Travel guides

Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia (passeig is Catalan for promenade or avenue), part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona. The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work. It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadís) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon. Must tourist spot for any Barcelona sightseeing tours.
GPS travel coordinates: 41° 23′ 30″ N, 2° 9′ 54″ E

Guinness Storehouse, “the home of Guinness”, is Dublin’s most popular tourist attraction. A converted brewing factory, it is effectively a shrine to Guinness, incorporating elements from the old brewing factory to explain the history of its production. Some of the old brewing equipment is on show, as well as stout ingredients, brewing techniques, advertising methods and storage devices. The exhibition takes place over 7 floors, in the shape of a 14 million pint glass of Guinness. The final floor is the Gravity Bar, which has an almost 360° panorama over the city, where visitors can claim a free pint of “the black stuff”. The storehouse is where they used to add the yeast to the beer for fermentation. Unlike the Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour, Guinness Storehouse visitors do not get to see the beer being brewed in front of them. But from various vantage points in the building you may see parts of the brewhouse, vats, grain silos and the keg yard. Must see tourist spot in travel guides for Dublin.
GPS travel coordinates: 52° 20′ 69″ N, 6° 17′ 11,58″ W

Rialto Towers (often The Rialto) is the second-tallest reinforced concrete building and the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, when measured to its roof. (Several other skyscrapers in Australia are taller if their spires are included, as are some other structures such as communications masts and observation towers). It is at 525 Collins Street, in the western side of the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. Nice sky view great tourist spot.
GPS tourist coordinates: 37° 49′ 8″ S, 144° 57′ 30″ E

Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. It is home to the American League’s Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, the site of the annual International Bowl American college football bowl game, and as of 2008, the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills’ second playing venue. While it is primarily a sports venue, it also hosts other large-scale events such as conventions, trade fairs, and concerts. The stadium was renamed “Rogers Centre” following the purchase of the stadium by Rogers Communications in 2005. Important tourist spot.
GPS tourist coordinates: 43° 38′ 28.68″ N, 79° 23′ 21.17″ W

The Cathedral of Santa Eulalia (also called La Seu) is the Gothic cathedral seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain (Though sometimes inaccurately so called, the famous Sagrada Família is not a cathedral). The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries on top of a former Visigothic church. The Gothic-like façade is from the 19th century. The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona. One story is that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snow fall in mid spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street (according to tradition, the one now called ‘Baixada de Santa Eulalia’). The body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedral’s crypt. Another great tourist spot for Barcelona sightseeing tours.
GPS travel coordinates: 41° 23′ 2″ N, 2° 10′ 35″ E

The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Verona, Italy, which is famous for the opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved structures of its kind. The building was built in AD 30 on a site which at the time was outside of the city walls. The ludii (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other (sometimes very distant) places. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators. The round façade was originally in white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the outer ring, except the so-called “Ala”, the Arena was used as a quarry for other buildings. The first interventions to recover its functionality as a theatre were started during the Renaissance. Verona is great tourist spot with lot of famous attractions.
GPS tourist coordinate: 45° 26′ 20″ N, 10° 59′ 39″ E

The belfry of Bruges, or Belfort, is a medieval bell tower in the historical center of Bruges, Belgium. One of the city’s most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other danger. A narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps, accessible by the public for an entry fee, leads to the top of the 83-meter-high building, which leans about a meter to the east. To the sides and back of the tower stands the former market hall, a rectangular building only 44 m broad but 84 m deep, with an inner courtyard. The belfry, accordingly, is also known as the Halletoren (tower of the halls). Nice tourist spot for Belgium sightseeing tour.
GPS travel coordinates: 51° 12′ 30″ N, 3° 13′ 29″ E

Balboa Park is a 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) urban cultural park in San Diego, California, United States. Unlike some city parks which are mostly free of buildings in favor of open space and recreational fields (e.g. New York’s Central Park), Balboa Park is a cultural complex. Besides open areas and natural vegetation, it contains a variety of cultural attractions including museums, theaters, gardens, shops and restaurants as well as the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. Balboa Park has been declared a National Historic Landmark. The park is managed and maintained by the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Another great tourist spot for great vacation.
GPS travel destination: 32° 43′ 53″ N, 117° 8′ 43″ W