Edinburgh is the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, as it serves up a delicious array of libraries, bookshops, historic authors, literary monuments, and scenic tours. In the 1700s, Edinburgh was the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment, and it gained the nickname “Athens of the North” for its classical architecture and reputation for producing literary and …
Athens overwhelmed us. We stepped out of the metro system into Plateia Syntagma, astounded by sunlight, crowds pushing past us to get into the dark subway, men selling chestnuts from carts, and the stink of traffic. Although the city was renovated, and public transit improved for the 2004 Olympics, Athens remains a sprawling metropolis full of …
Down through the middle of Oxford, home of England’s oldest university, runs a north-south axis that takes you past interesting churches, towers and colleges, to a gorgeous meadow. This axis starts with a road called St Giles’, it continues with Cornmarket Street, and then changes its name to St Aldate’s. Following this thoroughfare north to south provides …