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Roskilde is quite a pleasant town to the west of Copenhagen, but doesn't have the same importance today as it used to have when it was the capital of Denmark and one of its religious centres. The cathedral is not only very large, but is also the necropolis of the Danish royal family, resulting in a large number of graves and tombstones from many centuries. For a Protestant church, it is rather lavishly decorated, and is unique for its brick architecture. Don't miss the other major highlight of Roskilde, though - the great Viking Ship Museum, only 10-minute walk away. It shows several original ships from the Viking era, and you can also set sail in a rebuilt Viking ship, which is really a unique experience.

Visited only the House and atelier - this is site is absolutely beautiful. One of the best I have seen!

Would be great if other Houses could be accessible for public too (Stocklet house included!)

This is a really small site in the middle of Jutland that doesn't offer a whole lot to see, but is still historically interesting. It consists of 2 runestones (under glass cover), 2 burial mounds, and a church. It is considered to be the cradle of Denmark, as the runestones mention the achievements of King Harold Bluetooth, who introduced Christianity to the country. It thus marks an important point in Scandinavian history - the transition from the pagan Viking Age to the Christian Middle Ages. You can see the church (not a lot inside, just some restored frescoes) and the runestones, and climb up the 2 mounds, in about 10 minutes. Thankfully, there is a rather interesting and modern museum (with free access!) only a few steps away. The information there is really well presented and covers every aspect of the site. It is only a short walk from a train station providing connections to the nearby town of Vejle. There also some direct trains to Copenhagen, so a day trip from there to Jelling is easily possible.

Kronborg Castle is one of the national symbols of Denmark and probably the most famous castle in Northern Europe. It stands guard over the Öresund and was notorious for the Sound Tolls it collected from all ships entering the Baltic Sea. Today it is a major tourist attraction and an easy train ride away from Copenhagen. Combined with a ferry ride over to Sweden and a visit to Malmö (followed by a train ride over the Öresund Bridge), it makes a great day trip. The castle has many historic features, including a chapel and very dark underground corridors with a statue of Holger Danske, and there is an interesting maritime museum, for which a new building is due to open in 2013 outside the castle. I found Kronborg very interesting, but somehow I suspect that it would not have made the WH list without its association to Shakespeare and Hamlet.

WHS Farmhouses of Hälsingland: Unfortunately you tried to find those two that are completely private homes, and therefore not have signs, though they have had guided tours during the summer 2012 announced at the touristoffices. Pallars have paintings made by the bluepainter, remarkable landscapes. A certain stop for the crownprincess Victoria when visiting the area with her sister Madeleine, the duchesse of Hälsingland-Gästrikland, while one of the paintings show the crownprincess own castle of Haga. For me a WOW feeling! The problem has been to compromise private ownership, availability, highly decorated ... in the same object. Please do visit a couple of them all around the region of Hälsingland and I believe you will be able to feel the WOW feeling!

For my visit, I chose the approach from the south side. Two chairlifts and a cable car ride from the town of Flims brought me up on the Fil de Cassons, at the altitude of 2634m. This mountain ridge itself is part of the core zone of the WHS. The best thing however is the view of the surrounding mountains: no less than 555 Alpine peaks can be seen from here on a clear day. And although IUCN did not value the scenery as exceptionally beautiful, I found the 360-degree view pretty spectacular.

There's an easy hike at the ridge of the Cassons with displays to tell you all about the geology, flora and fauna. In preparation, I had tried to read the nomination file for this WHS, but it seems to have been drafted specifically for geology experts. It includes so many specific words that I did not really get a clue what it all is about. The only element that I can reproduce is that older rocks occur here on top of younger rocks, an effect created by the movement of the earth's crust. The different effects this has on the layout of the mountains can indeed be easily seen from here.

The area also is the starting point for several hikes. From Cassons I walked down to the lowest cable car station in Naraus. The path descends very steeply all the way. It is narrow, and loose stones and muddy stretches keep you on alert …

After having visited Mustair, I drove across another mountain pass: the narrow and winding Albula pass. I wondered if it follows the same stretch as the railway line. I saw some tracks and stations, but none of the remarkable engineering works.

I had to try riding a train on this railway of course. So I parked my car in Thusis, and bought a return ticket to St. Moritz. This covers the designated part of the Albula line. I travelled in the regular regional express train, which leaves every hour for the 1.5-hour stretch. The plus side of this train is that the windows can be opened, so you can get better photos. If you know what to take photos of, that is.

I had printed the Albula part of the nomination dossier and tried to follow the route on paper while I was on the train. But to be honest - the objects mentioned are difficult to see from the train. At first, the only things I noticed were the numerous tunnels. One sits in the dark for almost half of the time! The icon of this line is the Landwasser Viaduct, and fortunately, it was announced by the conductor when we were almost there. So I could get a good look at it and take some photos.

The remaining technical highlights en route I found difficult to appreciate from the train. So I was a bit disappointed with the "experience" in general.

A day trip to Müstair is absolutely recommended to anyone staying in the center or southeast of Switzerland. The drive out there, across the Flüela Pass and through the Swiss National Park, is very scenic. I just had to stop my rental car a couple of times to take pictures of the natural surroundings. There are several picturesque villages too, and hiking paths. I combined the visit of this WHS with one to the Albula Railway on the same day – in hindsight it would have been better to divide this over 2 days, so as to enjoy both sites more.

The Convent is easy to find in Müstair: it’s the prominent building complex at the far end of town, white and light grey in colour. In the morning it’s only open between 10 and 12. There were quite a lot of visitors already present when I arrived at 10.45. Numerous Italians among them, as this is close to the border with Italy. I was a bit confused about where to start my tour – I had read the reviews below and did not want to end up at the museum/convent while the church is the most impressive part.

However, there’s another sight directly at the entrance: the double chapel, housed in a small white building. This also has mural paintings from the Carolingian and romanesque periods. The interior is being renovated at the moment, and it can take years for it to be finished. While a guided …

I have visited the site just recently (July 2012). The whole residence is located at the end of University Street. Access to the place for non-students is possible with an organised group (so far Ukrainian only, costs 20 hr, 2 Euro). It last half an hour and covers short general introduction, reception hall, staircase, main assembly hall, former library, garden view from second floor and walk outside buildings.

I am not sure if it is obligatory but for sure it is the only possibility to see interiors of the buildings. As a part of complex a church (Greek Orthodox) is possible to see without any additional charge.

The whole visit should take approximately one hour.

There are so many mining landscapes on the List now, last week even 2 more were added. But I was still pleasantly surprised when I arrived at Falun. The big pit indeed is an impressive sight, although it is a totally ruined landscape of course. Sweden has a number of fairly underwhelming WHS, but I definitely rank Falun as the best Swedish site that I have visited so far.

I did the full hike around the pit, where you can see it from different perspectives. You also pass several very cute wooden red buildings, constructed for various uses during the mining periods. Unfortunately, it started to rain when I was halfway, so I made a brisk walk back to the entrance.

Near the entrance lies the big mining museum. A good place to hide from the rain of course, though I did not spend long inside. In my opinion, it focuses too much on tools and other technicalities, and too little on the circumstances and stories of those that worked here or how the mine was run. But that could just be my preference for social history.

In general, Falun is a sight not to be missed when you're in Central Sweden.

I have to make a confession: I didn´t really visit this site on my first attempt. But that was not my fault: everything in Sweden seems to close down for the winter, even if it is such a beautiful sight to see places covered in snow. So I just got on a bus to Drottningholm (15 minutes from Stockholm), took some pictures and left with the next bus.

Superficially, the palace looked better than I had read about. Probably it´s the inside that´s boring (another European castle), but the location near the water is great.

12 years later I made up for it: I had some time left after visiting Hovgarden, which lies about 35km up the road from the palace. The weather was sunny enough to try and get some better pictures of the site.

I arrived at about 4 p.m. - actually too late to get inside the palaces (which close already at 4.30). So I wandered around the gardens, much further than I had on my first visit. What struck me was how much it resembles Versailles.

I got as far as the Chinese palace and the remarkable Guards' Tent. Both buildings are worth a quick look for their quirkiness, but in all this site still did not win me over. After Versailles, and even Potsdam, this almost looks like a reproduction.

I only visited Hovgarden, which is located on the calm island of Adelsö. This can only be reached by a car ferry. The ferry runs every half hour all day, and even on a Saturday afternoon, I found it wasn't too busy. The ride is free, as well as the entrance to the archaeological site.

The Hovgarden part of this WHS comprises a few rune stones, burial mounds and the remains of a palace (only part of a wall is still visible). They lie in the center of Hovgarden town. It's a nice stroll through the fields, and information is posted along the way. From on top of the hill where the palace stood, there are good views on the surrounding lake and Björkö (for Birka).

The walk ends at the medieval Adelsö Church, a lovely small romanesque construction. Inside there are runic stones too, but unfortunately, I couldn't get in as a wedding service was going on. So after about an hour I ended my visit and took the ferry back.

I was looking forward to writing the first review of this new WHS. It sounded like just the kind of site I enjoy: rural, remote, vernacular architecture. So I had added it to my short trip to Sweden already before the WHC announced that the Farms were granted WH status. Unfortunately, my visit turned into a big disappointment.

"Searching" for a WHS is part of the life of a WH spotter, and it can be a joyful part of the visiting experience. Since this was a new heritage, there was still not much known about it. In advance, I did my research via the Internet and discovered that 3 out of 7 farms are located along the route between the copper mine of Falun and the highway south towards Stockholm. For only 1 out of the 3, I was sure that it is open to visitors (most of these farms are still lived in by the owners).

I first stopped in the hamlet Langhed - unknown to my TomTom navigation, but I was just able to find it using a map that I had printed. Well, it turned out that Langhed is full of traditional red wooden farmhouses, but the 2 of them that are designated as WHS I could not find among them. There were no signs. At least not to these 2 farms: originally the nomination was much larger, in this region there are about 400 of this kind of farms. Some are now used as …

This is really a small site, in a remote corner of a landscape of lakes and forests, dotted here and there with more early industrial remains. One can enter the site freely, there's no entrance fee. In about 5 minutes I thought I had seen it all. The most impressive sight is the big furnace, that's the large red building that you see in every photo of this WHS.

At 10 a.m. the small cafe/shop on-site opened, and I went in to pick up an audio guide. This is a service to non-Swedish speakers, as tours are only given in Swedish. You then can tag along with the Swedish guide, which is the only chance to see something of the interior. I was too early for a tour however, and did my walking tour alone.

At the other end of the complex lie some other interesting buildings including the smelting house. It's a pleasant walk out there, and I liked that so many parts of the early industrial complex have survived.

Idanre hill is one of the great wonder of nature, educative attractive, energy exusting but intresting to be there. Cites on the hill are wonderful, to talk of the apaara and arun river, the unreadable letteres, owa's palace the old courth to mention few. Idanre hill is just tip of the wonders of nature, likewise the erinjesa water fall, and the ikogosi shrine. Wow, its intresting and educative to go for tourism. Adio Oluwatosin Modupe ATM

In 1968 I was working in the area (at Effon Alaye) and stayed in Ilesha which is a town some 15 miles from Oshogbo. I visited the shrine on numerous occasions when there was noone about. It is in the forest, very quiet and an air of mystery surrounds it. It is good for quiet reflection.

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the great architects of the 20th century, with a far-reaching influence and legacy of design that we encounter frequently in our own homes and communities. In this review, I will attempt to briefly include impressions and relevant information for each building.

Hollyhock House is a real gem in Los Angeles. Barnsdall park is the location of this unique residence. Located in a central location in East Hollywood, this park has wonderful views of Griffith Park and another FLW masterpiece (Google "textile block houses"). Numerous events are held here including wine-tasting, film screenings in the lawn (front of house), and art exhibitions in the adjacent gallery. Robie House, located within the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park is easy to visit, there is plentiful free parking, and several tours are conducted daily. Furnishings are sparse, but there are some authentic FLW designed chairs on display. The story of how Frank Lloyd Wright Right showed up on the street outside Robie House well into his 80's, cane in hand, to save the house from demolition is worth a listen from your tour guide. Taliesin (East) is a product of at least 3 different rebuilding periods and is a property Wright tinkered with for decades. The property is sublimely situated within a hilly landscape (not on), with surrounding 360 degree views. Significant works of Chinese and Japanese art are found throughout the home. Tours go from a 'highlights' visit to an in-depth exploration …

One of the coolest things that a tourist can do is to see an entire foreign country…All of it…From one end of the other.

This is activity that can literally take a lifetime in some cases, and for most of us, that’s just too damn long. So how to choose?

Size matters. It has to be small, real small. So the best place is to start in Rome. The record books state that the City of Rome is home to three countries: Italy, of which it is the capitol, The State of Vatican City, and the embassy of The Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta,

The Knights of Malta’s embassy at Via dei Condotti 68, has official extraterritoriality, which means that, it’s the territory, not of Italy, but of the Knights, which don’t have a country back home like Belize or Monaco and thus, the small palace and it’s courtyard are the whole shebang. They don’t let tourists in, and there’s nothing to actually see except a couple of trees and boring office space.

So that’s why the Vatican’s a must. It’s an official country, and at 0.2 square miles, much of which is dedicated to one of the best museums in the world, is doable, and thanks to the internet, now more than ever.

It used to be that getting a ticket to the garden tour, where you get to hike all the way to the helicopter pad on the western end …

Among the weirdest cities in the World, Venice, Italy must rank among the top five. I don’t mean this in a BAD way actually, but the place is completely so unlike anyplace else in the world that it cannot be called anything but very strange.

Other cities have canals. You’ve got Amsterdam and Stockholm, both of which are strewn with canals close to the water’s edge, but they have streets, and trams and other forms of mass transportation, which make those towns seem relatively normal. Also, while they have museums, they are not, of themselves museums. Venice, having lost its independence and its livelihood over two centuries ago, is.

The “serene republic” lasted a thousand years and a century before being actually invaded for the first time by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797. The reason for this was because of its intense weirdness. It’s a bunch of islands in the middle of a lagoon, connected by a series of bridges. Here, it developed a unique culture and set for the to build an empire which ruled over the islands of what are now Croatia and Greece, trading with the Byzantine and later, various Moslem empires in the east to become the cultural portal of the western world during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Even as new trade routes made Venice less lucrative, the serene Republic continued to thrive, attracting artists and architects, poets and visionaries. But that’s all gone now…

When the French finally destroyed the old Republic, they destroyed …

I've been to Quebec twice, the second time I got lost and nearly missed the cruise ship. The first time, in 2001, there was a war going on....

The 2001 Quebec City Tear Gas Festival.

by Eric Lurio

Every now and then, even the most patriotic residents of the greatest city in the Western Hemisphere get sick of the Big Apple. So when I saw a flyer posted on the south end of Washington Square Park advertising a bus trip to Quebec City to protest the Summit of the Americas, I was intrigued.

Cool!, I thought, Just the thing I need: A weekend trip out of the country! I thought that while everybody else was protesting, I'd take a look at some of the sites and give myself a sorely needed mini vacation. So I called up and made a reservation.

Unfortunately, the three day weekend special, which left on a Thursday and included a place to sleep, was already filled up, and the only thing left was the day trip, which left Friday night and arrived back in New York on Sunday morning. That cost sixty bucks, which is pretty cheap for a thousand mile bus trip. I decided to chance it.

So at around five-thirty PM, I went to the east side of Union Square and hooked up with the crowd. Here were a bunch of unreconstructed commies if there ever was one. Not that they weren't nice people, I just couldn't have a conversation about politics because …