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Few places in Switzerland have seen more pilgrims flock to its premises than the monastery and town of Einsiedeln. While religious pilgrims have been plentiful here, flocks of tourists have not yet followed suit, fortunately. Einsiedeln is thus the epitome of a Treasure off the Beaten Track destination for its religious and architectural importance, and for its mere lack of international visitors. Conveniently located half-way on most tour itineraries en route to the Lake Lucerne Region of Central Switzerland, Einsiedeln offers a much welcomed respite from the tourist-infested areas of Lucerne or Interlaken, equalling both in scenic beauty but offering instead unforgettable moments of spiritual renewal in a rare Catholic enclave of worship in what is otherwise a predominantly Protestant Switzerland. See the full gallery on Posterous Nowadays boasting a population of 12000 inhabitants and a huge baroque monastery complex & abbey church from the 18th century, Einsiede...

There are few places in central Europe that pleasantly surprise visitors as much as Dresden does, capital of Saxony and third largest city in former East Germany at half a million inhabitants. More than 2 decades since the Fall of Communism, Dresden has become an East German success story in urban renewal, innovation and economic growth. Recent history, however, has not always been kind to the Saxon capital, with almost the entire historic inner city devastated by the infamous air raids of February 13th, 1945, and more recently, the reconstructed downtown almost entirely flooded by the "millenium floods" of the Elbe river in August, 2002. Since then, however, the city has defied all adversity and successfully reinvented itself, charmingly restored its historic core and become among the highlights of any visit to Eastern Germany and all of Central Europe. Surprisingly underrated and underpublicized as an international tourist destination, Dresden attracts but a moderate m...