Strategically located by the Baltic Sea, between Lithuania and Poland, in Kaliningrad there is a mixture of the Soviet influences and the German roots, when Kaliningrad was the capital city of East Prussia and it was one of the major cities in Europe, better known as Köningsberg.

In 1945, during World War II, the red army occupied Köningsberg, which name changed to Kaliningrad in the memory the president of the Supreme Soviet until 1946, Mikhail Kalinin.

The city was rebuilt after the destruction during the war, creating and odd mixture of elements. Kaliningrad is a Russian setting far from its capital and 600 kilometres far from Pskow, the closest Russian city.

Baltic region is known as the biggest amber site and the most important mines are in Kaliningrad. This valuable material has reputation worldwide for its beauty and the healing properties, also magic, which are given to it.

There is a legend that says they are tears from Yurati, Goddess of the Sea, who wasn’t allowed to be in love with a mortal and was chained to the seabed, next to the castle, crying that sorrow. This romantic story tells that amber teardrops reach the sea bay but, actually, it is made from the solidified resin of tropical trees that used to be in the area.

Fishermen town

Amber is a fragile material but that can be easily modified by the masterfully of local artists and jewellers who used this valuable good. There are many objects made from this precious organic stone at an affordable price in the old buildings at the port, which are nowadays used as workshops.

This fishermen town is made of many buildings that look like a German old historic quarter, pretty different to the rest of Kaliningrad, with red roofs and colourful facades. You can reach the highest point of the drawbridge or start here a boat trip along the Pregolya river. Furthermore, from this area there is a magnificent view of the city and a great walk to the Cathedral, one of the main attractions in the city, by several restaurants and cafés.

Amber museum

In Kaliningrad an Amber museum was built at the Dohna tower, with a unique collection of more than 6.000 pieces, with insects and plants encapsulated inside, hand-made products or a huge pip of 4.280 kg, occupying 28 rooms.

The building is already a beautiful castle made of red bricks, raised by the Teutonic Knights, who had here one of the main headquarters.

Another building of the Teutonic Knights was the Köningsberg castle, which was one of the main symbols for the city. The castle was destroyed during Köningsberg bombings and now there is the Central Square and the Soviets House.

From the previous castle, there are still underground tunnels that made the ground unstable. This was called “the Prussians revenge” and it has cost lots of money and time to fix it.

In Kaliningrad region there are about forty more beautiful medieval castles, an interesting architectural route following the path of the Teutonic Knights.

Other interesting places

Kant’s tomb

The most distinguished character from the city is Immanuel Kant, philosopher, who was born and buried in Kaliningrad. The tomb is outside the cathedral, with a plaque quoting, in Russian and German, the "Conclusion" from Critique of Practical Reason: “there are two things that fill my mind with an ever new and enhanced wonder and amazement, even they at continuously reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”

The fortresses

The city is surrounded by a large number of fortresses from the 19th century. The Germans used them as a defence. Even they are abandoned, there is a route to visit the ruins.

Zelenogradsk - Cranz

24 kilometres north from Kaliningrad there is an spa area, a holidays resort where locals and tourists arrived attracted by the beaches, thermal waters and cultural heritage, with over seven centuries of history.

Fishing village by Anton Zelenov | Baltic Amber by Michal Kosior

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

As in much of Spain, Holy Week unfolds with great intensity in most of Sicily. This comes as no surprise – the processions of penitents commemorating Christ’s Passion and Death were brought to the island by the Spanish in the 16th century.  While they abound across Sicily, the processions that arouse the greatest expectation are those held in villages like Enna and Caltanissetta, both of which lie about an hour’s drive away from Catania.

But all Sicily’s beautiful, timeless villages preserve their deep-rooted traditions, each with its own character. A holiday on the island during Holy Week could combine sightseeing in coastal towns, discovering local architecture and tasting their delicious cuisine. And, during the festivities, the religious guilds stage spectacular Easter processions in which the Baroque aesthetic prevails.

If you want to savour some of these ancient festivals, go to Prizzi on Easter morning. There they celebrate the Ballo dei diavoli (dance of the devils). In this folk tradition from the Middle Ages, death, dressed in yellow, accompanied by devils clad in red, roam the town heckling the passers-by, who can only get rid of their tormentors by giving them a donation. This takes place just when the madonna and child make their entry. This curious form of revelry, a mix of the religious and the profane, represents the eternal struggle between good and evil.

A similar event known as the Diavolatais held in Adrano.The main square or Piazza Umberto provides the backdrop for this battle between good and evil, represented by Lucifer and his devils on one side and St Michael the Archangel on the other.

Another picturesque celebration is the Madonna Vasa Vasa,in Modica, in which the faithful crowd around the floats on their way to the church of St Mary of Bethlehem to witness the traditional bacio di mezzogiorno (the noon kiss) between the Virgin Mary and the resurrected Christ. Vasa means “kiss”. Dressed in mourning, the Madonna is carried through the streets of Modica in search of her son, to the rhythm of drumming. Throughout the procession, the people sing, dance and drink to celebrate the event. While strolling through the winding streets of Modica’s charming historical centre, visitors will eventually come across the striking Baroque architecture in the area around the Castle of the Counts of Modica, listed as a World Heritage site since 2002.

One of the oldest and most enigmatic celebrations is the Procession of the Mysteries, held in the historical centre of Trapani. Full of light and emotion, this procession consists of twenty float groups depicting the Passion and Death of Christ which parade through the streets for 24 hours, starting on Good Friday afternoon. The figures are borne on the shoulders of the massari to the rhythm of a traditional music known as annaccata.

As in all traditional festivities, Holy Week in Sicily has its characteristic confectionery. The colomba pasquale (Easter dove), also known as the palummeddi or pastifuorti, is eaten in the home. This typical sweet is usually shaped like a dove or rooster, although new shapes are emerging all the time. It consists of flour, sugar and cinnamon, topped off with a hard-boiled egg as a symbol of Easter and rebirth. A similar pastry is the cuddura, typical of the Calabria region. Based on flour and water, it is similarly adorned with hard-boiled eggs. The casatta siciliana is another cake eaten at Easter, although it is sold in pastry shops all year around. If you would like to taste some of these delicacies, the best assortment is to be had at Pasticceria Irrera, on the Piazza Cairoli 12 in Messina, and at Caffè Sicilia, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele III, 125 Noto de Siracusa.

Go for it! Check out our prices here!

Text by ScannerFM

Image by Clemensfranz, Carmelo Giuseppe Colletti, Rmax75, Giovanni, Traktorminze

Holy Week coincides with the onset of spring, a season associated with milder temperatures. Although you should still pack some warm clothes – jerseys, jacket, raincoat, gloves, cap and scarf – it’s unlikely to snow in Warsaw, unless you’re in the higher mountain areas. And, by early April, the days are quite long and sunny. Unlike in other European countries, during Holy Week in Poland both the Thursday and Friday are working days and most of the museums and shops are open to the public. Visiting hours at churches may be different, however, as in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, where the largest Good Friday procession of all Poland is held.

As in other areas where the Catholic festivities are traditionally observed, Palm Sunday is celebrated here in style. Like in Spain, in Poland the faithful carry palms, but here they are far more elaborate. Dried flowers and paper flowers go into their careful making by hand. They are so popular here that many towns and villages organise palm contests. We recommend taking the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Łyse, in the region of Masovia, where you can find palms of up to 6 metres high.

Cultural activity also revolves around Easter. The keynote event is the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival. Held in Warsaw, as well as in Krakow and Gdansk, it attracts classical music virtuosos from all over to perform a number of works based on Holy Week themes. The festival alone makes it well worth visiting the city. Over the festive period churches host classical music concerts. The programme features religious works, pride of place going to the staging of the Lord's Sepulchre. This is undoubtedly a good reason for visiting the holy precincts of Poland’s capital city. Even under the Communist regime the uncensored sepulchres stood for the most important political events of the time.

Another high moment of the holy celebration is the blessing of the food. Starting on Easter Saturday morning, crowds of people congregate at the churches bearing adorned baskets containing, in addition to the classical hand-painted Easter eggs, bread, salt, pepper, sausage and an endless assortment of Easter pastries to have them blessed. Once the ritual has been completed, they may then eat meat. In bygone days the baskets’ contents were indicative of the purchasing power of the various families – the greater the amount and variety of food, the high their economic status.

Easter eggs are decorated in different ways and this is often the favourite activity of the younger members of the household. Once boiled, the easiest thing is to colour them with polychromed powders dissolved in water. These colours are sold in small sachets at this time of year. A more natural technique is to boil the eggs in a pot with onion skins, giving the eggshells a dark tinge and, the more onion skin you use, the darker the colour. After the eggshell has dried out, it can be drawn on or incised using a sharp needle.

Easter Monday is noticeably more playful in character and closely linked to rural traditions. In Polish it is known as Lany poniedzialek – “Water Monday” – as Slavic tradition has it that throwing water over the girls is believed to ensure their health and fertility. So, make sure you keep your eyes skinned because even today you can have a bucket of cold water thrown over you.

Cuisine is important in Poland at Easter and tables are decked out with Easter eggs, symbols of a new life. Confectionery also plays a major role, particularly mazurek, a cake based on butter and very thick cream, eggs, sugar and flour. It is also stuffed with nuts, chocolate and fruit (orange or lemon). Another cake typically made during this festive season is kaimak. Although similar to mazurek, the dough contains liquid toffee.

Are you eager to go? Check out our prices here!

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Polish National Tourist Office

Visitors to the every surprising and – for many – chaotic Naples have a huge array of things to see and do. Interesting sights include its magnificent churches, like those of San Francesco da Paola and Gesù Nuovo, castles like the Castel dell’Ovo and such amazing archaeological jewels as those on display in the National Archaeological Museum, including exhibits from the ancient sites at Pompeii and Herculaneum. You could also just stroll through the streets of its Centro Storico, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. And, of course, all such sightseeing requires timely stopovers to indulge in their excellent pizzas, which is why we have come to the place where this popular dish first saw the light.

As if all the things we can enjoy on the city’s ground level were not enough, in its bowels lurks a whole world of tunnels, galleries, catacombs, cisterns and countless spaces where the earliest traces unearthed belong to the founders of Naples – the Greeks. The latest of them endure into our own times, as the Camorra is said to have used the network for their drug running and their undercover meetings. Nowadays, particularly in recent years, this hidden face of the city, known as the Naples Underground or Napoli Sotterranea, has been attracting ever greater attention and has now become yet another tourist attraction. And, understandably so, as many a story lies buried in that subsoil.

As mentioned in passing, it was the Greeks who first started building that “invisible” underground city for the purpose of defence and as a place of worship. The Romans continued where the Greeks left off, although they took things a step further – they created a network of underground channels and aqueducts for water conveyance. Much of that original system of water channelling continued to be used in the city until the early-20th century. Also from those ancient times are the remains of a Greco-Roman theatre which visitors can see on a tour of subterranean Naples. Legend has it that Nero himself sung in the theatre during an earthquake set off by the nearby volcano, Vesuvius.

Persecuted for their faith, the early Christians used those catacombs to gather for prayer and to bury their dead. Indeed, one of the most striking features of the Naples Underground is precisely the Catacombs of San Gennaro, tunnelled out of a large chunk of the Capodimonte hillside. They are the largest catacombs in southern Italy. With passageways arranged on two unstratified levels, they feature some fresco remains from the late-2nd-century AD. Interestingly, San Gennaro is the city’s patron saint, while the catacombs were the burial site of Neapolitan bishops and a place of pilgrimage up until the 11th century. There are two other catacombs in the city –San Severo, of which only a small cubicle remains, and San Gaudioso, reached via the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità.

Apart from acting as hideouts, means of conveyance and access routes to the city, these passageways were also turned to belligerent purposes, as on more than one occasion they were used to mount surprise attacks on the city. That was true of operations conducted by Belisarius in the year 536, and Alfonso of Aragon in 1442, or at least that is how the story goes. Closer to our times, the underground was used as an air-raid shelter during World War II. Objects surviving from that horrific period can still be seen there.

Entrance to the Naples underground is via the Piazza San Gaetano, 68 and guided tours are available in Italian or English. Scheduled times are given on their website.

Embark on an adventure of discovery in the Naples Underground and unearth the stories hidden there. Check out your flight here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Adele84Adele, Armando Mancini, Andrea Tosatto, Giuseppe Guida, AlMare