Sights in Europe
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Museum of Free Derry
The Museum of Free Derry, just off Rossville St, chronicles the history of the Bogside, the civil rights movement and the events of Bloody Sunday through photographs, newspaper reports, film clips and the accounts of first-hand witnesses, including some of the original photographs which inspired the murals of the People's Gallery.
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Alexandru Borza Botanic Gardens
West through the student ghetto campus housing, head past fast-food joints up Str Bogdan P Haşdeu to Str Pasteur to reach the fragrant 1930 Alexandru Borza Botanic Gardens, which covers 15 hectares, with shaded green lawns, a super Japanese garden and rose garden with some 600 different varieties, and an observation tower.
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Musée Royale de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire
One for military buffs, this museum houses an extensive array of weaponry, uniforms, vehicles, warships and documentation dating from the Middle Ages through to Belgian independence and the mid-20th century. There’s a panoramic view of the park’s triumphal arch (built in 1880), the Arcade du Cinquantenaire, from the top floor.
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Parco Sempione
Everything you’d expect from Milan is here: a historic castle (Castello Sforzesco), chic bars, a museum honouring design (Triennale di Milano), lovely Liberty-style buildings (Civico Acquario) and an architectural conversation piece (Torre Branca). Plus there’s grass, winding paths, relaxed people, and peace and quiet, too.
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Ploshcha Rynok
This 16th-century market square lies at the heart of Lviv's rich heritage. A 19th-century town hall (ratusha) stands in the middle of the plaza, with fountains featuring Greek gods on each of its corners. You can climb the neo-Renaissance tower but the 40-odd buildings around the square's perimeter are more interesting.
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Basilica di Superga
Basilica di Superga became the final resting place of the Savoys, whose lavish tombs make for interesting viewing, as does the dome here. In 1949 a plane carrying the entire Turin football team crashed into the basilica in thick fog, killing all on board. Their tomb rests at the rear of the church.
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Mode Museum
Fashion followers must start with Antwerp's mode museum, MoMu. It's located in the much-celebrated ModeNatie complex, home also to both the Flanders Fashion Institute and the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Sticking firmly to avant-garde, MoMu changes its exhibits every six months.
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Kylemore Abbey
A few kilometres east of Letterfrack stands Kylemore Abbey. Magnificently situated on the shores of a lake, this crenulated 19th-century neo-Gothic fantasy was built for a wealthy English businessman, Mitchell Henry, who spent his honeymoon in Connemara. His wife died tragically young.
Admission also covers the abbey's Victorian walled gardens. You can stroll around the lake and surrounding woods for free.
Kylemore's tranquillity is shattered in high summer with the arrival of dozens of tour coaches per day, each one followed through the gates by an average of 50 cars (yes, over 2500 cars a day).
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Kilmainham Gaol
If you have any desire to understand Irish history – especially the juicy bits about resistance to English rule – then a visit to this former prison is an absolute must. This threatening grey building, built between 1792 and 1795, has played a role in virtually every act of Ireland's painful path to independence.
The uprisings of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 ended with the leaders' confinement here. Robert Emmet, Thomas Francis Meagher, Charles Stewart Parnell and the 1916 Easter Rising leaders were all visitors, but it was the executions in 1916 that most deeply etched the jail's name into the Irish consciousness. Of the 15 executions that took place between 3 May…
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Mirador San Nicolás
Callejón de San Cecilio leads to the Mirador San Nicolás, a lookout with unbeatable views of the Alhambra and Sierra Nevada. Come back here later for sunset (you can't miss the trail then!). At any time of day take care: skilful, well-organised wallet-lifters and bag-snatchers operate here. Don't be put off; it is still a terrific atmosphere with buskers and local students intermingling with the camera-touting tourists.
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Þingvellir
Þingvellir, Iceland’s oldest national park, protects a scenic 84 sq km lake, the geologically significant Almannagjá rift, and is the site of the original Alþing (National Assembly). The park is administered directly by the prime minister’s office and is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
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Str Storii
Between Piaţa Sfatului and the Mt Tâmpa cable car is Str Storii, which is 1.32m by 83m - one of Europe's narrowest 'streets'. The cobbled pedestrian-only alley has been scrubbed up, with nice views of the 'Braşov' sign on the mountain, and connects Str Porta Schei and Str Cerbului.
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Blarney Castle
Dating from 1446, Blarney Castle is a tower house built on solid limestone in wonderful grounds that are ideal for a picnic. Someone will soon talk you into kissing the Blarney Stone, a custom invented fairly recently, though Blarney's association with the gift of the gab goes back a long time.
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Oceanário
The closest you’ll get to scuba-diving without a wetsuit, Lisbon’s Oceanário is mind-blowing. No amount of hyperbole about it being Europe’s second-largest aquarium, where 8000 species splash in 7 million litres of seawater, does it justice.
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Villa Cimbrone
Some way east of Piazza Duomo, the early 20th-century Villa Cimbrone is worth a wander, if not for the 11th-century villa itself (now an upmarket hotel), then for the fabulous views from the delightful gardens. They’re best admired from an awe-inspiring terrace lined with classical-style statues and busts. Something of a bohemian retreat in its early days, the villa was frequented by Greta Garbo and her lover Leopold Stokowski as a secret hideaway. Other illustrious former guests included Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, DH Lawrence and Salvador Dalı.
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Rathaus
Hamburg’s baroque Rathaus is one of Europe’s most opulent, renowned for the Emperor’s Hall and the Great Hall, with its spectacular coffered ceiling. There are no fewer than 647 rooms here, but the guided 40-minute tours only take in a small number.
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Kunstmuseum
The Kunstmuseum concentrates on two periods: from 1400 to 1600, and from 1800 to the present day. The medieval collection includes the world’s largest number of Holbein works. The smaller contemporary collection features Picassos and Rodins.
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Borough Market
On this spot in some form or another since the 13th century, ‘London’s Larder’ has enjoyed an enormous renaissance in recent years, overflowing with food-lovers, both experienced and wannabes, and has become quite a tourist destination.
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Anıt Kabir
The monumental mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of modern Turkey, sits high above the city with its abundance of marble and air of veneration. You enter via the Lion Road, a 262m walkway lined with 24 lion statues – Hittite symbols of power used to represent the strength of the Turkish nation. The path leads to a massive courtyard, framed by colonnaded walkways, with steps leading up to the huge tomb on the left.
To the right of the tomb, the extensive museum displays Atatürk memorabilia, personal effects, gifts from famous admirers, and recreations of his childhood home and school. Just as revealing as all the rich artefacts are his simple…
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Hampton Court Palace
Built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1514 but coaxed from him by Henry VIII just before Wolsey (as chancellor) fell from favour, Hampton Court Palace is England's largest and grandest Tudor structure. It was already one of the most sophisticated palaces in Europe when, in the 17th century, Wren was commissioned to build an extension. The result is a beautiful blend of Tudor and 'restrained baroque' architecture.
Take a themed tour led by costumed historians or, if you're in a rush, visit the highlights: Henry VIII's State Apartments, including the Great Hall with its spectacular hammer-beamed roof; the Tudor Kitchens, staffed by 'servants'; and the Wolsey Rooms. You could…
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Museum of Costume
In the basement is the Museum of Costume, which houses a huge wardrobe of vintage outfits including some lavish 18th-century embroidered waistcoats, a collection of 500 handbags and several whalebone corsets which are, frankly, alarming.
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Church on the Hill
The covered stairway leads to the 1345 Gothic Church on the Hill, a 429m Lutheran church and the town's highest point. Facing its entry - behind the church when approaching from the steps - is an atmospheric, overgrown German cemetery.
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Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona
One of Barcelona's most visited museums is the Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona, next to the club's giant Camp Nou stadium. The museum, renovated in 2010, provides a high-tech view into the club, with massive touch screens allowing visitors to explore arcane aspects of the legendary team. The best bits of the museum itself are the photo section, the goal videos and the views out over the stadium. You can admire the (in at least one case literally) golden boots of great goalscorers of the past and learn about the greats who have played for Barça over the years, including Maradona, Ronaldinho, Kubala and many others.
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Everton FC
Liverpool's 'other' team are the blues of Everton FC, who may not have their rivals' winning pedigree but they're just as popular locally. Tours of Goodison Park run throughout the year except on the Friday before home matches.
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Rhodes Town Beach
The town beach begins north of Mandraki and continues around the island's northernmost point and down the west side of the New Town. The best spots will depend on the prevailing winds but tend to be on the east side.
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