EVENT TOURISM No 10 July - august2013
Summer Islands Viennese cuisine Natural Lithuania The Golden City: Prague revisited
Indian Ocean
14
reasons to go
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CONTENTS: EVER...? 4 6
Holy Blood Procession Bruges, Belgium Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA
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Fishing in Western Australia
Agenda 9
Hotel COSMOPOLITE
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Hotel Gdańsk
Islands 14 20 24 30
Island Life in Mallorca Aitutaki: beautifully crazy Total relaxation in Australia’s Hamilton Island 14 Reason to go Indian Ocean
Gastronomy
38
Viennese cuisine
30
DESTINATION 48
The Golden City: Prague revisited
Promotion
54 58
Natural Lithuania 10 reasons to visit Lithuania
Culture 62
Osiris is my host (II)
14
On the cover: Hamilton Island, shot by Jason Loucas On the last page: Whitehaven Beach, Australia, shot by Nick Rains Credit: Tourism Australia Copyright
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Contributors: Alex Karpov, Craig Easton, Gytis Lemkys, Eglė Grigalaitytė, Ivan Lapickij, Jason Loucas, Konstantyn Kinash, Malgozata Kosevska, Mantas Barvičius, Patrick Perck, Peter Rigaud, Rachel Witham, Robert Osmark, Sarah Drane, Tomas Kumpiniauskas, Walter Roggeman
Editor-in-chief Alex Karpov Creative Director Kostiantyn Kinash Publishing Director Nina Onyshchenko Advertising Director Annemie Persoons Design and layout Kostiantyn Kinash
Editorial Coordination TTI Club “Crystal Lotus“ vzw Belgium, 8400 Ostend, Duindoornlaan 216 Tel.: +32(0)59443273 +32(0)488331775 info@tticlub.org www.tticlub.org www.eventtourismmagazine.com
Representative on East Europe Algirdas International Foundation
tomas@algirdasfoundation.org Lithuania, 11119 Vilnius Žaliakalnio 41 Tel. +37061487126 www.algirdasfoundation.org
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EVER SEEN? Holy Blood Procession Bruges, Belgium
Annually since the year 1150, the historic city of Bruges has been attracting thousands of visitors to one of the great religious pageants in Europe, the Holy Blood Procession. For eight centuries the relic has been venerated by a mile-long procession of 1,500 Bruges citizens, many in the colorful medieval garb of Crusader or knight. The relic of the Holy Blood was brought to Bruges by Thierry d’Alsace, Count of Flanders in 1149, presumably given to him by the Patriarch of Jerusalem in recognition of his contribution to the First Crusade in the Holly Land. The procession during which the relic is paraded through the town for veneration dates to 1303. Except for being in hiding during the two World Wars it has never left Bruges and is kept in the Basilica of St. Basil in the Burg Square. / image by Craig Easton
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EVER BEEN?
Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest.It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew. The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí (advertised as “Hasdestwazi” by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or “spiral rock arches.” Both are located within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation. / image by Zack Schnepf
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EVER TRIED? Fishing, Western Australia
/ image by Craig Easton
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AGENDA
AGENDA
Hotel Cosmopolite Nieuwpoort, Belgium
Hotel Cosmopolite has become a vastly known term at the Belgian coast. In this luxury hotel you are guaranteed to have a lovely stay by the sea. The hotel is located 80 meters from the beach and at the beginning of the marvellous shopping street of Nieuwpoort-Bad. Here you receive a warm welcome with personal touch in a modern and trendy surrounding. The comfortable rooms with a contemporary design are fitted for families (with connecting rooms), as well as business people (with free wireless internet) and wheelchair users. 10 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
This designer hotel offers modern rooms with a balcony, only 260 ft from the sandy beach in the center of Nieuwpoort-Bad. Cosmopolite boasts a spa center, a gourmet restaurant, a bar and a brasserie. ComilFo Restaurant features a menu of elegant international cuisine and locally-inspired dishes. Pancakes, waffles and homemade cake are offered at Brasserie Carrousel which also serves quick yet healthy meals. Relaxing spa treatments are offered at Sauna & Beauty Nieuwpoort including scrubs, manicures and massages. In the private wellness lounge, you can take a break from your busy life! Guests can also have their hair cut or styled at Ciseaux.
Albert I laan 141 8620 Nieuwpoort 058 23 33 66 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 11 www.cosmopolite.be – info@cosmopolite.be
AGENDA
Facilities:
- brasserie "Carrousel" - gastronomical restaurant "ComilFo" - bar “Caprice” - private wellness lounge with sauna, bubble bath and relaxing corner - beauty centre for massages and body treatments - hairdresser - meeting rooms on the top floor with an exciting panoramic view - for all your festivities (communion, birthday, wedding, jubilee) The hotel is situated at 3 km of the Golf Ter Hille in Oostduinkerke and Golf Westgolf in Westende. Other golf courses are in Ostend, Damme and Ieper. The hotel recently started with an exclusive shopping arrangement! In Nieuwpoort, all the shops and boutiques are open on Sundays! For passionate golfers, we have designed a unique golf arrangement! Hotel Cosmopolite has achieved the Q label since 2009 in cooperation with Westtoer.
Brasserie Carrousel
In a brightly and trendy environment, you can have a quick and healthy lunch or dinner, or a pancake... You really have to taste the giant spies and the ribs! 12 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
The children can enjoy their meal while they are colouring and playing in the kids’ corner with mini cinema ! The kitchen is open whole day from 12h00 until 21h30. You are looking for a place to organise your birthday party or another party? Then you are here on the right place !
Restaurant “ComilFo”
Restaurant ComilFo is our modern and gastronomical restaurant where our chef will serve you a unique meal. He gives both modern and classical dishes a personal touch. Our hotel guests receive a 10% discount on the meals in Restaurant ComilFo. Every last Friday of the month, you can have a romantic diner with the music from our pianist on the background. Once a year, we organise a special sea-food weekend, where you receive a big plate of various sea-food from the North Sea.
Cosmopolite Seminars
Are you planning a party or a seminar? Would you like to engage a different approach? Then Cosmopolite Seminars is the place to be! The refreshing air of the Belgian coast keeps your guests alert. Our cosy, yet
modern accommodations provide the desired relaxation. This makes an ideal combination for a successful event! Standard equipment in all of the conference rooms: - ventilation - electrical outlets - flipchart and markers - projection screen and beamer - telephone - free wireless internet Supplementary audiovisual or other equipment can be provided on request.
Sauna & Beauty Nieuwpoort
Our private wellness facilities offer you wonderful relaxing moments in a calming and soothing environment. You can top if all off by getting pampered in our very own beauty salon. Here you can enjoy relaxing spa treatments, massages, manicures & pedicures,.. Our beautician is always up to date with the latest trends!
Bar Caprice
Our brand new Bar "Caprice" welcomes you for an aperitif of digestive. We offer you an exclusive choice of Gin Tonic, Whisky and Cognac and several cocktails. Open every day from 12h until 14h30 and from 18h until midnight.
www.cosmopolite.be
Hotel Gdańsk Gdansk, Poland
Hotel Gdańsk is the best boutique hotel in Gdansk, uniquely located by the picturesque marina in the heart of the city. It offers an exclusive Med Spa, a modern conference center, Restaurant Hotel Gdańsk with excellent regional cuisine and the on-site brewery Brovarnia Gdańsk, with the awarded best beer in Poland. Hotel Gdańsk has two synergic parts – an XVIIth century granary and a modern part with maritime design – both strongly connected with the history and traditions of Gdansk. www.hotelgdansk.com.pl
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Island Life in
Mallorca
Sarah Drane reveals what life is like on this popular Spanish island
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Islands
Mallorca is a beacon of calm, sophistication, beauty and A-List celebrity. It is also an Island of great wealth with its 870,000-strong population enjoying the highest per capita level of disposable income in Spain.
To those who believe only what they read in the papers - tales of union jack shorts, binge drinking and abandonment of inhibitions – this classy portrayal may come as some surprise. The truth is best summed up by a long-standing Spanish joke about a mythical fifth Balearic Island to add to Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera, which goes under the name of ‘Majorca’. This legendary island is visited by over six million tourists a year who care for nothing more than the all-day drinking antics of Blackpool on Sea – AKA Magalluf – or if you’re German, the neon lights of El Arenal. Yet these package holiday enclaves are confined to just a couple of resorts on the fringes of the Bay of Palma and the Island as a whole should not be unfairly maligned with the red top treatment. Mallorca is in fact breathtakingly stunning. From deserted white sand beaches to craggy pine-clad mountain ranges, the exquisite architecture of historic buildings to flower-filled fields heavy with citrus trees, Mallorca offers every kind of beauty for everyone. The trick is to get behind the wheel of a car (or indeed the helm of a motoryacht), explore and discover your personal piece of Island paradise. For me, the best place to start is World Heritage Site Serra de Tramuntana, the western backbone of the Island that offers steep mountain scenery set against a Mediterranean backdrop.
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Mallorca | Spain
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Islands
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Mallorca | Spain
My favourite beach, Cala Deià, can be found here, one of the most bewitching inlets on Mallorca’s entire coastline with the clientele to match. The littoral outlet for well-heeled Deià, a village that has been home to Mick Jagger, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Branson and poet Robert Graves who is buried there, Cala Deià may be small (200m wide), far from sandy (heaps of shingle) and a bun-fight to find parking (5€ a day), but the water is crystal clear, the rocky outcrops imposing and the atmosphere convivial. Either lunch at one of the delightfully primitive beach restaurants or, as I prefer, pack a hamper with a chic-nic of smoked salmon, cheeses, baguettes, leafy salad, strawberries, linen napkins, champagne flutes and iced cava and become the envy of the west. The Serra de Tramuntana also hides my favourite Mallorquin village, Fornalutx. Twice elected Spain’s most beautiful, Fornalutx is surrounded by fragrant orange and lemon groves set against an imposing mountain backdrop. The miniature main square is fringed with immaculately presented pavement cafes who’ll reward you with a cool beverage after you’ve tired your legs mounting the never-ending steps to nosy at the patios and flower-decked balconies of the lovingly preserved stone Mallorquin houses. As you drive back down south, take the coastal road and nip into Son Marroig and Monestir de Miramar on the way. Both former residences of the Habsburg Archduke Ludwig Salvador (who fell head over heels with Mallorca) and both open to the public for a few euros entry, it’s undoubtedly the views that will captivate you more than the houses for they are
the stuff of dreams – particularly from the neoclassical marble temple at Son Marroig which is now a popular venue for post-card perfect weddings and acoustic concerts. From village to city, capital Palma is Mallorca’s only real city and deserves your full attention for at least a day. It shares many characteristics with big sister Barça – a Gothic Cathedral that has received the Gaudi touch, refurbished old buildings, mazy shopping streets, gardens with splashing fountains, art museums and an impressive city beach – but without the suffocating tourist numbers and pick pocketing. The best vantage point for looking down over Palma’s rooftops, endless marina front and visiting cruise ships is the Castell de Bellver. In a wooded hilltop just west of the City, this 14th century fortress is immaculately conserved and built in a canny circular design with a central keep. Climb up to the rooftop for the most attractive and peaceful views and go on a Sunday – it’s free. Whatever your penchant; following the wine route of the Island’s 60 plus bodegas, scaling the countryside to a hilltop monastery or swinging a club on one of Mallorca’s 22 immaculate golf courses, all of Mallorca is within easy reach. A drive from Palma in the south to Puerto Pollença in the north takes just 50 minutes on smooth motorway and to reach the beach resort of Cala Millor on the Island’s east coast is just one hour 15 minutes from the capital. Nothing requires great logistical planning. If you really want to explore every possible angle of Mallorca, I’ll share three special ways to make your visit to Mallorca particularly memorable.
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Islands
The first is to nip down to Son Bonet, Palma’s private aerodrome, and allow Sloane Helicopters to give you a unique bird’s-eye view of the Island in the comfort of one of their fleet of Robinson R44s. Direct the pilot or allow him to be your guide and pay a little extra to be dropped off in a secret location for a heli-picnic with champagne and a treat-filled hamper. Staying on dry land, Mallorca is driving dreamland with traffic-free roads and striking grab-the-camera views at every turn. For a reasonable fee Mallorca Driving will give you the keys to one of its impressive stable of classic cars - every petrol head’s dream. Choose from a powerful 1966 Austin Healey MKIII or sporty Jaguar MKII, an elegant Mercedes 280 SE Cabrio or a replica Porsche 550 Spyder and plenty of more. A good trick is to go as a group and swap drivers along the way so you can get behind the wheel of more than one of these timeless beauties. The last (and by far my favourite) is to flick through Nick Whale Marine’s charter portfolio and find a yacht to suit your dreams and your budget. Whether you club together with some mates to take out the sprightly RIB with its water toys or crush the credit card on a gin palace Sunseeker, yacht charter will take you to the bays and caves that landlubbers can but dream of. Rocking gently at anchor, bubbly in hand, Café del Mar on the iPod, watching the sun dip below the horizon – now that’s My Mallorca... 20 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
Mallorca | Spain
AITUTAKI BEAUTIFULLY CRAZY By Michael Shah
I used to think blue water was just that ... blue water. Then I moved to a tiny atoll in the middle of the South Pacific, one of the 15 Cook Islands – the crazy, beautiful island paradise of Aitutaki. Beautiful … definitely, Crazy … oh yeah! July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 21
Islands
Like all travellers, my introduction to Aitutaki was via a 45-minute flight from Rarotonga. Cruising above the clouds in a small 12-seater Banderainte, I was in seat 1A, not First Class, but close enough to the cockpit to reach out and steer if necessary. The sun was streaming in the cockpit window and I had to look twice as I watched the pilot pull out a reflective sunscreen and totally cover the windscreen, blocking out the sun and his entire view … Crazy! And then there’s Beautiful … nothing compares to your first sight of Aitutaki and its famous lagoon. You look down to see a huge puddle of luminescent aquamarine water, trimmed with a border of white surf that brings the contrasting deep indigo blue of Pacific Ocean into stark contrast. As we got closer, I could make out the numerous small jungle green islands (motu) on the edge of the fringing reef that guards the lagoon. I had more interest than most. I was landing on a tiny island I had never visited before, and it was going to be home for me and my family for at least the next two years. I had taken the job as General Manager of Pacific Resort Aitutaki with a sense of excitement and trepidation. Having worked in several countries, but always large cities, I had little concept of what ‘island life’ was all about. The door of the plane opened and I was greeted by a gorgeous young maiden who called my name and placed a fragrant frangipani lei around my neck. It was a short trip to the hotel where I was greeted by another gorgeous princess (are all women on Aitutaki this pretty?) who handed me a fresh coconut nui (the young green coconut) to drink - a fresh tingly flavour without any hint of the milkiness I was expecting. A waiting line up of staff, all beamed large smiles friendly welcoming faces I would get so used to over the next two years. I walked across the lobby and gazed out upon the most amazing sight… swaying palms, a white sand beach, waiters serving cocktails to guests lying lazily by the crystal clear infinity pool … Beautiful. That was almost two years ago and what an adventure it has been. I find it hard to remember a bad day … crazy sure, bad - no.
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Mallorca | Spain
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Total relaxation in Australia's
Hamilton Island Rachel Witham checked out how to totally escape it all - after all someone has to! Photos by Jason Loucas
Twenty minutes after landing on Hamilton Island and I’m lazing on the restaurant terrace, taking in the sweeping views of the ocean and golden beach that rolls down in front of me. The headache and rush of the city I’d left only a few hours before fades into a distant memory as I take another sip of my crisp sparkling wine. After months of anticipation, I had at last arrived at qualia (spelt with a lower case ‘q’ to reflect the understated 24 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
nature of the property), the island’s first ultra-luxurious resort. Shortly after disembarking our plane, we were greeted by impeccably turned out and super friendly qualia staff. We’re escorted to the complimentary limousine service, which transfers the small number of new guests the five minute journey to the northern most point of the island, where the chic 60 pavilion escape is located.
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Islands
Hamilton Island is wonderfully accessible from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, making it a perfect weekend escape from the city - allowing for minimal travel and maximum relaxation!
Article photos: Qualia, Hamilton Island
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We’re given a quick intro to the island by our young but knowledgeable escort, who informs us that Hamilton Island is 100% owned by the Oatley’s - an Australian family better known for their Rosemount Estate wines enterprise. Headed by Bob Oatley, the Oatley family is very much part of the day to day running of Hamilton Island and has undertaken a constant redevelopment of the island since purchasing it in 2004. Most recently the family has opened a new Yacht Club and the Hamilton Island Golf Course to further position the island as a leading luxury destination. Before we’ve had time to ask any questions, we arrive at the resort’s main entrance and are led to the Long Pavilion - the resort’s central focal point, which opens up to a dramatic vista of the Whitsundays. The holiday starts immediately as we’re presented with a glass of bubbles and handed the keys to our personal golf buggy (the customary form of transport throughout island),
before being whisked off to our private plunge pool villa. The over-18-only resort offers guests a choice of accommodation types, including the north-facing Windward Pavilions, with stunning ocean views and private plunge pools and the west-facing Leeward Pavilions, equipped with private sundecks and open-air cloudburst showers. Each pavilion is around four times the size of a standard hotel room with a timeless, nature-inspired interior of wood and earthy hues. The creme de la creme, however, is the $3,000-a-night Beach House with sweeping views over the Coral Sea, private guest pavilion, extensive entertaining area and private full-sized swimming pool. Visually, the luxury retreat blends seamlessly into the island’s tropical landscape. The Oatley’s were conscious of respecting and complimenting the natural beauty of the destination and the turquoise Whitsundays’ waters that surround it.
Hamilton island | australia
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Islands
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Hamilton island | australia
Designed by Australian architect, Chris Beckingham, qualia is exquisitely appointed and with a celebrity guest book that includes Oprah Winfrey, Dannii Minogue, designer Donna Karan, and actress Mischa Barton, it’s no wonder it is considered one of Australia’s leading luxury resorts. The onsite facilities also reflect the high caliber of visitors, with a private helipad for guests wishing to arrive privately, a 16ft sailing boat, a fashion boutique featuring labels such as Kenzo and Just Cavalli and a luxury spa, which I was more than happy to road test! Located amidst the resort’s pavilions, Spa Qualia is a serene destination spa specialising in total wellbeing with a focus on Australian practice and natural ingredients. The spa menu includes a long list of luxurious contemporary, traditional and indigenous treatments, including a number of unique LI’TYA rituals inspired by aboriginal dreamtime. 90 minutes after arriving at the spa, I left feeling re-energised, soothed and ready for my next sensory seduction at the resort’s fine-dining restaurant, the Long Pavilion. Seated at one of the restaurant’s prime positioned tables overlooking the Coral Sea, we dined on fabulous, freshly-caught seafood and sampled a selection of fine Oatley family wines. The restaurant’s menu is designed to satisfy the most sophisticated of taste buds, showcasing the finest local and national produce with seafood dishes taking precedence. We were also delighted to discover that the kitchen works on two main principles – organic where possible and always environmentally sustainable. Relaxed and rejuvenated at the end of our short weekend break, we boarded the short flight back to Sydney feeling frustrated about one thing only, that we hadn’t really explored the island beyond qualia’s 12 hectares of private grounds. But then there’s always next time!
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14 Indian Ocean
reasons to go
The pristine beaches of the Maldives are made for romantic holidays
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The Indian Ocean. If you close your eyes tightly enough, you can almost hear it lapping at the shores of some of countless exotic destinations. From sailing around the Seychelles to trekking the lost world of Madagascar, our Indian Ocean special has something for every taste and budget. But just in case you need that extra incentive, here are 14 reasons to go now by Lydia Bell
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Islands
This page: Mauritius has lots on offer for children as well as parents in need of time-out 32 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
Mauritius
Your kids will thank you Imagine a space just for kids, decorated with driftwood, nets, sea murals and pirate paraphernalia, where children can do anything that takes their fancy, from kite-making to cooking and karaoke (and that’s just the indoor activities). There’s a new kids’ club at One&Only Le Saint Geran, the grande dame of Mauritius where there is absolutely no chance your children will complain of boredom. The clubhouse is a thrill-packed den where every toy, game and piece of gadgetry is available. There’s outdoor stuff going on too, everything from banana-boating to surfing.
For the stars The blue waters of Broome in Western Australia offer all the bliss of the Indian Ocean along with the friendly and laidback ambience of Australia. Within easy reach of the rugged Kimberley region, the area provides every possible outback experience as an antidote to your average Indian Ocean break. Cable Beach, four miles out of town, is more than 13 miles long, and lapped with turquoise waters. It is a great place to indulge in a sunset camel ride, or even a 4WD trip at low tide. From March till October, you can witness a breathtaking natural phenomenon known as Staircase to the Moon when the full moon reflects off the mudflats at low tide and creates a beautiful illusion of stairs reaching to the moon.
For a luxe Robinson Crusoe vibe The chicest of the chic boutique hotels that are gathering on Mozambique’s Indian Ocean coast is Azura, a soothing melange of shaded cream and blue interiors, driftwood furniture and plunge-pool suites beloved of barefoot sophisticates. It is also one of the most socially responsible, as 40 per cent is owned by a local villager who ensures community initiatives are always on the boil - including new schools, employment training and marine conservation. The lodge is known for its food - freshest shellfish and sushi abound - and there’s now a blissful African-inspired spa.
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Islands
To go Creole Every year in October, the Seychelles play host to the oldest pan-Creole event in the world. Creole culture extends from Mauritius and the Seychelles to Cape Verde and as far afield as Louisiana and Haiti. Originally a word used to describe the patois and French spoken by those native to French colonial islands, it now describes the rich traditions and folklore of all Creole speakers. This is a great cultural event for a country that is often considered to be a wonderful tropical paradise and little else. The festival takes place in Praslin and MahiS and brings together dance, music, song and stories.
You get to dive with giant whales February in Kenya marks the beginning of whale-shark season (which lasts about a month). The Kenyan coast is one of the best places to come face-to-face with these magnificent creatures, the world’s largest sharks. Despite their intimidating size, they feed only on plankton and are harmless. Major dive sites are located at Diani Marine, Watamu Marine National Park and Malindi Marine National Park, tcsignature.com
To go where no one else does You probably haven’t heard of the Australiaowned Cocos Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, accessed bv a small plane that leaves Perth every Monday and Friday. There are no hordes, shopping centres or large resorts here. It is still a relaxed and uncomplicated affair involving hammocks, coconut palms and blue lagoons, and a jungle-like interior. The islands’ history is intriguing - until the late 70s they were owned by a British family, and were then purchased by the Australian government. Little to do but dive, snorkel, read and eat, and chat to the relaxed Malay locals.
Sun in style The very name Mauritius conjures up tropical luxury and lagoon suites. Its culture is a rich fusion of ethnicities: Indian, French, African, even Chinese are reflected in the atmospheric, busy towns such as Port Louis, and in the island’s lively music and cuisine. There are also lush rainforests to hike in but if you’re after a lazy, tropical sojurn, this is the place. Le Tousserok on Trou D’Eau Douce bay is a haven of thatch, timber and cool 34 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
The Cocos Islands were owned by a British family before being bought by the Australian government
indian ocean
white palettes, with its own island and luxuriant, tropi-colonial touches: giant banana plants and birdcages hanging from banyan trees. There’s a Givenchy spa, a kick-back bar and an array of private butlers to do your bidding. And the best bit? Family or loved-up couple, there’s something here for everyone. www.icsignature.com
To go really wild Discover giant snails, foot-long millipedes, lemurs and chameleons, bats and flying foxes, and albino crocodiles in Ankarana Reserve - a patch of secluded, dense tropical jungle in Madagascar. Wildlife is everywhere in this world of limestone pinnacles and ridges, caves and rivers. You’ll need a guide to reach the interior of the park. The trekking is tough and you’ll have to bring all food and equipment, but it’s worth it - it feels like a lost world. Just beware of the scorpions. Visit in the dry season (April-November). africansafariclub.com July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 35
Islands
You can island-hop in serious style Some people love nothing more than to check into a hotel, flop onto a sunlounger and forget about the world outside. Others want to immerse themselves in the surrounding environment. At the top end of the scale, if you book into the legendarily comfortable Banyan Tree in the Seychelles, you’ll get first dibs on its new 47ft twin hulled catamaran Banyan Lagoon I. The yacht will fit parties of four on overnight cruises, and is fully staffed by a personal host and skipper.
To tie the knot Arranging a wedding can be a complicated affair. To avoid becoming Bridezilla, you could always book the exquisite new Wedding Pavilion at the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, in the Maldives. Its South Asian architecture recalls the temples and shrines that dot the Maldivian landscape. Your wedding party will arrive via a long wooden pier. The romantic pavilion isopen-sided, supported by antique wooden columns, and has amazing panoramic views. I do! tcsignafure.com
Relaxing by the pool at Banyan Tree resort in the Seychelles 36 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
indian ocean
An oasis for relaxation
To mingle with the literati
Who needs luxury when you can walk in the forest, kayak in warm waters and swim with friendly elephants?
The most exotic writer’s festival on the literary circuit is Kwani Litfest, which starts in Nairobi every August and ends on the bohemian island of Lamu. It’s a fortnight of writerly events, with more than 40 African and international poets and writers appearing in panel discussions, readings, book launches, lunches and performances. 2013 will be its nine’s year.
comes in a million shades of blue, and swim in bath-warm waters. It’s generally considered somewhere to kick back after a safari, but it’s also a wonderful place in itself to come to and feel the sun on your back after a miserable British winter. Although increasingly popular, it’s managed to avoid mass tourism - not a plastic sunlounger in sight. Just beautiful dhows, dolphins and lodges replete with barefoot luxury.
To check out the ‘New Maldives’
For a cultural twist
Wild Radha Nagar, or Beach Number Seven as it’s otherwise known, is reputed to be the best stretch of sand in Asia, but it’s barely visited so you get smouldering volcanoes and jungle all to yourself. There’s not a lot going on in the Andamans, which are part of India, but physically closer to Thailand. The resorts are generally ecological rustic places hidden in the jungle with minimal facilities - but who needs luxury when you can walk in the forest, kayak in warm waters and swim with friendly elephants?
To drop out In Zanzibar, there’s not much to do but contemplate the sea and sky, which
Sunny, sleepy Sri Lanka is all romance: rich, green foliage and a mountainous interior studded with tea plantations; atmospheric and lively streets; resident elephants; wildlife-filled national parks; and ancient monuments. It’s also a stunning beach destination. The delightful fort town of Galle is UNESCOprotected, a relic of Dutch colonial history - almost any backstreet here is an adventure. The Lighthouse Hotel and Spa is perched on a hill, overlooking the Indian Ocean. It’s the perfect retreat from the liveliness of the old town and a day trip away from the beach. Uaigiiahire.com
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Viennese cuisine
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gastronomy
Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Sacher Torte and Kaiserschmarren: these are just a few of the instantly recognizable and world-famous staples of Viennese cuisine. Each dish perfectly illustrates how different culinary influences come together in the city.
V
ienna is probably the only city in the world to have lent its name to a particular style of cooking. The recipe behind the success of Viennese cuisine is extraordinarily simple: all you have to do is take the very best culinary traditions from Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Italy and the Balkans and blend them together to make some unusual dishes. In fact, the roots of many quintessentially “Viennese” specialties can be traced back to neighboring countries, which is hardly surprising given that Vienna was the heart of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy for centuries – a union which brought together countless cultures with their own unique culinary identities. The capital’s location – close to Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia – and the presence of exceptionally gifted female cooks from all over the empire in well-to-do Viennese households saw the city’s cuisine take on a distinctly Eastern European flavor. Hungary contributed goulash, as well as the strudel, which it in turn had borrowed from Turkey. Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, contributed many of the city’s pastries (known as Mehlspeisen). In line with Bohemian tradition, heavy, sweet dishes such as pancakes and apricot dumplings are often served as a main course. The jewel in the Viennese culinary crown, the Wiener Schnitzel, is rumored to have reached the Austrian capital from Istanbul via Venice and Milan.
The taste of Vienna Viennese cuisine is famous for its clear soups, which are traditionally served as a starter. The broth is usually made from a tasty beef, bone and vegetable stock that is simmered for hours. Various extras are then added such as Frittaten (thinly sliced savory pancakes) and Griessnockerl (semolina dumplings). Wiener Schnitzel is a tender flat veal cutlet, coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and pan-fried in butter and oil to a perfect golden brown. It is usually served with boiled potatoes and a side salad (e.g. cucumber, tomato or green salad). Tafelspitz is another traditional favorite. A slow-boiled, tender cut of beef is served with a staggering array of side dishes such as apple and horseradish, chive sauce, green beans with dill, creamed spinach, and Erdäpfelschmarren (plain boiled potato pieces fried in butter or lard). Goulash can be found on the menu at every self-respecting Viennese restaurant. To make this authentic 40 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
Hungarian ragout-style stew, braising beef is cut into large chunks, fried with onions and seasoned with sweet paprika powder (ground dried red peppers) before being simmered until soft. Viennese cuisine has a particular soft spot for offal, which crops up in dishes such as Beuschel (a ragout made from heart and lungs) and pan-fried or breaded liver. And then there is the humble sausage, which is best enjoyed at one of the city’s ubiquitous sausage stands – located all over the Austrian capital, they bear witness to the city’s enduring love affair with all things meat.
Where to find authentic Viennese cuisine Good quality Viennese cuisine can be found all over the city, from award-winning five-star restaurants to the most simple and unpretentious of eateries – the traditional Beisl or pub/restaurant being a classic example. Seen in restaurant names all over Vienna, the term Beisl is thought to be derived from the Yiddish word bajiss meaning house. Typically, a Viennese Beisl will have a large bar area where the wine is chilled and draught beer is poured. More often than not it will feature dark, stained wood paneling, simple tables and chairs, and a mixed clientele. The Beisl has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years and has found its niche on the city’s urban restaurant scene as a down-toearth place to enjoy great food. Its continued success comes courtesy of the legendary cozy atmosphere found in a traditional Viennese Beisl, plus the readiness of the people that own them to adapt well-loved dishes to people’s changing tastes.
Addresses: Café Sacher, Philharmonikerstrasse 4, 1010 Vienna, www.sacher.com Demel, Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Vienna, www.demel.at Altmann & Kühne, Graben 30, 1010 Vienna, www. altmann-kuehne.at Xocolat Manufaktur, Servitengasse 5, 1090 Vienna, www.xocolat.at Manner Shop, Stephansplatz 7/corner of Rotenturmstrasse, 1010 Vienna, www.manner.com
Viennese Cuisine. Photos by Robert Osmark and Peter Rigaud
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gastronomy
Coffee, Cake and Literature: The Viennese Coffeehouse For visitors to the city it is an attraction, for locals a second home, and for artists and literati an institution: the Viennese Coffeehouse. Viennese coffeehouse culture was officially added to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in 2011. Coffeehouses in Vienna are much more than just places to drink coffee – they are a way of life. The city boasts in excess of 800 of them – in addition to the numerous café bars, café restaurants and pizza cafés throughout the city. Around 150 are classic coffeehouses, where the waiters are still dressed in black, and the décor is as unpretentious as it was in the ‘good old days’: wooden floors, marbletopped tables, and seating that is simple and plush. Every ‘scene’ in Vienna has its own café: workers at the ministries have Café Ministerium on Georg-Coch-Platz, art students Prückel at Stubenring, and politicians Landtmann at Universitätsring. The coffeehouse is a place for philosophizing, meditating, idling, reading the newspaper, gossiping, canoodling, playing billiards or chess, discussing everything under the sun with strangers – and, of course, enjoying coffee and cakes. The great novelist Heimito von Doderer wrote in 1960 that Vienna was “a city of Roman origin aspiring to the Mediterranean”. To him this explained why the atmosphere in a Viennese café was one of “meditative quiet and idle passing of time” familiar to anyone who had visited an Oriental or Turkish café.
Tradition and Turmoil However, such an ambience is less prevalent in the city’s most popular coffeehouses. Griensteidl on Michaelerplatz is a former meeting place for literati, which was reopened in new premises on the original site in 1990. It lies directly on the HofburgKohlmarkt-Graben-Stephansplatz tourist route, making it a good place for visitors to Vienna to rest their feet and enjoy a hot pick-me-up. Café Central in Herrengasse, whose large columned hall was painstakingly restored in 1986, is just 100 meters further down the street as you head towards the university and Votive Church. 42 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
Photos in article: Viennese coffeehouses. By Peter Rigaud
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gastronomy
Both establishments can look back on a long tradition. The atmosphere in the “old” Griensteidl was legendary. For 50 intensive years, from 1847 to 1897, the café in the former Palais Dietrichstein was Vienna’s most famous cultural “institution”. There was hardly a writer, actor, critic, architect or musician of note in this fin-desiècle world who did not frequent it. The main pioneers of Viennese Modernism were present practically in their entirety: Hermann Bahr, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Karl Kraus, Hugo Wolf, Fritz Kreisler, Arnold Schoenberg and many more. A “compact system of energy circles”, wrote Edward Timms, from which an “astonishingly creative energy” emanated. In 1897, Griensteidl was demolished. With a nostalgic and an ironic regard, Karl Kraus lamented in Die demolierte Literatur: “Our literature has entered into a period of homelessness; the thread of literary production has been cruelly cut.” Fortunately, other cafés continued to exist. The regulars at the Griensteidl simply moved to Café Central.
Stammtisch Code of Conduct Today the poet Peter Altenberg – or at least a papier-mâché version of him – still presides over Café Central in Herrengasse. In the first third of the 20th century this was the eccentric bohemian’s postal address and where he had his Stammtisch (“regulars’ table”), meeting up with Adolf Loos, one of the most important Modernist architects, his wife Lina, the actor and essayist Egon Friedell and the writer Alfred Polgar. Altenberg, whose short prose pieces and sketches, once described by Egon Friedell as “thousand section magazines full of small and miniscule observations”, even established rules – albeit not to be taken too seriously – for his regular Stammtisch. For example: “It is forbidden to cut one’s nails at the table, even with one’s own 44 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
old-style personal scissors, but particularly with the new-fangled nail cutters, as the cuttings could land in a beer glass and would be very difficult to extricate.” It is at one of these tables that the 20-year-old Caroline Obertimpfler (pen name Lina Loos) is said to have spontaneously accepted the proposal of marriage by Adolf Loos, twelve years her senior. Her later celebrated Buch ohne Titel, contained articles, sketches and recollections holding a mirror up to this fin-de-siècle generation. Today the atmosphere in Café Central is businesslike, bourgeois and cultivated. During the week it is frequented by staff of nearby banks. At weekends, tourists, genteel old ladies and retired civil servants join the papier-mâché poet and listen reverently to the piano player. Another favorite meeting place of the big names of turn-of-the-century Vienna (Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Joseph Roth, Karl Kraus, Georg Trakl, Elias Canetti, Hermann Broch, Robert Musil, Leo Perutz, Alban Berg, Franz Lehár, Oscar Strauss and Otto Wagner) is Café Museum, which first opened its doors in 1899 in a prime location by Naschmarkt and the Secession building. The original, pared down interior was created by Adolf Loos, who would go on to become a regular. Featuring Thonet pieces, it provided a striking contrast to the historicist fashions of the day, earning it the tag of Café Nihilismus. In 1931 the interior was replaced by Josef Zotti, who although one of the most successful of all Josef Hoffmann’s students has today faded into obscurity. After several closures and a number of redesigns the café reopened in 2010 with the Zotti design concept restored.
A Naked Man and Self-Delusion Another traditional café in the 1st district is Café Hawelka. Its popularity and arty image go back to the post-war years when Hans
vienna | austria
Weigel, himself a writer, promoter of talent and cultural institution, chose the tiny coffeehouse run by Leopold and Josefine Hawelka as his home from home. The reason was simple: it was open until midnight. Following the death of Josefine in 2005 the café upheld the legendary tradition of serving fresh baked Buchteln (a bohemian specialty) every day at 9 p.m. On December 29 2011 Leopold Hawelka passed away in his 101th year, having spent a couple of hours in his café virtually every day up until a short time before his death. Hans Weigel’s example was soon followed by other writers, artists and intellectuals – “on the snowball or avalanche principle” (Weigel). In the 1950s and 1960s Café Hawelka became the home of the anti-bourgeois oppositional artist movement. It was a public meeting place for individualists, an ideas exchange and an island of unconventionality. It is little wonder that the naked man in Georg Danzer’s song Jö, schau doesn’t raise an eyebrow in Café Hawelka. Many literati used to meet regularly at Hawelka and the Vienna group – H.C. Artmann, Konrad Bayer, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener – used to spend long nights there. Artmann said of the small, smoke-filled establishment in Dorotheergasse that without it “much would have remained undone, unsaid or even unthought of”. The great novelist Heimito von Doderer also felt at home there. André Heller visited the café for the first time at the age of 14 and, as he wrote in 1982, immediately molded his behavior. He fantasized and made up stories like there was no tomorrow – from writing to travel – and by all accounts with great credibility. “Later I often had the feeling,” said Heller, “that these first minutes of my acquaintanceship with the Buchteln paradise already had all the main ingredients for future Hawelka nights: story telling, self-deceit, the urge to reminisce, criticize and stylize. The ground floor of Dorotheergasse 6 was filled with people who did not keep their own promises. […] Yet the gracious waiter took his guests to be what they vainly aspired to be. Fantasy and reality were all one for him – and he was just as incapable of imagining his guests as inhabitants of a real, fug-free world as they were of imaging him without his jacket and greasespecked bowtie.” July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 45
Hawelka is no longer fuggy thanks to the smoking ban which was enforced despite protests by regulars and the Hawelka family’s failed attempt to secure listed status for the café’s atmosphere., Its clientele has also changed. Although the tables are now filled with students and tourists, the atmosphere between the thick layers of posters on the walls, the telephone booth and worn-out plush benches remains unique. And the hot fresh Buchteln (jam-filled yeast cakes) at 10 p.m. are not to be missed.
Home from Home After the great lull in the coffeehouse tradition in the 1960s and 1970s, many cafés were restored to their former glory in the subsequent 20 years, including such well known establishments as Schwarzenberg at Kärntner Ring and Landtmann. Other old Viennese cafés reinvented themselves as contemporary espresso bars, much to the delight of the young and fashionable. 46 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
Café Drechsler on Naschmarkt is an outstanding example of how to marry tradition with a stylish and modern atmosphere. Drechsler opened its doors for the very first time in 1919 and was sympathetically remodeled in 2007 by star British architect Sir Terence Conran to create a Vienna coffee house for the 21st century. Open until midnight during the first half of the week, and round the clock from Thursday 8 a.m. to Midnight on Sunday, instead of the customary pianist visitors will be treated to live DJ music several nights a week. Coffeehouses might have changed, but the reasons for visiting them have remained the same. As Stefan Zweig wrote in Die Welt von gestern, the café is still “a democratic club where a cup of coffee can be had cheaply and where for this pittance every guest can sit, discuss, write, play cards, receive mail and, above all, consume an unlimited number of newspapers and magazines for hours on end.” The café becomes a home from home where you are alone and yet in company.
In Wittgensteins Neffe Thomas Bernhard described his love for the coffeehouse in his own incomparable fashion: “I have always hated the typical Viennese café – as it is known throughout the world – because everything in it is against me. On the other hand, for decades I felt completely at home in Bräunerhof, which was always strictly against me (like Hawelka), and in Café Museum and other Viennese coffeehouses.”
The Alternative Coffee Scene In Vienna there is always room for fresh ideas in amongst all of the dyed-in-the-wool coffeehouse tradition. Alternative coffeehouses that are a far cry from the typical marble tables, Thonet chairs and liveried waiters are booming in the city. One such example is Kaffeefabrik on Favoritenstrasse in the fourth district. This small, quirkily decorated store sells roasts from its private roastery using beans sourced from all over the world, as well as coffee to go. Akrap Espressobar in Königsklostergasse also
has its own roastery, only this time it’s in Milan. The finished product is available in countless different varieties including the caffeine packed Triple Shot. People On Caffeine have set up shop in a highly unusual location a wing of a church in the eighth district. Here, customers can enjoy coffee underneath the historic vaulted ceilings from a classic espresso machine or according to the latest fashion, made using old fashioned drip filters. In Servitengasse, an idyllic side street in the ninth district, Caffè a Casa offers products from its own roastery. Espressomobil follows a completely different business model having reduced the coffeehouse format to a three-wheeled Italian moped. These mobile coffeeshops park up at some of the city’s busiest squares, switch on the coffee machines and serve up premium coffee to take away.
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Prague Castle and Charles Bridge 48 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
THE GOLDEN CITY Prague revisited Š Walter Roggeman photos by Prague Information Service
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Destination
Courts and palaces
Statue at Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle
Prague Castle
At least once a year I want to be in Prague one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe. Prague has become a personal addiction for me and even for a weekend I find it worthwhile to go. But of course you will want to stay longer. Let’s make a walk along a number of ‘highlights’
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For a first walk, or to renew your acquaintance with the city, I suggest to start our walk at the Strahov Monastery, the highest and most ideal spot for a civilized walk down the Castle Hill (Hradcany). This will bring you along a number of enchanting places but first of all, make sure you visit the library of this Monastery which is the most famous of the whole country and one of the most important ‘cultural silos’ of Europe. A couple of hundred meters further, you can make a stop at the first brown pub you encounter and indulge in a good old Prague tradition by drinking a glass of the famous Czech beer Pilsner Urquel, accompanied by a glass of the equally famous herb liquor Becherovka… Prague is now tangibly present in your body and soul. Our walk goes further down, past the famous Loreta church to reach the Prague Castle (Hradshin), the spot where the city began in the 9th century. In the course of the following centuries (mainly under the Habsburg dynasty) it has become the largest palace complex in Europe. Since the independence of the Czech Republic in 1918, it is the seat of the president. Every hour you can admire the ‘Changing of the Guard’. Via two successive courtyards you will reach the St.Vituscathedral, a gotic masterpiece built in the 14th century by the famous architect Peter Parler. Further down we walk through the Golden Lane, the most picturesque street of Prague. Every tourist stops at number 22 where the famous writer Franz Kafka lived during the first World War. Further down we admire the splendid baroque St.Nicolaschurch and the Wallenstein palace, which nowadays is the seat of the Senate. You cannot visit the interior but do have a look at the marvelous garden adorned by a number of beautiful statues.
A bridge for all seasons We now reach the mythical river Moldau and the more than 500 meters wide Charles Bridge. As the name indicates, the bridge was built on command of Charels IV, the most famous king of the country (second half of the 14th century). The bridge is like an open air museum of super sized statues. Kings and emperors crossed it on their way to their crowning ceremony or much later…their burial. The Charles Bridge is the zenith of Prague visited daily by thousands of Prague people and tourists from all over the world. On the other side of the river lies the ‘Stare Mesto’ the old town where we, after a short walk, reach the town square crowded with tourists admiring the churches, palaces and splendid baroque façades. In the middle of the market and in front of the shiny Kinsky palace there is a dark sculpture
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Prague Castle
Old Town Square and Tyn Churc
Castle guards Old Town Water Tower
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We cannot say goodbye without mentioning the Municipal House, Prague’s most prominent Jugendstil building dating from just before the first World War. It features many different things like an exquisite tavern (one of my favourites), several restaurants and a unique concert hall where I had the privilege of listening to Anna Bortlovà, singing Mozart’s requiem. What else can you dream of? The Municipal House is also a most important historical spot where, on October 28, 1918, the independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed Let’s make a final jump to our nowadays world by just crossing the street where you will discover the ‘Palladium’, the newest and most impressive shopping center of Prague!
The Belly of the City
Prague Astronomical Clock group devoted to Jan Huss, the great church reformer who was burnt alive on that spot. Bohemia never forgot him and ‘his’ Tyn church is still there, only a few meters away. Leave the market place by the Celetnà, a street full of baroque wealth but also with the most beautiful cubistic monument of the city: the house of the black Madonna. At last we now reach the Powder Tower a medieval town gate where in reality the Royal Road used to start. It was probably clear to you that we did it in the opposite way: going downhill… more comfortable and in line with the Prague soul: slightly contrary. 52 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
It’s impossible to make even the slightest survey of the many hundreds of restaurants and taverns in Prague but let me give you a few personal tips. - The ‘Slavia’ one of the most famous taverns of the city is located in the Narodni (National Street). This is not just a tavern but a respectable institution cherished by every citizen including the former president Vaclav Havel who had his reserved table here, with a view on the Moldau. Still relatively cheap considering the quality you get. - ‘U Dvou Kocek’ (the two cats) is a popular tavern not far from the Slavia in the Perlova neighbourhood. - ‘Hotel Europa’ on the Wenceslas Square 25 (Vàclavské Nàmesti). On this ‘Champs Elysées of Prague you will find a number of restaurants but this one is the top. Moreover, Hotel Europa is one of the most beautiful Jugendstil buildings in the city and a real ‘m’as tu vu?’ place. “The Palffy Palace” (Valdstejnska 14 – tel 257 53 05 22). For me the ‘nec plus ultra’ of the restaurants with a soul that I know in Prague. In view of the limited capacity it is recommended to book your place in advance. Along stately stairs you will reach the restaurant on the first floor. The rooms with high ceilings are adorned with stucco. The nostalgia of past glory is completed by the joy of excellent food and perfect service. An irresistible offer.
If you only knew that in the Czech Republic even the buildings dance, you could already be caught up in their rhythm. There is a reason why Prague is often called a text book of architecture. A thousand years of history has given the city priceless monuments in styles ranging from the Romanesque to the ultramodern. You will find them on virtually every corner. As you wander through the atmospheric lanes of Prague’s historical centre, across the Charles Bridge and up to the ancient seat of power at Prague Castle, each house, each building along the way will share its story with you – tales about Kafka, Mozart, Faust, or the legendary dance duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And because Prague is also a pulsing metropolis with a thriving urban nightlife, you can live out your own Prague story to a contemporary beat.
Prague
stories.czechtourism.com
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natural Lithuania 54 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
lithuania
Text by Malgozata Kosevska, photos by State Republic of Lithuania Department of Tourism
One of the most interesting contemporary Lithuanian territory the cultural trait is a deep-rooted paganism. Before Christianity existed predominant lifestyle, model, knowledge and faith in one. Balts paganism formed in primitive society times (approximately 2500m.BC) at the end of Early Stone Age, in the food collecting and hunting conditions, and lasted until the adoption of Lithuania Christianity 1387. In this way, Lithuania became the longest tenured pagan side throughout Europe. The oldest Lithuanian religious images formed of vegetable and other food collecting and hunting, later- agriculture farm matriarchal conditions where the major manufacturers, the creator of culture, ritual performer was a woman. The main feature of the religion was nature worship. Worshiped trees, animals, birds, fire, and water. Eventually led to believe that each of these objects has its own host - the manager. At that time, women have emerged and developed pantheon of goddesses, where the most important place occupied the Great Mother and the Mother Earth goddess. All goddesses had their activities related to the primitive conceptions of space, humanity, wildlife, vegetation origin, development, connection to fertility and the fertility cult. They knew the sky, earth, water, fire, air and so on. One of them took care of mankind, animals, vegetation birth, existence and death. Otherwise goddesses activity was the fertility of the universe and the lives of the endless living world maintaining through a permanent born and deaths change. Spread belief that the dead original mother embodied animals, usually the former totem. They are moving to live in the serpents, snakes, birds and live in this form in tribal territory, cottage or home. They take care of household assets, land fertility, female fertility, care of children, endeavor. These original mothers-animals people respected, cared, nurtured, raised the feast in their honor. At the same time, the formation of female supernatural beings who lived in the territory of the tribe in the forests, or waters. Matriarchal period was designed to link the cult of deities art, goddesses symbols, rituals for them, all this sowing closely with the myths of the part of ancient magical tales, the small folklore, living language. July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 55
Lithuania has unusual places important for knowledge of nature and significant history of science, and most importantly, inspiring places: picturesque, legendary, sacred and historical.
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Later came a time when the production was based on arable farming and livestock depending on the most important manufacturer of men's and strict patriarchal communities in order. During this period, men were created the gods, one supreme god idea and the patriarchal gods became lords. Part of the female goddesses were made men, the other part has lost its old meaning. Largely supplanted goddesses and rituals for them. The coming of Christianity, some pagan gods were identified as Christian saints, attributed to demons or witches and fortune tellers. Archaic pagan cult element remained Christian festivals, often linked to the cult of Mary. That has helped to reconstruct the incoming depths of thousands of Lithuanians worldview.
Balts religious revival began in Lithuania in the nineteenth century, and even the eighteenth century various sources report pagan life in the countryside. Old ancestral belief persisted in various forms - folk songs, customs, folk art. The landscape consists of the natural and human impacted landscapes. Particularly interesting the human actions that were inspired by nature. These are of course traces of pagan cult characters to get to know the country's natural and cultural heritage as an integral, an interesting and attractive nature, past and present cultural whole. Lithuania has unusual places important for knowledge of nature and significant history of science, and most importantly, inspiring places:
picturesque, legendary, sacred and historical. In these places makes you want to stay longer, touch wood, drink from life and health-giving mineral springs water source to accompany with eyes the sun, take the memory and return many more times. Here everywhere are places where stands millions of years stiffed outcrop and cloven just opened up sinkholes, which runs the annual bird migration routes, live turtles and spread juniper where immense bottomless lakes and wetlands. Ancient castles, and through swamps leads secret paths, the majestic mounds reminds ancestors. The surprising are the ensembles of talented developers, peace and blessings provide the sacred places.
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10 reasons to visit
Lithuania
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lithuania
1.Sincere communication There are a lot of friendly communities, especially in cities of Pagėgiai, Veliuona or Tauragė. I don‘t always feel comfortable to communicate with unknown people, but these cities were like home for me. The small communities are willing to do unselfish deeds for unknown people just because they want to have a good time and they still hasn't lost their natural skills of communication. 2.Opportunity to associate with succesful people There are lithuanians who can also be succesful in spheres such as business, sports and many more. They can inspire others by sharing their great ideas and turn your mind upside down to make you a succesful person too. 3.Honest service Whatever place we had visited in Lithuania, we were amazed by the honesty and hospitality of people, but there is one special place called „Ventainė“. As we were sleeping by the sea shore, we were lost in admiration by the view, so we went to sleep very late. Woken up early in the morning we were all mad and frowned. However, by the breakfast table we were met by two waitresses with very honest smiles on their faces, which made us all forget our beasts of sleep and anger. We felt that we started to smile ourselves as well as enjoy food and honest service.
for you by young and ambitious chef, but what‘s most important – during your holiday time you can cure yourself in cure programmes after which you will feel fully relaxed and become much more healthy. 6.New ideas and inovations Tauragė has a lot of inovations and is a city of the future. It has an industrial park, where not only enterprises from Lithuania, but also from abroad are established. There are over 100 bussiness capital enterprises and all the possibilities for new ones to be created. It is exceptionally green city, which uses a lot of energy from renewable sources. 7.A perfect place for dreamers Ventė is a perfect place for dreamers. The morning starts with tasty breakfast, which is served by forever-smiling waitresses. As the day goes you listen to the owner of „Ventainė“ who tells his stories about where he has been
and which makes you want to travel all over the world. Also you know that you can‘t leave if you haven‘t seen a lonely lighthouse from where you can see other, uknown shores. Than you come back home, tired but happy. Because you see red sun, which was following you all day long, and which is now going to sleep. To the sea. 8.Celebrating St John's Eve Pagėgiai has a tradition to celebrate Joninės on the hill of Rambynas. Very nice concert is shown here and probably nobody could resist going there. The stage where various musicians are playing and little more further – a place where you can relax if you are tired. A place where you can see true nature - the lower reaches of the river Nemunas, its shores and also towers of Sovetskas on the other side of the river. When you have enjoyed a good music and fantastic views, a big bonfire of St John's Eve is waiting for you.
4.Nature It is said that everything‘s already made, inventions is what already have been forgotten for a long time. Then, you just need to remember- when was the last have you been in the nature? No, not in the park or zoo. I‘m talking about real nature, not tamed, not affected, just a little bit of cherish. If you want to feel real, untouched nature, visit Lithuania. 5.Curative mineral springs If you want to feel heaven – visit Royal Residence in Birštonas. It has pleasant service, very tasty food, which can be made specially July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine 59
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9.History Lithuania has a very rich history. Having one of the oldest languages in the world, lithuanians can also be proud of the achievments of their ancestors and people, who lived in the past. Historical personalities, battles and attainments can also be inspiry for people in the present. 10. Feel Birštonas barefoot If you really want to have something to remember and tell your grandchildren, you shouldn‘t be afraid of looking crazy and weird to others and try to feel the city of Birštonas by your bare feet. We have felt it by ourselves. When walking through the Central Park of Birštonas we felt good and bad things – starting with soft grass and little warm rocks and finishing with sweating and sighing when going through cones and hot sharp rocks. When we were tired, we got ourselves back when wading in Nemunas. Did you believe if I said that we found a cow on the mound of Vytautas and tried to milk it? I know, it‘s incredible to believe, but key to finding Birštonas is walking barefoot.
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Meridianas 2012 m. rugpjūtis Nr.1
2
auto UAB „Klaipėdos omoja nu “ as rk pa busų pato ir us komfortabili lio ke s su bu to gius au į ir ą nėms po Lietuv užsienį. Informacija 45 tel. (8 46) 4115
2009 metais per rekordiškai trumpą laiką Klaipėdoje pastatyta moderniausia ir komfortiškiausia autobusų stotis Lietuvoje
UAB „Klaipėdos autobusų parkas“ – daugiau nei pusę amžiaus sėkmingai teikia reguliarias keleivių pervežimo paslaugas Klaipėdos mieste, priemiestyje, tarpmiestiniuose bei tarptautiniuose maršrutuose.
Tai didžiausia keleivinio transporto paslaugų bendrovė Klaipėdoje ir viena didžiausių tokios specializacijos įmonių Lietuvoje. Nepriklausomų Lietuvos transporto ekspertų grupė rinkimuose „Lietuvos
UAB „Klaipėdos autobusų parkas“ pirmieji Lietuvoje pradėjo keleivius vežti gamtinėmis dujomis varomais autobusais
transporto lyderiai‘ 2011“, globojamuose Lietuvos Respublikos susisiekimo ministerijos, bendrovei „Klaipėdos autobusų parkas“ skyrė titulą „Metų keleivių vežėjas‘ 2011“.
Šiuo metu UAB „Klaipėdos autobusų parkas” turi 116 autobusų, bendrovėje dirba apie 360 darbuotojų. Per metus pervežama apie 14 mln. keleivių.
Autobusų stoties informacija (8 46) 411547
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Culture
OSIRIS IS MY HOST (II)
Mystical Museum Text and photos by Patrick Perck Per©kamentje
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is an absolute must. Same feeling as in the Louvre in Paris: you start highly motivated for a detailed examination of the first few masterpieces and eventually run from one hall and corridor to the other, running up and down staircases, past and round every bay-window. Realising that the two half days you planned were only a fraction of the time that was really needed. This museum crammed with mummies, graves, jewels and artefacts founded by the French archaeologist and Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, is now located at Midan el-Tahrir. You can’t miss. It’s the final stop of ninety per cent of all city busses. All roads lead to Mariette’s Museum. Moreover, Tahrir Square became famous to all Egyptians and all the other inhabitants of this planet since the revolution regularly mentioned the name on the news. It is preferable to examine this collection of curiosities in several stages. Camera and flash are not allowed although an exception may be obtained for the camera. Never for the flash. The third mummy to the left was digitally saved for posterity by my co-traveller with a superb flash burst. Oops, forgot to switch off the flash… Four interrogations by security guards, ten minutes later and still gasping for breath we were stripped from our film and memory card and were allowed to carry on our historical quest. “And nevertheless I’m quite sure I switched off the flash”, my- fellow traveller maintained against all good reason… Buy a good guide and strong but lightweight running shoes. The guide puts everything in 62 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
the right chronological order. Which was not done by the museum.. It’s all in a jumble. True to the pattern of Flemish villages, everything quite erratically arranged. The disadvantage is that you have to train for the marathon to have a peek at object seven in hall ten and then object nine in hall three. However, still worth the sweat and blisters. It’s all so gripping. A dog is watching you: true to life and quite vicious too. Eyes almost glazed. Chafing wound can easily be detected on fur from the last heroic fight between tick and nit. He had been staring like that for almost four thousand years, though. (since Christ and back). Richly decorated sarcophagus with ivory inlay decorations of pyramid builders Khefren and Kheops. Treasures of queen Hetepheres (the mother of Kheops), a golden masterpiece of “He who works for Egypt-Air” (Horus with the falcon head)… It makes you humble and silent, in the days that in our regions caverns were dwellings and flints the epitome of luxury and trendiness the Egyptians were already living on the basis of a horoscope (remember Horus) and a calendar that was accurate to two days in five thousand years…The history of Egypt with all its symbols and personification, is unveiled here before your eyes. Upper Egypt becomes ‘lotus’ and ‘papyrus’ stands for Lower-Egypt. “Holding cross with rounded top before nose or mouth” is the symbol of life (life sign of Ankh). Gods are represented with animal heads. I already mentioned Horus (with the falcon head). He was the son of Isis and Osiris and personified the unification of the kings. Amun, the king of fertility was given a ram’s head, while Anubis as god of tombs and
Egypt
embalming was appropriately given a jackal (dog-like creature). Bastet (goddess of cats) was the peace-loving counterpart of the lioness Sakhmet. Descendants of Eve had to manage with their goddess Bes. Small wonder she was represented as a midget. O heroic cult of gods, Whither have you gone? The treasures of Tuthankamun are quite spectacularly unforgettable. As a confirmed believer in the next world his body had to and would remain unscathed at all cost, after the loss of the Akh sign of life. Embalming simply was not enough. These Kleenex tissues ended up in three sarcophagi which in turn were dumped into a catafalque or raised bier, with a second, a third and a fourth on top of it. All the above is gold-plated, just to have some change in the life hereafter. Impressively enormous. Today we even remove the brass handles of our coffins before they disappear in the microwave. Recycling is trendy and modern! Nevertheless, there are some empty niches, missing statues and empty plinths. During the latest revolution some revolutionary fanatics took advantage of the confusion to quickly snatch some historic masterpieces, just to make sure they had gathered enough swops to buy some tanks and grenades. Egypt is still having some teething problems.
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Culture
A place of worship in historical perspective Put the loose days between visits to museums and pyramids to good use for a lazy walk around Africa’s busiest capital. The dawn of the day… when the air and the land are still fresh. Let this natural phenomenon invite you to try and climb the hill of the Citadel. The roof-part overlooks the lower part of the city from all angles. The Citadel is the hypermarket of the buildings of worship and culture. This are, which was originally located outside the city and was called El-Askar, was incorporated as private autonomous territory by Ibn Tulun - the then Turkish governor - as an extralegal career spin-off (such budget management techniques even today still are no unusual exceptions in this sweet dark chocolate continent). A new status comes with new quarters. So he and his offspring built a citadel on the hilltop of Jechkar, after quite simply having flattened the Christian and Jewish cemeteries there. We are in the year 1179 and the European Treaty of Human Rights and Maastricht do not yet belong to the political landscape and besides territorial expansion is as old as man himself. You are now in the middle of Islamist Cairo and as a well-informed visitor you choose to visit the Mosque of Mohamed Ali. While you climb you are convincing yourself that a mosque is not a Muslim church. We see a church as the “House of God”. The Muslims consider a mosque as a gathering place for the faithful where both political and religious issues are discussed. Sort of like the discussions that take place in the village pub on Sundays before and after high mass, almost like a pub but then one 64 July 2013 Event Tourism Magazine
without beer. Quite naturally famous extremists come here to call for an armed battle. The house of Mohamed in Medina is a textbook example of such an architectural creation with its round and open circular inner courtyard giving access to several rooms, alternating with all kinds of arcades and flanked by pencil-shaped turrets and minarets. Mohamed Ali, unequalled in his bloodthirstiness and appointed by Napoleon himself as a puppet in Egypt, knew how to join pleasure and practical life. To get rid of the Mamluks he invited some five hundred of their tribal heads to a grand feast. When everyone was present they started wining and dining during their… last supper. All but one were decapitated and impaled, before they could finish their desert. Only one Mamluk escaped. Someone had to be left over to write the full story for the future textbooks. The namesake of America’s most famous boxer was not going to reap great joy from his blood collections. For the rest of his days he was going to be plagued by nightmares. Liquid food including tap water would appear to be blood and totally undrinkable to him. At least Jesus changed water in an Appellation Premier Grand Cru. The mosque Ali had ordered to build, also called the Alabaster mosque, has two pencil-shaped minarets and superb styling. Before you walk in you have to take off your shoes, put your cape on and wash both hands and feet. After all we must meet Allah clean and pure. Cross the inner court yard presto as the floor has reached baking temperatures and our little toes are not used to these deep-frying temperatures. Once inside
Egypt
the sanctuary the short rush proved to have been worth the effort. Carpets, mats and rugs many years old, lie everywhere. Walls and columns decorated with marble and alabaster (hence the pet name of the mosque) . Majestic and impressive chandeliers and lamps are everywhere. There is no time to get into trance to reflect on meditation and Nirvana as you are constantly and relentlessly approached by the omnipresent guides. This is how I learn that my wife must walk underneath one of the two Minbars or pulpits as the wish she mumbles at that particular moment will certainly come true, with a six months’ guarantee. The deadline is past already and I never got any wiser as my wife, who did not change a bit in any respect, simply refuses to tell me what she wished nor for whom the wish was intended. I doubt if the Commercial Practices Act is current practice over there. Although you visited this mosque you would not dream of comparing it with other mosques. Cairo by itself has over 400. If you wish to visit one per week the Ministry of Tourism will give you a discount. Do not forget to visit the ablution fountain in the inner courtyard of the Alabaster shrine. The mosque is built on the highest spot in Cairo which makes it very easy for the enemy to dry you out. Time is‌ thirsty. Reason enough to build a subterranean water network with a direct link to the Nile, which is miles away. To think I always believed that water could not stream upwards. Invisible and silent pumping systems are pretty efficient although they have reached a respectable age. Modern architects can still learn something from this.
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