In the early 1500s, Rome was littered with ruins from the days of the ancient Empire, including great artworks buried amongst the rubble. The Renaissance had seen a sudden growth of interest in all things classical, and the popes were the richest and most cultivated art collectors in Italy. They began offering cash rewards for sculptures, until Rome was scoured by freelance treasure hunters on the prowl for pagan masterpieces.

The most dramatic discovery occurred in 1506, when a father-and-son team of excavators reported a find near the ruined Baths of Titus. Michelangelo himself excitedly hurried over to help with the work, followed by the pope’s official agent, Guiliano da Sangallo. When the excavators brushed away the dirt of 1,000 years, they found an enormous marble sculpture, perfectly intact, of a muscular Trojan hero being attacked by giant snakes. Guilano cried out in amazement, “This is the very Laocoön described by (the ancient Roman author) Pliny!” The spectacular image was carted off to the Vatican, and the lucky discoverers were awarded a lifetime pension of 600 ducats a year – the equivalent of approximately $75,000 a year now. Today, the Laocoön can still be seen in Octagonal Court of the Vatican Museums, where it graced the new art collection of Pope Julius II (the man who also commissioned the Sistine Chapel). The displays were greatly expanded by the next Pope, the young, art-loving Leo X, who appointed the painter Raphael as superintendent.

These early 1500s would be remembered as a golden age of discovery in Rome, with hundreds of pagan sculptures saw the light. Julius and Leo were also responsible for another revolutionary move, for which we can all be grateful – they were the first to open their private art collections in the Vatican and nearby Campidoglio to public visitors, thus creating the first “museums,” designed to encourage the appreciation of beauty and culture.

Listen to the Story

Rome, Italy is home to some of the world’s most famous sights – the Colesseum, the Vatican, the Spanish steps & many more! As your strolling along the ancient streets of Rome, admire the breathtaking views of Rome!

In the film The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), Michelangelo locks heads with his patron, Pope Julius II, over painting the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. Their battle of wills is not exaggerated.

On the surface, the pair could not have been more different. Michelangelo was only 33 years old when he began. He wore old clothes until they were rags, rarely washed, and lived in rustic simplicity. The 60-year-old Pope Julius II, on the other hand, was a brilliant soldier who rode at the head of his successful army all over Italy, the father of three illegitimate daughters, and would never allow his foot to be kissed, because it had been disfigured in his youth by syphilis. But both men shared uncontrollable tempers—as well as a deep passion for art.

Michelangelo tried to refuse the huge task of the chapel’s ceiling, but he eventually took the job because he needed the money. He soon scrapped Julius’ plan to depict only the Twelve Apostles, choosing instead a sprawling pageant of Judgment Day that reflected his own belief in the corruption and weakness of mankind. Michelangelo loathed Julius’ impatience to have the painting finished, his penny-pinching on art materials, and his late payments.

The Pope was exasperated by the artist’s slow pace and many changes of plan. When he came to inspect the work after several years, Michelangelo winched the old Pope up to the rickety scaffold. “When will it be finished?” asked Julius. “When I have done what I think necessary to satisfy art,” Michelangelo replied. The Pope bellowed in fury, “Do you want me to throw you from this scaffold?”

Michelangelo finished five years after he started, just before his 38th birthday. He was prematurely aged by the grueling project, his eyes so accustomed to the dark chapel that he could no longer bear sunlight, and he could only read by holding books above his head. Still, Michelangelo had 50 years more of life in him. Julius died shortly after the project’s completion, remembered more for that ceiling than all his brilliant Italian wars.

On a vacation to Italy, make sure to check out these must see sights in Rome!

Pantheon and Piazza Navona

See Piazza Navona, the church of San Luigi dei Francesi with its paintings of Caravaggio, the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo.

Ara Pacis and Spanish Steps

See the Ara Pacis, Borghese Park, and the Spanish Steps—the longest and widest staircase in Europe.

Castel Sant’Angelo and Trastevere

This is another possibility for a walking route to discover more of Rome’s splendors. See Castel Sant’Angelo, piazza Farnese, and the district of Trastevere with the Basilica of St. Maria in Trastevere.

Capitolini Museums and Picture Galleries, Borghese Gallery and Museum

Rome has many museums and galleries.

Church of Santa Maria – Bocca della Verità

Dare to put your hand in the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth), the marble disk presumed to be the face of a river god that, legend has it, will bite off a liar’s hand.

Jewish Roman Synagogue

Visit the imposing Jewish Roman synagogue, which includes a small museum of Roman Jewish life and ritual. Also see the Jewish Quarter with its Tortoise Fountain.

Tiber Island

Cross the oldest surviving bridges, Ponte Fabricius or Ponte Cestius, to explore boat-shaped Tiber Island, which has long been associated with healing.

Marcello Theater

See this Roman theater later converted into a residence.

Giancolo Hill

Families may wish to spend some time at the Gianicolo Park, with its wonderful panoramic views of Rome, carousels, and puppet shows.

Villa Borghese

When in Rome, do as the Romans do and stroll in this vast green area, a combination of old and new parks. Admire its fountains, monuments, and sculptures.

Via Condotti

Shop on Via Condotti, which ends at the Spanish Steps. Here you will find boutiques of many world-famous designers. Italian craftwork and religious artifacts also make good buys.

Pasta and Gelato

Try some special pasta dishes, such as pasta alla carbonara, bucatini all’amatriciana, and lasagna. Also, enjoy memorable gelato and the white Frascati wine made in the Roman Hills for 2000 years.

Rome is an ancient Italian city that is home to some of the most famous and well known sights in the world. Centuries ago, the Roman Empire called this city its home and the remains of their power and eventual fall are frozen here in time. In Rome, you’ll explore ancient structures such as the Coliseum and Roman Forum and be taken aback by the magnificence of some of the world’s most famous churches. Grab your passport and get ready to “do like the Romans do” in Rome!

In Rome you will discover stories from the past about some of history’s most well known places and people. The Vatican Museum is a must see in Rome, but not many know much of the art housed in this enormous museum was once covered in the rubble and dust of the remains of the fallen Roman Empire. Learn about the discovery and excavation of many famous pieces of art during the Italian Renaissance! You’ll also learn about the grueling 5 years that Michelangelo spent painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and how he and the Pope clashed over what this famous ceiling would depict. After much debate and hard work, this fresco of the Last Judgment will take any visitors breath away.

A trip with Globus will ensure you see all of Rome’s must see sights during your trip. You won’t want to miss any of the sights on this list! Stroll down Rome’s streets to the Spanish Steps, head to St. Marks Square to marvel at the vast columns and statues, and stop in the Pantheon, a tribute to the gods of ancient Rome.

After you’ve finished sightseeing, make sure to wander down some of Rome’s famous streets of boutiques and designer shops, stop into a restaurant for a bowl of pasta, and don’t forget to save room for gelato! Book your trip today with Globus to discover the “Eternal City”—culture, history, architecture, and art await in Rome!

It sometimes seems as if all of Salzburg is a shrine to its most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but the key attraction for classical music lovers is the modest house-museum called Mozarts Geburtshaus (Mozart’s Birthplace), where he lived until age 17. It displays with almost religious reverence the tiny violin he played as a toddler, a lock of his hair, and several of his jacket buttons.

It was in this humble abode that Mozart’s father, Leopold, first identified his son’s genius. By the age of two, little Wolfgang had not only learned to play many instruments, he had identified a pig’s squeal as the note G! He gave his first formal recital—and composed his first symphony—at the age of five, and for years the proud Leopold toured his child prodigy around the courts of Europe, giving blindfold harpsichord concerts and other “trick” performances.

Such an unconventional upbringing left Mozart with an eccentric personality. He would disappear for all-night drinking bouts, playing billiards and frequenting brothels; in his spare time, he taught his pet starling to sing operettas. He was delicate, short, and vain about his clothes and hair; those who met him observed that only his “intense eyes” gave clues of his divine spark.

Living in Vienna in his early twenties, Mozart fell in love with the famous soprano Aloysia Weber. When rebuffed, he married her sister, Constanze. Despite interludes of great success, he managed his money badly, squandering fortunes on clothes and luxuries. His family shuffled between ever-smaller apartments in Vienna, Paris, Prague, and Salzburg. (He returned to Salzburg for four years in the now Mozart Wohnhaus (Mozart Residence), another fine museum with original manuscripts and multimedia exhibits).

The circumstances of Mozart’s death were famously mysterious. At the age of 35, while writing his Requiem and at the height of his powers, he contracted a fever and claimed to his wife that he was being poisoned. He died a few weeks later and was buried in an unmarked Vienna grave in 1791. The film Amadeus revives 18th-century rumors that point the finger at Antonio Salieri, an Italian composer who was tormented by his own mediocrity. Experts have found no evidence to support the accusation, and believe that Mozart actually died of rheumatic fever and the typical incompetence of 18th-century medicine.

On a vacation to Europe, Austria is a must-see destination. Vienna, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is often called the cultural capital of Europe. Enjoy the breathtaking views of Vienna–royal palaces and gardens, romantic alleys and architecture with medieval flair.

The inner city of Vienna is overflowing with superbly decorated historical architecture, but for decades its most famous address was actually an unassuming apartment building in a middle-class suburb—Berggasse 19. From 1891 to 1938, this was the home of Sigmund Freud, the brilliant thinker who invented psychoanalysis and discovered the power of dreams and the subconscious, changing the way we think about the human mind forever.

Today, the apartment, situated on a street sloping down to the Danube Canal, is the Sigmund Freud Museum, and it continues to lure streams of admirers from around the world, just as it did in the great man’s own lifetime. Each of the dozen rooms is filled with memorabilia: Freud’s birth certificate (born to a Jewish family, he changed his first name from Sigismund), his walking cane, battered travel bag with the initials S.F., his hat and sports cap hanging on hooks by the door—all give the impression that the pioneer shrink might be about to stroll back from a nearby coffee house for a session of “talk therapy” (as psychoanalysis was first called) with a patient.

Also on display are rare original books, including a first edition of “The Interpretation of Dreams,” published in Vienna in 1900, which was ignored for years but eventually became an international bestseller. On the walls are classic photographs of the bearded, avuncular Freud holding his ubiquitous cigar. When friends joked that, according to Freud’s own theories of sexuality, the cigar should be interpreted as a phallic symbol, he famously remarked, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

By 1938, at the age of 82, Freud was one of Austria‘s most famous and respected figures when Nazi Germany annexed the country and Gestapo officers began harassing Jewish residents. Soldiers visited Berggasse 19 and searched the offices, confiscating about $1,500 in cash. Freud at first refused to admit the danger, but he was finally convinced to emigrate, with an exit visa arranged by U.S. President Roosevelt himself and facilitated by a sympathetic German officer. He moved to England, where he died of cancer the following year, which is why Freud’s famous couch resides today in a small London museum rather than its long-time home in Vienna.

Old City Walk, Imperial Walking Route

Ask your Local Host about a walking route to discover the fascinating older parts of Vienna´s historic city center with its legends and paths or the Imperial Route, to see classic architecture, elegant boulevards, the Hofburg Palace and other memorable sites.

Belvedere

Walk up to the Belvedere for splendid views over Vienna and/or visit its museum and see the beautiful painting “the Kiss” by Gustav Klimt. A must if you are here in Vienna!!!

The Sigmund Freud Museum

Make your own analysis of the famed psychological pioneer in the building where he lived and worked for nearly 50 years. See Freud’s personal possessions as well as the largest psycho-analysis library in Europe.

Fine Arts Museum and Museum Quarter

Visit the impressive Fine Arts Museum collection in a beautiful setting. The city has a wealth of museums.

Imperial Crypts

Visit the Imperial Crypts for a fascinating glimpse into the past.

Fiaker

Enjoy a carriage ride from St. Stephens Cathedral or at other starting points in the city center.

Spanish Riding School

Equestrian buffs will find this Viennese institution irresistible. Founded in 1572, it’s the oldest and last riding school in the world where classic dressage is still practiced in its purest form. See world-famous Lipizzaner stallions go through their steps.

Prater

Families may like to spend time at Vienna’s famous fun fair. Take a ride on the famous Giant Ferris Wheel or be a passenger of “Vienna Airlines” and take a spectacular virtual flight above the roofs of Vienna.

House of Music

What better place than Vienna to walk the halls of music and peek into its future. Listen to what an unborn child hears in the womb, paint a picture with a palette of tones, or steer a note through a musical landscape.

The Vienna Naschmarkt

A Viennese institution in the city center, this colorful market dates back to the 16th century. There are small restaurants and cafés nearby for lunch as well as the “Secession”, the Art Nouveau building famous for the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt.

Wienerschnitzel, Apfelstrudel

Sample the classic Wiener Schnitzel or Tafelspitz, and try apricot Schnaps. Treat yourself to Apfelstrudel, coffee and chocolate cake, or other sweet delicacies in the grand and traditional Viennese coffee houses.

Shopping

Walk along the Kärntnerstrasse and/or Mariahilferstrasse … shop for concert music DVDs, crystal glass, enamel jewelry or ornaments, wool lodenware, Viennese wafer biscuits, and Mozart chocolate.

With the schizophrenic difference between the Old and New Towns, it should come as no surprise to learn that the man who wrote Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Lewis Stevenson, was a native of Edinburgh. The New Town, where Stevenson grew up, was planned out in the 18th century as a gracious, orderly pattern of wide streets and spacious town houses. But Stevenson was also fascinated by the medieval Old Town, which has always been one of Europe’s most haunted enclaves. It’s a romantic warren of alleyways that twist and turn past moldering graveyards and gas-lit pubs. The laneways often end in ghostly cul-de-sacs, which now bear little bronze plaques with quotes from Edinburgh’s most famous poets and writers. (Robert Lewis Stevenson gets one, of course: “The stars in heaven aren’t so beautiful as the lamps of Edinburgh on a misty night,” he once wrote).

The eeriest corner of all is Mary King’s Close. When the Black Plague broke out here 1645, this whole lane was bricked up by the authorities with the tenants still inside, dooming them to starvation. Today, standing inside its fetid tunnels, you can easily imagine when Edinburgh was the most crowded city in Europe, it was filled with the frail tenements that rose as high as 14 stories and were prime fodder for fires and collapse. Back then, pedestrians would have to dash from door to door, dodging the buckets of refuse tossed from above. Tenants would yell gardylou, a corruption of the French gardez l’eau, ‘watch out for the water!’ Stevenson himself suffered from serious health problems due to Edinburgh’s chilly climate, and later in life he was obliged to leave his beloved city. After many epic journeys, he died far away from his damp, dark homeland, on the tiny tropical island of Samoa in the South Pacific.