Visiting Europe was a dream come true! Europe, East,
West, North and South still has an air and a charm, not seen anywhere else! We
had to walk a lot to see all the spectacular spots and my advise to anyone who wishes to
enjoy European countries have to set their minds on walking a lot!
The first spot we visited, a very popular one was the London Eye.
It gives a clear, unobstructed view of
London, from all angles, 360° panorama from the glass capsule. It is an
Observation Wheel which is supposed to be the highest in Europe; giving a
beautiful view of the Thames River, Big Ben, Parliament House, Buckingham
Palace and surroundings. Windsor Castle can also be seen on clear days. this scenic, photo shoot point, started off our tour.
London Eye base at Thames river
Next was the Parliament Square, a central
London public square, between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster
abbey. It has Supreme Court, many statues of historically important
personnel like Mahatma Gandhi, Churchill and others with gardens all around.
Big Ben stands proudly as a part of Parliament Square.
The Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster is given a short and sweet name of Big Ben! It is located on a tower, at the north end of the Westminster palace, in London. It strikes with five bells. It is 96 m tall, with 334 steps. Its base is square, 12 m on each side. The dials of the clock are 6.9 m in diameter. It is Britain's popular icon, shot in many films.
"London Bridge" encompasses many historic
bridges across Thames, between the main city and Central London. The presently popularly
known bridge was opened to traffic in 1973. It is a concrete and steel bridge, of box girder style. It has the St. Magnus Church on the northern bank and Southwark Cathedral on the southern bank. London bridge has been described in
nursery rhymes, songs, art, literature and films.
London Bridge 
The Tower of London, is the Royal Palace and
Fortress of the Tower of London, on the north bank of Thames, which served
as a royal residence.
Next place of visit was Buckingham Palace, the residence of the royal and presently administrative headquarters
of the UK monarch. It is the central point for national rejoicing and mourning.
The Famous Lords Cricket ground was the next place of visit. It brought goosebumps as most of us were cricket fans!
We all were excited to ride the Euro rail, which is known to be under the seas, which we took to reach France. One of the world wonders was The Eiffel Tower, a tower made of wrought iron, located in a huge green park in Paris. It is known as “The Iron Lady” and is a world famous icon of France, one of the most world popular structures. In 1964, it was designated as an historical monument, and world heritage site on the Banks of the Seine river in Paris. It is 330 metres tall, same as an 81-storey building, with a square base, 125 metres on each side. Till 1930, it was supposed to be the man made tallest structure in the world.
Next was the relaxing cruise on the Seine River, visiting Paris landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Notre Dame from a distance, in a boat.
We spent some time in visiting the Palace of
Versailles, exhibiting visual history of French architecture from the 1630s to
the 1780s. beautiful paintings, huge halls, mirrors, adorn the walls of this museum. The premises house the palace, other related buildings and parks with lush lawns. Area covered is of 2,000
acres.
We then took a bus from Paris to Brussels, Belgium, stopping at Atomium, which is a modern landmark structure in Brussels, Belgium. It was constructed as a centrepiece for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. It exhibits the Belgian engineering skills. It is a popular tourist attraction, a museum, an art centre and a cultural destination. It is 102 m tall, with huge 18 metre diameter spheres made of steel. They are connected as an iron crystal cell unit, magnified 165 billion times. Steel pipes, connecting the spheres have stairs, a lift and escalators, to go up the six spheres, which house halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant showing a 360 degrees view of Brussels.
AtomiumThe well-known, Grand Place Centre Square, or Big Market was our next stop. It is the centrally placed square in Brussels. The square is 68 by 110 metres and is covered entirely with paving blocks.
Everard, a five times alderman, dedicated to the well being of Brussels, is eternally remembered by a monument
sculpted by an artist, Julien Dillens. The reclining monument is located on Charles
Buls street in Brussels, near the Grand place. It is said among locals that
the statue of Everard t'Serclaes brings luck and grants the wishes of all who
touch it. Many tourists rub the arm of the statue, as it ensures one's return to Brussels. Other parts are also touched frequently by the
tourists such as the face of the angel, the dog and one of the shields. This
constant rubbing polishes and keeps the body shining compared to the rest of the
sculpture.
Close to the Grand Square is the Manneken
Pis or the 'Little Pissing
Man', a bronze landmark fountain statue of 55.5 cm
height, of a little naked boy urinating
into the fountain's basin. One of the best-known symbols of Brussels and
Belgium, it inspires several legends and the boy is dressed up in a thousand different
costumes. It is a typically Belgian figure, showing folk humour and is popular
in Brussels.
We visited Rotterdam next, which is a major logistic and economic seaport centre. It is a dam on Rotte river and hence the name! It is the second-largest Netherlands city, in South Holland.
Beautiful and colourful, flowers filled Madurodam, which is a miniature park and tourist spot in Netherlands. It houses small scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks,
historical cities and large developments, since 1952. Madurodam is named
after George maduro, an army man, known for his valor in the
Battle of the Netherlands against German troops.
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Magnificent Cologne Cathedral was our next
stop.
Cologne Cathedral is a famous german architectural monument, declared a world heritage site. It is a very popular tourist spot,
world’s tallest twin-spired church, second tallest church in Europe and world’s third tallest church. Cologne Cathedral has an exceptional
intrinsic value and is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
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We were then on the way to a very scenic region called Black Forest in Germany. It has green lush forests with various shades of green, which look like the Black Forest cake and hence the name! The cuckoo clocks are manufactured here and exported to the various parts of the world. It is an icon of Germany and the clock is a favourite
souvenir of tourists visiting Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland. Cuckoo clocks are driven by pendulums. they strike with a cuckoo call, an automated cuckoo bird moving in and out with every call. It is made in the region of The German Clock Route, running from Central Black Forest in Germany through the Southern Black Forest.
We travelled this route to reach the Rhine Falls, which is a tourist popular, huge, powerful warefall, located on high mountains of Rhine, Switzerland. This location is close to German border. The boat ride was stupendous, the boatman taking us very close to the sprinkling silver waters falling from the top. It was thrilling, adventurous and mesmerizing! Next to the falls stood the Rheinfall Bridge and magnificent Castle of Laufen, a sight from a wonderland!
Boat ride, Rhine water falls, Germany
Our next stop during the tour was the world famous Mount
Titlis, where we enjoyed snow sports at Engelberg, the flyer ride, gondola
ride, rotaire ride, cliff walk, tyre snow ride and grotto snow caves. Titlis is
a mountain in the Alps ranges. It is famous for the world's first rotating Cable Car, which connects Engelberg to
the top of Titlis, with three stops in between. It was fun riding the
cable car, with a fantabulous view of surrounding forests and greenery with
large biodiversity. We visited a lighted cave in the glacier on the mountain. We also
traversed the cliff walk on Titilis, the highest suspended bridge in Europe, giving a fantastic view of the Alps
ranges. Shopping at Lucerne, visit to Lion monument, lake boating, were next on
our agenda.
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Liechtenstein was the next spot which is located in the central part of Alps, between Austria and switzerland! It is the size wise, fourth smallest country in Europe and the world's
smallest country. Vaduz is its capital, which has the highest GDP per capita, in the world. It is a beautiful, mountainous destination, a tourist spot, famous for winter sports. It has rail trams, a tourist attraction!
Land of Bridges
Padua boasts of an oldest botanical garden, as well as University of Padua, known to be one of the oldest universities!
We visited Venice island by Veperato water taxi, cutting through the Adriatic sea. We saw the bridge of sighs and the Main Miracle square of Italy.
Venice is a city on the North East side of Italy. It is built on a group of 118 islands, separated by vast open water expanses and canals; connected by 438 bridges. The city is a major financial and maritime power, producing and
marketing silk, grain and spices and is involved in various art
forms. It is now a part of the Italy kingdom. St Mark's Square, is the main public square of Venice, known as la
Piazza .
This is where canals in Venice take us to the site of Gondola rides. The gondola is a flat bottomed, asymmetrical, traditional, rowing boat which is fit for the lagoons in venice. It is rowed by a gondolier, with oars acting like radars. For many years, it was a means of transportation and the most common watercraft used. We enjoyed the gondola ride in Venice. It was the same canal ride, which reminds us of the Spanish song picturized on Amitabh Bachhan and Zeenat Aman, ‘Tera kya naam hai? Anjana!’
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Visit to Miracle Square in Italy brought us to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, an independent bell tower of Pisa Cathedral. It leans by four-degrees because of an unstable foundation. It is one of the three towers in Cathedral Square. It is an architectural icon in Italy, a popular tourist spot. 296 steps take us to the top of the tower, the seventh floor. The angle of the tower was stabilized by remedial work.
Statue of DavidPiazza Venezia or Venice Square is a central hub in Rome, Italy, where many roads intersect. The square is at the foot of the famous Capitoline hill, near Trajan's Forum, the main road taking us to the world known Colosseum.
Venice Square
The Trevi
Fountain is a fountain built in 18th century, in Trevi district of Rome. It is the famous largest fountain in the city.
It is at the junction of three roads, hence the name! It was one of the ducts
that supplied water to ancient Rome, for more than 400 years.
Fountain Trivia
A giant landmark in Rome, the Colosseum or Ancient Greek "kolossos" or a giant elliptical theatre, in centre of Rome city. The largest ancient amphitheatre ever built in the world, it is named as the Flavian Amphitheatre. Built in limestone, volcanic rock and brick-faced cement, it seated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators. It was used for competitions of animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, mythological dramas and mock battles. Now it is used as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, like a fort, quarry and a Christian shrine. It is listed in the new list of seven wonders of the world. It is a popular tourist spot, from where the annual Good Friday procession starts.
Colosseum, Rome
Our last stop of the tour was St. Peters Basilica, the largest church in world, located in vatican City. It is one of the holiest and greatest Catholic shrines, holding a unique position in Christianity.
It is the burial site of St. Peter and Pope, the first bishop of Rome. It is famous place of pilgrimage. Architecturally, it is the most magnificent building of its time. St. Peter's Church is ranked second, of the four world churches that are of rank of Major Papal Basilica. It is one of the seven christiam pilgrimage churches in Rome.
Our tour ended with a flight from Rome to Munich and Munich to Mumbai with fabulous memories of snow clad mountains, lakes, flowers, gardens, churches and bridges.
GREEN BLOGGER
PROF. DR. JAYA KURHEKAR
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