Capital of art nouveau and pickpockets - Works of Antoni Gaudí 320; Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona 804; Human Towers 00364; Mediterranean diet 00884 Parc Guell What and Why Barcelona is now one of the most popular tourist cities, offering its visitors good art, football, food, culture, commerce and even science. It has developed itself as a significant global brand as a city and is considered one of the economic powerhouse in Spain ( Spanish

Lush and water of royal beauty - Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey 372 Royal Studley Park overview What and Why An absolute delight to the eye and camera, the Studley Royal Park is a huge beautiful park of green, water and a Cistercian (Latin: Cisterciensis) abbey ruin. It is located in Ripon and offers an enjoyable day of picnic and outing. The abbey ruins go as far as the 12th century while the park is largely built during the 18th century. The pa

Subterranean temple since 3000 BCE - Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum 130; Il-Ftira, culinary art and culture of flattened sourdough bread in Malta 01580 Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum What and Why Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum ( Maltese : Ipoġew ) is a large complex of rooms hewn out of the limestone and thought to have been a sanctuary and necropolis , with the remains of more than 7,000 individuals documented by archaeologists. ‘Hypogeum’ means ‘underground’ in Greek, ‘ Ħal ’ means ‘small’ in Malte

Second oldest standing structures on Earth - Megalithic Temples of Malta 132 Ġgantija What and Why The Megalithic Temples of Malta (Maltese: It-Tempji Megalitiċi ta' Malta) are several prehistoric temples built during the period 3600 BCE to 700 BCE in various spots in Malta. They were the oldest free-standing structures on Earth until the discovery of Göbekli Tepe of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye). Archaeologists believe that these megalithic complexes, nowhere else found in the

Time warp to the mediaevals and Game of Thrones - City of Valletta 131; L-Għana, a Maltese folksong tradition 01681 Valletta What and Why Valletta 's 16th-century buildings have now been recognised as the backdrop of the famed television series Game of Thrones . The city main architecture is Baroque , adding elements of neo-classicism really put one back into a mediaeval fantasy. The city was ruled successively by the Phoenicia (Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍, Kenāʿan ) , Ancient Gr

Derelict city of maritime history, Beatles and football - Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City 1150 Anfield What and Why Liverpool 's prominence as a major port city was unparalleled throughout the Industrial Revolution . The city was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management, and building construction. As a result it became a major shipbuilding city and home to famous shipbuilders like the White Star Line , the owner of

City under water, surrounded by canals - Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht 1349; Corso culture, flower and fruit parades in the Netherlands 01707 Amsterdam canal rings during evening What and Why Amsterdam has more than one hundred kilometres of canals ( Dutch : grachten ) connecting 90 islands through 1,500 bridges. The three main canals form concentric belts around the city, known as the canal belt ( grachtengordel ) , and Singelgra

Italy seaside city with a rich Greek culture - Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica 1200; Mediterranean diet 00884; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Piazza Duomo What and Why Syracuse ( Italian : Siracusa ) was founded in the 8th century by Greek settlers, led by the coloniser Archias (Greek: Ἀρχίας) . The settlement of Syracuse was an exercise of urban planning, as a strong central leader, Archias laid out how properties and

'Not-old' Baroque town with Arab-Norman churches - Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily) 1024; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Noto What and Why Noto is a very tiny town but is unexpectedly gorgeous. One of the most photogenic places during this trip. Similar to other Sicilian cities, Noto was occupied by the Arabs in the 9th century and then in late 11th century, it became the last Islamic stronghold in Sicily

An ancient royal villa up in the mountain with the largest mosaic in the world - Villa Romana del Casale 832 Villa Romana del Casale What and Why We crossed from the west of Sicily (Italian: Sicilia) to the east and in the middle of the drive, we arrived at a ruined villa called Villa Romana del Casale in the middle of nowhere. The complex, dating back to the 4th century, used to be a very large villa both for public and private use. The villa is renowned for the extraordin

City of Arab-Norman and Mafia influence - Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale 1487; Opera di Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre 00011 Palermo Cathedral What and Why Welcome to the capital of the Sicilian mafia ! Palermo has since established itself as a fine heritage city, in spite of all the noises of the mafia. The exceptionally infused architecture that reflects the Norman , the Arab and the Roman rule shows a distinct flavour of culture

City of pizza, mobsters and history - Historic Centre of Naples 726; Art of Neapolitan ‘Pizzaiuolo’ 00722 New Castle What and Why Naples ( Italian : Napoli ) means the new city, but as a matter of fact, the city is one of the oldest in Europe and as part of Magna Graecia (Greek : Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς , Megálē Hellás ) , played a very important role in linking the Roman and Greek culture . The place has transformed from the colony of Parthenope (Greek: Παρθενόπη) , meaning pure eye

Greek temple complex along the Roman coast - Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula 842 First Hera temple 1 What and Why Along the Tyrrhenian coast of South Italy ( Italian : Italia ) , Paestum used to be a major city on the coast of Magna Graecia (Greek : Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς , Megálē Hellás ) . The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three Greek temples worshipping Hera (Greek: Ήρα) , Athena (Greek:

One of the most scenic and cliff-hanging coastal landscapes in Europe - Costiera Amalfitana 830; Mediterranean diet 00884; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Amalfi coastline What and Why The Amalfi Coast ( Italian : Costiera Amalfitana ) is the scenic 50-km stretch of coastline on the northern coast of the Gulf of Salerno ( Golfo di Salerno ) , which clearly possesses unrivalled sceneries and dramatic landscapes. The winding drive along

World-largest palace of equal elegance and resemblance to the Versailles - 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex 549 Caserta Palace (from internet) What and Why It might be a honest mistake to actually confuse between Caserta with Versailles , but the similarity is uncanny, especially the gardenscape. Depending on what your read, some classifies this palace as one of the top five palaces in Europe, togethe

A formidable fortress exhibiting a mix of European and Islamic architectural designs - Castel del Monte 398; Falconry, a living human heritage 1708; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Castel del Monte What and Why Our next stop took us to Castel del Monte , a formidable fortress standing isolated on a little mount in Andria . As the name suggests, the name means 'castle of the mountain' ( Italian : castel del monte ) in Italian. It was b

A city built on a huge cave - The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera 670 ; Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity 02093 Sassi of Matera during the evening What and Why The sassi (singular sasso ), meaning 'rock' in Italian, of Matera is often described as the most unique and picturesque landscapes in Europe, and this is no understatement. While one might imagine an inhabited cave since the Paleolithic age would look derelict

Trulli amazing little conical huts - The Trulli of Alberobello 787; Art of dry stone construction, knowledge and techniques 02106 Trulli in Alberobello This is my inaugural post, and just for the sake of it, it starts with an A, from the most recent trip I did. What and Why The peculiar dwarf buildings trulli were actually erected according to some kind of local imposition back in the 15th century that all buildings must show some 'tribute', although this form of stone constr