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The Dolomites on the Italian border with Austria contain some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in Europe. Here are some places to consider if you’re thinking about booking an Italian ski vacation. (more…)
What’s better than a ski vacation? How about a ski vacation in France? (more…)
Portes du Soleil, literally “gateway to the sun,” is a large section of the Alps that spans between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The 400-square mile region encompasses 12 resorts–8 in France and 4 in Switzerland–over 350 miles of ski runs and more than 230 lifts. (more…)
Legend has it that Windsor Castle, the primary residence of Queen Elizabeth and the largest inhabited castle in the world, also plays host to some monarchs of the past. (more…)
Want to visit the most haunted building in all of England? Then the Tower of London is the place to put at the top of your list. With a history involving any number of infamous prisoners, a torture chamber and numerous executions, it’s not difficult to imagine there are a few unhappy ghosts wandering around.
Austria is well-known as the home of many important musicians including Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss and Schubert, so it’s not surprising that a visit to Vienna’s musical museum Haus Der Musik is worthwhile - and on top of that, a whole lot of fun.
Haus Der Musik (literally, the House of Music) is also known as the Sound Museum. It’s a multi-story museum and interactive exhibition space in the center of Vienna, and it’s an entertaining place for music enthusiasts, families and tourists of all ages. One floor is filled with interesting exhibits about key Austrian composers and musicians, but even this floor doesn’t feel too historical or museum-like - the displays are colorful and clever and full of multimedia elements. A really popular exhibit of the Haus Der Musik is found here - the Virtual Conductor. A screen shows a video of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and visitors can pick up a virtual baton and try to conduct them. If you don’t wave the baton in good time and with good rhythm, the musicians will get grumpy and eventually put down their instruments and storm out!
Another great floor of the Haus Der Musik illustrates the scientific side of sound with an array of curious, hands-on experiments. If you’re ever wanted to know what a cow would sound like in a cathedral, you can press a few buttons and hear for yourself; change the acoustics by putting the cow in a cave or a house and you’ll understand the difference. There is a Brain Opera where you can create your own “music”, too.
Haus Der Musik is found at Seilerstätte 30 (shown on all tourist maps); usually open from 10am to 10pm daily.
One of the top tourist attractions in Germany is the Schloss Neuschwanstein, a fairy tale castle in southern Bavaria near the town of Füssen. Built by crazy King Ludwig II in the late 1800s, it is said to have inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, and you can certainly see some resemblance.
The wide boulevard, Avenue de Champs Elysees, lined with trees and grand facades, is one of the most visited streets in Paris. Named for the “Elysian fields” of Greek mythology, a kind of heaven-like destination for heroes and warriors, the Champs Elysees is the broadest avenue in Paris and runs from the Place de la Concorde to Place Charles de Gaulle (commonly refered to as the Place l’Etoile).
Paris, the final stop on the Tour de France cycling race, is well-known for its style and its variety of shops, department stores, markets, and boutiques. In fact, a trip to Paris just isn’t complete without at least a trip to a food market or a stroll through the antique vendors’ stalls at Cligancourt. Below is just a sampling of the many shopping locales in the “City of Lights.”
Department Stores
Many Paris’ department stores are destinations in themselves. The elegance of the beaux-arts Galeries Lafayette and the sleek Art Deco style of Le Samaritaine are worth a stop whether or not you buy anything.
Food Markets
Paris is synonymous with good food and wine and almost any corner offers a patisserie or boulangerie. Some areas, however, offer a concentration of food stores and markets. Some of these are:
Antique Districts
Antiques abound in Paris, as would be expected in a city with Paris’ diverse history and cultural awareness. You’re sure to find plenty of interesting things in the three areas detailed below:
This marks the third and final week for the Tour de France which end on Sunday July 29th at Champs-Elysees in Paris France. The Tour de France is recognized by many as on of the most grueling tests of human endurance. It is often compared to running a marathon seven days a week for three days in a row. During the most intense parts of the race the riders can burn as much as 10,000 calories per day. This stage also features the Pyrenees mountain regions. The 22nd and 25th figure to be stages as they are the most difficult regions of the race. The final stage which is in the Champs-Elysees is always exciting. The area is covered in cobblestone pavement which is very difficult to traverse on bicycle.
This is the second week of the Tour De France race and marks the beginning of the mountainous Alps region. By the end of the tour the cyclists will have changed elevation equivalent to climbing up and down Mount Everest three times. One note-able improvement in the race’s history has been the road conditions in the mountain regions. When the race was originally run there were no paved roads and riders often had to push the bicycles up hard packed dirt roads. The roads were eventually paved but the conditions were still treacherous with potholes and small rocks. This debris often caused accidents and injury. Today the roads are clean and smooth which helps with high speed lightweight bicycle frames. This week also has one of the two of the two built in rest days of the race, the first on Monday the 16th.
July 14th or as the French call it 14 Julliet is Bastille Day in France. While most people associate the holiday with the storming of the Bastille, it really celebrates the Fete de la Federation, a feast that marked the end of the French Revolution. Being one of the most important holidays the country is filled with celebrations and festivities that start on the night of July 13th and continue through July 14th. The largest celebrations take place on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, with the French President in attendance.
The worlds oldest Golf Championship the British Open gets into full swing in at the Carnousite Golf Club in the United Kingdom this weekend.
Today marks the start of the worlds most famous bicycle race the Tour De France. The Tour de France runs for three weeks starting in London passing through Belgium and eventually ending up Paris France. The cyclists compete daily riding from one city to the next with each day counting as individual stage. Contestant compete individually but enter as a team. Teams are allowed to compete only by invitation and are usually known by the name of the team sponsor. While the team members can work together and form strategies it is an individual race. During the race the leader where the coveted “yellow jersey” signifying he is the leader. The green jersey also known as the sprinting jersey is worn by the person who has the most points from sprinting parts of the race. The third jersey is the polka dot jersey or mountain jersey. This jersey is given to the first rider at the top key mountains along the race.
A suburb of London, Wimbledon is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club which hosts the Wimbledon Championships. For almost one hundred years and the oldest major in the history of tennis, Wimbledon is still played on grass and is considered by many to be the most prestigious of the Grand Slam. To the locals it is known simply as the Wimbledon and is held the last week of June, first week of July each year.
Geographically, Europe can certainly seem a long way from home, particularly if you live in the Oceanic region as I do. Americans have a somewhat better opportunity to visit Europe than we do because of the relative proximity of continental Europe, but, we hear the expression “the world is getting smaller” and it is certainly true as far as more varied opportunities with air travel become available.