The Hermitage Museum is a must-visit for sightseers in Saint Petersburg. It is one of the best ways to delve into the country’s past – that of the Czars – to get an idea of the opulence and splendour they lived in. The figures speak for themselves: the Hermitage has over three million artworks, from both East and West, including paintings, sculptures, archaeological pieces, Greek and Roman antiquities, jewellery and weapons – imagine that! The art gallery rates among the finest in the world, leaving behind other great art museums such as the Louvre and the Prado. What’s more; only about 3% of that huge number of artworks are actually on public display.

That enormous private collection, which became a State Museum in 1917, dates from 1764, when Catherine the Great acquired 225 Dutch and Flemish paintings. It was also during her reign that construction began on the massive architectural complex where the collections are now housed. It is made up of seven buildings: the Winter Palace – the former residence of the Czars – the Hermitage Theatre, Old Hermitage, Small Hermitage, New Hermitage, General Staff Building and the Menshikov Palace, once the residence of the governor of Saint Petersburg.

The Hermitage Cats

What strikes visitors to this magnificent museum – apart from its wealth, splendour, fine execution and antiquity – are the cats that roam about there. In case you think they are there by chance – no, they are there by design, as they are tasked with hunting down rodents to prevent any artworks from deteriorating. Thus far, it might just sound like some quaint story but there is actually a long history behind these feline guardians. In fact, they are the only tenants of the Palace that have survived all the upheavals of the country’s past – the Napoleonic invasion, the Russian Revolution and the German invasion during World War II.

The first cat to appear in the royal palace was brought there by Czar Peter I from the Low Countries. But, it was his daughter, Czarina Elisabeth Petrovna, who in 1774 decreed the use of cats to rid the palace of mice, which she was genuinely terrified of. Cats have lived in the Winter Palace ever since and have witnessed the passage of Czars, courtesans and the Bolsheviks. Nowadays they share the premises with the museum staff and visitors. Only the siege of Leningrad, which lasted nearly 900 days and sowed famine throughout the city, caused them to vanish temporarily.

There are currently over 60 cats of different breeds roaming through the basements, the offices and the area surrounding the Hermitage, although they are not allowed into the exhibition halls. They even have their own caretaker, Irina Popovets. While the museum does not have a budget for their upkeep, funds are raised for this purpose by different means. They are supported through private patronage and the association, “Feline Friends of the Hermitage”. They have even had exhibitions held in their honour.

Whether you like these whiskered creatures or not, we recommend you book a Vueling to Saint Petersburg to discover one of the world’s largest and finest art collections.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by James Byrum, Brent Ozar, Jorge Cancela, RachelH_

In this part of France two cities hog most of the visitors – Strasbourg, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in France, and Colmar, capital of the wine-producing region. However, the little known jewel in the newly created region of the Great East is Mulhouse, once an independent republic, located where three counties meet – France, Germany and Switzerland. Possibly on account of that privileged position, Mulhouse is now one of France’s most active cities in terms of creativity and culture, also partly driven by its importance in the 19th century as a textile centre, which has endowed the city with an interesting industrial heritage.

Mulhouse is the City of Art and History, the first city in the Alsace to be awarded this distinction. One of its major reference points is the Place de la Réunion, the heart of its historic centre, where the easily recognisable standout feature is the pink-coloured old Town Hall. Another landmark in the square is the Protestant Church of Saint-Étienne, with a campanile affording stunning views of the city. Permission is required to go up it.

Mulhouse was one of the first major centres of the textile industry in France. This is attested in the Museum of Printed Textiles, which each year hosts a thematic exhibition linked to some well-known designer. Likewise, the Wesserling Park - Textile Ecomuseum which offers dramatized tours and fashion shows. Other major draws include the examples of industrial architecture (reconditioned former brickwork factories), and the street art and contemporary art to be had in the city centre.

Another venue worth visiting is the Cité de l’Automobile (featuring the Schlumpf Collection), situated just five minutes from downtown Mulhouse. Considered one of the leading automobile museums in the world, it showcases over 400 vehicles, prominent among which is a large collection of Bugattis. The Automobile City, divided into five distinct areas, is a truly interactive museum. Interesting audiovisuals about the automobile industry are screened, while a number of simulators enable visitors to experience what it feels like to drive a racing car.

On the outskirts of Mulhouse, the town of Ungersheim is home to the Alsace Ecomuseum, the largest of its kind in France. Here you can learn about the traditional divisions of the Alsace, what their schools used to be like and what the leading trades were. The most important craftsmen were blacksmiths, cartwrights and potters. It is also amazing to see how they used to cook in earlier times, and how they distilled local spirits. Additionally, you can taste some authentic, traditional dishes like celery gelatine, potatoes with nettles and basil sorbet.

Lastly, if you want to try Alsatian cuisine, we recommend you head for a winstub, the equivalent of a pub in the Alsace – the Restaurant Le Cellier is an ideal example. There you can taste such local specialities as fleischschnakas, an exquisite dish of noodle dough stuffed with meat, flammkuchen or tarte flambée, thinly rolled out bread dough with a topping of raw onion, bacon and single cream, and sauerkraut, accompanied by delicious Alsace wines. And, the best place to go for a drink at night is Le Gambrinus where the atmosphere is welcoming and the craft beer is excellent (bière du Bollwerk).

Mulhouse lends itself to a weekend tour. The EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, shared by France, Germany and Switzerland, is just 30 minutes away from the city centre. More information on the flights here.

Text by Tusdestinos.net

1. Victoria Square – the Heart of the City

The city’s main historic buildings are located in this square, notably Council House with its clock tower – known as Big Brum –the Birmingham Town Hall and Birmingham Cathedral. Cultural events are held in the square, including the Frankfurt Christmas Market, laid out in the purest German Christmas-market style.

2. In Search of the Industrial Past

Birmingham was the main driving force behind the United Kingdom’s industrial revolution, which earned it acclaim as “the factory of the world”, or the “city of a thousand businesses”. Dating from that period is the city’s extensive network of canals. An enjoyable way of discovering them is to go for a ride on one of the colourful barges that ply the canals and take in the industrial heritage that has survived the test of time. It has also become a major leisure area, with pubs and restaurants to relax in before pressing on with your city tour.

One way of finding out how workers lived in the 19th century is to visit Back to Backs, a court of back-to-back houses which has been restored. Tours are organised to the precinct with its workshops, enabling you to get a better idea of that period.

3. Art and Museums – the pre-Raphaelites and Much More

The Birmingham Museum & Gallery Art (BMAG) boasts the world’s largest collection of pre-Raphaelites, with over 2,000 works on display. It also houses sections on archaeology, social history and the art of other periods. Enthusiasts of the contemporary avant-garde and the latest art trends should head to the Ikon Gallery, housed in an 1877 neo-Gothic building designed by John Henry Chamberlain.

4. More Than Just Books in The Library of Birmingham

Well worth visiting, if only for the stunning building housing this library on Centenary Square. This, the largest library in the United Kingdom, is also famed for having over 40,000 objects related to the life and work of William Shakespeare. You can also visit the Parker Collection of children’s books, that of the British politician, Benjamin Stone, with some magnificent photographs, one of the country’s largest collections of music for silent films, and a host of other exhibits.

5. Cadbury – More Than a Chocolate Factory

South of Birmingham lies Bournville, one of the city’s most beautiful districts. Among its chief landmarks, there is one coveted by all children – the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Inside you will discover the history of one of the most important chocolate factories in the world. A must if you’re travelling with children.

6. The Jewellery Quarter – Jewels for Everyone!

Most of Birmingham’s jewellery production is centred in the Jewellery Quarter, where over 100 jewellers and experts in the sector are to be found. The district dates back to the 18th century and is the site of the only Georgian square in the city. Highly recommended is a tour of the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, an erstwhile factory and workshop converted into a museum where you can see how jewels are made, among other things.

7. Bullring Shopping Centre – the Temple of Shopping

Apart from being one of Birmingham’s architectural gems, it is an essential destination for shopping lovers. It houses no fewer than 160 stores where you can indulge in one of the United Kingdom’s favourite pastimes – shopping. Before you leave, make sure you take a selfie alongside the popular bull statue in the interior.

8. Sarehole Mill – A Place Which Inspired J.R.R. Tolkien

Some five kilometres from the city centre lies Sarehole Mill, one of the last two surviving water mills in the Birmingham area.J.R.R. Tolkienfans have good reason to make a pilgrimage to this spot, as just a few yards from the mill stands Tolkien’s old house. Both the water mill and its surrounding area was a source of inspiration for some of the scenes in Lord of the Rings.

Now you have the keys to discovering Birmingham; all that’s left is to pick up your Vueling here and see it all for yourself.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Tony Hisgett, David Merrett, ozz13x, Fotorus, Tim Parkinson, Elliott Brown

Düsseldorf is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the mid-19th century it experienced economic growth fuelled by the Industrial Revolution. During the Second World War, the city was practically reduced to rubble but, thanks to the German miracle, it soon became one of the economic powerhouses of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Düsseldorf – Centre of the Avant-Garde Universe

Brian Eno once said that the Neu! experimental rock band from Düsseldorf was one of the three most inventive beats of the sixties, together with Fela Kuti’s afrobeat and James Brown’s funk. In the late sixties and early seventies, a characteristic Düsseldorf sound started to take shape, based on elements of early rock combined with those of experimental rock. Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger were the pioneers and both of them were members of Neu!, a reference model in the development of the endless machine beat typical of krautrock and, subsequently, in the early creation of Kraftwerk, the primogenitors of modern electronic music. Dinger is also credited with being the originator of themotorik beat, a rhythmic pattern based on a regular, mechanical and repetitive beat. Rother, for his part, also worked with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, members of Cluster; they later teamed up to found Harmonia.

Kling Klang Studio

Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk once said that the synthesizer is a psychoanalytic machine. Indeed, synths were the instruments that nourished the music of this German band, who also happened to design the world’s most modern studio in a flash. They called it the Kling Klang Studio, sited in the centre of Düsseldorf. The project was started by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, but was not finished until 1975, an event marked by the release of the record, “Radio-Activity”. During the eighties, the studio was refurbished according to a modular rack design, with a view to being taken along on their forthcoming tour. It was originally sited at 16 Mintropstrasse, but in 2009 it was relocated to Meerbusch-Osterath, some 10 kilometres from Düsseldorf. This move has enabled the studio and office to be located on the same premises. The new Kling Klang includes a rehearsal room for preparing concerts.

Kunstsammlung NRW

This is where, in 2013, Kraftwerk embarked on their current 3D tour which is taking them to emblematic places across the globe to present their daring visual show, during which the audience require 3D glasses to get a much more intense sensorial experience. At Kunstsammlung, art is the central focus. The backbone of the collection is made up of 88 works by Paul Klee, while the rest are highly valuable contemporary artworks.

The Düsseldorf Scene Today

The electronic scene is currently not as solid as it was a few years ago. Loco Dice is a local artist with some international acclaim within the minimal scene headquartered here – the Desolat label. Another label based in the city is Themes for Great Cities, the home of Wolf Müller, a project by Jan Schulte, one of the most restless souls on the local electronic scene at the moment and a direct heir to the Düsseldorf sound.

Salon Des Amateurs is undoubtedly one of the most interesting clubs in the city. It is located in the heart of the art community, namely the Kunshalle, an exhibition space specialising in contemporary art. When entering the premises, one is struck by the Max Ernst sculpture. Here, the kraut tradition blends with the most select electronic avant-garde. At “The Salon”, as it is known here, the whole liturgy of dance takes place. Two of the resident DJs are Jan Schulte and Detlef Weinrich, from the legendary elektronische musik group Kreidler, who pioneered a fusion of ambient, post rock and IDM in the nineties, although their sessions are characterised by a mix of krautrock, African percussion and cosmic jazz. The name is drawn from the Salon organised by the Société Des Artistes Français, an association of French painters and sculptors who held annual events featuring the work of non-professional artists. This was the spirit of the venue in its early years, marked by a certain degree of anarchy, as reflected in the type of audience that frequented the event, from professors in their sixties to teenage skaters. Loco Dice’s Desolat label is headquartered here and makes the club the cradle of the city’s techno once again. The mission of Salon Des Amateursis to take up where Creamcheese left off as a progressive music disco, heir to the non-objective art movement that set in during the late sixties and turned out to be essential to the birth and development of the krautrock style. Then there is Ratinger Hof, a refurbished pub near the Kunstakademie, which became the epicentre of the punk movement in the seventies and eighties, and was graced by bands of the stature of Kraftwerk, Neu! and DAF.It now operates more as a club and the audience is mostly young. Speaking of clubs, most of the ones that hosted electronic underground have now closed down. Only the 102, known as Kiesgrube during the summer season, is still going strong.

Come and experience the effervescent music scene in Düsseldorf. Check out our flights here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Kraftwerk, Kunstsammlung, Salon Des Amateurs