The Plaza Mayor is the largest open space (other than parks) in Central Madrid. It's a major tourist attraction, a place for cafes and shops that range from traditional to chic and has served for hundreds of years as a place for public gatherings,...
Being perpetually surrounded by the ordinary things of everyday life made me a bit unprepared for the reaction I had when I experienced my first man-made marvel. Never had I felt in awe of the “genius” behind a calculator, or the...
Located in the small Cotswold village of Winchcombe near the city of Cheltenham in south west England, Sudeley Castle was built on the site of an earlier castle by Ralph Boteler, Baron Sudeley, using money he had 'earned' fighting in Europe in the Hundred Years' War
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings on five beaches in Normandy by Allied forces, beginning the liberation of France and Northern Europe, and helping crush the Nazi war machine already being driven back to its own territory by the by the Soviet Red Army in the east.
There are many fabulous places to see in Ireland, such as Knowth and Newgrange.
In the corner of a small lake in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka I came across this delightful 3rd Century BC rock carving of a Smiling Elephant. It is so wonderfully 'cartoonish' that it set me thinking about the sculptor who clearly had a great sense of humor.
Visitors on the campus of Barcelona's pioneering Sant Pau Hospital, built at the turn of the 20th century under the direction of architect Lluis Domenech i Montaner, who worked to make the hospital not only beautiful, but functional and safe...
No, not a king's arboretum, or the Budapest palm house. And not in the Mid-Atlantic region. PortMoresby came closest when she suggested an airport, possibly in southern Spain. It's actually the main long-distance waiting room of Madrid's Atocha...
Now a restaurant, this late 19th-century example of Moderniste style was built as a convent for straying young women of Barcelona's wealthy industrialist class. It's on Tibidado Avenue, in a neighborhood filled with mansions the young women...
Poor Egypt gets some bad press at the moment and in the process their tourist numbers have fallen dramatically and that is understandable, however, in cities like Luxor tourism provides employment in one way or another for some 85% of the...
Caerphilly Castle is a large medieval fortress in South Wales and one of the great medieval castles of western Europe.
A new museum opened in London this week, at the Beefeater Distillery in Kennington. Tours complete with provided iPad guide and a G&T for your 12 entry fee. Londonist has the full story . Did you know? Beefeater Gin is made up of 9 botanicals - Juniper, Coriander Seed, Lemon Peel, Seville Orange Peel, Almond, Angelica Root, Angelica Seed, Liquorice and Orris Root.
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud is situated in the western Loire Valley, one of the great destinations in France. The name refers not only to Europe’s largest medieval abbey (12th century), but also to the medieval town that surrounds it.
I had the chance to walk around Greenwich Village (see map) for the first time in several years. I know that this is going to sound like a "grandpa is complaining about change again" blog, but I was really disappointed in what I found....
Manhattan's skyline is constantly, although the changes are not always instantly obvious, at least not so much as the change between the city's days as a port where the ships lined the shore and the growth of huge buildings clustered together in their...