Pictures of the most beautiful place in Europe: Plitvice Lakes When you find yourself walking around the lakes of the largest national park in Croatia you feel like you entered a place of unspoiled beauty disconnected from the civilized life of the old continent. So pure that you can hardly believe it’s real. Even tourists who gather here lured by

The Old Town of Budva. Too beautiful to look 2500 years old If you are curious what made Budva the place with the most millionaires in Europe, to the proportion of population, here’s the answer. Budva is an ideal resort for Mediterranean: it has marine and mountainous landscape, historic architecture, medieval churches, sandy beaches, night life. To put it in one line,

Dolmabahce Palace, the architectural treasure of the sultans Dolmabahce Palace is the largest and most luxurious residence in Turkey: 15,000 square meters, 285 rooms, without counting baths, halls and annexes. In the palace the oriental opulence of the six sultans who have lived here (past rulers of the Ottoman Empire) meets Western sophistication. The palace looks more like

White doves in Maria Luisa Park, a place where the Arab gardens were brought back to life by Forestier It’s hard to chose the most pleasant place in a town so lovely as Seville, but the Park Maria Luisa definitely competes with the most famous civic squares and cathedrals due to its tranquility and harmony. And it’s not all about nature in this park, redesigned for the Ibero-American Exhibition

Vittoriano, a monument glorifying Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy The majestic monument of reunification is at the end of one of the most important boulevard, Via del Corso, close to the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Capitoline and Palatine Hill, the most important historic hill of ancient Rome. Thousands of years of history surround us here and this impressive masterpiece

The most spectacular haute-couture haircuts at Wella Fashion Show By definition, haute couture presentations go over the top with fantasy creations not made to be worn on the street, but to impress on the catwalk. At Wella Fashion Show, the accent was not on dresses, as usual in a presentation, but on haircuts. Some of the wildest hair arrangements

Safari experience in Villa Borghese The Biopark, or the Zoo Garden, is a fraction of the vast park called Villa Borghese, the second largest green area o Rome. The zoo garden was established a century ago and a decade ago was reinvented as a natural reservation with as little fences as securely possible. By a

Fairytale in the historic part of Budapest The western part of today Budapest, Buda, was the capital of Hungary, mainly before the Ottoman conquest in the middle age. The city, which is about one third of Budapest was revitalized and reshaped by German settlers who gave it a Gothic look. It is still a pleasure to stroll

Olympiastadion, a look over Munchen Built for the 1972 Olympics, the Olympia Park is an athletic and entertainment complex that hosts Germany’s most famous stadium (Olympiastadion) an indoor gym (Olympia Hall), a covered swimming pool (Olympia Schwimmhalle), the former olympic village and lots of other sport facilities. A total of twenty buildings compose this gigantic

Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine response to the Temple of Solomon The legend has it that when he first entered his masterpiece, emperor Justinian lift his eyes towards the dome and uttered: “Oh, Solomon, I’ve surpassed you!”. To understand just how entitled this far from modest remark was, we must put our imagination to work, picturing the basilica painted, the marble

The exotic beaches of Paleokastritsa and the charm of Corfu island If you get to the island of Corfu, in the capital city with the same name, located in its eastern part, it’s worth doing a detour on the coast towards north to reach a lovely place called Paleokastritsa. The place is considered to be one of the most beautiful marine

Plaza de Espana in Seville, modern architecture taking a bow to Moorish heritage Though it looks like a historic building from distant times, the complex in Plaza de Espana, Sevilla is actually less than a century old, being built for the World Exhibition of 1929. The building is situated in a very peaceful park, Maria Luisa and is the high point of an

How daily life of a medieval king looked like. The Visegrad Castle of the Hungarian monarchy Found on the banks of the Danube, Visegrad was the most important political center of the middle age kingdom of Hungary. The hill castle was connected with the lower castle, a Roman relic that had access to the river. The castle was constructed by King Bela 4th of Hungary, it

Trogir: 2300 years of history and style in one of the best preserved medieval city in Europe Eclipsed in fame and size by Dubrovnik on the same Adriatic coast, Trogir is like a very expensive perfume, kept in a tiny bottle. It would have been hard for a film crew to recreate such accurate sets for bringing to life an aristocratic society of hundreds of years ago.

Fontana di Trevi, the most romantic place in Rome Along with Piazza di Spagna, the Colosseum, the Vatican or Victor Emmanuel Palace, Fontana di Trevi is a major tourist attraction that is not to be missed when in the eternal city of Rome. The name of Fontana di Trevi does not come from a specific character as one might

Zica Monastery, 13th century Byzantine – Romanesque monastery in Serbia The birth of Serbia is tied to a royal family with religious inclinations, therefor some monasteries in the country are crucial not only from spiritual, but also from religious standpoint. The founder of Serbian dynasty was Stefan Nemanja, a warrior and ruler who abdicated to become a monk together with

Voronet Monastery. The Esoteric Message Behind Orthodox Painting The Voronet Monastery is the most famous buildings of Stephan The Great, a monument included on the list of UNESCO’s world heritage. Its frescoes speak of subtle esoteric knowledge held by medieval theologians of Moldavia and also of the skills of anonymous painters. Voronet is situated 5 km to Gura

Fashion presentation by Catalin Botezatu Catalin Botezatu presented his lingerie, casual wear and haute couture collections during a fashion show in Auchan megastore. Black and red were the dominant colors for the haute couture collection that was first presented at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Catalin Botezatu is the most famous Romanian fashion designer, with presentations

Ceausescu’s Palace on The Inside (Parliament Building or House of The People) On certain occasions, such as the national day of Romania, The House of The People, or The Parliament Palace built by the communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu in the capital Bucharest is fully opened to the public and cameras. Usually, tours for tourists exclude the greater rooms of the building as

Caserta, the Italian Versailles with bigger gardens The king of Naples, Carlos Sebastian (Charles VII), wanted to underline his status as a descendant of Louis XIV (The Sun King) and ordered a palace that would compete with the famous French castle of Versailles. For this Charles VII picked a rural area 20 km away from Naples. The

Budapest, pictures from the beautiful Hungarian capital One of the most beautiful and diverse towns of Europe was formed by the union of three cities: Obuda (the ancient city with ruins from antiquity, which gave the name to the second), Buda (the medieval capital, with its hill castles, historic churches and mountain caves) and Pesta, the vast

French Can-Can costumes in a cabaret show A colorful spectacle, the cabaret is a tradition in Western towns, where dance performances are held in bars and restaurants. Though regarded as an easy form of entertainment, actually the cabaret shows include musical acts, dance acts like in the music-hall shows on Broadway, theatric performances, sometimes with comedy numbers

The fabulous Georgian dancers in The Legend of Samaia In this show, the dancers present a piece of Georgian history and they do it with a sense of pride and carefulness. You can tell that this is more than a simple dance made to entertain. But they definitely stand up to the task of representing their country with grace.

Circus, the favorite entertainment for kids The show at the Globus Circus combined acrobatics, clown numbers and animal training acts in a fairytale-like scenario. The ponies were the first to enter the arena, doing some synchronized tricks, followed by real full size stallions. The Shayer breed horse was trained by French expert Sandrine Le Bris. The

The lovely island of Sveti Stefan, near Budva Going from south to north on the coastline of Montenegro, not far from the border with Albania, between two high rated resorts – Bar and Budva, tourists are met with a very pleasant surprise. From the see-through waters of the Adriatic a tiny island of only six square kilometers appears,

Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento, the Italian coast makes you dream Overlooking the picturesque island of Capri, this portion of the Mediterranean coast has sunny beaches and marvelous roads winding tightly among lemon orchards and terraces. The small cities are just as spectacular as the landscape on the road that links them. The houses are packed together on the mountain coast,

National Arena (Bucharest), one of the most modern stadiums in Europe Though the stadium inaugurated in 2011 is not one of the large stadiums on the continent, with its 55.000 seats capacity, it is packed with features. It has a retractable roof, with the stands always covered. The cable system that supports the roof makes it unusable in daylight because of

Mud volcanoes and their dirty little secret When gases in the underground force their way out, an interesting phenomena appears. In their way, gases mix water and soil to form mud and create little eruptions. In time, craters are formed, sometime with a classic shape of a dwarf volcano. In other cases the craters are just some

Waltz and other slow dance styles in a ballroom dance competition In the dance sport competitions the ballroom dances are the most elegant moments, an occasion to exhibit beautiful dresses, severe black suits and manners on a harmonious music. The ballroom dances in international competitions are: waltz, Viennese waltz, tango, slow foxtrot and quickstep. The Viennese waltz opens the wedding party,

Amazing Meteora Monasteries, an Orthodox Miracle The tradition of monasticism comes from Egypt and Syria, with the patron of this reclusive lifestyle, St Anthony. In the most extreme form of abandoning the world and its temptations, monks would seek the most remote places, living in the wilderness only by the means provided by nature. The rocky

Schonbrunn Palace, the residence of Habsburg emperors A landmark of Vienna, Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the imperial house of Austria, is among the most important tourist attractions of the city. Be sure to reserve a whole day for a complete tour of the 1442 (!) rooms palace, the zoo garden, the famous labyrinth, the botanical

Traditional village in Bukovina. Crafted objects, folklore and customs at the Village Museum Suceava Found near the fortress of king Stephen The Great, the Village Museum of Suceava holds a remarkable patrimony of vestiges of Moldavian peasant lifestyle from the area of Bukovina. On the alleys of this village museum you can stroll as if you were in a place untouched by modern technology,

White Christmas with Rudolph the red nose reindeer We all know Rudolph is the most famous of Santa’s reindeer. It is said to be able to light the path in the night with its flashy red nose. With his younger buddy, Rudolph brought the sledge of Santa Claus through the snow. The carnival atmosphere was enhanced by the

A Romanian Rushmore on the Danube Gorges honoring the king of Dacians The narrowest passage of the Danube, the most important river of Europe, creates a fabulous natural landscape. The river breaks through high walls of stone, creating several gorges with luxurious wild vegetation, that also give water a green shade. This is the background against which a record sculpture was carved

Cotroceni Palace, from royal residence, to presidential palace An absolute must see if you visit Bucharest, the Cotroceni (pronounced Kotrocheny) has a history of 400 years, a beautiful architecture and a very relaxing surrounding domain. It was first intended as a monastery, with churches and cells. Probably some kind of religious construction existed there prior to 1600. Prince

Folk dances and traditional costumes from Transylvania Not long ago, in the last century, you could positively identify the geographic area of origin of a Romanian by looking at his clothes. The costumes were entirely home-made and it was a matter of great pride to preserve the exact decorations with vegetal, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic motifs. Even today

Inside Romanian Atheneum, the most beautiful building in Bucharest Though the term Atheneum usually refers to a library, the Romanian Atheneum is mainly a concert hall. Important personalities like Richard Strauss and Yehudi Menuhin have concerted here. The Atheneum was built by a French architect, with the help of some of the most important Romanian architects, after a national

Queen Mary’s enchanted domain at Balchik, Bulgaria Queen Mary loved this magical place so much that she demanded through her testament that her heart should be put to rest here, near the waves of the Black Sea. As Romania was forced to cede this peace of land (known as the Quadrilateral) to Bulgaria, the box containing queen’s

Painted monasteries in Bukovina (North of Moldavia) Moldavia (Moldova) is for the time being separated in two countries. The larger, eastern part, belongs to Romania, and the territory west of river Prut forms the independent republic of Moldova. As this historic region was split up shortly after the secret pact between the communists and the nazis in

Rila Monastery, the most famous Bulgarian monastery With a history of a thousand years, the monastery of Rila is a favorite pilgrimage place for Bulgarians and a tourist attraction for foreign visitors. Pope John Paul II visited this monastery during his stay in Bulgaria. It is located in the SW of the country, near Blagoevgrad, south the