Monday 14 December 2015

Fly to Amsterdam for a short stay

Amsterdam is a great city to visit any time of the year.  They welcome visitors from all over the world.  Some hust arrive for a short stay some extend their stay to a holiday others are just visiting families.  Amsterdam has an array of accommodation to be used whatever your purpose here. Your choice is excellent hotels and hostels  luxury serviced apartment and very well located self-catering accommodation. The word famous Schiphol Airport  is the best way to get in and out of this great city.  The is located a few miles southwest of the city in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland.
Schiphol Airport
Schiphol Airport


Amsterdam airport has become a European Hub allowing travelers to access flights to a large number of airports all over the world. Its the home base of KLM, Arkefly, Transavia, Amsterdam Airlines.

 Amsterdam Airport started operating back in 1916 and it was initially used as a local airbase for the military. The airport only had a few barracks and a field that used to serve both as the platform and a runway. The civil airports started using the facility in December 1920.  Today the airport has been built as one large terminal where all its facilities are located under one roof.
There are a number of very interesting aspects to Schiphol. One in particular is the runways crossing over canals and roadways including motorway via bridges.
Schiphol runway
Runway 

This terminal has been split into three large departure halls. There are plans in place to expand the terminal further and to build other separate new terminals between the Zwanenburg Baan and Polderbaan runways thus bringing to an end the one-terminal concept that the airport has long been known for.
Overview
Schiphol


I have in the pass transited through Schiphol and I have to admit I was impressed by the one Terminal design and how efficient is was to get in and out of aircraft.  There is no long walks that you have to negotiate in London Stansted or new terminal in Dublin.

Flights daily arrive from all over Europe

Here is a small example of fights arrived or due to arrive on the evening of the 14th December 2015

Airline                                                    Location Origin            

Flybe                                                     Birmingham
Alitalia                                                   Stockholm
KLM
KM                                                        Rome
Alitalia
Air Europa                                              Dusseldorf
KLM                                                      Brussels
KLM                                                      Inverness
Flybe
KLM                                                      Barcelona
AIR EUROPA                                        Madrid
Flybe                                                     Liverpool
Flybe                                                     Hanover
KLM                                                      Newcastle
Air Europa                                             Berlin
KLM                                                      Edinburgh
Air France                                              Paris.
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Friday 4 December 2015

Krakow Christmas Events

The Polish city of Krakow welcomes thousands of visitors each year.  They have wonderful restaurants and accommodation but most of all they have a great welcome.  You can stay in an excellents hotel or chill out in the privacy your own home from home in a well located self-catering serviced apartment.
Krakow Christmas
Christmas in Krakow

They celebrate Christmas in style.  This time of year there is a theater festival in Krakow.  The the press have in the past welcomed it as  a celebration of Polish theater and a great event that  during the week create a great scene in Krakow.  Its  a week on the stages of the biggest Krakow's theaters, you can see the best Polish performances of over the past years  were performed in theaters across the country.  A number of well known director will be present Monika Strzępka,  an America dir. Mario Biagini, . Krzysztof Warlikowski,  Factory 2 dir. Krystian Lupa and  dir. Jan Klata. Every year in Kraków they  also host workshop where among others, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Jan Klata, Grzegorz Jarzyna and Lupa, who daily tell the audience about their work during open workshops. At the festival there are also artists from abroad,  India, South Africa, Iran and Colombia, presenting the achievements of the theater carried out outside the European cultural circle.
An international jury composed of prominent critics and directors of world theater festivals each year also grants the Divine Comedian statuette for best performance and the director, set designer, composer, actor and actress. The festival has gained media recognition not only of Polish, but also from Europe. Among others, reported on it a prestigious German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Russian Kommersant and Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Organizer: Krakow Festival Office.  There is excellent restaurants and accommodation to be got in Krakow.  They hotel accommodation and magnificence self- catering serviced apartment.

Krakow Christmas Fair for several years are entered in the calendar of events taking place on the Krakow Main Market Square.
It's a tradition, which has a large impact on the development of cultural and economic center. Krakow fairs is  part of a number of similar events  that are held throughout  Europe.
Stuttgart Christmas Fair is more than 300 years great tradition and created a grand scale.  Other shows "Festivity" in Milan is a great event for the whole country.  Other Christmas fairs include  Berlin, Rome and Vienna.     The organizer of the fair is Krakow Merchant Congregation.

Krakow Cribs Competition
Every year, on the first Thursday of December in the morning, around the monument of Adam Mickiewicz crib makers gather to show off their latest works. They are accompanied by crowds gathered Kracovians, locals, tourists and numerous television crews. Applications for the competition are got from the  Museum . Each crib is given a  competition number . For many years, the number entered in the contest works is similar - between 120 and 160, including a large majority of cribs made ​​by children and young people. With the sounds of bugle call ringing out at noon from the tower of St Mary's Church, crib makers colorful procession moving their work to offices Museum - Krzysztofory Palace, to meet with the adjudicators . The meeting is chaired by the Director of the Museum, and the adjudicators consists of art historians, artists, employees of the Historical Museum. The competition is open  to natives of Cracow, participation in it can take regardless of age or place of residence.Each participant may submit a maximum of three cribs into competition. Before the adjudicators  will focus on the assessment of individual work needs to determine whether all comply with the conditions of the competition. If the work does not meet the accepted criteria, unfortunately; even if it was the most beautiful, you can not claim the prize. Organizer: The Historical Museum of Krakow Place: Market Square at the monument of Adam Mickiewicz.  The website www.goholidaylets.com list self-catering accommodation in Krakow for free.

Thursday 3 December 2015

Christmas Events in Lagos Portugal

As with quite a lot of Portuguese towns and villages place like Albufeira and Lagos the local council known as Camara organise the festive events at different times of the year. This town is a tourist resort full of hotels and self-catering accommodation but its also home to a huge local population.  So local activities are part and parcel of every day life here.
Portuguese Christmas
Christmas in Portugal



In that context of programming of Christmas  will start at the beginning of the month of December in Lagos. The have named this years program "THE BOY JESUS".  The organising of the event will be executed by  Municipal Librarian Dr Julius Dantas  The activities incorporates a cycle of cinema and a exhibitions on December 10, on an occasion that marks the International Day of Human Rights.

The now famous Christmas Nativity Scene ( Cribe) will be back on display  to open to the public 2015-11-27
Once more José Cortes  the owner and creator of the crib will give all the public opportunity to see the crib as it will be displayed free of charge. This crib has become very famous in Lagos completely designed and built by this Lagos local,  each year he adds new detail.  You can visit from 17 December. The entrance is free.

Lagos prepares to receive the Christmas  on the 2015-11-26 for the festive season of the year. The Mayor of Lagos has prepared, in collaboration with the various cultural collectivities of the county, a collection with various municipal departments in Lagos as a whole, a festive programming special.  Its begins on the 5th of December 2015.

EXPENSIVE SOUL in  Lagos on New Years Eve.

The municipality of Lagos will celebrate  the arrival of the New Year to the sound of one of the best music groups in the country - the Expensive Soul. The gig,  will run in the Infante Square, is free entry and will be followed by an actuating the DJ TobyONE.  Free to the public.
Lagos is an excellent location to send Christmas and New Year. Top class restaurant all open over the holiday period.  Excellent hotels and holiday rentals .  They self-catering apartments and self-catering villas to suit large groups.