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Category: Europe: Central

Utrecht

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…

Counting World Heritage sites: #80 (Wadden Sea)

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.…

Kingsday in Amsterdam

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…

Re-visiting Amsterdam

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…

Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber

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…

Re-counting World Heritage sites: #44 (Belfries)

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…

My favorite sights of Ghent

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…

My favorite sights of Berlin

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.…

My favorite sights of Cologne

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…

My favorite sights of Brugge

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…

My favorite sights of Zurich

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…