Tag: Travel

How to celebrate art in these great European capitals

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Art odyssey in Madrid and Berlin…

All great capitals have their art scenes well chalked out. You dial Paris for Louvre and Florence for the Uffizi Gallery. You go to London for Tate Modern and New York for the MET. But did you know that the capitals of Spain and Germany hold rank among cities with top museum landscapes? Boasting not one or two, but hundreds of museums for your art-craving soul. If you’re hard-pressed for time, this whirlwind download will set you back just by a day in each city. So add these iconic art-meccas to your dream list now!

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Just how enchanting is the historic quarter of Brussels?

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Belgium’s capital old town is enchanting…

Its second language is French. A river called Senne flows through. The older part of the city is graced with classic Haussmann-style architecture. An unmistakable French influence is in the air. You’re having a good feeling about Brussels. And you haven’t even set foot into the historic quarter yet!

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This is what your day trip to Sintra Cascais should look like

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Discovering the best of Sintra Cascais…

145 square kilometres of a UNESCO World Heritage Site brimming with natural wonders and historic treasures. Hidden sandy bays, rugged coastline, towering cliffs, thick forests and shimmering lakes. Fairy palaces, exotic architecture and paradise gardens. All within 30 km of Portugal’s capital city. Lisbon itinerary minus Sintra-Cascais Natural Park? No-can-do!

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This is what you can do in the historic centre of Munich

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Munich, Germany’s secret capital city…

Skipping Bavaria while in Germany should actually be illegal! It is literally a crime…depriving yourself of the splendours you could encounter while travelling south by train to Munich. No exaggeration…that image of Germany will be burnt onto your memory wall forever. Nature flaunts its full glory through endlessly luscious grass-carpeted meadows and forests so thick, they close in upon the train tracks at some points. Tunnel after tunnel zip past, and you zigzag over the landscape crossing one hill after the other. Hypnotised, head turned towards the constant cinemascope, your eyes scan the landscape without a break, thirsty for more. Could the introduction to Germany’s secret capital city be any more enticing?

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The most incredible sights in the historic heart of Istanbul

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A walking tour in Sultanahmet, Istanbul…

Hypnotic first glimpse of a one-of-a-kind city uniting the ‘chalk-and-cheese’ divergent continents of Europe and Asia. Spectacular skyline of cascading grey-blue domes and pencil-thin minarets of nearly 3,000 mosques. And the electric blue of the rough Bosphorus waters speckled with gliding seagulls. Born as Byzantium under Greek ruler Byzas (7th-century BC), renamed Constantinople by Roman Emperor Constantine for 1,100 years and reincarnated as seat of Ottoman Sultans’ mighty Muslim empire for 400 years…the culture cauldron in Turkey’s star city has enriched multifold with each glorious era in history. Melting pot, indeed!

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The most wonderful things that Belgium is known for?

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Comics, waffles and chocolates of Belgium…

You knew that Johnny Depp is not the star of the 2017 remake of the classical movie ‘Murder on the Orient Express’…its Kenneth Branagh as the famous sleuth, Hercule Poirot. But did you know that Agatha Christie’s fictional detective was inspired by a real-life Belgian policeman, Jacques Hornais? For Christie whodunit fans like me, Belgium is (and will always be) synonymous with Poirot. As will be comics, waffles and chocolates. On the trail of other wonderful things in Belgium’s capital, Brussels…

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Explore gems in the most famous boulevard of Vienna

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Resplendence of the Ringstrasse in Vienna…

Sunlight dazzles on the calm waters of the Danube flowing through the city’s suburbs. You can almost hear the strains of the most famous waltz ever written, ‘The Blue Danube’ by Strauss. Well, hardly a waltz, more like Austria’s second national anthem. The aura of Europe’s cultural hub unveils itself gradually through broad boulevards, aristocratic architecture, glorious greenery and luxury hotels housed in old palaces. Missing your gown and tux?

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This is how to soak in the forgotten splendour of Orchha

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Deep inside the temple town of Orchha…

A polite ticket-checker thanks each passenger, bright-red uniformed staff deliver breakfast goodies and pleasant station announcements guide you along the route. Office-going commuters jostle barefoot villagers at smaller stations. You’re rewinding to memories of childhood train travel. Racing the electric poles, beating the running tracks. Vibrant green fields climax into a glorious last stretch of lush hills-and-valleys between Delhi and Jhansi. You’re in a trance…hypnotised by the languorously curving slow train, blackened old monuments of Datia town and the muddy Betwa river cross-over. From Jhansi, its a 45-minute taxi ride down a narrow road through thick of a forested landscape. Prelude to a drama waiting to unfold in the unusual temple town on the banks of the Betwa. Aptly named Orchha (the “hidden”). Ready or not, here it comes…

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Discover unusual delights in the most charming street of Heidelberg

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An afternoon exploring Haupstrasse, Heidelberg…(continued)

From the pulsating historical center of Heidelberg, follow the throngs to the right of Ritter Hotel, to face the other big draw of the town…the mile-long Hauptstrasse. Here, cobblestone streets and 18th-century buildings stand testimony to a history stretching back 600,000 years…if you count the fossilized jawbone of the Heidelberg Man. But stay in the present for now and trace the seemingly endless spine of the old town. Local bookstores, pretty boutiques, charming souvenir shops and commercial fashion houses…there’s a lot to absorb at every inch, so keep those eyes peeled all the way.

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Why you need to get to the adorable German town of Heidelberg!

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Blend into the old square of Heidelberg…

You’ve started on a high note. Peak high. A ride on one of the most scenic train journeys in Europe stretching from Cologne to Heidelberg. Your mind is resonating with the sensory explosion, courtesy the Rhine river valley panorama. Little towns with tiny German houses, pointy old churches and broken medieval stone fortresses from Roman times. Hills rich with lush foliage, rolling vineyards, landscaped terraces and curvy roads kissing the gushing river that sparkles with the rays of sun. And you’re contemplating a strange paradox. In the birthplace of cuckoo clocks where keeping time is everything, how does time manage to stand so still? As if the journey wasn’t magical enough, you land in one of Deutschland’s most adorable towns…Heidelberg. Three million tourists a year. But why should statistics give anyone nightmares?

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