europe

European Shopping Destinations

This post is expected to raise interest to shopping lovers. Below you’ll find my favourite five European shopping destinations.  The following cities offer you the ability to make purchases ranging from cheap buys up to expensive designers – the choices are endless. London Oxford Street 1. London, UK London is one of the best places for shopping, specially during its big sales during the Christmas period. The best places are the famous Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and Covent Garden.  Other areas which are enjoyable for shopping include Russells Square (Brunswick) or Enfield Town (Palace Gardens). There are also many shopping malls e.g. Westfield and Hammersmith Broadway. Here you’ll find all the high-street shops with the best prices. Brent Cross shopping centre is another place you can go shopping in North West London. For more luxury purchases visit Knightsbridge and step into Harrods. Don't forget  Selfridge & Co in Oxford Street. For a more characteristic shopping taste visit Camden Markets in Camden Town. Sales Period: The big sales start on Boxing Day (26/12) and end around mid January.  Summer sales start around min June and end around mid July. If you’re in London beginning the sales period make sure to go shopping early in the morning. 2. Athens, Greece  McArthurGlen Athens Outlet I love shopping here. You can find anything from leather goods around Monastiraki area and its surrounding small markets - called Monastiraki Flea Area. You will find chic stores in Kolonaki and Tsakalof Street or by visiting Attica.  For more down to the earth shopping try Ermou Street and the Mall of Athens. If you wish to purchase branded clothing visit the McArthurGlen Athens outlet or the Factory Outlet.  I prefer McArthurGlen since it's big with many brands and it's surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Sales Period: Summer sales start mid-July and run throughout the end of August whilst winter sales begin mid-January and run throughout the end of February.   3. Brussels, Belgium Avenue Louise in Brussels In Brussels you can find all sorts of shops in Rue Neuve and Avenue Louise. In the lower part you’ll find exclusive designer shops (Avenue Louise) and in Rue Neuve you’ll find [...]

2018-02-23T09:14:20+03:00January 2nd, 2018|

An evening in Porto spent at the Ribeira

Porto is a coastal city in northwest Portugal known for its stately bridges and port wine production. In the medieval Ribeira (riverside) district, you will be amazed by the narrow cobbled streets, the merchants’ houses and cafes. This was one of my shortest stays in a city. Since I was in Aveiro I had to stay the night before my flight back to Cyprus in Porto in order to catch the plane the day after. We got the train from Aveiro to Porto and got off at Porto Campanha metro station. I have to mention that during the trip from Aveiro to Porto you can enjoy amazing views, especially when you are approaching Porto. From the Campanha station we got the metro to Casa da Musica to go to the hotel and drop our suitcases. We stayed in Avenue da Boavista, at the Quality Inn Portus Cale hotel which was nice and clean. We only had a few hours in the evening to have dinner and just walk around the main area in Porto. I pretty much had a look on the map where it’s worth going and also had a rough idea about where to have dinner. We got the metro and got off at Jardim do Morro which is on the other side of the Ponte Luis I bridge in order to enjoy the spectacular view of the Ribeira, a district made up of medieval streets and seedy alleyways. We walked to the other side of the bridge and down to Ribeira were we wondered around the area and then found a nice place to have dinner. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Adega São Nicolau. If you have a chance to go there, try to get a table outside so you can enjoy a nice view of the river and you certainly won’t be disappointed by the food. Don’t forget to try the famous Porto Wine. After dinner we went back to the hotel in order to rest and travel back to Cyprus the next day. I’ll be certainly going back to Porto for holidays and stay [...]

2018-02-23T09:14:27+03:00June 12th, 2014|

Norway in a Nutshell Tour

One of the most amazing experiences I had in my life.  Norway in a nutshell. After visiting Oslo, the next stop while in Scandinavia was Bergen. On our way from Oslo to Bergen we purchased the Norway in a nutshell tour however we were unable to do this on the day we were travelling to Bergen since it was very windy and it was snowing therefore the train could not approach the Myrdal station. So we did the tour on our way back to Oslo. We booked our tickets via the official website a month before in order to enjoy Norway's magical fjords. So our trip begins from Bergen with a train to Voss. The scenery was magnificent since we were going through the fjords and it was snowy everywhere. We then reached Voss from where we got the bus to Gudvangen. Gudvangen and the Nærøyfjord fjord At Gudvangen village we got the ship for a cruise through the Nærøyfjord fjord which ended in Flam. During the cruise we enjoyed amazing scenery of the fjords. The Nærøyfjord fjord is a UNESCO World Heritage site and its Norway’s longest and deepest fjords surrounded by towering mountains. During the cruise we enjoyed waterfalls which cascade from the mountain tops and some amazing landscapes. Flam In Flam we had to wait for about 2 hours to get the train to Myrdal station. We couldn’t do much in Flam though, since it was freezing and raining so we had lunch in a café near the station. Flam Railway - Flamsbana After waiting we got the Flam Railway. The Flam Railway is called Flamsbana and it’s considered one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. In winter the view is totally different from what you see in spring or summer. This is one of the steepest train lines in the world since most of the journey duration has a gradient (hill) of 5.5%. During the journey we could see steep mountains, waterfalls which were frozen, we passed through tunnel and through fjords. It took us about an hour to travel from the ocean [...]

2018-02-23T09:14:27+03:00February 22nd, 2014|
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