Romanesque

Salzburg, music’s birthplace

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salzburg

Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria set high in the Alps with an old town renowned for its baroque architecture. The city, which is also known as the birthplace of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1997 and was also site of the famous movie musical “The Sound of Music”.

Salzburg boasts many churches and cathedrals in Romanesque and gothicstyles among them the Nonnberg in St. Peter’s Cemetery and the St. George’s Chapel. The city sits on the banks of a river and many of the sites which were used in the movie as well as Mozart’s old house are tourist attractions.

Other places to visit include the historic city centre with its narrow cobblestone streets, theHohensalzburg Castle which is one of the largest in Europe, Salzburg Cathedral, theResidenzgalerie art museum, the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, and Hangar-7, a building owned by Red Bull which hosts a collection of historical planes, helicopters, and Formula Onerace cars.

Salzburg is served by an international airport as well as railways with connections from Munich,Vienna, Innsbruck, and Zurich. Food is also important and there are a number of roadside pastries where one can buy Austrian delights such as Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel.

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Barcelona, cultural capital of Europe

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Barcelona
Barcelona is one of the largest cities in Spain and the capital of Catalonia. The city is the largest on the Mediterranean Sea and sits between the mouths of the Llobregat and Besos Rivers.

The city was founded as a Roman city and has a rich cultural heritage making it a rich cultural centre and an important tourist destination. The architectural works of Gaudi and Domenech i Montaner have been designated Unesco World Heritage Sites.

Among the city’s main sites are the Sagrada Familia church, Palau Guell, the Columbus Monument, and the Arc de Triomf. Barcelona has many small hills and boasts a Mediterranean climate with mild humid winters and warm dry summers.

The National Museum of Art of Catalonia has a well-known collection of Romanesque art while several other museums exist, which cover architecture. There are also 68 municipal parks. The Camp Nou football stadium, home of FC Barcelona, is the largest in Europe.

The Barcelona International Airport is one of the busiest in the world. The city also has an extensive road and rail network connecting it to parts of Europe. 

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Washington DC

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washington_dc
While it is true that Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States, it is a nice place to visit for the average tourist in its own right.

The city is cool and with an easy road network is one of the nicest cities to walk around in with chic neighbourhoods, trendy restaurants, and an entire section dedicated to American history on the National Mall.

It is also walking or a metro rides distance from the nearby states of Maryland and Virginia which both donated land to help form the district, named in honour of President George Washington, in 1791.

The city is in a humid sub-tropical zone and has four seasons with hot summers and cold winters.

The city has a distinctly European feel which is not surprising since it was designed based on plans of the cities of Paris, Karlsruhe, Amsterdam, and Milan.

Six of the buildings listed in the top ten of the American Institute of Architects are in Washington D.C. These include the White House; the US Capitol; Thomas Jefferson Memorial; Lincoln Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Historic buildings in the city have a varied style built in Queen Anne, Chateauesque, Romanesque, and Victorian styles.

Georgetown, the Smithsonian Institute with the National Air and Space Museum are also must sees. Across the Potomac River in Virginia is Arlington Memorial cemetery where former presidents including JFK are buried.

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Malta, where centuries of history live

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malta
One of the most densely populated countries in the world, the small Mediterranean island of Malta remains popular among British tourists. The island sits south of the island of Sicily and just north of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea.

The island has a warm climate and many recreational areas which makes it a tourist favourite.There are three Unesco World Heritage Sites on the island which is filled with architectural and historical monuments.

Among them are the Megalithic Temples which are some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world. The island has a strong historical background having once been a base for Phoenicians, Hapsburg Spain, Romans, Aragonese, Arabs, Norman, French, and British.

Carnival has had a strong place in Maltan culture and it also has a strong Christian legacy. The architecture has been highly influenced by its Roman culture with classical and marble structures. Mosaic floors and Christian frescos decorate catacombs and Romanesque as well as Southern Gothic movements also have a place in Maltan culture.

The Italian artist Caravaggio painted seven of his works in Malta, two of the most notable being on display on the island.  

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