By Michael Schuermann from Easy Hiker

The French Riviera is best understood not as a region or an area but as a single town, a thin coastal strip of settlements never more than a kilometre deep that is stretched out over a distance of 50 miles, like an extruded French version of Los Angeles.

With two hours in Nice, the capital of the French Riviera, you can even play the game “which is which” – with Monaco standing in for Beverly Hills, Cannes rivalling Hollywood in movie star glamour and Menton probably coming closest to the more charming LA neigbourhoods such as Santa Monica or Venice.

And Nice, the largest town on the Côte d’Azur, would undoubtedly be the equivalent of downtown L.A.

If you are an American, you would probably find nothing strange about visiting the French Riviera without going to see its “capital” at least once. I have a friend who lived in LA for five years and had never once been to the downtown area. For Europeans like me, that is a strange, strange thought.

So we did go to Nice for a day-trip, and so should you if you can.

There are more glamorous towns along the coast, cuter ones too, but few that put all the things that make the French Riviera so great into a single, tight package: urbanity, openness, glamour, beaches. Nice has got it all.

Start at the train station, cross the road and head straight down the Avenue Durante to the beach promenade, ……

… the Promenade des Anglais, probably the most famous street along the Côte d’Azur. Take a brief turn to the right for a look at the Hotel Negresco and its famous pink cupola, rumoured to have been modelled after, ahem, les gazongas of the architect’s mistress (oh, the Belle Epoque!)…

… and the equally splendid Hotel Maison de la Mediterranee before turning back along the coast in the direction of the Old Town.

Key sites include the magnificent Opera on Rue Saint Francois de Paule …

… the Cours Saleya with its daily markets of flowers and antiques …

… and the atmospheric Place du Palais with the Palais Rusca, one of the town’s most famous landmarks.

Once you have explored the Old Town a little, it should be just about the right time for lunch. We suggest you go into one of the many shops that serve a local specialty called Socca, aromatic pancakes made from chickpea flour baked in a wood-fired oven. Served with nothing but a pinch of salt and pepper, it’s simply delicious.

If you have had any doubt as to whether Nice is an Italian town or not: Place Garibaldi with its colonnades and a statue of Italy’s national hero – who was actually born in Nice (when the town was still a part of Italy) –will provide you with all the evidence you need.

Walk from here to the Place Massena, another of the city’s main squares …

… and finally down Avenue Jean Medecin, the city’s main shopping street, back to the train station.

There are many sites for which you will not find the time within a two hour visit, such as the famous orthodox church (you will get a tempting glimpse when you depart or arrive by train), but you can always come back, of course. We know that we certainly will.

By Michael Schuermann from Easy Hiker

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London, Milan, Berlin, A Coruña, Paris, Barcelona and Stockholm are our favourite cities for shopping tourism. Essential destinations for shopaholics!

It is rare to find this kind of buildings in Germany, a country as jealous of its harmonic architecture. Even more in a town like Brunswick (Braunscheweig), located in Lower Saxony, just over 20 kilometers from Hannover.

Brunswick was a great example of this architectural consistency with old postwar buildings and characteristic half-timbered, forming a homogeneous whole.

Until the Happy Rizzi House stood in the historic heart, a five-storey building that contrasts sharply with the other buildings. This is a great work of modern art, full of smiling faces brightly colored, bug-eyed, crazy shapes and asymmetrical forms. Such a psychedelic collage!

Its construction on land that used to be part of the stables and fields of a Ducal Palace, so close to the church of Saint Andrews, caused much controversy and rejection in this population at the beginning. However, its construction continued starting in 1999 and it took two years to complete.

The funny thing is that, once the initial shock, most of the citizens of Brunswick came to love this "happy home" and now would be unwilling to demolish any way. And, to Brunswick, many tourists come just to observe its facade; not inside, which are labor offices, that can not be visited.

The idea came after a conversation of James Rizzi, New York artist and pop art exponent, with Jäschke Olaf, owner of the Aeschke gallery inBrunswick. They had already collaborated in the past but never to undertake a work of such magnitude.

Unfortunately, Rizzi died in late 2011. He was a beloved artist in Germany due to his work left and for his work with charities. Her hallmark were hi of three-dimensional paper sculptures, with prints of children's characters and vivid colors. These designs became translate into everyday objects, from small labels to larger works as a Volskswagen Beetle, trains and even aircraft.

But happy house is surely his most voluminous work, that will make you crack a huge smile when you see it.

Address of the Happy Rizzi House: Ackerhof 1 Braunschweig

Happy Rizzi House por Gerd Evermann | Boing 757 por Gero Brandenburg | Happy House por Magnus Manske | James Rizzi por Alexander Lieventhal

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Exploring the popular Triana district is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the atmosphere and daily life of this part of Seville, amid the character of its people, its streets, the communal patios, the dance academies, pottery workshops and most iconic buildings.

At the same time, you will be surprised by the most famous stories and legends about the district; especially those related to the time of the Spanish Inquisition. A district full of art and charm, or as the people of Seville say: full of magic. The inhabitants of Triana, have a strong sense of identity. For them, Triana is more than just a district – it is a town with its own personality. Despite the modern buildings that continue to pop up all over the place, Triana has managed to preserve an old feel to it: low houses, geranium-laden balconies and patios. The Parroquia de Santa Ana, a Gothic brick-built temple known as the Catedral Chica is the heart of Triana, but the essence of the district is to be found in its streets, its squares and its inhabitants. Triana is still a district of ever-bustling streets, bars and taverns in which to enjoy tapas and offers dynamic and traditional shopping opportunities with old-fashioned shops. Triana is one of the birthplaces of Flamenco. Numerous Flamenco artists have been born here and there is a distinct Triana way of singing, dancing and playing. The Flamenco atmosphere lives on in the ‘peñas’ and ‘tablaos’ of the Triana district of Seville.

Image:Frobles

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