Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece has adorned the British skyline sine 1710. It was constructed after the previous building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. But this isn’t #2; over 1400 years, a total of five places of worship have stood on this site. The first service was held in this building in 1697. […]
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Charles Dickens Museum
The Charles Dickens Museum is always a must-see for me. This four-story house is his only remaining London residence. Here, he wrote The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. The museum opened in 1925 and packed ten rooms with 100,000 memorabilia items including manuscripts, photos (Dickens was prolific in every part of his life, […]
Museum of London
If you’re interested in London’s history, go right to the source. At the Museum of London, you can witness the city’s development from, oh, 450 million years ago to the present. You can take in the Roman era, then Saxon, medieval and Tudor periods. I particularly like the extensive Great Fire display and the 1960’s […]
Buckingham Palace
Since 1837, Buckingham Palace has been the official royal residence. It was originally built in 1705 for the Duke of Buckingham. The royal family moved in when their residence, St. James’s Palace, was deemed insufficiently impressive. Buckingham Palace remains a main tourist attraction. Unless you plan on going inside for a very limited tour that […]
The National Gallery
The name says it all. This is one of the largest, most comprehensive collections of European paintings in the world. All major traditions are represented. The color-coded layout is as good as a GPS as you wind your way through the crowded galleries to view works by artists such as Van Eyck, Holbein, Titian, Botticelli, […]
Victoria & Albert Museum
This museum is a perfect destination for a group whose members have divergent tastes since there’s a bit of everything – sculptures, paintings, jewelry, photographs, artifacts, manuscripts, etc. The enormous collection is devoted to the applied arts of all disciplines through all periods and corners of the globe. A healthy sampling of every sort of […]
National Portrait Gallery
View striking portraits of all notable Brits here, from Mary, Queen of Scots to Victoria Beckham. This museum is a fascinating walk through British history, and you’ll certainly pick up many tidbits that were not covered in your history books. Start at the top in The Tudor Gallery and work your way down to the […]
Porta Nigra
Some gate! Porta Nigra is the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. The name originated in the Middle Ages for the dark color of its grey sandstone, which has been further darkened by exhaust fumes and general air pollution over the years. The gate was constructed between 186 and 200 A.D as one […]
Dom St. Peter, or the Trier Cathedral
How fitting for the oldest town in Germany that its cathedral, Dom St. Peter, is the oldest church in Germany. To this day, it remains a working Catholic cathedral. Trier is the oldest seat of a Christian Bishop north of the Alps. In the Middle Ages, the Archbishop of Trier was an important prince of […]
Fort Aguada
The Portugese knew what they were doing when they constructed this fort back in 1612. Fort Aguada guards the mouth of the Mandovi River and enables views over every twist and turn. The lighthouse was built in 1894 and is the oldest of its kind in Asia. Down the road is the peninsula’s operating lighthouse. […]
