Things to Do in Europe

Fontvieille Park leads from the Circus and Heliport to the Columbus Hotel and opens out onto the Princess Grace Memorial Rose Garden. The Fontvieille District is constructed on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s, built to combat the chronic land shortage in the densely populated principality. Designed by Italian architect, Manfredi Nicoletti, the district is located in the Western part of Monaco and features a port and heliport.

Fontvieille Park offers a charming green space in the district, with many small lakes and ponds bordered by verdant palms and olive trees, ducks and swans swimming in the crystal water.

Walk along the Sculpture Path over four hectares to discover 100 contemporary and local monumental art works, by artists like Arman, Blake, Botero, Calder, César and more. Look out for “The Washerwoman,” (Renoir - Guino 1917) in one of the the beautiful pools of the Fontvielle Gardens, just by the circus tent and the unfurling angel wings of “The Messenger” by Blake.

The nearby Princess Grace Rose Garden is an oasis of calm and serenity where the scent of some 4,000 roses perfumes the air. Visit a pantheon of exotic birds and animals in the Zoological Gardens, ride the merry go round or experience the dazzling panorama of the Cote d’Azur on a helicopter ride.

The shimmering panels of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum may capture visitors’ oohs, but it’s the giant Puppy that draws all the awes. Standing at 43 feet tall, the flower-covered topiary stands out as a colorful symbol of Spain’s fifth-largest city, and will undoubtedly capture both your heart and the attention of your camera lens.

This cuddly canine giant was created by Jeff Koons, the American artist who found fame during the 80s, particularly for his pieces that hover between pop and pure kitsch. The life of this flowery man’s best friend didn’t start in Spain, though, but rather in Germany, where it was originally commissioned for a castle. Not done with traveling, the West Highland White Terrier puppy relocated to Sydney Harbour’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and ultimately to the grounds of Bilbao’s museum, where it is now part of its permanent collection. Since then, its journey has continued, making a temporary appearance in New York’s Rockefeller Center.

These days it’s back home, though, where it has become an almost universally recognizable image of Bilbao, the Spanish industrial city that rises as an artistic and culinary metropolis. Filled with over 25 tons of soil, the chrome-and-stainless-steel structure is covered in some 70,000 blooming and growing flowers that range from marigolds to begonias, petunias, impatiens and more.

Sitting high on Castle Hill on the Buda side of the Danube River, Fisherman’s Bastion was built in 1905 as part of the ongoing celebrations of the thousand-years existence of the Hungarian state. It encompasses part of the original fortified castle walls and its terraces boast the best view points over the river and across to Pest. The bastion is a step away from several of Budapest’s big-hitting attractions, including the Royal Palace with its museums and library, Matthias Church and the Hungarian National Gallery.

Festooned with Neo-Romanesque lookout towers, equestrian statues, turrets and colonnades, the T-shaped bastion has two levels and wraps itself around Matthias Church. Architect Frigyes Schulek revamped the church and designed the bastion at the same time. The wide steps leading up to the bastion are scattered with neo-Gothic statuary and provide an impressive introduction to Castle Hill. Landmarks that can be seen from the terraces include Margaret Island, the Parliament building, the Chain Bridge and St Stephen’s Basilica. A terraced restaurant is open over summer.