Free call fo tourists
A useful tourist toll free number in Portugal is 0800-296296. It’s a free call within Portugal and they have loads of information about places, hotels, restaurants etc. It’s open on Saturday, Sunday and national public holidays from 9 am to 8 pm and from Monday to Friday from 9 am to midnight. There are Portuguese, English, Spanish and French speaking operators.
Passau of the three rivers
In addition to the castle Veste Oberhaus, the mighty cathedral in Passau dominates the city. The Dom stands between the Danube and the Inn on the former site of a 6th-century baptismal church. The present-day Baroque building, complete with dome and towers, brings to mind Roman affluence rather than German style. The church is also home to the world?s largest church organ, which has more than 17,000 pipes and 230 stops. Built between 1924 and 1928 and then expanded from 1979 to 1980, the organ sits underneath the cathedral?s octagonal dome.
In front of the cathedral sits the Domplatz, or Cathedral Square, dominated by a large statue of Maximiliam Joseph I, King of Bavaria. Around the square are many 17th-and 18th-century buildings, including a courthouse that used to be the bishop?s palace. From here the cobbled streets wind past small shops and many pleasant cafes and ice cream parlors. East of the Domplatz is the Spitalkirche Heiliger Geist, the Infirmary Church of the Holy Ghost, whose 16th-century stained glass and 15th-century Way of the Cross provide a dazzling array of art and use of color. On the other side of the Domplatz, the Rathaus, or city hall, was the residence of an affluent German merchant before the building was declared the center of city government following a 1298 rebellion. Now two large meeting rooms are filled with wall paintings displaying scenes from local history and lore. Directly on the Rathaus Square, the Hotel Wilder Mann presents a museum that follows the culture of European glassmaking through a showcase of over 2000 glass creations.
Look like you know!
Always look like you know where your going? There is nothing more tempting to a thief or a dishonest person if the traveller stops in the middle of the street to look at a map. Keep it discreet and duck into a doorway, stop for a coffee or something. You can usually pick the tourist, they are the ones with the mouth open going WOW. Its a good way to catch flies!
Land of the midnight sun, reindeer…and Santa Claus
Once in Rovaniemi, a visit to the Provincial Museum of Lapland, housed within the award-winning Arktikum Science Center, is a must. It offers a truly comprehensive exhibition on life and culture in the north, that tastefully refrains from indulging in stereotypes. The main tourist attraction, however, lies just a short bus ride north of town. Sitting right on the Arctic Circle, the Santa Claus Village is home to the world’s favorite jolly old man. Just what gives the Finn’s claim to this most famous of North Pole residents is unclear, but this is the place where all the mail of the world’s children is directed when addressed to “Santa, the North Pole”. At Santa’s post office, you can even have a card set aside to be mailed closer to Christmas, which will get postmarked with a special frank to attest that it comes from Santa’s home. But this wouldn’t be Santa’s village if it wasn’t for the reindeer roaming out back, or Santa himself. Although according to Finns, Santa technically lives in “Korvatunturi”, he keeps too many Christmas secrets there, so in order to meet his admiring fans, he keeps this second dwelling near Rovaniemi. You can have a chat or a photo with the old man in his workshop, and if you are lucky he might show off his extensive collection of photos with fellow celebrities. Though you might recognize the likes of the Spice Girls, don’t mention that you have no idea who the hoards of Finnish celebrities are, because if there is anyone in the world that you don’t want to offend, it’s Santa.
Finland has preserved large sections of its northern wilderness for by turning them into national parks which serve as ideal locations for summer and fall hiking. The Oulanka National Park, accessible from Rovaniemi, is suitable for day hikes, and offers such attractions as superb fishing, whitewater rafting, a water park, and for the really adventurous, even rock climbing. The long winter season offers all kinds of winter sports, including skiing, snow tobogganing, and reindeer safaris. But best of all, when the muscles and bones are weary from a day out in the snow, no one knows how to make a warm relaxing sauna like the Finns do!
