Berlin - Germany

Berlin – Germany

Post published:13 September 2015
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Polabian Berl: Swamp

Once again, almost without any free time to prepare our future trips since these are one after another and without any rest in between; it came the time for Berlin. City we’ve already been many years ago! Possibly 8 or 9, hence the reason why there was not a travel guide for the capital of Germany in my blog until now, where I will make the best to combine some good information from both of the times I’ve visited and a quite extensive section on what to see and do in the city itself.

On this occasion I must admit the time planned for the city was very limited. Extremely limited would describe this better, but this was in the other hand not the usual weekend trip where we go to a new destination and we do non-stop walking everywhere through the city to see everything and all of the sights. No it wasn’t. Was instead a much more relaxed weekend spent abroad for the sake of enjoying going elsewhere and to a place so long we’ve never returned but very well worth it to revisit. I’m sure it won’t be that long anymore until we return to Berlin to keep enjoying it and for visiting the many nearby wonderful cities and places.

So before you wonder how long you would need to enjoy the city, plan no less than 3 days. While a weekend is great to give you an idea and see a lot, it is still short as you cannot physically see everything in just 2 days. There is really a lot in the many districts, plus when talking about museums then well… that will take a long time. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Museumsinsel (Museum Island) can easily take you an entire day for itself alone; yet here, of course, from all of the museums, there is one you cannot miss: the Pergamon; where you can find the original world renown altar brought stone by stone from the Turkish city of Pergamon among other treasures, noteworthy the galleries about Persepolis and the Middle East cross-roads of civilizations. (more…)

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Sundsvall - Sweden

Sundsvall – Sweden

Post published:31 August 2015
Post category:Europe Northern Europe Sweden

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The Northernmost Stone City in the World

Heading to the north some 400 kilometers away from Stockholm on a much more unusual trip to say, for example, Gothenburg or Malmo which are the next largest cities in Sweden and that I’ve already been before anyway; we arrived instead at the small city of Sundsvall. Two reasons why, the truly decision-maker was to visit our family there which we never got the chance to do so at their home town, and second, in way less importance, getting the chance to visit this region of Sweden far from the big cities in the south, and explore more the beautiful nature and country side.

We decided to spare 2 full days here, which included anyway visiting few other places nearby as our family took us around. Being such a heavy traveller as I am, 2 days in Sundsvall would have been by all means too much as you can see everything in just half a day. Still, there are way too many other places and small cities and villages nearby that will for sure make your visit well worth it; and in this case, a little bit longer time for family reunion was also nice.

Also mentioning something important you should consider, is getting here by train. It is around 3 hours and a half from Stockholm Central and the views and landscapes you will have are impossible to beat if instead you opt to fly. Let’s be honest anyway, the difference in cost between flying or taking the train was on our precise date not that different, but I knew beforehand I wanted to take the train, plus my cousin and a work colleague, both Swedish, told me it’s the best choice if I wanted to enjoy a great trip here and really see more of Swedish nature and landscapes around. They were all right! (more…)

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Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm – Sweden

Post published:29 August 2015
Post category:Europe Northern Europe Sweden

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Venice of the North

Happy to return to this beautiful city, considering the first and only time was almost 6 years ago! It would have been in September precisely 6 years, and that was back then a very short trip when the usual travelling gang we used to be “abused” on the super low Ryanair fares to everywhere we could find. It was just £2 return! Leaving on Saturday extremely early in the morning and returning the same day but already back in London way after midnight. Long and tiring happy days. Nowadays, circumstances have changed for all, and not only you can never find such air fare deals, but we rather spend the entire weekend leaving on Friday night to return Sunday night, or similar.

Although one of the downsides of flying a low-cost airline to Stockholm is to find yourself at Skavsta Airport. This is almost 100 kilometers to the south of Stockholm itself, but the almost 2 hours bus journey to the centre is in fact also well invested and to be honest, part of the trip for the beautiful scenery you will pass and see along the way.

Being the largest city in the whole of Scandinavia and having been always so powerful and rich in history due to its strategic location and trading within the Hanseatic League, you can imagine this legacy is greatly spread across the city at the many grand buildings, medieval wealthy houses, architecture and urbanism.

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Oslo - Norway

Oslo – Norway

Post published:9 August 2015
Post category:Europe Northern Europe Norway

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Meadow at the Foot of a Hill

One of the major capital cities that was still missing to have here in my travel blog, Oslo, finally written. It is not the first time I visit the city though, but at over 6 years since the previous time, and for what was back then one of those “light-speed day trips” we so often used to do almost every Saturday, travelling at odd unsocial early hours and returning back at even later hours on the same day (well, already Sunday), then was not much point to write the backdated guide as it would have been pretty much incomplete. This time, however, after staying longer and not merely one time, but twice for a weekend at different seasons of the year, I have absolutely everything I need to have a wider view of what this pretty Scandinavian city has to offer.

That we flew here on this day, anyway, came out of sudden at a random. Only 2 weeks before we were about to give up in searching what could we do one of the weekends, pretty much to what happened to us with other trips that we ended up returning to Brussels and visiting Leuven for example. So instead of searching for flights alone, it was well worth looking at the Holiday Finder tool on the British Airways website and there it was this great flight+hotel deal with such unbeatable perfect flying times, great hotel, but what is best, the surprisingly great price! Honestly, if you did not know about this tool they have, you should really give it a try, without giving up if on some precise dates you might be looking at you don’t see any good deal, because there are, yes there are great deals; simply change the dates or look farther ahead in advance in the year.

As a good point in all this, a weekend is more than enough to fully enjoy the city without missing anything. And if you plan or have more than 2 days, then I would advice you to have a look at what else you could do nearby as otherwise you will end up without any further places to visit and wondering what else to do next. (more…)

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Leuven - Belgium

Leuven – Belgium

Post published:2 August 2015
Post category:Belgium Europe Western Europe

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The Brewery City

Here we are returning back to Brussels once more this year merely after 3 months since the last time, but in order to reach the beautiful city of Leuven; and after a very, very last minute booking found yet again under the flight+hotel deals offered by British Airways that you can find and use their great holiday finder tool in their website. Sometimes I am really wondering how this is possible at such incredible good low prices! This same weekend, if booked separately would have set us up in triple the fare we paid. And what is best, flying with British Airways. Getting Avios miles, more tire points, and able to use the Business Lounge for free since we are Silver Members on their frequent flyer program, BA Executive Club.

This time we did also not booked this merely to be again in Brussels that we know as our second home, but to have a rather relaxing weekend and enjoying to the maximum the hotel facilities as their large pool but still sparing some time to visit a city we have never been before in Belgium that lies only 25 kilometers to the east, Leuven.

It is really few places left in Brussels that we’ve not been. It is actually one of the countries we have heavily visited the most and repeated countless times in going to Brussels, Ghent and Brugge. Unfortunately it is up to this date that I have not created the travel guides for both Brugge and Ghent, and only because it is quite a long time since the last time we were in them over 5 years ago. Back then we used to go at least 5 times a year if no more. I will wait with those for when I return and have a fresher memory and more up to date info. (more…)

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Torun - Poland

Torun – Poland

Post published:12 July 2015
Post category:Eastern Europe Europe Poland

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The City of Copernicus

Our second stop over for this weekend brought us to the beautiful historical city of Torun. Not only famously known to be the birthplace of astronomer Copernicus, but more important, it is the only example of perfectly preserved medieval and Gothic architecture that entirely survived during the war without any damage nor destruction; no wonder why the UNESCO included it in the list of World Heritage Sites.

Yet it’s true to city is very small, in the other hand it has a large old town core with plenty to see and do. Most tourists come here as part of a day trip from wherever their main city base is. In our example, we came from Poznan some 130 kilometres to the west of Torun. But coming here was not just pure chance. Knowing myself and while preparing the information and guide needed for visiting Poznan is when I realised with a day would be more than enough to see everything. And then what? Trying to figure out an alternative plan for Sunday, which as usual rule of thumb I googled for UNESCO sites “nearby” and Torun popped out to be the perfect candidate at a reasonable distance to Poznan airport which was our departure point.

This trip ended up in being a great choice! And it is the fact that both Poznan and Torun are ranking among the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to Poland so far. (more…)

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Poznan - Poland

Poznan – Poland

Post published:12 July 2015
Post category:Eastern Europe Europe Poland

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Poznany: One Who is Known

One more time visiting this great city, and the same impressions about it. A bit different on this occasion though, back then was middle of July and so hot; this time almost winter, cold and grey-ish but the overall feeling was still the same, what a beautiful cosy place. It’s always a nice country to visit, and with so many cities and places worth to see, there are plenty more to plan for future trips. As usual anywhere in Poland I go, it is not only about the architecture and sights what makes me come to visit, but also the great food I love so much. This weekend won’t be any different in this case.

Poznan is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Residence of the oldest Polish diocese and home to the first cathedral built in the country soon becoming the prime burial place of the early Piast monarchs Mieszko I, Boleslaus I, Mieszko II, Casimir I, Przemysł I and King Przemysł II. The Cathedral is as such, one of the major landmarks and sight number one in the city, which coupled with an extensive Old Town and the “newer” area known as the Imperial District that was entirely built when the city was part of the German Empire; makes it perfect for a nice weekend city-break trip.

And if you are a fast pace visitor, pretty much as we are, then there is more than plenty of time to visit the entire city in just one day. If you came here for a weekend this means giving you an extra day to do something else or going to another city which I would highly recommend that to be Toruń. We did this combination and was more than enough time to visit both cities in full in a flexible quiet non stressful way.
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Szczecin - Poland

Szczecin – Poland

Post published:28 June 2015
Post category:Eastern Europe Europe Poland

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Latin Stetinum

An irresistible flight deal to Szczecin on what would have been otherwise a weekend without any trip planned so far. We only booked those tickets 7 weeks before the actual flight, plus considering this was the last weekend of June, already high season; furthermore the flights at perfect times from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Indeed, a temptation not to let it go. After all, finding an European destination not been before is becoming a challenging task. Of course, there are endless cities and places to visit, but there are not flights to every one of those destinations either.

Right after booking the flight and researching a bit on the city, this is a city that can easily be done and fully visited in a day and even less than that. The good news are the many nice places to the north and northwest, already in German soil. The city lies just few kilometers to the east from the German border that runs north to south. Therefore, the plan for this weekend was postponing the visit of Szczecin itself to the following day, while for today driving towards Swinoujscie, the last city in Poland before the German border through the Szczecin Lagoon, passing the beaches by the Baltic Sea, and continuing to the UNESCO World Heritage Site city of Stralsund in Germany.

Sparing Sunday to be in the city was a good decision. We had plenty of time, were relaxed since there was no need to drive anywhere, and took the time for quite a lazy visit. Why to rush when there is no need! Instead we took the time to get a really nice lunch, some Polish snacks, coffee here, cake there and enjoying a beer at one of the many terraces in the old town watching the live passing by. (more…)

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