From the category archives:

Europe

Montreux, Switzerland: Chateau de Chillon and Funicular overlooking Lake Geneva

GUEST ARTICLE: For music lovers, Montreux is famous for it’s chilled beats during the annual Jazz Festival. For the rest of us, the enduring beauty of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French) is what provides this small Swiss Riviera resort town with it’s enduring magnetism.

The approach from the Swiss-Italian border on the high-speed Cisalpino [...]

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Venice: Grand Canal by Vapporetto, Crafty Gondoliers and St Marks Square

GUEST ARTICLE: With or without a map, find yourself getting lost over and over again amongst the winding passages and canals of Venice (Venezia).

Disembarking the train at Venezia Santa Lucia stazione from Roma Termini stazione will leave you amazed.
There are no cars, traffic snarls or traffic lights. There’s some water pollution, but no [...]

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Ferrara and Bologna, Italy: Estense Castle, Pampapato, Cappellacci and Tortellini

GUEST ARTICLE: Looking for a quiet escape from the crowds in Italy? You’ll linger longer in Ferrara than Bologna.

Ferrara is a UNESCO world heritage listed town lined with wide cobbled streets and surrounded by ancient walls. You can mix it with the bicycle loving locals and experience life at a much slower pace [...]

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Rome: Forum, Palatine Hill, Colosseum, Vatican Museum and St Peters Basilica

GUEST ARTICLE: With historical ruins and historical monuments around every corner, you’ll need more than a day to explore Rome (Roma).
The way in which old mixes with new makes Rome such a unique city. Walk one-way and you’ll be surrounded by well preserved monolithic ancient ruins. Step the other way and a relentless stream [...]

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The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Review)

GUEST ARTICLE: The Leaning Tower of Pisa tops the must see list for most visitors to Italy, but is it worth staying the night if you’re on a tight time frame?

Mention you’re visiting Italy and most people will mention pizza or Pisa in their first breath. Both are equally worthy things to enjoy, but [...]

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Florence: Academy Gallery, Uffizi, Duomo and Authentic Gelato

GUEST ARTICLE: Florence or Firenze as it’s known to the locals is a must visit destination for lovers of Renaissance art. Almost every corner teems with beautiful architecture, cathedrals, museums, history and… truckloads of tourists.

After leaving its main railway station, Firenze Santa Maria Novella, you’ll find Florence is extremely easy to explore [...]

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Walking Guide to Cinque Terre (5 Villages in Italian Riviera)

GUEST ARTICLE: Cinque Terre in the Italian Riviera attracts hoards of tourists from around the world.

So what is the Cinque Terre? Cinque means five and Terre means lands. Bring them together and you have five, colourful, small but distinct fishing villages perched on sandstone cliffs stretching over about 10 kilometres of rugged coastline.
The Cinque Terre [...]

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Lest We Forget Sacrifice of WWI Soldiers – Free Desktop Wallpaper

Download a free desktop wallpaper photo of a World War I cemetery in Flanders (Vlaanderen), Belgium taken by Featured Guest Photographer Fushmush.

A Soldier of the Great War & Stone of Rememberance credit: fushmush

The battlefields of Flanders (Vlaanderen), in Belgium, were part of the Western front during World War I. The front ran from the North [...]

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Bayeux Cathedral and Tapestry – Normandy, France

GUEST ARTICLE: While Paris is a splendid city to visit it is nice to take a short trip and have a completely different experience of France.
In December I went the railway station Paris St Lazare and picked up a ticket to Bayeux. The train trip took about two hours and there is a [...]

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Reflection on Lake – Kongsberg Norway – Free Desktop Wallpaper

Download a free desktop wallpaper photo of Reflection on Lake – Kongsberg, Norway by Guest Photographer Tim Renowden.
Tim visited Kongsberg (west of Oslo) in early December 2008. It’s not a very big place, but has plenty of snow and delightful Norwegian sights, very Christmassy at this time of year.
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Click on the preview photo
When the [...]

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Rochester Cathedral: South of England

GUEST ARTICLE: The main reason for my trip to Rochester was to see Rochester Cathedral.
However, numerous unexpected themes sprang up from all quarters of the city, including philanthropy, Dickens (again!), and the comings and goings of the late Stuart monarchs.
Rochester Cathedral Credit: pistolpeet
The cathedral stands on part of the site of the original Saxon [...]

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Reflections on London Museums and London Eye Rip off

GUEST ARTICLE:After a delayed arrival in London, I spent Monday afternoon wandering around in the late summer sunshine and finally, going up on the London Eye – which has to be the most gigantic con ever.
London Eye
London Eye
For those who have not encountered it, the London Eye is a monumental ferris wheel which stands [...]

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Modern Day European Pilgrimages: St James Way and via Francigena

GUEST ARTICLE: Babette Gallard and Paul Chinn, two UK corporate management drop-outs, have completed over 6,000 Pilgrim kilometres on horseback and bicycle – an experience Babette Gallard highly recommends.
In my part of the world rumour has it that for a large number of Aussies the European Tour is an important rite of passage, or perhaps [...]

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Scotland: Visiting Glasgow and Edinburgh

GUEST ARTICLE: I arrived at Glasgow after a 5 hour Virgin train trip from London. The very attentive first class trolley service allowed me to get in some drinking practice for my weekend stay with friends from my Sydney Uni days.
Glasgow
On Saturday we popped in to see the refurbished Kelvingrove Museum – which still retains [...]

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Countries That Don’t Officially Exist – Transnistria

There are almost 200 official countries in the world, but there are dozens more breakaway states which are determined to be separate and independent.
All of the breakaway states have declared independence after violent struggles with a neighbour. Some now survive peacefully, but others are a magnet for terrorists and weapons smuggling, and have armies ready [...]

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