OWHC 2025 – Young Travelling Scholarship

Rolling Home

Here it is, the last city of my travel route and a return to my homeland… I arrived in Strasbourg (France) on Friday afternoon, welcomed by the rain and by Marion Baudry, who is in charge of a great number of projects – including street naming ! – at 5e lieu, one of Strasbourg’s important institution in matter of culture and heritage. We discussed about the city’s less known history like the architectural changes it went through the last centuries, which is notably part of the criteria for which Strasbourg has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. We will go through them in this last publication!

The first area designated as World Heritage is the Grand-Île, the inner island bounded by the Ill River (see on the picture below) listed in 1988. Following the Ill River, we pass next to the Corbeau Bridge and the former Ancienne Douane (Old Customs) built in 1358, now Nouvelle Douane (New Customs), which was once the most important civil institution of the city.

The River *Ill* between the Quai St-Attale and the Quai des Pêcheurs (Fisherman’s wharf).

Before pursuing our journey on the Ill River, it is interesting to know that the city of Strasbourg was built around a capital monument : the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. The cathedral foundations date back almost a millennium but it was in construction until 1439.

Place of worship, but also the epicenter of the city around which the different neighborhoods were built, the legends and artists who visited Strasbourg over the centuries witnessed and testified of its symbolic significance both in the heart of Men as for the city’s Skyline. Victor Hugo, who lived a few months in Strasbourg, witnessed some of the city’s historic changes and even dedicated one of his work to the Rhine River. Fiction composed of letters written by a scientific, Le Rhin (1842) takes us on an archeological journey in the cities more or less close to Strasbourg so as in the city itself ! Here is what he wrote about the cathedral ;

L’énorme cathédrale, le sommet le plus haut qu’ait bâti la main de l’homme après la grande pyramide, se dessinait nettement sur un fond de montagnes sombres d’une forme magnifique, dans lesquelles le soleil baignait çà et là de larges vallées. L’œuvre de Dieu faite pour les hommes, l’œuvre des hommes faite pour Dieu, la montagne et la cathédrale, luttaient de grandeur. Je n’ai jamais rien vu de plus imposant. (Lettre XXIX, 08/1839 in Le Rhin,1842).

I couldn’t find an official translation online so the following is a retranscription of mine: The great cathedral, highest summit – after the great pyramid – built by the hand of a man, was taking shape on a background of dark mountains of a magnificent form, in which the sun bathed here and there wide valleys. The work of God made for Men, the work of Men made for God, the mountain and the cathedral, struggled of greatness. I have never seen anything as imposing.

Speaking of facts, its spire rising 142 meters above the ground and its unique bell tower make the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Strasbourg the oldest cathedral from the Middle Ages that has survived to this day. Just like Prague’s City Hall, it also has an astronomical clock, jewel of the Renaissance, which is listed as historical heritage.

View of the cathedral from the Palais Rohan (museum)

Other stories perpetuate the mystery and prestige around Notre-Dame de Strasbourg: there is a famous legend known by ( I believe every) Alsatian children, which evokes the strange current of air that runs around the cathedral, on the Place du Château, making it always windy : It is said that the Devil once went to Notre-Dame with his horse and run around until he decided to visit it; but in the morning, he found himself imprisoned in one of the pillars of the facade and the horse continued to run ever since… The historic center thus contains multiple stories that bear witness to human heritage and its beliefs!

A few hundred meters lower, we arrive at the lock and the famous district of La Petite France. The pictures below show the southern part of the Grand-Île; the Petite France district is the ‘traditional’ quarter of the city of Strasbourg, famous for its restaurants that serve local cuisine (tarte flambée, spätzle, Baeckaoffe, etc) and its half-timbered houses.

Although the architecture of half-timbered houses does not necessarily originate from Strasbourg itself, this type of dwelling is considered to be part of the architectural heritage because of the very advanced technique it requires and the ancestral traditions it reflects. Entire Alsatian villages kept their half-timbered houses in a remarkable state of repair, which is why these houses became an attraction to themselves and are a very precious trace of the past civilisation. It is also in the Petite France district that most of the city’s corporations had settled. Nowadays, they were replaced by institutions or shops but they still gave their name to streets all over the city : Quai des Pêcheurs (Fisherman’s wharf), Quai des Bateliers (Boatman’s street), Rue des Bouchers (Butcher’s street), …

Outside of the historic center, the print of the Prussian occupation (1871-1918) shows a rupture in Strasbourg’s former architecture. The Neustadt district, which was added in 2017 to the area listed as World Heritage Site, is therefore completely different than the city center in terms of architecture and urbanism.

Bombed in 1870 followed by the invasion of Prussian troops, not only Strasbourg but the whole Alsace-Lorraine region is attached to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfurt. The Prussian government then wishes to make the city a ‘showcase’ of German knowledge and develops a vast urbanization plan organized around an imperial square (today Place de la République), home to many of the largest institutions of the city: the Palais du Rhin, the court of law, the university library, and further along the university palace and the Avenue des Vosges, one of the major axes and the longest (1.2km) avenue in Strasbourg. The two buildings on the pictures below face each other.

Palais Universitaire (University Palace), 1884

Palais du Rhin, (former Kaiserplatz, Place de la République), 1889

From a cultural point of view, the attachment of Alsace to Germany forced the (French-speaking) inhabitants to speak German; then, when Alsace became French again in 1919 (Treaty of Versailles), the change was even more extreme since people who grew up learning German not only had to speak French overnight, but they also had to change their nationality under penalty of expulsion. It is in this context that Albert Schweitzer, a committed doctor, Nobel Prize in 1952 and grandfather of Jean-Paul Sartre (philosopher and companion of Simone de Beauvoir) was born and grew up in the city of Kaysersberg, around 80km south of Strasbourg.

During the Second World War, Strasbourg experienced a second period of hard Germanisation during which some of the institutions built between 1871 ans 1918 were under the hands of the Nazi regime. The university palace and the national university library for example have very special archives of this era of occupation (medical experiments…)

*La Création du monde*, attributed to Johann Melchior, around the 16th century.

This is where my stay in Strasbourg ends! During the first days, I wondered what I was going to discover about Europe, we, who have been studying its history since we were children, and I, who fall in love with this diversity to the point of studying it more in depth and making it one of my life quests.

While travelling through these countries, I discovered what made each of them authentic: history, gastronomy, traditions… yet, there is indeed a field that connects them all, the arts, and by that, I also mean what is kind of metaphysical, unexplainable, the seconds that people share together in a same time and place, what was left behind decades ago and that we are discovering today with a new glimpse. This is art. It may be subjective, but by visiting all these museums, wandering the streets in a curious and a bit lost way, I got closer to what the people who live there on a daily basis can feel, what weight they’re holding on their shoulders, what story comes to their mind, what beats in their heart. The Unknown to which I offered myself when I left made me understand that we are indeed very different, but in a way that links us without scientific explanation. Everything is there, in front of us, maybe in each one of us too; and it made me realize that the share of history that each of these cities is holding, the architecture, the musicians, the artists, the historical and human heritage, all together, they – we – form a great and colorful mosaic.

My weekend in Strasbourg ended with the annual illuminations of Notre-Dame Cathedral, which made me think that to Old and New, Past and Present must compose together, because it can create beautiful surprises if not new experiences!

Thank you for following my trip, I hope that these thoughts have brought you a few drops of light, in the same way that I learned a lot by reading and visiting museums to bring you the most truthful information!

Special thanks to the entire OWHC team, without whom it would not have been possible, as well as to Paula, Florence, Karolina, Suzanne, Dagmar and Marion who enlightened me on the subjects and places that animate them! It is sometimes said of teaching that its purpose is not to fill the vase, but to light the flame and the mind; and rightly so, each of them changed me in a way that means a lot and I will remember every second of it. To you, I say: thank you!

I am looking forward to hear from you someday, and in the mean time, I wish you a beautiful life path!

Sophie

From city streets to mountain peaks

September 2, 2025

Salzburg (Austria) welcomes you with its sunshine, greenery, colorful lights, cows and traditional houses ! The land is crossed by the Salz River, and its two banks are distinctly different in terms of landscape and architecture, but above all they complement each other: on one side, the old town and its Italian heritage; on the other, the new town and its more recent buildings; all surrounded by the Kapuzinerberg, Mönchsberg and Hohensalzburg mountains.

The picture below shows a panoramic view of the Old Town. You can pretty much see the different architectural styles from different periods that make up the Old Town district: the Hohensalzburg (up-right), which dates back to the Middle Ages (1077); the Salzburg Cathedral with its green dome (17th century, Baroque) and the Collegiate Church or Kollegienkirche, with its black dome (1707, Baroque).

As its name suggests, the Collegiate Church is linked to the Benedictine University of Salzburg, founded in 1622. It is also noteworthy that, as it was also the case for the University of Prague (1348) which I mentioned in my previous post, law, medicine, philosophy and theology were taught there.

Speaking of education, Hohensalzburg Fortress has a museum that displays various objects and artefacts relating to the city’s history. Among the exhibits, I came across a tilted stove, which dates back to around 1570, featuring the ‘7 Liberal Arts and Planets’, pictured as human beings. The seven liberal arts, translated from the Latin ‘artes liberales’ meaning ‘knowledge, field that liberates the soul’, refer to two cycles of intellectual disciplines, seven in total, which date back to the origins of education during the Antiquity. The first cycle (trivium) refers to grammar, rhetoric and logic; the quadrivium refers to astronomy, geometry, arithmetic and music.

I did not expect to come across such a symbolic object representing the high function of education in the 16th century, even less so at the top of a hill!

Tilted stove with the “7 Liberal Arts and Planets”, Hohensalzburg

Returning to buildings and churches, since Salzburg has many of them, you will find below a good example of the alignment of the architecture and its Italian-renaissance influence. If you look closely at the Statue of the Virgin Mary (left picture), you can see that it is placed in front of a crown held by angels on the Cathedral itself. On the other hand, the Kollegienkirche (right picture) is built in such a way that sunlight enters from the altar side, above which seventy-one angels can be seen arranged on clouds around the window. Here again, these details reflect a symbolic consideration in the building’s design.

Interior perspective of the Kollegienkirche

Built in 1606, Mirabell Palace, which belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage list, now houses the offices of the Mayor of Salzburg and the municipal administration. Suzanne and Dagmar showed me the Marmorsaal (where you can get married!) and taught me how to make the difference between marble and other rocks: by the temperature! The Garden is beautiful and welcomes thousands and thousands of flowers, fountains and marble statues representing mythological figures but also dwarfs, 17th-century caricatures, representing famous sports games or even the 12 months of a year. Salzburg’s Dwarf Garden (Zwergerlgarten) is the oldest in Europe.

Mirabell Garden with the Mirabell Palace

Official plaque indicating Salzburg’s Altstadt listed as a World Heritage Site in 1997

Mirabell Garden, aligned with the Hohensalzburg

Before concluding this chapter, it is essential to mention the names of some of the artists who used to live here and also contributed to the city’s history and its representations.

Georg Trakl (1887-1914) was an Austro-Hungarian poet who had a troubled life; his works are filled with a unique, dark imagination, influenced by certain obvious Germanic poets: Hölderlin, to whom we owe the expression that I love, ‘Full of merit, yet poetically man dwells on this earth’, Novalis (and for the record he despised Goethe); on the French side, he appreciated Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. If you have already read some of their work you can already guess the tone of its poems. Part of his work is devoted to depicting the landscapes and traditions of Salzburg, which is why plaques such as the one pictured here can be found in several corners of the city.

The second, famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), needs no more introduction I think! Born and raised in Salzburg before leaving for Vienna, he is known for his Requiem ‘Lacrimosa’, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Letter to Elise, but I would also highly recommend its Symphony No. 41, ‘Jupiter’, composed in 1788! Johannes Brahms even considered it superior to Beethoven’s work. It is up to each individual to form their own opinion…

Not to mention other major figures who spent time in Salzburg, such as Stefan Zweig (who stayed there from 1919 to 1934), conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989), or actor Max Reinhardt (1873-1943) and writer Hugo von Hoffmanstahl (1874-1929) who both created the Salzburger Festspiele in 1920, a theatre, opera and classical music festival that has been held every summer since then. It was precisely for its tranquillity, artistic prestige and Baroque architecture that the city of Salzburg was chosen.

This is where my stay in Salzburg comes to an end. I would like to thank Suzanne, working in communication, and Dagmar, a building historian who studied art history, who work for the city of Salzburg and UNESCO and offered me a fascinating day-long tour of the city! I learned a lot of things in areas I wasn’t necessarily familiar with. They brought me in most of the places I reported here, along with explanations, and lively discussions over a delicious meal!

From its city streets to its mountain peaks, this city will take you on a journey you are definitely not used to! One last thing that may raises your interest: a museum dedicated to the heritage and legacy of the city of Salzburg will open its doors near Mirabell Palace in 2026. Given all that this city has to offer, as well as its pleasant atmosphere, I can only recommend you to come visit these places. Winter is probably a beautiful season too, as Salzburg will host its annual Christmas market!

The next and final stop is Strasbourg, my homeland. See you there, dear travelling companions!

From the New World

September 2, 2025

Located in the Bohemia region, Prague is one of those cities that can seem inaccessible on the surface, due to the language barrier, and I felt so at the beginning; but when we accept our ignorance, it seems that another world, a new world, reveals itself with greater depth… In this riverside capital, crossed by the Vltava River and dominated by two medieval castles, revived a question I have been asking myself for several years: what inspired the greatest composers, writers and artists who lived there? The answer lies somewhere in Prague’s historic centre…

The historic centre, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, comprises the Old Town (Stare Mĕsto), where I stayed, the Lesser Town and the New Town (Nove Mĕsto). This ensemble displays a rich diversity of architecture, from the Middle Ages to recent modernism, with traces of the Renaissance and its Gothic buildings still visible.

Prague played a decisive role in the development of Christianity in the Middle Ages, which attracted many architects and artists over the centuries. Nowadays, the city counts many churches, earning it the nickname ‘the city of a hundred spires’! Here below you can see the South tower and Golden Gate of the St. Vitus cathedral, in the Prague Castel complex (Pražský hrad). Built around 880, the estate covers a very large area consisting of palaces and churches in various architectural styles (Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance).

Mosaic of the Last Judgment at the Golden Gate, St. Vitus Cathedral

The Hradčany (which covers the Castle’s complex) and Malá Strana districts (left) is separated from the Old Town by the Vltava River and the famous Charles Bridge, which connects the two banks. This bridge takes its name from Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and son of the Count of Luxembourg. In the 14th century, Charles IV founded the Charles University, modeled on the University of Paris (faculties of Arts, Medicine, Law and Theology), making Prague a centre of learning and a hub for cultural and intellectual exchange. The city has seen the likes of Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), local figures like Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904), Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884), Franz Kafka (1883-1924), Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), and many more!

Prague Castle, Vltava and the Charles Bridge

David Černý, The Head of Franz Kafka (2014)

Speaking of facts : Hrad means ‘castle’ in Czech. The second castle overlooking the city, in the lower district, is Vyšehrad, which has fundamentally inspired the two composers Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana in their works and symphonic poems (Smetana’s work Má Vlast begins with a poem titled Vyšehrad, followed by Vltava or Die Moldau) !

Symphonic poem *Vyšehrad* from Má Vlast cycle

Vyšehrad Castle, front door (10th century)

More than music, these music works tell a story and bear witness to an era and traditions. The second movement of Má Vlast for example, Vltava, takes up the rhythm of a polka, a traditional 19th-century Bohemian dance performed at peasant weddings, celebrations and salons. If you take a few minutes to listen to it, you will certainly recognize the moment where the rhythm changes (timecode is around 4 min depending on the version), right before the arpeggios of flutes, clarinets and harp appear, painting a mystical scene where fairies seem to frolic in the moonlight; a scene straight out of 19th-century Romanticism!

Imagine yourself in 1874. Smetana finishes his symphonic poem, perhaps one of the most grandiose ever written, and at the end of his manuscript, upon its publication, he notes: ‘I am now completely deaf.’ He never heard what would become of his work, and that is what makes it all the more impressive!

Let us now return to the heart of the city, where several monuments of architectural significance to Prague’s history stand side by side. Here you can see the Old Town Hall (1338), the oldest institution of Czech self-government, with the astronomical clock, symbol of Prague’s cultural heritage.

Prague’s architecture has served as a reference point for urban development across much of Central and Eastern Europe. Here is another perspective on the variety of architectural traditions. These buildings reflect yet another style, as they feature murals or paintings covering a specific historical period within the city’s 1,100-year history! They are therefore a valuable resource, as they bear the imprint of the civilisations that came before us!

Finally, I met Karolina, a teacher-doctoral student at the University of Prague and participant in the first edition of the Young Travelling Programme in 2018! We met in a cosy café, over coffee and… Austrian pastries! Linecký koláč, Linzer Torte in German, which gave me a taste of my next destination!

This is where my stay in Prague ends. I enjoyed it very much.

As paradoxical as it may seem, when travelling, we seem to have an unconscious and natural reflex to seek out people who speak our language, who come from the same country as us, who share some of our traditions; perhaps because when faced with a sea of strangers, we need a shore to moor ourselves to. Sitting on a bench by the Vltava River, on my first morning there, a man sat next to me and, after sharing a few words in English, he told me that fear holds us back, but it also forces us to move forward. It sort of gave me a boost during my stay. Whether you understand its language or not, Prague is a city that whispers many things, and from what I saw and felt in the short time I was there, it speaks not only with words, but also with its architecture and its music…

May Life and its journey make you an artist!

See you in Salzburg, dear travelling companions!

Small places hide great stories

August 29, 2025

When I decided to visit Nuremberg (located in Bavaria, eastern Germany), I didn’t know much about the city apart from the Playmobil Fun Park I went to 10 years ago, and, of course, the trials that took place there between 1945 and 1946. While this second ranks among the most important moments in the history of the city and of Germany as a whole, Nürnberg definitely has a lot more to say in matter of history; from the city’s urbanism evolution over time to the different populations who travelled its cobbled streets, this journey brings us back a few centuries ago.

Knight and tournament saddle blanket (17th century)

The Germanic symbols that populate the city and which, fortunately, have all been preserved in their original form are a fondamental evidence of the city’s evolution from an imperial city in 1212 under Frederick II to its loss of independence under Napoleon (who assigned Nuremberg to the Kingdom of Bavaria).

These transitions from one era and state to another are particularly evident in the country’s coat of arms. Here below, you will find three coats of arms that were commonly used between the 14th century and during the renaissance. The first (left) and second (middle) co-existed during the same period: one show an eagle with an imperial eagle’s head relating to the imperial state, the other to a king’s head referring to Charles II. Finally, these two coats of arms merged together at the end of the 15th century to form an eagle’s body with two heads.

If you noticed on the first coat of arms, the eagle is looking to its left, whereas in most cases in the evolution of Germanic coats of arms, it was looking to its right. The only other time an imperial eagle was seen looking to its left was during the Third Reich (Parteiadler). However, according to the chronology of the German coats of arms, this detail allows us to date it to around 1457!

Imperial eagle looking to his left. Left facade of the City Hall (around 1457)

Königskopfadler, Imperial Castle of Nuremberg (14th century)

Wappendreipass, Facade near the Frauentor, the south-western gate of the Nuremberg city wall (late 15th century)

Next, I visited the Germanisches National Museum, which has a large collection of Renaissance works, particularly scientific instruments. These are not commonly seen and bear witness to the evolution of our perception of the world, the stars and planet Earth. On a first hand, the museum houses the famous Behaim Globe, listed as World Heritage since 2023, known to be the world’s earlieast surviving terrestrial globe, commissioned by the Nuremberg council and illustrated between 1492 and 1494. I completely forgot to take a photo of it! In any case, I can tell you that I stood in front of it for several minutes, because its good state of preservation is definitely astonishing.

Here below is another piece of history : a Hundred Year Calendar dating from around 1461, on display in the exhibition on scientific instruments. The rotatable pointers and discs on the central panel help calculate special star constellations and astrological aspects in the period between 1461 and 1560.

On the morning of my departure, I still had time to visit the Neues Museum, a modern art museum that displays works by Gerhard Richter, a 20th-century German artist (still alive!), and other European artists. Some of the works were really abstract, but still kind of mesmerizing, and one particularly caught my attention… But before revealing the title of the work, try to understand what it is about! The painting depicts a sea of blue divided into several panels, on which commas are aligned with a vertical alphabet (on the far left).

Before I give you the key to the puzzle, take a look at it and try to make connections! Imagine yourself in the room, surrounded by this blue and white ocean…

Right, right, right… It turns out that each of the paintings spells out a word using the arrangement of commas: “vedere”, which means “to see”; “udire”, which means to hear; “odorare”, to smell; “gustare”, to taste; “toccare”, to feel; and finally “pensare”, to think! The six senses, which is the title of the work ! I sei senso by Alighiero Boetti. I loved it!

Quite inspiring to travel from the Middle Ages to contemporary culture in one single place… This diversity is further evidence of Nuremberg’s rich history, which has evolved with the times and is brimming with treasures from every era that Germany has experienced.

Centuries have passed and may pass again, but Nuremberg is one of those places where, when you walk from one neighborhood to another, you feel transported back to the age of knights and to a more recent past: museums, culture, arts, even toys, every street corner bears witness to the passage of humankind, making Nuremberg an ancient but also modern city, as evidenced by the rich diversity that inhabits it today.

There it is, the mark of our heritage: that it takes different colors to make a beautiful picture, different opinions to make a world, and that small places may hid greater stories than what we can imagine. Let’s be curious and keep our eyes open!

My journey in Nürnberg ends here. See you in Prague, dear travelling companions!

Look up to the sky!

August 24, 2025

Bienvenue à Bruxelles!

European capital, home to many artists, renowned for its waffles, gilding and history, I was very excited to discover the past and present history of the city of Brussels.

I arrived in the afternoon, and luckily I still had the time to visit the Comics museum. On my way there, I’ve encountered some of Brussel’s symbols in quite unexpected places!

The next morning, I went to the Royal Museums of Fine arts of Belgium and the Magritte-museum. Their collection reflected that there is something very primitive about the act of painting: some artists follow strict rules, others try at all costs to break free from them. The essential thing, according to René Magritte, is to follow the flow of one’s ideas rather than that of traditions; to listen to one’s nature before seeking to understand it.

Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for playing with the perspective of reality. You may be familiar with Magritte’s paintings ‘This is not a pipe’, ‘The Son of Man’ or my favorite serie ‘The Human Condition’. If there is a recurring theme in these works, it is that Magritte breaks down the boundary between the object and its representation, between reason and imagination.

His approach aims to be as close as possible to the insensible, the Unknown. In this respect, his paintings take on particularly cold tones, but he also manages to turn shadow into light.

If Magritte’s art is quite difficult to analyse – as he wanted it to be – it is nevertheless possible to say that Magritte’s work has a lively character and opens the way to interpretation, as if his paintings retained, like the wings of the dove, a sense of freedom and a portion of the sky!

In the afternoon, I had the pleasure of meeting Paula and Florence, both heritage conservatory architects of the “Grand-Place” site, classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO since 1998 for its architecture and significant history.

Built in the 12th century, bombed in 1695 and rebuilt several times, La Grand-Place bears witness to a rich architecture that is recognizable by the style of its buildings, which range from Gothic to Baroque. Beyond its history and the various political and popular functions to which the buildings have been used, it is the resilience and the point of honour to preserve its image as close as possible to the original architectural plans, as Paula and Florence have pointed out, that make La Grand-Place an exceptional place for its historical and cultural heritage.

According a lot of attention to details and passion to their explanations, Paula and Florence showed me the known and unknown stories of Brussels, from the Maison du Roi to the rooftop of their workplace, via the City Hall and the Bourse.

Their architectural perspective was really interesting, particularly in terms of the conservation process, the different stages involved in renovating the buildings on the main square: from the largest stones to the smallest pieces and, finally, the gilding.

Here is a photo of us taken in front of the statue of Saint-Michael, patron saint of the City of Brussels, the copy of which decorates the city’s skyline!

If I learned one thing by walking through the sometimes narrow streets of this city and by travelling, with Paula and Florence, through the history and architecture of Brussels, it is that there are places where it is sometimes enough to let your gaze wander in the sky to discover other wonders that museums, parks and shops do not allow us to see every day!

Next stop is the City of Nuremberg in Germany. See you there, dear travel companions!

Philadelphia: Living History in Our Backyard

August 22, 2025

As students at Temple University, Philadelphia is part of our daily lives. From subway rides and restaurants to busy streets we cross on the way to class, we know the city well. However, seeing it with a focus on history gave it a new weight. In the rush of everyday life, it is easy to forget that we are surrounded by some of the most important landmarks in American history.

Walking through Old City, past Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, we were reminded that Philadelphia has always been a place where ideas and futures were debated and shaped. Standing where the Declaration of Independence was signed, we felt a connection to the city that went beyond being just students here. It tied us to a larger story about resilience, change, and vision.

Visiting museums and walking through neighborhoods gave us a deeper understanding of how Philadelphia’s past shaped its present. We noticed plaques, memorials, and markers highlighting events and figures that might otherwise go unnoticed. Learning these stories made the city feel more personal and layered.

Seeing Philadelphia this way tied directly to our theme: Past Rebuilt and Futures Reimagined. The same streets we rush through on a daily basis are also places where people once fought for independence, debated freedoms, and redefined what a nation could be. That mix of the everyday and the historic helped us see our city differently. What once was seen as a backdrop for college life became a living connection between past struggles and future possibilities.

Mostar: A Bridge Between Past and Future

August 22, 2025

Our time in Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the most powerful parts of the journey. In Mostar, we visited the Old Bridge (Stari Most), a landmark that is more than just stone and arches. The bridge was destroyed during the war in the 1990s, leaving a gap in both the skyline and the community. When it was rebuilt years later, it became a symbol that recovery is possible. Today, the bridge is full of life again. Children jump into the river, locals chat along the rails, and visitors like us stop to take it in. Being there made us feel the weight of both history and hope in those stones.

Visiting the War and Genocide Museum was a much heavier experience. The exhibits shared stories of suffering, resilience, and survival. Walking through it was difficult, but it was important. The museum doesn’t let history fade. One of the most powerful parts was seeing a space where visitors could leave notes for Bosnian citizens. Many of the notes called for peace and reflection. It made clear what happened and why remembering it matters. The museum reminded us that rebuilding is not merely about restoring buildings. The main purpose is to face the past honestly so that healing and progress are possible.

Outside these historic sites, we walked through the town’s streets, visiting local shops, exploring markets, and stepping into quiet mosques, including the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque & its Minaret. The call to prayer, the smell of food from small kitchens, and the everyday activity showed that Mostar is not only a place marked by tragedy but also a town that continues to thrive. For us, Bosnia and Herzegovina made our theme of Past Rebuilt, Future Reimagined clear. The Old Bridge shows that destruction doesn’t have to be the last word. The museum shows that truth and memory matter for the future. Finally, the life of the town shows that people keep building and imagining new futures.

O to be European

August 21, 2025

Wings are made of feathers

My journey in Luxembourg started… in Vianden, which is about an hour away from the capital city. Heading North, you’ll find a mystical place where a beautiful castle seems to be the Guardian of the Our River (which forms the border between Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany) and the – very epic – museum of Victor Hugo. During his stay (a few days in 1851 and a little more than 2 months in 1871), he wrote poems and drew Luxembourgish symbols. Can you spot the difference ?

Wonderful, right ?

I went back to the center where I was welcomed by a warm sunset. The city has seen a lot of changes; however, the fortifications of Luxembourg-city – one of Europe’s greatest fortified sites – are still standing, supported by the natural landscape that surrounds them and the legend of Melusina, which perpetuates the myth about the origins of the city, dating back to its foundation by Count Sigefroi in 963. It is quite magical to observe a landscape made up of greenery, mystery, fortifications and modernity!

Talking of modernity, the buildings you see in the background of the picture below are located in the Kirchberg district.

Kirchberg is another important part of the city because it is home to a lot of financial institutions, one of the campuses of the University of Luxembourg, but also many cultural attractions, including the philharmonic hall, the museum of modern art, the European Parliament and the Olympic swimming pool!

What is even more surprising and interesting is that, before the expropriation of 1961, Kirchberg was mainly occupied by huge fields where potatoes, lettuce and cabbage were grown. We never would have guessed! It is funny to think that nowadays they kind of grow money there.

Last but not least, I walked to the Monument Robert Schuman. The monument was unveiled in 1966 – 3 years after Robert Schuman’s death – and consists of 3 girders ending in 6 spikes which represent the six founding states of the European Community for Coal and Steel: Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. More than a symbol of Luxembourg’s history (his mother tongue was Luxembourgish), Robert Schuman encouraged the idea – as the nations of Europe were trying to overcome the devastation wrought by World War II – that peace can be achieved through unity and that diversity is a strength.

The inscription on the memorial stone is an excerpt from the speech that Schuman held on the 9th of May, 1950 (which is a holiday in Luxembourg, “Europadag” or Europe Day, named after the Declaration). It says : “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.”

Although, initially, Schuman’s statement had other aims, this quote also invites us to reflect on the human condition, particularly our connections as citizens of Europe and the world.

Being born with roots here and elsewhere, travelling, sometimes being forced to leave… these are realities that many people are familiar with. A question came to my mind: from our shared history to our most unique traditions, what constitutes Europe’s identity today? Will historical and cultural heritage provide an answer to this question? Is art or poetry one of them? That is what I will try to discover during my journey…

This is where my stay in Luxembourg comes to an end. From the heights of Vianden to the depths of the Grund, these sites have taken me on another kind of journey through my mind and through matter. Descending the slope of history, then climbing back up to find a present full of modernity, Luxembourg is one of these places that reminds you what is especially beautiful in a world of diversity where you are able to express who you are : that wings are made of feathers, and not only the ones from our dearest writers! Each one of us works hard to make ourselves a pair with what we carry, what we love, what we learn, the languages we speak and the people we meet along the way; for the rest, as long as we will do what is right, like for Icarus, the sky will gives us all the space we need to fly!

See you in Brussels, dear travelling companions!

Sophie

Dubrovnik: The Walled City that Refused to Fall

August 9, 2025

From the sea, Dubrovnik’s medieval walls look timeless, but in the early 1990s they stood under fire. Known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic,” Dubrovnik thrived for centuries as a proud, independent republic, guarding its stone streets, Gothic palaces, and red rooftops. In 1991, war came to Croatia. The Yugoslav People’s Army shelled the Old City for months, striking homes, churches, and even the Sponza Palace, while residents huddled in basements as UNESCO issued urgent appeals to protect the World Heritage Site. When the siege ended, Dubrovnik’s scars were visible, yet the city refused to be defined by damage. Meticulous restorers replaced each shattered tile with handmade terracotta, rebuilt palaces stone by stone, and revived the city to its former glory.

During our visit, we explored the Old City and met Mihaela Skurić, OWHC representative of Dubrovnik and Director at the Institute for the Restoration of Dubrovnik. She shared insights into the city’s long-term efforts to balance tourism with the preservation of cultural and natural heritage. We were also honored to receive welcome gifts from Dubrovnik’s mayor, recognizing our work to raise awareness about the city’s restoration! Seeing these efforts up close showed us that preservation is not only about repairing historic buildings, but also about managing visitor impact, protecting the city’s character, and supporting sustainable local life.

Mihaela also gave us a guided tour of the Old Port, explaining its historic role in trade and defense. From there, we took in views of Lokrum Island, a short ferry ride away. Lokrum offers a mix of nature and history: a botanical garden, beaches, and even a small Game of Thrones museum for fans of the show, which filmed scenes there. Seeing the island alongside Dubrovnik’s restored walls showed how heritage in this region extends beyond architecture to include landscapes, ecosystems, and living traditions.

For us, Dubrovnik represents the theme of Past Rebuilt, Future Reimagined in a very real way. The city suffered destruction within living memory, yet its community chose to rebuild stone by stone instead of letting the past be erased. At the same time, Dubrovnik is reimagining its future by addressing the challenges of tourism, sustainability, and climate change. The lesson we took away is that rebuilding after conflict is not just about restoring buildings, but about renewing identity and creating a future where heritage continues to serve the people who live within it. Dubrovnik shows that resilience is both a memory of the past and a responsibility for the future.