It is easy to dream all four wheels in a city where worldwide fame cars are made. The car culture is very important in Stuttgart, more than anywhere else. Here began their unique trajectories Daimler-Benz and Porsche. We can find two spectacular museums in honor of these brands.

On one side, the ultramodern Mercedes-Benz Museum, which tells the car’s complete history from the beginning without skipping any of the stages. In his futuristic building, you’ll find over 1,500 pieces spread over nine floors documenting its history.

On the other hand, it is located the Porche Museum, in the town of Zuffenhausen. The building causes great admiration because of its architecture, and the fact that it is supported by only three points. It seems to float in the air. Inside, all white, we find rare vehicles and a variety of historical mode.

Also, if your visit to Stuttgart is in March, during the month Retro Classics is celebrated, one of the most beautiful car fair of all Germany, where classic car collectors worldwide met together.

But not only the automotive industry city lives, Ballet, Opera and Theatre are worldwide known. The Great Orchestra of Stuttgart, jazz clubs or two musical theaters in the SI-Centrum Stuttgart provide musical delights to all visitors. In the streets Calwer and Königstrasse will enjoy a mile of world-class stores where to shop. And save your time for another of the great attractions that Stuttgart offers: Wilhelma Park, one of the most beautiful botanical gardens and zoos in Europe.

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

By Eddy Lara from DestinosActuales.com

The Scandinavians deal with death in a very different way to Latin cultures. Their perception is completely different and they fully accept what is actually an inevitable part of life. One of the best manifestations of that different approach is the way in which they conceive their cemeteries: small cities with immense green areas where people can not only go to visit the remains of a loved one but also get in touch with nature.

Skogskyrkogården Cemetery or the Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm is one of the most representative pieces of modernist architecture to be found in any of the Scandinavian countries. It was designed by the architects Erik Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz in 1915 and the idea was to adapt it to the woodland surroundings in which it was built. There is a crematorium and three chapels: the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Chapel of Resurrection and the Woodland Chapel, the latter containing a replica of the Angel of Death sculpture. The cemetery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

Besides the architectural beauty of this cemetery, its most striking feature is the importance given to nature. It has been designed to help everyone who comes to bid farewell to their loved ones overcome the pain of their loss but also to accept that loss and, therefore, attain inner peace. This is one of the greatest achievements of the place. Spending time here generates an indescribable feeling of inner peace… you forget you are in a cemetery or rather you begin to perceive death from a completely different perspective.

The remains of the most famous Swedish actress of all time can be found at this cemetery: Greta Garbo. If you have the opportunity to visit this place when travelling to Stockholm, make sure you do. It will not leave you indifferent and perhaps you’ll start to see death through optimistic eyes, or at least less dark than many of us imagine it.

Imagen de Holger.Ellgaard

So you feel like visiting Stockholm, do you? Book your flights here!

Although the economic crisis has left its mark in the capital, as some buildings along its central streets have become noticeably decadent, Athens is well worth visiting, and enjoyment is to be had in its marked array of contrasts.

If you’re on a weekend getaway, the best thing is to organise your short stay by touring specific districts in the capital. And, the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to get around is undoubtedly by metro.

1. Plaka

One of the most authentic districts in Athens, with a rich Byzantine and Ottoman legacy. Indeed, this is the city’s oldest quarter and all the historical architecture is strictly protected.

Its siting at the foot of the Acropolis, its quaint, Bohemian atmosphere, its narrow, cobbled streets and the absence of cars make this one of the favourite districts among sightseers. It is a veritable oasis in the heart of a chaotic city.

Plaka is full of street markets, shops and bars. It is the ideal area for buying traditional products and antiquities, or for tasting local cuisine. However, keep an eye on the prices! This quarter is your springboard for seeing ancient monuments, notably theAcropolis,the Acropolis Museum and the Roman Agora.

2. Monastiraki

Northwest ofPlaka, between theAgoraand theAcropolis, lies one of the city’s major commercial hubs. Monastiraki is also the name of one of the oldest and most centrally located metro stops in Athens. It also features the added value of an unusual display – the archaeological finds that emerged during the construction of the underground.

The city was also the site of a Turkish settlement for over 300 years, so that nowadays you can still see the influence of that culture in such spots as the Tzistarakis Mosque or the Turkish baths.

Landmarks in the historica lMonastiraki Square include such emblematic buildings as the Church of the Pantanassa, the Tower of the Winds and Hadrian’s Library, in addition to the Pazari or flea market with the most diverse wares on display in its open-air stalls.

Adrianou Street is a pleasure to stroll along, as it is lined solid with interesting shops and bars. Highly recommended is Collage, a cafe-restaurant where you can eat great food, listen to live music or sip a fine cocktail on their terrace, soaking up the cool ambience all the while.

3. Gazi

This is the most stimulating, switched-on area of the city. It revolves around Technopolis, its cultural centre, the largest in Greece, housed in a former gasworks. The district started coming to the fore after the 2004 Olympic Games. This is the most chameleon-like district of Athens with a proliferation of endless pop-ups. The cultural and leisure activities hosted here draw the most avant-garde, cosmopolitan movements to this part of town.

Gazi has undergone marked changes. Where prostitutes and illegal immigrants once roamed, we now see haute couture fashion parades, while brothels have given way to cultural centres. The once abandoned 19th-century buildings have been refurbished as innovative restaurants noteworthy for their striking post-industrial decor. Standout examples are Hoxton and Gazi College.

For enthusiasts of vintage decoration and second-hand objects, Gazi is teeming with stores to browse through.

4. Anafiotika

This quarter has an unusual history. In the 19th century, King Otto of Greece commissioned his palace to be refurbished by prestigious architects from the Cyclades Islands. They chose to settle in the Anafiotika quarter but, feeling homesick for their native land, they decided to build their new homes in the traditional Cycladic-island style. The result is that we can now admire the typical blue-and-white houses lining cobbled streets with a pronounced seafaring air. Together with the squares, viewpoints and gardens, the complex has become one of the most picturesque areas in Athens. It stands out as a pretty “island” in the urban sprawl, affording idyllic views of the city and acting as a vantage point for gazing at some unforgettable sunsets.

5. Kolonaki

This is the city’s chic district with its upmarket luxury and designer stores. The neoclassical and Modernist architecture endows the area with a distinguished, stately air which becomes evident as soon as you set foot in it.

Located here are some of the city’s trendiest bars, pubs and discos. Mind The Gap is ideal for having a bite or your first drink of the evening, while Dybbuk is perfect for dancing to good music until daybreak. Athenians love enjoying their social life, both during the day and by night, a fact we became aware of when experiencing the congenial atmosphere in the local venues, which always seem to be packed.

This district is adjacent to the famous Syntagma Square and is distributed around the foot of Lycabettus Hill, an excellent vantage point for taking in 360° views of the city.

Athens is a destination that should take pride of place on your calendar! Make sure you book your Vueling soon!

Text by Tensi Sánchez of ilovebilbao.com

Images by Aurora Loudeiro

Venice is a city in north-eastern Italy made up of 118 little islands separated by canals and joined by bridges. It is famous because of the beauty of its setting, and its architecture, and its art. This is why the whole city, including the famed lagoon, has been designated a World Heritage Site.

It is named for the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region in the tenth Century before Christ. The city is known variously as La Dominante, la Serenísima, the Queen of the Adriatic, the City of Water, the City of Masks, and the Floating City. In a piece inThe New York TimesLuigi Barcina described it as "the most beautiful city ever built by man”. It is universally regarded as one of Europe’s most romantic cities, where visitors can enjoy the waterway, gondolas, palazzos, old treasures, and delicious cuisine, as the water laps ceaselessly against the walls of fabulous churches and other ornate buildings. A boat ride down the Grand Canal makes you feel like a figure in an old painting.

Venice is an open-air museum. Its architecture, monuments, and buildings reflect its Byzantine heritage, and nowhere more strikingly than in the mosaics of the Basilica de San Marcos. Very near the Piazza de San Marcos (St. Mark’s Square),we find the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace), where the city’s ruler once dwelled, and which exemplifies the ostentation of the Renaissance period. Visitors may descend to the gloomy palace dungeons, and then get some fresh air on the famous Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), where prisoners often caught their last glimpse of the Adriatic.

The city’s main street isn’t a street at all, but the celebrated Grand Canal. This is a good place to buy a City Pass, the most economical option for moving around Venice on its vaporetto water buses, with many stops along the Grand canal.

One of the numerous mansions along the canal is the sumptuous, 14^th C. Palazzo de Santa Sofia; better known as the Ca d’oro, (house of gold), because the abundant gilt in the polychrome and white marble exteriors that once made this lovely Gothic building shine like a jewel. There is also the famous Rialto bridge, which retains all the elegance that made it such a sensation when it was completed in 1591, 400 years after the first pontoon bridge was built on the site.

A city’s true character is often to be found in its markets, and Venice has two that should not be missed by visitors. One is the Erbaria product and fish market in the Rialto district, where you should check out the local asparagus and artichokes. Then there is La Pescheria for a dazzling variety of mainly local fish and seafood.

For connoisseurs of Italian cuisine, the Riva del Vinis the place to find the café or restaurant of your dreams in a quiet riverbank setting. Other excellent restaurant districts are Campo Santa Margherita, with its floating terraces, Zattere, where you can watch the sun set over the Laguna Veneto, and the streets near the fashionable Campo Giacomo di Rialto,where many Venetians take their “aperitivi” in the late afternoon. Try a Spritz and a snack of delicious codfish. The classic Venetian recipe for Spritzes, by the way, is 1/3 dry wine like Prosecco, 1/3 soda or bubbly mineral water, and 1/3 sweet Aperol or bitter Campari.

Outstanding amongst the city’s numerous museums is the Guggenheim, with possibly the continent’s best collection of European and American art from the first half of the 20^th C, housed in the old Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal, where it was opened in 1980 to show Peggy Guggenheim’s personal collection, masterpieces from the Gianni Mattioli collection, a garden of sculptures by Nasher, and temporary exhibitions.

To view the city in all its splendour from a distance you can take a number 42 vaporetto at the San Sacaria stop in St. Mark’s Square to the island of Murano, passing the Fondamento Nuove and stopping to visit the San Michelle cemetery, a “cemetery island”, where you can see the graves of such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Joseph Brodsky, Sergei Diaghilev, Ezra Pound, and Luigi Nono.

If all the water makes you hanker for a beach, there’s the legendary,Lido –a 7-mile long sandbar in the lagoon– with its many stylish cafes and restaurants.

To really discover Venice, you need to get lost there, so use the vaporettos freely and get off at any stop –the streets are safe even after dark. And a night-time visit to St. Mark’s Square is an experience you will always treasure.

Venice. There’s simply nothing like it. However often you visit, the surprises keep coming! Now’s the time to book a flight there with Vueling. Check out our prices here!

Photos: Fernando Sanz
Text: Tensi Sánchez de actitudesmgz.com