This holiday season, Royal Parks in London are celebrating with special events in places including Richmond Park, Greenwich Park, Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.
Visitors to the parks can partake in the festivities by choosing their own real Christmas tree, wander through four of the Royal Parks following the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, visit the deer enclosure in Greenwich Park, or take a timeless winter horse carriage ride.
While in London, take in the Winter Wonderland Hyde Park, where you can hear live music, go ice skating and visit the Angels Christmas and Yuletide Markets.
View of the Aachen Cathedral from Katschhof Square
Photos courtesy German National Tourist Office
Cathedrals, monasteries, walled fortresses and abbeys are a distinct part of Germany’s culture and landscape. Every town, city and countryside has a beautiful church or abbey, including many masterpieces.
Aachen’s cathedral, the Church of St. Mary, was founded as Charlemagne’s chapel and is where 30 kings were crowned. The immensely beautiful Romanesque cathedral of Speyer, only one hour south of Frankfurt, became the burial place for the Salian emperors, and its size is on par with the Cologne Cathedral. The Cologne Cathedral is Germany’s most visited tourism site and was at one time the biggest building in the world. Its high Gothic style is pronounced and the Dom is home to sacred relics and precious artwork. In Hildesheim, 45 minutes outside of Hannover, St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church are outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture.
Sculpture inside Aachen Cathedral
AACHEN CATHEDRAL The Church of St. Mary, originally built as the chapel of Charlemagne’s imperial palace in Aachen in 786 AD, was part of the emperor’s dream of creating a “new Rome.” With this building he laid the foundations of one of the most important architectural monuments in Europe. The cathedral’s appearance reflects more than 1,000 years of history. Charlemagne’s palatine chapel forms the core of the cathedral. The single-nave chancel was consecrated on the 600th anniversary of his death and the bold architecture of the “glass house” is as impressive today as it was then.
During the 600 years from 936 to 1531, 30 German kings were crowned in Aachen Cathedral. Today, the cathedral has lost nothing of the splendor of centuries past. The first ensemble of historical and architectural importance in Germany to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978, this is a building of outstanding significance.
SPEYER CATHEDRAL The magnificent Romanesque imperial cathedral in Speyer is the town’s best-known and most prominent landmark. Built by emperors, the cathedral was a symbol of their power and served as their final resting place. Construction began around 1030 under the Salian Emperor Conrad II and the church was consecrated in 1061. Speyer’s imperial cathedral, laid out in the form of a Latin cross, is one of Germany’s largest and most important Romanesque buildings. The Salian emperors chose it to be their burial site.
Its huge triple-naved vaulted basilica is the central element of a design that greatly influenced Romanesque architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries. The hallmarks of the cathedral are the balanced distribution of its dimensions to the east and the west and the symmetrical layout of the structure, consisting of a nave and transept with four towers on the corners.
COLOGNE CATHEDRAL Building first began in 1248 on what eventually became one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices in the world, and the epitome of high-Gothic cathedral architecture in its purest possible form. The scale of Cologne Cathedral is evident from its two mighty towers. Completed in 1880, they dominate both the city and the surrounding region. At the time of its completion in the 19th century, the cathedral was the biggest building in the world.
The design of the west side was truly groundbreaking. It has the largest exterior surface of any church in the world, said to be around 23,000 square feet, and is flanked by two huge towers, each rising to a height of 515 feet. The cathedral houses a wealth of important art treasures, including colorful stained glass windows that bathe the church interior in a mysterious light; the Ottonian Gero Cross (around 980 AD), the oldest large-scale sculpture in the western world; the shrine housing the relics of the Three Kings (1190-1225), an outstanding example of Rhenish goldwork; the altar of the patron saints of Cologne by Stefan Lochner (around 1450), a masterpiece of the Cologne school.
Cologne Cathedral by the RhineCologne Cathedral detailHildesheim Cathedral interior
ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL AND ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH IN HILDESHEIM St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church are outstanding examples of early-Romanesque architecture. Both World Heritage churches exemplify the skill of Bishop Bernward (993 to 1022) and contain exceptional artworks.
The main attraction in St. Michael’s Church is the painted 13th century wooden ceiling depicting the Tree of Jesse. Germany’s only flat church ceiling, it is a fascinating example of monumental Romanesque painting. The spectacular cathedral treasure, Column of Christ and Bernward doors are characteristic of the Bernwardian period. The cathedral is being renovated for the anniversary of the diocese in 2015 and is closed until August 2014. Many of its treasures, including the huge bronze castings, can instead be seen at different places around Hildesheim until 2014.
The Column of Christ featuring scenes from the Old and New Testaments is on loan to St. Michael’s Church. The pair of two 16-ft. Bernward doors were cast in one piece—an achievement never mastered before—and are currently displayed at the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim.
The Silk Exchange in Valencia, Spain is an exceptional example of a secular building in late Gothic style, which dramatically illustrates the power and wealth of one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities. It is aesthetically unique because of its fine Gothic architecture combined with Renaissance decoration from the 15th century.
The majority of the Silk Exchange was built between 1482 and 1492 under master mason Pere Compte. The work was completed by a pupil of his after his death, which explains the presence of Renaissance elements.
Its similarity with old medieval castles is based on the fierce, fortress-like appearance of its stone walls. It comprises four parts: the Tower, the Sea Consulate Room, the Orange-tree Patio and the Room of Columns. The site covers more than 6,562 square feet indoors and out.
It is a typical representation of the commercial and financial past of the city of Valencia, and has been used for the same purpose for five centuries. Its original function was as a trading exchange for oil. It developed into the main maritime trading center and the silk exchange. At the present time it is still a major trading exchange, now dealing primarily in agricultural products.
Photos courtesy Visit Great Britain and Lake District National Parks
Sprawling 885 square miles across Cumbria in North West England, the Lake District National Park is England’s largest National Park. With 16 sparkling lakes, England’s five tallest mountains, six national nature reserves and over 400 towns and villages, it’s no wonder the Lake District is a popular attraction.
Natural beauty isn’t the only thing going on in the Lake District. Activities range from child-friendly adventure parks to high-adrenaline assault courses. Don’t miss Lake Windermere—the largest of the lakes—where you can try everything from open water swimming to sailing, canoeing, kayaking and windsurfing.
The arts and culture scene started by the likes of William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter is still thriving today, with a year-round calendar of literary, arts and heritage events and countless museums, galleries and performance venues to visit. With so much to see and do, your only problem will be deciding what to do first.
All that exploring is bound to work up an appetite. And you’re in luck, because the Lake District is one of Britain’s food and drink hotspots. Whether you fancy a refreshing brew at a traditional tearoom, a pint of real ale at a pub with a roaring fire or a elaborate meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant, you’ll find something to suit every taste in the Lake District.
Top five things to see and do: 1. Take the kids to meet Peter Rabbit and friends at the World of Beatrix Potter. 2. Watch one of the productions at the Theater by the Lake in Keswick. 3. Explore the nearby cosmopolitan city of Carlisle and the historic town of Kendal. 4. Visit one of Cumbria’s 24 microbreweries—you’ll find many of these at the back of local pubs. 5. Tour the poet William Wordsworth’s house, Dove Cottage, surrounded by the countryside that inspired him.
Kaitlyn and Kellen get “sized up” by this big Swiss Air DC-3.
Photos by Amy Luetgert
Wow! Cool! That’s what visitors, and especially children, say after a few minutes in this 21,500-sq-foot museum in Lucerne, located right on Lake Lucerne.
With as many as 850,000 visitors a year, the museum is Switzerland’s most popular attraction of its type.
From space capsules to trains (big ones, as well as miniature ones that run through the grounds), to airplanes and helicopters and automobiles, from the latest media technologies and interactive hands-on exhibits to a cycle park, the Swiss Transport Museum displays more than 3,000 objects, plenty to keep two kids busy for a while.
Kaitlyn Luetgert, 9, and her brother Kellen, 6, from the Chicagoland area, spent an afternoon at the Museum with their parents, and their mother Amy Luetgert filed this photo report of their experiences.
The Luetgert kids “sign on” as airline pilots and flight attendants.Kellen says, “I could spend a whole day here!”“No problem, let’s walk under this steam engine,” urges Kellen.With a facade like this, anything is possible inside the Museum.
European Traveler 