Museums, churches, architecture etc. - Must sees

[Kim]

Add what you feel is a must see to this topic.

[WillTravel]

Let's start with the obvious in London:

Churches
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral

I saw the first and took the guided tour and visited the Chapter House in WA twice. I didn't really "get" England's constitutional arrangements, although I've read much about them, until I toured Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey has Sunday evening organ recitals.

I will see St. Paul's this coming visit to London. I only saw the outside last time. Last time I had sprained my ankles a couple weeks before and didn't relish the thought of so many stairs. (Most of the time these ankles didn't bother me much, but I didn't want to push myself too much.)

Museums
British Museum
National Gallery

I've seen only a small fraction of what's in the British Museum, but wow! I recommend taking the tours given by volunteer guides.

The National Gallery CD and headphones are worth giving a donation for. Very nice description. I can't imagine how long it would take to go through everything in this place.

***
A little less obvious:
Church of St. Martin's in the Fields
I listen to CBC Radio a lot, and lots of times they announce performances by/at the Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields. Finally I got to see the place for myself. They have cheap lunchtime concerts, actually by donation, and some cheap paid concerts at other times. Some beautiful paintings and architecture and a fascinating history. And lovely music, too, of course. Many churches in London have free or low-cost concerts.

[rookie]

Amsterdam - Dutch Resistance Museum

Being the Canadian that I am, I'm interested in Dutch WW2 history since we helped them out so much. It's a museum that won't be overflowed with visitors as is the case with the Van Gogh or Rijksmuseum, so you won't feel the need to move along and can truly feel the museum.

[WillTravel]

Sounds good, rookie.

This trip, I plan to see the Imperial War Museum in London, the Resistance Museum in Copenhagen, and the Resistance Museum in Oslo.

[LHR02]

I also visited the Resistence museum in Amsterdam, as well as the Jewish museum. And enjoyed them both. My only 'complaint' about the Resistence was that it seemed to focus much more on life under the Germans-in general- than on the resistence activities. The jewish Museum, contained in 4 old synnagogs that have been interconnected, was poignant of course, but much of what it offered was not readily understood by me since it was obviously directed toward the Jewish faith. But i still felt the time well spent and informative indeed.

I had a total ball in the Imperial War Museum in London! Being a WWII buff how could I not? ;D And I swear----I am not being snide or uppity here ----but I left there chuckling. If you read the info and signs....well, I just had no idea how very little the US contributed to this war. Those Brits, they built more tanks and planes, supplied more guns and ammo, led every charge and mission......you get my drift. ;D It was fun to see it all from another perspective. It's a military persons playground in there! A great museum.

There are a couple of really worthwile WWII sites in Netherlands.....sadly, Lizzy will be here in 10 minutes so I will post about them later today.

[LHR02]

Okay, couple of other good war sites in Netherlands....

Oosterbeck...take train to Arnhem, then bus to Oosterbeck....big part of Operation Market Garden. There is a really wonderful Airborne Memorial/Museum there (ask them to run the film for you) as well as an impressive cemetery. This part of the 'operation' was British and Polish so the graves are 90% those nationalities. And beautiful and so well maintained. Unlike US war graves these have regimental emblems and most touching, most have some sort of inscription...normally penned by relatives. Moving indeed.

In Ooverloon is the National War and Resistence 'Museum'....a fascinating place. Actually on the exact site of one huge battle, loads of 'stuff' was abandoned there and they have basically just left it where it was. You wander through this huge forest, tanks, AA, shelters, whatever are basically where they stopped. Gives a great feel for how the fighting was in these forests, you can be 20 feet from something and barely see it through the trees....and this was in winter time! Not a really easy spot to get to....train to Venray, then about 10k if memory serves.....no buses running in winter time so I had to taxi it...7 euros....a great find IF you are a WWII fan....if not, you will likely be a bit bored. Several big buildings with planes, APC's, old equipment as well.

ging

[emily]

Adding to WillTravel's comment about**St Martin in the Fields**......

**be sure to visit the crypt of this church**.....they have a place to do brass rubbings....they vary in prices from 5pounds for small rubbings to 27 pounds for huge ones..... my sister and i did some this past trip....if you're worried about them getting smushed in your back pack, you can buy a tube to put them in, and they fit quite nicely into your pack...! i think they are great inexpensive souveniers to take back home....kinda cool. also, go early, crowds come in and take all the cool brass molds and then you have to wait for them to get done rubbing to get the ones you want.. --we got there at 10am, rubbed till 11, and then grabbed a quick bite in the crypt cafe, and walked to Westminster Abbey.

[karlhoh]

Must See Churches:

S. Pietro - Rome
Pantheon - Rome
S. Francesco - Assisi
S. Maria degli Angeli - Assisi
S. Marco - Venice
S. Maria di Fiori (Duomo) - Florence
Duomo - Pisa
Duomo - Milan
Capella Palatino - Palermo
Duomo - Monreale

Hagia Sophia - Istanbul

Notre Dame - Paris
Sacre Coeur - Paris
Cathedrale - Chartres
Basilique du Rosaire - Lourdes
Basilique St-Sernin - Toulouse
Chapelle du Rosaire - Vence

Cathedral - Canterbury

Sagrada Familia - Barcelona
Cathedral - Sevilla

Gedächtniskirche - Berlin

Nidarosdomen - Trondheim

Church in the rock - Helsinki

[karlhoh]

Must See Museums:

Vatican Museum - Rome
Foro Romano - Rome
Archeological Museum - Naples
Pompei Excavations - Pompei
Uffizi - Florence
Galleria d'Academia - Florence

Le Louvre - Paris
Musee Picasso - Antibes

British Museum - London

Pergamon Museum - Berlin

Auschwitz Museum - Auschwitz

KGB Museum - Vilnius

[WillTravel]

Roskilde Domkirke is sort of the Danish equivalent of Westminster Abbey. It has kings and queens buried within it. It is about 800 years old and has vast historical significance. I took the guided tour in English and really enjoyed it.

[triple5funk]

everyone's posted my must-sees for italy and france...

here's my must-sees for spain:

madrid:
-palacio real
-museo del prado
-el parque del buen retiro
-reina sofia (great collections of dali and picasso - houses picasso's guernika)
-monasterio de las descalzes reales (sp?)

sevilla:
-alcazar
-cathedral
-plaza de espana

granada:
-la alhambra (it's advised to book tix early)

barcelona:
-sagrada familia

[me]

some really interesting architecture can be found in Barcelona. Lots of Gaudi buildings. Am told that his name is where the word gaudy comes from. Btw, he designed sagrada familia in Barcelona. although, that church still isn't finished!

- d

[me]

Trip,

what about the Mosquito in Cordoba? i found that to also be impressive!

the Picasso museum in Barcelona was also great! imo.

- d

triple5funk said:

here's my must-sees for spain:

[jennifer]

The Kolner Dom in Germany, (Cologne Dom in Cologne)!
Magnificent architecture!

[me]

and it's so close to the Koeln train station! just across the street.

jennifer said:

The Kolner Dom in Germany, (Cologne Dom in Cologne)!
Magnificent architecture!