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

Brno. In Medieval times this city was in the hands of many rulers. Near the town of Brno Napoleon defeated the Austrian forces at the Battle of Austerlitz. Brno had a large German speaking population, up to two thirds of … Read More

Sainte-Chapelle. Kings like to have a bit of privacy when they go to Church. This was no different with Louis IX of France. Next to the grand Notre Dame in Paris, which was destroyed in a fire in 2019 and … Read More

A great view. When you’re in the neighbourhood you should visit the Kościuszko Mound that is on a hill near Krakow. It first was a settlement, but soon it was transformed into a part of the city defence. However, these … Read More

Atlantic Wall. During WWII the Germans built several defence works and fortifications to protect themselves from the Allied Forces. Battery Heerenduin and Battery Olmen belonged to this so-called ‘Atlantic Wall’. You can find them near the harbour city of IJmuiden … Read More

Bach. The St. Thomas church is one of the two main churches of Leipzig. It was here where Bach entertained the people of Leipzig during the mass. In front of this church there is a statue of Johann Sebastian Bach. … Read More