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Cityscapes - Europe

There are distinct architectural styles to a place and a large city is no exception.  The culture of the place shapes the city or state or country for that matter.  Here are some observations from places visited and how they differ.

European cities largely tend to have a common theme - that of a large public square in which citizens gather to socialize, shop, eat and just have fun.  These squares are oft referred to as plazas and served as a central place in history for mass gatherings for political rallies and other non Facebook enabled events.

Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain


Often these plazas take the form of palace grounds or cathedral courtyards to allow people to come and admire, gawk or vicariously enjoy the grand life.
Shores of Barcelona, Spain

Some times the space is designed for a specific purpose like an expo and then used as a public gathering place for future.

Plaza Espana - for World Expo in Seville, Spain
Cities big and small also have a unique feature that makes getting to and from these venues easy for a local or tourist using their modern, well connected and frequent public transit choices.

Tram in Seville, Spain

Koln, Germany - the open space is next to a railway bridge
Government Office on the River Spree, Berlin Germany 
Some of the modern architecture also highlights the glory of their past as in the Frankfurt airport additions below..

Buggy in Salzburg, Austria - wide open plaza in front of their local cathedral
In many cases god, crown and country tend to be themes emblematic of their plazas with revolutions organized and fought, celebrations conducted, many buildings torn down and rebuilt.

Some other landscape observations in follow up blogs.
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