One cannot go to London and NOT SEE Westminster Abbey !  To do so would be a grand disservice to your trip. I mean how can you not experience the  most important (and heck, oldest) church in London :  site of coronations, burials, memorials, and lookalike to every Citadel in our dreams?! Yeah, I'm a big fan of this place. So big that I purposely and happily went here thrice in the two times that I've visited London! *  Taking the tube  to Westminster and  getting off Westminster Station , short and sweet!! While I greatly appreciated the presence of English all around (compared to everywhere else in Europe), I must say that  I found the Paris Metro to be more navigable compared to the London Tube . Must be because the Metro uses a numbering system (Get off the 6, Hop on the 9) compared to the system of the Tube which uses named lines (Jubilee Line... Jubilee Line.. Wait, what I am doing on the Metropolitan Line?!)

Not just known as the title of Linkin Park’s epic second album, Meteora , (translating to “suspended in the air”) is home to one of the most important and beautiful Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece. On day two of our travels across Northern Greece , we actually went up a couple of these monasteries to experience this extraordinary early Christian site and get a glimpse of the lives of its inhabitants. * Made by the same natural forces that shaped the Grand Canyon and Petra , the scenery of Meteora is dominated by six monasteries that are built on top of  natural sandstone rock pillars .

After spending much time admiring the hustle and bustle of  Athens , and before flying off to enjoy the enchanting beauty of the  Cyclades   (Greek islands in the Aegean) , we set off to tour the  Greek countryside  to gain a further understanding and appreciation for the link between Greek history and the mythological and legendary stories found within her culture. On Day 1 of our tour, we visited the renowned  Oracle of Delphi  and the  Battlefield of Thermopylae . * What’s a tour without  tourist traps ? Fortunately here in Greece, they come with excellent  Greek coffee ,  gelato  and  Paprika-flavored Pringles . Add the very fresh Greek countryside air to the mix and you have a hell of a great time!

Frequented by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Amedeo Modigliani and Piet Mondrian , Montmartre is Paris’ artistic quarter . An area bustling with poets, street performers, musicians, young lovers, philosophers and gypsies; it seems that one could come out of this place a little bit more creative and reflective just by breathing the air. Definitely a MUST for every traveller in Paris, Montmartre is where one would go not to admire buildings, works of art or masterpieces; but people and the creative spirit. * Coming out of the Abbesses Metro , one can’t help but feel cozy walking along the streets of Montmartre. So this is the real charming part of town.. no grand museums or monuments to kings, no outward displays of religious art; the most interesting part of this area is the people itself. Just charm, pure charm.

Ile de la Cite (or Lutetia to us Asterix fans) is a small island located in the very center of Paris . Consequently, it is where the city of Paris was founded and contains its most ancient buildings. * The Palais de Justice (Palace of Justice) is where the justice of the state has been administered since medieval times. It was also the seat of the French Parliament from the 16th Century to the French Revolution.

A year ago, I was blessed to be able to celebrate Good Friday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem . It is thus only fitting that I look back and reflect on what is undoubtedly the holiest place in all of Christianity , and my pick as the most beautiful church in the world  (Italy, France and UK included) in terms of ambiance , history and sheer spiritual weight . * View of the Holy Sepulcher from the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) . The beautiful blue dome definitely complements Islam’s Golden Dome of The Rock  and helps give Jerusalem its ethereal vibe.

Since I had my cousin’s wedding for majority of the day in Florence , we only actually had about two hours to explore the city center. This resulted in the “ spot-point-click-run " shots below as I was literally running from one part of Florence to another, not stopping to truly appreciate what I think is the most beautiful city in this whole Euro trip. Everything about Florence just screams art , and no wonder this is so as Florence is where the Renaissance was born with the works of Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci dotting the “city of the Medici’s " and where the likes of Dante Alighieri and Niccolo Machiavelli  circulated their literary masterpieces.  Two hours is definitely not enough to spend in Florence and I immediately resolved to return someday and to stay for at least a week! * The Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore , better known as the Duomo , has in my opinion the most impressive outdoor facade of any church that I ha

1. The Barcelona Cathedral Imposing and located on the famous Gothic Quarter next to the Las Ramblas , the Barcelona Cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic Architecture.  Dark, huge and full of gargoyles, the Cathedral manages to retain some sanctity as there were more people praying in it than people taking pictures.

When I initially saw the itinerary for the trip, I couldn’t help but salivate at the sheer number of churches we were going to check out.  As anyone who really knows me can attest, I’m a huge fan of anything old , so much more if they are ancient. In Manila, Intramuros would be the closest thing to fit this description with San Agustin Church being the favorite. So you can imagine how it felt to see all these awesome churches in the Holy Land.. I felt like I was in freakin’  Disney Land!! While I make it a point to say a prayer at every location, the bulk of my time is spent reading up on the history of the place (thank you Wikipedia), admiring the facade of the churches and the stories the mosaics, sculptures, paintings and stained glass tell. I am a fan of anything that is created and hand-made (may it be novels, music, art, monuments or tourist traps), and these churches are indeed products of people who were not only masters of their craft but also passionate followers of