Tallinn - Estonia

Tallinn – Estonia

Post published:27 March 2011
Post category:Estonia Europe Northern Europe

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Qalaven, Kesoniemi, Reval

Although this is currently my second time in this city, it was very long since the first time, hence actually glad to be back to one of the most charming place in Europe. Not the best weather in this occasion though. From what was a perfect summer time was back in 2005 to really winter this time. We could not even believe that almost in April, there was still -5 degrees with the feeling at much lower, and the Baltic Sea entirely frozen. One for another, having the chance to have seen the city during these two different seasons was already a plus, enhance for being able to admire the sea completely frozen as my eyes could reach, that was a first in my life!.

When planning your time here, the good news is that two days are good enough to visit everything. The Baltic capitals are in general small and perfect for a weekend trip, or if on a wider tour, still 2 days at each is perfect when talking about cities like Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius or Helsinki. To make things even better, once you are in the Upper or Lower town, you will get to see everything on foot. Most of the streets are pedestrian only, extremely compact and the whole of it listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. One can hardly see any damage from WWII, thankfully it retained what is now one of the best preserved medieval old towns in Europe.

The city walls are so well preserved, and so the many towers that when viewed from the upper town it’s more like a truly fairy tale city. So many towers raising, together with the many churches spires and all right at the footstep of the Baltic Sea not far ahead.

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Dusseldorf - Germany

Dusseldorf – Germany

Post published:26 February 2011
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Japan on the Rhine

Although I have been so many times in this city, and also living for almost 9 months there, it’s time to finally create the well deserved guide for what is considered one of the most important cities in Germany. Surprisingly-wise talking, it is generally more important than Berlin in the sense of events, fairs, design, technology and entertainment. It is the city with the most Japanese population outside of Japan, hence its nickname Japan on the Rhine.

A weekend to enjoy the city is well enough, and even for the first time visitor, is perfect, not only you will see majority of the sights at a slow pace without any rush, in a day you will be done meaning the other half of your weekend trip can be spent at the “twin” city of Cologne. Yet it’s not only Cologne what’s really next to Dusseldorf, it is also a vast choice of places you can go within one/one and a half hour train or bus drive such as Wuppertal, Bonn, Dortmund, Essen, Oberhausen, the Ruhr Industrial Area… or into the Netherlands border at just 60km away to the west.

Discovering the city is quite straightforward and easy. Avenues follow a grid pattern even in the old town, so you can easily move up and down making zigzags, being able to see all the sights in the city centre without the need of any public transportation. Everything surrounding the old town core is the very elegant late 19th early 20th century extension with countless of beautiful grand buildings in all styles, among them a style ranks number one for the numerous amount and its importance, that’s the Jugendstil, or art-nouveau for German. The most notorious district to see the finest, and grandest, is the shopping area of Königsallee.
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Konigswinter - Germany

Konigswinter – Germany

Post published:13 February 2011
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Castles, Mountains and a Rack Railway

Just another of these quick and easy day trips from Dusseldorf taking the chance before my work contract here comes to an end and explore the entire region bit after bit. Heading towards the south this time, it’s a matter of few minutes and you are already entering the Konigswinter area of beautiful landscapes, scenery and nature; and great castles too. However once in Konigswinter, it is a very small place for which a day trip is well more than enough giving you still some time to spare. It is the fact that we drove here only in the afternoon after lunchtime and managed to do everything we needed to do tourist-wise talking before returning by dinner time.

There is a highlight in this place, especially for any railway lovers. That’s the old rack railway slowly heading up the Drachenfels hill where at the summit you will find two castles and incredible views over the valley and the Rhine River. Not far from here is Bonn, the de-facto capital city of West Germany from 1949 until 1900 when the country was split in West and East Bloc. That’s another great city you should not miss when visiting this region, or of course, if you are staying at Cologne.

Being that straightforward and easy to visit, there is not much more that can be said for this brief introduction to the area. For more information you can check Wikipedia and Wikitravel sites. Germany’s currency is the Euro (EUR). Please note that any price reference is true as from when this guide was created, therefore check prices in advance as with the time they change. (more…)

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Maastricht - Netherlands

Maastricht – Netherlands

Post published:6 February 2011
Post category:Europe Netherlands Western Europe

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The oldest city in Holland

Continuing to take some advantage from living these past months in Dusseldorf due to the work contract, it’s great to take the chance for visiting that many cities all around, most of which really important and not only in Germany, but across the border into the Netherlands or Belgium. Distances from this part of Germany are really small to be honest, not to mention how easy is to reach a place or the other with such a great railway and road network.

So for today it was the turn of Maastricht, some 100 kilometres west of Dusseldorf. The oldest city in Holland, one of the most beautiful and historical retaining much of its original medieval fabric unchanged; although it’s difficult to find any city in the Netherlands which do not fall under the same beauty circumstances, no matter how modern and futuristic some are turning nowadays. And as a good note in here, the small size and short distances mean a day is well more than enough for visiting absolutely every sight. It is the fact that you could easily visit both Maastricht and Eindhoven in the very same day for example.

This is a very traditional city, you can feel the “real” Netherlands and its people, its culture. Quiet and laid back as opposed to what you will find in Amsterdam and Rotterdam where majority of tourism go. The Meuse River splitting the city in two, and the Jeker River cutting through the historical old town with two branches create great perspectives from the many bridges and the ancient houses built literally on top of the river. There is without doubt a great collection of renaissance style houses scattered all over the city, truly worth to come and enjoy.

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Santiago de Compostela - Spain

Santiago de Compostela – Spain

Post published:3 January 2011
Post category:Europe Southern Europe Spain

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The City of Stone and Way of Saint James

Happy to travel to Santiago de Compostela for a well deserved return to one of the most historical and beautiful cities in Spain, worldwide known especially among the Christian Catholic population. It becomes now quite an oddity to think it took me 13 years to come back and admire this city one more time; but yeah, with an almost infinite choice of destinations for a lifetime, sometimes the ones we have near us are the ones we tend to mistakenly postpone and even forget.

Although this was just a day trip taking as much advantage from a very early flight in the morning and a late at night return, it is more than enough time to visit Santiago de Compostela, the small capital city of the Autonomous Region of Galicia in north west Spain. We can be thankful the weather was not too bad considering it was just January! Yes, this is something you need to be aware of, the weather in this region. It does not matter whether you are coming in the summer months or winter, the chances of rain are one of the highest in Europe, only second after Bergen in Norway. Also a jacket in summer will almost certainly be needed.

So what’s the deal and so special about this city to be so world renown? It is the end point of the Way of Saint James’, the Christian pilgrimage network of routes coming all over Europe onto Northern Spain and on to the Cathedral of Santiago, resting place of the apostle. Quite an epic journey should you wish to do, noticeable the route between Roncevalles (France) and Santiago, covering some 800 km of beautiful northern Spain scenery and historical cities. (more…)

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Modena - Italy

Modena – Italy

Post published:19 December 2010
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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The Capital of Engines

Our second day on this weekend trip and as planned, we used for visiting the small and incredibly beautiful city of Modena. Who has never heard of this name before? Surely you must know for the balsamic vinegar, redundant to say it comes from here. At only 40km away from Bologna and around 30 minutes by train between both, it is the perfect combination you should aim for. Bologna and Modena, two in one for a weekend cultural trip is the ideal.

Being of this size makes it perfect for a day trip, in fact, not even a full day is needed as you will visit everything in much less time, meaning you could use pretty much the entire Saturday if you are coming just for the weekend to Bologna, while Sunday for Modena before heading back to the airport if you have an evening flight back on that day. If you plan to do it other way around then you will be making a mistake because Bologna deserves much more time, unless you’ve already visited it before. It’s quite large in size.

The city boasts two monuments listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Both located at the very heart of the historic centre, the Piazza Grande (meaning Great Square), and the City Hall. It is with no surprise why is that as you will see for your own eyes. Elsewhere, the charming streets full of historical buildings speak for themselves, but remember is very small. Everything is compact and very straightforward with an almost impossible chance of being lost or loosing time trying to locate yourself around.

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Bologna - Italy

Bologna – Italy

Post published:19 December 2010
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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The Learned, the Fat and the Red

Again the time has arrived for a last trip of the year. Many so far, to incredible places and countless pictures and memories, so let’s add with another one to Bologna, and considering how near is Modena, both would be the plan for this weekend. Making it all possible thanks to the bargain flights, although nowadays nothing to compare to these “almost fore free” flights once Ryanair had some years ago. Still, cheaper than three pints in a normal bar in London that’s what we paid this time.

Days before our arrival it has been snowing quite heavily, therefore we prepared ourselves to cope with the weather and for the freezing temperatures. Thankfully we could land on-time right in the middle of a blizzard which, luckily for us, stopped once we were outside of the airport. We cannot say the same for our returning flight the day after… flights were severely disrupted, delayed and cancelled. I must say I was only lucky by chance at only 2 hours delay, but managed it back home.

The city, 7th largest in Italy has also one of the largest and best preserved historical old town centre in Europe. There is always some great architecture and history everywhere you walk, although this is a fact repeated across the entire Emilia Romagna region, which capital city is, as you could imagine by now, Bologna. And if something makes it very unique is the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed incredibly system of porticoes covering no less than 38 kilometres across the entire city. Once can walk under the arches for several kilometres without even getting wet if raining.

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Venice - Italy

Venice – Italy

Post published:5 December 2010
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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La Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, Floating City

Such a wonderful surprise was to find one of the best airfare deals ever to one of the most stunning cities in the planet, Venice. More even considering it was almost 10 years apart since the first and only time I was here. The excitement was even higher considering the time of the year, December, and the weather conditions so totally different to that glorious days of summer the first time I step on Venice.

I admit I have a great memory for the places I travel to, however, remembering absolutely everything as in this case, like the little streets I once walked, or where I had food and that great ice cream was priceless. The only most clear difference was, as mentioned earlier, the weather. Now I can gladly say I have enjoyed the city in the summer when it’s hot, sunny and nicely clear skies yet hordes of tourists in almost every possible piece of land; and the city during the Christmas period; cloudy, cold and rainy but experienced something unique, the acqua alta. That’s the phenomenon where the city gets flooded with the rising levels of water reaching some meters in height at some points. This usually happens between winter and spring months.

This city has so much to see in so limited space that it’s incredible how could it be built since the very beginning like this, in the middle of the lagoon with the houses on top of wooden pillars stick to the mud below the water level. Engineers knew about the tide (acqua alta) since the very beginning, and that was not a problem. The issue arise only in the recent decades as it is getting worst and worst with levels reaching score heights, hence the terrible damages it cause. This fate is due to hopefully change for the better once the lagoon barriers are fully operational in order to control the water rising in the city.

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