The newest - and chic'est - hotels in Paris

Paris / Dormir
en par Momondo, 26. févr. 2009


Hôtel Duo

Paris is filled with lavish hotels - former palaces that have been converted into dens of discreet luxury. These are places that recall an earlier empire, or, depending on your cultural preferences, the last episode of Sex and the City. These are not places we can afford.

For those who still want old-world glamour, there are plenty of frumpy and over-decorated rooms for around 200€ a night. But rather than pay for over-priced knock-offs, smart visitors are eschewing tradition and going instead for something modern. A number of sleek and enlightened hotels have cropped up recently that are much better suited to our 21st century needs. Here, a small handfull of Paris-bloggers Meg Zimbeck and Louise Sandager's hyper-modern favourites.

Publié par
Momondo

Recession? Not For Istanbul's Tourism Industry

Istanbul / Voir
en par Momondo, 26. févr. 2009

There's no better time to travel than during a global financial meltdown. Price wars between airlines have led to plummeting ticket prices, and posh hotels are practically giving away their beds. Promotions on all kinds of products – ranging from hot chocolate to haute couture - make it possible for even unemployed bankers to get a taste of the good life. We asked our local bloggers to uncover the best deals, and to tell us about the simple and inexpensive pleasures that can always be found in their cities. With cheap tickets and insider advice, there's no reason why a shrinking economy should stop you from expanding your horizons.

Istanbul


Photo: Fatih Pinar

Written by Ayla Albayrak

Smiling tourists, historical monuments and in-your-face oriental kitsch. This is the Sultanahmet that I know, and I am happy to see that the historical center of Istanbul is still vibrant despite the global financial crisis.

Wishful thinking or not, Turks are expecting tourism to survive through the bad times. "Tourism will never die out here", boasts a young guy named Ihsan Aslan to me and my photographer friend Fatih Pinar.

Aslan sells hand-made olive oil soaps, small bags of lavender and other scented goodies in a tiny shop in Sultanahmet.

"Of course we are a little worried now, but after all this is a cheap city for an European traveler and it has lots of historical sites and interesting things going on,” Aslan says.


Photo: Fatih Pinar

Like the rest of the world, we in Turkey are being fed with bad news about the state of the economy, how it leads to the closure of hundreds of factories and companies, causing thousands of lost jobs. But the tourism industry last year was unexpectedly good.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul in 2008 attracted more visitors than ever – almost 7.5 million tourists. Not bad for a city of 12 million inhabitants!

Some in the business want to believe that Turkey may even do better during the recession because the country is cheaper than its biggest rivals Greece and Spain. Surely Europeans will still need some sun, sea and sand on their summer holidays and Turkey has plenty of this plus amazing historical and natural sites. Turkey also relies on its relaxed visa policy that especially attracts Russian travellers and others from outside the EU.


Photo: Fatih Pinar

I meet the Russian couple Mikhail and Tatyana in a cosy café in Sultanahmet where they play backgammon and smoke waterpipe (nargile).They tell me that the free visa was an important factor as to why they decided to visit Istanbul. They just didn't have to cope with time consuming paperwork, but just buy the ticket and go.

Mikhail and Tatyana are very happy with their decision to spend their holiday in Istanbul. "The weather could have been better, though!" they laugh.

Istanbul has been bombarded with rain lately. Luckily, Mikhail and Tatyana managed to see the sun on Istanbul the last day of their visit. It came out shyly in the afternoon, coloring the dome of Hagia Sophia in pink and gold.

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Ayla Albayrak is a Finnish-Turkish journalist living in Istanbul. During her five years in the city, Ayla has covered all kinds of stories ranging from culture to Turkish economy and politics.
Currently writing a travel book on Istanbul, she roams around the city with a growing fascination and respect for its beauty and long history. Istanbul is never "conquered" - just as Ayla thinks that she knows every part of the city, Istanbul reveals another surprise!

Related recession posts:

Always look at the bright side of strife

Recession or not, New York is a bargain

Keep economic crisis out of your pockets

Getting happy at all hours - New York Stylee

How to go on holiday for less than 150 euro

Soviet fastfood with a view of Canal Grande

Crisis? What crisis?

Battling the financial meltdown: the Rudd response

Paris for recessionistas

Publié par
Momondo

Jambo Zanzibar

Dar Es Salaam / Voir
en par Momondo, 20. févr. 2009

Author Tinna Hellesoe

”I live in a postcard, why don’t you come and visit me?”. This was a text-message from my 19 year old daughter and the beginning of a wonderful experience!

For years I have kept a little piece of paper in my wallet with a quote by Danish author Troels Kloevedal: “Sometimes I think that the earth is paradise. We, the people just haven’t noticed it”. Or we are just too busy to notice it!

So, two weeks later I found myself in Zanzibar airport waiting to be picked up by my daughter and her boyfriend Abdul. They were late because Abdul had to clean the car! This was my first introduction to the pace of life on Zanzibar and the fantastic Swahili saying: ‘pole pole’ (slowly slowly).

In the car I was quickly instructed to say ‘jambo’ (meaning hello) and smile to everybody that we met on the way and always to have my shoulders and knees covered. Now I was ready to meet the Muslim Zanzibar (where it is not a problem to wear a bikini on the beach).

My daughter (who doesn’t wear shoes anymore) lives in a small village called Paje situated 50 metres from the beach and here I stayed in a beautiful bungalow.

This was my idea of heaven…perfect white sandy beach with palm trees where the only disturbance would be an occasional hermit crab. The atmosphere was ‘pole pole’.

It is always an experience to take the local bus, wherever you are. Zanzibar is certainly no exception. My daughter had warned me even if a daledale had a maximum capacity of 15 people, there were always room for one more. “Just look happy and take the smaller children on your lap and help, so that more people can fit in”, was her advise. Okay I thought – piece of cake. I just didn’t calculate with all the luggage, the chickens, puppies and fish i.e. that the passengers also brought with them. Everybody was helping each other and this seemed to be just the way that Zanzibar is.


Small businesses in Stone Town: Photo: Marc Veraart

One day we jumped of the daledale just before Stone Town as we were invited to lunch by my daughter’s boyfriend’s family. Here we were welcomed warmly and enjoyed a beautifully prepared meal sitting on the floor in their living room, where there was no furniture.

My daughter reminded me only to eat with the right hand, which was something of a challenge for a first timer as the fantastic food was slipping through my fingers - especially the sauce caused problems. Word of advice: Don’t take too much as is makes it difficult to make a rice ball! However, the grilled fish, homemade chapatti and different fruits were no problem.

Knowing that this family had cocked all day and the way they welcomed us with open arms made us feel very special. Sometimes we had to stop our conversation during the lunch as the sound from the street was so loud that it was impossible to hear each other.


Photo: Islodelba

Stone Town is a fusion of Persia, Oman, India and Arabia and many afternoons we spent on just walking around in the narrow alleys, enjoying the wonderful views from the restaurant Africa House or from the rooftop terrace of the beautiful restored palace, which was once the home of one of the richest men in the Swahili Empire. Other times we were just sitting enjoying the sunset or watching kids play on the beach beneath the Freddie Mercury’s café (Freddie Mercury was born in Stone Town in september 1946).

Eating in the narrow streets after sunset was fantastic. Everybody sits at the tables along the wall of the small streets enjoying the different foods such as grilled shrimp, grilled octopus and vegetables. It is just like being on the daledale meaning there is always room for one or ten more. We also had my daughter’s favourite drink on Zanzibar, which was the juice from sugar canes with small amounts of fresh ginger and lime. It was ice old and so refreshing.

My daughter said “mom, do you now understand why I love this place with the beaches, the people and the ‘pole pole’ way of life?”. 1000 things went through my mind – her education, tropical diseases, distances, culture differences – but eventually I had to be honest: “YES, I do understand you - more than you can imagine”.

Publié par
Momondo

Time For Goldenlicious Stimulation

Copenhague / Manger
en par Momondo, 4. févr. 2009

Everybody has places they dream of going to. I have a long list of those dreamy places, like the Moon, Cambodia and Kenya, just to mention a few. And then I have a list - long too - of want-to-go-to places in my hometown Copenhagen. Being passionate about gastronomy, many places on this list are, of course, restaurants. Era Ora (meaning ‘about time’) has always been one of them.

25 years ago young Italian banker, Elvio Milleri, came to Denmark and opened his first restaurant. It started as a humble family trattoria, but unlike the other – at that time few - Italians in town it quickly evolved to be a place for jet-setters. It introduced Copenhageners to slow-food in the early 1980’s showing that Italian food is so much more than the pizza-pasta-tomato-cliché, and taught Danes to really enjoy and appreciate a well-prepared, exclusive meal.

With quality that has earned Era Ora a Michelin-star and with quite a pricy menu (well, at least compared to my local pizza pusher) I had not - until recently- had the chance (meaning wages) to go there. So imagine my joy when I had to interview Elvio Milleri, for the magazine ehere I work in the occasion of the restaurant’s 25th anniversary this month.

The restuarant is situated in Christianshavn, a charming and exclusive part of central Copenhagen with small townhouses along the canal. Era Ora blends in side by side with the other Danish houses, but when you enter, you step into, what can best be described as, a goldenlicious stimulation of your senses.

Milleri’s wife, a former Brazilian model, has decorated the small place in a typical southern European style with stone floors, chandeliers, simple table setting in white, while the rest of the restaurant is kept in warm sandy colours topped of with gold arty installations. She keeps the looks of old restaurant updated, and with her husband she develops news business ventures. The family has two other restaurants in Copenhagen (Il Altro and Aquamarina) and a huge bakery factory (Il Fornaio).

While listening to Elvio Milleri telling his fascinating story, their 23-year old son Michel, served us a small lunch. In Era Ora language that means six dishes accompanied by an outstanding wine menu (picked out from the huge white cellar downstairs).

The food is inspired by the Umbrian kitchen, which is very light. For example you will not get creamy and cheesy dishes, which are especially popular in northern Italy. Everything is ecological and handmade from scratch, which make the different tastes even more unique. I was served six dishes I was mostly impressed by the ritorti pasta with wild mushrooms and the white sturgeon with cardoon in a light tomato sauce and herbs.

I can still sense the taste here a week after, and I will never forget the fact that I ate a dessert with 24-carat gold in it!
I guess, some dreams do come true.

ERA ORA, Overgaden Neden Vandet 33b, 1414 København K.

Written by Karen Pallisgaard, 28-year old Copenhagen local, loving her city to the extent that she has made it her living writing about it. Karen is a journalist working as managing editor of WHERE2GO, a Copenhagen cultural – and lifestyle magazine. She writes about everything from fashion, trends and culture to features from the city, interviews with famous profiles and whatever else of interest to modern urbanites.

Publié par
Momondo

My Eventful Road Trip To Zermatt

Voir
en par Momondo, 3. févr. 2009

As a child, I spent many enjoyable winters skiing in Switzerland with my Swiss family. This Christmas, my brother Guy and I had an opportunity to go back and spend a few days with my eldest brother Alan and his family in Zermatt. We went by car - an unfortunate decision!

On the day after Boxing Day we set off for Dover in Guy’s utterly unreliable 15-year-old Jaguar XJS. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Calais, the Jag finally conked out and had it not been for Christophe from SARL Depannage, our trip would have ended there.

With the Jag off for repairs, we continued our journey in a plucky fuel-guzzling Opel Meriva. 7 ½ hours later we arrived in Tasch and caught the last train (by the skin of our teeth) to the picturesque car-free village of Zermatt, which lies at the foot of the iconic Matterhorn.

Day 1 started refreshingly well with barely any queuing at the Schwarzsee Bubble Lift, and although it was bitterly nippy (just below freezing in the village) the sun was out. A second chair lift took us almost to the top of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and from here you have a choice of fast red runs that take you all the way to the village, as well as a rather zippy black run that follows the summer downhill mountain bike route.

We then travelled back up and over the top of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise into Cervinia, the Italian side of the mountain. Due to recent snow falls and the fact the Italian side is more sheltered from the wind, we were able to find a few stashes of new powder and had a great afternoon making fresh tracks in the sunshine.

The following day we were again blessed with sunshine, despite freezing temperatures, and spent our time on the two other sections of the Zermatt ski area. Originally, the mountain’s lift system was owned by three different companies so the lifts are not as well connected as they could be. The Gornergrat section is the most beginner-friendly area on the mountain and the restaurants around the Riffelberg also serve the best Rosti and Bratwurst.

In the afternoon we raced around the Rothorn ski area, which gets the most sun and has some of my favourite runs through the trees in Zermatt. Again with a little searching and walking we managed to find the odd slope of untouched powder, which nicely rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable two days of hard skiing.

At 6am on the morning of New Year’s Eve, we headed for home in our gutsy Opel Meriva – only to come unstuck when we tried to cross the Jura Mountains in a snowstorm. It was a step too far for the Meriva (which didn’t have any snow tyres or chains) and the only way to get back to Lausanne was to deflate the tyres for extra traction and drive on at a snail’s pace, munching Skittles to keep us alert.

The only way back to Calais was to take the long-winded route to via Geneva. Unfortunately, all these delays meant that I welcomed in the New Year on the Northern line on London’s underground with nothing but my ski gear and some flamboyantly dressed students for company. Lesson learnt: fly next time.

By Christopher Fischer

Go further: You should also consider taking the traing the next time you go skiing. Especially now that Momondo now also searches for the best offers on trains.

Find out more about Zermatt and other places to spend Christmas in the Alps here.

Publié par
Momondo
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