Belgian Beer

Belgian beer is world famous and the culture of beer brewing in Belgium dates back to the middle ages. Beer brewing nowadays are traditionally done by Trappist monasteries and monks.

There are infinite varieties of Belgian beer, I've also tried them myself when I visited the country and at home as well, because they are very popular in Hungary. I prefer the kriek lambic which are fermented with sour Morello cherries :)
Belgian beer culture, deservedly, was acknowledged as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the UNESCO in 2016.

From: W. J.
Date: February 2013

Göteborg

Lilla Bomen harbour by night

Göteborg in local Swedish, or Gothenburg in English is the second-largest city of Sweden. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country, at the mouth of the Götä älv, the Götä River, hence its name.
This postcard shows the Lilla Bomen harbour. Lilla Bomen means 'Small Boom' in Swedish.
From left to right: the Barken Viking, the biggest sailing ship ever built in Scandinavia (1906), the eponymous Lilla Bomen post-modern high-rise, referred by the locals as The Lipstick (Läppstiftet) and the Göteborg Opera House.

From: H. Á.
Date: January 2013

Bergamo

Piazza Vecchia and the Campanone

I received this beautiful postcard in the very last days of the first semester of Erasmus. My flatmate and another friend visited Bergamo as a goodbye trip. 

Bergamo is a small city very close to Milano. It has an international airport on which I arrived to Italy a couple of times.

The Piazza Vecchia and the Civic tower – the Campanone, in Italian – can be seen in the postcard. The Campanone is 53 meter-high and provides a nice panorama to the old town. The tower houses the largest bell in whole Lombardy region.

From: K. W., D. P.
Date: January 2013

Verona

Clockwise from top left to right: Lamberti Tower, Piazza Erbe from the Lamberti Tower, the Arena, Ponte Scaligero, Ponte Pietra

A week after the Lake Como excursion, another dear friend came to visit me in Milano. Those days were quite busy :) The city we chose to visit that time was Verona.

Verona is located in the Veneto region of Italy, the city of Romeo & Juliet. Shakespeare set his famous play in Verona and the city feeds on its fame until today. 

We visited Juliet's House (Casa di Giulietta), which has a romantic balcony. The House is the monument of love, where lovers write their names on the wall, put colourful lockets on the gate to protest their love for each other and even stick chewing gums on the wall – eww. When you enter to the house, there is a nice, lean-figured bronze statue of Juliet, standing in the courtyard. Urban legend has it if you touch the right breast of Juliet, it brings you good luck in love. The statue was placed there in 1972, but thanks to this strange custom, it was necessary to be removed in 2014, due to conservational reasons. (I touched the original breast, yaay!)

I found Verona very charming, its bridges on the Adige river, which we walked along, the Portoni della Bra and the antique Arena, built in the 1st century AD. Due to its high number of historical buildings, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.

Date: January 2013

Lago di Como

When two friends visited me in Milan, we embarked on an excursion to Lake Como, or how Italians call it: Lago di Como :)

It is famous for the lakeside villas belonging to actors and celebrities such as George Clooney.

It was a very nice and chilly winter day we spent there, the landscape was snowy. We took the funicular to the village of Brunate.

I remember the stunning futurist style World War I memorial by the lakeside, which was designed by Giuseppe and Attilio Terragni, using the original futurist style sketches of Antonio Sant'Elia and it was finally built in 1931.

Date: January 2013

Colosseum

The Colosseum is a building which doesn't need any introduction, it is one of the New7Wonders of the World. One of the most recognized ancient structure, the symbol of Rome. 

Even though, I try to write a few interesting fact about it. 

The construction spanned from emperor Vespasian who ordered its building in AD 72, his son and successor, Titus completed it in 80 and then, Domitian made further modifications between 81–96. All three of these emperors were the members of the Flavian dynasty, so the Colosseum is also referred as the Flavian Amphiteatre. It is believed that its name derives from the colossal, 30-metre high bronze statue of emperor Nero (Colossus Neronis) that stood nearby.

Yes, it is an amphiteatre, the biggest ever built. It was built for Roman citizens to entertain themselves with gladiator combats, naumachiae (staged naval battles), executions and drama plays. The estimated capacity of the building is between 50 000–80 000 spectators.

During the course of history, the Colosseum was stripped of by stone-robbers, its material was reused in bulding palaces, churches and any other edifice of Rome.

I have visited the Colosseum three times and besides its artistic grandeur, I was surprised it is a home to lots of cats :)

From: W. J.
Date: December 2012

Petra

Al-Khazneh, the "Treasury"

Though its name means "Treasury" in Arabic, Al-Khazneh, in fact, is an ancient temple, one of the main tourist attractions of the antique city of Petra. Local Beduins believed it contained treasure, hence its name. More probably, it was the mausoleum of the Nabatean King Aretas IV, who lived in the first century AD. 

The temple is carved out from a sandstone rock face and its façade bears decorative sculptures and reliefs: eagles, dancing amazons and the sculptures by the entrance of the Dioscuri twins: Castor and Pollux. The urn at the top of the center line connects back to the treasury legend: it is assumed that it was shot numerous times at the beginning of the 20th century by the Beduins who thought it contains treasure.

Petra was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

From: P. E.
Date: October 2012