6of the
TRAVEL
world’s great sights
| GARMANY
Till you’re prepared to pack your bags and fly, let virtually touring please your eye. By Donna Rolando It’s a truism of travel that there’s nothing quite like going to famous places to see them for yourself. But in point of fact there is something sort of like it. It’s called staying comfy at home and seeing them anyway. For many of us, that will remain the preferred “sightseeing” alternative till there’s just a little less COVID-19 in the air. Fortunately, today’s technology enables more vivid viewing of distant attractions than ever before. Virtual touring is fun in itself and a perfect tool for choosing and planning your next physical journey. Meanwhile, it won’t cause you to suffer jet lag and your legs won’t go to sleep as they do on a long jet flight. There’s even talk that virtual travel may still prevail in some places after the pandemic as an eco-friendly solution to overtourism. The ancient city of Petra, featured on the following pages, is a perfect example. Foot travel is deteriorating its famed Treasury building, but virtual travel is as light a carbon imprint as you can get. Here are six storied places so fascinating and dramatic that you may be subtly changed by the sight of them—even if it’s only on a screen.
THE VATICAN AND ROME VATICAN CITY AND ITALY Have you reunited with your inner muse during time spent in quarantine? Well, put down the paintbrush long enough to take a lesson from the master— Michelangelo, that is—during a tour of the Sistine Chapel. Begin your journey with a 360-degree view of the Italian Renaissance artist’s much-celebrated ceiling, and don’t miss the chapel walls famous for frescoes depicting events from the life of Jesus and much more. Why stop there? Many of the Vatican’s museums are just a few keyboard strokes away. Art lovers will also appreciate Raphael’s rooms, bursting with frescoes of the High Renaissance by Raphael and his pupils. The list goes on with the Pio Clementino Museum, Chiaramonti Museum and New Wing available through museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.html. Next stop, Rome—for a virtual walk and an opportunity to check out the famous Colosseum and explore other notable sites, such as the Appian Way, described as the most ancient street in the world. Or downtown Rome, the historic heart of the Eternal City, with its Pantheon, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. You may not be able to toss a coin in the fountain, but you will probably feel lucky you came. Both are available to tour at joyofrome.com/virtual-walk-touring-from-home/.
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