2: Deciding When and Where to Go in .NET framework

Print ECC200 in .NET framework 2: Deciding When and Where to Go

was home to artistic giants such as Rembrandt and van Gogh, whose works are showcased in Amsterdam s fabulous museums Food-wise, you can enjoy an Indonesian feast in the Leidseplein district, fresh herring from an outdoor stall, and local beers and gin Nearby, you can sample a less hectic Dutch way of life in the smaller city of Haarlem or tour tulip gardens, windmills, and re-created villages in the countryside You can also ride bikes for free in Hoge Veluwe National Park, with its stunning Kr ller-M ller Museum dedicated to van Gogh and other modern-era artists The pulsing heart of life-loving Bavaria is Munich (see 15), a cultural powerhouse packed with a bevy of fine museums and two outstanding baroque palaces, and host to Oktoberfest, the biggest beer party in the world You can munch on bratwurst and pretzels in beer halls and stroll the old center and expansive Englischer Garten city park, or visit the Pinakothek art galleries to feast on masterpieces from Germany and elsewhere throughout Europe Half the fun of Munich is traveling out of town to visit Neuschwanstein, the ornate fairy-tale castle of Mad King Ludwig The darker side of history is here, too Just outside Munich, the town where the Nazi Party got its start, you can tour the sobering concentration camp at Dachau Over the Alps in Austria (see 16), you can visit Vienna, a city that was once capital of the giant Austro-Hungarian Empire and still retains its refined architectural and artistic grandeur Steep yourself in this heritage by climbing the cathedral towers, sipping coffee at a famous cafe, admiring the masterpieces of the Kunsthistoriches Museum, or taking in a performance at the renowned Vienna State Opera house Vienna is, after all, one of the great music centers of Europe, where Mozart, Johann Strauss, and other famous composers made their careers Another popular Austrian destination is Innsbruck, a lovely little town tucked away in the heart of the Austrian Alps After a visit to the Swiss capital of Bern (see 17), where you can admire hometown boy Paul Klee s masterpieces, see where Einstein came up with E=mc2, feed the town mascots at the Bear Pits, and float down the river with the locals, you can delve into the heart of the Swiss Alps, the Bernese Oberland region around the towering Jungfrau peak Here, small resort towns and Alpine villages cling to the sides of the mighty Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald valleys, surrounded by glaciers and ribbon-thin waterfalls, accessible by scenic railways, cable cars, and miles of hiking and skiing trails Finally, take a foray into Eastern Europe to see how the medieval and baroque city of Prague (see 18), once stifled behind the Iron Curtain, has come roaring back to life and become one of Europe s most popular destinations This dreamy city of church spires, castles, and ancient streets is one of the world s top centers for sampling beer and

classical music You find a plethora of concerts every night and in every venue imaginable from symphonies playing in grand halls to street trios improvising under a medieval bridge abutment

Rome (see 19), once the most powerful city in the Western world, brims with famous sites, from the ancient Forum and Colosseum to massive St Peter s Cathedral Dozens of museums house everything from ancient Roman statues, frescoes, and mosaics to Renaissance masterpieces One of the city s greatest treasures is Michelangelo s magnificent ceiling in the Sistine Chapel The cityscape itself is a joy to wander, a tangle of ancient streets and Renaissance-era boulevards punctuated by public squares sporting baroque fountains (such as famed Trevi Fountain), Renaissance sculpture, and Egyptian obelisks From Rome you can easily day trip to Tivoli, where the atmospheric ruins of Hadrian s villa and the famed gardens of the Villa d Este provide enchanting diversions, or take the subway to Ostia Antica, the ancient port of Rome Florence (see 20), birthplace of the Renaissance, is loaded with a lifetime s worth of world-class museums and churches designed or decorated by some of the greatest names in Italian art Here you find Michelangelo s towering David, Botticelli s sublime Birth of Venus, Leonardo s moving Annunciation, and other artistic icons Florence is also a great place to dine on succulent Tuscan fare, sample fine Italian wines, and wander old neighborhoods known to Dante Florence is the capital of Tuscany, one of Europe s most popular regions In this fabled and sublimely beautiful land, the tower of Pisa leans, wineries turn ripe grapes into Brunellos and Chiantis, and hill towns such as Siena and San Gimignano bring the Middle Ages to life with their forbidding stone towers and finely decorated churches Venice (see 21) floats like a dream on its lagoon, with ornate palaces and tiny footbridges spanning a network of canals The only modes of transportation here are boats and your own two legs The interior of St Mark s Cathedral glitters with golden mosaics, and the works of great Venetian artists, such as Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, adorn the walls of the Accademia Gallery and Doge s Palace After feasting on Venice s seafood specialties, take the public ferry to explore the outlying islands of Murano (where Venetian glass blowing was invented), Burano (a colorful fishing village), and Torcello (an undeveloped island hiding another gorgeously mosaicked church) And consider setting aside a day on the Veneto mainland to see the Giotto frescoes in Padova (Padua)