A day trip from Madrid offers the perfect excuse to step back in time, and few places capture Spain’s medieval legacy quite like Ávila and Salamanca, both proudly listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Your adventure begins in Ávila, a walled city that appears lifted straight from the pages of a history book. Its imposing stone ramparts, punctuated by 88 defensive towers, encircle a beautifully preserved old town. Step inside and you’ll find Romanesque gems such as the Ávila Cathedral, part fortress and part place of worship, as well as the Basilica of San Vicente, famed for its architecture and colourful stonework. Ávila sits just over 100 kilometres from Madrid, and you can easily reach it by train or coach, both options run frequently throughout the day. From Ávila, continue west to the golden-hued city of Salamanca, home to one of Europe’s oldest universities. Its nickname, La Dorada, The Golden City, comes from the glow of its sandstone buildings, especially beautiful at sunset. Wander across the Plaza Mayor, often hailed as Spain’s finest square, then lose yourself among the cloisters, libraries and carvings of the historic university quarter. While Salamanca is delightful by day, it truly comes alive at night, its tapas bars and buzzing student energy make it tempting to extend your stay beyond a day trip.

You’ll find an indoor market hall in various world-class cities, but the combination with luxury housing makes Rotterdam’s Market Hall (MVRDV & INBO, 2014) the first of its kind. The apartments are arched over the food market in a horseshoe configuration. The main hall houses the market itself, as well as shops, various restaurants including Jamie’s Italian (from Jamie Oliver) and a fourstorey car park situated below. Look up to enjoy the massive artwork sprawled across the ceiling: the ‘Horn of Plenty’ by Arno Coenen en Iris Roskam. Sample the delights at the Markthal. In the first indoor market hall in the Netherlands, you can find nearly 100 fresh produce stalls, about 15 food shops and diverse restaurants including Jamie’s Italian (from Jamie Oliver). If you look up you will see the biggest artwork in the Netherlands, the wall painting the Horn of Plenty.

Medvednica – mountain in northwest Croatia, is the treasury of biodiversity, and it was declared to the Nature Park in 1981. Flora of Medvednica is very rich, various and interesting. Flora, the Roman goddess of spring and flowers, counts so far 1205 species and subspecies on Medvednica, which makes around 23% of overall vascular flora.

Our Lady of Snow in Belec is one of the most dazzling pearls of the baroque period. Thanks to Father Pavao Kunek ability to attract respectable and powerful donors allowed this church to become the best-known monument of the baroque period in Croatia.