Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and its largest city, with a population of almost two million inhabitants, including its metropolitan area. Not bad for a northern city with long, harsh winters. However, the high population density is actually the result of brilliant economic planning. Copenhagen has managed to become the main trade hub between continental Europe and the whole of Scandinavia. Its healthy economy has led to such sectors as the leisure market expanding inordinately in the last few years. This has in turn prompted an upsurge in the number of restaurants, discos, bars and countless beer houses. We are going to recommend the ones we consider most inviting, but we will also be focusing on Carlsberg, the mother of all beers in Denmark. The label is a veritable institution for the Danes. And, we urge you to visit the Carlsberg brewery, one of the oldest in the world.

Possibly the Best Beer in the World

Before venturing into the vaporous world of Danish beer houses, let’s take a stroll through the crown jewel of that hops culture. I am referring to the Carlsberg Brewery, located in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district, just 2 km from the Central Station. Buses no. 8A and 26 have stops very near the entrance gate. There is also a free shuttle bus which leaves every hour (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) from Vesterbrogade, 6.

The Carlsberg Brewery is sited in one of Copenhagen’s most vibrant districts. On arrival, the first thing that drew our attention was the iconic Elephant Gate – Elephant is one of the label’s most popular varieties – in addition to numerous architectural monuments, including contemporary ones like the Bohr Tower. This year sees the completion of a whole new quarter adjoining the brewery and a new train station named Carlsberg has been unveiled, further facilitating travel to and from the city centre.

Housed in the factory complex is the Carlsberg Museum. It is made up of several historic buildings containing rooms replete with art objects. Some of them were originally the private showroom of Carl Jacobsen, founder of the famous brewery. However, nowadays most of the collection is housed in Glyptoteket, in downtown Copenhagen. If you dine in the restaurant, you will be escorted by 19th-century paintings by Krøyer and empresses in marble. We were awed by the mosaics on the ceiling and the marble columns.

In the summer months, admission is free on Fridays. The brewery is turned into a bar with a patio where you can enjoy a cold beer or eat a barbecued meal with a funk, jazz or groove DJ session in the background.

The Best Beer Houses in Copenhagen

Denmark’s most famous beers are Carlsberg and Tuborg, but these two pilseners are not your only options when touring the city, as its beer houses offer a seemingly endless variety. Here, then, is a list of our three favourites.

1) Mikkeller & Friends

One of the most popular beer houses in Vesterbro. They have also just opened another venue three times as large in Nørrebro, and offer up to 40 different types of barrel beer. The interior is divided into compartments which are opened as and when the premises fill up. At Mikkeller & Friends you can also buy beer to take away – they have a list of 350 types of bottled beer from all over the world.

2) WarPigs

Here you will find a large variety of beers – they have 22 fonts on the bar counter. WarPigs is actually an enormous Texan-style barbecue restaurant with two breweries on the premises. One belongs to the Danish brewer, Mikkeller, and the other to the American brewer, 3 Floyds. The two of them came together here with the aim of creating the best beer in the world. We don’t know if they achieved this, but, what we do know is that they crafted the only Danish-American beer on the planet.

3) Dia’legd

We regard this as our great discovery, hands down! Dia’legd lies in the heart of Vesterbro and is home to beer from the island of Fionia. Dia’legd focuses heavily on the Danish brewer, Refsvindinge. We heard the story from Michael Jensen, Kim Hoffmann-Madsen and Claus Jordan, the three friends who decided to specialise in this spectacular beer. “We offer the whole range of Refsvindinge beer, of which there are over 20 types, from pale ale to bock lager, pilseners, wheat beer… right down to porter,” remarked Claus Jordan, enthusiastically. If you visit Dia’legd, be sure to try the Ale no. 16, which was acclaimed the best Danish beer of 1997.

Why wait to cool down on some of the most refreshing beers in the world? Come and discover them for yourself – check out our flights here.

Text by Los viajes de ISABELYLUIS

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

Bordeaux can boast of having emerged from a sweet slumber, deservedly earning it the name of “the Sleeping Beauty”, later becoming the “Pearl of Aquitaine”. Here are the keys to enjoying a city that has become an irresistible tourist destination.

1. Taste Its Wines

Why deny it? Wine is the region’s economic driving force and the main reason for Bordeaux being famous all over the world. A trip to this city is clearly the perfect excuse for venturing into its extensive wine realm. The local tourist office has a roster of 60 different circuits for touring the viticultural region’s wineries that have edged their way onto the international scene. Needless to say, you don’t actually have to leave Bordeaux to discover its wines. All you need to do is head for one of the bars or bistros to find them. Here are our recommendations:

- The Bar à Vin du CIVB is a city classic and has an extensive Bordeaux wine list.

- For those who prefer to accompany their wine with some good cheese, Bistrot du Fromager is their best option.

- Those on a tasting tour who also want to take away the odd bottle as a keepsake should drop in on La Conserverie-Converserie.

- And, you can even sign up for a course in wine tasting at L’École du Vin.

2. Be Dazzled by the Largest Water Mirror in the World

The Place de la Bourse (Bourse Square). also known as the Place Royale, is undoubtedly one of the major landmarks in Bordeaux. It was designed by Jacques Ange Gabriel, royal architect to Louis XV, and built from 1730 to 1755.This square heralded the moment when the city broke out of its medieval walls, marking the start of its age of splendour. Rectangular in shape, one side opens onto the river Garonne, while the centre is taken up by the Fountain of The Three Graces. The main attraction, however, is Le Miroir d’Eau (Water Mirror), one of the largest in the world, with a surface area of 3.450 m². The interplay of reflections is fascinating and highly photogenic – if you’re travelling with children, it is sure to delight them.

3. Enjoy Its Heritage

After Paris, Bordeaux is the city with the largest number of protected monuments in France. One example of this is its harbour, known as the Port of the Moon, which was listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2007. Set on a meander of the river Garonne, its nickname is derived from its crescent-moon or croissant shape. Most of the buildings in the harbour and environs reflect the ideals of the Enlightenment. Be sure to stroll through its streets and admire their unique beauty.

4. Take a Boat Ride Along the River Garonne

The river Garonne has long been a lynchpin of the city’s development. Indeed, in the 18th century, it was one of the most important ports in Europe. A novel way of viewing the city of Bordeaux is by taking in the different angles of it afforded by the river. All you need to do is turn up at the Port of the Moon and go on one of the available cruises. Of the myriad options to choose from, we recommend one that includes wine tasting and snacks while soaking up the views.

5. Be Inspired by Museum Offerings

Art lovers have a must-visit in the shape of the Museum of Fine Arts, noteworthy for its fine collection of Dutch paintings. If you’re an enthusiast of the latest in art trends, the place to be is the CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, located in a former warehouse for colonial goods. The Museum of Decorative Arts, housed in the Hôtel Lalande, is a showcase of bourgeois life in the 18th and 19th century, as seen through their decorative objects – furniture, sculpture, engravings, ceramics, cutlery and glassware.

6. Enjoy Nature in One of the Parks

Bordeaux has many parks where you can get a breather. The best known is the Jardin Public (Public Garden), set in the heart of the city. It was opened in 1755 and styled along the lines of Versailles, but subsequently re-styled as an English garden. It features an old carousel which children will love.

7. Eat Oysters in the Market

If you happen to spend a weekend in Bordeaux, make sure you head for the Marche des Capucines. This magnificent market offers top-notch produce and has a wonderful atmosphere. There, you will find stalls where you can taste oysters, seafood and fresh fish.

Book your Vueling here and see all the hidden charm of Bordeaux for yourself.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by SuperCar-RoadTrip.fr, Yann Chauvel, Bistro du Fromager

Berlin clearly lived through one of its most bizarre periods during the Cold War. Bizarre, in that erecting a wall dividing a city into two parts, separating families and neighbours and setting them in opposing universes, is an Orwellian experience to say the least.

Each part of the city obviously developed in a very different way. On the one hand, East Berlin stagnated within a system based on obsessive control by the regime, a pattern shared by the rest of the communist bloc. West Berlin, for its part, evolved in similar fashion to the rest of the capitalist world.

West Berlin – From the Mecca of the Underground to Hedonistic House

From the seventies on, in line with the new trends in England and the United States, a new musical scene began to gain currency in Berlin, based on creative freedom and the aesthetic of a clean break with the past. Berlin became one of the leading centres of punk and all its subsequent ramifications. Their outsider and underground art culture sediment attracted performers of the calibre of David Bowie, Brian Eno, Keith Haring and Lou Reed throughout the seventies. By then, a good number of bands were feeding such exciting circuits as those of London and Sheffield.

At the end of the seventies, the music of Joy Division and dabblers in electronic and industrial music were adopted as icons of the flourishing alternative scene of an open Berlin. Unlike the British or American varieties, German post-punk was characterised by a tension between politics and culture and aesthetically owes much to krautrock, as many of its themes are endless repetitions at a heady pace, notably Geld/Money by the arty band, Malaria, or the early recordings of DAF.

As of 1980, the exciting Berlin scene was always on the move, spawning an inexhaustible string of bands like Einstürzende Neubauten– headed by the controversial Blixa Bargeld – Die Unbekannten, Nina Hagen, Die Krupps, Mekanik Destrüktiw Komandoh, Die Tödliche Doris, Geile Tiere and Die Arztewith their punk funk distinguished by sarcastic lyrics.True to say, the scene was not made up of musicians alone, but by film stars and directors, writers, philosophers, artists and photographers, too. By the mid-eighties a process of disintegration had set in. Music became ever more commercial and groups began to sign up with multinationals. However, it was not long before a new sound revolution arose which had a marked impact on the city – the advent of acid house and techno. Recall that Berlin’s Love Parade was the first mass parade of electronic music in the world. The first Love Parade was in 1989. The event started out as a clamour for peace and mutual understanding through music. Just a few months later, the Wall came down and West Berlin was consigned to history.

The legendary SO36 was still going strong at that time. The club, located on the Oranienstrasse near Heinrichplatz in the Kreuzberg district, took its name from the area’s famed postal code – SO36. The district of Kreuzberg is historically the home of Berlin punk, and of other alternative German subcultures. SO36 was initially dedicated mainly to punk music. As of 1979 it attempted a crossover between punk, new wave and visual art. In those days the club rivalled New York’s CBGB as one of the world’s leading new wave spots. Others on the Berlin circuit included Metropol, the disco, Kino, the club 54 Kantstrasse and the Sputnik alternative cinema, where the cult film Christiane F. premiered.

Period Document on the Big Screen

The 13th Beefeater In-Edit Festival will be held in Barcelona from 29 October to 8 November. Prominent among the many films to be shown is B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989, a documentary directed by Jörg A. Hoppe, Heiko Lange and Klaus Maeck on music, art and chaos in the Wild West of Berlin in the decade of the 1980s, the walled city that became a creative crucible for a special type of pop subculture which attracted brilliant dilettantes and world-famous celebrities of all kinds. However, prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, artists, squatters, poets, music creators and hedonists came together to enjoy a highly unconventional lifestyle in Berlin. They all knew it would be short-lived but, who’s worried about tomorrow? It was a case of living for the here and now.

Featuring mostly unreleased television material and original footage, photos and interviews, B-Movie chronicles life in a divided city, a cultural interzone where anything seemed possible – a place different from anywhere else in Europe. It is a fast-moving collage of stories about a frenzied but creative decade starting with punk and ending with the Love Parade, in a city where days are short and nights are interminable.

Berlin is currently experiencing a youthful resurgence in terms of cultural activity – and music, too! Why wait to discover it all? Check out our tickets here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by B-Moviem, SO36