Berlin

Berlin is the capital and largest city in Germany. Throughout the year, it plays host to many events - including Popkomm, Festival of Lights, Art Forum Berlin and the Berlin Marathon.

But the most impressive event to be held in the city this year is definitely Babylon – Myth and Truth. Here’s what the official website www.berlin.de has to say about it:

"With this major exhibition, the National Museums in Berlin, jointly with the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London, venture to explore the myth of Babel and the true facts surrounding the ancient city of Babylon: two worlds - one exhibition.

Truth
The first section of the exhibition exposes the roots of our Western culture by looking at the archaeological remains of Babylon, thus revealing what lies behind the legends. This section centres around the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way of Babylon. Over 800 objects are exhibited, among them statues, reliefs, votive offerings, architectural fragments and documents.

Myth
The second section of the exhibition regards Babylon as a metaphor for the dark sides of civilisation - repression and the lack of freedom, terror and violence, hubris and madness. In European art and culture, the myth of Babel is closely related to mankind's primal fears.

Here, visitors experience the mythical story of the rise and fall of Babylon as a city of sin and tyranny, as the site of the confusion of tongues and the metropolis of eternal apocalypse. They venture on an expedition to the mysterious roots of these ideas, their emergence and establishment throughout the centuries up to the current day. The story is not one of a historical truth about Babylon, but of a truth about a civilisation that needs the myth of Babel in order to understand itself."

The exhibition is open now until 5th October.

Chicago

My favourite thing about Chicago is the fact that it’s not just a normal city…it’s located next to a beach. This means that you can walk down the street with soaring metropolitan skyscrapers to your left and a relaxing, sandy beach with views across Lake Michigan to your right.

You could spend the morning shopping in the city and the afternoon sunning yourself on the sand, before going back into town in the evening to eat dinner in a restaurant or catch a show at one of Chicago’s many theatres.


Chicago’s Millennium Park is home to Cloud Gate – a large mirrored legume-shaped sculpture, which is the centrepiece of the AT&T Plaza and is appropriately nicknamed The Bean. If you photograph it from the correct angle you can capture a reflection of the city’s impressive skyline, as seen above.


Chicago hosts some of the world’s tallest buildings, including Sears Tower – the highest building in the western hemisphere – and the John Hancock Center, a building full of offices, restaurants and living accommodation. The photo above shows the gift shop on the top floor of the JHC.


The Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Co. provides a fascinating hop-on-hop-off sightseeing tour of the city. It’s a two-hour, fully narrated tour that covers 13 miles of downtown Chicago. When you board the trolley, you receive a free Hershey's chocolate bar and Garrett popcorn sample. Book online before your trip and save 10 per cent off the ticket price.


There’s something for everyone in Chicago. It’s one of the best cities in the world for entertainment, shopping, sports, culture, cuisine and nightlife and is well worth a visit.

Dublin

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!” and “What’s the craic?” may be stereotypical clichéd phrases associated with the Irish, but they are actually genuinely used by Dubliners.

In fact, one of the best things about this city is the people. In 2007, Dublin was voted the friendliest city in Europe. You won’t run out of people to party with while you’re here.

The most famous area for nightlife in Dublin is Temple Bar and attracts tourists from around the world, including numerous stag and hen parties from Britain.


Three of the Best Places to Drink in Dublin’s Temple Bar

Best Pub: The Temple Bar Pub
(www.thetemplebarpub.com)


A traditional Irish pub with traditional live Irish music, the unique selling point of The Temple Bar is its beer garden – a peaceful haven to sit and relax in the middle of this hectic area. The pub has Ireland’s largest collection of whiskeys from around the world, and the shop next door sells a wide range of pub merchandise, from t-shirts to hats to bar signs.


Best Bar: The Morgan Bar
(www.themorgan.com)


Situated in the Morgan Hotel, this is Dublin’s newest bar. It’s more sophisticated than most of the pubs in the area – with its soft leather seats and comfortable sofas, there’s a very cosmopolitan feel about the place. A great venue for a relaxing pre- or post-dinner drink with friends. And there’s a live DJ in the bar at weekends.


Best Nightclub: Club M
(www.clubm.ie)


Club M is one of Dublin’s most famous nightclubs and only has two rules: Dress to Impress and Be Happy, Not Drunk. Inside are four bars, many seating areas, a huge dancefloor and even two podiums. If you’re staying in Blooms Hotel you get a pass for yourself and three friends to enter the club for free on weeknights, and money off at weekends.


And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless other pubs, bars and nightclubs in Temple Bar – not to mention all the restaurants and cinemas – and whether you’re in Dublin for the weekend or a longer stay, you’d be crazy to miss out on experiencing the capital’s most famous partying district!

Venice

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Venice? I’ll take a shot in the dark and guess that you said, “Water”.

That’s what 99.9% of people would say. But there’s so much more to this city than just the canals.

The food, for instance. Venice is where you’ll find the best pizza and ice-cream in the world. Don’t believe me? See for yourself:


Look at the size of that pizza!


And the variety of ice-cream!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Everyone has eaten these foods before, and most people love them. So it’s worth going to Venice just to try them made the authentic Italian way – it’s so much better!

Other things to do while in Venice – apart from eat!


Take a gondola ride
There are no cars in this city so if you want to get anywhere, you have to walk or take a boat. The classic gondola ride is quite expensive (starting at 80 euros for 40 minutes) but for just 50 cents you can get on the traghetto, a commuter gondola-ferry that crosses the Grand Canal. Bargain!


Visit Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square)
For a spot of culture, go to Piazza San Marco while you’ll see Basilica di San Marco (St Mark’s Basilica, above), Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower). The piazza is huge and notorious for its pigeons, so watch out for birds suddenly flying in front of your face! And don’t buy a coffee from any of the cafés on the piazza – one espresso can cost 11 euros.


Go shopping
You won’t find any malls or department stores in Venice. Instead, you’ll notice many markets and small shops such as antiques shops and bookstores. Venice is known for its glass and lace, and there are loads of market stalls around the city selling glassware [such as the masks above] and a plethora of lace vendors on Piazza San Marco.


Tackle the bridges
Try and walk over every bridge in Venice. I bet you won’t succeed; there are 409!