Milan is an amazing, fast-paced and industrious city that can overwhelm with its glamour, wealth, and productivity. And taking in even a fraction of its history, art and culture can become overpowering. If you find yourself getting a bit dizzy, go to just one more place, the Duomo. Get up on the roof of this breathtaking Gothic cathedral, and remember that Milan is located at the center of the Lombard plain. From this rooftop, you can see the entire countryside, with its lakes, hills and valleys, vineyards and groves and winding roads - all the way through central Europe to the Alps with their snow covered peaks. Points of Interest The most striking feature of the city is the Duomo, the large, white-marble cathedral (1386–1813), which shows traces of many styles (especially Gothic). It is elaborately ornamented, with 135 pinnacles and more than 200 marble statues. A statue of the Madonna is on the highest pinnacle (354 ft/108 m). Other points of interest in Milan include Brera Palace and Picture Gallery (17th cent.), which includes major works by Mantegna, Bellini, Piero della Francesca, and Raphael; the Castello Sforzesco (15th cent., with 19th-century additions), which houses a museum of art; the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1465–90), containing the famous fresco, the Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci; the Basilica of Sant' Ambrogio (founded in the 4th cent., rebuilt in the 11th–12th cent.); the Ambrosian Library, which houses a rich collection of paintings; the Church of Sant' Eustorgio (9th cent.); the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology; the gallery of modern art; and the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, with paintings by Boticelli, Pollaiuolo, Mantegna, and Piero della Francesca. Long a center of music, Milan has a conservatory and a famous opera house, Teatro alla Scala (opened in 1778). Between the Duomo and La Scala is the 130-year-old Galleria, an enclosed four-story glass-roofed arcade that contains shops and eateries and is a popular gathering place. The city also has three universities and a polytechnic institute. Milan is said to have been founded by Celtic tribes, who settled along the Po river in the 7th century BC. In 222 BC, Roman legions marched into the territory, defeated the locals and occupied the town, which they called Mediolanum (middle of the plain). The city's key position on the trade routes linking Rome with northwestern Europe ensured its continued prosperity, and it was here in 313 AD that Constantine I made his momentous edict granting Christians freedom of worship. The city endured centuries of chaos caused by waves of barbarian invasions. It formed a commune (town council) in the 11th century, and it lead the city into a period of rapid growth. Perhaps because of this success, the city did not get along well with its neighbors. The Holy Roman emperor, Frederick I (Barbarossa), decided to exploit the local conflicts, and attacked Milan in 1162. The surrounding towns, galvanized by a common and annoying enemy, banded together as the Lega Lombarda, kicking Frederick to the curb in 1176. From the mid-13th century, the city was governed by a succession of important families: the Torrianis, the Viscontis and the Sforzas. Under the latter dynasties, Milan enjoyed considerable wealth and power. The city came under Spanish rule in 1535 and was given to Austria in 1713 as part of the Treaty of Utrecht. Austrian power-broker Maria Theresa left her mark on the city; the facades of La Scala and the Palazzo Real remain her favorite shade of yellow. Napoleon made Milan the capital of his Cisalpine Republic in 1797 and his Italian Republic five years later. It hosted his coronation as King of Italy in 1805. Austria regained control of the city from 1814-1859. It wasn't long before troops under Victor Emmanuel II and Napoleon III wiped up the Austrian forces at the Battle of Magenta. Milan was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Heavily bombed in WWII, the city was subsequently rebuilt and quickly grew to its modern industrial prominence.

Tampa is located on the Gulf coast of Florida in the United States. The amount of changes and progress that this city has gone through over the past 30 years are amazing. There were not nearly as many people then and now the population in the Tampa Bay area is well over one million. Tampa didn't have good roads and streets to drive on in the sixties but now it has the interstate highways, toll roads and nice neat city streets with palm trees and Crepe Myrtle trees planted along the roadside. In the sixties, the city had one major hospital, Tampa General, and a smaller hospital, St Joseph. Now, Tampa General Hospital is like a city within itself and has many people employed and it has extended branches in other areas of Tampa. Tampa has a wealth of good physicians in all areas of medicine with the University of South Florida teaching school of medicine producing many of the local phycicians. Tampa has many nice attractions such as Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. Busch Gardens is a beautiful park that has many unusual animals and rides with a monstrous roller coaster that turns and twirls the people around. It is amazing and it will give you the ride of your life. Busch Gardens has a lot of entertainment such as live bands that plays music from all over the world with beautiful birds and animals everyday. Adventure Island is a water park with beautiful pools of water in every shape imaginable. There is a pool especially for children that is huge and it has many kinds of water toys and the parents even get in these pools with their children. There is also The Water Rapids which are so neat! It looks like a winding canal of crystal clear deep water and the water is rapidly moving. Someone helps you get on a huge intertube and the moving water takes you all through the park and brings you back to the starting point. This is a favorite at Adventure Island. Tampa also is proud of the Performing Arts Theater where many famous plays have been performed such as Cat's and The Phantom of the Opera. MacDill Air Force base is located here in Tampa and it is one of the major military bases in the world and they also played a major role in The Desert Storm conflict. This city also has one of the worlds major ports for exporting and importing and Tampa International Airport is another aspect of Tampa that thousands of tourists use each year. Employment in Tampa is very good and there is never a shortage of jobs. There are people asking for help all the time and needing people with a variety of skills. The housing industry is booming in Tampa. There were not many nice homes in Tampa in the sixties but now new homes are going up every day and Tampa now has large communities spreading out into the country side with many new upscale homes. There was a time when the city had a very nice country side to take long drives to on a Sunday afternoon but now, you have to drive a long ways to find the countryside. Even so, these homes have added to the beauty of Tampa. This city also has one of the worlds major ports for exporting and importing and Tampa International Airport is another aspect of Tampa that thousands of tourists use each year.

Some people come to Vancouver to get away from it all and to leave the stress of work and city living behind. Some come to enjoy the wide-open spaces, the sandy beaches, majestic rainforest and rugged West Coast mountains. Others come to try their hand at skiing, windsurfing, scuba diving or inline skating. Some come with families in tow excited about visiting the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, Science World and the Kids Only market. Still others come to enjoy world-class entertainment, fantastic cuisine and some of the finest and most eclectic shopping around. We invite you to visit our glorious city and have the time of your life.

One of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, Venice is simply magical. The city is surrounded by water; the quiet canals are like city streets crossed by little bridges. There are no cars; it is a pedestrian haven. The piazza San Marco, one of the most beautiful squares in the world, is crowded with pigeons and people during the day, but at night becomes an open-air ballroom. Music from several orchestras wafts across the candlelit square. It is a place for lovers and lovers of art and beauty. But, the very thing that makes Venice so special is also a threat. The water has been rising and exceptionally high tides have been flooding the square and eroding the buildings. Much thought and care has been given to finding ways to preserve this special city, but we would waste no time in visiting Venice as soon as you can. It is worth a lot to see this treasure before it is too late.

Whistler, 56km beyond Squamish, is Canada's finest four-season resort, and frequently ranks among most people's world top-five winter ski resorts. In 1996, for the first time ever, Ski , Snow Country and Skiing magazines were unanimous in voting it North America's top skiing destination. Skiing and snowboarding are clearly the main activities, but all manner of other winter sports are possible and in summer the lifts keep running to provide supreme highline hiking and other outdoor activities (not to mention North America's finest summer skiing). Standards are high, and for those raised on the queues and waits at European resorts, the ease with which you can get onto the slopes here will come as a pleasant surprise. The resort consists of two adjacent but separate mountains - Whistler (2182m) and Blackcomb (2284m) - each with their own extensive lift and chair systems, and each covered in a multitude of runs. Both lift systems are accessed from the resort's heart, the purpose-built and largely pedestrianized Whistler Village , the tight-clustered focus of many hotels, shops, restaurants and aprés-ski activity. Around this core are two other "village" complexes, Upper Village and the recently completed Village North. Around 6km to the south of Whistler Village is Whistler Creek (also with a gondola and lift base), which has typically been a cheaper alternative but is now undergoing a $50 million redevelopment that will see its accommodation and local services duplicating those of its famous neighbour. In truth the whole ribbon of land on and just off the main Hwy 99 from Whistler Creek to Whistler Village is gradually being developed - Whistler is the single fastest-growing municipality in BC. Whistler Village is the key to the resort, a newish and rather characterless and pastel-shaded conglomeration of hotels, restaurants, mountain-gear shops and more loud people in fluorescent clothes than are healthy in one place at the same time.