Wroclaw has been a city in focus throughout 2016, as a European Capital of Culture. Any visitor to the city will have walked around the Rynek, the town’s main square, which was known as the Grosse Ring (Great Ring) in German times. That old name reflects what makes this huge square unique – there is a complete block of buildings and alleys in its centre, which include the Town Hall – and the square, with its grand facades, surrounds this block like a large ring. This layout makes for a great walk, as the visitor is constantly discovering new perspectives at every corner. These perspectives are never more joyful than in summer, when, with it countless terraces and patios, the entire square effectively becomes one large outdoor restaurant and bar area.

Given Wroclaw’s complicated history, there is more to the Rynek than meets the eye. Indeed the square looked very different in the 1920s, when it was still the Prussian city of Breslau, and later when the city was declared Festung Breslau (Fortress Breslau) by the Nazis towards the end of WWII, this resulted in the destruction of most of the city centre, including its main square. Only a few buildings in either the Historicism or Art Nouveau style survived. After the city became Polish again, it was decided to rebuild the whole area around the Rynek, not in its previous glory but in a style resembling the Classical and Baroque facades that lined the square around 1800. Basically all of the colourful Classicism style buildings you see today are restorations in that sense.

Let’s take a walk around the square starting with its west side. That side is called the Seven-Electors-Side (german: Sieben-Kurfürsten-Seite | pol. Stroną Siedmiu Elektorów) or the parade square and is probably the most prominent side with the oldest preserved facades. It is named after No. 8, the yellow building with elaborate paintings. Also famous is No. 2 Unter Greifen (eng: Below The Griffins | pol. Pod Gryfami ) which is the largest patrician house on the Rynek. An infamous building is the large bank building on the left, the only modern structure on the square and unsurprisingly a highly controversial one at that. On the far right end of that side we see St. Elisabeth church, standing beside one corner of the Rynek and offering the best view of the square from the top.

Next is the north side, known as Naschmarkt in German (pol. Strona Targu Łakoci) like the famous Vienna market. Most of these buildings are restorations, the most popular building here is The Golden Deer (german: Zum Goldenen Hirschen | pol. Pod Złotym Jeleniem) which is the light orange one near the right corner. The light pink one near the left corner hosts the most popular café of the city, the Café Cukiernia.

The east side is called the “Grüne Röhr Side” (pol. Strona Zielonej Trzciny) after a fountain which no longer exists and is the only side cut through by a street, the Kurzy Targ, which leads to the St. Mary Magdalene Church. The side is dominated by two large preserved Art Nouveau department store buildings, the house Louis Lewy by Leon Schlesinger (near left corner) and the former Warenhaus Gebrüder Barasch (next to the Kurzy Targ street). The red baroque style building on the left corner (The Golden Dog) was the last building to be restored in the early 1990s.

We complete the ring by walking along its south side, the “Golden Cup Side” (german: Goldene Becher Seite | pol. Strony Złotego Pucharu). Once again, this side was almost completely destroyed in WWII and most buildings here are restorations in either Classicism, Baroque or Renaissance style. The central building with three orange gables (No. 19) was called the Haus zum Galgen (House at the Gibbet), as once upon time the public place of execution was situated in front of it. The side is named after the scaffolded building on the left, it was once owned by the patrician family Becher (German word for cup) and there is a golden cup above the entrance.

Finally we turn towards the central block, the Tritt. This block was once occupied by the town hall and several large store houses for trade business. All of these had been torn down in the 19th century and now the block is occupied by the old town hall, the new town hall and three rows of Classical buildings with small alleys crossing.

The old town hall was originally built in the late 13th century and was repeatedly modified in the next centuries. Its exterior and facade were created in the Gothic style. Its cellar is still used by the 700 years old Schweidnitzer Keller beer restaurant (pol. Piwnica Świdnicka).

The new town hall was built in the 1860s after plans of Friedrich August Stüler. It was built on the site of the former Leinwandhaus, one of the old large store houses, and includes some ornaments of the former building.

Finally you can also look for the famous Wroclaw dwarves, statuettes of little critters which are hiding all over the city. If you’re reading this in 2016 then you read up on the last events of the European Capital of culture program here. Or check out Urban Travel Blog’s Long Weekend guide to Wroclaw to plan a city break here in 2017…

For more PanoramaStreetline cityscapes visit the website or else follow them on Facebook or Twitter. You can also check their panoramic photos of Berlin’s streetscapes right here on Urban Travel Blog.

About Jörg Dietrich

After studying Natural Sciences in London and Germany, Jörg stumbled into cityscape photography which in turn developed into panoramastreetline.com an online archive of linear streetscapes. More on Jörg.

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Rarely has a grey and gloomy day appeared quite so enchanting to me as it did on the day of my December boat trip out on the Albufera lagoon. Fat dark clouds, pregnant with rain, hung ominously in the air, as we – foolishly it seemed – made our way from a tiny quay in El Palmar out onto Spain’s largest lake. It was like floating into an alien dimension: the only other human in sight was a fisherman going back to shore, and – once he had passed by on his tiny vessel – there was nothing to disturb the mirror-like surface of the lake, which reflected the greyness of the sky so that we seemed to drift in a ghost world. Other we left the reed banks behind us, our only companions were the immense flocks of wildfowl that settled out on the lagoon as far from us as possible, the only colour a thin band of orange light that the sun would cast through the wall of clouds from time to time. Beautiful would be the wrong word, but it was certainly a fascinating and eerie landscape, as hopefully these photos attest.

It was like floating into an alien dimension… there was nothing to disturb the mirror-like surface of the lake, which reflected the greyness of the sky so that we seemed to drift in a ghost world.

Albufera is a popular day trip from Valencia, as you can reach it easily by bus, taxi or private tour from the city centre: the journey time is just 20 to 30 minutes. Most transport will take you to El Palmar, a village on the edge of the lagoon, where tradition dictates that you enjoy a huge paella, or perhaps all i pebre, two local dishes of the region, during your stay. On the way to El Palmar you’ll see some of the many rice fields that produce the region’s famous crop, which was introduced by the Moors in the 12th century, explaining of course why the iconic Spanish paella dish comes from here (the rest of the Spain is more crazy for bread!).

Once in Albufera, popular pastimes include hiking and birdwatching, and on top of a zillion species of duck and marsh birds you might be lucky enough to spot an eagle, as I did. Naturally a boat trip is a must and is cheap and easy to organise. You can find captains hanging around with their boats offering rides (for as little as €6), or you can organise a more official tour, including transport, boat trip and paella via the tourist board’s website. Finally if you are coming during summer, on the coast between the lagoon and the Mediterranean you’ll find the sand dunes and unspoilt beaches of El Saler.

Duncan visited Albufera with the support the Valencian Tourist Board and The Travel Mob during the #VivaValencia blogtrip. He also spent a (sunnier) day exploring the epic Turia park by bicycle and cafe hopping and vintage shopping in the hipster Ruzafa neighbourhood. For more planning tips check out fellow blogger The Travel Hack’s ideal Valencia itinerary. 

About Duncan Rhodes

Duncan is the Editor-in-Chief of Urban Travel Blog, a born and bred city slicker who loves urban adventure, street art, killer bars and late night hotspots. More about Duncan here.

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Many Roman emperors wanted to “penetrate the Atlas” but Volubilis was as far as they got. This dramatic ancient Roman ruin site set on the shallow slopes of Mount Zerhourn, overlooking the vast fertile Wadi Khoumane plateau is one the Roman Empire’s most remote and far-flung frontier settlements – second only to a small trading outpost on an island off the coast of Essaouira. It is situated close to the Moroccan imperial city of Meknes, 150 miles inland from Tangiers.

During its heyday in the 2^nd century AD, Volubilis was a thriving city home to over 20,000 people. Homes and public baths were fed water from complex underground aqueduct networks, government administration took place in majestic public buildings such as the Capitol, the Basilica and the Forum and luxury mansions were adorned with magnificent mosaics.

…our tour leader Hamed brought the city back to life with vivid depictions of Roman life. He took us through poorer areas of the town where workers would use stone presses to produce olive oil by day and visit brothels by night.

Volubilis was an important source of wheat and olives for Rome. And large populations of wild animals – including lions – from the surrounding hills were shipped to the capital for use in extravagant sacrificial ceremonies. However, the sheer remoteness of the settlement meant that it was hard to defend and local Berber tribes took the town towards the end of the 3^rd century.

Today Volubilis, complete with its triumphal arch as grand as the Brandenburg Gate, public bathhouses with phallic imagery more explicit than the Washington Memorial and crumbling columns reminiscent of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, is a UNESCO World Heritage site home to a modest café, some toilets and a small team of knowledgeable guides.

…he showed us mansions where strategically placed courtyard water fountains were used to reflect light and illuminate four rooms at a time…

I visited the archaeological site on a particularly unforgiving Moroccan summer afternoon. My water bottle soon ran dry (did I drink it or did it evaporate?) in the scorching heat but my imagination ran riot as our tour leader Hamed brought the city back to life with vivid verbal depictions of Roman life. He took us through poorer areas of the town where workers would use stone presses to produce olive oil by day and visit brothels by night, he showed us mansions where strategically placed courtyard water fountains were used to reflect light and illuminate four rooms at a time and he sprinkled water on dry floor tiles, transforming washed-out ochre tones into vibrant shades of golden yellow.

I’m afraid I can’t beam Hamed to your desktop, but I hope my photos at least will help you travel back in time and space to this remote African outpost…

Josh was invited on a 10-day Moroccan Explorer Adventure by Topdeck Travel. The trip included half-board hotel accommodation and private transfers throughout. You can also read about his adventures in the Kasbah of Rabat, or check a report of his entire adventure on his own blog The Tiny Traveller.

About Josh Ferry Woodard

Josh Ferry Woodard is a freelance travel writer based in London. You can find his work on sites such as Reader's Digest, Huffington Post, Roads & Kingdoms, Slate, Paste, Spotted By Locals & many more.

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Few destinations gear up for Christmas quite as well as Vienna, where 25 or more Christmas markets spring up in picturesque squares, streets and parks around the city, kicking off in mid-November and carrying on in most cases until the 23-26 December (with just a few staying open until the New Year).

I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Austrian capital this year and enjoy a hot mug of Gluhwein (mulled wine) with several friends (- including on one occasion with two of my favourite fellow travel bloggers, Peter of Travel Unmasked and Sabina of Girl vs. Globe… see the final picture!). Each market is home to anywhere from a mere handful to well over a hundred stalls, vending a mixture of seasonal decorations and gifts, local arts, crafts and food products, and of course tasty snacks like iced pretzels and hot fruit punch. Many also throw on carousels, play areas, live music and theatre to keep kids and adults entertained alike.

Each market is home to anywhere from a mere handful to well over a hundred stalls, vending a mixture of seasonal decorations and gifts, local arts, crafts and food products…

The easiest market to stumble is the one in the centre of town in Stephansplatz, under the cathedral, and whilst I’m confident this will meet all your festive needs, for something extra special I’d strongly recommend seeking out the largest, the so-called Magic of Advent Market at Rathausplatz where you’ll find the best Christmas lights (such as the tree-strung snowmen and angel-winged guitars you’ll find featured in this post) glowing next to the impressive Neo-Gothic town hall. For nearly as much grandeur but far less tourists try the Art Advent market on Karlsplatz, where your children can run around in the straw, and, depending on the weather, snow. Hipsters should head to Spittelburg where stalls are set up along several narrow streets in the newly trendy Neubau district.

For more info on all the the festive bazaars and their opening dates, check out the official tourism website – whilst for tips on everything else, from essential attractions to hip hotels, bars and restaurants be sure to check out our own complete weekend guide to the capital. Finally for more ideas on where to head next December check our guide to Christmas breaks around Europe (coming very soon!).

Fancy another jingle of the bells? Check out our photos from Prague’s equally gorgeous Christmas fairs! And if you have any travel inspiration of your own for us then we highly encourage you to share tips on any of your favourite festive destinations in the comments section.

About Duncan Rhodes

Duncan is the Editor-in-Chief of Urban Travel Blog, a born and bred city slicker who loves urban adventure, street art, killer bars and late night hotspots. More about Duncan here.

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My experience at Tokyo’s infamous Robot Restaurant started with a walk up five flights of stairs. At the top I realized two things: 1) I am extremely out of shape and 2) there was an elevator I could have used. The top floor is a lounge meant for guests to kill time before the show. The walls are made of television screens, the ceiling is covered in mirrors and lightbulbs, and the recliners are in the shape of seashells and have deep red velvet upholstery. It’s a mixture of a James Bond villain’s lair and a Quentin Tarantino movie set. It both delighted and shocked my senses. While waiting, the guests are serenaded by a band dressed in the most current robot fashion. After 20 minutes we are told to head downstairs for the show. I opt for the elevator this time.

It’s a mixture of a James Bond villain’s lair and a Quentin Tarantino movie set.

The show is held in the building’s basement. The theme of walls made of television screens from the lounge can also be found here. Seating is tight, but there’s adult beverages being sold so it can be overlooked. The “tables” are so small they make an airplane’s tray table look like a computer desk. But there’s a cupholder for my aforementioned beverage so again, it can be overlooked.

Like all greats shows, this shows starts with the lights off.

Like all greats shows, this shows starts with the lights off. You hear the gears of machinery first, as large mechanical objects move into place. But before you can think much about it the drums start and this crazy cabaret begins. The show is separated into five parts and each part is more confusing than the last. At the end of it all I had only two question: 1) What just happened? and 2) How do I get a job here? The second question may have been the sake talking.

I’m going to tell you now, what happens at Robot Restaurant makes absolutely no sense.

There are varying reviews on the Robot Restaurant. Most, like mine, are positive. Some are not. I feel most of these people let the confusion and shock get in the way of their enjoyment. And because I don’t want any readers to be part of the group that leaves negative review I’m going to tell you now, what happens at Robot Restaurant makes absolutely no sense. And that’s okay. If you go, and I do implore you to go, don’t think too much about it. Enjoy it for what it is: a show in Tokyo’s red light district that showcases a mixture of robots, strobe lights, and women clad in very little clothing acting out battle scenes while riding wifi controlled robots.

…and talking about what happens in red light districts, find out how our Editor got on in Amsterdam during an eye-opening tour run by the city’s Prostitute Information Centre! Or else discover more fun photo stories like this one by the rest of our team.

About Samantha Jeet

A native of The Pacific, Samantha grew up the islands of the Philippines, Japan, and Hawai'i, exposing her to different cultures from a young age. She currently lives in San Diego where she works as a cartographer and freelance photographer.

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Berlin might not be the first city one thinks of in terms of grand metropolitan architecture. Sure you have the icons, like Brandenburg Gate, the Wall, the Fernsehturm (TV tower) and some celebrated churches and bridges. But this is not London, not Paris, not Madrid, nor Vienna when it comes to grand old architecture and boulevards. And whilst some examples still shine through in memorial of grander times, like the ruinous old Wertheim complex, until recently used as the Tacheles Kunsthaus, most buildings of that era are gone.

Instead Berlin offers a very unusual and diverse mix in architecture. You have the large Plattenbau areas of the East, the modern architecture of the last 25 years filling all kinds of open spaces, museum architecture from different eras, the Soviet socialist classicism, to name but a few different kinds of surviving buildings from the past. Some even call Berlin an agglomeration of “villages”, as, once you have left the centre, you’ll find different districts in different living styles, from the alternative cultures of Kreuzberg and Neukölln, through the calm Wedding district to the suburban villas of Zehlendorf. Take in the “royal suburb” of Potsdam (today the capital of the neighboring Brandenburg state) and you’ll also find the gloss and glamour of the old Prussian monarchy. So while Berlin is not a capital where expectations of a past grandness are fulfilled, it is a city where surprise waits at every corner.

In our project Panorama Streetline we collect linear cityscape views from all over Europe, including Berlin. We take a series of photos along a street from different perspectives and then create a composition, visualizing the whole street in one image, as if you could walk along it. Especially for Urban Travel Blog, we would like to present an overview of the German capital through our eyes and the chance to take a trip through the city from perhaps a different perspective….

For more of Panorama Streetline’s Berlin photos you can head here, or else follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

For more on Berlin we suggest you check out our city break special, or our secret insider tips.

About Jörg Dietrich

After studying Natural Sciences in London and Germany, Jörg stumbled into cityscape photography which in turn developed into panoramastreetline.com an online archive of linear streetscapes. More on Jörg.

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Hornets, bees, beggars and mad dogs are just a few of the things one has to contend with on a walk around Athens’ rough-and-ready Gazi district. The area is dominated by the rotund and rusting steel infrastructure of the former gas works along with its trapezoid red-brick chimneys, that rise tall and narrow towards – today at least – a grey and gloomy sky. These industrial features are very much souvenirs of the past however, as Gazi’s days fuelling the city’s economy are long over. Today the district is a nightlife and culture centre, fuelling the capital on ouzo and art. The gas works have been reincarnated as “Technopolis“, which is now one of the city’s biggest cultural attractions, whilst the surrounding area is literally choc-a-block with bars… they exist one after another, without interruption, around the scruffy public space that opens as you alight at Kerameikos metro.

Hornets, bees, beggars and mad dogs are just a few of the things one has to contend with on a walk around Athens’ rough-and-ready Gazi district.

Perhaps our Athenian correspondent Marissa Tejada would disagree (you can read her take on the district right here), but if Gazi was once hip it isn’t any more. Despite the abundance of bars, there is hardly anyone about, and those that are here appear to be muscle-bound motorbike owners rather than poetic, beard-stroking, coffee-sipping types leafing through a dog-eared copy of Plato’s Symposium. However, artistically speaking, the area still has lots of appeal for lovers of street art, whilst the mix of pasted-up posters, orange trees and pretty-petalled flowers add plenty of colour to the facades of the worn-and-torn buildings and give my lens plenty to contemplate. (Update: Marissa tells me I should come back on a summer evening to revise my judgement!).

Having wondered around the sidestreets, made friends with one of the less rabid dogs, and given 50 cents to a monolingual mendicant, I decided to walk up the side of the walled-off gasworks (Technopolis was closed for the day). The sun was going down behind a nebulous patchwork of grey and so, from behind some iron railings, I took one more shot of the chimneys – one that looked like it could have been taken in 19th Century Northern England. Then I saw that across the road were some fenced-off ruins, of what might have been a remote corner of the ancient agora. Peering closer and I found that the olive and fir trees made way opening up a fantastic view of the ever-glorious Parthenon. I guess I was in Athens after all.

…and if you’re heading to Athens for a city break, check out our very own weekend guide right here.

About Duncan Rhodes

Duncan is the Editor-in-Chief of Urban Travel Blog, a born and bred city slicker who loves urban adventure, street art, killer bars and late night hotspots. More about Duncan here.

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You’d be hard pressed to find a more dramatic historical period than last century in Cambodia. There is one place that epitomizes the decades of fighting and bloodshed that tore the country apart; Bokor Hill Station, in the mountains near the city of Kampot.

The hill station was built in the 1920s by the colonial French government to escape the stifling heat of the capital Phnom Penh. To complete the resort in a record four years, close to a thousand Cambodian labourers lost their lives. At the centre of the development stood the luxurious Grand Hotel and Casino, surrounded by houses and shops, a church and the Royal Apartments. Bokor had a brief heyday in the Thirties and Forties, when French settlers would host balls in the Grand Hotel and gamble away in the Casino with a view on the Gulf of Thailand.

The resort was abandoned after the First Indochina War, which concluded with Cambodian independence. Bokor was popular once again with the wealthy Cambodian upper classes, before being abandoned for good in 1972, when Khmer Rouge assumed control of the area. What happened next is one of the darkest chapters of modern history. Bokor Hill Station became the last Khmer Rouge stronghold, after the Vietnamese ended their rule in 1979. Reports claim it was still occupied well through the Nineties, when tourists were kidnapped and killed in the area.

Nowadays, Bokor is a ghost town. Buildings are gutted and covered in mildew; nothing remains of the luxury furnishings and crystal chandeliers that once graced the Grand Hotel’s ballroom. The suites stand empty, covered in graffiti, windows long gone. The church is locked shut and surrounded by overgrown vegetation. When we visited, construction of a luxury resort was underway; the first hotel opened in 2012. There are plans to restore the old hotel and rebuild the whole town, making it a sort of Cambodian Las Vegas. Locals told us that too many ghosts hunt this place. Bokor should be preserved as it is, a stark reminder of the atrocities of history.

Visitor Info: Bokor Hill Station can be easily reached from Kampot, a beautiful little town 42 km away. Stay overnight in Kampot and get a day trip from one of the several travel agencies, or rent a motorbike and do it yourself.

About Crowded Planet

Crowded Planet are travel blogging duo Margherita Ragg and Nick Burns, an Italian / Australian couple based in Milan, who travel the world reporting on culture, nature and adventure.

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Last month, I spent five and a half days in Israel on a complete whim. It began with an excited email from a friend who had been there before, pointing out the ridiculously cheap fares of a new connection to Tel Aviv. It took me about five seconds to respond, another week or so to book our tickets and line up Couchsurfing hosts, and a few days later we were on our way to the Holy Land.

Now, I could use this space to talk about how deeply conflicted and paradoxical Israeli society is, how amazing our hosts and most of the locals we met were, how aggressively and often men at Tel Aviv nightclubs will hit on blonde, blue-eyed Polish girls, or how I had to stop and sit down to take in the calls to prayer echoing around me while scampering on Jerusalem’s rooftops. I could also share the hundreds of photos I took of Tel Aviv’s beaches, Jerusalem’s monuments, or the incredible graffiti covering both cities’ walls.

I could, but who are we kidding — this is the Internet, and Israel was crawling with stray cats. So instead, I’ll give the Internet exactly what it wants: pictures of cats. In the Holy Land. Holy Cats. Enjoy!

If you want more, you can see the full set on my Flickr!

About Anna Spysz

Anna is a freelance writer, tech journalist and occasional photographer who’s aspiring to be a (digital) nomad.

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Cocullo is a small village in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, hidden deep in the Apennines. For most of the year it is a village like many others, but on May 1^st it celebrates one of Italy’s most bizarre festivals: la Processione dei Serpari, the Snake Catchers’ Procession – the product of a combination of pagan rites, superstition and Catholicism. The celebration dates back to over 3000 years ago, when the area was home to the Marsi people, who worshipped their goddess Angizia with offerings of live serpents. After Roman conquest, the custom was adapted to honour Apollo. When Christianity reached the area it was sanctified and dedicated to St. Domenico, who was believed to have the power of healing snakebites. Every year on May 1^st, St. Domenico’s day, the statue of the saint is paraded around the village, adorned with masses of writhing reptiles.

The serpents are caught in the mountains and woods around Cocullo, and released in exactly the same spot after the festival. “They are creatures of habit,” says a young woman, with a mammarella, a thin apple-green snake, coiled around her arm. Four types of snakes take part in the celebration; the most popular by far is cervone, the four-lined tree snake, which can reach up to two meters in length.

I am standing next to a toddler playing with a mammarella, while his father is trying to keep two biacco snakes, the most aggressive, from chewing each other’s heads off.

On the day, the village square is packed hours before the procession is due to start at noon. Bands play traditional music, tourists and locals jostle for the best viewing spots; but, notwithstanding the crowds, snakes still outnumber humans at least three to one. I am standing next to a toddler playing with a mammarella, while his father is trying to keep two biacco snakes, the most aggressive, from chewing each other’s heads off. At twelve the bells ring and St. Domenico’s statue is carried out. I join the locals elbowing their way to place their reptiles on the statue. The snakes are forbidden from entering the church. Catholic lore claims they are a symbol of evil, yet they are celebrated and paraded with the Saint. Alongside the Saint, snakes become a totem; an allegory of what is supernatural, feared and revered at the same time. The snakes slide up and down the Saint’s legs, curl around his halo, over his face. The parade circles the village three times, finishes back at the Church. The Saint is barely visible, hidden beneath the throbbing mass.

Visitor Info: Cocullo can be reached by train from Roma Tiburtina. There are extra trains on May 1^st, check Trenitalia for details. There are no hotels in Cocullo, but villagers sometimes rent spare rooms and flats for as little as €20 per person. Call the Pro Loco (Tourist Information) on +39 0864 49117.

About Crowded Planet

Crowded Planet are travel blogging duo Margherita Ragg and Nick Burns, an Italian / Australian couple based in Milan, who travel the world reporting on culture, nature and adventure.

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