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Belgrade – from a Roman fortress to Yugoslavia’s vision of the future
After my first day of sightseeing and a hefty dose of history, which was genuinely quite heavy at times, it was time to move on and see a different side of Belgrade. This time, I headed straight for Kalemegdan – the place that probably more than anywhere else is associated with the city. And this is definitely a place where you can pause for a moment, because the history here is seriously something else. The first fortifications appeared here as far back as Celtic times, and the Romans later left their mark on the site. Over the centuries, the fortress was rebuilt and reshaped by one empire after another, so…
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Masdar – The City of the Future?
Masdar was created by the Emir of Abu Dhabi, who commissioned the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston to research renewable energy sources. As a result, the concept of a self-sustaining, zero-CO2 city powered entirely by renewable energy emerged. To test this idea in practice, an area approximately 17 km southeast of Abu Dhabi (near Abu Dhabi International Airport) was selected. The project began in 2006, with an estimated cost of $22 billion and an expected completion date of 2016. However, due to the economic crisis, the final completion date was pushed to 2040. In Arabic, “Masdar” means “source” and refers to the technological innovations to be implemented in…
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Tbilisi, Georgia – all in one!
Georgia’s strategic position on the border of two continents: Europe and Asia, between two cultures: Christianity and Islam has long been the cause of numerous wars. The Romans, the Arabs, the Persians, and also in the modern history Russians, all they tried to occupy Georgia permanently, but no one actually has managed to do so. The incredible determination of the Georgian nation, cultivating tradition, including the ancient Kartuli ena language, allowed the country to preserve national identity. The history of this country is shown in many aspects, starting with the stubborn character of the Georgians and ending with the various architecture. How is the capital of this country? It’s as…
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Moscow – seven sisters
Reportedly, after the war, Stalin was going to say the following words: ” we won the war… foreigners will come to Moscow, go for a walk, and there’re no skyscrapers.” I don’t know if this quote is true, but the fact is that just after WWII, USSR set the wheels of great rebuilding machine in the motion, including the realisation of the great Stalin’s vision – project called Seven Sisters. Seven Sisters are in fact seven skyscrapers which were designed to be higher, prettier and more modern than these in the United States during that time. However, the name of seven sisters is not popular in Moscow, Muscovites have their…
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Athens – weekend break in Greece
It was a long weekend, and I had no plans. I started browsing the web in the hope that I could find a cheap flight, which would be as near as miracle during the “high season”. To my surprise, the cheapest flight was to Athens. As it turned out, my journey didn’t end in the capital of Greece. The airport in Athens is connected convinently with many Greek Islands. My choice was Corfu, find out more about this green island here. Even though the trip to Athens wasn’t planned, I’d been thinking about it for a long time before. I wanted to confront the negative views of the Acropolis with…
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Georgia – Kutaisi
Kutaisi is getting more and more popular destinantion among travelers and backpackers, due to cheap flight connections and relatively low prices. Kutaisi is the second largest city in Georgia and in my opinion, like whole this country is full of contradictions. Special attention deserves Gerogian architecture. I won’t hide that I’m as green as grass in this topic, but I have to admit that Georgian fantasy in this subject was a great surprise to me. In 2012 President Saakashvili decided to transferred here the Georgian Parliament, which previously had been located in Tbilisi. It wouldn’t be surprising but for the fact that Parliament’s building is located on the outskirts of…
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Vienna – the architectural city of dreams
Vienna is called „the city of dreams” in view of the Sigmund Freud who created here the essentials of the psychoanalysis. But in a fact, Vienna is the city of dreams for the architecture lovers. Palaces, beautiful gardens, cathedrals or theaters, which can be seen everywhere, resemble the times of the former empire. Tourists are mesmerized by amazing Viennese palaces. One of the most popular is the Schönbrunn Palace, which surprises by its intensive yellow color. It’s surrounded by an enormous French garden with colorful flowers and beautifully decorated fountain. From the hill, which is located above the palace, you can admire a beautiful Vienna panorama. What’s more interesting, six-year…
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Rotterdam – the unreal city
Rotterdam, called also the „Gateway to Europe/World” is mainly associated with the biggest port in Europe and the third – biggest in the world (just after the Singapore and Shanghai). Another famous symbol of this city is Erasmus of Rotterdam. This famous philosopher matches perfectly to the multicultural character of this cosmopolitan city. During our visit there, we had an impression that in this second – largest city in the Netherlands, the Dutch are in the minority. It is said that there’re at least 160 nationalities in Rotterdam. But not only the biggest port and cultural diversity make this city an unique place. Nowhere in the Netherlands you will find such interesting…
