Things to Do in Europe

Schwabing, as Munich’s traditionally bohemian neighborhood, is quite different from what is otherwise a rather glitzy, snob city. It bred a generation of counter‐culture German litterateurs and painters like Ludwig Ganghofer and Oskar Maria Graf and attracted household names like Kandinsky and Lenin in the 19th century – and although it is not so alternative anymore, it still has an  “outsider” atmosphere not unlike Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg or London’s Shoreditch that is undeniably attractive. Sprawling from the English Garden on  its southern end to the Allianz Arena far up north,  and through Germany’s largest university, this little quirky slice of Munich is now the cosmopolitan stomping grounds of art students and fashion bloggers. It is bursting at the seams with gentrified shops and condos, hip boutiques, and pop‐up restaurants that the cool kids all lust after, although it does retain a charming je‐ne‐sais‐quoi with its colorful facades and historic thoroughfares.

Towering 978m over the surrounding lakelands, the craggy peak of Scafell Pike is England’s highest mountain and it’s long been a popular challenge for hikers. Located at the heart of the Lake District National Park, Scafell Pike is one of a string of high fells that run between Wast Water and Buttermere lakes, including the nearby High Stile, Red Pike and Great End. 

Pre-Roman ancient ruins are just a day trip from Kusadasi in the ruined city of Sardis, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia from the 7th to 6th centuries BC.

For a time Sardis was renowned throughout classical antiquity as the richest city on the planet, known for its legendary supply of gold washed down from the Tumulus Mountains. The term ‘rich as Croesus’ refers to that gold and the last Lydian ruler, King Croesus, who is thought to have invented gold coins.

In fact, settlement here dates back to Paleolithic times, but most of that history lies underground, destroyed by millennia of earthquake activity. Nowadays, the site is famous for its impressive Roman ruins, built hundreds of years after the city’s initial burst of fame, in around the 2nd century AD.

On a visit to the site you’ll see a grand double-story framework of columns and architraves outlining the extent of the Roman-era gymnasium. The baths here date from the 3rd century AD, and shops once lined the nearby street of marble stone. Fine capitals carved with acanthus leaves and classical curlicues have survived, along with mosaic tiled floors and statues.

You’ll also see the Synagogue with its marble court and mosaics, the acropolis and the celebrated Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Don’t miss the example of the Romans’ communal toilets, with a shared row of seating suspended over a latrine. The town’s arena was destroyed by an earthquake nearly 2,000 years ago, and there are more recent ruins dating from the Byzantine period.