The capital of Spain (since 1561) is the ideal destination for those seeking nightlife that never seems to end (opened daily by the rite of "tapas" with reference to the tradition of serving snack-appetizer, vegetarian and non, to taste with beer or wine after dinner is 22, and you do not go to the disco before 3), and for those who love culture (take for example the Prado museum that houses, among others, works by Goya, Velazquez, Bosch as well as a section dedicated to Italian painting of the late Renaissance and Baroque Italian). A monumental city, but with 33 percent of the green surface, the intense traffic, but with an extensive network of underground transport.
What to visit
At the center, physical and vital, Madrid is the Puerta del Sol, in which is placed the plate of the zero kilometer, which is used to calculate distances in the Spanish state.
Near Puerta del Sol is the oldest part of the city, Los Austrias, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and Plaza Mayor, the historic square of Madrid, surrounded by important buildings of the era.
But around Puerta del Sol, in the east and south, between Plaza de Cibeles, Atocha Station and Sol, is also the most vibrant city, with plenty of cafes and restaurants, three large museums and the Parque del Buen Retiro, the largest park in Madrid.
North of Puerta del Sol are the Gran Vía, the main shopping street, the Malasaña area, old residential area progressive district, and Chueca, the gay district of Madrid and liberal.
Madrid is the "home" of three major art museums, which are, among other things, a few steps from each other, and that can be visited with a single ticket, the Paseo del Arte :
The Prado is the most famous of the three, here are masterpieces by Goya, Velázquez, Titian, Rubens and Bosch.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum with Dutch painting of 1600, impressionism, Russian constructivism and pop art.
Queen Sofía Art Centre, with a collection that collects the majority of Spanish in 1900, including Picasso's Guernica. www.museoreinasofia.es
The Palacio Real, the Royal Palace of Madrid, is a building of 1764, built to replace the Alcázar castle burned down thirty years before. Admission is free on Wednesdays to EU citizens, and you can visit almost in its entirety, including the armory (the Armería), considered one of the most important rooms in the real world. In the inner rooms you can admire works by Spanish artists such as Goya.
The Parque del Buen Retiro Park is a beautiful park of 140 acres of land, inevitable stop for tourists, and one of the favorite places of Madrid for moments of relaxation. A walk in the park door near the Crystal Palace, a greenhouse made of iron and glass in 1800, and the Palace Velazquez, in the middle of the artificial lake, Estanque.
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The megalopolis of California (the third in the United States by number of inhabitants, after New York and Chicago) extends over an area of 1187 square kilometers and encompasses 80 small towns, including Beverly Hills, Culver City, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice and Inglewood). All are connected by highways and freeways (freeways and highwys) up to ten lanes, a maze of junctions, fittings and elevations. In reality, there is (or could be) a real center.
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Capital of Norway, the Court residence and seat of government, enjoys a wonderful location in the Oslofjord, which opens the Skagerrak over a length of 100 km, free throughout the year by ice.
The town is surrounded by green hills, lakes and forests, inhabited by animals and colorful flowers.
Oslo collects about 13% of the Norwegian population and, in addition to the large port, includes mechanical engineering and shipbuilding. The presence of academies, universities and several museums contribute to the vibrant cultural atmosphere of the city.
What to visit
Karl Johansgate, the Stortorget (the largest market), the Cathedral, the Studenterlunden, the Storting (Parliament), Nationaltheatret, the Radhus, the Universitet (the Aula Magna painted by Munch), the SlottParken, the Konige Slott (the Royal Palace), Old Aker Kirke, Frognrparken (one of the most beautiful parks in the whole of Scandinavia), Vikingskipene.
Several museums: Historik Museum, Nasjonalgalleriet (with masterpieces by Munch), Kunstindustrimuseet, Munch Museum.
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They called it the "Paris of the East" in 1920 was a city of adventurers, gamblers, opium smokers, prostitutes, some dandies' debauched, gangsters, millionaires, child slaves forced to work for a handful of rice, missionaries.
Then here was founded the Chinese Communist Party, Mao put the basics of the Cultural Revolution, here were the bloody repression of Chiang Kai Shek, the Japanese occupation and the development of the dominance of the "Gang of Four".
Shanghai, for better or for worse, has always been a city laboratory, the hinge between China and the West, and remains so to this day, joining the Communist Party and the market economy, consumerism and political orthodoxy.
Shanghai is huge, with an intense traffic of cars and millions of bicycles, and has remained a unique cosmopolitan city, where you can feel the echoes of the past and you can see that China will be among the palaces of glass and signs lucicanti.
The Bund is the river (it is crossed by the Shanghai Huangpu), flanked by original buildings of foreigners, including the Peace Hotel, remained the same from the thirties, with an orchestra of elderly musicians playing (good) jazz of yesteryear.
Departs from the Bund Nanjing Lu, the most famous shopping street in China (you can find anything, also call it the Golden Mile. American way).
What to visit
The Shanghai Museum (bronzes, ceramics, paintings of incomparable beauty), the Garden of the Mandarin, the famous tea room Huxingting and the Temple of the Jade Buddha, the former French Concession with Huaihai Lu, the best place to shop; the tomb of the writer Lu Xun.
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Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa and the oldest city in the country, founded in 1652 on the shores of the Cape of Good Hope as a supply point for the ships of the Dutch East India Company. Historically it was also the first European settlement in Africa.
Dominated by the majestic Table Mountain, from whose flat top you can enjoy a splendid view (you can also go by cable car), the peninsula has the most beautiful beaches of South Africa (above all, Clifton and Camps Bay) and lush vegetation.
Cape Town is an intriguing mix of Europe and Africa, but it has its own identity. In recent years there has been a great development of tourism and trade, which saw the birth of the Waterfront, the lively harbor area, completely renovated and became the hub of city life.
The most popular time for visitors is the summer, from October to March, from August to November, you can spot whales and dolphins up close.
What to visit
The Castle of Good Hope was built in 1666 and is one of the oldest European fort in Africa.
The South African Museum has reconstructions of dinosaurs and a large collection of natural history.
The area of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (with a new aquarium) is a tourist attraction irresistible.
The main districts of Cape Town (information from Wikipedia, under Cape Town):
Adderley: on this road, which passes through the upper part of the city from north to south, through the botanical gardens Company's Gardens, overlooking most of the museums and many historical buildings.
Central: the area of the Central develops around St. George's Mall and is full of shopping malls and offices.
Bo-Kaap: the Bo-Kaap Malay Quarter, which stretches from the slopes of Signal Hill, is characterized by a number of mosques and low houses of the early nineteenth century, painted in bright colors.
Waterfront: the dock of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the city, there is a maritime museum and the Two Oceans Aquarium, where you can admire the marine life of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Observatory: Located in the south of the city, this district is the cultural heart of Cape Town, frequented by artists and students. It is close to campuses Groote Schurr, where Barnard carried out the first heart transplant in the world.
Kirstenbosch: Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, located on the east side of Table Mountain, is a green area of 530 hectares. In this garden are cultivated almost 10,000 species of plants.
Constantia is the most exclusive area of the city. Alternate villas (some of which are added to the museum) and vineyards.
The township: are the poor neighborhoods where they live the blacks remained at the margins of society. The townships of Cape Town is located in the area of the Cape Flats. Khayelitsha, Guguletu, Mitchell's Plain, Athlone and Atlantis are the suburbs where there are public housing and elsewhere in the Flats extend the so-called squatter camps, the slum
