Excerpt from Pleasant Memories of Foreign Travel Most of the large cities of Europe attained their full growth ages ago, hence they appear to-day much the same as in past centuries, with the exception of having expanded their limits by absorbing adjacent territory. Towns and cities in America are often the growth of a few years, but it is not so in the Old World, where time was needed for their development. There antiquity is venerated; here it is frequently regarded with indifference. Mistakes and faults are common to both hemi spheres but frequent communication between the two will in time correct many of these errors, and bring the nations into a more familiar acquaintance with one another. It requires weeks and months to explore and study the rich treasures of art found in the museums of any one great city, for which a special preparation is needed. One should be familiar with the history of the country or city to be visited, and should know what objects of interest are to be seen. He should understand the history of the fine arts, including architecture, and where the works of the great masters are to be found. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.