Rembrandtplein. From the Jewish quarter in Amsterdam it’s a short walk or a tram stop to a square with the name Rembrandtplein. It was named after the famous Dutch 17th century painter Rembrandt van Rijn. For 15 years this square … Read More

Marktplatz. Near the City Hall of Bonn you will find a market place. When we visited Bonn, there were a few food stalls in the middle of this 11th century old square. It made the place more lively. Looking at … Read More

Place de la Concorde. One of the most famous – or should I say infamous – squares in Paris is the Place de la Concorde. It was designed in 1755 in honour of King Louis XV and therefore named after … Read More

Saint Peter and Paul Church. When you walk through the mainstreet of Krakow’s city center, you can’t miss this church. It is located near the building Pope John Paul II lived in during his years in Krakow. It took 22 … Read More

Royal Palace The Royal Palace in Amsterdam has not always been a Palace. During Amsterdam’s Golden Age Jacob van Campen constructed it as a City Hall. Amsterdam became rich from trading with the far east and transporting slaves to America. … Read More

Lucca. In Roman and in Medieval times the city of Lucca was very wealthy. You can realy see this when you visit its churches. The Basilica of San Frediano is the most popular one but Lucca has more. Have a … Read More

Amsterdam. In the center of Amsterdam you will find a square with two national monuments. It’s called ‘Dam Square’ and usually it’s crowded with people. You can walk there from Central Station in about 5 minutes. The first monument is … Read More

Utah Beach. A mighty fleet of battleships, destroyers, mine sweepers and cruisers as well as troop transports went to Normandy. One of the beaches in Nomandy received the code name Utah Beach. Here the operation went almost according to plan. … Read More

Centre Georges Pompidou. We visited this place during one of our stays in Paris. The Centre Georges Pompidou, known to most as Centre Pompidou, houses a museum for modern art in Paris. It opened its doors in 1977 and was … Read More

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur To get to the church you have to climb 222 stairs or take the cable car. It is a beautiful site and you can see a lot of Paris. In the evening young people get together on … Read More

In Colleville-sur-Mer we visited a cemetery for American victims of the WWII Normandy landing. After the war, the families of the victims had a choice: either bringing their loved ones back to the US or leaving them in France to … Read More

Holocaust. Krakow is a beautiful city. It has a medieval center and lots of landmarks. Unfortunately most people know Krakow only from the film Schindler’s list. Krakow had a large Jewish population. During the war- years most of them where … Read More

Marseille. Marseille has the second biggest population of all cities in France. The Greeks founded this city around 600 BC. Later on Marseille became part of the Roman Empire and during this time Caesar captured it as part of his … Read More

Lorsch. The Abbey of Losch was very wealthy during the Carolingian Empire and it had possessions spread through the Holy German ‘Reich’. Some of these possessions are in the Netherlands and some as far south as the Bodensee. Unfortunately after … Read More

Austerlitz. Everybody knows that Austerlitz is not really a Dutch name for a town. It is the place where Napoleon’s French forces made a stunning victory. Only 75,000 French soldiers defeated an army of 90,000. As a result the Netherlands … Read More