Milan - Italy

Milan – Italy

Post published:24 July 2016
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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World’s Fashion Capital

It was long long due to return to this city, the third time now, and counting. We kept postponing and not even considering it on behalf of other cities, preferably if we’ve never been before, but it was indeed a great choice especially that this time we could enjoy by far more than last times, with great weather and great company. If back in 2009 I was a bit disappointed with the city and found it quite plain, grey and dirty; all this has changed for the opposite with the years to a great experience, very clean city and enormously elegant and monumental. I also recall, back then it was November, cold and rainy days. Nothing to compare with how vibrant and lively was now in the middle of summer.

Milan is the second largest city in Italy after Rome, and the 5th largest urban area in the European union; an important financial, industrial, cultural and arts centre; the mode capital in the world. Do not expect to find here such a charming squares to the likes of Rome or Florence, but in a sense, more austere yet imposing constructions and very elegant avenues and streets following a great urban planning. There is a lot to see and do and a weekend can come really short since distances are large and the sights scattered all around on every corner. Not only the city itself is packed with history; the nearby region is simply spectacular with countless beautiful villages, lakes and nature at the foot of the Alps. Milan will be your perfect gateway base to explore this region.

The historical core is perfect for visiting on foot. Over the years I can compare since the first time I came in 2001, and now, these many years after, majority of the historical and shopping streets are now pedestrian friendly. Vast amount of buildings perfectly restored and beautiful overall urban landscape where an unique icon of the city gives its extra personality: the historical ancient trams. While many hundreds have been removed over the years, a reasonably large fleet have been retained and run through many of the lines coupled with the more modern fleet. Milan, like Lisbon, Blackpool and Isle of Man are the only places left in Europe with a traditional historic tram fleet fully operational at such scale.

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Manchester - United Kingdom

Manchester – United Kingdom

Post published:17 July 2016
Post category:Europe Northern Europe United Kingdom

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World’s first industrialised city

Returning to the city where I lived for some months 11 years ago, and to this date, the best city I’ve ever been in the UK; Manchester. Living in London is just for a reason, work. Unfortunately a position as I have in London would be much harder to get in Manchester that’s a fact, otherwise I would not hesitate in coming back to live here. Not only the cost of living is much lower, it is also much lower the housing prices where you can at least afford a very nice house instead of a microscopic apartment in London. People also is way friendlier and nicer in every sense, and they do know how to party! The huge amount of beautiful large pubs, clubs and discos still fascinates me when comparing to tiny, tasteless, and ever crowded places in London.

Manchester although not the next largest city after London, title that goes to Birmingham, it is the second city in importance after London. Both Manchester and Birmingham have a never ending fight in which is the most important, but it is publicly and official for the UK it remains Manchester.

So what makes the city different or from where such importance? Taking a brief look at some of its facts then it comes self-explained: Nicknamed as Cottonopolis back in the industrial era, over 70% of the world’s cotton was produced here. No other city in the world had as many factories as Manchester, and truly became the world’s first industrialised city, where the world’s first industrial estate was created at Trafford Park. Back in its heyday, another unprecedented achievement occurred; the city became one end of the world’s first intercity passenger railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Another event at the Midland Hotel saw Mr Rolls and Mr Royce meeting for the first time before the formation of the famous car company Rolls Royce. Pioneering in many aspects, but also a melting pot where great artists and musicians have born. There is a phrase that somewhat in certain aspects, still described itself on the spot: What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow. (more…)

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Trier - Germany

Trier – Germany

Post published:3 July 2016
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Roman Augusta Treverorum

Our second part for this weekend after visiting the city of Luxembourg was for the historical small city of Trier, just across the border in western Germany. So what’s the importance in this city, that perhaps majority of people did not hear about its existence? Being one of the most important ancient Roman cities in current Germany, as well believed to be the oldest city in the country. The ancient Roman monuments and remains are scattered through the city, most of which reused many hundreds of years ago implemented in new constructions from the era.

By the 4th century the city was among the largest even in the world at probably reaching around 100000 inhabitants. Nowadays to compare, the city is home to 107000! Almost equal to what is today, 1600 years after its peak at the brink of the decline of the Roman Empire.

But is is not only about the Roman monuments that makes the city special. Of course having the largest hall from antiquity to survive today in almost intact condition, or the oldest bridge in the whole of Germany, are some of the facts. The other ones are the oldest Gothic church in the country, the oldest of any church in Germany, and also the second oldest, and while talking about cult and Christianity here, the Cathedral of Trier has among its treasures the Holy Tunic, said to be the robe Jesus was wearing when he died. All of this, together with a very beautiful old town, that even it was heavily damaged during WWII, was nicely restored and rebuilt afterwards; makes it perfect for a great day out. (more…)

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Luxembourg City - Luxembourg

Luxembourg City – Luxembourg

Post published:2 July 2016
Post category:Europe Luxembourg Western Europe

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Gibraltar of the North

Although cannot really recall how many times I’ve now been to Luxembourg, it is certainly getting closer to 10 for sure. Considering the very first time I went in 2009 and how long it took me for returning to do a proper visit, I was not expecting the following trips that came afterwards and will possibly come in the near future. The fact of being that near to London, with plenty of flight options, most of the time so cheap well below budget, then it’s one of these cities great for a escape, enjoy nice food, some culture and good shopping.

Flights to the city are very frequent from cities such as London where we came from, Germany, France or Switzerland, with deals every now and then depending on the season, date and times. It’s not really a big problem to find something nice, but getting a hotel over there can easily cost you way over what you initially though. A great way to save you on budget securing nice flights and hotel is to have a look at the British Airways website and search for “flight+hotel” deals. This is how we are doing more and more often our European weekend trips, and it works awesome! I really encourage you to take a look, because sometimes you can be surprised on how much you can save.

The capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is often ranked as having the second highest per-capita GDP in the world, also topping the lists high up in the ranking for best quality of living. The figures of course, directly translates into a pretty much rich country with high standards of living and high costs for everything, like Switzerland. Do not expect this to be a “cheap” trip even if you find a great flight deal, not to mention this is certainly not a backpacker country.

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Isle of Man - United Kingdom

Isle of Man – British Isles

Post published:26 June 2016
Post category:Europe Isle of Man Northern Europe United Kingdom

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Ellan Vannin. A Self-governing Crown Dependency

Glad to finally manage great flight tickets to Isle of Man, long time in the bucket list of the “nearby” destinations to go. And with the ongoing shortage of new destinations across Europe still pending to go, it was once more, a perfect choice and a great weekend. Landscapes, nature, city and culture road trip through the entire island which surprisingly has a lot to see and do, and an incredible history and past behind through the millennia. An entire weekend is just perfect time, enough to enjoy every corner of the island which is really pleasant to drive all around. Easy roads and short distances, with many sights along the way: megalithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age monuments; castles, beaches, idyllic villages and impressive Victorian engineering at its purest with the largest water wheel in the world, horse trams in Douglas, a mountain railway, steam train and electric tramways from the past century, just to name a few of the places we would visit.

Starting at Castletown and Douglas, we split between north and south, one area for Saturday, the other for Sunday. Our hotel however, was in Douglas since it’s the capital and largest city in the island and with majority of facilities, entertainment and nightlife. We did not want to be “stranded” in the middle of nowhere and having to depend on the car to even go and find dinner.

The island, on the Irish Sea, is one of the self-governing Crown Dependency of the British Isles where the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but not part of the United Kingdom. It is an independent country on it’s own, and the people of the island are happy about this. Sometimes people are mistaken in thinking they are part of the United Kingdom but is not. The other such self-governing islands are the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the La Mancha Canal. (more…)

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Trondheim - Norway

Trondheim – Norway

Post published:12 June 2016
Post category:Europe Germany Select by Continent Western Europe

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Nidaros: Mouth of the river Nid

Back into Norway, just few months since we repeat a trip to its capital, Oslo. But with such a large, and long country, the amount of great places to go are quite endless to us for now. While we’ve been already to many places, those are all still towards the quarter part south of the country, never anything farther north. With Trondheim we can say we move a little bit north, but when you see this point on a map of the country then you realise how enormously long the country is and how much farther north is still to be seen!. Unfortunately for now and unless a good offer comes out by any airline, I do not believe we will be returning anymore to Norway for this year. Tromso, Alta and Nordkapp will have to wait for the near future.

Our plan for this trip would not only be visiting just Trondheim, but also for driving through the ever beautiful landscapes of fjords, mountains and lakes south towards Kristiansund, and farther beyond in order to pass by the more and more famous and visited Atlantic Ocean Road. Once a very quiet and remote road that since being featured on TV, travel sites, best roads to drive and so on, it is becoming a worldwide attraction! And I see the clear reason anyway. You have to be there to experience it, truly exciting and beautiful. This is what we did the day right after our arrival in Trondheim, sparing Sunday for sightseeing the beautiful city itself.

Visiting the city is matter of few hours. Although the 3rd largest in the country, it is indeed small to the standards we are used to. Norway, after all, is a very underpopulated country, with majority of its inhabitants living south in Oslo and nearby metropolitan region. As more north you go, the less people. That’s why when planning a trip here, make sure you also come with other ideas, like the road trip we did the day before (guide here if you want to know more). Spending the entire weekend in the city alone could be too boring.

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Kristiansund and the Atlantic Road - Norway

Kristiansund and the Atlantic Road – Norway

Post published:11 June 2016
Post category:Europe Northern Europe Norway

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The Atlantic Ocean Road

Right after arriving the previous night into Trondheim, we dedicated today, the entire Saturday, for doing our road day trip towards Kristiansund and across some of the incredibly beautiful landscapes of this region of Norway. In the other hand it really does not matter wherever you go within this county, everywhere is absolutely unspoiled with some of the greatest natural sceneries in the world. As we’ve now been to most of the key landmarks in Norway, including many of the famous fjords, some of which the largest in the world; the Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) by the Lysefjorden, Oslo, the beautiful cities of Stavanger and Bergen; then there was something still to do on the agenda: The Atlantic Ocean Road.

OK, OK. Yes; there are still more places in the wish-list such as Tromso, Nordkapp or seeing the Northern Lights; but for now they will have to wait for future trips, most likely from next year. The agenda is by far already too busy until the end of this year, and unless something turns out during late November/beginning of December then there are no more weekends without a trip booked.

From Trondheim the route I planned was the E39 to Kristiansund, and farther beyond in order to pass by the more and more famous and visited Atlantic Ocean Road. Once a very quiet and remote road that since being featured on TV, travel sites, or being nominated as the world’s best road trip, listed National Tourist Route, Cultural Heritage of Norway and the Norwegian Construction of the Century to name a few; it has became a worldwide attraction! And I see the clear reason anyway. You have to be there to experience it, truly exciting and beautiful. (more…)

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Hoxter and Goslar - Germany

Hoxter and Goslar – Germany

Post published:5 June 2016
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Carolingian Abbey and a 1000 years old mine

Continuing on the second part of the weekend today Sunday, after visiting the day before the cities of Hanover, Hildesheim and Alfeld with their UNESCO World Heritage sites; our first point would be the beautiful and historical city of Hoxter, some 100 kilometres south of Hanover, our base city. While a small city, probably unheard to everyone (unless for a German), it is very important in the country due to its Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey, the only standing structure that dates back to the Carolingian era in the country.

Farther east from Höxter, not near though and on small roads since there are no motorways in this area, is the city of Goslar with its over 1000 year old mines of Rammelsberg. All the places and cities are incredible in every sense, and something we actually did not expect. We did not know there was so much to see at both cities, and so many timber framed buildings, specially in Goslar. It was literally every single building! The only fact that played against us was the time. We wish to have had more time to enjoy more peacefully the visit, and even reach the historical city of Quedlinburg. This will have to be done on a future trip.

So while our original thoughts were that Hanover would be a bit boring, with not much to see to keep you buys for a weekend, it does have a good side, the many many other places “nearby” in the region. Way too many, so in the pipe, probably for the next year, is to find another good flight deal to Hanover and continue visiting the region and historical cities. (more…)

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