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It’s time for a break. Easter is over and the summer is not too far away (so maybe you should start planning ahead). Whether it’s for a long weekend, valuable family time or to just mop up some of your holiday leave, our supplement explores some of the more interesting holiday choices
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ower airfares, new routes and the beauty of spring make Europe an ideal destination choice for a quick getaway. With the weather looking up, we look at some of the most enjoyable destinations on the map. For those whose wanderlust desires something a little further afield, Lower airfares and better you can also read about the attracweather make the coming choices of Istanmonths an ideal time to get tive bul, Jordan and the away Maldives. As with all non-EU travel, always be sure to check up on the visa fine print when you choose your destination. Happy travels. Budapest Budapest has recently become one of the most popular destinations in Europe. Maybe this is due to the city’s borrowed glamour from Vienna or its “jazz” character taken from Prague, or even a strong, “mystical” charm found in other cities of Central Europe. The Danube splits Budapest in two, the conservative and imperial Buda on
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one side of the river and cosmopolitan Pest on the other. So it is really like visiting two different cities. The easiest way to move about and get your bearings is to use the bridges as a point of reference. As you cross the Széchenyi bridge (Chain Bridge), you will find yourself in Buda on the western side of the river, which is ideal for sightseeing. Most tourist attractions are gathered in the historic quarter at the Castle, which was reconstructed in 1945. You will need to cross another bridge to find yourself in Pest, where many monuments dedicated to the 1956 Hungarian Uprising dominate the landscape and give it a different brand. As you take a break from sightseeing, you should definitely visit one of the coffeehouses, since Budapest is renowned for its royal cafes just like Vienna. Budapest is famous for its spas. Don’t let your mind go to designer facilities because things are more basic. However, the experience you can have at the hot springs of Budapest is like no other anywhere in the world. Malta Malta has turned into a favourite destination for Cypriot travellers lately - and
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quick getaway why not? It is not very far and you can see the whole island in a handful of days. When you get there, you can take a stroll through the picturesque capital of Valletta and enjoy the view from the harbour. You can visit St John’s Cathedral, which holds a huge collection of Caravaggio paintings, and then go to see Grandmaster’s Palace. You can walk in the silent city, Mdina, where you can buy blown glass objects and visit Neolithic sites such as Tarxien, Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, all UNESCO World Heritage sites. If you want to do a little shopping, Sliema is the place for you. In the evening, most people gather in the St Julian’s tourist area, where there is a casino and a great restaurant on its top floor. If you are up for a daily excursion, there is Gozo which is Calypso’s small and beautiful island but also Sicily that is accessible by a ferry which can take you in the morning and bring you back in the late evening. With €80 you can plan a guided tour as well. Milan Milan is not just about visiting the Duomo and surrounding areas. Walking on foot or taking the subway will also help you see a different and very interesting side, the “other” Milan. In the bubbly area of Brera, you can enjoy wine and jazz at the impressive Nombra de Vin underground. You can set anchor on the imposing wooden boards. A bit further to the north, as you pass Porta Volta, you will find yourself at Corso Como which is the bestknown walkway in Milan. You can go for coffee or aperitif at 10 Corso Como, which is an excellent department store created by Italian
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Vogue’s former editor-in-chief. The tallest building in Italy, the Unicredit Tower skyscraper, is in that area also, which was developed for the EXPO Milano 2015 this coming October. If you are hooked on gastronomy, you have to visit Eataly, which is a huge and impressive food market with Italian-only products. Navigli is an upcoming area southwest of Duomo, and its two channels fill up with people during spring and summer. Even though the area is well known for its bars, there are still trattorias where you can have a remarkable dining experience, such as Al Pont de Ferr and Taglio which operates as a delicatessen too. Prague Being the “fairy tale city” might sound like a cliché but in the case of Prague, it is absolutely appropriate. The city is ideal for romantic getaways, group outings, Bohemian strolls on the Charles Bridge and gourmet moments at fine restaurants.
Prague, above all, will captivate you with its sacramental sense, just like the one that makes you feel like you are living in a fairy tale with alchemists and witches. The old city in Prague, called StaréMěsto, and the city square are ideal for walks. You will see the Prague Castle which is the biggest in the world and walk in neighbourhoods among many buildings of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. Don’t be alarmed if you hear a loud ding-dong wherever you go, as it is a sound coming from the enormous Orlojclock. CeletnáUlice, one of the oldest streets in Prague, is full of attractions and historic buildings. And Bertramka, a museum dedicated to Mozart, is also very popular on 169 Mozartova Street. Another museum dedicated to Kafka is hosting exhibitions all the time on 2b Cihelná Street. Berlin Old meets new in a city full of contrasts. Big shopping malls and trendy neighbourhoods from the
west sector share space with upcoming urban areas and remnants of the former east bloc. Glass structures take a stand next to old revitalised buildings, Greek taverns serve meze next to Turkish snack bars, and grandiose Baroque mansions live together with luxury hotels and humongous buildings from the socialist era. Don’t expect to find a typical German town. Berlin may be a lot of things but a ‘German town# it ain’t’, as Berliners will often say. The sparsely populated city spreads out, so you will have to choose your destinations carefully if you plan to take in Berlin properly and see what it has to offer. You can enjoy a bicycle ride on the extensive cycling network and parks, filled with children’s voices, rivers and lakes. The southwestern tip hosts one of the biggest and oldest zoos in Europe, while the ruins of the Kaiser Guillermo Memorial church a bit further down discretely reminisces the pain of WWII.
If you just want to hang around and enjoy Berlin in all its glory, you should definitely go up on the Fernsehturm TV tower in Mitte, built four decades ago by Easterners who wanted to declare superiority, measuring 365m and visible from everywhere. You can head down to Alexanderplatz transport hub, which is a large public square, where you can see the Weltzeituhr World Clock and the Fountain of International Friendship. Then get ready to enter a maze of small mediaeval streets in the Nikolaiviertel district on the Spree banks. The picturesque setting and flair of nostalgia definitely make this meandering promenade a top feature. You may also want to visit East Side Gallery, the famous section of the Berlin Wall where you can see murals from artists around the world. You can also buy a small piece of the wall with an engraved message of freedom. If you made it this far, it means you are very near the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Standing in line to take a visa photo is worth the wait. Another equally interesting site is the ultra-modern Potsdamer Platz with an industrial feel now but which was once the epicentre of a land left to desolate after the war. The area was reconstructed in record time, as old deserted buildings were replaced by skyscrapers designed by world famous architects. The huge Sony Center, made of steel and glass, has many movie theatres, modern cafes and bars, all welcoming you to take a rest. After you are well-rested, it is time for your caloric intake and you are in luck. There are about 7,000 restaurants in the city and 60% of them serve foreign cuisine.
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Jewel of Bosphorus Istanbul, a microcosm of the world
Text and photos by Melissa Hekkers
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ith the tenth annual Istanbul Tulip Festival in full swing, April and May are perhaps two of the best months for anyone to visit Turkey’s biggest city. With its exquisite blend for the of East-meets-West, this firstLaunched time in 2005 sprawling megalopolis under the motto ‘Istanbul meets its tuis a must for any global lips’ and hosted by wanderer the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the city fills its parks, gardens and squares with millions of tulips of every colour, along with a ‘tulip carpet’ bearing 545,000 tulips set at the foot of Ayia Sophia on Sultanahmet Square. The delicacy of these flowers doesn’t shadow the city’s opportunities to marvel at some of the world’s greatest examples of Byzantine art and architecture;
a first-time visitor should not forget a visit to Ayia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Galata Tower. The robust legacies of the Ottoman Empire, its mosques, hamams, palaces and fountains found almost at every corner give light to the ever-changing cultural experience one attains as they walk through the city. Divided by the Bosphorus strait, which bustles with the sound of seagulls and ferry horns along with the playful sights of dolphins in its waters, Istanbul inspires a nostalgia which is propped by the city’s proximity to water. As much happens within the city as on the sea and it is perhaps its location between Europe and Asia that ascribes a multicultural identity to a city which
holds almost 15 million people. Indeed, the social challenges presented throughout its streets depict a microcosm of the world’s tensions, played out in a city that is historically rich, cosmopolitan, artistically driven and breathtakingly beautiful. Beyond its heart is an opportunity to indulge in getting to know the city’s islands, cutaway places where life develops at slower paces and where you will be as much a tourist as the locals, indulge in bicycle rides to hill tops where monasteries such as Ayia Triada stand witness to the areas’ conquerors. The Istanbul Modern Art Museum will give you a different take, with a modest approach to local artists, and frequent, well-curated exhibitions of international recognition.
And then you have initiatives of local creators which will draw you in more alternative perspectives of the local art world. Besides the small gallery spaces sprawled throughout the city, you have initiatives such as a public staircase (staircases are in abundance) in Beyoglu, painted by Huseyin Cetinel which although assumed as an LGBT project due to its rainbow theme, Cetinel asserted hejust “wanted to make people smile”. Places like The Museum of Innocence which is based on eponymous novel by Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk equally indicate artistic movements of Turkey which deploy a slice of what this bustling city was and perhaps still is all about.
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Luxury Cruises from Greece Convenient embarkation in Piraeus and Katakolon
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ive years ago, Top Kinisis Travel created the “Cruise Centre” with a purpose to offer a more specialised service to the fans of Luxury Cruising. Top Kinisis Travel is the selected partner of MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Club cruises. They also work with sevThe package prices start eral other cruise lines as Cunard, Carfrom as little as €819 per such nival, Holland Ameradult and €380 per child ica, Seabourn, Crystal, P&O, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Celestyal and others. Realising the increasing demand for luxury cruising, Top Kinisis has made special arrangements with MSC Cruises, who they represent both in Cyprus and Greece, to enable embarkation in the Greek ports of Piraeus and Katakolon, for a limited number of cabins on each sailing. Embarking in Greece is a very convenient alternative to taking connecting flights, sometimes as many as three, both outbound and inbound and many
times with long waits in airports, just to reach a port of embarkation. Embarking in Piraeus for instance, takes as little as 4 hours from your home in Cyprus. The two ships that are employed in the area and call at Greek ports are the MSC MUSICA built in 2006 and the MSC POESIA in 2008. They are sister ships, 16 decks high with a gross tonnage of 92.400 tons each, accommodating over 3,500 passengers. Cruises from Greece start in early June ending in mid November. Two fascinating itineraries; one of the Adriatic coast line, Italy and the Greek islands and one of the Adriatic coast, Italy and Turkey. MSC MUSICA leaves from Piraeus and visits the picturesque Corfu, the historical Kotor in Montenegro, captivating Venice, mediaeval Bari, Katakolon (near Olympia) and breathtaking Santorini. The cruise on MSC POESIA starts
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from Katakolon (70km from Araxos & 300km from Athens) and then calls at the historic city of Smyrne (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul) where the East meets the West, stunning Dubrovnik, known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic”, then on to fascinating Venice and Bari, before returning to Katakolon. For clients choosing MSC POESIA, Top Kinisis offers a free overnight in Athens Cypria Hotel plus complimentary transfers to and from Katakolon port. The package prices start from as little as €819 per adult and €380 per child (sharing cabin with 2 adults) and besides the 7-night cruise on full-board basis, prices include: air tickets, taxes, transfers and in the case of MSC POESIA an overnight in Athens. For more information you may call the Top Kinisis “Cruise centre” on 77787878.
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A movie set holiday The Maldives offer beach lovers a dreamy island getaway
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ost sunscreen TV commercials were shot right here. Amazing beaches and dreamy locations, all too good to be true; here you fall in love again. When newlyweds search for the ideal destination to go on their honeymoon, they often get stuck on photos inside travel brochures. It is not by chance that most of those photos were taken in MalExplore the unique dives, which comprise 1,192 islands. Only 250 are inhabited and scenery of small the highest elevation is just two meislands surrounded by tres. In 50 years the islands will be impressive coral reefs underwater, so this is your chance to put this experience in paradise under your belt. The scenery is unique. Small islands surrounded by impressive coral reefs and limited vegetation due to high salt quantities in the ground. There are palm trees almost everywhere, the national tree of the Republic of Maldives.
It is worth doing some scuba diving and snorkelling here, as it is so beautiful underwater with so much to see. You can stay in Sovena Fushi which looks like a Robinson Crusoe movie set. It is surrounded by white beaches and turquoise waters. This is where you leave your shoes in your suitcase, wear your sarong, and enjoy a luxurious version of the idyllic Maldives. You can’t expect anything less from a resort belonging to the Six Senses chain. There are also villas by Four Seasons Resort Maldives in Kuda Hurad. Beach villas are small luxury huts with decks above water. Water villas, on the other hand, are twice the size and located on the lake. This is the only dilemma you will have when you book your room at this wholly romantic hotel. Huvafen Fushi may only have 43 rooms, but it is small enough to make you feel at home. You will still have all the modern comforts and luxuries of those fivestar hotels. There is a gym and an impressive spa half above water and the other half underwater. The aes-
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thetics give an urban feel to the place, with furniture by Philippe Starck and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. If you are an oenophile, bear in mind here you will find the biggest wine cellar in all of Maldives. The Banyan Tree chain could not sit and stare at the idyllic scenery in Maldives. It made a mark here with two resorts that make you think you are on a movie set. The Vabbinfaru is located on an impressive coral reef, literally in the middle of the ocean, while the Madivaru takes its name from the islet on which it stands.
Century Travel Proud to be Different! With summer now upon us, deciding on what to do to either escape the heat, experience different cultures, or just have a well-earned break, is never an easy decision and one that is made more difficult if you do not have someone experienced providing you with the options. This is where Century Travel can really help. Century Travel have been providing cruise holidays and bespoke tailor-made holidays to the discerning traveller for 7 years. With an experienced team of travel experts that offer over 50 years of combined experience within the travel industry. Operating from 2,000 square feet of shop premises on the main Mesoyi Avenue in Paphos. The team share their first-hand knowledge and are proud to be the exclusive representative in Cyprus to 11 major international cruise lines as well as Rocky Mountaineer Rail and Amtrak. Being the company that the cruise lines wish to represent them, the deals that are available can often be far better than can be found elsewhere. With exclusives negotiated especially for the Cyprus market. Examples of this include savings of up to 60% plus free flights from Larnaca on 5-star cruise lines such as Oceania Cruise and 6-star, Crystal Cruises, or just fantastic fly cruise holidays on Holland America Line, where 12 nights in the Med are available from as little as
€1,399 for departures in June, with small supplements to travel in July and August. Or how about a 14-night cruise and stay with Thomson Cruise, staying in 4-star accommodation in Dubrovnik and cruising the Dalmatian coast. All of this, costs as little as €1,599 including flights. If you fancy travelling further afield or are celebrating something special, then why not go for the unique experience of a private jet tour around the west coast of the USA or an incredible adventure to Alaska. These are fine examples of some-
thing very different and where the services of Century Travel stand out from the crowd. Whether you are looking for a single centre trip to Europe, threecentre trip to Asia or, the holiday of a lifetime that you have had on your bucket list for years, Century Travel are able to create a bespoke holiday that is perfect for you. Thousands of people entrust Century Travel each year with their holiday arrangements, yet everyone is treated as an individual. We are proud to be providing our clients with memories and experiences that cannot be imagined or replaced.
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A visit to the land of Moses Despite its nascent popularity, Jordan hasn’t lost its charm
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he Middle East is an appealing destination, more than ever this time of the year, as weather conditions are ideal during spring and autumn. Jordan, the land of Moses, is known for its natural resources, archaeological findings, and most importantly the aweIf you only need one some rock that is Petra. reason to go, that If you are reason is Petra on an organised tour, the first stop will always be the capital city of Amman. Don’t get your hopes up for a picturesque town, but if you want to really see the city, you can take a taxi, which is rather inexpensive. You can visit the ancient theatre, which gets its natural shape by sitting in the middle of two hills or you can visit small shops at the market where you can get spices and famous Eastern sweets. The beauty of Jordan is actu-
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ally in the interior of the country; Jerash north of Amman, the desert with its castles in the east, the Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum in the south. The journey to Jerash is bound to leave you with a good impression. Unlike the moon-like landscape elsewhere, you will get to feast your eyes on green areas with lots of orange trees, lemon trees, and olive trees.
You will be amazed with Jerash (ancient Gerasa) which is a distinct town that began to flourish back in the days of Alexander the Great. A local guide can show you around in the Desert Castles - which are one too many - but you could probably manage to see five or six of them. As you head south, you will come across the Dead Sea, which is a world-famous lake under sea
level. You can shop for perfume there and, time permitting, you could also enjoy a healing therapy session with salt, seaweed and sand at one of the many fivestar spas in the area. This is also the area where a rock is said to have been Lot’s wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt as punishment from God according to a legend in the Old Testament. This is also the area where Sodom and Gomorrah were said to have been built. But if you need just one reason why you should visit Jordan, it
would be Petra. Nothing you have heard or read about this historic Nabataean city can prepare you for the view of this unbelievable marvel. Hidden in a canyon, the city is built on red rocks. There are residences, temples, graves, and even a theatre, all engraved into rock. Ideally you should have enough time to see this miracle. While Jordan has become a mass tourism destination, to a large extent it hasn’t lost its magic. And just Petra alone would make a trip there worthwhile.