Xiaomi Mi Scooter 2 - Xiaomi Czech

December 3, 2018

When folks from Xiaomi Czech asked me if I don’t want to test their Mi Scooter, I was pretty excited as I’m a big fan of electric vehicles.

This electric scooter does look great, it’s sleek with and the materials are great to touch. Well manufactured and just four allen (hex) screws away from hoping on right from the box. It was almost fully charged when arrived, so I went for a test ride. It’s not heavy nor very light, it’s about 12kg of weigh and its not hard to move around when folded.

iOS app is not the best one and offer some basic info like speed, battery level and mileage. It’s annoying that it need to pair on every start, however even when not paired, mileage info is synced on the next connection.

I have the white model and it does look awesome with almost Apple feel and a lot of heads turned my way when I was out. 250W engine is powerful enough to get around 25km/h of max speed and you should be able to ride for about 30km from a single charge. Most of my trips were around 5-7km so I’ve never reached bellow 40% of the battery on one day. Battery charger is small and easy to drop to bag and carry around if needed.

It’s a great commuter and it’s a big fun too. Can’t wait for spring to get on the road again.

If you like to support me, please use the link bellow to purchase your Xiaomi Mi scooter on Amazon UK or AlzaCZ

Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter (UK version with Warranty) - Amazon.co.uk

Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter 2 (White) - Alza.cz

Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter 2 (Black) - Alza.cz

Florence with Marriott Hotels

October 26, 2018

I have visited Italy many times but somehow I’ve never ended up in Florence, so when I was approached by Marriott Hotels to explore it obviously I couldn't say anything else than yes.

Project was called “Be My Cicerone” and the idea was that to create a joint-venture between Italian and foreign content creator to highlight the peculiarities of Italian destinations. Honestly, I couldn't wait to go and explore Florence.

Our flight was from Vienna to Florence was short and smooth, operated by Austrian Airlines in a small plane Embraer E95. We took a taxi from the Airport and within couple of minutes we were at Westin Excelsior Hotel, place where we will stay for the next three nights.

Westin Excelsior Hotel is a beautiful luxury five star hotel in an old historical building overlooking Piazza Ognissanti. Hotel has around 150 rooms and obviously a presidential suite. Our room has views of river Arno and hotel feature and Fine Dinning restaurant with 360 Views at 6th floor that is also open for public.

The Westin Excelsior

Room Service, The Westin Excelsior

The Westin Excelsior

360 View Restaurant, The Westin Excelsior

After arrival and check in we had quick shower and met at the hotel lobby with Gerardo from Marriott Hotels and our local guide and content creator Lorenzo. There was no point to wait and we went straight to explore the streets.

Florence is a magical city, especially at the morning when sun is rising and everything is waking up. If you know me, then you know that I’am not an early bird, however I never miss a good sunrise. As it wasn't the main season, streets weren’t that packed even during the day, obviously is a touristic place so unless you get lost in tiny narrow streets don’t expect to walk alone. Main boulevards are surrounded by plenty of shops with food and shops selling leather goods obviously.

Most famous cathedral is Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore with beautiful Duomo designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white. Stunning piece of architecture.

The Basilica di Santa Croce is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and others.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Duomo, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Basilica di Santa Croce

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

From above, Duomo, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Basilica di Santa Croce

The Ponte Vecchio, famous medieval stone bridge over the Arno River, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers used to occupied the shops, these days t tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers.

Nearby Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelo's David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.

Galleria degli Uffizi is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria. One of the most important Italian museums, and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best known in the world, and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance. Unfortunately we haven’t got time to queue for tickets and will have to visit next time.

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio from Piazzale Michelangelo

Palazzo Vecchio

Giardino di Boboli and Palazzo Pitti

Piazzale Michelangelo

Palazzo Vecchio

Giardino di Boboli

Palazzo Vecchio, Loggia dei Lanzi

Piazza della Signoria with Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Pitti

Ponte Vecchio

Palazzo Pitti is a vast, mainly Renaissance palace, situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. Surrounding Boboli Gardens are great place to relax and enjoy the views.

Last sunset we spend at Piazzale Michelangelo, the square, dedicated to the Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo was designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi and built in 1869 on a hill just south of the historic centre. In 1869, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal.

Ponte Vecchio

La Prosciutteria

Palazzo Vecchio at down

Last night we spend just across the road at The St. Regis Hotel where were invited to a Champagne Sabering with dinner. I’ve personally tried sober the bottle of Champagne before and it’s fun so I was looking forward. St. Regis is a wonderful and luxurious hotel and it was a fun night as several guest were invited to try to sober the bottle of Champagne including Kate and me. Luckily I’ve done it at the first try and Kate was doing well too :) . Dinner was delicious and I cannot event remember how many bottles of Veuve Clicquot landed on our table.

The St. Regis Florence

Florence is beautiful and our stay was very pleasant thank to Marriott Hotels, I’m sure we will come back and spend more time strolling the narrow streets. You can find all photos posted be me or Lorenzo on Instagram under #bemycicerone hashtag.

If you find your self planning a trip to Florence, don’t forget to check Westin Excelsior for a room and if not at least go and check their 360 rooftop restaurant and bar.

New Zealand with Air New Zealand

June 24, 2018

When I was contacted first time to work with Air New Zealand over a year ago to go to a cool trip to California desert, I couldn't make it. They came back to me few months later and were keen to work with me on some project. So I've asked, Why not to sent me to New Zealand? and they agreed. It took another few months to iron out all the details, organise ground support and set up the itinerary and then we finally set the date. As I did not want to travel alone, they were very helpful and agreed to cover ground support for my partner too.

Day 1 - 2 On Board

Air New Zealand flight to Auckland was from London Heathrow on Tuesday at 3pm with two hours layover at LAX. It was a pretty long journey and don't judge me, my biggest worry as a smoker was, how i gonna survive 25 hours on board without cigarettes. So armed with nicotine patches and chewing gums we boarded our Boeing 777 at LHR. Luckily Air New Zealand was so great they've booked me Premium Economy seats to make the journey more pleasant.

Boeing 777 is large, beautiful and comfortable plane, Premium economy leather seats were wide enough and very comfortable with adjustable leg rest. I've spend most of the time on board during the flight editing pictures from wedding i shot last weekend and later watching documentaries on in-flight entertainment. After slightly over 11 hours we landed at LAX. With a hope that there would be a smoking zone somewhere at the airport we started queuing for immigration. Yep, unfortunately even in case you're only transferring through LAX, immigration is a still necessary to go through. It's not a pleasant experience and queues were long, it took us for over an hour to finally pass through but it has to be done.

I was lucky, there was an outdoor Smoking zone at LAX so I've used remaining time to fill my lungs with smoke, and then we started boarding for our second flight to Auckland. Same plane, different crew and at 10pm we took off for another long flight. Regardless of the fact that I can't sleep in planes, I've managed somehow to fall asleep for couple of hours, so when we landed at AKL I wasn't that tired. My compliments goes to all cabin crew who make the flight more enjoyable.

Day 3 - Auckland

Our driver was already waiting for us at the departure hall and drove us to our hotel in Auckland. It was almost 7am on Thursday when we finally get to our beds at Heritage Auckland Hotel and had some proper rest. We didn't want to sleep all day so I've set alarm at 2pm and we went to explore the city. We walked towards Viaduct Harbour, area full of restaurants and bars right at the waterfront. It was the end of autumn and weather was mild, around 16C and with occasional sun spells.

At the evening we met for a dinner with Iva from Air New Zealand Marketing at Soul Bar & Bistro, fancy restaurant in Viaduct Harbour waterfront area. She gave us SIM card for data and calls and other permits and informations about our trip. Was lovely to meet her and after dinner we walked back to our Hotel.

Coincidentally my good friend from Dublin Loky, who moved to New Zealand few years ago was coming back from a holiday in Fiji and arrived in Auckland on the same day as we did. We couldn't miss that opportunity to meet up with him and grab few drinks. We ended up in tiny Mo's Bar, lovely place to enjoy few drinks and have a chat. It was great to see friend on the other side of the world but we didn't stay long as we had another early flight at the morning and around 2am we returned back to our hotel.

Recommendations for Auckland:

Sleep - Heritage Auckland

Eat & Drink - Crab Shack, Soul Bar & Bistro, Mo's Bar

Places to see - Viaduct Harbour, Princess Wharf, Sky Tower

Day 4 - Hawke's Bay

After a good sleep in our hotel beds taxi picked us at the morning and drove to the Domestic Terminal at Auckland Airport for a short flight to Hawke's Bay Airport. This ANZ flight was operated with a small propeller plane and flight took only slightly over and hour. At the airport we picked up our rental car from Budget and drove about fifteen minutes to Napier.

Napier is located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island and it is the largest wool centre in Southern Hemisphere and has the primary export seaport for northeastern New Zealand. It is also a popular tourist location, with a unique concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture, built after much of the city was razed in the 1931 earthquake.

Our accommodation for next couple of days was Art Deco Masonic Hotel right at the Marine Parade and boy it was a beautiful hotel. Built in 1861, in the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake the hotel was destroyed, mainly by the fire that followed rather than by the earthquake itself. There were two main earthquakes thirty seconds apart with the biggest reaching 7.9 on the Richter scale. It was rebuilt to it's current glory and we had wonderful stay there.

Next on our itinerary today was a trip to Te Mata peak, just south of Napier rising up to almost 400m. It is a great lookout spot with panoramic views of Hawke's Bay. Our lunch was booked in Craggy Range Winery located just in the shadows of the Te Mata. Their Terrôir Restaurant was beautiful sitting right between vineyards and food and wine was delicious.

From there we drove back to Napier and as the sunset is at this time of the year quite early, around 5pm we've decided to walk towards Ahuriri Beach. It turned out to be a pretty spectacular sunset.

Day 5 - Hawke's Bay

You know that I love a good sunrise and have no problem to get up early. Napier has one of the earliest sunrises in the world so it would be a shame to miss that. After chilling on the beach until the sun was up we went for a breakfast in our hotel's Emporium Eatery & Bar and I have to say it was extraordinary and very delicious.

At 10am we had booked Art Deco Vintage Car Tour and our guide Pamela met us on the front of the hotel and drove us around the city in old vintage car with a lovely commentary. After the tour we jumped to our rental car and plan was to get to the Cape Kidnappers just few kilometres from Napier. Unfortunate one of the way how to access is was through the private property which was closed today and only other way was walking on the beach for about 4hour each way. As we didn't have that much time we drove back to Napier to grab a lunch at Milk and Honey and chill the rest of the afternoon on the Ahuriri Beach

Our dinner was booked at Elephant Hill Winery, another cool winery at Te Awanga, between Napier and Hastings. We had a lovely meal accompanied with great wine and then full and tired drove back to our hotel.

Recommendations for Hawke's Bay:

Sleep - Art Deco Masonic Hotel

Eat & Drink - Craggy Range Terrôir Restaurant, Elephant Hill Winery, Emporium Eatery & Bar, Milk & Honey

Places to see - Te Mata Peak, Cape Kidnappers, Art Deco Vintage Car Tour, Te Awanga

Day 6 - Wellington

We couldn't miss that lovely breakfast in our hotel and then with full bellies drove back to the Hawke's Bay airport for another flight at 9am to WLG. After just slightly less than two hours we landed in Wellington, Capital city and second most populous urban area in New Zealand. First thing I've noticed was how windy it was there. Our taxi was already waiting in departure hall and drove to our first stop, Weta Workshop. As it was already a time for the lunch we went first to get some food at The Larder, well known foodie spot in Wellington located just few meters from Weta.

Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Wellingtons neighbourhood Miramar, producing effects for television and film. It came to worldwide prominence with director Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of The Rings, producing sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures and miniatures. From the latest blockbusters, they worked on effects for Blade Runner 2049, Power Rangers, Thunderbirds are go and many more. Our tour took about one hour and It was a great experience to see behind the scenes on how of some of the effect were created.

From there we were picked up by taxi and dropped to our hotel Copthorne Hotel Wellington Oriental Bay where our luggage was already waiting for us. Lovely hotel located in the popular Oriental Bay. Sun was already going down so we decided to walk around city a bit to find some place for dinner. Small Italian place called Pizzeria Napoli was looking cozy so we gave it a try. Food was nice and staff professional and welcoming. After dinner tired we returned to our hotel to get some sleep.

Day 7 - Wellington

Today the first thing on itinerary was a visit of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa few minutes walk from our hotel, where we learned a bit from the history of this beautiful island. Te Papa was recently named one of the top 25 museums in the world by Trip Advisor so surely you should check it out. After visit we walked a bit around Queens Wharf and then came back to our hotel to get ready for a Zealandia Eco Sanctuary Tour.

Zealandia is a protected natural area in Wellington where the biodiversity of 225 ha of forest is being restored. Most of New Zealand's ecosystems have been severely modified by the introduction of land mammals that were not present during the evolution of its ecosystems, and have had a devastating impact on both native flora and fauna.

The sanctuary, surrounded by a special predator free fence, is a good example of an ecological area, which allows the original natural ecosystems to recover by minimising the impact of introduced flora and flora. It become a significant tourist attraction in Wellington and is responsible for the greatly increased number of sightings of species such as Tui, Kaká and Takahé.

We spent a nice four hours there walking around and were lucky to spot Takahé and Tuatara. Unfortunately famous Kiwi's were sleeping as they are nocturnal birds. It's a great place to visit and Teresa, our guide was very knowledgable and trained to spot the birds.

From Zealandia we called taxi that drove us back to Oriental Bay and went up to Mount Victoria lookout to watch a glorious sunset.

Day 8 - Wellington

Only scheduled activity on our itinerary for today was a private Wild Wellington Nature Tour to visit Terawhiti Farm that used to be the oldest and largest sheep station, located along the south coast of Wellington and since 2009 is home of a Wind Farm with 62 wind turbines, able to produce enough power for every home in Wellington City. Access to the Fur Seal colony at Tongue Point was possible only through a private property thus only for available for tours. It was great to watch this lovely animals in their natural habitat. As the wind was really strong visibility was great and we could see South Island in far.

We returned back to Wellington at late afternoon and spend the rest of the day wandering around the city fighting with strong wind, we took Wellington Cable Car up to the Botanic gardens and as it got darker we grabbed street food in the city and came back to our hotel to get some sleep for another early flight following day.

Recommendations for Wellington:

Sleep - Copthorne Hotel Wellington Oriental Bay

Eat & Drink - Pizzeria Napoli, The Larder,

Places to see - Weta Workshop, Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa

Day 9 - Dunedin

Our flight from Wellington Domestic Airport was at 8am and it took about two hours. It was significantly colder when we landed in Dunedin, just around 5 degrees celsius. We picked up our car from Avis at the airport and drove to our new home for two nights, Scenic Hotel Dunedin City right in the centre of Dunedin. We dropped our luggage, got quick shower and moved to the next place on our itinerary, Orokonui Ecosanctuary.

Orokonui is an ecological island wildlife reserve similar to Zealandia, located in the Orokonui Valley near Waitati, about 20 km to the north of central Dunedin. It was raining a bit and most of the birds were hard to spot so we didn't spend long there and went to explore Northern Beaches around Port Chalmers. Unfortunately rain gets worst so we returned back to our hotel.

We didn't know where to go for dinner so I checked on Foursquare that Etrusco at the Savoy had the best rating from all restaurants around and it was just across the road from the hotel. Restaurant was quite crowded and buzzing when we arrived and that is always a good sign in the restaurant. Food was soo delicious! It was probably the best Pizza I've had outside of Italy and Kate's pasta was also very yummy.

Day 10 - Dunedin

We've decided to get out of the city and go to the Nugget Point for sunrise. It was about hour and half drive so we left hotel at the dark, what i didn't realised (and didn't checked) was a fact that South Island sunrise is happening an hour later than at North Island so when we arrived at the spot it was pitch dark and I've started to feel that something is not quite right :) Luckily we had some food with us so we've enjoyed tasty breakfast in the car and as it started to get brighter we could finally see how beautiful scenery around us really is.

Nugget Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse built in 1870 at Nugget Point in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand just at the beginning of Catlins Forrest Park. An easy 20 minute return walking track leads from the car park at the end of The Nuggets Road to a viewing platform right next to the lighthouse overlooking "The Nuggets". Once we enjoyed the place enough we jumped to the car and drove back to Dunedin.

We stopped at the Tunnel Beach about 8km southwest of the city centre of Dunedin. Tunnel Beach has sea-carved sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves and it's a great photo location.

At the afternoon we had booked Dunedin Heritage City Walking tour with lovely guy Athol that took us around the city centre. It's a lovely city with interesting architecture and European feel. Dunedin Railway station is absolutely beautiful and it was shame we didn't have more time as I would love to go on one of their scenic train trips. After we had enough walking I went to return our rental car and it was almost the time for dinner. We chose once again Etrusco and it was all superb as yesterday.

Day 11 - Dunedin

For today we had planned 6 hours Elm Wildlife Tour to see Royal Albatross, Sea Lions, Fur Seals and hopefully some endangered Yellow Eyed Penguins. Dunedin's Otago Peninsula is renowned for hosting the world's only mainland breeding colony of northern royal albatross and various other unique species.

We had some breakfast at the hotel and then went for a coffee to Standard Kitchen. Weather was pretty rough, with little bit of rain and strong wind.

At the first stop at Taiaroa Head which is the only mainland breeding colony of Royal Albatross in the world we weren't lucky, no birds in sight. So we moved towards Cape Saunders and our second and final stop at the Papanui beach and it was a different story there. Fur Seals on the rocks, Sea Lions just relaxing on the beach, totally ignoring us so we could get close enough to take pictures and watch them. We were already cold and slightly wet but still hoping to see one of the rarest of penguins species in the world.

Our guide explained that we would have to wait a bit longer to possibly spot them as they are fishing all day in ocean and coming back to land only at the evening. Obviously it's hard to predict wild nature but we've decided to wait. To make our wait to be more pleasant, it started to pouring rain. After about two hours on the beach, soaking wet and freezing, that little guy showed up from sea. It was an amazing experience silently watching him walk to the land while drying his tiny wings. Super cute animal.

Then finally we were happy enough and jumped back to the minibus that took us back to the Hotel in Dunedin. You can call me crazy but Etrusco were so good two previous nights that we ended up there for dinner again and we felt almost like a regular customers, we even received shots on the house :) After dinner we walked back to our hotel to pack and get some sleep before another early morning flight.

Recommendations for Dunedin :

Sleep - Scenic Hotel Dunedin City

Eat & Drink - Etrusco at the Savoy, Standard Kitchen,

Places to see - Tunnel Beach, St Claire Beach, Dunedin Train Station, Papanui Beach, Cape Saunders, Dunedin Railway station

Day 12 - Marlborough

At early morning our driver from Classic Jaguar Limos was waiting at the hotel and dropped us to the Airport from where we had about two hours flight back to Wellington and then one short around 40min flight through Cook Straight to Marlborough Airport in Blenheim. Weather has improved and when we landed, we were greeted with a lovely sunshine. Our taxi driver was waiting for us and we went straight to our hotel for tonight. Marlborough Vintners Hotel is a beautiful luxury five star hotel surrounded by vineyards and mountains in the heart of Marlborough. Apartment was truly stunning with terrace leading to vineyard.

At noon we had planned bicycle ride with Vine tasting so we walked across the road to the Vines Village to meet with Peter from Explore Marlborough who would be our guide around the vineyards. We have picked up our bicycles and cycled towards first Winery.

Forrest Wines Estate - John and Brigid Forrest have been crafting wines since the late 1980’s. After succesful careers in cinetific research and medicine, the young family came back from living and working overseas to get a start on a fairly green New Zealand wine industry. Recently they started focusing also on low alcoholic wines and I loved "The Doctors" Riesling with only 9% of alcohol.

Framingham Wines - The original vineyard was established by Wellingtonian engineer Rex Brooke-Taylor who took the name ‘Framingham’ from his ancestral home town near Norwich, England. By combining small batches of fruit from different parts of the vineyard, their build depth of flavour and texture and by using experimental techniques and blending options they get as result rich, expressive wines that are lovely to drink. My favourite was Select Riesling from their F range.

Wairau River Wines - Established in 1978 by Phil & Chris Rose, and today joined by their five children and extended family., Wairau River produces distinctive Marlborough wines from their 100% family owned estate vineyards. I never thought that I'm a Riesling person but again my favourite here was their Summer Riesling. It was the time for lunch so we had a lovely burger on their summer garden and then Peter had to leave so we cycled around a bit, stopped by Wairau river and then decided to give a try one more vineyard.

Hans Herzog Cellar - For the love of wine, Hans Herzog changed 500 years of winegrowing lineage in Switzerland to pursue his dream to find the perfect terroir to make truly outstanding wines able to stand amongst the world’s best. It's incredible how many grape verities they growing and the vines were exquisite there.

After cycling for almost 20k and several glasses of great wine we had enough and returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner at Arbour.

Set in the stunning landscape of rural, wine growing Marlborough, Arbour is a modern restaurant, with innovative cuisine, an extensive wine list and friendly service. They have different menu everyday so we decided to go for a five course one. Food was beyond amazing and they won several food awards already. Liz, the co-owner looked after us very well and it was a great end of a lovely day. Well end of the day maybe but as we were in Blenheim where my friend Loky reside last couple of years. He was waiting at the Marlborough Public House. We had couple drinks there and went on quick tour the bar. We ended up at The Yard Bar and i think that around 2am we have got taxi back to the hotel.

Day 13 - Marlborough

Have to say that it wasn't easy morning after last night drinking. Vintners Hotel is absolutely lovely and i would love to stay few more days here, however there was another exciting day ahead of us. So we packed all our stuff once again and Stephen from Marlborough Tour Company ,our driver for today and tomorrow, was already waiting at the hotel to drop us to Picton, picturesque seaside town on the north coast of south island known as the gateway for Marlborough Sounds. We had quick breakfast there and bought some water and food then boarded on small boat from Beachcomber Cruises company and went through Marlborough Sounds towards our first stop at the Motuara Island Bird Sanctuary

It’s taken an enormous amount of work over decades to return the bush and the birds to islands like Motuara, which was covered in lush forest when Captain James Cook used it to claim British sovereignty over the South Island in 1770. In the beginning of the 20th century, the island was used for farming, but in 1920 Motuara was declared a reserve. The bird sanctuary is now predator free, and you can spot birds like Tui, Bellbird, Cheeky robins and Fantails, as well as Yellow-Crowned parakeets and around 200 South Island saddleback. The most important species on the island - the nocturnal Okarito brown Kiwi - is hidden from sight to most. It was amazing experience to be on island alone only surrounded by birds.

Frome there we went to our next stop, Ship Cove, small bay just west of Motuara Island. The name Ship Cove was given by Captain James Cook on 15 January 1770 when his ship the Endeavour anchored there to replenish supplies of food, water and wood. Cook would return to the cove a further four times over the course of his first and second voyages to the Pacific. Our plan was to have a snack in little shed from supplies we bought in Picton, however I had to grab my camera and take some pictures first. As I was leaving the shed, flightless chicken size bird called Weka curiously popped up from the bush interested to see who are the intruders.

Knowing that we are alone on island I left all the camera bags and food in shed and walked just few meters to the beach. When I came back ten minutes later I've Immediately realised something is wrong here, most of the food were on the floor, packs half open and big bag of bread was missing. It took me only a few seconds who to figured out who to blame for the mess. I caught that little Weka bird steeling our shoes later on so if you spot them, be aware :)

When we had enough of beach we went to explore Ship Cove further and tried to find small waterfall, unfortunately we must missed the turn so we returned back to our boat. It was just in time to get to our last stop for today, Bay of Many Coves.

Set in the heart of the Marlborough Sounds, Bay of Many Coves Resort is a luxury five star resort hotel nestled amid a rolling landscape of native bush that kisses the shoreline of the beautiful bay below. Originally a family retreat from hectic city life, Robert and Colleen Gilkison eventually moved in permanently in the early 1960s. Capturing the truly special nature of the property, its new owner Errol Christian named it ‘The Gem’ and the opportunity to experience the very best of authentic New Zealand was born. The only way how to get to this pure paradise is by the boat or with helicopter. Our luxury one bedroom apartment was beautiful with warm wooden interior mirroring untouched native setting that sweeps down to the secluded bay. It wasn't really warm outside but we still couldn't resist to dip into the outdoor hot tub and enjoy the glass of bubbles.

Our dinner was booked in their fine dinning restaurant The Foredeck. Superb fine dining experience with awesome food and wine.

Day 14 - Marlborough / Auckland

After a lovely sleep we walked for a breakfast to the Kumatage, second restaurant in the resort. Bay of Many Coves is certainly a place where i can imagine to stay longer, unfortunately we had few more things to do today before we will fly back to Auckland and then back home. We packed our stuff and then just sit and relaxed with coffee on the sundeck until our boat came and brought us back to Picton.

As we arrived to Picton our driver Stephen was already waiting for us and we drove towards coastal village Havelock also called the Greenshell mussel capital of the world. Along the way we stopped at few stops with spectacular views like Governor Bay, Cullen Point and Mahakipawa. Our destination actually wasn't the Havelock itself but location called Pelorus Bridge, at Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve, which was used as one of the film locations for The Hobbit movie. Absolutely wonderful place. We walked towards pontoon bridge, took couple of pictures and then we get back to the car and returned to Blenheim for our last stop in Marlborough.

Brancott Estate, New Zealand's largest wine company and first winery in this region that started producing Sauvignon Blanc. At the Heritage Centre we met for lunch with Andrea from Brancott and Kelly from Destination Marlborough and they told us bit about fascinating history of this place. We did not want to leave but it was time to get back to the car and start the journey home. Stephen drove us back to the Blenheim Airport which was just about 15min away and we boarded to our first flight of the day to Auckland.

Recommendations for Marlborough :

Sleep - Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Bay of Many Coves Resort

Eat & Drink - Arbour, Marlborough Public House, The Yard Bar, The Foredeck

Places to see - Marlborough Sounds, Queen Charlotte Sound, Motuara Island, Ship Cove, Bay of Many Coves, Pelorus Bridge, Picton, Blenheim

Day 15 - flying back home

Air New Zealand get us access to their Koru Lounge at the Auckland Airport to make waiting for our flight as comfortable as it could be. It was great to grab some food and relax before long flight. Boarding was fast and in little more than thirteen hours we landed at LAX where we had almost three hours layover but luckily again with access to Air New Zealand Lounge. Our final flight was scheduled at 5pm and at noon next day we happily landed at London Heathrow.

Thank you again Air New Zealand for great trip, Hawke's Bay Tourism, Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency, Enterprise Dunedin and Destination Marlborough for ground support and making our trip as amazing and smooth as it was.

I do have to come back to New Zealand for longer to explore this beautiful part of the world further and ANZ would surely be my choice of airline that will get me there.

Clicking on the map will show you places we visited on our trip.

PR:

Air New Zealand flies daily from London Heathrow to New Zealand via LA, as well as via Asia and North America in conjunction with its partner airlines. Return flights via LA start from £782 in Economy and £2390 in Premium Economy. For the most up to date fares please visit airnz.co.uk/flights-to-new-zealand

Asian Temple Prague

August 3, 2017

Commissioned photoshoot for Asian Temple Bar & Restaurant Prague

Destination Canada - #ExploreCanada Campaign

October 9, 2016

Last week i've returned home from an awesome trip. Three of us were invited by Destination Canada and Canadian Affair to visit and experience Ontario, Canada.

My flight was from London to Toronto with Airtransat took only about 8h and I was lucky enough to have all three seats for me so it was very comfy :) Toronto Pearson International Airport is large and busy airport and it took me a while to get my luggage. Airport WiFi is free but sucks as block any apps requiring locations, so to get Uber, load map or check-in was impossible. Also Airport signage is not the most intuitive either and took me a while to find place where my Hotel shuttle bus was waiting. That's about all complaints I have, rest was good stuff.

AirTransat - Airbus A330

It was almost 7pm when I arrived at Sheraton Centre Hotel, right in the centre of Toronto's downtown. As my pre-booked room didn't have free wifi and cost of that extra was almost the same as to upgrade room, I've decided to go for second option. My new Room was on 34th floor with totally awesome view of Toronto's City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square as a bonus. It was really huge and here was also massive flat screen telly, not that I planed to stay in but it's always a nice thing to have.

When I landed, sky was cloudy and raining however by the time I got to the hotel, it became one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. So after check-in I've dropped my bags in the room, grabbed my camera and went out to get few shots on the wet streets before Sun get down.

Queen Street West

When I came back to the hotel, my friend Jiří was already there. He was in Canada for about week by now and done the trip around B.C. He'll be my travel buddy for four days in Toronto before he'll fly back home and Allan will come to join me.

First day wake me up with sunshine and temperature around 26C so we went to explore the city. Yonge Street is quite long street running from harbour front across the Toronto's downtown and by mistake it used to be called longest street in the world. It's still pretty impressive at 86km length and have plenty of shops, restaurants and at junction with Dundas Street is cool Yonge-Dundas Square that reminded me a bit London's Piccadilly Circus. Queen Street is also full of lovely small shops and restaurants and has amazing vibes. Tired after all day walking and hungry we started looking around for some dinner and found place called Beer Bistro that serves amazing and tasty food and their WiFi was just lightning fast. Great place!

Yonge Street

Yonge / Queen Street

Sunset at CN Tower

On the Day two we've had a pre-booked activity on Toronto's CN Tower called 'Edge Walk' where I guess the name says it all :) So after breakfast in the hotel restaurant we walked to the CN tower. After short training session we were transferred in special lift up to the platform sitting at 356m or 1168ft and then hanging on special security harness you walk around tower for about 30 minutes. View from top is breathtaking and scary at the same time :). There is also a restaurant, viewing platform and small Skypod in the CN Tower so if you don't dare to go outside then give a try to Skypod, views are also pretty stunning from there unfortunately through glass panels.

I'm hanging at 356m over Toronto :)

CN Tower close up

Day three and another activity that we had pre-booked was Segway Tour around Distillery District. Gooderham and Worths Distillery used to be the largest Distillery in the world and these days you can find there plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants housed within old Victorian historical buildings.. I've never been on Segway before and what looked a bit boring on the beginning ended up as loads of fun :) Tour guides were also hilarious and told us plenty interesting facts about the district too.

This week Toronto hosted Hockey World Cup and Fan village was located at the end of Distillery District. It was pretty cool as the streets were full of fans in hockey jerseys. We've decided that after the tour we'll go to Air Canada Centre to find out if there are any tickets left for todays game CZE vs EUR. We were lucky enough and bought tickets and my dream of seeing ice hockey match in Canada was becoming a reality :). It was an amazing game in supercool arena and team Europe beat Czech so the day couldn't end better.

Air Canada Centre - Hockey World Cup CZE vs EUR

Day four, last day in Toronto with Jiri so we decided to jump on the bus and visit nearby Niagara Falls. Greyhound Bus station was just few minutes from the hotel and the 120km journey took about 2 hours. To our surprise instead of getting of the bus right at the falls we had to walk for another 40 minutes till we could see them. But it was damn worth it, view we got was absolutely spectacular! While it may not be the largest waterfallsIt's it was still incredible to see that mass of water falling right on the front of you and makes you realise how powerful the nature is. Niagara's are actually three falls connected, two on US and Horseshoe Fall on Canadian side. There is also Skylon tower on Canadian side and if you pay extra 14CAD you'll get panoramic view of whole Niagara.

Niagara Falls from Skylon Tower

Canadian Excursion Boat

Power of the Water

Niagara Falls - Horseshoe Falls

Canadian Excursion Boat

Horseshoe Falls from Skylon Tower

Canadian Excursion Boat

American excursion boat

Day five, my last day in Toronto before I'll move on more up north and there was still a few things to do on my list so i've started the day early with short ferry ride to Hanlan's Point at Centre island to take shots of downtown skyline at sunrise. It was pretty awesome and ferry is cheap, return ticket is only 7.50CAD. Next stop was Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, i've seen few aquariums before and this one was one of the better ones with large sharks and colourful jelly fishes. I would certainly recommend to visit at the morning to avoid crowds. I went there when they opened and I was there almost alone :)

Toronto Skyline from ferry

Ripley's Aquarium of Toronto

While strolling Queen St. West i've found cool looking burger place called Burger's Priest and as i was hungry and it was lunch time, i walked in. Seriously, It was the BEST BURGER i've ever had. Later on couple of my friends confirmed that fame of this place is running around the world and they have this place on their ToDo lists for a long time. Now i know why :) Later on that evening Allan, my other travel buddy arrived so we were ready to move on from Toronto next day.

Day six, we've check-out from Sheraton and went to find AVIS Car Rental to pick up the car. Their offices are well hidden on Bloor St. East and took us while to find it. After couple minutes wandering around we were in and collected our Jeep Patriot that gonna drive us around for next couple of days. I had to also show Allan that burger place i've found so we went for lunch before journey.

Our Jeep

Jeep Patriot

Todays final destination was city called Kingston located at the east end of Lake Ontario near the Thousand Islands area and about 277km from Toronto. Unfortunately weather decided not to cooperate anymore and sky gets grey and cloudy with occasional raindrops. As it was fully raining when we arrived to our hotel, we just decided to relax and test hotel Spa features.

Day Seven and sky was still cloudy and rainy so we've decided to find some cozy coffee place and get brunch before we will go to our Boat Tour. Kingston is lovely small town and it's called Limestone City as many of the old heritage buildings were build using local Limestone. We found an awesome place called Pan Chancho and I've decided to try typical Canadian speciality called Poutine. It's pretty much fries, cheese curds and gravy but this place added extra bacon and egg. It was absolutely DELICIOUS!

After brunch we moved to Kingston Harbour where we embarked on board of our boat called Island Queen and went on cruise around 1000 Islands. It's an area of 1864 islands on Canada/US border covering around 80km. They range in size from over 100km2 to a smaller ones with only one house. The tour took 3h and served lovely meals accompanied by live music. Shame it was rainy and cloudy otherwise the views will be even more stunning.

On board of Island Queen

1000 Islands

Captain at work

1000 Islands

Our next destination on itinerary was Ottawa, drive about 200km from Kingston. Along the way we've done a quick stop at Hill Island to visit 1000 Islands Tower. It was well worth the stops as you can see some of the islands from above. Views must be even more stunning few days later when the trees will be changing colour. From there we continued to our hotel in Ottawa. I went straight to bed as forecast for tomorrow was sunny and we had planned a lot to do.

View from 1000 Islands Tower

Day eight, Ottawa, capital city of Canada and home of Canadian Parliament. I've get up early to catch sunrise on Parliament Hill and once sun risen i went to get breakfast to The Ministry of Coffee. Nutella late was absolutely amazing :) At noon we had pre-booked tour with Paul's Boat lines so we walked to the Rideau Canal and embarked on lovely cruise around Ottawa River. Rest of the day we spent exploring Ottawa and as the sun was going down i went on place called Napean Point that have beautiful views of Parliament Hill and Alexandra Bridge.

Centennial Fire - Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill - Ottawa

Alexandra Bridge

Parliament Hill - Ottawa

Sunset at Parliament Hill

Alexandra Bridge

Day nine, another lovely warm and sunny day and we have checked out from hotel early in the morning and went on the road. Todays destination was 350km far town called Huntsville and Deerhurst resort where we will stay overnight, but there were few cool spots along the way we wanted to explore more. First we stopped at Golden lake took couple pictures and second stop was at Dorset Lookout Tower. It's pretty cool lookout tower with a panoramic view of beautiful Lake of Bay.

Algonquin Provincial Park

Golden Lake

Dorset Lookout Tower

Lake of Bay

From there we continued to Deerhurst, massive resort in Ontario's Muskoka region. This place was voted as best place to see autumn collors in Canada but once again, we were here too early. Only around 15% of trees had started changing to red and orange yet. We've checked in to the hotel and get to explore area around the resort.

Deerhurst Resort

Day ten, sun is gone and water is falling from the sky. We've had breakfast and as there was not a much to do in a resort in these conditions and as the forecast for next days wasn't looking promising we've decided to check out a day early and return to Toronto as city would look better in rain. So we went on another 230km drive back to The 6ix. I love that city and was really looking forward to explore it even more. As we arrived i drove Allan to his AirBnb place and obviously went for dinner to Burger's Priest straight after. With full belly i went straight to the hotel and as it was right on Yonge St. i went for little stroll around before bed time.

Day eleven, last day in Canada and surprisingly sky cleared out and sun was shining. I had few things planed before i leave so i went straight to Toronto City Airport where i had booked Heli flight with Toronto Heli Tours. Highly recommended as it's quite cheap to compare with London and other cities. For 100CAD they will fly you for about 10min around Toronto's downtown and CN Tower. Check their page and if your lucky you may get Last minute special with 50% off the price. I guess it was my best spend 50 bucks :)

Downtown with CN Tower

Downtown towards islands

CN Tower

Toronto skyline from Heli

Downtown with CN Tower

Toronto downtown

Toronto Harbourfront

Toronto from Heli

co-pilot :)

From the Airport i went to check Toronto's Hockey Hall of Fame where as a big hockey fan I wanted to see and touch the Stanley Cup. Loved that place thoroughly. From there I went to check Royal Ontario Museum but unfortunately i haven't got much time left and I had to come back to the hotel, pick up my luggage and get to the Pearson Airport for my flight back home.

Thank you Canada, you are amazing country and i'm sure i'll be back to explore even more!

Old City Hall

Fairmont York Hotel

Boats in harbour

Toronto's Harbourfront

Downtown

Stanley Cup - Hall of Fame

Yonge Street

Royal Ontario Museum

Beachy Head cliffs

Colourful beach huts - Brighton

King's Road - Brighton

Beachy Head white cliffs

Brighton seafront

Belle Tout Lighthouse

Beachy Head

Windmill near Brighton

Belle Tout Lighthouse with chalk cliffs

Golden Hour with Enterprise UK

August 24, 2016

Last week i was working on campaign for car rental company Enterprise UK and my task was to ask followers for recommendations about cool sunset places around Brighton and then go and explore them. I've received quite a few of them so i've jumped into the car and drive down south. You can get some amazing sunset in Brighton city, this time of the year the sun is setting down over city rather then into the sea but you can still get amazing light on seafront promenade.

Second day i went a bit more east from Brighton towards cliffs at Beachy Head, just before Eastbourne. The views from top of the white cliffs are just spectacular, it's the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain and there are also two lovely lighthouses. Belle Tout is privately owned and was recently converted to luxury Bed and Breakfast and second one is beautiful red and white striped Beachy Head Lighthouse. They are both very picturesque:)

I can certainly recommend you to visit Brighton and drive around, you won't be disappointed with sceneries around you. Enterprise UK Rent a Car offers a wide range of reasonably priced cars to pick up from. So what are you waiting for?

Exploring Suffolk with Toyota Auris

August 20, 2016

We took two Toyota Auris for a spin around English East coast from London all the way up to Suffolk. Weather was amazing as was the scenery of English countryside and it was a very enjoyable ride down to Southwold with awesome sandy beaches and gorgeous colourful beach huts. Second day was classic British summer weather and we decided to explore Aldeburgh with it's beautiful pastel colour houses on beach front and lovely streets full of cute little shops.

Instagram takeover - Mercury Hotels

June 16, 2016

This Friday at Somerset House, Mercure Hotels together with National Picnic Day organise "Mercure Hotels Picnic at Somerset House" and they asked me to takeover their instagram account during the event.

So if you are free, come over to this Gigantic Picnic at Somerset House! It's free and there are slots available throughout the day. There'll be fantastic range of Picnic goodies from Tom's Kitchen to purchase on the day and plenty of Mercure "Perfect Picnic" Prosecco.

For more info how to secure spot click here.

See you there...

Win a stay in Hotel for two with @ThompsonHotels

June 15, 2016

Do you have your holidays booked? Are you still thinking where to go and what hotel? Don't think any further and join the competition to win a 2 night stay in Thompson Hotel of your choice and i can tell you that they look awesome!

There are three simple steps.

1. Follow @ThompsonHotels

2. Tag a friend you want to take with you in comments

3. Share your best summer travel or summer eats image with the #SuiteSummerWithThompson hashtag

Good Luck!

Winners will be announced June 17th, June 24th, and July 1st

Pitchfork Radio & Tribute Portfolio - #independentmoments

June 11, 2016

Pitchfork Radio was broadcasting live from Great Northern Hotel in London this weekend. I was lucky to be invited to shoot and cover the #independentmoments event on snapchat and instagram on Saturday. It was pretty cool afternoon party with DJ's and live music. Fancy cocktails and food couldn't miss there, my favourite was Cuppa Rosie Lee cocktail and that little egg in egg something. Was also nice to meet and talk to familiar faces who came down to party. Well done Tribute Portfolio!

Urban Decay - Vice lipstick

June 7, 2016

I was approached by agency to shoot pictures for Urban Decay Cosmetics and their Vice lipstick scavenger hunt campaign in London. It was pretty fun :)

Thomson Cruises TUI - Paradise Islands #notforme Campaign

February 15, 2016

One of the best trips of this year so far was organised by Thomson Cruises. Their NotForMe campaign was accompanied with cool webpage and launched early February. With main focus to bring younger customers to their cruise ships, they hired several photographers, bloggers and other influencers and sent them to a different cruises. Mainly around Caribbean but also in to Greece.

Mine trip was most likely the best one, it's called Paradise Islands and started in Barbados and then we've been cruising for next seven days around Caribbean islands.

The flight from London to Bridgetown in Barbados was supercool on it's own, we flew in beautiful Boeing 787 Dreamliner and except very comfortable seats we had also champagne served during flight to make it even more pleasant. I had free plus one so it took my colleague and friend Alex with me and in place we met the rest of our influencer group. I was happy to see again Sean, Patrick and to meet finally with Ady and Sophie. Probably mostly because of the bubbles, flight was smooth and fun.

Thomson Celebration

Our ship is right next to Walt Disney's Gigantic one :)

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Once landed in Bridgetown, we've been transferred directly from Airport to the Cruise Terminal and for a first time had opportunity to se our ship Thomson Celebration in real life. It's not one of the gigantic Cruise ships but was still with it's 9 decks and capacity of 1250 people big enough :) We got into our suits and then the evening we embarked from Bridgetown towards British Virgin Island. Our suites were the best on Ship and exceeded my expectations. Celebrations is not a new ship but it has been recently refurbished and as Sean said and we all agreed, it had "character". The only issue was as expected with WiFi connections.

Second day of our trip was on boat, we had chance to look around and as i mention earlier, it wasn't the largest ship but for me it was first time on Cruise Ship so there was a lot to explore. Several restaurants, shops, coffee bars, fitness & beauty facilities and obviously as the sun was shining Sun decks, pools and Jacuzzi. Also i don't normally suffer from motion sickness however after couple of hours on board everything was moving and my stomach wasn't happy. Luckily some sea sickness pills worked well and then i stick with recommendation from staff and i was drinking for the rest of the trip mostly ginger ale. Not sure if it was placebo but it worked :)

Oh i almost forgot to mention dinner with captain as they called it and even actual Captain wasn't sitting at our table, (we met him and was introduced before) we had dinner with lovely Staff Captain Alex. It was spectacular culinary experience and we had lovely chat about ship and our next couple of days on board of Celebration.

Sunrise at the ocean

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Long Bay beach

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Long Bay beach

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Sunset with peaks of Tortola

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

On the morning of day three we arrived to Tortola, largest of British Virgin Islands. We haven't got any excursions for that day so plan was just find beach and light down to white sand. Long Bay beach was perfect fit. Sea was really rough apparently there were some storms in US and that caused quiet huge waves. There wasn't more needed for me and Pat and we jumped straight to the sea. It was really powerful but also a awesome fun. After lunch on beach we had small walk around trip around capital Roadtown.

Day four and island i was looking forward to visit for a long time, St Maarten. We arrived in Philipsburgh and went first to Mullet Bay beach. Beautiful white sand and blue ocean, still pretty rough. Again, me and Pat jumped straight in but this time Ady and Sean joined us too. It was great fun again, very powerful waves again :) Plan for afternoon was Maho beach, yes, that's the beach where planes are landing and taking of just above your head in incredible proximity while you swimming in the ocean. It's something that's hard to describe with words. The only down was that in the internet age, beach was packed with tourists with every kind of cameras so it was hard to get nice clean view :) I would stay and shoot there for all day unfortunately our ship wouldn't wait.

that's us :)

Mayo beach, St Maarten

planespotting

Maho beach, St Maarten

Colourful beach umbrellas

Mullet Bay beach, St Maarten

planespotting

Maho beach, St Maarten

Mullet Bay beach

St Maarten

Dreamliner ready for take off

Mullet Bay beach, St Maarten

Day five, St Kitts and Nevis, weather was a bit overcast so we went to explore capital city Basseterre. It was quiet small and while it was still cloudy, we decided to visit Sand Bank Bay beach, so we jumped to taxi that took us there. On the beach was small rusty shipwreck but absence of sun make it less attractive at least for me. Late afternoon we had pre booked snorkelling trip. Two guys on speed boat picked us together with another few from our ship and we wen't to place where "sometimes" you can spot large sea turtles. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't spot them. This island was probably least attractive for me personally, but i'm sure that sun will makes a big difference.

Sunset at the ocean

Philipsburg, St Maarten

Street St Kitts

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis

Street St Kitts

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis

Peppers

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis

Sand Bank Bay beach

St Kitts and Nevis

Adrian and Sophie

St Kitts and Nevis

On Friday early morning we arrived at Antigua's port St John's. This was another island i was looking forward to visit mainly because we had booked 30min helicopter flight above Antigua and Barbuda! Weather looked promising in the morning so myself, Pat and Sean went for walk around city. People wasn't really willing to stand as models for shots but it was still very bustle and colourful. Back to port and there was already bus waiting to drove us to heliport. Sean, Pat, Ady and Sophie were lucky to go first while there was still quiet sunny. Me and Alex clouds for most of the flight, however it was spectacular experience. It was quiet challenging for me to sit and look through viewfinder for 30min and i won't lie, i was happy when we landed :). We spent some time on Fort James beach but as weather was still against us, we decided to explore island more. Pat used to visit it few years ago so he knew few cool places. We hired a taxi and went towards Dark Wood beach and Shirley's Heights. Quiet spectacular views, be much better on sunny day. I know i'm complaining a lot about weather but c'mon we are in Caribbean :)