Otentik Trip 2019 with We Like Travel and Attitude Hotels - Mauritius.
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Florence with Marriott Hotels
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
TATRY with This is Slovakia
My long time planed trip to New Zealand at the end of the March was postponed last minute so I decided to visit Tatra mountains in Slovakia. I was there last time probably 20y ago so I was really looking forward.
Štrbské Pleso - Grand Hotel Kempinski
Mon-Tue
Grand Hotel Kempinski is located on shores of Strbske Pleso 1346m, second largest mountain glacial lake in Slovakia that is fed by underground springs and has no visible outflow stream. Its surface remains frozen for around 155 days per year.
Hotel offers 98 rooms and fantastic Zion Spa & Wellness. You can enjoy the views of Kriván Peak right from your balcony or while you're swimming in the pool. If you're into cross country skiing, then you would love this place.
Chopok, Jasná - Hotel FIS
Wed-Thu
Jasná is a well known ski resort in Low Tatras including 55km of slopes. Ski Boutique Hotel FIS is highest situated hotel in the ski resort of Jasna at 1220m and just a few steps walk from a gondola lift to Chopok. Amenities include a restaurant, along with a rustic-chic après-ski bar with an outdoor terrace.There is sleek Spa & Wellness with outdoor hot tub.
Chopok 2024m is the third highest peak of the Low Tatra range in central Slovakia. The peak offers a panoramatic view of High Tatra, Liptov and the valley of Hron.
Lomnický Peak - PanoraMic Mountain Residence
Fri-Sat
Lomnický Štít (Lomnický Peak) is one of the highest and most visited mountain peaks in the High Tatras mountains. Connected by cable car from Tatranska Lomnica, its summit is 2634 metres above sea level, making it the second highest peak in the High Tatras. You can stay at the top for 50min and enjoy breathtaking views of highest peaks of High Tatras and enjoy tea or coffee in the Café Dedo, the highest placed Café in Slovakia :)
Hotel PanoraMic Mountain Residence is luxurious self catered hotel style chalet in Smokovec surrounded by the High Tatras National Park and offers accommodation in modern apartments offering panoramic views. Each apartment is decorated with rustic elements and fitted with hard-wooden floors. All apartments feature a southern-oriented terrace providing valley views and northern-oriented with mountain views.
We had incredible time in Tatras with my girlfriend and i can only recommend you to go there and explore it yourself. Poprad Airport is easily accessible and from there is just few km drive to Highest Mountains in Slovakia.
Special thanks goes to:
For Insta Stories and more pictures check @alanisko & @thisisSlovakia
Visit Argentina Campaign
Campaign Hashtags:
#travelBuenosAires
#ArgentinaWorldFriendly
#VisitArgentina
Crew:
@alanisko - Alan Brutenic
@elice_f - Elke
@liolaliola - Olga
@dy_ellie - Ellie
Guides:
@marianozarate - Mariano Zarate (Huntgram)
@lakxs Lucas (Huntgram)
Nicolas (Argentina Tourism)
Buenos Aires
Day 1
We arrived at the Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini International Airport EZE at the noon and our driver took as to our hotel in downtown BA. Hotel Meliá Buenos Aires is beautiful hotel conveniently located in the heart of the city.
Once checked in and quick shower, we went to get some lunch and our guides took us to a fancy Palermo district where we had booked lunch at the La Cabrera restaurant to try some typical Argentinian Asado.
After lunch we walked around Palermo and visited few cool places like Dulce de Leche & Co that made some amazing local sweet speciality called Dulce de Leche, awesome local shoe maker POSCO and pretty much wandered around this lovely district. Before dinner we popped in to Jardín Japonése, beautiful Japanese gardens and we walked towards our dinner place Casa Cavia
It's an amazing open air restaurant and bar but i was more than tired so I just tasted few tapas and went back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Day 2
After breakfast we went with our guides to explore more of the city. We spent morning in La Boca, colourful district of Buenos Aires and then walked through Palermo to our place for lunch called Nápoles.
It was super cool antiques store combined with bar and restaurant and we couldn't stop walking around and taking pictures of all cool staff they had there. Oh yes, food was very tasty too :)
After lunch we went to visit another district called San Telmo and popped in to MAMBA, Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art which had some cool stuff on display. After that we had a bit of free time so i went to visit a bookshop. El Ateneo Grand splendid used to be an old theatre and now is ranked as second most beautiful bookshop in the world and i have to agree. It was spectacular.
At the evening we had dinner at the Faena Hotel, quirky and luxurious new hotel in BA. Food was more than spectacular and after dinner we went to watch Tango show. I've never thought watching Tango will be so exciting, it was an great evening.
Day 3
After the breakfast I went with Mariano and Elke quickly visit Planetarium Galileo Galilei and took a few snaps. Then we had planed visit of famous La Recoleta Cemetery that contain graves of notable people including Evita Eva Perón and it's ranked as one of the most beautiful cemetery in the world. It was huge and more like little city full of tombs.
Later we went for lunch to Casa Rosada, which is the executive mansion and office of the president of Argentina. Lunch was prepared by personal chef of the Argentinian president and it was delicious. After lunch we've done the tour around Casa Rosada that is surprisingly not pink from inside :)
Just before sunset we had booked tour at the Palacio Barolo, a landmark office building, located at Avenida de Mayo, in the neighborhood of Monserrat. It used to be the tallest building in the city and South America when it was build. Views from the top are spectacular and they took us even to the lighthouse at the very top.
That evening our guides had another surprise for us, dinner at the very popular and busy El Cuartito pizza restaurant. This place is famous for their traditional pizza and queues outside just confirm that. Dinner was again delicious and the atmosphere was very unique.
San Antonio de Areco
Day 4
We've checked out from Meliá Buenos Aires and went to our Microbus to another place where we gonna spend a day and night, San Antonio de Areco. It is one of the prettiest town in the pampas, located 113km northwest of Buenos Aires, well known for the peaceful atmosphere and picturesque colonial streets. The town dates from the early 18th century and preserves many gaucho and criollo traditions, including the fine silverwork and saddlery of its artisans.
We dropped our luggage to our Estancia called La Cinacina where we gonna spent night and went to explore the town. We had about an hour to wander around the streets before we went to Estancia El Ombú for lunch and horse riding. Lunch was served in typical Gaucho style and horse riding on pampas was a pretty cool experience.
San Rafael, Mendoza
Day 5
At the morning we sit back to the microbus and our driver took us back to Buenos Aires to the local Jorge Newbery Airport (AEP) from where we had our flight to Mendoza. It was pretty smooth and flight took only something over hour and we landed in San Rafael a city in Argentina's semi-arid Mendoza province, which borders Chile across the Andes. Sycamore-lined streets converge on Plaza San Martín, edged by cafes, restaurants and renowned vineyards producing Malbecs and other red wines surround the city.
Our hotel for next couple of days will be Tower Inn & Suites San Rafael, pretty cool modern hotel with outdoor swimming pool and spa area. I could see the vineyards all around the city from my room at the 6th floor.
That evening we had another small trip planed to place called Los Reyunos. It's a massive Dam built on Diamante River about 40km from San Rafael towards Chilean borders. You'll get the best views from the top of the Dam and you can get a boat trip on the lake itself or if you dare enough, try Zip Wire over the lake, it's great feeling.
Day 6
We spent morning in San Rafael town wandering around and at the noon we jumped int our microbus and went to Aventura Park, about 25 km from the city of San Rafael at the foot of the hills of Valle Grande. Amazing environment surrounded by native flora and fauna with ideal conditions for mountain activities and extreme sports. It's also great for star gazing, unfortunately we couldn't stay that long. Views are pretty spectacular and after the sunset we had to come back to San Rafael for a dinner.
Salinas del Diamantes - Salt Lake
Day 7
At the morning we met at the lobby and went for a day trip to a salt lake Salinas del Diamantes located in Nihuil district, 60 km from the city of San Rafael and are constituted by a giant salt mine open pit. It's awesome experience to see how the light break on the surface of the water and reflect everything. Great spot for pictures, just one advice, get some water with you as there is no place to buy something and the sun and salt can get pretty exhausting.
Valle Grande
Buenos Aires
to be continued...
Brussels with Radisson RED
I've been invited to spend weekend in Brussels by Radisson RED, the newly opened fancy hotel in European Quarter. After the recent terror attacks, Belgians are going through though time and they want to showcase some beauty that Brussels has to offer. As I've never been there before and it was for a good cause I've said yes.
It was an amazing weekend, damn cold but filled with some amazing food and festive drinks and obviously chocolate as we were in Belgium. I've met some old friends there and make some new ones too as Radisson invited about 20 influencers from all over the Europe to support this campaign. My favorite place in Brussels was the Grand Place with Christmas tree and the view from between the towers of Basilica Koekelberg. If you haven't been there yet, don't wait anymore :)
Enjoy my pictures and thank you again Radisson RED
Destination Canada - #ExploreCanada Campaign
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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!
The Hoxton Hotel - Shoreditch
The Hoxton Hotel is located right in the heart of Hip Shoreditch in London. It offers stylish rooms and unique atmosphere of the hotel that blends guests with locals. I was relay looking forward to this.
Hoxton Grill Restaurant is part of the hotel and is open also for public. Menu was full of delicious meals and great range of wines, so after check in i went straight there. I've ordered fillet steak and when it came it was cooked to perfection and accompanied by delicious truffle potatoes. Montepulciano Wine was lovely too :) After a delicious meal i went straight to bed and watched a bit of Rio Olympics and then fall asleep in big and comfy bed. My room was very spacious compared to most of the London's hotel rooms and furnished with stylish furniture and also a massive TV built in to the wall.
I woke up recharged in the morning with sun shining through curtains and went down to restaurant to check out their breakfast offer. Full English was straight choice and it was very tasty, poached eggs were just done perfect and that lovely bacon. Yummy
Thank you The Hoxton for lovely night.
Instagram takeover - Mercury Hotels
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
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