Travelsmartplanet

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How can you sit and deliberate laws when you are distracted by all this fabulous art and architecture in the Rathaus (City Hall) in Vienna? To get on a tour, make sure to sign up ahead of time.

Tags: ambiance, arches, architecture, art, Austria, city hall, column, distraction, Europe, gallery, lamp post, law, light, Rathaus, seating, sightseeing, statue, surrounding, tour, touring, tourist, Trafalgar, travelblogger, Vienna

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You can take a free tour of the Rathaus (Vienna City Hall) and bump into surprisingly beautiful things like this chandelier. Make sure to sign up ahead of time.

Tags: art, Austria, chandelier, city hall, Europe, Rathaus, sightseeing, striking, tour, touring, tourist, Trafalgar, travelblogger, Vienna, wien

Some people wear hats when touring, others wear a statue of an Empress.

Tags: Austria, Empress, Europe, hat, photo op, photography, sights, sightseeing, statue, tour, touring, tourist, Trafalgar, Vienna

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Look up when you are in Vienna – glorious statues tower over you from every perch.

Tags: Austria, Europe, sightseeing, statue, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, travelblogger, Vienna, wien

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Even jaded tour guides (Martin from Trafalgar) who have been to palaces so many times still look up in awe at the wonder of it all.

Tags: Austria, Europe, Hapsburg, palace, sightseeing, tour, tour guide, touring, tourist, Trafalgar, travelblogger, Vienna

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In Vienna, you get the privilege of traveling in style – that is, 19th century Royal Hapsburg style.

Tags: 19th century, Austria, Europe, Hapsburg, royal, sightseeing, style, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, Travel blogger, Vienna

Zurich is world famous as a global financial center, and internationally companies such as Credit Suisse and UBS are situated there. How did Zurich develop into a city of finance? Who were the first money-lenders and who actually invented the credit card?

This and other questions about the history of money in Zurich are the theme of a guided city tour, “Money, Money, Money – Following the Money Trail”, held in German or English every evening at 6pm between August and October. Participants go on a walk through the city and learn a host of surprising facts and entertaining stories.

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ca/following-the-money-trail.html

Walking through the streets of Prague, you will come across the Astronomical Clock. Each hour, the wooden figures of apostles appear in the windows and some of the sculptures move. When the apostles finish their story, the golden rooster crows and shakes its wings, the bell rings and the clock chimes the hour.


An urban myth which went on for centuries was that when the Prague Councillors found out that the 15th century clock maker Hanus (Jan of Ruze) was going to make another clock, they became jealous and blinded him. However in 1961, the real artist was discovered in an old document which described the astronomical dial and says it was made by Mikulas of Kadan in 1410.

www.cosmos.com/Product.aspx?trip=46050

Tags: apostle, artist, Astronomical, bell, blind, Budapest, chime, clock, Cosmos, councillor, crow, dial, document, figure, golden, Hanus, Jan of Ruze, jealous, Mikulas of Kadan, myth, Prague, ring, rooster, sculpture, tour, urban, Vienna, window, wing, wood

In Hungary, paprika cream is a condiment on the table – they use it like we would use ketchup or mustard. It’s quite spicy. Locals like to call it  Hungarian Viagra. Why?  If you eat it, the heartburn will keep you up. Since you can’t sleep, you have to do something  to keep  busy, soooo….

 www.cosmos.com/Product.aspx?trip=46050

Tags: busy, condiment, cream, heartburn, Hungarian, Hungary, ketchup, mustard, paprika, sleep, spicy, Viagra

The Isar River flows through Munich. There are many beautiful bridges spanning it. If you get hot while touring, why not take advantage of the many beaches along the shore of the river. There’s even a public bath house which you can use for only 4 Euros. If you get hungry, there’s a cafe there too.

www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html

Tags: bath, beach, bridge, cafe, house, Isar, Munich, river, shore, tour