Its markets are the best place to take the pulse of any city,places where you can experience the day-to-day life of the people and mingle with the local population. This is no less true in Saint Petersburg, where haggling is encouraged and stallholders will even offer you their wares without any kind of pressure to buy.

Kuznechny Market

The most central and representative of the markets in Saint Petersburg (and also the most expensive) is the Kuznechny Market where you will find flowers, vegetables, cheeses and natural honey for sale.

Numerous attractions are located close to the market: the Arctic and Antarctic Museum can be found in the former Church of Saint Nicholas and includes exhibits on the characteristics of the polar regions, the history behind the conquest of the Great North and the economy and culture of the Nordic people. The Floral Exhibition Centre, the Vladimirskaya Church and the Lensoveta Culture Centre at 42 Kamennoostrovsky Avenue are also worth visiting.

The Dostoevsky Museum is another nearby attraction – the place where this famous writer and author of such novels as ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘Demons’ and ‘The Idiot’ lived and died. This house museum has been faithfully restored to how it was originally.

If you get hungry, why not try the Marius Pub or the Tres Amigos restaurant. However, if it is thirst that needs quenching, Mollie’s Irish Bar is a great place for a drink.

Sennoy Market

What was once an old hay market has now become a major food market with clothing stalls that fill the surrounding streets.

A large part of  ‘Crime and Punishment’ by Dostoevsky is set in the streets of the Sennaya district, where the Sennoy Market is to be found. It is more popularly known as the Dostoevsky District.

It is an excellent area for a spot of shopping in the large department stores. Sennaya Square is a bustling hive of activity where you can find the famous PIK and the large Sennaya Shopping Centre.

For some nice, reasonably-priced home-made food, you should head over to Kafe Adzhika.

If you’re up for a short walk, take a stroll over to Yusupov Palace, located on the edge of the River Moika and one of the most spectacular monuments to classicism to be found in Saint Petersburg.

Sitni Market

On the small Zayachy Island in the River Neva is the true historical centre of the city: Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel of Saint Petersburg. Peter I the Great ordered its construction in 1703 and it contains such remarkable buildings as the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where all the Tsars from Peter I the Great to Nicholas II and his family are buried. Standing 122 metres tall, the cathedral bell tower is the highest point in the city.

Although initially designed for defensive purposes, it never needed to be used for that but rather served as a prison until 1917. Its most famous prisoners included such individuals as Trotski, Dostoevsky and Bakunin.

Also nearby is the Saint Petersburg Zoo and the Political History Museum.

A good choice for something to eat would be the popular Salkhino restaurant where they serve Georgian cuisine. In the evening, you might want to try out the legendary Tunnel Club, the first techno club to open in Russia.

Vernisazh Souvenir Market

Less of a market and more a collection of souvenir stalls, this is to be found behind the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ or the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and is one of the most popular tourist sites and an attraction in itself. Here you will find many traditional Russian gifts and souvenirs.

The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander III was killed. The interior and exterior mosaic decorations are fantastic, as are its stained glass windows. The temple was built in the Russian architectural style of the 16th-17th Centuries (pure Russian orthodox) and bears a striking resemblance to Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square.

Its five large bulbous domes decorated in numerous colours and gold, as well as the meticulous detail work that covers the exterior, are yet more features that make this an outstanding piece of architecture.

Imagen de iwillbehomesoon

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One legend has it that the Breton saint St. Ferreol founded the city after landing there in a boat escorted by a choir of seven mermaids, but scholars still cannot agree on the origin of the name the city has been called since Medieval times.

History

The first people to settle in the area were Celts. And there is evidence of Phoenician and ancient Greek settlements, too. When the Romans conquered Hispania in the first century BC, a fishing village stood on the site of today’s city. Soon the locals began exporting preserved fish to the rest of the Roman Empire. The name “Ferrol” first appeared in church records in the year 1087, referring to a donation made by villagers to the nearby monastery of San Martín de Jubia.

From La Coruña

Ferrol has easy access to La Coruña, only 40 minutes’ distant --via a very scenic stretch of the AP-9 motorway, crossing the Eume river and others-- and to other towns in northern Galicia such as Villalba, Naró, and Ortigueira. You’ll see hills and extensive green meadowland crisscrossed by streamlets, along with panoramic views of the sea. You may wish to stop along the way at the Parque Natural Fragas do Eume, where you can admire Europe’s best-conserved Atlantic coastal woodlands, some 9,000 hectares of virgin forest. The triangular park, lying between the towns of As Pontes, Pontedeume and Monfero, will show you that “enchanted forest” isn’t just a figure of speech –you will expect to see elves and wood sprites frolicking amongst the ferns and lichens, and the springs and waterfalls, all under the leafy canopy of ash, alder, oak, and poplar trees, which the sun’s rays have difficulty penetrating in some spots. You might also visit the equally enchanting  Caaveiro monastery, dating from the year 934, and which overlooks the forest.

A Stroll through the Magdalena District

Ferrol’s urban essence is concentrated in the old quarter, the Barrio de la Magdalena, a commercial and entertainment district featuring such Belle Époque jewels as the 1892 Jofre Theatre, the Magdalena Market, the 1923 fish market building called “La Pescadería”, the Casino Ferrolano (also erected in 1923), the Hotel Suizo (1916), and the Banco Hispano-Antigua Fonda Suiza (1909-1910). The rationalist, geometrically laid out district resembles Barcelona’s Ensanche, and at its extremes lie two broad squares, the Plaza de Amboage or, more properly, del Marqués de Amboage, and the Plaza de Armas). There are numerous 18^th C. and 19^th C. homes with fancy wrought-iron balcony railings on stone corbels and white, wood-framed glass-enclosed balconies, as well and modernist buildings from the early 20^th C. The whole neighbourhood was designated as a protected cultural treasure in 1983. The main shopping streets are Real, Magdalena, Igrexa, Dolores, Galiano, and María. For tapas, drinks, and sit-down meals the calle del Sol is the place to go.

A Fortified City

Well worth visiting are the fortifications, whose construction began in the reign of Phillip II (b. 1527 d. 1598) that protected the city against attacks from the sea, including the  San Felipe Castle, and the Arsenal, a unique building now housing the Naval Museum.  It connects to the Magdalena neighbourhood via the ornate, neo-classical 1765 gateway known as the Porta do Dique.

The Spanish Armada

Ferrol has an important naval base and large military and civilian shipyards. Since the 15^th it has been a key military installation, particularly during the heyday of the Spanish Empire, the first on which “the sun never set” –the Spanish Armada has both the discovery of America and the first circumnavigation of the world to its credit. Sea dogs, history buffs, and landscape lovers alike will find much to rave about in Ferrol. Perhaps you should book a flight to La Coruña with Vueling a take a closer look? Check out or flights here.

Report by Isabel y Luis Comunicación

Pictures by Juan Balsa, Diputación de A Coruña y Concello de Ferrol

By Marlys Schuermann Easy Hiker

Nantes is one of the many charming and interesting small French towns you have to discover. You can easily spend a leisurely week-end there and keep yourself busy sight-seeing the town, either on foot or renting a Bicloo (the equivalent of a Velib in Paris.)

What to See and Where to Go

1. The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany and Nantes, which is now a museum. If the weather is fine, you can even settle yourselves on the grassy moat surrounding the castle, either to picnic, play or just to soak in the sun.

2. Make sure you go inside the castle and perhaps look into that well and make a wish.

3. The gothic Cathedral, famous for being the most beautifully restored cathedral in France.

4. Enjoy a stroll at the Place Royale, where right and left, you will find open-air cafes for your coffee break.

5. Bike to or take the tramway line no. 1, to the Gare Maritime to catch a Navibus (river boat) to bring you to the old fishing village of Trentemoult.

6. There are no more working fishermen in Trentemoult but it is worth the while to see the quaint houses and ruelles still surviving.

7. The Ile de Nantes, where “Le Jardin des Machines” is located, is one destination you cannot and would not want to miss, mainly to see and perhaps take a ride on its most popular attraction, the Giant Mechanical Elephant.

To savour the spectacle, I would recommend for you to stay on the ground and just watch the mechanical pachyderm trumpet out steam and slowly stroll around the park.

8. After all that excitement with this circus, you can go back to the mainland and visit the Passage Pomeraye, a 3-level 19th century shopping arcade.

9. See the objects the chocolatiers of Maison Larnicol created out of chocolate – a lady’s stiletto, a handbag, two giant lipsticks and a replica Jaguar.

10. Right near Nantes central train station is the famous Tour de LU. It was in Nantes that the biscuit factory of LU had its main site but has since been turned into a theatre/museum.

On your visit to the old fishing village Trentemoult, you must have seen their sign, too.

11. And where to eat when in Nantes? At the Brasserie La Cigale, of course (4, Place Graslin.) This restaurant has served good food for almost 115 years. Be part of their history. Best to reserve if going for dinner or go after 14h00 to be sure of getting a table. They’re open all day (07h30-00h30)

To help you go and see more of Nantes, check out their Tourism Bureau’s advice HERE.

Image: Dyhorus

By Marlys SchuermannEasy Hiker

Somewhere well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

A village where you can only access through a natural cave, the world's smallest beach, movie sets and ghost towns. Asturias hides extraordinary natural curiosities sheltered among an ecosystem of breathtaking beauty.

Cuevas del Agua and spectacular entry access

Near Ribadesella we find a curious village. Certainly, Cuevas del Agua ( Water Caves) is only accessible through a natural cave (The Cuevona) about 300 meters deep. The route, that can be done on foot or by car, is truly impressive, with its illuminated walls that show a work of natural art. Lichens, mosses, fungi and ferns are growing inside. And some bats, frogs and blind salamander are its occasional inhabitants.

The Beach Gulpiyuri

Near Naves we find another of those extraordinary curiosities. Gulpiyuri Beach is a gem of nature, declared National Monument. Gulpiyuri is said to be one of the smaller beaches in the world. It is a tiny beach with sea water but nestled inside the land, about 100 meters from the coast and between cliffs. It barely covers your waist when the tide is high and it almost disappears at low tide.

The Orphanage´s locations

Few miles from Naves, there is Llanes. There we find the main locations of the film The Orphanage, Juan Antonio Bayona. Here is the Palace of Partarríu, an abandoned Indian style mansion, whose exterior was used to recreate the mysterious house of its protagonists. But not its interior, which was shot on set.

Very near from this, there is Andrin Beach, which was also used as natural scenery in some scenes of the film.

Os Teixois. A ghost town

Near from Taramundi, we find the little village Os Teixois. An almost isolated village which was deserted some time ago, and that now has become an ethnographic tourism centre. At Os Teixois we discover all sorts of gadgets moved by the force of water, a lovely riverside bar to drink Asturian cider and a peaceful rural environment.

All this in a peaceful and beautiful natural landscape of Asturias to get lost and discover its history.

Playa de Gulpiyuri by Ramon Diaz | La Cuevona by Ramón  | Os Teixois by Lourdes

Why not take a trip to Asturias? Have a look at our flights here!