Part I: Introducing Europe in Visual Studio .NET

Maker ECC200 in Visual Studio .NET Part I: Introducing Europe

Take advantage of the audio tour Audio tours in museums are easy and fun and can add immeasurably to your enjoyment of a work of art or a historic site Nowadays, most audio tours are digital, and you go at your own pace The exhibited works have numbers next to them, which you just punch into the wand s keypad It then gives you the facts and background of the work, artist, era, and so on This way, you get the lowdown on the works that most intrigue you Do the guided-tour thing Museum tours are led by experts who explain the background and significance of the most important works and can answer your questions In huge museums, they guide you directly to masterworks you d otherwise have to find on your own Do your homework The art and artifacts will be much more engaging and interesting if you know something about what you re looking at Whether you skim your guidebook for the information or take a class in art history before your trip, a little brushing up on European artists and movements will enrich any museum-going experience Keep the museum hours in mind To avoid disappointment, it s always a good idea to verify a museum s opening days and hours before your visit Many of the big museums stay open until 7 or 8 pm on one or two evenings a week, and in summer, some of them stay open as late as 10 pm or even midnight This is a great time to visit because the galleries are less crowded, and you can visit another must-see site during the day Concentrate on the masterpieces Even a moderate-size museum can overwhelm you if you don t pace yourself Don t feel obligated to see every work on display Many museums include a list of the masterpieces on their floor plans, and you can skip entire wings of less important works

While visiting Florence, the French writer Stendhal was so overwhelmed by the aesthetic beauty of the Renaissance and so exhausted by trying to see absolutely everything that he collapsed Stendhal s case is an extreme one, perhaps, but he s not the last one to break down from too much Europe Even if you don t faint in the piazza, after a few days or weeks of fullsteam-ahead sightseeing, you may feel unaccountably tired or irritable, catch a cold, or just stop caring whether you see another church or painting in your life When the idea of visiting the Louvre makes you groan and want to take a nap, it s time to recharge your mental batteries Check out these hints for remedying traveler s burnout:

Just because something is famous, don t feel obligated to do or see it If you re going to wear yourself out, do it on the stuff you love Skip what doesn t interest you and limit yourself to those attractions that you really want to see Pace yourself Don t feel obligated to race around like a marathon runner when you re soaking up the variety of Europe s cultural offerings Schedule rest periods Leave room to picnic, to dip your hands in a fountain, and to stop and smell the cappuccino Don t pack too much into your overall trip itinerary or your daily sightseeing agenda Put variety into your sightseeing Visit a church, ruin, or museum, and then relax in a cafe or in a park before hitting your next site Don t visit one big museum after another Give other areas of your brain a workout so that your trip doesn t blur into one large, colorful mirage of Gothic cathedrals and Old Masters Do the siesta thing In Mediterranean countries, many businesses close in the early afternoon (the hottest part of the day), so why not do as the locals do and take a nap It can do you a world of good, both physically and mentally After you re awake and refreshed, you can return to your sightseeing Take a break when the sightseeing starts getting to you Whatever it takes to bring your cultural appreciation back from the brink, do it Take a day to get off the beaten path Go shopping Go to a soccer match Above all, stop trying to rack up sightseeing points Sit down with a coffee or a glass of wine and write postcards After describing your unforgettable experiences to your friends back home, chances are you ll be psyched to get back on the sightseeing trail