Welcome to my blog, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
In this guest post author Paul Kilduff, interviewed last year on the Europe a la Carte Blog, tells us about his recent foray to Bilbao in Spain, explaining why he decided to construct a free photo guide to the city.
Puppy by Jeff Koons, Bilbao
Despite being Spain’s fourth largest city (after Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia), no one would have wanted to visit Bilbao just a decade ago. At that time it was a port city and an industrial hub where the only visitors were executives in suits attending unexciting trade fairs. But recently thanks to the local government, Bilbao has been transformed into a tourist destination by some state of the art buildings and features.
Plaza Moyua, the hub of Bilbao
Here’s how Bilbao was simply transformed – the city’s dirty port was moved 12 kms away to a new coastal location ;Norman Foster built a cool Metro system ; an eco friendly riverside tramway system was built ; a striking airport and the Zubi-Zuri footbridge were designed by Santiago Calatrava ; the tanker-like Euskalduna conference centre was voted the world’s best such centre, and Canadian Frank S Gehry designed the stunning Guggenheim Museo, or ‘El Goog’, which is very first building you see as you arrive into the city from the airport. At the same time the city authorities preserved the historic old town (El Casco Viejo), they pedestrianised the streets and they promoted art, culture and nightlife.
The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
I have spent the last three years writing books about Ryanair, or Ruinair as I prefer to call them, but to reach Bilbao from the UK, you must fly on the more civilised easyJet from London Stansted. I researched Bilbao online before I went but all I found were long pages of dull text. I wanted to see Bilbao. A picture tells a thousand words. So here is my revolutionary free photo guide plus handy tips to Spain’s best kept secret. .
In this guest post Lindsay Sydenham gives Europe a la Carte readers advice for a budget conscious trip to Berlin.
“It can be difficult to travel to Europe on a modest budget. With the weakness of the Dollar against the Euro, some travelers are hesitant to take any trips in this economy. Berlin is a relatively inexpensive city to travel to – especially in comparison to Paris and London. The purpose of this review is to provide peace of mind to future travelers and to inform readers about the many free and low-cost opportunities that exist in Berlin.
Brandenburg Gate
Be sure to eat a heavy, traditional, German meal during your stay in Berlin, but remember that the best and most authentic German eats are ones that are cheap. Eat your daily breakfast at bakeries. Every morning bakers arise early and make all sorts of breads, pastries and croissants for Berliners to purchase on their way to work. An authentic, fresh breakfast could cost you one Euro – total. For lunch or dinner, consider the Turkish döner. While this does not sound like a taste of Germany, it is actually one of the best ways to enjoy Berlin as a true Berliner. The döner is a cheap, Berliner favorite for a quick bite to eat. The price of döners range anywhere between one to three Euros a piece. Döners can be purchased at many different street vendor locations and consist of pita bread, shaved meat (chicken or pork), lettuce, garlic sauce, onions and other vegetables you want to add. It is cheap, delicious and you can eat it on the go!
Most of the greatest sights to see in Berlin happen to be free. No visit to Berlin would be complete without walking under the famous Brandenburg Gate. The gate stands today as a symbol of freedom to Berliners and is a constant reminder of a painful past of separation and war. Visit the gate and think about the time when the gate was a separation between East and West Berlin. If you get the opportunity, ask locals about their feelings regarding the gate and the history of Germany.
Just around the corner stands a thought-provoking monument that should be visited by any tourist visiting Berlin. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of an entire street block filled with slabs of concrete – some two feet high and others 10 feet high. The purpose of the monument is to create a feeling of confusion and distortion, much like the feelings the Jews experienced as they were lead off to concentration camps all over Europe. It is perfectly acceptable to sit on one of the concrete slabs and to ponder the meaning of the monument. Many Berliners go to the monument to think, some go there to eat lunch and others go with flowers to remember their loved ones lost during the war. Many other monuments and museums about the Holocaust are scattered throughout the city and are free to individuals who want to see them.
Monument to the murdered Jews of Europe
Another free option is to visit the impressive Potsdamer Platz. This area consists of high rise buildings, a movie theatre, trendy cafes and interesting architecture. The buildings in the area are built mainly with glass in order to symbolize the transparency of Germany and the German government. Potsdamer Platz was a bustling area during the 1930s with shops, theatre, restaurants and social activities. After the war and the separation of Germany, the area was destroyed and became a barren area known as “No Man’s Land.” The death of this bustling area was troubling for many Berliners as it had once symbolized the growth and prosperity of the city. Within the last 10 years, Potsdamer Platz has been reconstructed and has given the city of Berlin a new confidence of prosperity, wealth and happiness.
Potsdamer Platz
After World War II, most of the beautiful buildings and churches in Berlin had been completely destroyed. One of the few buildings that were left standing majestically was Berlin Cathedral. This Baroque and even Neoclassical cathedral is free to visitors who want to admire both the outside and the inside of the historical building. Inside the cathedral, visitors will hear the music play from the pipe organ on the top deck. Some visitors find the peaceful nature of the church as a great place to write in their travel journals or ponder other matters. In front of the cathedral there is a giant lawn where many Berliners flock to during good weather. On warm days there are literally hundreds of people laying on the lawn and eating their lunches. Potsdamer Platz and Berlin Cathedral specifically, are places that locals love to spend their time on holidays and weekends. These are great opportunities to mingle with the locals and experience Berlin the way Berliners do.
Berlin Cathedral
Berliners are also incredibly dedicated to the arts, film and theatre. There are many opportunities to experience the arts in Berlin. See a show at one of the many opera and theatre houses in the city. You can also discover some of the city’s best museums in the Museum Island. There may be too many museums for you to see in one short visit. Pin point your interests to discover which museums are best for your visit. Are you interested in Greek artifacts? Would you like to see the Pergamon gate? Do you prefer Romanticism art such as pieces created by Caspar David Friedrich? All of these are options you can enjoy in one of Berlin’s many, impressive museums.
Unlike many other cities in Europe, Berlin is a city that can be visited on a moderate budget. The main costs that tend to arise come from food and accommodations. Other than that, many attractions and non-touristy opportunities are free to visitors or come at a low cost. Be sure that you mingle with the locals and ask them for their opinions about what you should enjoy during your stay in Berlin. Most Berliners speak excellent English and are more than willing to help you with any questions you might have.”
When you’re on a budget, one of the ways to enjoy the city you’re visiting is to do a free walking tour that takes you round the major sites, giving you a little background on each one. There are many ways to do this but my starting point is always the local tourism website or tourist office. I recently did just that when I spent a weekend in Bath for a family birthday celebration. We printed off the walking tour guide from Bath.co.uk (then click on City Trail). There are even little bronze plaques set into the pavement to mark out the route. Here’s a sample of the route we took;
1. Bath Abbey
There’s been a church on this site for a thousand years, and England’s first King was crowned here. The carvings on the front of the Abbey show the dream of Bishop Oliver King who had it built . Angels climbed up and down a ladder to heaven in his vision, but the only way the stonemasons could distinguish between them was to make the downwardly mobile ones do it head-first.
3. The Roman Baths
Britain’s only hot springs are right here. The Museum is well worth a visit, with modern audio-visual interactive displays, and you can walk right round the original Roman Baths, which are in an astonishingly good state of repair. The plumbing here is 2000 years old and still works; just as well, seeing as parts might be a problem.
4. The Pump Room
The Pump Room was built in 1706 as a sort of rendezvous for the sick. Bath’s doctors specialised in certain diseases – those of the rich. Spend five minutes inside the Pump Room listening to the live salon music and sipping a cup of water pumped up from the spring. Imagine Vichy spring water, with a whiff of fresh grass cuttings, and an aftertaste of elderflower. Well, it tastes nothing like that. It’s vile. They took it for analysis once and the verdict from the laboratory was, ‘This horse is pregnant’.
It was an entertaining tour, took us an hour or so and didn’t cost us a penny.
In Bristol, you can find about free walking tours on the Visit Bristol website here and they’ve gone to the trouble of making several audio walking tours that you can download onto your MP3 player. I’ve listened to them all and I especially enjoyed the Bristol Quayside adventure which has a Pirate theme and is great for families, and the Slave Trade Trail which starts at the Georgian House, once owned by a wealthy Bristol Merchant who made his fortune from his Caribbean plantation, worked by slaves.
Berlin is also a destination that is well known for it’s free walking tours. I didn’t take one myself, but I gather the guides are generally excellent, although you can’t call them truly free as there is an expectation that you will give a tip of €5-10 per person. Karen wrote about her free Berlin walking tour here. If you go the the Brandenberg gate, you won’t miss the signs indicating a tour about to start.
So if you’d enjoy a walking tour, take a little time to check out the local tourism websites and see what they have to offer – you may be pleasantly surprised.
If your home town or a city you’ve visited offers free printable or audio tours, or offers genuinely free guided tours, do leave a comment and let us all know.
MyLifeinLeeds.co.uk is a new online guide to the English city of Leeds, written by locals to provide infornation about what’s on offer in Leeds for locals, leisure and business travellers. Readers can ask questions and post photos and videos on the site. Local businesses can promote their events free of charge.
The site is the brainchild of Darren Cronian, editor of the UK independent travel consumer blog, Travel Rants. Darren lives near Leeds and was so hacked off by the lack of up to date information about ideas for local outings with his nephew that he decided to set up MyLifeinLeeds.
I’ve only visited Leeds once and spent a few hours around the city centre. I was impressed by the conversion of the Corn Exchange into a gastronomic centre, brimming with restaurants and shops selling food and drink.
If you love the delights of Italy such as wonderful food and wine, stunning Adriatic coast with beautiful seaside towns, hilltop villages surrounded by green rolling hills, historic sites and spa treatments, but are thinking twice about shelling out the high euro prices in Italy, I have a solution for you. Visit Istria in Croatia and you can savour the delights of Italy at real value for money prices. I love Italy but have found it pretty expensive there on my recent trips, so when I visited Istria I was really impressed by what was on offer at much lower prices than in Italy.
Rovinj, Istria, Croatia
Croatia has not yet adopted the Euro, using the Kuna, with a currrent exchange rate of around 8.4 Kuna to the UK pound(or 5.6 kuna to the dollar/7.4 kuna to the euro). According to a Guardian article about falling holiday prices in Europe published on 2 May 2009, the price for a holiday basket of goods including drinks, a meal for two and suncream costs £64.76 in Croatia and £77.05 in Italy, representing a saving of around 15% in Croatia.
Istria is a peninsula on the Adriatic coast, a two hour drive south of Trieste. Istria has been part of the Republic of Venice, The Holy Roman Empire, The Hapsburg Empire, Italy and Yugoslavia before becoming part of Croatia after the 1990s war in Yugoslavia. Italian is the second language in Istria and all signs are in Croatian and Italian.
Ryanair fly to Pula in Istria three times a week from London Stansted, Croatia Airlines also fly to Pula from London. You could also fly into Trieste in Italy, which would then require a two hour drive south to Istria through Slovenia.
Istrian Food
Istria is carving a name for itself as a gourmet destination. Starting from around £30 per person you can have a gourment meal with wine.
I particulary liked Konoba (Taverna) Batelina on the outskirts of Pula where the fish starters were served raw, Sushi style. It was a real family affair with Dad the fisherman, Mum the cook and their son filetting the fish by our table.
The view from Restaurant Blu is so perfect over the sea with the silhouette of Rovinj on the horizon. They serve the most delicious herby flat bread with meals.
Sole wrapped in courgette, monkfish and squid fritter served at Blu
At Konoba Astarea most of the food is cooked on the open fire. They serve great seafood and the most tender veal I have ever eaten.
The open fire at Konoba Astarea
There is great food for all budgets as I saw fish menus in restaurants in Rovinj starting at £5.
Truffles are big in Istria, the world’s largest truffle as recorded in the Guniness Book of Records is replicated in the Zigante truffle shop in Livade. Truffles are often served thinly sliced over freshly made pasta.
The Zigante truffle shop in Livade
The local proscuitto ham, known as prsut, is dried rather than smoked. Personally I preferred this to the smoked proscuitto that I’d tasted previously.
Olive oil production has also moved upmarket with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity and the emergence of brands such as Chiavalon with its attractive yet practical packaging. There’s an Olive Oil Route, so you can visit several producers and taste their oil.
Istrian Wine
Wine tourism is also growing in popularity in Istria. Many Istrian wineries have made the decision to concentrate on high end production. There’s now an annual Vinistra exhibition. Most restaurants serve a selection of Istrian wines. At present most of the wine is for domestic consumption, although I’m sure quite a bit is exported by tourists. You can arrange wine tasting sessions and visits to producers such as Matosevic Wines and Poletti Wines by following the Istria Wine Roads. As I don’t drink alcohol, I can’t comment on the Istrian wines.
Istrian Adriatic Coast
My favourite coastal town is Rovinj, built by Venetians. As you approach Rovinj it looks as through the coloured houses have risen from the sea. Although there is a working harbour the water is so clear.
One of the highlights of my trip to Istria was the Coliseum in Pula, it was very well preserved and pretty awesome.
There’s also a Roman temple and triumphal arch in Pula. In the Brijuni Islands there are several Roman ruins.
Istrian Hilltop Villages
Groznjan is a delighful hilltop village which now has a reputation as an colony for artists.
Motovun is best known as the host of an annual Film Festival. You can sit at a cafe right by the village walls and admire the surrounding countryside with prices such as £1.50 for a toastie.
Istrian Spa and Wellness Centres
Istarske Toplice, the most well known therapeutic bath in Istria lies in the forest near Motovun. Many hotels have their own Spa and Wellness Centres. I had my initiation to spa treatment in Istria at the Kastel Hotel in Motovun, where a 30 minute classic massage costs under £20.
The negatives
The only negative aspects are related to transport. If you don’t live in the south east of England there no direct flights to Istria. I live in the north east of England and I had to fly from Edinburgh to Venice via London and then have a two and half hour drive to Istria. Car hire in Istria is as expensive as in Italy. Also, if you want to fully explore the region and visit locations such as the hilltop villages Motovun and Gronzjan and the wineries and olive producers, you’ll really need your own transport, so driving down from Trieste or even Venice isn’t so much of an issue.
Disclosure
I visited Istria 20 – 24 April 2009 as a guest of the Istrian Tourist Board on a travel bloggers press trip. The agreement was that I would write at least three posts for the Europe a la Carte Blog about Istria but there would be no editorial control and I would write honestly and in my own style.
Conclusion
I think I have demonstrated that Istria really can allow you to enjoy the culinary, scenic, historic and spa delights of Italy at credit crunch busting prices with a unique Istrian flavour.
Have you visited Istria, do you think it compares favourably with Italy in terms of price and quality for travellers?
My Guide to Zadar in central Croatia is now available online. The guide introduces you to the city of Zadar and the surrounding Zadar county.
Church of St Donat (left) Bascilica of St Stosija (right), Zadar city
The area is now easily accessible with Ryanair flights from Edinburgh, Stansted, Dusseldorf, Pisa and Stockholm. Zadar would be ideal for a city break. or as a base from which to explore the surrounding area,
Zadar city lies on the Adriatic coast coastal and has plenty of cafes, restaurants and nightlife. The promenade in Zadar has a couple of amazing modern installations. The sea organ, which is powered by waves, and The Greeting to the Sun which contains three hundred multi layered glass solar panels that provide a multi coloured light show after dark.
Video of The Greeting to the Sun light show
It’s easy to reach the nearby islands on a day trip from the city.
Island of Pag
I really enjoyed my visit to the Zadar area, the seafood was wonderful, the prices reasonable, as Croatia has not adopted the Euro, the coastline and island are beautiful and there was a lot to do and see.
Squid rissotto and shellfish pasta
Have you visited Zadar, what did you like about it?
The tiny hamlet of Mechelen is a small city roughly halfway between the larger Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels. The city is all but missed by tourists on express trains that fly past without a second thought. However, the history of Belgium is laid bare and there are enough attractions to fill a weekend full of adventure. Mechelen was actually the capital of the then-called Netherlands from 1506 to 1530.
The identifying mark of the city is Saint Rumbold’s Tower, a late-medieval structure that can be seen for miles around. It includes a number of interesting wood carvings and religious artworks from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Another popular sight are the charming 16th century houses. Although they are privately owned and cannot be toured, just admiring the exquisiteness of the wooden facades is sight in itself.
If the weather suits, a great option is one of the boat tours. At just under an hour, they are a great way to relax and to see the city from another perspective. Top off your trip afterwards with a beverage at Brewery Het Anker, which sells not only beer but jenever (Dutch/Belgian gin) and beer chocolates.
Eight churches are dotted around the main square, the Grote Markt. Besides Saint Rumbold’s, the Sint-Janskerk, the Begijnhofkerk, and the Refuge of the Abbey of Tongerlo are all known for the artwork and displays.
To reach Mechelen take one of the local trains from Brussels or Antwerp which depart on a regular basis. The trip is only 25 minutes.
I just came back from a weekend away in Cornwall, the south-westerly county of England which is known for it’s rocky coastline, great beaches and mild climate. Padstow is a charming fishing port to visit on the North Cornish coast, although it’s packed out in the summer season so I’d recommend it more for a spring or autumn break.
Although fishing boats still go out from the busy harbour, these days people come as much for the smart restaurants, art galleries and gift shops, as the picturesque view of the estuary. Much of it’s down to the impact of Rick Stein, the celebrity Cornish TV chef with a number of culinary enterprises that dominate the foodie scene in Padstow. His flagship Seafood restaurant is a landmark of Padstow, but you can also stay in his hotel, have coffee in his café, buy fudge in the deli, eat his fish and chips on the quayside and learn to cook at his cookery school.
There’s the haunted Elizabethan manor house of Prideaux Place set above the town, or you can hire a bike from the car park and follow the Camel Trail along a disused railway line beside the beautiful Camel Estuary, as far as Wadebridge and beyond. On our visit, we decided to take the ferry from the harbour that plies back and forth across the estuary to the holiday village of Rock.
We landed on the beach and walked towards the estuary mouth, clambering through the sand dunes in search of the tiny church of St Enodoc that serves the parish of St Minver. The chapel dates back to the 12th century but over the centuries was virtually buried in the dunes that surrounded it, until the 19th century when it was finally unearthed and the church restored.
Today you can see the cut-down medieval rood screen, the mellow wooden pews and the memorials to those who died at sea. The former poet Laureate John Betjeman is buried here, and I could see why anyone might choose it as their final resting place, with a view through the dunes to the sea beyond.
It’s official, Bristol is one of the top 10 cities to visit in 2009, according to guide book publisher, Dorling Kindersley. I have lived in Bristol for the last 15 years, and I always knew that it was not only a fantastic place to live, but a great destination for a city break. It’s also a good jumping off point for exploring the west of England, south into Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, and westwards into Wales.
Here are some of the things that make Bristol special;
Arnolfini Art Gallery in the harbourside area of Bristol
The harbourside area
The old port of Bristol, which was once the industrial and trading hub, has been cleaned up over the years to make a pleasant centre for leisure. There are many bars and restaurants in this area, you can visit the At-Bristol Science complex and relax in the Millenium square with its statues and water features. Sample some modern art in the Arnolfini art gallery, walk down to the SS Great Britain or take one of the ferries that ply up and down the harbour.
Clifton Village
This is the Georgian old village of Bristol, with beautiful architecture and plenty of individual boutiques, cafes and restaurants. Take a stroll on the landmark Clifton Suspension Bridge with the Avon Gorge below or take in the view from the terrace bar of the Avon Gorge Hotel.
Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge
Museums and Art Galleries
On Park St there are three excellent free museums. The Bristol City Museum is just what you’d hope from a Victorian city museum, from gypsy caravans to Egyptian Mummies and excellent art and photography exhibitions throughout the year (free). The Georgian House was built in the 1790s for a wealthy Bristol Merchant and has been preserved to show how a family of that period would have lived. (free) Red Lodge was built in the 1580s and takes you back in time with it’s Tudor pannelled rooms and knot garden (free). The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, by Temple Meads Station tells the story of Britain’s Empire, especially Bristol’s association with the Slave Trade. In the Harbour area, families will enjoy the At-Bristol hands on Science Centre and if modern art is your thing, visit the Arnolfini gallery with ever changing exhibitions that are on the cutting edge of the art scene (free).
The Georgian House in Bristol
Fantastic eating and drinking
You won’t be going hungry in Bristol, with many bars, pubs and restaurants all over the city. These are some of my favourite eating haunts Harbourside – Watershed café for coffee, Bordeaux Quay for a more upscale experience, the Olive shed for mediterranean style food & tapas. Park St – Bristol Guild café for soup and salads, Goldbrick House for stylish eating and cocktails, Rocatillos for a family diner with the best milk shakes in Bristol. Corn St – St Nicholas Market has many different vendors of hot food from Indian, Moroccan, Jamaican to cakes & coffee to eat in or take away. For a cosy restaurant & bar try the Rummer in the Market area. Clifton Village – Bar Chocolat is where I stop for a restoring hot chocolate, Fishers is a fish restaurant that has an excellent budget menu and the Arch House Deli is a gourmet paradise which also has a small cafe at the back to eat in.
Cafe at Goldbrick House on Park St
Shopping
The Cabot Circus development has recently opened and covers all tastes from the upscale Harvey Nichols to the High St chains. Park St, leading up the hill from the Harbourside area has plenty of trendy clothes shops as it’s close to the University. Clifton Village is the place for more individual boutiques and gift shops and you’ll find some quirky and original artistic offerings in the area around Christmas steps and Perry Rd.
Already my thoughts are turning to the promise of spring sunshine and where better than Spain’s third largest city of Valencia. I visited Valencia with my family last April and when the weather was grey in England we enjoyed a sunny cycle ride in the Turia Gardens.
Most cities have a river running through them, crossed with bridges at several points. Now imagine that the river has been diverted and replaced by a ribbon of green, with parks and playing fields and you get the picture of the Turia Gardens. You can hire bikes in the old quarter of town nearby, which we wheeled past the Cathedral and through the Plaza de la Virgin. We joined the gardens by the Torres de Serranos, a stone tower which you can climb for a panoramic view of the city.
A football game in the Turia Gardens
In this area are many sports pitches and playing fields and we watched a team of Amazonian female football players for a while. A little further, under the bridge was an exhibition area where a wine festival was in full swing, but we resisted the temptation and continued along the boulevard, past the field where the firework displays had taken place during the pyrotechnical Fallas festival in March. The park is a favourite for city wallkers and joggers and families out for a stroll at the weekend.
Fountains in the Turia Gardens
As we continued, under the bridges, with the scent of orange blossom in the air, we reached the area around the Palau de la Musica, where there’s a lake with fountains and many shady trees around. This as a pleasant place to stop and rest a while, watching the rollerbladers and skateboarders trying out their tricks. Nearby you can hire bicycle carriages which are fun for families with younger children. There’s a nearby childrens’ playground on the theme of Gulliver’s Travels, with a reclining Gulliver for the children to scramble over.
City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia
We cycled on and soon reached the City of Arts and Sciences, an area of futuristic modern buildings surrounded by shallow blue pools of water. They are the design of local architect Santiago Calatrava who has gained an international reputation for designing striking public buildings in the US and Europe. The complex includes a concert hall, science centre, planetarium and aquarium – they are quite expensive to go in, but the complex and surrounding gardens are a sight in themselves if you’re on a budget. You should try the traditional sweet milky drink of Horchata, made from tiger nuts, from one of the vendors around the complex.
Soon after, the Turia gardens end, but if you have a good map, you can cycle along the roads to reach the port area and the beach, for a relaxing few hours and maybe a Paella at one of the boardwalk restaurants.
Arnolfini Art Gallery in the harbourside area of Bristol
