#6! And Best Churches

Steph and Craig's #6 European Tourist Site is ...

The Meteora, Greece. The landscape alone is spectacular, with its spires of rock on the edge of a forested plateau. Add picturesque monasteries perched high above the valley, great rock-climbing and hiking, and you've got a must-see attraction!

List o' the day: Best Churches

Christianity, and especially Catholicism, dominates Europe, and makes its mark in some incredible buildings. Here are our favorites:

1. The Pantheon, Rome, Italy
   Perhaps the single most impressive building we've been inside. The giant ancient Roman dome was spared from demolition during the building of St. Peter's only because it had been converted into a church.


2. St. Mark's, Venice, Italy
   Exceptional on the exterior, as well as the interior, St. Mark's is a greek cross plan church gone wild with mosaic walls and ceilings spanning centuries.


3. The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
   Gaudi's legacy lives on in his massive cathedral, still under construction! Even partially finished, this building is exceptional for its immense scale and ornamentation.


4. The French High Gothic Cathedrals
   OK, we're cheating here because we could not decide which one was best. Visit any of these cathedrals in France: Amiens, Strasbourg, Chartres or Notre Dame de Paris to see incredible gothic architecture, carvings and stained glass.


5. Duomo at Monreale, Sicily, Italy
   The interior of this Romanesque cathedral is decorated entirely in mosaic, much of it gold. Incredible.


6. St. Nicholas, Prague, Czech Republic
   One of the most ornate baroque churches we saw, St. Nicholas is full of exuberantly curvy carved decoration inside and out.


7. Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy
   Brunelleschi's famous Renaissance dome, and the striking green and white striped marble exterior make this one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe.


8. San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
   Unique for its octagonal plan, this Byzantine church houses some well-preserved early Christian mosaics in its multiple domes.


9. St. Mary's, Krakow, Poland
   The stand-out feature in this cathedral is the insanely gaudy and enormous gothic altarpiece, carved in wood and covered in gold leaf.


10. St. Peter's, Rome, Italy
    How could we not include the most enormous cathedral in the world? Imagine a football stadium inside a richly decorated building and you get the idea.

PS. Even though they lost to England, France won the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament yesterday by beating Scotland with a big enough point differential to give them the edge over Ireland.