Excellent shots! My initial impression before reading your post from the photographs was, "Timeless small country exuding affluence from inside out." Everything seems so pristine. There's this vibe of old rich and conservative flair.
Love the way they have laid out the cannonballs. I've never seen a display like that before.
Will hold on to this guide for that trip someday.
That's a pretty accurate description. There was a lot of new construction there and it actually reminded me of a massive city in some ways. There were quute a few cranes building more large towers, which you see a lot of in major metropolis cities but never in smaller ones. It's not often that you see so many towers in such a small town either. 40 thousand people isn't very many inhabitants. It's rare seeing even one skyscraper in a town that size. But that speaks to how many tourists go there I suppose.
I agree it's a very good sign, the number of cranes does reflect the thriving economy and is quite uncommon in such a small yet already well-developed town.