Valencia may have been just another Spanish city with a nice old city center, but just before saying my goodbyes I went to see the new City of Arts and Sciences and was in for a big surprise. I heard

Visions of Alicante : Spain
To warm up for Christmas, I decided to head down to southern Europe and see a bit of Spain. Aside from a trip to Barcelona Catalonia over 15 years ago, I have never really had the chance to explore Spain, and so I

Peter and Paul Fortress & Cathedral : Saint Petersburg
While roaming around Saint Petersburg on foot, exploring canals, and viewing gorgeous architecture I arrived at the Peter and Paul Fortress. Built by Peter the Great in the 18th century, this fort commands the water pathways of the Saint Petersburg

Fisherman’s Bastion : Budapest Hungary
Around Budapest there are several hill that offer panoramic scenic views of Budapest and the Danube river from above. One of the nicer places to catch a great view is at the Fisherman’s Bastion with lookout towers, a castle and Matthias Church.

Celano Castello Piccolomini : Abruzzo Italy
On the way back to Rome from the gorgeous off-the-beaten track area of Abruzzo, we stopped at the Castello Piccolomini in Celano. Like in Pacentro the mountain view overlooking the valley was spectacular, and the old fort made for an especially magical feel.

Visions of Antwerp : Belgium
My first visit to Belgium was to the lovely town of Antwerp at the northern side of Belgium, less than an hour by train from Brussels. Although it was a gloomy and cloudy day during turbulent times of a country

Visions of Maastricht : Netherlands
Maastricht is a small town in the southern Limburg province of the Netherlands on the border with Belgium and very close to Germany. In my previous visits to the Netherlands it was a bit far off my travel route and

Stunning scenery from gorgeous Pacentro: Abruzzo Italy
Italy has lots of gorgeous places to visit, but most of the top familiar attractions are packed with tourists. We were looking for something not too far away from Rome but a bit off the beaten track, where there’s a

Scenic views of Saint Petersburg from Saint Isaac’s Cathedral
When I stopped over in Moscow for a few days I was contemplating whether I have enough time to go see Saint Petersburg, but everyone I asked recommended that I do without any hesitation. So, early morning I took the

Milan Cathedral : Italy
The Milan Cathedral, or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of St Mary of the Nativity, is impressive. Even though I’ve seen hundreds of cathedrals all around the world, some of them grander and older than the Milan Cathedral, and you could say I’ve