Miraculously unscathed by two world wars, Prague is an enormous open-air museum of European architecture, with superb examples of Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, and Art Nouveau styles all crowded into one fairytale space. But the city’s quirkiest building may be the Modernist edifice in the heart of the Old Town: the world’s first Cubist building, an avant-garde creation from the early 20th century called the House of the Black Madonna.

The poetic name comes from a 17th-century statue that was rescued from the previous house on the site and that is poised like a figurehead on one corner. Designed by artist Josef Gocár, the House was regarded as shockingly modern, even revolutionary, when it first opened as a department store in 1912—and it still seems so in Prague today.

For the last 10 years, this has been the home of the Museum of Czech Cubism, which is dedicated to the artistic movement embraced by Prague’s intellectuals. In its heyday, from 1912 to 1916, Cubism was hailed as a distinctively Czech artistic movement, and it is remembered as an emblem of a golden age, when Prague was one of the wealthiest cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The building itself, of course, is the prime exhibit. Its façade, which looks smooth from a distance, is actually fractured through the inventive use of oblique planes. Large bay windows protrude in the manner of giant quartz crystals. The museum inside is suffused with nostalgia.

In addition to the museum is a Cubist gift store (Cubist lounge chairs, anyone?) and the world’s only Cubist eatery, the Grand Café Orient, which was a bohemian artist’s hangout before World War I. As you sip a coffee, waiters might quip that it was near Prague in 1843 that a certain Czech genius, Jakub Krystof Rad, invented the sugar cube. Cubism, it seems, was always in the Czech blood.

Every hour, hundreds of visitors gather in Prague’s Old Town Square to witness the tolling of the Astronomical Clock, when a sinister figure of Death emerges to pull the bell cord. It seems appropriate that the first doorway to the left of this gloomy edifice is the House of the Minute, the childhood home of Prague’s most famous literary son, Franz Kafka. In his short life, from 1889-1924, Kafka wrote some of our most gripping tales of paranoia and alienation. In the novel The Trial, a man is caught up in an mind-boggling legal system for an offense that is never named. In the novella Metamorphosis, a man wakes up in bed one morning and finds he has turned into a cockroach. The 500-year-old House of the Minute, with its elegant black-and-white façade, is where the writer spent the first seven years of his life, and where Kafka’s nightmarish imagination developed. The eldest child of a middle-class Jewish family, he was tormented by his overbearing father, who became a model for the menacing authority figures that tread through his fiction. Young Franz moved with his family to several other apartments in Prague (one is now the US Embassy building), and developed a love-hate relationship with his home city: He tried to live in Germany and Vienna, but was always drawn back by the beauty of Prague. And although Kafka does not name them in his fiction, the confusing alleys of the Old Town and its looming castle provide their distinctive atmosphere. Kafka died here at age 35 or tuberculosis and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery. Most of his work was published posthumously, to huge acclaim. Today, improbably enough, Kafka’s gaunt portrait is reproduced all over Prague on souvenir T-shirts, coffee mugs and key chains. But maybe he wouldn’t have disapproved entirely. Kafka also had a highly developed sense of black humor, and a Czech ability to laugh at the ironies of life.

On a vacation to the Czech Republic, Prague  is a must see destination. Make sure to include these sights on a vacation to Prague!

Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge, also known as “Karlov Most,” is a fixture of Prague life and the connection between Prague’s Old Town and Prague’s New Town.  It is decorated with statues and is popular among visitors for its food and souvenir vendors. The Bridge is crowded with locals and travelers from sun-up to sun-down.

Prague Castle

Leave several hours to explore this amazing architecture where visitors can watch the changing of the castle guard, view artwork from various centuries, and peer back into the time of medieval Czech Kings. Experience the Gothic beauty of the St. Vitus Cathedral and enjoy a classical music concert.

St. Vitus Cathedral on Castle Hill

This Gothic Cathedral boasts a beautiful rose window and stained glass designed by famous Czech artists. It has sculptures, paintings, and other artwork from famous and skilled Czech craftsmen. This is a free tour and is popular among the crowds for an excellent and memorable day trip.

Astronomical Clock and Old Town Square

This is one of Prague’s most popular sights as eager crowds enter to watch the clock’s mechanisms and see figures emerge from the clock upon the hour. The original parts of the clock date back to the 1400s, but the clock has been updated throughout the centuries. In Old Town Prague, people dine, shop, listen to music, and catch a seasonal festival on the historic square.

Municipal House in Old Town Prague

This profound architecture will be one that you will not want to miss. It is beautiful both inside and out. The terrific interior and exterior details were constructed by some of Prague’s leading artists at the turn of the 20^th century.

An intriguing and unforgettable journey to the beautiful city of Prague awaits you and will not fail to disappoint you. Prague is the capital and also the largest and most populous city in the Czech Republic and home to thousands of visitors every year.  Founded during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. If you are looking for an opportunity to engage yourself in the ancient European culture and endless monumental sites, then Prague is the vacation for you.

Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of twentieth century Europe.  It has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100 year existence. The famous city boasts more than ten major museums, along with countless theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. Some of the main attractions that you may visit on your vacation are the Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. Whether you are looking for long walks in the park or day trips to the museum, Prague has a venue for everyone.

The centre of Prague is characterized by winding alleys and an assortment of different ancient architectural discoveries. It represents a unique collection of historical monuments dominated by the Prague Castle which towers high above the city. You will want to be sure to book your tour to the Prague Castle as it is the largest coherent castle complex in the world. After you tour, make your way towards the core of the city situated on both banks of the Vltava River that welcomes tourists every year to an array of beautiful and unforgettable sites.

Don’t wait any longer to book your unforgettable vacation to Prague. You will not be disappointed with the memories you make and the experiences you will encounter throughout its many ancient monuments and breathtaking views. Start planning your amazing journey to the Prague today!

When you travel with Globus to Nice, any traveler will have the opportunity to journey amongst some of the oldest human settlements of Europe and become emerged into the enticing aromas of exotic flower markets!

If you have a spare afternoon in Nice, take a taxi ride to the promontory of Cap Ferrat, France’s most exclusive playground for the rich and famous. Its perfect beaches and steep hillsides are encrusted with fabulous dream villas built throughout the last century. Most of these are private, but the two most historic properties are open to the public and offer a glimpse into the storybook lives of millionaires past.

The first, a pink confection named the Île-de-France, was completed in 1912 as the creation of American heiress and socialite Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild. Commanding a staggering banking fortune, strong-willed Beatrice hired and fired four architects in the pursuit of her personal vision for the ultimate Riviera escape, a fanciful palace in a delicate Italianate style filled with Renaissance and 18th-century French art. She named her new abode after the grand oceanliner that first brought her to France, and had it surrounded by gardens that were landscaped in the shape of a ship’s prow. At her regular high society soirees, the staff dressed in sailor whites to enhance the illusion. Today, strolling through the house (now officially called the Musée Ephrussi de Rothschild) is a delight, since the playful style of its décor reflects Beatrice’s whimsical personality, right down to one parlor entirely decorated with a monkey motif.

As a monument to artistic eccentricity, however, the Île-de-France mansion may be outdone by the nearby Villa Kerylos, built by a wealthy French archeologist Theodore Reinach as a precise copy of an ancient Greek villa he had excavated in the Aegean. Completed in 1908, the structure is a marvelous living museum, with no expense spared on its authentic mosaic floors, marble columns, replica Greek furniture, and frescos. There is even a functional ancient kitchen, an imposing statue of Socrates, and a sundial as the only timepiece—each flourish made more wonderful by the jaw-dropping vistas from every window.

Everyone who has seen To Catch a Thief, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic, will recognize the Grand Corniche, that stunning coastal highway snaking along the cliffs above Nice to Monaco. In the film, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly speed in sleek convertibles around its hairpin bends with the wind in their hair, confirming the Riviera’s new golden age of celebrity glamour in the post-war years. For Academy Award-winning actress Grace Kelly, the romance with the area would endure, with tragic consequences.

In 1955, Kelly returned from the U.S. to Cannes for its famous film festival and met the dashing Prince Rainier of Monaco. They married the next year in a fairytale ceremony broadcast around the world. Kelly’s wedding dress was tailored by Hollywood designer Helen Rose and it took a dozen seamstresses six weeks to make. The 600 guests included film stars David Niven, Gloria Swanson, and Ava Gardner.

But in 1982, while driving the same stretch of the Grand Corniche that had been filmed with Hitchcock, the 52-year-old Kelly suffered a stroke, losing control of her car and plunging off an embankment with her daughter Stephanie. By a miracle, the daughter survived, but Kelly died. Her funeral was watched by 100 million people worldwide. Today, it is difficult to imagine such dark thoughts while navigating the Grand Corniche, with its endless views over the sparkling Mediterranean. But for anyone afraid of heights, there are convenient alternatives—the Moyenne Corniche and Corniche Inférieure (Middle and Lower Corniches), which provide the splendor without the vertigo.

We think of the Riviera as a summer resort, but it first took off as an escape for the winter months. During the giddy period known in France as la belle époque (the beautiful era)— the late 1890s and early 1900s, when the country enjoyed a delicious spell of prosperity and peace—a new railroad connection from Paris to Nice allowed aristocrats to easily swap the gloomy northern shores for the year-round sunshine of the Mediterranean coast.

The English were particularly fond of wintering in the Riviera, and their presence transformed Nice from a quiet fishing port to a chic seaside paradise. They funded the now-famous beachfront walkway, called the Promenade des Anglais (English Promenade), which remains the symbolic heart of the city. But to get the most vivid sense of Le Prom’s original glory, stop at the Hotel Negresco, the most beloved of Nice’s many Art Nouveau hotels since a Romanian immigrant, Henri Negresco, opened it in 1912. You can still picture Europe’s high society parading through its gilded portals to dance the night away in the Salon Royale. This ballroom is justly famous for the glass dome designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Paris’ Tower), as well as the magnificent Baccarat chandelier, containing 16,309 pieces of crystal. (It had been created for Tsar Nicholas II, but delivery was canceled due to the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Negresco acquired it. Its twin today hangs in the Kremlin.)

Virtually next door is the magnificent Massena Museum, housed in one of Nice’s most flamboyant palaces, owned by the Massena family. Today, it is a museum to the history of the city. A few steps further down stands the recently restored Art Deco hotel masterpiece, the Palais de la Mediterranée, the ultimate choice since the Jazz Age for a sunset cocktail.

Nice is located on the south east coast of France and is named after the saying Nice la Belle, which stands for Nice the Beautiful.  It is the capital of the French Riviera and the fifth largest city in France, giving it a glittering reputation among tourists a year.  It is a popular destination for visitors young and old, with something to offer for everyone. Having the advantages of a major city allows Nice to have fascinating culture, wonderful street life and excellent shopping and cuisine for everyone to experience.

The area of Nice is believed to be among the oldest human settlements in Europe. The spectacular natural beauty of Nice and its mild Mediterranean climate welcomes thousands of tourists each year seeking not only relaxation, but also inspiration. The clear and crisp air of Nice has welcomed some of the Western culture’s most outstanding painters. Their profound art work can be found in many of the city’s museums, enticing tourists from around the world to come and visit.

Nice is well known for its beautiful view on the Promenade des Anglais, its famous waterfront, and its ethnically diverse port city. Nice experience a Mediterranean climate, with moderately hot summers and mild winters. Its great climate year-round offers tourists the experience to soak up the sun and visit must-see art museums and archaeological ruins of the Romans.

It’s time to prepare for your favorite vacation where you will encounter your most amazing memories and unforgettable experiences that will last a lifetime. Whatever comes your way, this vacation will surely be an unforgettable experience when you plan your trip with Globus. Escape to one of the most exciting cities in France and start exploring all that Nice has to offer!

On this peru escorted tour with Globus, you will explore some of South America’s most breathtaking views and sightseeing experiences. Peru’s Amazon and tropical jungle  is home to thousands of exotic wildlife and vegetation, contribute to Peru’s incredible scenery.