Royal Domain of Drottningholm

Yesterday we visited Drottningholm in Stockholm. A bit embarrassing that neither of us had visited before, but it finally gave me a new point in the competition, after a looong year of revisiting world heritages...

In comparison with other similar world heritage palaces (Versailles, Schloss Schönbrunn, Sans-Souci) Drottningholm scores high on surrounding and environment. The palace is beautifully located, and you could easily spend more than a few summer days lazily relaxing in the parks... That's pretty much what we did, after attempting a guided tour of the palace with a hungry, tired and hot two-year-old. Not appreciated by all. We actually left the tour half-way through, quickly walked through what was left of the beautiful rooms and proceeded to have cookies on the stairs outside. But the park was full of children, no guards yelled at you for having a pick-nick on the lawn, and Ester loved running through the labyrints and looking at the swans and geese in the lake. So it's definitely a good world heritage to visit with children!

visited by Maria, Mattias, Ester, Sofie and Fredrik, 2008-07-27

Historic Centre (Chorá) with the Monastery of Saint John "the Theologian" and the Cave of the Apocalypse on the Island of Pátmos

We took the flying Dolphin from Pythagorio on Samos to the island of Patmos. Arriving in the port town Skala, we immidiately started our walk up the mountainside to reach the Cave of the Apocalypse. The heat wasn't too bad yet, and we were lucky to arrive just between two tourist groups and had a few moments almost alone in the cave where John is said to have composed his gospel and the apocalypse after having visions of God.

We then continued our climb up to Chorà and the monastery. Chorà is a beautiful city, and if you (like us) only do a one-day trip to Patmos, I can recommend exploring the narrow white streets around the monastery rather than going back down to Skala which is not very exciting...

visited by Maria and Mattias 2008-07-15

Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos

On the beautiful island Samos you can find the city Pythogoreion, birth town of Pythagorio. It is a touristic small town, whose harbour is lined with restaurants. A small castle still overlooks the town, and excavations are scattered almost everywhere between the narrow greek streets. Just outside the town, close to the village Ireon, is Heraion, an antique temple of Hera. Or rather... there's not much left of the temple, but walking through the area gives you an idea of how great the temple must have been. I would however, recommend a visit to the museum of Samos before going to Heraion, since most of the artefacts found in the excavations are kept there. It becomes easier to imagine the great temple after having seen the huge statues found there, now on display in the museum.

A visit to the impressive tunnel of Eupalinos is also recommended. Not only to get an idea of the amazing technical achievement it represents, but also to enjoy the cool air of the tunnel...

visited by Maria, Mattias, Isabella and Dennis, 2008-07-10