There must be something in the icy, snowbound winters with their short days, or the endless daylight and mild temperatures of summer that sparks so much creativity in the Scandinavian countries. Or, might the source of inspiration be the vast, leafy forests and myriad lakes? Whatever lies behind the secret, the fact is that the visitor to Stockholm never fails to be stunned by the sheer reach and quality of design there. It is present in the architecture, the apparel, the decoration in shops, bars and restaurants, hotel interiors and the privacy of people’s homes. It is all-enveloping and exerts a fascination on the traveller. Their flair for creating soothing environments based on simple, yet warm lines never ceases to be a source of wonder. In a nutshell, it can be defined in just three words – modern, simple and functional.

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair

Needless to say, Stockholm hosts one of the leading design fairs in Europe, the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, where the latest trends in Scandinavian design are rolled out. This year it will be held from 9 to 13 February and will feature all kinds of relevant activities. As with previous years, the lounge in the main entrance will be designed by an international designer or studio. On this occasion, the Britons Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby will do the honours, as well as chairing a mass seminar for all atendees at the Stockholm Design Talks. Among the novelties at this year’s edition is Established, a section dedicated to promoting designers and studios with small-scale production, also known as makers.Young designers and design schools have also been addressed at this fair, as they have their own section, Greenhouse, a display window produced by the studio, Form Us With Love.

Stockholm Design Week

Stockholm Design Week will be held from 8 to 14 February, overlapping the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. It will involve all kinds of design-related activities, including lectures, presentations, events and inaugurations, to be hosted in a wide variety of showrooms and other venues in the city. Check out the full programme here.

Still More Design!

If you’ve still got the energy after so much activity, or you aren’t able to attend the fair, you can always steep yourself in design by touring some of the city’s leading districts and even pick up the odd souvenir. Following are some pointers:

Östermalm is Stockholm’s most exclusive district, where you are best positioned to find the major upmarket brands. There, everything is distributed by areas. If you’re looking for the best fashion labels, you would head for Biblioteksgatan and Bibliotekstan. If, on the contrary, you’re hunting for the big international brands, and stores specialising in design, fashion and jewellery, the best places are Birger Jarlsgatan and the area around Stureplan. If antiquities are your thing, then pay a visit to  Arsenalsgatan and Nybrogatan, where you will also come across some of Stockholm’s major auction houses. Lastly, the area ringed by Sibyllegatan, Östermalmstorg, Karlavägen, Stureplan and Strandvägen boasts some of the best interior design stores in the city.

Then there is Södermalm, on the South Island. It is more of a small hipster town than a district. It goes without saying that vintage fashion and design are the all rage here, as are long beards (albeit well trimmed) and organic cuisine. Everything is centred around Götgatan, Skånegatan and the area known as SoFo, the abbreviated form of “south of Folkungagatan”. Finally, there are a number of craft shops near Slussen and in Hornsgatan.

To wind up, in contrast to the aforementioned areas, you should make a point of visiting Gamla Stan to find out what the city was like before the design craze set in. Gamla Stan, the old city, is one of Europe’s largest and best preserved medieval cities and one of Stockholm’s major landmarks. This is where the city was founded in 1252. Indeed, the whole district is from a wholly different era. You will, of course, come across tourists but, unless you get caught up with the flow, and if you pay attention, you will have the odd pleasant surprise in the form of a traditional Swedish craft shop.

Ready to soak up good design in Stockholm? Choose your flight here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair

Recently landed in Budapest, the Pearl of the Danube, we enter one of the most romantic cities of Eastern Europe with countless opportunities to enjoy our stay. If you’re asking yourself where to start, we have 7 essential sights to see during your visit:

1.- Admire the most emblematic monuments

The worlds third largest Parliament, a symbolic landmark of Budapest rises imposingly on Kossuth Sqaure, boasting a neo-Gothic style. The latter, together with the Buda Castle, an old residence of the kings of Hungary and Budapest’s oldest Chain Bridge define the personality of this city, which was indeed a major power during the Austro Hungarian Empire.

2.- Discover the Art Noveau

 Budapest is known for its numerous examples of art noveau architecture, a slightly peculiar style that intertwines elements of nature, asymmetrical shapes and sinuous curves, which decorate the facades of the buildings in the streets. The architectural merit of such exaltation is largely attributable to Ödön Lechner, also known as the “Hungarian Gaudí”, whose most famous work corresponds to the Royal Postal Savings Bank, which is full of floral patterns, colourful mosaics and some components of popular culture. Villa Balázs Sipeky and the Institute of Geology are other notable samples of the work of this brilliant architect. Our favourite example of art noveau is Walkó House, because of its facade, decorated with eight different varieties of animals.

3.- Relax your body in the Széchenyi Baths

Budapest has numerous thermal spas and baths for whenever you want to take a day of rest and revitalization after a long walk around the city. Széchenyi is the most majestic and largest spa in Europe, with fifteen indoor pools, ten saunas and steam rooms and three large outdoor swimming pools. It is common to see locals enjoying the spas, as they are a nice meeting point to chat.

4.- Go for a drink to the Bars of the ruins

If you want to immerse yourself in the most modern and happening Hungarian underground scene, you cannot escape from Budapest without going to one of these bars, which are located in old buildings, with a slightly worn out and decadent look but decorated in such a way that the vintage kitch look makes them very special. The best atmosphere in the city is definitely found in these bars, which are decorated with all kinds of Antique furniture, extravagant paintings and curious objects. We recommend the legendary Szimpla Kert Kazincy Street; the Instant bar, decorated like the wild west movies or the chaotic Púder, where there are also theatre performances and dj sets at night. 

5.- Visit the Muvesz Mozi Cinema

Budapest is known for its rich film culture, so it is definitely worth stopping by to visit one of their alternative cinemas. Intellectuals and big screen lovers residing in the capital visit Muvesz Mozi, where they show a large variety of movies- from old films that where made five years ago to recent independent films made by new and upcoming directors. In addition, this special cinema has a very cool café, decorated with different atmospheres to fit the different spaces, making you feel like a traveller through time and space.

6.- Visit the Sziklakorhaz museum, a hospital and secret bunker

This spectacular museum housed in what was once a hospital adjacent to a nuclear bunker in Budapest during World War II shows, in an extremely real and almost scary way, what was once experienced within these underground walls. The various facilities and rooms for the wounded, wax mannequins, medical devices and even the possibility to activate the emergency alarm at the end of the tunnel give you an idea of what happened, even if it mean getting goose bumps!

7.- Try the cuisine

The Central Market is one of the greatest culinary references in the city, where you can taste the typical traditional goulash or buy fresh groceries to cook at home. Kosher sweets are also a Hungarian specialty, we recommend the ones at Cukrászda Fröhlich. Last but not least, you must try the bread and butter with paprika and onion, which is served at any bar or restaurant. If you like spicy food, Budapest is the perfect place for your palate.

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

Picture by teofilo

Apart from this conjunction in location and time, can an event like Sónar 2017, with the most advanced music proposals, be related to a figure who was able to capture and assimilate the essence of upcoming trends for nearly half a century like David Bowie. We believe that it can indeed. At My Vueling City we lay several bridges between the two and single out items in this year’s Sónar programme which embody the ever-restless spirit of “The Thin White Duke”.

Rebel Rebel
Bowie’s demeanour was always tinged with a heady potion of defiance against established values. He never settled in to any set aesthetic, as evinced in his constant regeneration – at every new release, he rebelled against the previous one, which accounts for his endless change of image.

The exhibition, David Bowie Is, opens at the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona on 25 May 2017. Produced by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, it has already attracted over one and a half million visitors in the eight cities where it has been hosted so far, including London, Berlin, Paris and Chicago, making it the most visited exhibition in the 164 years since the inception of the V&A.

On display at the exhibition are over 300 objects, including photographs, record covers, handwritten letters, original costumes, stage designs and hitherto unseen material from Bowie’s concerts over the last five decades, on loan from the David Bowie Archive. David Bowie Is takes an in-depth look at the way David Bowie’s music and radical individualism have inspired others by defying conventions and seeking freedom of expression.

The Impact of Sound, and Sight Too
This year Barcelona is hosting two events related to music, and also to advanced thinking and the creative avant-garde. On the one hand, the largest exhibition ever dedicated to Bowie and, on the other, the world’s largest electronic music festival. We all know Bowie’s prowess in the musical sphere, in terms of his great ability to assimilate styles and his insatiable effervescence, which kept him constantly in touch with the latest trends until the end of his life. Indeed, the standard bearer of glam rock also flirted with more advanced genres, notably ambient music and drum and bass. Here then are some of the proposals in this year’s Sónar programme which we feel are imbued with Bowie’s spirit through and through.

Arca
Arca undoubtedly condenses the cryptic essence of Bowie’s final studio album.Blackstar and Arca speak the same language – both are solemn; both seem to know the afterlife. Of all the world’s festivals, Sónar was singled out by Arca, the unclassifiable musician and producer, for a live presentation of his newly released work which redefines him as an even more complex and evolved figure. This show will also feature the presence of and visuals by Jesse Kanda.

Moderat
Bowie moved to Berlin in the second half of the 1970s and there he became steeped in the high-calibre art and music scene. Those were the years of his collaboration with Brian Eno, during which he released the trilogy of Low, Heroes and Lodger. Moderat clearly dovetails to perfection into this pure Berlinese tradition – pop and electronic music with tunes in black and white. Moderat started out as a collaborative project between Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary (Modeselektor) on the one hand, and Sacha Ring (Apparat) on the other. The idea was to work together whenever their respective projects left them enough spare time.

Nicolas Jaar
Bowie incorporated the new dance and experimental music trends in the 1990s, as evinced in such albums as Earthling and Outside, with a nod to drum and bass, electronic metal and even avant-garde jazz. Nicolas Jaar is a musician who merges seamlessly into that philosophy of musical defiance which cannot be stuffed into any specific stylistic straitjacket and also imparts a political or poetic message to his creations.

Phosphereby Daito Manabe
Music was Bowie’s great passion throughout his long career. He collaborated with the great stars of pop and rock, notably Queen, Lou Reed and Mick Jagger, and those of contemporary music such as Philip Glass, but that was not the only discipline he excelled at. He also collaborated with such top-notch artists as Tony Oursler. So, it can’t be ruled out that Bowie might have authored the background music to Phonosphere, by Daito Manabe, one of the most acclaimed digital artists in the world. This installation is an important step forward in new kinds of immersive creation and will be one of the highlights of Sónar+D 2017. This monumental structure is a robotic hybrid architecture in which synchronized mirrors, smoke machines, beams of light and up to 24 video projectors combine to create an unprecedented spatial experience, drawing from the world of new contemporary dance music, as well as the vocabulary of projection mapping.

Boris Chimp 504
Space Oddity was Bowie’s first big hit. The single was released at a time when humanity was in the grips of space exploration in the guise of journeys beyond the stratosphere. With his Multiverse, Boris Chimp 504 takes us back to that period. This audiovisual, real-time performance emphasises the relationship between audio synthesis and graphical language, with the story of the first ape to be sent to the moon in 1969 as the point of departure.

Book your Vueling to Barcelona and score a luxury double in its most highly evolved aspect – Sónar – while looking back to the figure of The Thin White Duke at the exhibition, David Bowie Is.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Belgium is a comparatively small land which has nevertheless made an inestimable contribution to the world of gastronomy – chips, waffles, chocolate and, very especially, beer. Here, over 450 varieties are made, whether by trusted traditional methods or using new technologies, yielding flavours that range from the classical to the most exotic. While the barley brew is a religion in Belgium, for beer enthusiasts Brussels is the hideout of some of the best taverns – and veritable places of pilgrimage – on the old continent.

A La Mort Subite
(Rue Montagne-aux-Herbes Potagères, 7)

Opened in 1910, A La Mort Subite is one of those spots oblivious to the passage of time. It boasts an exquisite beer selection, but I can recommend the one named after the establishment, Mort Subite, with its raspberry aroma. Its appearance and elegance on the palate have earned it the sobriquet of “the beer world’s pink champagne”.

Delirium Café
(Impasse de la Fidélité, 4)

This is Brussels’ beer cellar par excellence, a must-visit place of pilgrimage for any beer toper worth his or her salt. It started off as a tiny cellar on the Impasse de la Fidélité, but today it has taken over most of the street. Here you will find the whole range, from typical Belgium abbey beers to exotic beverages from the outer reaches of the planet. They need loads of storage space to house the more than five thousand types of beer on offer.

Le Cirio
(Rue de la Bourse, 18-20)

In the very heart of the Belgian capital, Le Cirio is located in the side street of the Bourse. Although not on account of its siting, the café is packed with guided tour parties. Le Cirio is a veritable institution in Brussels’ tavern guild. Rather than a venue for downing a pint, this spot, which still has its original centenary decor intact, is the ideal place for trying local cuisine, washed down – naturally – with a good indigenous beer.

Le Poechenellekelder
(Rue du Chêne, 5)

Hanging from its flea-market-like ceiling you will find anything from puppets to lavatory seats. Le Poechenellekelder is undoubtedly one of the bars with the most character in Brussels. This small venue, ideally located next door to the famous Manneken Pis, has a sizeable variety of mainly Trappist beers, crafted for the most part by monks.

Le Roy d’Espagne
(Grand Place, 1)

A seat on the terrace in the Grand Place is a privileged vantage point for viewing the bustle of the city. If, in addition, you are savouring steamed mussels, a helping of chips and, for instance, a 9° proof Chimay Bleue grand reserve, the experience is complete. The proposal might conjure up images of a rubberneck in flip-flops and socks, but there are certain pleasures one cannot – or should not – pass up, as clichéd or hackneyed as they may be.

Moeder Lambic
(Place Fontainas, 8)

Pils, Trappists, triples, doubles, wittes, IPAs, pale ales, stouts… you will find them all in the Moeder Lambic, a stunning place with its 40 taps arrayed behind an endless bar counter. While you’re there, make sure to try the beer they make themselves in a brewery just two blocks away. Fermented in the open air, the fruity taste of their Moeder Lambic Original is highly seductive.

Nuëtnigenough
(Rue du Lombard, 25)

A small brasserie always packed with locals, an unmistakeable sign of success. They offer excellent cuisine at more than reasonable prices and an array of beers that will meet the expectations of even the most seasoned beer connoisseurs. This is one of the hidden gems all cities seem to have, but guard the secret jealously!

Toone
(Rue du Marché aux Herbes, 66)

Our route ends with what is likely the quaintest bar in Brussels. The Toone, concealed between the buildings separating the Impasse de Sainte Pétronille from the Marché aux Herbes, is a brasserie which doubles as a puppet theatre. Between performances, customers drink amid puppets and a number of other fabled creatures.

Beer Weekend

The Belgian Beer Weekend is held the first weekend in September each year in Brussels’ Grand Place, where a host of brasseries sell their wares and regale visitors with activities relating to countless methods of brewing and different beer flavours.

Belgian Brewers Museum

The Maison des Brasseurs, a majestic stone building located in the Grand Place, is home to the Belgian Brewers Museum. It opens every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission costs 5 euros.

Brussels Beer Tours

Being highly specialised in beer, Brussels is understandably criss-crossed by an endless list of thematic tours of the city, notably Beertrips, Belgian Beer Me, Global Beer, Podge Beer and Bier Mania.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

images by Bill Smith, ^CiViLoN^,Daniel Lobo, GD Preston, lhongchou's photography, Kmeron, Bernt Rostad, Foam, Ana Gasston