Archive for the ‘Europe’ Category

Venice, also called as “City of Bridges”, is the capital of Veneto region. Located in the north-east part of Italy, the city is stretched along the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers.

Venice is even known as magnetic point for lovers, sweethearts, poets and artists. Venice is a city of magic, which stretches across small islands. It is also referred to as city of ‘gondole’, which means transportation is used to cross the numerous canals passing through the city.

The transportation in Venice is represented by boats. In the 19th Century, the causeway built and allowed trains to reach the city of Venice from the Mainland.

In Venice one can find another type of boats, “Vaporetti”, which is also called waterbuses or taxis that represents a symbol of Venice.

St. Mark’s Basilica

It is a big onion domes and multicolored marble pillars with beautiful outside, and interior is covered with mosaics floor to ceiling. There is no fee to visit the main part of the besilica, and even booking an entry time online is free. There are three museums within the besilica, which you will have to pay an entry fee to see. The present besilica has a very ornate faced with the golden winged lion which represents St. Mark, the symbol of Venice.

St. Mark’S Square

In Venice, St., Mark’s Square is the main square, and it has long been a central meeting place for Venetians. Now, St. Mark’s Square is a great place for tourists. It has a dominating clock tower, the Basilica, political and religious buildings, restaurants, bars, and shops, and is known as one of the most beautiful squares in the world. On the Square, from the 1700s, Café Florian, is a popular place, as is Café Quadri. Usually it seems tough to see the fine features and architecture of the place as millions of pigeons are there, unless visiting at off-peak times. The best times are early morning and late evening to catch St. Mark’s Square at her most vulnerable.

Doge’s Palace

A series of 120 Doges ruled on Venice, and their incredible 3-storied palace dates back to before Renaissance times. The Doge’s Palace is the second most important “attraction” in Venice after the basilica. It is located on St. Mark’s Square and with the facade features beautiful arches, pink and white marble. The inside of the palace contains priceless artwork by Tintoretto, Titian, Bellini, Veronese and more, that looks amazing. The Great Council Hall displays, Tintoretto’s “Paradise”, the largest oil painting in the world, and the Golden Staircase is just amazing. The Doge’s Palace is one of the most opulent residences ever.

Murano Island

Murano is located north of venice and it is famous for its beautiful, hand-blown glass. There are many glass museum and glass making shops. You can go into factories to see how to make glass blowers and shape the lovely pieces. A long time ago, the glass blowers were moved to Murano to lesson the chance of fires in Venice. The glass factories send free boats over to St. Mark’s Square to lure over customers; take the free boat over and the vaporetto back.

Burano Island

After your visit to Murano, you can take a vaporetto further into the lagoon for a trip of Burano Island. Burano is usually less crowded than Murano and It is almost cartoon like brightly colored buildings. It makes the perfect backdrop for a stroll. The Colors are so brilliant and cheerful that you to walk around Burano for even half an hour and not have a smile on your face is next to impossible.

Torcello Island

You can get back on the boat and take the trip of favorite place of the lagoon’s island- Torcello. It is a short trip from Burano, but if you go straight to Torcell from Venice, it can take up to an hour. If you are interested for more nature and less for structure, it is an ideal spot. Most of Torcello is a nature reserve. You can enjoy the tranquil view. There are only 20 people who still live on the island, and there is only one hotel, although there are a few places to eat. The main “sight” on the island is a 7th century church and with more exceptional mosaics.

LIDO Island

Lido Island is located between Venice and the Sea. Lido has a beach with little cabanas. There are public and private beaches, and that private beaches are connected to hotels. Lido has shopping, restaurants and hotels, and unlike in Venice, cars can be driven there. If you are in Venice and feel like getting a little sun, take a vaporetto over to the Lido.

Bridges

In Venice, There are two most famous bridges Rialto Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs. The Rialto, was the first bridge to span the Grand Canal, from the 1500s, and it has shops lining both sides. It is best viewed from the side, and thus from the water, to get a good photograph of the bridge. The Bridge of Sighs was the last bridge on which prisoners walked over before being thrown into the dungeon, so the sighs came from realizing that the view through the bridge’s cutwork was their last view of Venice. There is also Accademia Bridge, built in the 1800s, and also crosses the Grand Canal. There are smaller bridges all over Venice that cross the canals.

Acqua Alta

In Venice, high tide is known as Acqua Alta, and if you are unprepared for it, your feet and pants can get wet. The local Venetians know when it is coming so as to get prepared by carrying around their rubber boots. Sometimes the water is very high and floods most of the city and other times only the lowest areas are flooded. It can be a problem for the boats trying to get under the bridges also. The Venetians work hard to solve the flooding problem, and it’s interesting to see it up close.

Carnevale

In Venice, the grand Carnevale is held each year before Lent for 12 days, and people from all over come to celebrate. You can see extremely elaborate costumes at Carnevale, and the festival dates back to 1162. It used to begin the day after Christmas. You can find funny, scary and emotional masks in windows around the city any time in year. There are so many shops selling the elaborate masks used by participants of Carnevale. Many tourists would not consider leaving Venice without a Carnevale mask as a souvenir.

Paris is a beautiful place and is known as fashion capital of the World. It is the home of croissants and the city of lights. Paris is the most important city and capital of France. It is so beautiful city that there is no end to the breath-taking sites you can see in Paris.
Paris was founded in 360 AD as a fortress on the Sienne river on an Island. In the 10th Century, when Paris became the capital of France, the city began to flourish. The French Revolution began in the year 1789. Paris king was killed and city was turned into a bloodbath. Napolean Bonaparte led Paris after the revolution, in a surge of cultural expansion. Many great writers and artists have come from Paris. Since then Paris is one of the world centers of art and literature.
The basic unit of currency is the French franc, which is divided into 100 centimes.
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is the most famous monument in whole world. It was built by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 World Fair and centenary of the French Revolution. Tower is of 300-metre (985 feet) a radical feat of engineering. You can go to top of the Tower for a breath taking view by stairs or to ride the elevator. It is known as best landmarks and famous symbol of Paris.
Slurp an ice-cream at Notre-Dame
A masterpiece of Paris’s Gothic is the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. Its construction was completed from 1163 to 1334. But it was damaged when the French Revolution began. The cathedral were restored to magnificent effects. It has twin tower with perfect balance, the beautiful rose window & the west façade’s three doorways with rows of saints and sculpted tympanums. The way of north tower to south tower to appreciate the masonry, there is a close up view of the chimera’s gallery & also the fantastic birds and beasts over the balustrade. Opposite of Berthillon you can found the most celebrated ice-cream of in town. It is most famous since 1954 for its natural ingredients, lashings of cream & delicious flavors.
Moulin Rouge Show
The Moulin Rouge is a number one show in Paris. Don’t miss the chance to see the show of singing dancing on the Moulin Rouge’s historic stage. Le Moulin Rouge is world famous its French Cancan and immortalized by the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Many International stars perform here on the stage. Most beautiful girls in this world participate in this show. By pre booking tickets you can secure seats.
Louvre
In louvre you can see 35000 art works on display, Renaissance paintings, Greek and Roman antiquities and the museum covers a vast spectrum of civilization. It’s worth braving gallery fatigue is an unmissable attraction. You can see the art is housed in three wings : Denon, Richelieu and Sully. You will find Marly horses, Rubens’s paintings for vermeer’s lacemaker, for the medici cycle and also Das Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Legendary Jazz Scene
Paris is the centre of Jazz with the host of venues at which you can see live gigs. Across the left bank there are traditional clubs such as Caveau de la Huchette- that is a medieval celler, a mainstay on the jazz scene for 60 years. You can see the legendary Au Duc desLombards in les halles across the river. On the yellow wall there are some posters of great players like Kenny Burrell, Johnny Griffin, Wayne Shorter etc. Visit the New Morning for cutting-edge jazz, that embraces chanson, blues and world music.
Impressionists Masterclass
You can find the factors at the Musee d’Orin say, that impressionism: these are the barbizon school, the birth of railway and the glorious open air. The collection from 1848 to 1914, the coincide designed with 1900 Exposition Universelle, housed in a former train station, are arranged in chronological order. On the ground floor, there are Artist’s studio by Courbet and landscapes of Corot, Daubigny and Millet, forerunners of the impressionists.
Cultural Centre
You will be encouraged to see Paris’s brilliant cultural centre. Centre Pompidou is the trendsetter, which is designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. It has glass envelop with colored service pipes, that holds a modern art museum, library, performance space and repertory cinema. Musee du Quai Branly has been built by Jean Nouvel, that is a 300,000- strong collection of Arts Premiers from Africa, Oceania, Asia and Americas There are adventurous displays near the Eiffel Tower, that are lush gardens and an open-air amphitheatre, it transports you into a new world.
Hammam at the Paris Mosque
You can visit Hammam de la Grande Mosquee for an authentic hammam experience. It is a beautiful building since 1920, with a stunning green and white tiled square inspired by the Alhambra. There is steam session along with different temperatures. Swimwear is compulsory there. After Hammam you can go for massage. In local areas, the Hammam is very popular so the very busy at weekends.
At the Flea Markets
Paris Flea markets are full of curiosity, that is with stained glass windows to philippe Starck pieces and Eames chairs and also with three-meter clock faces. You can buy at bargain prices on bric-a-brac stalls is the Marche de’Aligre, remaining of Flea Markets. At the Marche Beauvau, you can find the stock of fresh fruits and veg, groceries ad eats.
Star of the Art Scene
CentQuatre 104 is described as a ’space for artistic creation’ that occupies a 19th century building on the rue d’Aubervilliers. It is known as ‘Factory of Grief’, its walls are witness of the final journey of masses of Parisians. Now they conceal for the practice of artists who are renewing the creative spirit of Montmartre, that was a popular haunt of modern artists such as Ezra, Picasso etc.