Tag: Travel

Holiday destinations: Split, Croatia

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This week I would like to tell you about Split.

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It is the second-largest city in Croatia, one of the oldest cities in the area and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia.

Split has an exceptional location. It is placed in between the coastal mountains and the turquoise waters of the Adriatic. It can be described as a lively city and as soon you step inside Diocletian’s Palace and you’ll see many restaurants and shops thriving amid the atmospheric old walls where Split life has been going on for thousands of years.

I love sightseeing and together with my fiancée we decided to climb the Bell Tower of St. Domnius. Honestly speaking, it was one of the scariest experiences ever as the stairs felt really unstable and wobbly… We were brave (or foolish) though and reached the top of the stairs to admire some stunning views from the top of the tower but I would never dare to do it again for safety reasons. Whoever is responsible for the maintenance work on these stairs needs to do a better job as I seriously feared for my live half-way through to the top!

After this frightening experience we needed to grab a drink and sat down in one of many local bars located in the Old Town. Subsequently, we continued our sightseeing around the walls of Diocletian’s Palace and admired this beautiful city whilst learning about its vibrant history.

I would definitely advise you all to go and visit Split if you ever travel to Croatia but then again probably climbing the stairs of the Bell Tower is not the best idea unless they are replaced.

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Pauline

The BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea

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It’s warm, it’s sunny and the season for catching-up over some tea has started 🙂 Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some reviews from my recent Afternoon Tea experiences.

This week, I would like to tell you about an amazing Afternoon Tea I had on the BB Routemaster Sightseeing Bus.

I moved to London 13 years ago but then again I love discovering new sights and wonders of this city. As soon as I heard about the opportunity of combining an Afternoon Tea with a sightseeing bus tour around the marvels of London I decided to give it a go.

The Route:

Together with my friend-Magda we booked the afternoon slot leaving from the Victoria Coach Station , Gate 0, at 5p.m.

Our vintage Routemaster bus drove around Central London and we were able to see some of the City’s greatest places of interest including:

The London Eye, Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, The Royal Albert Hall, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Harrods and many more.

The Atmosphere:

The atmosphere on the bus was a warm and welcoming. Our hosts were two lovely French attendants-J.C. and Marie Antoinette. We were sited at the upper deck (table 9). Each table is secluded enough to feel intimate. We had a great view of some of the City’s most beautiful monuments and other tourist attractions.

At the beginning of the tour, our friendly server offered us a hot drink from a large selection of the teas and coffees. Our tea arrived in a wonderful BB Afternoon Tea Bus’s cup.

The menu:

Our High Tea was accompanied by a selection of mouth-watering, sweet and savoury delicacies including:

  • Macarons
  • Mini Cupcakes
  • Sweet Pastries
  • Scones
  • Sandwiches
  • Mini Quiche

They were arranged attractively on the stand. A highlight for me was a deliciously moist quiche and a small salmon canapé.

Duration:

The London sightseeing tour lasts approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes (depending on traffic). We were back and ready to re-join the hustle and bustle of Central London at 6:30 p.m. .

Price:

The BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea is £45-48 per person. In my opinion it is worth every penny as it combines both sightseeing and a divine afternoon Tea experience. You can buy vouchers for this experience on:

http://shop.bbbakery.co.uk/

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Overall experience:

I loved every minute of our 90 minutes BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is visiting London and wishes to have a more exclusive sightseeing experience. I would love to try some more Afternoon Tea experiences from BB bakery.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Barcelona, Spain

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A few months ago, I joined my parents for a few days break to Barcelona.

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There are lots of places to visit and things to do while in Barcelona but in my opinion these are the top 3 attractions you definitely need to see:

1. Basilica of the Sagrada Familia

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. It is absolutely stunning and if you ever visit Barcelona then you should definitely put it on your list of places worth seeing.

2. Park Guell

Located in the city of Barcelona, the Park Guell is one of the most beautiful icons of the city. It’s a work of Antoni Gaudi located in the upper part of Barcelona, which has wonderful views of the city. You can enjoy a fantastic green walk surrounded by a modernist works.

3. Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is the national museum of the arts located in Barcelona. It is one of the largest museums in Spain, housed in a huge Palau Nacional dating back to 1929. The museum is situated on Montjuïc hill and leading down to the famous Placa Espanya. If you are into art then this museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of church paintings, and some Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Food:

We went to many local restaurants and bars but to be honest I wasn’t ‘wowed’ by any of them so I am afraid that I won’t be able to recommend any places in particular. Although, the food we had in Barcelona was average, I would definitely recommend you go to any local cuisine i.e. some tapas or paella accompanied by the Sangria.

Hotel:

We stayed in the city centre in the Barri Gothic area in NH hotel. Hotel was very conveniently located-just 5 minutes’ walk from the tube station. It had a nice, artistic décor and very friendly staff. We arrived around 9p.m. and were greeted by extremely friendly receptionist who checked us in quickly and made us feel welcome. When we arrived in our rooms-they were really spacious and had a clean, modern décor. I would definitely consider staying there again the future.

Overall experience:

Once again, I really enjoyed my stay in Barcelona with my parents. It is still one of my favorite cities in Europe and I will definitely visit again soon.

Holiday destinations: Argostoli town Kafalonia, Greece

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I recently visited Argostoli with my fiancée. As we were there only for a day we decided to take a prearranged coach tour to see the most sought after attractions on this Island.

Argistoli is a town on a Greek island of Kafalonia. Our coach left the port of Argostoli and drove around stunning coastline to reach the Robola winery. When we arrived at the winery we had a guided tour around it and listened about the process of elaboration of Robola wines from the grapes to the bottle. In addition, our guide described the history of the area and took us around the different rooms where the wine is produced. Our experience ended with some wine tasting. Honestly, their sweet dessert wine was to die for and even though I am not much of a drinker I had a couple of glasses. The interesting fact that we learnt during the tour was that Robola winery donates all unsold wine from the previous year to the residents of the island for their August bank holidays celebrations. Would like to check it our someday!

After our visit to the Robola, we took a short coach journey to our next stop – Fragata village and the Monastery of St. Gerasimos. This part of the island is a destination for pilgrims especially during festival celebrations when it can attract hundreds, even thousands, of pilgrims. The Monastery of St. Gerasimos (patron saint of Kefalonia) is built on the side of the older church which wasn’t suitable to host thousands of worshipers thus a larger monastery was constructed next to it. It is a definitely a go to place if you are Christian and happen to visit this Island.

Once, we completed our spiritual experience, we took a trip to the Melissani lake in the village of Karavomilos. It was my favourite part of our trip to the Island. Melissani lake is known to be one of the most beautiful underground lakes in the world. After a short walk through a tunnel we reached the lake and climbed aboard a wooden boat. We were sailing slowly around the lake for around five minutes and admired the surrounding caves. The sun was getting into the caves from one of the sides which gave rise to changes in shades of water. We were admiring thousands of shades of blue. It was truly magnificent.

Following on from our trip to the lake, we took a tour around the island where we were able to appreciate all it has to offer.

To conclude, I think that anyone who is considering visiting Kafalonia should go there at least for 2-3 days as 1 day is definitely not enough to discover its full potential. I would love to return here in the future.

I hope that you enjoyed reading my review!

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Mastro Ciccia, Rome (close to piazza Navona)

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I recently traveled to Rome, Italy to celebrate my fiancée’s birthday. We had a great time and tried some traditional Italian cuisine whilst in there. The highlight of our culinary adventures was a visit to Mastro Ciccia restaurant that was recommended to us by one of the locals. We decided to go there after a full day of sightseeing and seeing some of most remarkable monuments ever.
So, how was it?
Mastro Ciccia is located just a stone’s throw from Piazza Navona. If you are in Rome for holidays or work and have some time you should definitely go there for a meal after having some drinks at one of the bars in Piazza.   Mastro Ciccia is a historic and chic Italian / European restaurant with extremely friendly and professional staff.
I wanted to have a traditional Italian meal so we decided to order some nice wine (bottle of Merlot Offizi) to have with our 4-course meal: antipasto, primo, secondo and dessert:
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Antipasto
For my antipasto I decided to have some fried eggs with truffle. It was honestly the best eggs I have ever eaten!  My fiancée was more adventurous and ordered some beef tartar on a bed of rocket served with a side of thinly sliced mushrooms. He didn’t really liked but that was mainly because he isn’t a big fan of any raw meat. I tried a bit of it and it was nicely seasoned so I enjoyed it and as a result I finished it! 
Primi
For the first course I decided to have some creamy spaghetti with truffles and my fiancée also had some fresh spaghetti but his was with rabbit ragout. Both of them were nice but I left some of mine as I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to have any of my second course and dessert. I do not normally have 4-course meal everyday for dinner!
Secondi
For the second course I chose to have a filet mignon with grilled potato wedges with herbs while my fiancée had a rack of lamb Roman with vegetables. Both of our mains were delicious.
Dessert
For our desserts we decided to have some traditional tiramisu and some profiteroles. I love all kinds of desserts and they were great.
Overall experience:
I loved it! All dishes were not elaborately presented but were extremely pleasant on the palette.Service was great, the restaurant served us some delicious, traditional food and it was located next to one of my favorite piazzas in Rome. You should definitely check it out!
Price:
The whole meal was € 178,50 including a service and wine.
Hope you find this review beneficial.
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Holiday destinations: Kotor, Montenegro

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Today I would like to tell you about my short trip to Kotor in Montenegro.

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Montenegro is one of Europe’s smallest countries but at the same time, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.

I recently visited the Bay of Kotor for a day, which was way too short to experience it, so I will definitely come back there next summer.

Kotor is a fortified town on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast, in a bay near the limestone cliffs of Mt. Lovćen. It was built in the main by the Venetians, with city walls that climb quite implausibly up the mountainside .It is characterized by winding streets and squares, its medieval old town has several Romanesque churches, including Kotor Cathedral. It is absolutely stunning.

The water was crystal clear and I saw the shades of blue that I’ve never seen before. The bay is surrounded by cliffs so it feels like you are visiting Norwegian Fjords however it is much warmer so you can appreciate it more. The coast drive was truly magical-it is one of the natural splendours that have made tiny Montenegro one of the most attractive Adriatic destinations so I would definitely recommend you to go for a short drive outside of Kotor.

We visited the ‘Risan Mosaic’ museum which is just a short drive from Kotor. The museum is small but it has a good quality Roman mosaics which are well preserved. The other museum worth visiting is Cats Museum based in Kotor city.

Currency:

The currency used in Montenegro is EURO. ATMs are widely available. Credit cards are accepted in larger hotels but aren’t widely accepted elsewhere so try to always have some EUROS on you otherwise it might be a bit challenging to pay outside of the city center.

Getting there and getting around:

The only direct flights from the UK are with Montenegro Airlines http://www.montenegroairlines.com

Airline offers flights from Gatwick to Tivat (close to Kotor and Budva) and to the capital, Podgorica. There are local transfer busses travelling to Kotor from both of these airports. I would personally advise you to rent a car and admire the beautiful Adriatic coast.

The alternative is to fly via Dubrovnik, over the border in Croatia. You can fly from UK to Dubrovnik with many airlines such as: British Airways, easyJet, Flybe, Jet2, Monarch and Thomson.