Royal Canal Tour

Today we will spend another day visiting Stockholm. But unlike last time, we will visit it not on foot but on a boat. 

We will take a tour on the Royal Canal. Djurgården Canal has been royal land since the 15th century.

As we start, we can admire the Parliament Hall.

And the National Museum.

Then we move on to the canal itself.

On the shores we see churches ...

... and old huts.

When you look back, you will notice a large marina. Every tenth Swede owns a boat.

Actually, the whole Scandinavia is very close to water. They use it for travels - short and long. Just like the Vikings.

But they also live on water. at least from time to time. This ship is a youth hostel!

And of course they have fun on water as well.

I hope that you had fun as well today. We are not yet living Stockholm - tomorrow we will visit one more special place that got its place on a very special List.

Canals of Amsterdam

We will visit today the city of Amsterdam. Like Venice, it is best known for its many canals, bordered by residential buildings.

But the Dutchman live not only by the canals but also literally on the canals, in the many barges.

As if this was not enough, they also live below the canals. Well, maybe they do not live there but they use the ground below the canals as parking space.

But the best way of admiring the canals of Amsterdam is to take a boat trip.

From the canal, we can admire the houses and the barges ...

... the churches ...

... and the National Opera and Ballet.

As we sail, we naturally pass many bridges. Some solid.

and some that open to let bigger ships pass.

Because the canals of Amsterdam are amazing both during day ...

... and night.

London Paddington

I will take you today on a little walk in London. If you expect to see Big Ben or the London Eye, you might be a bit disappointed. Because we will walk around the Paddington area within the City of Westminster, in central London. We will start, not surprisingly, at the Paddington railway station, where you can arrive directly from Heathrow on the Heathrow Express (expensive but really fast).

The Paddington area does not have a central point of its own. Instead it is composed of residential buildings, hotels and small parks. One of the most noticeable public buildings is the St. Mary's hospital.

If you do not want to visit it from the inside, remember one critical instruction: the cars in England move on the left side of the road. So when you cross the street ....

The St. Mary's Hospital stands next to a little canal. It is the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

To keep the canal clear of algae and to aerate it, a special "bubbly barrier" was created.

At the very end of the canal comes the Merchant's square. It used to be a kid of market place in the past but today it is a residential and leisure area.

On sunny days, children most probably play by (or in...) the fountain.

Supervised by sir Simon Milton, a former leader of the Westminster City council.

Close to the St. Mary's hospital stand the St. Mary's church in the parish of Little Venice.

Behind it you will find a small park, called St. Mary's churchyard. Very pragmatic.

But before you start running and having fun here, maybe you should take a closer look at the fence. Or at the stones standing by the fence. And yes, this are tombstones.

The churchyard is a former graveyard. Still some bigger graves remain in the middle of the lawn.

To be honest, I find the idea quite spooky. But apparently other people not, since there are residential buildings surrounding the yard.

Not forgetting the City of Westminster College.

In the St. Mary's churchyard you will find graves of some famous people, like Sarah Siddons, the best Lady Macbeth of her times.

Luckily, the Paddington area has also other parks to offer, like the Norfolk square.

Inside, you will find cosy lanes and an abundance of plants.

Let's take a walk inside.

I would expect that flats in the buildings facing the Norfolk Square are more expensive that I can even imagine.

I propose that we take a break and order a pint in one of the pubs. This one looks really welcoming. Maybe they have some good Sherlock Holmes stories to share.

Venice

Italy is a beautiful country, full of amazing places to be seen. We have visited Milan in spring time. What can be better than to discover Venice by late summer? As you surely all know, Venice is a city located basically on water.

No, it does not mean that it literally stands in the sea like the pile dwellings we have visited along Lake Constance. It is simply built on a total of 117 islands of the Venice Lagoon. On bigger islands there are real streets. But in between, you will find canals. On their shores you will find museums ...

... and governmental buildings. 

And on the canals you can find boats that serve all types of purposes, including an ambulance ...

... and a postal car! Or postal boat to be more precise.

But the most famous Venetian boats are of course the gondolas, in which tourists can comfortably enjoy a ride on the waves. 

Some of the canals are rather small. It almost feels as if the inhabitants of the buildings facing them could shake hands in the morning.

Other canals are bigger. The biggest one is Canale Grande, a real water highway. 

Canale Grande, like any other highway, is very busy, so we need to manoeuvre carefully while still admiring the banks. Look on your right hand side, to this huge dome. 

It is the basilica of Santa Maria de Salute (Virgin Mary of Health), founded by the city of Venice to thank God and his Mother for the end of a plague. The church is visible designed in baroque style.

Finally, we arrive to the biggest square in the city. It is facing the San Marco Basin. 

And the square is called San Marco square, which can be further discovered from the statue of the Saint Mark's lion. Any ideas who is the saint patron of the city of Venice?

The most important buildings of the city include the Palace of the Doges, built in Venetian gothic style. Doge of Venice was the title of the most senior governmental official elected by the Republic of Venice, which lasted over a thousand years.

Just behind the palace, you will see the main church of the city, dedicated (how did you guess?) to Mark the Evangelist, aka San Marco. The tall red tower is the San Marco Campanille, being a bell tower.

The entrance to the San Marco basilica is supported by numerous columns. On top, you can see marvellous mosaics. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures inside the basilica but you can have a glimpse of this amazing place here.

Above the entrance you can admire the Triumphal Quadriga or the Horses of Saint Mark. The four horses were made of bronze in the second century after Christ. They were (let's face it) stolen from Constantinople in 1204.

Would you like to see them closer? Then let's go up. From the top of the church you can admire the San Marco square.

As well as the Doge's Palace and the Basin.

Oh, what a thrill. It is me and the quadriga of Saint Mark. Alright, I need to confess - this is a contemporaneous copy. The two thousand year old original is behind us, in the basilica's museum (but no photos allowed ...).

I hope that you have enjoyed the time we have spent in the amazing city of Venice. I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that its uniqueness has deserved it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. After all, where else in the world, can you see a view like this?