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Lyon is a city that is located in the Rhone-Alpes region of France. It is located about four hundred and seventy kilometers from Paris and about three hundred and twenty kilometers from Marseille. The city covers an area of over forty-seven kilometers and has a population of over four hundred and seventy thousand people. While not being the political capital of France, Lyon is considered to be both the business and gastronomical capital of the country. Lyon is also a major industrial center in France and produces various chemical, software and pharmaceuticals products.

The city was originally established as a Roman colony by Munatius Plancus in the first century and was situated on Fourviere Hill. Its name at the time was Lugdunum which meant “Hill of the crows”. The city’s position on the natural freeway between northern and southern France made it a natural center of trade and communication. As such it was the beginning point of the vast Roman network of roads throughout Gaul and it quickly was named its capital. During this time two notable Roman emperors were born here, the emperors Caracalla and Claudius.

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During the nineteenth century the city would become an industrial center.

The twentieth century saw the urban development of the city expand. During World War II, this city would be the center and the driving force of the French Resistance against the German invaders. After the end of the war, Lyon developed a large transportation system and added various tourist facilities, such as museums and hotels. During the 1980s, the infrastructure of the city continued to expand and improve. The city especially paid attention to its historical monuments and started working on renovating and preserving them.

Today, Lyon is the second wealthiest city in France, after Paris, and has a Gross Domestic Product in excess of fifty-two billion euros. The city has also been the headquarters of many national and international companies. Some of these include Euronews, BioMerieux, Compagnie Nationale du Rhone and GL Events. A growing part of Lyon’s economy is its tourism industry. The city enjoys over one billion euros in tourist dollars every year and hotel bookings from tourists account for an additional three million hotel stays over the course of a year.

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This city is also known for its hostels and Lyon is ranked in first place in that category.

One of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city is the Place Bellecour. This square is located in the Ainay district of Lyon and measures three hundred and twelve meters by two hundred meters which gives it an area of over sixty-two thousand square meters. It is completely free of any trees or shrubbery and is considered to be one of the clearest squares in all of Europe, as well as being the largest pedestrian square. Situated in the middle of the Place Bellecour is an equestrian statue of King Louis XIV. It was designed by Francois-Frederic Lemot, and the statues features the statues of Saone and Rhone at the statues feet. The original statue that stood on its site was erected in 1713, but was torn down to make cannonballs during the French Revolution. The current statue was erected in 1825. Also located on this square are the office of tourism and an art gallery.

Another tourist attraction in the city is the Muse des beaux-arts de Lyon. This is the cities museum dedicated to fine arts. It is situated near Place des Terreaux and is located in a Benedictine convent that was erected in the seventeenth century.

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This was one of the historical landmarks in the city that went through an extensive restoration during the 1980s and 1990s. Housed in this musuem are various antiquities which come from Egypt, and a large collection of modern art. It also contains a collection of art that ranges from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. Artist represented by the paintings in the museum include Nicolas Poussin, Philippe de Champaigne, François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, El Greco, Antonio de Pereda, Francis Bacon and Nicolas de Stael.

A historically significant site in the city of Lyon is the Hotel-Dieu de Lyon. This building was first constructed in the twelfth century and was used as a gathering place for domestic and foreign members of the clergy. However, when Dr. Maitre Martin Conras entered the city he converted it into a hospital in the fifteen century. During the seventeenth century the hospital went through a series of expansion projects. This continued until the eighteenth century when Soufflot replaced the building and erected the building that we see today.

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Today, it still serves as an important hospital in Lyon, but also houses an exhibit chronicling the history of medicine from the middle ages to modern times. This exhibit is called Musee des Hospices Civils.

No trip to Lyon would be complete without a visit to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere. This minor basilica was built in 1896 with the use of private funds. It was designed by Pierre Bossan and combines elements of the Byzatine and Romanesque architectural styles. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere features four main towers and is adorned with stained glass, mosaics and the crypt of St. Joseph. And its pinnacle is a gold gilded statue of the Virgin Mary. The basilica is also home to the Museum of Sacred Art. This beautiful basilica is located on top of Fourviere hill and receives over one and a half million visitors each and every year.

Lyon is a city that is rich in history as much as its rich in culture. This French city has almost too many attractions and historical locations to list in one place. But, some of the more prominent locations, not already covered here, include the Tour metallique de Fourviere, Sainte Marie de La Tourette Monestary, Opera National de Lyon, Cathedrale Saint-Jean, Basilica of St-Martin-d’Ainay, La Mouche Cattle Market and Abbatoir and the The doorway of St. Nizier’s.

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Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania and the seat of Allegheny County. The city covers and area of fifty-eight square miles and has a population of three hundred and sixteen thousand people. The downtown area of the city runs along a triangular tract carved by the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. The city can trace its history back to the eighteenth century when Europeans arrived in the area as traders. Europe settlement began in 1748, when an English land speculation company received a grant of two hundred thousand acres in the Ohio Valley.

In 1753, the governor of New France sent an expedition to build Fort Presque in present day Erie, Pennsylvania. Over the course of a few years, the French built several other forts in the area. Startled by the French expeditions into the Upper Ohio Valley, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent Major George Washington to tell the French forces to withdraw. Major Washington arrived at the forks of the Ohio River in 1753. He then proceeded up the Allegheny River and gave Dinwiddie’s letter to the French commanders located at Venango and Fort Le Boeuf. Governor Dinwiddie then sent force down to the Forks of the Ohio to build a fort.

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Captain William Trent was sent to oversee the project and the resulting fort was named Fort Prince George, which was located at present day Pittsburgh.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Pittsburgh developed a bustling economy. The city was situated in the center of one of the most productive coal fields in the country. The Pittsburg region was also naturally rich in natural gas, petroleum and lumber. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the town had a population of over fifteen hundred people and had sixty shops which including stores, bakeries and retail shops. During the eighteen century, the city developed a thriving river trade. The War of 1812 caused major changes in the United States and in Pittsburgh. The war with Britain, cut off the cities supply of goods so it had to develop its own industries. The British blockade of the coast only served to increase inland trade, and the city received goods from every direction. In 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city and its industries were in full swing.

While the economy of Pittsburgh has historically been tied to the steel industry, today the city has shifted towards other industries. Other industries in the city include robotics, health care, biomedical technology, finance and tourism. Education is also a major part of the economy.

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The city is home to eight Fortune 500 companies which include Consol Energy, U.S. Steel, Mylan Laboratories, PPG Industries, WESCO International, H. J. Heinz Company and PNC Financial Services. Tourism is also a driving force in the city and millions of visitors come to Pittsburgh to see its rich collection of attractions.

A popular attraction in the city is the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. This museum was founded in 1896 by Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie. It covers an area of one hundred and fifteen thousand square feet and has twenty galleries, research facilities, a library and office space. The museum holds over twenty-one million specimens and about ten thousand of these are on display at any given time. Major exhibits at the museum include Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt, Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, Benedum Hall of Geology, Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians and the Powdermill Nature Reserve. The research facilities of the museum are well organized and divided into the following departments; Paleobotany, Herpetology, Invertebrate Zoology, Anthropology, Mammals, Invertebrate Paleontology, Birds, Botany and minerals.

Another popular attraction in the city is the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

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The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium sits on seventy-seven acres and contains over four thousand animals taken from four hundred and seventy-five species. This zoo was originally opened in 1898 and over the years it has added new attractions. Features added since the zoo was built include a childrens zoo in 1949, Asian Forest in 1983, African Savanna in 1987 and a Tropical Rainforest in 1991. In 2000, a forty-five thousand square foot aquarium was added. This aquarium has forty exhibits and contains over three hundred and eighty thousand gallons of water. Feaures of the aquarium include Pennsylvania Waters Exhibit, Amazon Rainforest Exhibit, Open Ocean Tank and Stingray Tunnel. Animals housed at the zoo and aquarium include African Bush Elephants, Dwarf Crocodiles, African Wild Dogs, Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Angola Colobus, Bornean Orangutans, Tigers, Komodo Dragons, Xingu River Ray, Barn Owls, Gila Monsters, Mexican Redknee Tarantulas, Wild Turkey, South American Rattlesnakes, Colorado River Toads, Emperor Scorpions, California Sea Lions, Striped Skunk, Seba’s Short-Tailed Bats, White-Tailed Deer, Domestic Sheep, North American Beaver, Milk Snakes, Reindeer, Red-Bellied Piranha, Leafy Sea Dragon, Staghorn coral, Banded Archerfish, Common Creek Chub, North Pacific Giant Octopus, Blacktip Reef Shark, Macaroni Penguin, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, North American River Otter, Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill and Madagascar Day Geckos.

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Other attractions in Pittsburgh include PNC Park, Senator John Heinz Regional History Center, National Aviary, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Phipps Conservatory, Carnegie Museum of Art, Andy Warhol Museum, Cathedral of Learning, Carnegie Science Center, Fort Pitt Museum, Heinz Field, Carnegie Institute, Squirrel Hill, Sandcastle Water Park, Roberto Clemente Bridge, Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Prince Gallitzin State Park, Station Square, Kayak Pittsburgh, Mattress Factory, USS Requin, Point State Park, Allegheny Cemetery, Allegheny County Courthouse, Mellon Arena, Mount Washington, The Nationality Rooms, Schenley Park, Forbes Field, Ppg Place, Shadyside, Boyce Park Ski Area, University of Pittsburgh, David Lawrence Convention Center, Heinz Memorial Chapel, South Park and the ToonSeum. The city also has an extensive collection of bars, restaurants and hotels. Restaurants in the city include Tessaro’s Restaurant, Mallorca Restaurant, Dor-Stop Restaurant, F Tambellini, Mad Mex, De Luca’s and Palomino Restaurant Rotisseria. Hotels located in the city of Pittsburgh include the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, Hilton Pittsburgh, Omni William Penn Hotel, Priory Hotel, Doubletree Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh City Center, Hampton Inn Hotel-University Center and the Courtyard by Marriott.

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Suzhou is a city located on the Yangtze River, off the banks of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. It covers a land area of three thousand square miles and has a population of over six million people. This city is known for its expansive gardens, beautiful pagodas and historical landmarks that span over two thousand years of its rich history.

Suzhou is a city that has a history that spans over twenty five hundred years to the late Shang Dynasty. The original inhabitants were tribes known as the “Gou Wu”. By the year 212 BC the city was known by the name Wu County, but by 589 the name was changed to Suzhou. During the Sui Dynasty, the Grand Canal was fully operational and the city became a major trade route. During this time it prospered as a trade city, a period that lasted until the twelveth century when the city was devastated by two separate invasions, the Jin invasion of 1130 and the Mongolian invasion of 1275.

Around the fourteenth century, Zhang Shicheng claimed the city as his capital. But, the city would only remain in Zhang’s hands until 1367 when it was seiged for almost a year, and subsequently taken, by his arch rival Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang then proclaimed himself emperor of the Ming Dynasty and levied heavy taxes on its residents. Despite these factors, Suzhou would once again develop into a thriving trade center by the beginning of the fifteenth century.

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One of the most popular, as well as being one of the oldest, attractions in Suzhou is the Pan Gate. This ancient gate is believed to have been built twenty five hundred years ago during the Warring States Period. It is situated on the main canal’s southwest quarter and is a part of the Pan Gate Scenic Area. In order to attract more tourist to this attraction, Suzhou has renovated this wall many times in the past year and has added some attractions around the area.

A beautiful attraction located in the city of Suzhou is Tiger Hill. This beautiful hill gets its name from the fact that it looks quite a lot like a crouching tiger. It has a history that stretches back one thousand years and covers an area of forty-nine acres. This location offers visitors some spectacular views of the surrounding scenery and the hill itself has some popular attractions on it. These include the Sword Testing Rock, Spring of Simplicity and Honesty, Jianchi (otherwise known as sword pond), Lu Yu Well, Thousand People Rock and Huqiu Tower.

Huqiu Tower is a Chinese pagoda that has seven stories and rises one hundred and fifty four feet into the air. The tower was built during the Song Dynasty and is sometimes refered to as “The leaning tower of China”. That’s because the tower was built partly on soil and partly on rock making the tower lean about three degrees off center. Another pagoda located in the city of Suzhou is the Beisi Pagoda.

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This pagoda has nine stories and rises over two hundred and forty three feet in the air. It features a prominent octagonal frame and the pagoda was erected around the fourteenth century during the Ming Dynasty. This pagoda’s outer walls are brick, its balusters constructed of stone and its handrails are made of wood.

Suzhou is also home to the Xuanmiao Temple. This Taoist temple was erected in the year 276 AD during the Western Jin Dynasty. It is located in the heart of Old Suzhou city and over its long history has gone through many extensive restorations. Another noteworthy temple in the city is the Hanshan Temple. This Buddhist temple was erected in 519 during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. The name of Hanshan Temple is taken from the name of a famous monk named Hanshan. The prominent feature of this temple are the two bells, which both date back to the Qing Dynasty. One was cast in China, and the other one was cast in Japan.

A beautiful way to view both the Grand Canals and Dantai Lake is by crossing the ancient Precious Belt Bridge. This bridge was originally constructed in 816 AD and was reconstructed many times, with the final reconstruction taking place in 1446 during the Ming Dynasty. This bridge is over one thousand feet long and has a width of just over thirteen feet. In 2001, this bridge was named a national monument.

Another beautiful attraction in Suzhou city are the Lingering Gardens. This garden is located outside the Changmen gate on Liuyuan Rd and is listed as a World Heritage Site.

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It was built in 1593 and covers an area of seventy thousand square feet. Over a third of this garden is composed of buildings and the garden is divided into four sections which are connected via a covered walkway. The features of this garden include a Green Shade Pavilion, Pellucid Tower, Hanbi Mountain Villa, the Passable Pavilion, Distant Green Tower, Refreshing Breeze Pavilion, Celestial Hall of Five Peaks, HaoPu Pavilion, Winding Stream Tower and the Western Tower. Another garden located in Suzhou is the Lion Grove Garden. This garden was founded in 1342 by a Buddhist monk during the Yuan Dynasty. The gardens are a very popular tourist location and includes the following features; twenty two buildings, twenty five stone tablets, seventy-one stelae, twenty three brick carvings and thirteen ancient trees which include a Gingko Biloba and a Pinus bungeana.

Other attractions in Suzhou include the Suzhou Museum of Opera and Theatre, Suzhou Silk Museum, Suzhou Museum, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Couple’s Retreat Garden, The Retreat & Reflection Garden, Garden of Cultivation, Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty, Blue Wave Pavilion, Wang Shi Yuan(Master of the Nets Museum) and the Jinghu railway. This city also has a diverse collection of restaurants, cafes and hotels around the city. The best time of the year to visit this city is during the spring when all the flora comes to life and the average temperature is around twenty four degrees celsius.

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Foz de Iguassu is the eleventh largest city in Brazil and is the fourth largest city in the Brazilian state of Parana. It covers an area of two hundred and thirty-eight square miles and has a population of over three hundred thousand people. This city is located about four hundred miles from Parana’s capital city Curitiba. This city has over one hundred hotels and is one of the most popular cities for visitors in all of Brazil. Tourist come to this city from all over the world, but the city is most popular with visitors from Canada, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan and China.

Foz de Iguassu is a city that can trace its roots back to the sixteenth century. This is when a Spanish adventurer named Cabeza de Vaca encountered the fall while traveling the length of the river. He was quite taken back by the raw beauty of the falls and named it Quedas de Santa Maria. Later on the name would be changed to Quedas del Iguazu. This area would go for a long time without any inhabitents. It was only occupied with a military colony, which resided there until the late nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, the colony was finally up-scaled to a village named Vila Iguazu. Four years later it would achieve city status. During 1916, the government realized that the great beauty and untapped natural resources of the area were being under utilized. The state government aquired the rights to the land and in 1939 the Parque Nacional do Iguacu was founded. During 1945 the name of the city was changed to Foz de Iguassu. From the 1960s to the late 1980s the city experience a period of rapid expansion and an economic boom. This was followed by a deep recession that lasted until 2004. Since then the city has once again began to see a period of growth.

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The city has a literacy rate that exceed ninety-six percent literacy and educational needs of the citizens are attended to by a system of public and private schools. The network of schools include over one hundred and twenty public schools and thirty private schools. There are also six colleges in Foz de Iguassu which include Unifoz, Uniamerica, Cesufoz, Anglo-Americano Faculdades, UDC and Unioeste. Transportation in the city is provided by a private network of buses which is leased to the city. The city also has an international airport, the Foz do Iguaçu International Airport, which serves over six hundred thousand passengers a year.

One of the most popular attractions in the city is Iguazu Falls. Iguazu Falls is situated on the border between Brazil and Argentina in Iguaçu National Park. The name of the falls comes straight out of the folklore of the original inhabitants, the Guarani tribe. According to the story, a great god decended from heaven to marry a Guarani girl. But, the advances of the god were not recipricated and the girl eloped with her human lover Taroba. The girl and Taroba fled down the river in a canoe and the god became enraged. The god then spit the river and created the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to a never ending fall. It wouldn’t be discovered by European explorers until 1541, when Cabeza de Vaca ran across it. What most people don’t realize until they visit the falls, is that it is actually a system of waterfalls and not just one. The system contains over two hundred and seventy five fall that occupy almost two miles of the Iguazu River. Many of the falls reach a height of over two hundred and sixty feet, though the majority of them are around two hundred feet in height. One of the most popular of the falls is called Devil’s Throat. Devil’s Throat is over two hundred and forty feet high, four hundred and fifty feet wide and twenty-one hundred feet long. It also marks the border between Brazil and Argentina and two thirds of it are in Argentina territory.

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This location is very popular among rock climbers and those who engage in water sports.

Another popular attraction in Foz de Iguassu is Itaipu Dam. Itaipu Dam is located on the Parana River between the border of Brazil and Paraguay. The total length of the dam is over twenty-one thousand feet and its elevation is seven hundred and fifty feet high. This dam’s fourteen spillways has a maximum flow of one hundred and eighty-six thousand cubic feet per second. This dam produces the electrical equivalent of using four hundred thousand barrels of oil a day in a thermal power generator. In order to build the dam, over fifty million tons of earth had to be moved and the course of the Parana River shifted. This dam also took a lot of natural resources to complete. Enough concrete was used in this dam to build over two hundred football stadiums and the amount of steel exceeded what it would take to build almost four hundred Eiffel Towers. In 1994, Itaipu Dam was nominated as one of Seven Wonders of the Modern World by American Society of Civil Engineers.

Other popular attractions in the city include Parque Nacional do Iguacu, The Tríplice Fronteira, The Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, Lake Itaipu Foz de Iguacu and the Parque das Aves. The city is also home to a number of hotels, cafes and restaurants. One of the most popular restaurants is the Rafain Cataratas. This restaurant has a large dining area that can accommodate up to eleven hundred people. It features excellent cuisine which offers a variety of salads, hot dishes and even an ice cream buffet. This restaurant also offers a live show during the evenings. These shows consist of Brazilian, Paraguayan, and Argentinean folklore followed by several hours of Latin dancing and singing. The dancing shows feature a variety of Latin styles which incorporate Brazilian swing and samba. This is good wholesome entertainment that can be enjoyed by the entire family.