Stop 11: You will see photos of the following: Plaza del Triunfo Mudejar palace, the official residence of the king and queen when they’re in town, built by Pedro I (1350– 69) on the site of Seville’s former Moorish alcázar (fortress). We were not allowed to take photographs, but I will say that it was […]
Stop #8: Caceres was a highlight for me. I immediately fell in love with all the old buildings in the square…well after a little mishap. OK, I’m not always the best navigator, but this was the worst I’ve ever done. Especially when my offline map on Google Maps switched to pedestrian maps instead of driving […]
Stop 6: The area of Vila Viçosa has been inhabited since antiquity and was a small Roman settlement. It was part of the Visogoth Kingdom and came under Moorish control. In 1217, Moorish domination ended with reconquest by Christians. In the early 14th century, a castle was constructed in the village to protect it from […]
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings […]
Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built at the request of Peter the Great. If you have seen Versailles and thought that it was amazing, wait until you see Peterhof Palace. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Link to Wikipedia The Summer Palace is a vast complex of lakes, gardens, and palaces in Beijing. While it was an imperial garden in Qing Dynasty, the Summer Palace dates back to the Jin dynasty in 1153, when the Jin capital was moved from Huining Prefecture to Yanjing in the Fragrant Hills and Jade Spring Hill […]
I was working in London in 1997, and I lived a few blocks from Kensington Palace. I was touched by the outpouring of emotion from large numbers of people … each day, I saw the bouquets of flowers filling every square inch of Kensington Garden.