Tag: #holidaydestinationidea

Holiday destinations: Trieste, Italy

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Another week, another holiday destination review.

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This week, I would like to tell you about Trieste in Italy. I recently traveled there and even though the weather wasn’t great I enjoyed a walk around this pretty Italian town. It is a lovely destination for a day-trip

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Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is in one of the richest regions of Italy, and has been a great centre for shipping, through its port, shipbuilding and financial services. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of Italian territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia and the city is physically isolated from the rest of the Italian peninsula. In addition, Croatian border is located closely (further 30 kilometers south).

We started our trip by visiting the tourist information office in Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia, where we equipped ourselves with some informative leaflets and maps. The whole tour around the main city attractions took us under 2 hours.

The main attractions we saw during our short walking tour were:

  • Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia -a large and elegant outdoors space opposite the waterfront, with some impressive buildings.
  • Castello di San Giusto – it is located on the hill so it is a great place to enjoy some nice views from a memorial garden outside the walls.
  • Roman theatre.
  • Castello Miramare – one of Trieste’s most vaunted sights, the a nineteenth-century castle.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Venice, Italy

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This week I would like to tell you about one of the most romantic destinations in the world-Venice. I love Italy and it is definitely one of the cities you need to visit at least once in your lifetime.

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Venice is located in northeastern Italy and is sited on a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is known for its beautiful setting, architecture and artwork. Both the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

I’ve been to Venice 3 times. My latest visit to Venice was in June and summer brings some of the most daunting crowds… nevertheless there’s a reason why they come: you are never more than a bridge and an alley away from beautiful palaces, squares and monuments.

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Venice has a very lively neighborhood full of restaurants, wine bars and famous Italian gelaterias. I adore Italian food so I am always looking forward to trying some local food. Main squares (especially St. Marco Square) are quite pricey and you might end up paying 4-5 times more than in the other parts of Venice so I would always advice to check the menu and prices if you are on a tight budget. You need to be also aware of the ‘coperto’ charge-it is basically a fee for sitting down in the restaurants. We ended up paying 30 Euros for a bottle of water and a beer as we weren’t made aware of this fee…

Unquestionably, it is a great destination for a short break but you should go there for a minimum of 3 nights to see all the famous sites.

Time to start thinking, who would you take with you?

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Cambridge, UK

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A few weeks ago, I was on a business trip in Cambridge.

Cambridge is a city in the county town of Cambridgeshire in England.  It is located around 80 km north of London and in 2011 its population was slightly over 123,000 including almost 25 thousands of students.

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Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology industries including software and bio-science and many start-up companies spun out of the university.

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More than 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. 

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There’s lots to see in this beautiful city-here is a short list of my suggestions:
  1. King’s College Chapel;
  2. Fitzwilliam Museum;
  3. Mathematical Bridge;
  4. Cambridge University Botanic Garden;
  5. University of Cambridge.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Vilnius, Lithuania

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I have recently visited Vilnius and stayed there for 3 days with my husband.

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Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. It contains one of the largest surviving medieval quarters in Europe.

It is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Old Town contains almost two thousand medieval, gothic, renaissance, and baroque buildings.

Top 5 ‘must-see’ places to visit are:

  • Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania – the former political, diplomatic, cultural centre of the State.
  • Gediminas’ Tower of the Upper Castle – An observation deck on the top of the tower is the best place from which to appreciate a magnificent panorama of Vilnius.
  • Cathedral Basilica – The Cathedral of St. Stanislav and St. Vladislav is the most important place of worship for Lithuania’s Catholics, and the venue for the country’s main Christian, for, and national festivities.
  • Gates of Dawn – The Gates of Dawn is one of the most visited shrines in Vilnius that is famous not only in Lithuania but also abroad, worshipped by the representatives of other creeds too. This is the only surviving gate of the first original five gates in the city wall that was built between 1503 and 1522.
  • Church of St Anne – The church of St Anne is a masterpiece of the late Gothic period.

We really enjoyed our stay in Vilnius. It is definitely worth visiting if you decide to travel to Eastern Europe.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

 

Holiday destinations: Reading, UK

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I travel to Reading regularly on business so today I would like to tell you a bit more about this town.

Reading is a large town on the Thames and Kennet rivers located just 25 min away by fast train from London Paddington. It’s known for the annual Reading Festival and it’s shopping district at the town centre. There are also a few monuments and museums in there including the Reading Museum which contains exhibits on the town’s history and displays a Victorian replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Here is a short list of my suggestions of places worth visiting:

  1. Reading Museum:

reading museum     2. Basildon Park:

basildon-park-front-of     3. Reading Abbey:

Reading Abbey   4. Museum of Berkshire Aviation:

mus_new   5. Riverside Museum at Blake’s lock:

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I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Brussels, Belgium

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I’ve visited Brussels on the multiple occasions and I always like returning to this city made famous by its French fries, waffles, seafood and beer.

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Brussels is the largest city and a capital of Belgium. It has a population of 1.2 million and it has been increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages.

Historically it was a Dutch-speaking city, it has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards.

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Today the majority language is French however all road signs, street names and many services are shown in both languages. If you fancy a short break then Brussels is a great destination as it is only 2 hours away on the Eurostar.

There’s lots to see in the city from the famous chocolate shops to enjoying its cafe culture in the Grand-Place area.

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Here is a short list of my suggestions:

  1. Grote Markt (Dutch) / Grand-Place (French).
  2. City Museum – Maison du Roi (French) – Broodhuis (Flemish).
  3. Hôtel de Ville – Town Hall.
  4. Heysel Park and the Atomium.
  5. Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Koekelberg Basilica).

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Berlin, Germany

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Berlin is one of my favourite capitals. Last time I stayed there was during a week-long business trip and even though my spare time was limited, I made sure that I spent it discovering the hidden germs of this beautiful city.

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Berlin is the capital of Germany and has a population of approximately 3.5 million people. It is located in north-eastern Germany on the banks of Rivers Spree and Havel.

So what should you see if you were there only for 24 hours?

There are a number of different historical points worth visiting in Berlin: Unter den Linden and the glorious Brandenburger Tor speak of the city’s Prussian heritage, the Topography of Terror is a chilling reminder of its brutal Nazi years, and the East Side Gallery is a colourful tribute to a once divided city (and the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall still standing).

In addition, Berlin has over 200 museums, from world-class collections of Classical art at the beautifully restored Neues Museum, to the striking Liebeskind-designed Jewish Museum and plenty more irreverent affairs. What I was fond of the most is the fact that it is a very green city and around one-third of its area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Riga, Latvia

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I have recently visited Riga for 3 days with my husband. It is the capital and the largest city of Latvia and by means of 696,593 inhabitants (2015), Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states and home to one third of Latvia’s population. The city lies at the mouth of the Daugava and is frequently described as the pearl of the Baltics.

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We really enjoyed our romantic walks around Riga’s historical centre which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There were also a plenty of local bars to visit and some traditional restaurants that served some tasty, local dishes.

It is definitely worth visiting if you decide to travel to Eastern Europe. Flight from London is just over 2 hours so it is a great destination for a short (& cheap) weekend break.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Bansko, Bulgaria

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I have just came back from my winter holidays with my family in Bansko in Bulgaria. This mountain resort is an excellent choice for your ski and snowboard holiday in Bulgaria.

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Bansko was voted as the best winter resort in Bulgaria with the longest ski runs and the richest cultural history. The town of Bansko is situated at the foot of the Pirin mountain in the south-western Bulgaria, 160 km from Sofia (around 3.5 hours’ drive from the airport).

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The resort offers excellent ski and snowboard conditions and infrastructure. There are a lot of hotels of various standards and prices based in there. I would personally recommend Premier Mountain Resort or Kempinski Hotel if you like staying in luxury hotels.

What’s worth mentioning here, the prices of hotels, ski rentals etc. are probably 50% cheaper than in Alps so you can stay in a 5 star hotel for the price of 2/3 star hotel in Austria or France.

Après ski

So what to do after a day on slopes? Après ski in the resort is really good and offers hundreds of bars, traditional restaurants and clubs where you can indulge after your skiing or snowboarding adventures. I will be posting some reviews of places that are worth visiting whilst in Bulgaria soon.

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Location

Bansko is a ski and mountain resort located in the south-western part of Bulgaria. The town is situated 6 km from the town of Razlog and 160 km from the capital of Sofia. The town of Bansko is located 925 m above the sea level whereas its ski area – at an altitude of 2000 – 2600 m.

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Resort information

Bansko ski resort is attractive in all seasons but I’ve only been there during the winter as I love skiing.

The ski season in Bansko lasts from 15 December to 14 April. During the recent years a multimillion Euros investment in a brand new skiing area has been made by Yulen, the company that runs the skiing area of Bansko. Numerous new luxury hotels and facilities in the area of the Gondola lift station have been constructed. It provides excellent ski and snowboard facilities, as well as a unique history and architecture of an old and new part of the town.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Paris during the winter, France

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A few weeks ago I travelled to Paris with one of my best friends – Natasha.

Paris is a capital city of France and it has a population of 12 million (2014) which covers 18 percent of the residents of France. In 2015 Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

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Travel:

We decided to go to Paris by Eurostar as it is the easiest way to travel to Paris from London. It takes under 2.5 hours and trains depart from King’s Cross Station in central London every hour. Prices vary from £29 for a standard single ticket booked in advance to £249 for a business premiere ticket including an access to the Executive Lounge and some complementary drinks and a meal on-board.

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Attractions:

Paris is wonderful and it doesn’t matter whether you travel there during the winter or during the summer.

The Central area of Paris along the Seine River is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site, and includes many notable monuments. In addition, Paris is the home of many important museums and cultural institutions. There are many places worth seeing however if you are in Paris for a limited time (we were there for 3 days) then you should definitely visit:

  • The Eiffel Tower – an iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars that was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
  • The Louvre – the most visited and the largest art museum in the world.
  • Arc de Triomphe – is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.
  • Notre Dame Cathedral – is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité built in the 12th century.

Furthermore, I would definitely recommend that you either take a walk down the river or alternatively you can take one of many mini-cruises especially if the weather is nice.

In addition, if you love live-shows and cabaret then you should definitely visit Moulin Rouge but be prepared-tickets for a show and dinner are quite expensive and start at 190 Euros per person thus we decided to skip it this time.

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Hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline