Ayutthaya

I'm a real rambler -- I travel wherever and whenever I can. On my travels, I have seen so many wonders and treasures and I've learned to love and respect the cultural and natural heritage of the places I visit.

Because of this, I also have a lot of admiration for the work UNESCO does protecting and promoting our world heritage:

"The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972."
UNESCO also works to promote sustainable tourism.

Here's a list of World Heritage sites I've visited. I haven't blogged about more than two of them, but I promise to add more posts on this soon.

• Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria)
• La Grand-Place, Brussels (Belgium)
• Historic Centre of Prague (Czech Republic) [My Vox post]
  
• Chartres Cathedral (France)
• Palace and Park of Versailles (France)
• Vézelay, Church and Hill (France)
• Paris, Banks of the Seine (France)
• Hanseatic City of Lübeck (Germany)
• Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (Germany)
• Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin (Germany)
• Acropolis, Athens (Greece)
• Delos (Greece)
• Old Town of Corfu (Greece)
• Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Vatican State)
• Vatican City (Vatican State)
• Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue (Hungary)
• Þingvellir National Park (Iceland)
• Historic Centre of Florence (Italy)
  
• Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (Italy)
• Archaeological Areas of Pompei (Italy)
• Vilnius Historic Centre (Lithuania)
• City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications (Luxembourg)
• Urnes Stave Church (Norway)
• Røros Mining Town (Norway)
• Rock Art of Alta (Norway)
• Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (Portugal)
• Laurisilva of Madeira (Portugal)
• Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments (Russia)
• Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow (Russia)
• Western Caucasus (Russia)
• Robben Island (South Africa)
• Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (South Africa)
• Works of Antoni Gaudí (Spain/Catalonia) [My Vox post 1 & 2]
  
• Laponian Area (Sweden)
• Historic City of Ayutthaya (Thailand)
• Amphitheatre of El Jem (Tunisia)
• Kairouan (Tunisia)
• Medina of Sousse (Tunisia)
• Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey)
• Tower of London (United Kingdom)
• Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (United States)

These are sites I plan to visit this year:

• Venice and its Lagoon (Italy)
  
• Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia)
• Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor (Montenegro)
  
• Durmitor National Park (Montenegro)
  
• Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark)

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Washington DC is better than its reputation: It is said to be a cold city populated with politicians and all kinds of parasites that come to live off them. That's not necessarily a bad thing: To visit White House and Capitol Hill, to see where the decisions are made that shape so much of international politics, that's very educating.

Also, I met plenty of regular people and experienced a vibrant city, for example charming old houses, excellent shopping and all kinds of exotic restaurants. Why not try Brasilian cooking at the charming The Grill from Ipanema high up in the hills of Adams Morgan or Vietnamese at trendy Bangkok Joe's in Georgetown?

And another thing: What's wrong with museums and monuments? The monuments in Washington commemorate people and events that have not only shaped the USA, but most of the word -- for better or for worse. And the museums are world class. The museums of The Smithsonian Institution have a prominent place at the foot of Capitol Hill and house wonderful collections of art and history. They store objects of beauty, symbolic value, religious significance, and historic reference. If you love museums, you have to spend time in the Smithsonian.

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I'm catching up on my blogging: Here are my impressions from a long weekend in Prague in August of 2007. To state it bluntly, Prague is everything it's cranked up to be :)

People come to Prague for the history, the architecture, the beer. And these are all good reasons to make the journey. The Old town was my favorite. The narrow streets are basically unchanged for centuries. Whenever you come around a corner, there's a fascinating facade, an ancient church, a hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Granted you can find a more affordable meal elsewhere and many of the shops are tourist traps. So what -- just walk past them and marvel in the beauty and charm of the Old Town.

Another thing to enjoy in Prague is the food. There are plenty of excellent restaurants and compared to prices in Western Europe, they are still quite affordable. We had both dinner and lunch at the strangely named Cowboy Restaurant. This excellent restaurant inhabits several buildings that climb the hill beneath Prague's ancient castle. The view is great and so is the food. I was especially impressed by the tuna tartare.

If you drink beer, make sure to sample the Czeck variety. You get good beer all over town, but why not try a micro brewery? U Medvidku and Klasterny Pivovar are both in or close to the Old Town.

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