Journal & Topics Media Group

More To Europe Than ‘Big 3’


More To Europe Than ‘Big 3’

By JANET STEINBERG
Special to the Journal & Topics

The world is a fascinating place…so much to do…so much to see. Some of it is beautiful…some ugly, some uplifting…some depressing, some forgettable…some memorable.

Although The Big 3 — London, Paris and Rome — rank high on everyone’s must-see list, there are lesser-hyped cities that also provide some of the world’s best travel experiences. Once you’ve been to those other cities, you’ll see what I mean. Allow me to share with you some places that will remain in your memory bank forever.

A tourist exits one of the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM is what it has been called since the name was changed in 1975 by the revolutionary authorities to honor the founder of the modern Vietnamese State. However, many of its seven million residents still call it Saigon. A tour of Ho Chi Minh City should include the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the bright ochre Museum of Vietnamese History on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens where you might also catch a traditional water puppet performance.

Another must-see is the Presidential Palace, a building that once symbolized the decadence of the Saigon regime to the Communists. On the front lawn of the former palace, renamed Reunification Hall (Thong Nhat) is a needle-nosed American F-5 that a South Vietnamese pilot/traitor used to bomb the palace three weeks before the fall of Saigon.

However, it is the sobering Cu Chi Tunnels that remain foremost in my mind. Located approximately 25 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, this amazing network of tunnels enabled us to view the claustrophobic life experienced by Vietnamese villagers and guerrillas in the subterranean passages in which they lived during the war. This elaborate 125-mile network of tunnels, spread beneath the ground like a cobweb, is a chilling reminder of the struggle our soldiers encountered fighting an invisible enemy.

The Blue Mosque can be found in Istanbul, Turkey.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY is a mystical city where East meets West, Europe meets Asia, and the past meets the present. It is a city of more than 13-million people and approximately 3,000 active Muslim mosques. Formerly known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it is the only city in the world that straddles two continents (Europe and Asia) and is embraced by two seas (Aegean and Black) and the connecting Bosporus Strait.

Highlights in Istanbul include the following not-to-be-missed sights: Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also called The Blue Mosque, takes its name from its walls that are adorned with more than 20,000 blue Iznik tiles. Its six minarets pierce Istanbul’s skyline. Hagia Sophia, once a Christian cathedral, and then a Muslim mosque, is now a museum. Its awesome massive dome, exquisite mosaics, and huge lustration marble urns carved from a single block of marble, are among the museum’s memorable features.

Topkapi Palace Museum is one of the most impressive monuments in Istanbul. A visit to The Treasury (Hazine) is a must. Here you will find the bejeweled Topkapi Dagger as seen in the 1964 movie Topkapi; a 6.5-pound emerald, the largest uncut emerald in the world; and the 86-carat Spoon Maker’s diamond.

Lisbon’s monument to Prince Henry the Navigator.

LISBON, PORTUGAL, the scenic city on the banks of the Tagus River is eclectic, exotic, exuberant, undulating, historical, and avant-garde. It has long been argued whether the Tagus River, a winding silver ribbon that mirrors the city, ebbs up to meet the city — or whether Lisbon extends down to meet the river. Whatever the case, the city’s seven hills, and the wide mouth of the Tagus, make Lisbon one of the most charming cities in Europe.

This scenic, cosmopolitan city is the cultural heart and soul of Portugal. The Lisbon Tourist Board claims there are 92 palaces, 67 public gardens, 55 fountains, 44 arches/archways, and 51 museums in the city. The Torre de Belem (Belem Tower), built in the year 1521, looks like a miniature castle on the banks of the Tagus River.

Other not-to-be-missed attractions include the Praca do Comercio (Black Horse Square); Sao Jorge Castle, with its panoramic views of the city; Eduardo VII Park; the Cathedral, with its Arab mosque design; the Chiado area’s outdoor elevator designed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame; and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to Prince Henry the Navigator). Top off your visit to Lisbon with an evening at a fado club to experience fado, the melancholy, national song of Portugal. Fado, a dialogue of emotions between a round Portuguese guitar and a sad voice, is a singing expression of the state of the soul.

Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

BERLIN, GERMANY is quite an experience, emotionally, architecturally, and literally. Emotionally, Jew and Gentile alike are volleyed between the delights of a visit to Berlin and the poignant reminders of the terrible years under the Third Reich. The Jewish Museum of Berlin, Daniel Libeskind’s eerie museum addition, culminates with the horrors of Hitler’s persecution and extermination. Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of 2,700 concrete pillars of differing heights set in a grid pattern. It is the country’s central place for remembrance. Architecturally, Berlin is a smorgasbord of architectural masterpieces, spanning centuries. From the original Jewish Museum…to Libeskind’s 21st century addition…from the original Reichstag to Sir Norman Foster’s glass-domed roof…to Frank Gehry’s space-age DZ Bank lobby.  Lest we forget The Brandenburg Gate, The East Side Gallery — a long section of the Berlin Wall near the center of Berlin, and Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

Sir Norman Foster’s glass-domed roof of the Reichstag.

Literally, the taste of Berlin is best experienced at the top of The Reichstag, where Hitler once reigned supreme. Lunch under an iconic large glass dome that has a 360-degree view of the surrounding cityscape is overpriced, but worth it just for the view. Outside of the Reichstag is a memorial to the 96 Reichstag members of opposition parties killed by the Nazis.

Museum of Science in Calatrava’s City of Art and Sciences. (Photos by Janet Seinberg)

VALENCIA, SPAIN, the country’s third largest city, is a lively, flower-filled, Mediterranean beauty where streets end at the sea. In this city founded in 138 B.C., medieval walls coexist with 22nd Century Architecture. “Starchitect” Santiago Calatrava has given Valencia and the world an architectural masterpiece known as The City of Arts and Sciences.

The City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias) is a gigantic educational/cultural complex composed of five space age elements said to be inspired by the skeletons of animals. Calatrava’s space-age City of Arts and Sciences, his sweeping Alameda Bridge, and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art /IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno) are all in sharp contrast to the medieval Cathedral with the Star of David on its façade, the Baroque and 19th century buildings that line the streets, and the old Silk Exchange (La Lonja de la Seda). La Lonja is one of the most characteristic buildings in the city as well as one of the most well-known Gothic monuments to be found in Europe.

I never met a city I didn’t like. But Valencia was different. I didn’t like Valencia…I absolutely loved it!

Support local news by subscribing to the Journal & Topics in print or online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.