world [View Full Entry]

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Today started off very interesting. I boarded the train heading to downtown and 5 minutes later it was stopped dead on the tracks in the middle of no where! At first, the Londoners acted like this was the norm, so I followed suit. After some time had past, they started to get irritated. There was finally a PA explaining that there was a problem at the central station and the trains were going to be backed up. Soon enough we were on our way and it was like nothing happened. When I got off at the central station and boarded my [View Full Entry]

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Hiya! You alright? It's quite nice here, but I heard it's bloody hot in Texas. Yesterday I toured the city and it was the dogs bollocks! After all that walking around, I was buggered! I thought I'd be cheeky and brag on about all the new slang I've learned...but now I'll write so you can understand me. =) I purchased an all-day pass for the London Underground, referred to by the locals as The Tube. I got off at the Westminster station and walked along the River Thames. Located around the Thames in Westminster are the Houses of Lords, Commons and [View Full Entry]

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