Rietveld Schröder House is a small family house, built in 1924, that is recognized as one of the icons of the Modern Movement in architecture. It is one of the smallest – if not the smallest – UNESCO World Heritage sites you can see, but it definitely leaves an impression.…
Through quirks of planned and unplanned travel, Utrecht holds the distinction of the most frequent destination for me in Netherlands – I seem to always stop by for a few hours whenever I am in the vicinity. On the most recent trip I had a specific target in mind (more…
Schokland is technically another polder (or part thereof), but it has a different history and a different look to what we earlier saw at Beemster. To an unsuspecting eye, it looks like a nature preserve, part woods, part fields, with a few minor points of interest. In its past, it…
Another testament to the Dutch conquest of their watery homeland, Wouda Steam Pumping Station is the largest installation of its kind and has been in operation for almost a century. Recognized by UNESCO as the engineering and architectural masterpiece, it can still carry out its functions of managing the excess…
As I decided to cover all World Heritage sites in Netherlands on my recent trip, I could not bypass Wadden Sea. It would be my first UNESCO site in the “Nature” category – I admit that I am more architecturally- and culturally-inclined and my travel destinations are almost never nature-centric.…
Having had my fill of boisterous city scene in Amsterdam, I spent the last few days in Netherlands driving around the country in pursuit of my World Heritage obsession – and more serene locales. Netherlands, as the name implies, has a large portion of its territory barely above or even…
Brussels is within the speed-train-enabled day-trip range from Amsterdam and I used one of the days on my recent trip to hop on the train to meet up with my eldest, who had been studying in Brussels for all of the spring semester. Since I am now a self-proclaimed opportunistic…
One day while in Amsterdam, I rented a bicycle and rode an hour out of town in search of my next UNESCO World Heritage site. Defense Line of Amsterdam is recognized on the UNESCO list as the unique system of fortifications based on water control. The ring of 40-plus armed…
I am a very indifferent and mediocre people photographer. I also tend to avoid crowded places as much as I can. Nonetheless, one of the attractions of going to Amsterdam in April was an opportunity to observe – and photograph – the celebration of the Kingsday, the biggest national holiday…
One of the main reasons Netherlands was chosen as the destination for my recent photographic trip was the fact that Amsterdam had been among the worst-photographed major cities on my past travels (as lamented in my favorite sights Amsterdam entry several years ago). Wandering all over the city for several…
As with a couple of other grand churches, we specifically targeted Cologne Cathedral as a stop of interest on our first journey around Germany. One of the most impressive Gothic churches in the Christendom, it is recognized on the UNESCO list both for what it represents artistically and as a…
Ever since I started paying attention to the UNESCO World Heritage list I have been extremely baffled why the Bavarian town of Rothenburg does not appear on the list. It has long and illustrious history. It escaped destruction at several important junctures of Western history (and each of the stories…
In an interesting dissonance, Brussels never figures on the list of must-see destinations and yet there are three separate World Heritage sites within its greater boundaries. The grandest of them all – appropriately named Le Grand-Place – is definitely worth the visit to the Belgian capital. The inscription pays respects…
Sanssouci Palace and Gardens, the major part of this World Heritage site, was an intraday destination on the way from Berlin to Dresden during our two-weeks-plus long voyage around Germany nearly ten years ago. We’ve always been partial to grand royal palace and grounds combos, and Sanssouci is resplendent, a…
I have on multiple occasions professed my inclination for climbing elevated viewpoints in any given location. That tendency puts this particular World Heritage site especially close to my heart. In addition to admiring architectural qualities and civic history significance for which these towers are inscribed on the UNESCO List, I…
Unlike in Bruges, we only spent short time in Ghent, a half-day at the tail end of a weekend-long Belgium-centric getaway while living in England. The town certainly deserves more attention. While not as picturesque as Bruges overall, it does offer several superb attractions and more than a few locations…
I do not count Berlin among my favorite destinations. I am aware of its reputation of a happening and up-and-coming place, and there are certainly more than a handful of attractions worthy of a visit in the German capital, but on balance it fails to project sufficient draw for me.…
We went to Cologne – or Köln, in German – for two short occasions, every time with a specific goal in mind. The first, an intraday stop on a big journey around Germany, was solely to explore the famed Cologne Cathedral, one of the most impressive Gothic churches in the…
Brugge – or Bruges, for those who prefer its French name to the Flemish one – is one of the prettiest cities in all of Europe. Small enough to be covered within a day by the majority of visitors, it manages to offer uncountable impressions of picture-perfect beauty. My most…
With apologies to a couple of friends who made it their home in recent years, Zurich is nice, not more than that. It does not possess a wealth of monuments or significant architecture pieces, counting on being charming rather than impressive. Although I habitually put it on top of the…