On 8 December 1991, Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk and Stanislav Shushkevich signed the so-called Belavezha Accords. Established in 1922 after the February Revolution, the treaty was endorsed by the presidents of the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Belarusian SSR, thereby marking the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Twenty-five years after the demise of the Communist utopia, the capital of the now extinguished “Red Empire”, of Bunker 42 in the Garden of Fallen Monuments, still hides corners evocative of its former proletarian grandeur.

Bunker 42

Bunker 42 still lies in the heart of Moscow, alongside the Taganskaya metro station, in building 11 at 5 Kotelnicheski Street, 65 metres underground. Once guarded and maintained by a contingent of over 600 soldiers and officials, Bunker 42 was an ultra-high-security shelter for top-level party members in the event of a nuclear war. It now forms part of the State Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Visitors can tour the endless secret tunnels and see for themselves what was then a sophisticated network of communications, and even venture into Stalin’s study.

The White House of Russia

A privileged witness to the end of the Soviet Union, the White House of Russia was the Communists’ answer to their American counterpart. Designed by Dmitry Chechulin and Pavel Shteller, building work got under way in 1965, but the edifice was not completed until 1981. It then became the seat of the legislative power of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, effectively the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation, until 1991. With his back to its entrance, Boris Yeltsin faced down the Soviet tanks that had rebelled against the then president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, an act which marked the beginning of the end of the Communist regime.

All-Russia Exhibition Centre

Presided over by a Vostok R-7 8K72 rocket, what is now a convention centre and amusement park was one of Moscow’s main tourist draws during the Communist era. Built in 1939 as an Agricultural Exhibition, it was gradually transformed into a huge park intended to exalt and glorify the economic, scientific and technological achievements of the various republics making up the Soviet Union.

Stolovaya 57

There are a number of restaurants that relive Soviet cuisine 25 years on. Two classics from that period have survived in the iconic GUM galleries – Festivalnioye Café and Stolovaya 57. Then there are hangouts like Detir Ayka (25 Nikitski Boulevard), featuring a Communist menu with such delicacies as stewed fruit, soups and semolina porridge, washed down with shots of vodka or GlavPivTorg. The locale is housed in the former Transport Ministry building which, apart from providing Communist-style cuisine, features a vast library with the complete works of such illustrious figures as Marx, Engels and Lenin.

The Seven Sisters

These high-rises plot one of the most characteristic flourishes on the Moscow skyline –

Moscow State University, Hotel Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kudrinskaya Square Building, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel, and the Red Gates Administrative Building. The seven buildings in Russian Baroque and Gothic style would have been eight, had the construction of the originally planned Palace of the Soviets come to fruition. The Seven Sisters were built in the 1940s and 1950s to commemorate the 8th centenary of the founding of Moscow.

Lenin’s Mausoleum

The embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin is kept in Red Square, the site of formidable, solemn Red Army parades. Built on the orders of the Soviet State in 1924 following the death of the father of the Revolution, his tomb was designed by the architect Alexey Shchusev, who was inspired by the Pyramid of Zoser and that of Cyrus the Great in Pasargad. Despite Boris Yeltsin’s attempt at having it closed down, Lenin’s Mausoleum is still open to the public free-of-charge on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Moscow Metro

It provides the best way of moving about the Russian capital on account of its exceptionally low price and high frequency of trains – one every 40 seconds at peak hours. Over and above its efficiency, the Moscow underground is an authentic, highly impressive work of art. Inaugurated in 1935, the first line linked the Sokolniki and Kievskaya stations. For its grandeur and its enduring aesthetic sublimation, it is a veritable palace of the proletariat.

FSB Museum

Officially dubbed the FSB Museum (FSB stands for Federal Security Service), it has nevertheless been known locally as the KGB Museum ever since it opened in 1989. Located in the former seat of the Committee for State Security (KGB) in Lubyanka Square, the exhibition features gadgets associated with espionage that seem to have leaped out of the television series,The Americans,including explosive devices, cameras concealed in beer cans, etc. The FSB Museum transports visitors back to the days of the Cold War and the atmosphere of double agents infiltrated in enemy territory.

Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines

Soviet youths also spent their time playing with gaming machines, although they were of course all Soviet-made and extremely expensive, costing from 2,500 to 4,000 rubles. Espoused by three nostalgics for Communist arcade machines, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines brings together such gems from that era as mini-skittles, machines for killing aliens (with a capitalist ideology, I would imagine) and the popular shaibu-shaibu ice-hockey game. A whole journey back in time, before which you need to first change thirty rubles into three of the old Soviet kopeks. The collection keeps growing.

Sculpture Park in Krymsky Val

Colossal statues of the Communist leaders were one of the most characteristic sights in squares and parks in Soviet cities. These massive effigies gradually disappeared from the urban environment with the fall of the USSR in 1991. The endless collection of sculptures eventually found safe haven in the statue park of the Krymsky Val Museum. The catalogue runs into over 700 statues sculpted in stone or bronze, prominent being that of Felix Dzerzhinsky, a monument in honour of the revolutionary of the same name who was the first director of the Cheka. Needless to say, there are several imperial effigies of Lenin and Stalin, oblivious to the passage of time.

Come and discover the surviving vestiges of Communist Moscow – book your Vueling here.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Kirill Vinokurov, Dennis Jarvis, David Orban, Rob, Jason Eppink, Helena Volkova

Jazz was of course born in the United States. However, if you care to read the finer print, you will discover that something happened in the 1930s in Europe which was to revolutionise American jazz. In the gypsy camps on the outskirts of Paris – now the city’s 18th arrondissement – the young Django Reinhardt improvised a fusion of swing and traditional Eastern European music on his banjo. He taught himself, paying special attention to finger position, and inadvertently invented jazz manouche or gypsy jazz, a genre which elicits virtuosity in the playing and is pleasant on the ear.

Django lost two fingers on his left hand when his caravan caught fire, prompting him to develop an unusual way of playing the guitar. His original style, agility and speed at producing notes earned him the epithet of “father of gypsy jazz”. Together with the violinist, Stéphane Grappelli, he created the legendary Quintette du Hot Club de France, the first gypsy jazz club.

The Festival Django Reinhardt was first inaugurated a few years after his death. It was held at Samois-sur-Seine, 50 kilometres south of Paris, where he spent his final years and where he is buried. The 38th edition of the festival will be held from 6 to 9 July 2017 and, although last year it had to be moved to the Fontainebleau Chateau gardens – 50 kilometres from Paris and well connected by public transport – the original essence of the festival has survived intact. The venue is a place of pilgrimage for Django devotees and the world’s hub of gypsy jazz. This year’s lineup will see the likes of bassist Avishai Cohen, Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, the guitar virtuoso trio of Jean-Luc Ponty, Biréli Lagrène and Kyle Eastwood, Woody Allen’s pet gypsy jazz favourite, Stephane Wrembel and the Django Memories Project, made up of the prestigious musicians who produced the soundtrack of the recently premiered film, Django. But, at this festival the music overspills the stage – artists and devotees from across the globe hold jam sessions all over the fair grounds, beating out gypsy rhythms and reliving Django Reinhardt’s musicality.

If after that “authentic gypsy encampment” you are game for more, we have made the following selection from among the many gypsy jazz clubs Paris has to offer.

La Chope des Puces

This is unquestionably the temple of Django Reinhardt in Paris. The resident guitarist, Ninine Garcia, who hails from one of the top Parisian manouche families, leads the jam session every weekend from 12.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Located in the Marché aux Puces, guests share a table – to taste traditional French cuisine – in a very squashed vital space, among guitars, violins and photos hanging on the walls recalling the master. Tucked away in the back room is a guitar workshop and a manouche jazz school. A venue that oozes genuine charm! 122 rue des Rosiers, Saint-Ouen

MONK – La Taverne de Cluny

Located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, MONK is a bar devoted to the world of beer. It boasts over 50 types of bottled beer, and 10 types of draught. But La Taverne de Cluny is also a jazz club. Every Thursday and Sunday, the small stage in this typically French bar, with upholstered little tables and chairs, fills up to the sound of top-notch gypsy jazz produced by such reputable artists as Christophe Brunard, Sébastien Giniaux and Samy Daussat, among others. A must-visit spot!  51, rue de la Harpe

Café Artistique l’Apostrophe

This small, cosy musical café located just a few metres from the Canal Saint-Martinin the 10th arrondissement provides live music from Wednesday to Saturday. Over the last four years, the programme has been featuring gypsy jazz concerts from 8.30 p.m. on Fridays. L’Apostrophe has been graced by all the leading lights of the Parisian manouche scene, as well as gypsy jazz guitarists from the United States, Britain and Brazil, among others. Albert Bello, Spain’s top gypsy jazz exponent and the director of Festival Django L’H, the only festival in Spain dedicated to Django Reinhardt, has also performed there. And, the first Thursday of each month sees a jazz jam with the vocals supplied by Barbie Camion. 23 rue de la Grange aux Belles

Aux Petits Joueurs

Aux Petits Joueurs is a restaurant in the 19th arrondissement, a bistro in the purest French style where you can taste salads with hot goat’s-milk cheese, cheese boards, duck confit, tarte tatin and crepes, to name just the ABC of French cuisine. The restaurant features a jazz concert, ranging from Latin music to gypsy jazz, each day of the week except Mondays – when it is closed. The venue has seen performances by the leading figures of this genre, notably Adrien Moignard, Sébastien Giniaux and Pierre Manetti, among many others. Tuesdays and Wednesdays feature jam sessions at which some artists invite others, and it all ends up in a full-blown manouche festival. 59 rue Mouzaïa

Les Idiots

A highly popular micro-bar, among other reasons for their reasonable prices – quite a feat in Paris – and their homemade meals. Located on the Boulevard de Ménilmontant, it is a favourite haunt amongbobos(from “bourgeois, bohemian”). A young, relaxed atmosphere frequented by veritable hordes of guests. The limited capacity does not deter them from hosting jazz sessions, led by guitarist Michael Gimenez and with the participation of various gypsy jazz artists, in a corner of the bar each Monday from 9 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. 115 boulevard de Ménilmontant

Book your Vueling to Paris and get into the swing of the gypsy jazz featured across the city.

Text by Teresa Vallbona

Any visit to Vigo comes with a premium – their cuisine. You can eat oysters in the Calle de la Pescadería, or go for wine and tapas in the Plaza de la Constitución (in the old quarter). But, there are also restaurants that produce good-quality dishes based on fine ingredients (particularly fish and seafood), capable of serving up some tasty, original dishes at affordable prices. We visited five establishments in the city and, after a highly edifying tour of La Brújula cannery in Ribadumia (just over an hour and a half from Vigo and Santiago de Compostela), we stumbled on a scrumptious eatery in nearby Oubiña.

The Othilio Bar 
The casual interior design in this restaurant (the bicycle presiding over the premises from above, the vintage racquets hanging on the wall) becomes passion and reliability in the kitchen and dining-room, ever efficient and impeccable. Hence, it is always full to bursting. And, not because customers enjoy seeing the twins, Carlos and Pablo, in action, but because their offerings are superb – their superlative marinated salmon nuggets, delicate sea bass carpaccio, Cambados scallop with griddled cardinal prawns, suckling lamb simmered for 10 hours… Top-notch products processed with modern techniques which Carlos learned while seconded to El Celler de Can Roca. And, serving up all this at affordable prices is a merit in itself. If they canvassed for a Michelin star, they would get one for sure. They have talent, know-how and motivation and, they are brothers – like the Rocas and Torres! But, then again, perhaps things should stay as is, so our budget will allow us to savour their fare more often.

María Manuela
Whoever likes feeling at home, while being able to relish things they would never be able to taste in their house, should definitely head for María Manuela. This tiny, elegant, warm wine bar serves up tapas that have earned the accolade, “Best Tapa in Vigo”, two years running and offers tastings of fine, interesting wines while pampering customers without smothering them. Must-trys include the cream of prawn and roast piquillo peppers with citrus reduction, Malagan anchovies, tuna tartare with avocado and apple, and chicken sachet with cheese custard (a round pie). Imagination, passion and good produce, often Galician but also sourced from other areas, in generous helpings. Plaza de Compostela, 31.

Detapaencepa
If you visit Vigo as a tourist, you’re not likely to go past this restaurant, as it is located in an area of office buildings a quarter of an hour from the old town. Yet it is well worth sitting down to a meal at Detapaencepa, either on the ground floor on high stools, or on the quieter first floor with low tables. It’s not hard to find something you like here, as they have acres of menu on which tapas are king. Dishes that come highly recommended include octopus with cachelo (potato) foam – lighter than the traditional a feira variety, as the potato has been creamed – smoked sardine and ratatouille pastry, a foie gras and apple mini-sandwich and steamed clams with olive oil. Take note, they have 300 types of wine, of which about ten can be ordered by the glass.

Las Barricas
One of the most popular restaurants in one of the most crowded leisure areas in Vigo – the Bao beaches. It’s common to encounter people queueing up to get their hands on their patties which, apart from being huge, are among the best in town. The patty fillings include octopus, cured pork sausage, beef, ham and field mushrooms, tuna fish, calamari and pork fillet. But, Las Barricas and their loyal customers are not in it just for the patties. They also offer a variety of other dishes, like an open sandwich of codfish and tomato preserve, octopus and tetilla cheese, and mini-burgers with Brie and caramelised onion, accompanied with ketchup and honey mustard sauce. Take note of the wine list, with numerous Galician varieties, notably a couple of Albariños made by the restaurant owner, Pablo Rey. The name, Las Barricas (The Casks), is well-earned. Should anyone be unimpressed by it, let them look down at the flooring, made of wooden wine crates.

O Rei Pescador
Eager to have some good fish or seafood, or Galician recipes based on Galician produce? Then head for O Rei Pescador, in the picturesque Plaza de Compostela, near the harbour and old quarter. There you can delight in their superlative Galician monkfish, which will melt in your mouth, as well as baked fish (turbot, sea bass, red pomfret…). You are bound to order a second helping of cuttlefish croquettes, as plump and crisp without as they are dense within, and praise the extremely tender and tasty Galician-style octopus known as pulpo a feira,in addition to the souba (tiny sardines), codfish and zamburiña (Galician scallops in a tomato fish sauce). You are also likely to enquire whether you can take home some of their scrumptious patties – bear in mind, though, that they contain a little cured pork sausage.

Fábrica La Brújula (Ribadumia)
If you head out of Vigo or Santiago de Compostela in search of a gourmet experience, why not do a spot of “canning tourism”? Drive to Ribadumia, a good half-an-hour from either city, and drop in on the flashy, Modernist La Brújula Canning Factory, which opened in early 2016. On your free tour of the cannery you will appreciate the work and pampering that goes into each can, learn jargon words like líquido de gobierno (a liquid which boosts storage life) and esmocado (the act of cutting and cleaning each piece) and you will be told that the longer the clams are canned, the tastier they become, even though this defies logic. The best way of testing this is by tasting them, so you should call to book a date and time and order a tasting session, which in this case is a pay service. With that flavour on your palate, you can then wander through the old quarter of neighbouring Cambados and/or visit one of the wineries in the area, which come under the Rías Baixas DO.

Casal do Umia (Oubiña)
Schedule an escape to the Solnés district – half-an-hour’s drive from either Vigo or Santiago de Compostela – to treat yourself to an octopus dish which is considered almost legendary. The venue is even frequented by the president of Galicia’s regional government or Xunta, so don’t underestimate this simple restaurant, set in a rural homestead in Ribadumia, the enclave where Mariano Rajoy spends his summers and goes for brisk walks. The homemade cuisine is cooked by Lourdes, who once worked as a pescantina (selling fish in the market), and served up by good old Emilio, a former fisherman. We had to wheedle the octopus recipe out of him – it includes potato, which turns dark from sharing the pot with the octopod, so it’s best to focus on its flavour and tenderness and serve it with a muxicu, a sort of special pulpo a feira, with hollow, jacket-fried potatoes stuffed with a refined sauce of allioli, octopus and La Vera red pepper. If you’ve got room for another dish, go for their patties filled with longfin tuna from La Brújula. To accompany the feast, order the wine they make themselves with grapes from their vineyards. For dessert, a cream caramel, without question. What consistency and flavour!

Text by Ferran Imedio of Gastronomistas.com

We were blown away by the island of Tenerife, which has countless charming spots. Among other things, it boasts a stunning volcano, magical laurel forests, buildings revealing impossible architectural feats and the dizzy heights of cliffs plummeting into the sea. These are the essential spots in Tenerife, the things you simply cannot pass up and which make up the very essence of the island. Here, then, is a selection of Tenerife’s top ten. Do you know any of them?

1. Teide National Park

This is undoubtedly the island’s most iconic landmark. The Teide National Park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007 in the category of Natural Properties. It was also awarded the European Diploma by the Council of Europe and is part of the Natura 2000 Network. Indeed, there is no dearth of reasons for earning such accolades. First, Tenerife boasts the most comprehensive supra-Mediterranean vegetation on earth. It also features one of the most stunning volcanic landscapes in the world and, of course, the most prominent one in the Canary Islands. Further information here.

2. Historic Quarters

Tenerife boasts a large number of historic sites. First, there is La Laguna Historic Quarter (a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999), a unique example of an unwalled colonial settlement. The original, 15th-century layout – as pinpointed by the engineer, Leonardo Torriani, on his map of La Laguna – has survived virtually intact. This is a must-visit town as it served as the blueprint for colonial cities in the Americas, notably Old Havana, Lima and Cartagena de Indias, characterised by the same aesthetic in their streets and houses. Other must-visit venues include the Arona Historic Quarter, the Buenavista del Norte Historic Quarter, and the historic quarters of Garachico, Guía de Isora, Güímar, Icod de los Vinos, La Orotova, Los Realejos, Los Silos, Puerto de la Cruz and San Juan de la Rambla. Further details here.

3. Anaga Rural Park

Just a few minutes’ drive from the capital (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) lies the Anaga Rural Park, listed as a Biosphere Reserve, with its exceptionally well preserved natural assets. You would not be the first visitor to be awed by its beautiful, rugged range of sharp peaks. And, its deep valleys and gorges run down to the sea and fan out in the form of numerous beaches where you can have a refreshing swim. The area is also rich in indigenous fauna and flora.

4. Whale Spotting

The island’s south-west coast is ideal for whale spotting. There, you will see the whales drifting calmly along in the ocean. Whale encounters are an exciting experience and you will get the chance to photograph them close-up. Tenerife has several companies that organise excursions to see these cetaceans in the wild but, be warned – you should look out for pleasure boats with the “Barco Azul” (Blue Boat) ensign, as they are the only ones authorised by the Canary Island government to run these outings. You should heed this warning for safety purposes – both for your own safety and that of the whales – as these vessels are certified as complying with the standards designed to safeguard these species. The boats sail from the ports of Los Cristianos, Puerto Colón and Los Gigantes and you can choose from an array of prices and travel times to best suit your needs. Further information here.

5. Parque del Drago

Located next to the San Marcos parish church, the parque del Drago (Dragon Park) is the main attraction in Icod de Los Vinos. Its famous Drago Milenario (millennial dragon tree), although officially only 800 years old, is one of the leading natural, cultural and historic symbols of the Canary Islands. The Icod dragon tree (Dracaena draco canariensis),considered to be the oldest in the archipelago, is 16 metres high and has a circumference of 20 metres at its base. A garden of indigenous species has been created around the tree. Particularly edifying and illustrative for visitors, the garden also features smaller dragon trees, cactus spurge and sweet spurge, etc. The nearby church square also has some interesting botanical specimens.

6. Teno Rural Park

The Teno Rural Park is located at the north-western tip of Tenerife and stretches across parts of the Buenavista del Norte, Los Silos, El Tanque and Santiago del Teide municipalities. With a surface area of 8,063.3 hectares, it is one of the island’s most beautiful nature parks. Its ecological, cultural and landscape value has been preserved largely on account of its remoteness. The scenic variety is striking, ranging from stunning cliffs to valleys, low islands, laurel forests and magnificent examples of traditional architecture.

7. Huge Cliffs

This cliff, aptly named Los Gigantes (the Giants), is situated in Santiago del Teide and is part of the Teno Rural Park. At some points it towers 600 metres above the sea and the cliff-face is sheer, capable of making you giddy if you look at it from the bottom. The seabed at the foot of the cliff, some 30 metres deep, is home to a great variety of natural species, attracting enthusiasts of diving and deep-sea fishing.

8. Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria

At the end of the 14th century – that is, about a hundred years before the conquest of Tenerife – a Gothic carving of Our Lady of Candelaria turned up on the coast of the Güímar Valley. The local Guanche people worshipped the statue under the name Chaxiraxi. Designed by Enrique Marrero Regalado, the basilica was built in 1959 on the initiative of the Bishop of Tenerife, Domingo Pérez Cáceres, a native of Güímar. Regionalist in style, it has three naves, a faux Mudéjar ceiling and a 25-metre-high dome surmounting the transept.

9. Star-Gazing

The Teide National Park is ideal for observing such amazing features of the night-sky as the rings of Saturn, the Moon’s craters and distant galaxies and nebulae. Teide and Cumbres de Teide were recently awarded Starlight certificates, which endorses them as privileged international spots for star-gazing.

Set at 2,400 metres above sea level, the telescopes of the Teide Observatory are managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, which bears out the excellent state of night-sky observation on the island. Enthusiasts can book a guided tour in which the innards of those huge devices are described in detail, as are the telescope-observation methods used by scientists the world over. Further details here.

10. Gastronomy and Wine

Island cuisine is another of Tenerife’s identity traits and, of course, the tastiest one. Dishes are based on locally sourced products and make up a cuisine in which tradition blends with the avant-garde. Papas, mojos, gofio, cheese, fish, honey…

Tenerife wines are unique for their original flavour and the sacrifice involved in their making, as the vineyards are often cultivated in remote, narrow stretches of land. These conditions, together with nutrient-rich volcanic soils, endow their wines with features which have been lauded in Europe since the 16th century. There are five DOs in Tenerife – Tacoronte-Acentejo, Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Valle de la Orotava, Valle de Güímar and Abona. Each of these areas yields wines with a personality of their own, be they red, white or Malvasia. Further details here.

Itching to discover Tenerife through its greatest hits? Check out our flights here.

Text and images by Turismo de Tenerife