Munich Airport again proved popular with survey respondents finishing in sixth place in global standings and securing

the awards for Best Airport in Central Europe and for the first time, being named as having the Best Airport Dining Experience. "Munich Airport has been a consistent performer in the airport survey for several years and the awards for Best Airport in Central Europe and Best Airport Dining. First best AIRPORT IN WORLD IS CHANGI AIRPORT IN SINGAPORE 2013, 2012,,2011

Europe encompasses an area of 10,180,000 km (3,930,000 mi), stretching from Asia to the Atlantic, and from Africa to the Arctic. European countries welcome more than 480 million international visitors per year, more than half of the global market, and 7 of the 10 most visited countries are European nations. It's easy to see why - a well preserved cultural heritage, open borders and efficient infrastructure makes visiting Europe a breeze, and rarely will you have to travel more than a few hours before you can immerse yourself in a new culture, and dive into a different phrasebook. Although it is the world's smallest continent in land surface area, there are profound differences between the cultures and ways of life in its countries Between 1492 and 1972 many European nations (like Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Russia, France and the Netherlands) ruled or had ruled over most of the known world, with the exception of parts of Asia (such as China, Japan, Thailand and Tibet) and Antarctica. This was called colonialism and was stopped after WWII in favour of what some regard as a more humane, liberal and cost-effective method called globalism. Europe is a continent of many wildly different countries. A subset of these countries are in the slow and painful process of coming together as the European Union (EU). Europe, prior to the conclusion of World War II, was a region ravaged by large-scale "total war". National leaders realized after World War II that closer socio-economic and political integration was needed to ensure that such tragedies never happened again. , the EU's first inception was the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. The founding group of nations were Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Impressed with the results of the union, the six countries pressed on and in 1956 signed the Treaty of Rome, with the ultimate goal of creating a common market the European Economic Community (EEC). In 1967, the union was formalised further with a the creation of a single European Commission, as well as a Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Post-1967 the EU continued to rapidly grow; Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973. Greece joined in 1981, Spainand Portugal in 1986 and Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. To date, Norway and Switzerland have resisted membership for historical and economic reasons. The EU pressed on with economic integration and launched the euro () across several nations on 1 Jan 2002. Currently, 18 nations use the euro as their official currency. In addition, San Marino, the Vatican, Monaco, Andorra and Montenegro, which are also not EU members, have been granted official permission to use the euro. In 2004, a further 10 countries joined the EU. These were: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined; Croatia is expected to join in Jul 2013, while Albania, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are all official applicants.

Not all EU countries have adopted the euro (), the European Union single currency while a few countries outside the EU have adopted it. Likewise, most but not all EU members and a few non-EU countries have joined the Schengen agreement, which abolished border controls between them: Schengen Area The following countries are members of the Schengen Area:Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia,Liecht enstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sp ain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

but they are not part of the Schengen Area. To add confusion Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway are not EU members but part of the Schengen area.
There are virtually no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the Schengen Agreement, except under special circumstances during major events. Likewise, a visa granted for any Schengen Agreement signatory country is valid in all other countries that signed and implemented the treaty. Be careful: not all EU members have signed the Schengen treaty, and not all Schengen treaty countries are members of the European Union. Airports in Europe are thus divided into "Schengen" and "non-Schengen" sections, which effectively act like "domestic" and "international" sections elsewhere. If you are flying from outside Europe into one Schengen country and continuing to another, you will clear passport control in the first country and then continue to your destination with no further checks. However, if travelling within the Schengen Area to or from one of the Schengen countries outside the EU, customs controls are still in place. Travel to and from a Schengen Agreement country to any other country will result in the normal border checks. Note that, regardless of whether you travelling within Schengen or not, at some airports, airlines will still insist on seeing your ID card or passport. As an example of the practical implications on the traveller: Travel from Germany to France (both EU, both Schengen): no controls Travel from Germany to Switzerland (both Schengen, Switzerland not in EU): customs checks, but no immigration control Travel from France to the United Kingdom (both EU, UK not in Schengen): immigration control, but no customs check Travel from Switzerland to the United Kingdom: immigration and customs checks

Austria[1] (German:language. sterreich, literally "the Eastern Realm" or "Eastern Empire") is a landlocked alpine German speaking country in Central Europe bordering Switzerland andLiechtenstein to the west, Germany and Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east and Slovenia and Italy to the south. Austria, along with neighboring Switzerland, is the winter sports capital of Europe. However, it is just as popular for summer tourists who visit its historic cities and villages and hike in the magnificent scenery of the Alps.

History
Today's Austria is what was once the German speaking core and centre of power for the large multiethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire with its imperial capital in Vienna. This empire stretched eastwards from present-day Austria through much of east-central and south-central Europe. It included the entire territories of modern day Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and portions of Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Poland and Italy. While Prussia united the German states to the north by force into one "Germany" in the latter part of the 19th Century, Austria remained oriented eastwards towards its diverse empire. However, from the start of the 20th century, the political history of Austria has been closely linked to the misfortunes and disasters of modern German history, mainly the First and Second World Wars and their terrible aftermath.

The modern republic of Austria came into being in 1918 as a result of its defeat in World War I. In its wake, the empire was split into many components. They included Austria's current borders, an independent Hungary, lands given to Italy (South Tyrol, Trieste and Trentino), lands given to southern Poland (which also came about from lands taken from the Russian and German Empires), and an independent Czechoslovakia and the northern and western half of Yugoslavia. Following an unresisted invasion and annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938, Austria more or less functioned as a part of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Thus, a large proportion of the population supported Hitler and Austria's incorporation into Germany. Austrian soldiers also fought in the Wehrmacht. Cities were bombed heavily by the Allies and concentration camps also existed on Austrian soil (such as Mauthausen nearLinz). It was not until the end of the war that the mood changed and that Austria tried to distance itself from Germany. In 1945, Austria was divided into zones of occupation like Germany. However, unlike Germany, Austria was not subject to any further territorial losses. A treaty signed in 1955 ended the Allied and Soviet occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade future unification with Germany. A constitutional law of that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality", a condition for Soviet military withdrawal, and thus saved Austria from Germany's fate of a divided nation with a divided capital. However, the South Tyrol Question took Austria and Italy to the UN in the post-war era and international brokered mitigation found a suitable solution for both countries by the late 1980's. This official neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet Union's collapse of 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995.

Politics
Austria is a parliamentarian, federal republic consisting of nine federal states (see list above). The official head of the state is the federal president (Bundesprsident), who is elected directly by the people for a term of six years. His/her function is mainly representative, however, and the federal chancellor (Bundeskanzler), appointed by the president, runs most of the day-to-day politics. The Austrian parliament consists of two chambers, the Nationalrat (National Council) with 183 members as the main chamber and the Bundesrat (Federal Council). Whereas the members of the National Council are elected every four years by popular vote, the 62 members of the Federal Council are elected by each of the legislatures of the states of Austria for 4- to 6-year terms. The composition of the Bundesrat changes after every election to a state's Landtag (State Parliament). The Austrian constitution provides the Bundesrat with the right to veto legislation passed by the National Council; in

most cases this is only a suspensive veto, meaning the National Council can override it by passing the law again. There are five major parties in Austria: The social democrats (SP), the (conservative) Austrian people's party (VP), the (right-wing) freedom party (FP) which recently split into two parties (FP and the alliance for the future of Austria BZ) and the (leftist) Green Party. The current government consists of a coalition of SP and VP.

Italy (Italian: Italia) is a large country in Southern Europe. Together with Greece, it is acknowledged as the birthplace of Western culture. Not surprisingly, it is also home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. High art and monuments are to be found everywhere around the country.

Most of the countries of Europe use the universal currency called the Euro. The United Kingdom still use their proprietary unit of money, the British pound. The only country in Europe not part of the European Union, which formed in 1957, is Switzerland. The largest country in Europe is Russia, even though many people think it is included in the continent of Asia because of the country's proximity to the other Asian countries. Paris is the largest city in Europe with a population of about 10 million. There is a lot of competition with big cities like London, Istanbul and Moscow. Europe received its name from a princess in Greek mythology. Europa was a Phoenician princess kidnapped by Zeus who had transformed into a white bull to take her. There have been many countries created by the collapse of many unions that existed in the 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's. The smallest independent union that still exists is the Vatican City. One fun fact about Europe that is usually unknown is that no deserts inhabit the continent of Europe. Three countries in Europe start with the letter "I": Ireland, Italy and Iceland. There are five peninsulas in Europe. The Iberian Peninsula contains Spain and Portugal; the Balkan Peninsula has Albania and Greece; the Scandinavian Peninsula has Norway and Sweden; the Jutland peninsula has Denmark and Germany; and the Apennines peninsula contains San Marino and Italy. The Ural Mountains are a natural boundary that separates Northern Asian from Northern Europe.

Specific European Country Facts

The thermometer was invented in Italy and the piano was created in Italy. Another small independent state, a little larger than the Vatican City, is San Marino. Both are located in Italy. The longest name for a town is located in Wales and named, Llanhyfryddawelllehyn-afolybarcudprindanfygythiadtrienusyrhafnauole. The name means "quiet beautiful village and a historic place with a rare kit under threat from wretched blades."

From Ireland, a scientist named John Tyndall answered the age-old question "Why is the sky blue?" The answer? A human's eyes are susceptible to the blue color, and even thought red molecules are also in the sky, the blue molecules are tossed about at a quick pace, which the eyes pick up better. The country of Poland has generated four Peace Prizes and five Nobel prizes in Literature. A total of 17 Nobel prizes have come from Poland. The Alps mountain system runs through Austria, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, France and Slovenia. The word "Alps" simply means "mountains." The Alps are usually separated into the Western and Eastern Alps.

Did You Know?

The four smallest countries recognized as countries are Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Estonia.
In the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Holland are the same. About one-fourth of the Netherlands is underneath the sea level. Many of the Dutch people speak one foreign language; some speak two. Besides Germany, Austria also has German as their official language. The only country in Europe that does not have an official language named after the country is Yugoslavia. Their official language is Serbo-Croatian. Another fun fact about Europe is that Greenland, an autonomous country, is also the world's largest island. The island is owned by the Kingdom of Denmark. Germany is the country that is surrounded by the most countries (nine total). The countries are Switzerland, Poland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Austria.

Tourism
France is the most visited destinations in the world. Popular attractions are the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which can be seen from the Seine River. The Louvre museum contains one of the largest art collections in the world. You can find the Mona Lisa and other works by Money and Renoir. Gothic art is said to have been born in France, and some consider it an offshoot of French Art. The Baroque style of architecture also came from France and you can see much of the influence in cathedrals around the world. On average, 70 to 90 million tourists visit France, which his much more than the population of France, which is about 55 million.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognized structures in the world. With a height of over 950 feet, the Eiffel Tower houses two restaurants a post office and an observation deck. The tower contains elevators that carry people to the first three platforms.

Food and Drink

In France, beer is considered a luxury and expensive to purchase. However, wine is usually given free at most restaurants for lunch and dinner. The French love cheese with their wine. The country produces over 400 types of cheese, but you can find over 1,000 different varieties of cheeses in grocery stores. Hot Chocolate is a popular drink in France, though they like to drink it from bowls and dip various types of bread into the liquid.

Depending on where you go for wines, you will find that different regions use different amounts and types of grapes. For example, the Northern part of France uses one type of grape while wines from the South use multiple blends of grapes. The types and techniques are never mentioned on the wine labels of French wines.

Fun Facts about France Did You Know?

One-fifth of France sits outside the boundaries of what is Europe. About 2.5 million citizens live in this area called "Dom-Tom," which is considered overseas.

Jeans and clothing made from denim actually came from the city of Nimes. Levi Strauss saw the value and imported the concept to California so that gold diggers could wear sturdy clothing. One of the Unites States' famous structures was built in France. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to celebrate the U.S.'s centennial. April Fool's Day began in France in the mid-1500's, when France started to follow the Gregorian calendar. The change was not communicated very well because normally, April 1st was the first day of the French New Year, but the Gregorian calendar moves the day around. Those in the know made fun of those who still thought the French New Year was on April 1staccording to their previous calendar.

England and France are connected. This underwater tunnel is called the Eurotunnel. You can get from Great Britain to France in about 30-40 minutes. The tunnel railway carries passengers and freight with diesel and electric cars.

Fun Facts About Eiffel Tower

Many fun facts about the Eiffel Tower exist that makes this tower more interesting than just a metallic tourist attraction. The Eiffel Tower has been standing since March 1889, which was a little over two years since construction began. The following fun facts about the Eiffel Tower are good knowledge to have, especially if you want to impress the French as a tourist.
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Fun Facts about the Eiffel Towers Structure and Design

Gustave Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower and was the same engineer that drew the blueprints for the internal structure of The Statue of Liberty. The Tower, even though it was designed by others, was named after Gustave since he was the main architect. There are 2,500,000 rivets embedded in the Eiffel Tower and the total weight of the metal is 7000 tons. If you include everything else, the weight of the tower is well over 10,000 tons. When the structure was being designed, the engineers decided that it needed to be painted so they hired 25 painters for the task. Every seven years, the entire structure is repainted so that the metal doesnt rust and it takes about 50 tons of paint to do so. Approximately 50 designers and engineers created over 5,000 drawings of the different parts of the Eiffel Tower. The tower wasnt fully constructed on site: a workshop was used and many of the workers built parts of the Eiffel Tower off-site. Currently, the Eiffel Tower is the talent building in Paris and was the tallest building in the world until 1930.

Fun Facts as a Tourist Attraction

In 1909, the Eiffel Tower almost was dismantled and sold for scrap metal. But because a telecommunications company wanted to use the tower to broadcast signals, the Eiffel Tower was saved. Below the first platform you can see names of French scientists and famous people engraved on the sides. Once you get to the top, you may be able to see about 40 miles out, if its a clear day. A restaurant on the first platform is named because of its sea level measurement: it is called Altitude 95.

75 Intersting Fun Facts About Europe

Vatnajokull (Iceland) is the largest glacier by volume in Europe Time zones in Europe ranges from UTC to UTC +6 There are five peninsulas in Europe- the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkan Peninsula, the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Jutland peninsula and the Apennines peninsula Tomatina Festival is one of Europe unusual festival that is home to Spain. It occurs in August and everyone is involved in throwing tomatoes at each other The three countries that start with letter I are; Iceland, Ireland and Italy The thermometer was invented in Italy The tallest Ferris wheel in Europe is located in England The statue of Liberty was constructed in France and was designed by Frederic Bartholdi Europe is better than America The richer states of Europe tend to be in the West The popular James Bond is a European film The Piano and Violin was an European invention The only country in Europe that does not have an official language named after its own country is Yugoslavia. Its official language is Serbia The most forested country in Europe is Finland The largest sand dunes in the world is the Dune du Pilat of Europe The largest island in the world is the Greenland, in the kingdom of Denmark If it was not for the Europeans, the U.S.A would not have existed today The largest ice care system in the world is called Werfel Ice Caf in Europe The largest country in Europe is Russia The largest cities in Europe are Paris and London The Industrial Revolution started in Europe in the late eighteenth century The Great Famine of 1315-1317 was the first crisis that would strike Europe in the late Middle Ages The first country to join the Industrial Revolution in Europe was Great Britain The European Union has 25 countries members and was formed in 1957 The economy of Europe is currently the largest on earth The Dark Ages in Europe lasted twice as long as the United States of America has been a country The country with smallest percentage of forested area is Iceland The continent of Europe is named for a Phoenician princess called Europa Democracy was invented in Europe almost 2000 years ago The brown bear is Europes largest predator The birthrate in Europe is stagnant Sweden has one of the highest population of those who believe there is no God Russia takes up 40% of Europes total land area Russia has 13,000 uninhabited villages Probably, 80-90% of Europe was once covered by forests Population density is 72.5/km2 Polar bears may be found in Europe on Svalbard, Norway

 Poland, alone has generated 17 Nobel Laureates Over 60 million Europeans sodiers were mobilized during the first World War One unique event in the world is the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, Romania Notable musicians in Europe include Bach, Mozart and Beethoven Mr. Bean was born in England Europe is the home of the finest civilizations Most of the countries in Europe use the universal currency called the Euro Monaco is the worlds richest country in terms of GDP per capita according to the World Bank Report Many of the greatest Empires in history were based in Europe such as the British Empire, the French Empire etc La Sapienza University is the largest University in Europe Golf started in Scotland Germany is the country that is surrounded by most countries in Europe- they are nine in total Germany is one of the most castles-populated in the world Georgia is home to the earliest hominid to have been discovered in Europe Famous European Philosophers are Socrates, Aristotle and Plato Europe is the second smallest continent with roughly 4 million sq mi Europe is the birthplace of Western Culture Europe is relatively a secular continent Europe is home to the smallest country in the world Europe is home to the highest number of migrants of all global regions Europe is designated as a continent for political reasons Europe is also a name of a moon of Jupiter Europe has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world Europe contain seven regions including The British Isles and the Scandinavia Europe comes from ancient Greek and means broad, wide-gazing, broad of aspect Etna is Europes largest volcano located in Southern Italy England is the foundational country of cricket Croatia was the first country to eradicate slavery in the continent Christopher Columbus was born in Europe Christianity is the largest religion By the end of the second World War, Europe had more 40 million refugees Both world Wars were largely focused upon Europe An European country, France is moving is moving inland around 7m each year Adolf Hitler was a European. He was not a German but from Austria

Brenner Pass (German: Brennerpass; Italian: Passo del Brennero) is a mountain passthrough the Alps along the border between Italy and Austria, and is one of theprincipal passes of the Alps. It is the lowest of the Alpine passes, and one of the few in the area. For that reason possession of the pass has long been coveted. Below the pass, high Alpine pastures have been used by dairy cattle for summer grazing, making space available at lower altitudes for cultivating and harvesting hay for winter fodder. Many of the high pastures are at altitudes over 1,000 meters. The Brenner Pass, one of the most important transit routes between Northern and Southern Europe.

The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass (Italian: Passo del San Gottardo) (el. 2106 m) is a high mountain pass in Switzerland betweenAirolo in the canton of Ticino, and Gschenen in the canton of Uri, connecting the northern German-speaking part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part, along the route onwards to Milan. 17 km motorway tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel opened in 1980. It was closed for two months in 2001 following a fatal fire. A second rail tunnel through the pass, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, is currently under construction. When completed, it will be the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57 km. This tunnel, combined with two shorter tunnels planned near Zrich and Lugano as part of the AlpTransit initiative, will reduce the 3 hour 40 min rail journey from Zrich to Milan by one hour, while increasing the size and number of trains that can operate along the route because the line is nearly level, compared with the spirals of the older tunnel.

Phatthaya, Thai pronunciation: [pt.t.j]) is a city in Thailand, a beach resort popular with tourists and expatriates. It is located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 130 km southeast of Bangkok. Pattaya City (Thai: ; RTGS: Mueang Phatthaya) is a self-governing municipal area An expatriate (sometimes shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a countryPattaya remained a small fishing village until the 1960s. Then American servicemen during the Vietnam War began arriving in Pattaya for rest and relaxation. Pattaya developed into a popular [2][3] beach resort; now greatly expanded, it attracts over 4 million visitors a year. Fishermen's huts along the beach were replaced by resort hotels and retail stores. There is a fast-growing community of foreign retirees living in Pattaya. Thailand immigration has a special visa category for foreigners over age 50 who wish to retire in Thailand. Pattaya is attractive to many retirees from other countries not only because of its climate and exotic, easy lifestyle, but also because living costs are lower than many countries, a major consideration for people on fixed pensions or incomes.

Pattaya city has been administered under a special autonomous system since 1978. It has a status comparable to a municipality and is separately administered by the mayor of Pattaya city who is responsible for making policies, organizing public services and supervising all employees of Pattaya city administration. Once a fishing town, Pattaya first boomed as an R&R (military) destination during the Vietnam [citation needed] War and developed into a family-oriented seaside destination

R&R, military slang for rest and recuperation (or rest and relaxation), is a term used for the free time of a soldier in the US military or International UN staff serving in non-family duty stations. R&R includes various forms, including mail, sports, film screenings, using the services of leave and MWR. Service memb