Tarangire and Ngorongoro - Tanzania

Tarangire and Ngorongoro – Tanzania

Post published:23 July 2017
Post category:Africa Tanzania

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The Garden of Eden

If coming from incredible Zanzibar was already a top experience in life, coming for the first time to a safari this completes a fascinating trip to Tanzania. Not only a safari, but two. Two of the most spectacular safaris you can do in the world. However with great disappointment, we had to let it go the top safari in the plane, the Serengeti. This was unfortunately requiring for a longer stay and at least a 3 day safari. We did only count with 2 full days therefore that we had to make a decision. While Ngorongoro was out of question the MUST-DO, the second was more an option in what we wanted to see most. Tarangire would be our best bet. Why? Well, with Ngorongoro we knew we will see most of the animals and landscapes of truly Africa, but not so much elephant-wise, while for Tarangire, it is the park with the most elephants and the incredible huge baobab trees so, so characteristic of “real Africa”. Making this decision was quick. After all, the other option would have been Lake Manyara, also an spectacular national park by the huge lake. Costs were the same, including one or the other, that was not a problem not constrain.

For you to know, we are talking about an expensive business here. The entire trip to Tanzania is splashing money by the hundreds of $. You are squeezed from every side. Lucky for us, we found one of these flight error fare all the way to Zanzibar, so what we saved in the flights used it for getting the internal flights, the safaris and part of the hotels, otherwise this could have turned into a very expensive holiday considering we were not that many days altogether.

So switching our base in Zanzibar for that in Arusha was easy. It’s just an hour’s flight. To this point it all sounds easy, but it was not. We had to play with the flight times in order to maximise the time in Arusha for being able to arrive, spending the first night there and then have the following 2 full days free for both safari, returning to Arusha in the evening so having to stay overnight as the last flights leave for Zanzibar quite early in the afternoon, and then finally making the way back into Zanzibar the following morning. In our case, we needed the earlier flight possible to then enjoy Stone Town which we left for this very last day, before the early morning following day’s flight returning to Muscat and into London. (more…)

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Zanzibar - Tanzania

Zanzibar – Tanzania

Post published:20 July 2017
Post category:Africa Tanzania

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The Pearl of Africa

Reaching our final destination (for now) after a flight tour through Europe and Oman, we finally touch down in Zanzibar. Our very first time in Tanzania, and actually, the first time in the “real Africa” as we’ve only been to Morocco, Tunis and Egypt. That has been a long way and too many hours to reach, however, it was actually in a very convenient and relaxed way first in Luxembourg City, then to Nancy for a day, continuing to Muscat via Munich where we had plenty of time to enjoy such a beautiful city, and now a very well deserved rest by some of the most paradisaical beaches in the world in a sumptuous resort. This would be, nevertheless, a grand arrival to such an impressive country where we will also explore some of the best safaris in the world: Tarangire and Ngorongoro; the city of Arusha, and although from the distance, the mighty Kilimanjaro.

Zanzibar is way more than an island, a small continent! You have everything in here, from the mountains to the sea, and the incredible forests and pure white sand beaches. And all within easy reach and short distances, with an impressive collection of architecture blending the colonial and traditional styles in its small and vibrant capital city, Stone Town.

We spent 3 days upon arrival in the island, where we were towards the north along the main beaches on the west, resting and enjoying the weather, the beaches and pools in the resort, and sightseeing in the afternoons around the surrounding nearby area and villages; and then a last day before our return flight for fully exploring Stone Town. Time-wise, it was perfect for us, although of course I would have welcomed to stay longer in such an impressive resort doing nothing else than chilling out; but our plans were for also experience for the first time in our lives a safari and getting closer to the “real Africa”. (more…)

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Muscat - Oman

Muscat – Oman

Post published:17 July 2017
Post category:Middle East Oman

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Cryptus Portus, the Hidden Port

Continuing on our journey bound for Tanzania, this is our second intermediary stop after Luxembourg City and Nancy. Muscat it is then for the entire day since the very early morning until the very late at night departure on the next and final flight into Zanzibar. Although we knew this was not that much time for such a beautiful city, it did work great for us in being the first time in this incredible country, now looking forward to discover in full in the near future and not just its capital city, but the many historic villages and that incredible ochre landscapes of the mountains and the yellow of the desert amidst the blue of the Arabian Sea.

Muscat is in any case, a small city; “narrow” but very long, with a very small historic old town in a creek flanked in between the Portuguese forts among the bendy coast and the mountains. All is there to see and visit can be perfectly done in a day, and even less, but bear in mind a very important subject here: the heat. If you are coming between March and October, it is guaranteed to be over 30 degrees during the day. That sounds still OK, until you experience the over 40 degrees, very dry, June to August months. During the night it does not really drop much and remains stable at around 30, therefore if there is something I can strongly recommend you here is to rent a car. You cannot imagine how much you will appreciate this. Muscat, as opposed to what Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Kuwait are, it is still very laid back and living in the past. Public transports are only a bunch of buses, not even as efficient as the other neighboring countries’ capitals. There are no metro system nor air-conditioned bus stops. The heat simply feels like fire, and so it did in our stay making it quite uncomfortable if I am to be honest, even though we thankfully had a rental car.

Now, what at one hand is the down-side, in the other hand this translates in a very unique city. Forget the shiny skyscrapers and islands gained into the sea as for neighboring UAE or Qatar. Forget a “westernised” world and enjoy instead a truly unspoiled Arabian experience. Its architecture, its culture, the food, the people; our country number 86 and it was stunning and a wonder! (more…)

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Nancy - France

Nancy – France

Post published:15 July 2017
Post category:Europe France Western Europe

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Not touched with impunity

Here we are once again at the brink of a longer and far holiday destination. Aiming for Tanzania as end point, however, on a very odd way that can easily make anyone lost and confused or even tipsy from thinking of what and awkward and long way with so many flights, but hey! if you are wondering why, it’s very simple: a while ago it popped in holidaypirates an amazing error fare flights we could not resist temptation and so this is us, on the first leg of this trip, well, sort of.

OK, enough of mystery. The original flights were Luxembourg City to Munich, Munich to Muscat, Muscat to Zanzibar and back on the same route, opposite way. How we ended up in Nancy then? Well, we’ve already been to Luxembourg before, so we had to separately book the London to Luxembourg return flights, allowing us an extra day and a half before connecting with the main flights, and planned in visiting the beautiful UNESCO listed city of Nancy taking advantage of this extra time. This was not actually the only great chance during this trip as I will be further explaining in the following guides, where our stop-over in Muscat was over 15 hours, all during the day and therefore another amazing city we could visit on the way. Crazy times, great trips! That’s the most exciting about travelling right?.

Coming to Nancy, it was in my agenda recently added as one of the destinations to visit in the near future during one of these weekend trips we usually fly abroad anywhere in Europe. And with all of the big and main cities already visited, and so the secondary ones, we are in the situation of having to research further and plan the trips to reach all these nice places you just simply cannot take a plane and land there. Most of the weekends this year have involved renting a car, otherwise this would have been impossible. (more…)

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Turin - Italy

Turin – Italy

Post published:10 June 2017
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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Automobile Capital of Italy

Once again on a trip returning to a city long time not been. It was back in July 2012, and this was in fact the very first guide I created in my travel blog. Now 5 years after and almost 400 guides later, it was long due for a full remake and edit in order to bring it to the usual standard clear and neat design, with way much more information and description. There are still around 100 guides to eventually keep updating as I return to the cities or merely to revamp them every now and then, but that’s a great achievement I am very proud of, thinking on the countless days and nights I’ve spent in order to maintain such a vast content, backdated to 2009 when I really started with this travel-bug that has seen myself to already 85 countries as of today, hundreds of cities and constantly on the go pretty much every weekend of the year.

Turin, the capital city of the Piedmont region was once the first capital city of Italy in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, Italy’s royal family. Today it remains as one of the major cultural and economic poles in the country and a very important tourist destination legacy of its superb architecture and elegance combining all of the styles: Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, neo-classical, and art-nouveau among the Roman foundation of the city with gates, walls and other archaeological remains. Such a vast collection of constructions, especially the grand palaces scattered through the city and nearby villages was the key point for the UNESCO to list it a World Heritage Site under the name: “Residences of the Royal House of Savoy.”

From the 16th century, when Turin twas made the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, the city was one of the major projects in history with the enlargement of the otherwise small city into a big and elegant, with the construction of Piazza San Carlo and Via Roma the major urban achievements coupled with the strengthening of the city’s walls. A second expansion wave came in the 17th century with farther enlargement of the walls, the construction of the Royal Palace, and the famous Via Po linking the riverside to Piazza Castello. This was the last time the city saw such a revival, and for what it owes most of its nowadays enormous cultural heritage. Only during the 1930’s the latest additions was built, the main thoroughfare Via Roma in the Italian Rationalist style.

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Glasgow - United Kingdom

Glasgow – United Kingdom

Post published:4 June 2017
Post category:Europe Northern Europe United Kingdom

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Second City of the British Empire

A very long pending city for returning. With this, it’s the third time and once more I have to say how much I loved it. How beautiful and elegant, and so much to see and do that a weekend comes even short. It was also about time for a proper revisit and therefore, creating this well deserved guide for the city in the blog. Still, don’t blame me for not having created the London guide yet! (face-palm)… Keep checking in the near future as I promise you it is due to come and will be fully packed as are the guides for Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Naples or Brussels just to name a few of the ones I keep returning very frequently.

Now onto what really matter here for now: Glasgow. To start understanding a little bit of the city and its incredible importance back in its heydays, we have to return few centuries ago, and not to the Roman times because over here, all that was built back then was the Antonine Wall which together with the Hadrian’s Wall farther south, were the northernmost frontiers of the Roman Empire, keeping it separate from the Celtic and Pictish Caledonia. It’s from the 17th century where the city started benefiting from the international trade, manufacturing and invention. At the turn of the 18th century the city was described to be only second to London for its beauty, cleanliness and planning; a city at the time of only 12000 inhabitants. Soon after with the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution the city’s expansion was unparalleled. Take a map, and see the city’s urban planning, then you have the answer right away: the perfect city with the perfect orthogonal urbanism filled with the finest architecture of the era. Georgian, Victorian and then art-nouveu. To this last style, I will soon return to explain.

The 18th century also saw Glasgow’s port, created on the nearby Firth of Clyde expanded to become what is still today the largest and most important in the United Kingdom. Back in the time it was a major hub for the transatlantic routes and international trade especially tobacco, sugar, cotton and goods. Over half of the British tobacco was traded in Glasgow alone. (more…)

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Wurzburg - Germany

Wurzburg – Germany

Post published:29 May 2017
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Finest Baroque palace in Europe

One last place to visit for this long weekend taking the advantage of the Monday bank holiday in the UK, we left Wurzburg for the last, because it’s the largest of the cities (apart of Frankfurt of course, our base). In here you will need definitely much more time to enjoy and sightseeing, on top of the mandatory visit to the key highlights in the city, the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed Residence, and the Marienberg Fortress. Only with these two half of your overall time here will be taken. The rest is among the historic old town filled with countless churches in all architectural styles and beautiful palaces, houses and monument, despite the almost entire destruction of the city during the WWII air raids.

Like the unfortunate fate of countless cities in Germany, WWII took its toll and not only in death, but the mass destruction of everything standing. Wurzburg took only 17 minutes to be razed to the ground by the British. In the good note (for architecture), the city raised from the ashes with a great reconstruction, and it is today an important tourist destination included in many tours through Germany.

Wurzburg and this region of Franconia in Bavaria is one of the most important in wine producing in the country notoriously for dry white. If you have the chance why not to try some with your lunch, restaurants here are generally having a down to earth prices; and as a curiosity, it is home to the oldest pizzeria in Germany, from 1952. However when in Germany, it’s of course best to have nice sausages and fries instead. I cannot imagine any trip to the country and not having at least once a currywurst. Other than this, there is nothing else for now to be said in this brief introduction to the city. (more…)

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Maulbronn - Germany

Maulbronn – Germany

Post published:28 May 2017
Post category:Europe Germany Western Europe

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Home to the first construction in Gothic style in Germany

Our last city of the three we’ve planned for today (well, I planned and dragged all the 6 friends of us we travelled together); Maulbronn. But hey! what a great day we’ve spent so far, the best decision for a day trip from our base in Frankfurt to enjoy some of the nicest historic little cities and villages in these regions of Germany so famous for their many timber-framed houses, abbeys, cathedrals, nice food and good company. After all, any of these we’ve visited today are very small and near each other so no need for needing any further time, there is well enough on a same day to see them all, and even more in between.

If back in Lorsch the city was famous for its UNESCO listed Abbey, and then in Speyer, the UNESCO listed cathedral, here in Maulbronn there is also another World Heritage Site listed, the Cistercian monastery. Now as you see this is very clear and there is no any way around that this trip has been planned to visit all of these sites since we are fan number one for being at the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible in the lifetime.

The city is, 70 kilometres southeast from Speyer our previous city we came from, is already in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, just 40 kilometres west of Stuttgart, the regional capital city, and altogether, 150 kilometres directly south from Frankfurt. The road system in Germany, world-wide known for being one of the best, and since speed does not matter when driving (not everywhere but in most of the motorways and sections), then reaching these places is just matter of few minutes drive. That’s another of the pluses that played in our favour saving us lots of time commuting and later returning to Frankfurt, our base. (more…)

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