EuroCheapo's Architecture Articles

Jan 10 There is a lovely anecdote in the introduction to Annie Kay’s Bradt Guide to Bulgaria. It tells how God was dividing up the Earth between all the different peoples. True to form, the Bulgarians turned up late and there was nothing left. But the good Lord took pity on the Bulgarians and gave them a » Read more

Oct 24 We have all been affected by Bauhaus. The distinctive school of art, architecture and design developed in Germany after World War I. This essentially modernist movement thrived in the liberal pieties of the period. But those pieties were ruthlessly quashed by the Nazis, who drove many of the Bauhaus leaders into exile. That cruel expedient » Read more

Oct 05 Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner take the seasonal pulse in Leipzig: “Berlin with a shade more flair” is how our Leipzig friend describes her home town. This magnificent city, overshadowed in Saxony by Dresden and too close (some say) to Berlin to really pull the crowds, is a place to visit in fall. For hundreds » Read more

Aug 04 Sometimes we run across a city that just has a very good feel. Often these are university towns, places that are not in the premier league of tourist destinations, but spots that have a decidedly laid-back and welcoming feel. Szeged in Hungary, Bergamo in Italy, and Lund in Sweden all ooze that distinct welcoming feeling. » Read more

Jun 08 Tucked away on a rocky ridge is a Finnish gem. You have a hint that Retretti is something special when the slow train to Savonlinna pauses there. This is a minor single track railway, and the unstaffed station at Retretti is as small as they come. On the platform stands an oversized sculpture, an apt » Read more

Dec 28 By C.H. Kwak— With plenty of Eurocrats flaunting their nontaxable income, Brussels can be a tricky place for Cheapos. But eating and shopping in Brussels don’t have to cost an arm and a leg (although they can, if that’s what you’re into). Let me give you a few splurge options–and their budget alternatives. Chocolate It’s » Read more

Apr 14 It was only by a stroke of luck that the Eiffel Tower ended up in Paris. Gustave Eiffel designed the landmark tower for Barcelona. But the civic authorities had doubts about the appropriateness of such a tower for the Catalan city. Undaunted by the setback, Eiffel had better luck with Paris and, despite some opposition » Read more