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

From sea to mountains, Almeria´s cuisine keeps the essence of every little town in the Apujarras, Sierra de los Filabres, Tabernas or Velez. Antique recipes still remains in these little towns. These popular recipes are cooked with the best ingredients collected from their lands and their rich coasts.
Its cuisine is very rich and comprises from amigas, fried potatoes, garlic soup, all kinds of seafood, operettas and paellas, grilled vegetables or the countless tapas route in the capital.

Gurullos and Nijar fish

Gurullos is a tough handmade dough from Muslim heritage made with durum wheat flour, water and salt.In the seaside towns of Almeria, the Gurullos are usually cooked with octopus and cuttlefish.
Let´s taste the best typical dishes from Almeria, made with high quality ingredients in Restaurante La Ola, located in the Isleta del Moro (Little Muslim Island), inside the Cabo de Gata National Park.

There you will enjoy magnificent views of the Mediterranean Sea while waiter serves you fresh fish, sailor casserols, red prawns and paella. Every single ingredient is really fresh, no doubt about it! Because in Restaurante La Ola they have their own fishing boat and the go fishing every day.

Zarzuela in Roquetas de Mar

Roquetas is a very picturesque place that retains the truly essence of the sailor towns and its tradictional fish auction. The supply of fruits and vegetables and also seafood guarantees the quality of its cuisine. To make a good Zarzuela we need to mix fish and seafood like crayfishes, prawns, mussels, clams, lobsters, squids and rockfishes.
Come to any of the port side restaurants, like Restaurante Nido or El Chiringuito de Paco and taste the best fish and zarzuelas.

Sailor stews and red prawns from Garrucha

Garrucha is a sailor village where you can find a hugh variety of good quality fresh fish and seafood. Here, recipes are quite simple but anything else is needed when primary ingredients can bring you to heaven. Red prawn from Garrucha is bigger and has a dipper red color than usual prawn and it is one of the best Mediterranean seafood.
You can find these simple dishes in El Almejero, located in Explanada del Puerto of Garrucha. Ideal to eat the best red mullet and grilled prawns with amazing sea views.

Garden products and fish from El Ejido

Greenhouses vegetables from el Ejido are exported every year to almost the wide world. There is nothing better than taste the Mediterranean healthy recipes in El Ejido, made with the best garden vegetables and excellent seafood.
The best place to enjoy it is La Costa (Avenida Bulevar de El Ejido, 48), an excellent restaurant with one Michelin star where its chef Jose Álvarez provides it with a sofisticated atmosphere.

Almond cake or oil cake from Velez

In Velez, 35 kilometers away from the capital, some varieties of dry fruits like grapes, olives and almonds are grown. This is the reason why its cuisine uses these products in particular.The most typical dessert from Velez is the oil cake, a recipe known for 50 years!

In Almeria

Patatas a lo pobre (poor style potatoes) at El Quinto Toro

Although at first view it seems a simple dish, it is not so easy to get a good dish of poor style potatoes. The recipe is simple with sliced potatoes, onion, oil, white wine and salt and you can eat a very good one at El Quinto Toro, Juan Leal 6 of Almeria.

Migas and some other tapas at Casa Puga

Find a place in La Puga (Jovellanos 7 )and choose from a wide variety of tapas: fried fish, meats, cheese, smoked fish, scrambled garlic, prawns and snails. Maybe La Puga is a little bit more expensive than other establishments in the same area but it is one of the most recognized good tapas place in the city. And don´t forget to ask for somemigas(crumbs)!

The Ajoblanco at La Encina

The garlic soup is a very common snack in Almeria. A thick cream with almonds, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, served with toast spread or as an accompanient to some dishes. Almeria is a land of excellent almonds, so it is used in many recipes.
If you are walking around the city center, taste it at La Encina (Marin, 6), and taste also theis cold raf tomatoe soup, hake pie or marinated sardines.

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

The place to be seen today, the new glamour zone of the East End, is found between the Spitalfields, theSunday Up Market andBrick Lane, markets housing loads of vintage shops, arts and crafts, jewellery and little stalls selling all types of food where you can wander around at will.

Brick Lane

Its name comes from the street that used to be the home of the brick and tile factory. The southern half is home to part of the Bangladeshi community, with a large number of touristy curry houses, food and material shops which is why the street is commonly known as Banglatown, while the northern half is bursting with unique and original shops.

Don’t miss the famous bagels from Beigel Bake at Number 159Brick Lane, open 23 hours a day.

The Carpenters Arms

The pub, The Carpenter’s Arms, situated in Cheshire Street, has a romantic story associated with it. The Kray twins, Reggie and Ronnie, the most famous gangsters of London’s East End, bought it in 1967 and gave it to their mother as a present.

The tale came to an end with their life imprisonment sentence. On 11 October 2000 Reggie Kray’s funeral took place all along Cheshire Street.
They say that such was his black sense of humour that they built the bar out of coffin lids.
Today, The Carpenter’s Arms is a welcoming pub with more than fifty brands of beer to choose from and a wonderful clientele that keep the story of the Kray brothers alive.
The current owners, Eric and Nigel, managed to rescue the pub at the beginning of the century from being turned into housing. They found the place completely ruined – apart from the famous bar made of coffin lids.

The Carpenters Bar
www.carpentersarmsfreehouse.com
73 Cheshire Street

Beyond Retro

Cheshire Street is dotted with a wide variety of vintageshops and young designers, but at Number 110 you will find one of the biggest, a huge second-hand clothing warehouse where you can lose yourself picking through an enormous hoard of boots, t-shirts, dresses as well as all types of gadgets.

Beyond Retro
110-112 Cheshire St.
www.beyondretro.com/

Vibe Bar

The Vibe Bar shares its entrance with theOld Truman Brewery, that in past times used to be home to London’s largest brewery. From its pleasant terrace you climb the steps to 4 large areas in which they hold exhibitions, reggae and experimental music concerts and DJ sessions. The inside of the bar is decorated with graffiti art, big sofas and a few antique gaming machines. In September is hosts the Brick Lane Music Festival.

Vibe Bar
91-95 Brick Lane
www.vibe-bar.co.uk

Dray Walk

In this alleyway calledDray Walk we find the Cafe 1001 with its rustic wooden terrace alongside one of the three Rough Trade shops in London where you can find the best selection of vinyl and CDs as well as café and sofas where you can relax and connect to internet.

Al Volo

Opposite one of the entrances toSunday Up Market, is the Al Volo , where you can enjoy excellent Italian food.

Al Volo
Hanbury Street
www.alvolo.co.uk

Sunday Up Market

Sunday Up Market is the coolest market of the moment.

During the week it’s just a car park, but on Sundays it’s full of people, with more than 200 stalls over two floors selling clothes, jewellery, food and music.

Sunday Up Market
www.sundayupmarket.co.uk

The Golden Heart

Strategically placed on the intersection of Commercial Street and Hanbury Street and just oppositeSpitalfieldsMarket, The Golden Heart is the perfect place from which to watch everything going on in the area and to have a rest.

However it’s fair to say that the regular locals have gradually gone to be replaced with groups of young people visiting the neighbourhood.

The Golden Heart
84 Commercial Street

Spitalfield Market

Located in a beautiful Victorian building, Spitalfields Market started trading in 1682 and is open every day from 11:00 to 15:00 and on Sundays from 09:30 to 17:30.

It used to be the preferred location for lovers of vintage clothing, a place where urban fashion can be picked up for a good price, but lately it has become a tourist attraction with shops and restaurants. The young designers’ stalls have moved to the Old Truman Brewery in the Sunday Up Market.

In any case, even if you don’t plan on buying anything, it’s still worth the visit.

Ten Bells

The Ten Bells is the living history of the famous Jack the Ripper. The pub is on the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street in Spitalfields. Although the façade has changed, the interior has remained much the same as it did when it used to be frequented by Jack the Ripper. On one of the walls of the pub a beautiful mosaic has been conserved: “Spitalfields in the Olden Time” that is definitely worth a visit. We’d also like to point out that the pub has a wall displaying a list of the victims, as well as press cuttings, of the notorious Ripper. ..

Ten Bells
84 Commercial Street

Christ Church Spitalfields

A pretty Anglican church is situated close to the famous Spitalfields Market. It was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of the Royal architectChristopher Wren, who reconstructed the English capital after the Great Fire of London.

Christ Church Spitalfields
84 Commercial St
www.christchurchspitalfields.org

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In effect, whatever’s hipster today becomes a trend tomorrow. Or at least that’s how it’s been so far. This alternative craze is spreading so fast is risks going mainstream, becoming a mass, commercial phenomenon. But, for as long as it endures, they’re still calling the shots. In London districts such as Hackney you can see larger communities of long-bearded – but well-groomed – men wearing lumberjack plaid jackets and vintage hairstyles than in other districts in the city. Here are some of their currently favourite haunts. Be warned – some of them feature new forms of leisure!

F. Cooke / Peters & Co. Gin Palace

At no. 9 Broadway Market in Hackney we find a bar that seems to have emerged from days long gone. During the day, F. Cooke serve pies, eel and delicatessen galore, many dishes based on recipes over a century old. By night, the locale concept transforms completely. In fact, its name changes to Peters & Co. Gin Palace, as it turns into a veritable gin palace, like those that existed in London in Victorian times. You can savour this marvellous elixir by choosing from over twenty brands on their list.

Nights of Drink and Draw – On the Cutting Edge

Londoners are well aware that the best way to be a good hipster is to be an aesthetics and leisure innovator. A trend that has become popular lately involves combining drink and drawing. These are the so-called Drink and Drawspots, where you paint or draw in the company of other art enthusiasts, artists or just amateurs eager to have some fun. The fad hails from the arty Brooklyn district where people meet at specific local nightspots to have a drink while they scribble away.

These gatherings are usually chaired by an art teacher, who decides on the various poses (about 6) adopted by a model. After a 45-minute session of drawing and painting, there is a break to have a drink and chat with the other participants. This is the ideal moment to socialise. Then follows another painting session. At the end, the teacher critiques the artworks with the whole class. The session typically lasts about 3 hours and costs £18, which includes a drink. The places where you can drink and draw are:

Doodle-le-do, led by Natalia Talkowska, holds regular gatherings in London, Dublin, Poland and Holland. People come to meet, chat, draw, eat sandwiches and drink. Ditto Press, however, offers classes soused in home-brewed beer. Their bent is illustration and printing, which is hosted in their studio on Benyon Road, N1. Drink, Shop, Do, for its part, is a bar, pastry shop and craft workshop at King’s Cross where afternoon tea is set against craftwork classes. Doodle Bar, in Battersea, and The Book Club, in Shoreditch, both stage drawing events on their premises. Lastly, The Idler Academy offers art classes while savouring gin-tonics based on Hendricks.

Netil Market

For over four years it has opened on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on premises at nearby Westgate Street. It comprises a cluster of craft shops, bric-a-brac and barbershops and, of course, food stalls. Clearly the perfect spot for pro hipsters. The market belongs to Netil House, a creative community based on Westgate Street. The terrace cafe affords panoramic views of the whole city. The atmosphere becomes vibrant from spring onwards.

One faction of hipsters are advocating rural life in the heart of the city. No wonder, then, that you can find pastry shops offering homemade cakes. Yeast Bakery, also in the market, provides Breton butter-bakes made in a wood-fired oven. At Brawn (open Tuesday to Saturday) you can taste an endless array of organic wines, while at Jones Diary you can buy all kinds of homemade cheeses, and Lee’s Seafood specialises in fried fish.

At nightfall, where better to go than Mare Street. There, Cock Tavern has become all the rage. This pub specialises in home-brewed beer and was last year named Beard Friendly Pub of the Year, a title awarded by the Beard Liberation Front, a group which campaigns in support of beards. You can also sip a coffee while your bicycle gets a looking over at Look Mum No Hands! Now for a secret which only a few people know about – the supper clubs, a number of restaurants half-concealed inside other establishments. Also in this area is Printers & Stationers, housed in a warehouse area at the back of a would-be print shop on Ezra Street.

We shall tell no more – no point in revealing all the secrets at once. So, hurry before these fabulous spots go out of fashion or get overrun. Check out our prices here!

Text by Isabel y Luis Comunicación

Image by Printers & Stationers, Ben Brannan, Thomas Wootton