Commissioned by Emperor Charlemagne around 796, this beautiful cathedral is a popular tourist destination in Germany. It survived several Allied bombings during World War II. Parts of the cathedral were severely damaged including the choir hall and altar. Fortunately, the basic structure survived and the parts that were destroyed were rebuilt. In 1978, Aachen Cathedral was one of the first 12 items to be listed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites (Wikipedia).

Starting today, you can visit the cathedral and add the new stamp and sticker to your Duckwyn Travel Passport.

If you love lighthouses we have a new series that you're going to enjoy. Our new Lighthouse Series of virtual stickers are now available to collect in the Duckwyn Travel Passport. These are some of the most popular, most photographed lighthouses in the world. Starting with Portland Head Light in Maine, Cape Hatteras Light in North Carolina, Battery Point Light in California, and Montauk Point Light in New York, these beautiful lighthouses are worth a visit during your travels.

Get your Duckwyn Travel Passport today to start adding these stickers to your collection.

Photo Attriubtion

Today we celebrate our 200th destination. It's been a little over 3 years since the first code was written for the Duckwyn Travel Passport app. Now, we're adding several new destinations each month and will be approaching 250 destinations by year end.

Destination #200 is Machu Picchu. This beautiful destination takes some work to get to but it's worth it.

Machu Picchu was built during the 15th century high above the Sacred Valley. The Incas abandoned it during the Spanish conquest. It remained relatively unknown for years until American historian, Hiram Bingham, helped it gain international attention in 1911. Today, many of the structures have been restored to give tourists a better idea of how they would have looked 500 years ago.

More information:

• Wikipedia
• Tickets and other information

We've been busy adding new destinations to the Duckwyn Travel Passport.  Italy is one of my favorite countries to visit. Several years ago we enjoyed a long weekend in Venice. It was part of our longer trip exploring Rome, Naples, and Sorrento. The kids we're much younger then but they enjoyed exploring the city with boats instead of cars. This week I'm excited to add our first destinations in Venice to our travel passport app. 

The first is St. Mark's Basilica. This unique Roman Catholic Church built in the 11th century features 4 large horses above its entrance and gold mosaics covering much of the interior. Many of its artifacts were plundered during the Fourth Crusade. 

The next sight to explore is the Doge's Palace. This Venetian Gothic styled palace was built in 1340. It has undergone many changes over the centuries since. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic. It has an enclosed bridge that connects the building to a prison, referred to as the Bridge of Sighs. Prisoners would go from the courtroom in the palace over the bridge to their jail cell making the bridge their last view of the lagoon and freedom before being locked up.

Finally, the last place we added is the Rialto Bridge. Built in 1591, this famous bridge crosses the Grand Canal. It features rows of shops on each side. A visit to Venice is not complete until you get a few pictures of the Rialto Bridge with a steady stream of gondolas passing by.

In addition to these 3 sights, be sure to visit the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. Go to the top of the church for 360 degree views of Venice and the surrounding islands. You can find this gem and many more in our Family Travel Gems.

Also check out our Italy travel resources at VitaViaggio.com to help with planning your trip.

Photos attributions