Destinations

20 Holidays to take in your 20’s

/ BigCityGirl / 17 Comments

20 holidays in your 20'sYour twenties are all about exploration, finding yourself and maybe getting lost again. There is no better way to make the most of it other than traveling. These are the years, where we can take the plunge and just book a ticket to an adventure. Prior this age, we are too young to go crazy and after this we will be old and responsible. I have made a list of 20 destinations I want to visit, while I am in my 20’s, these places will literally cover everything I have been wanting to do, from partying to adventures to teaching.

Here, are my top 20 trips to take in your 20’s:

Full Moon Party in Thailand

full moon party

The Full Moon party takes place once every month throughout the year, and new years is the best time to attend it. Here, everyone’s going crazy on the cheap buckets of alcohol, covering their bodies in neon paint and fireworks everywhere! It’s a holiday not to miss in your twenties.

Trekking to the Himalayas

Himalayan treks
Once you get older, your knees are going to get weak, you’ll be out of breath and stamina to do this trek, trekking up to the Himalayas is once in a lifetime experience, traveling through the highest motor-able road in the world and camping at the Everest base camp, things like this will never be forgotten.

Teach English Abroad

teach english abroad
As students, graduates we can put our language skill to some use, teaching English in a non-English speaking country could add a lot of value to you and someone else’s life, and you get perks for this as being well paid to sponsor more travels. If you look up on the TELF website, there are a list on countries you could teach English in.

Summers in Europe

Summers in europe
European summers are the best, this one trip you have to take with your best of friends or do a study abroad in Europe to spend enough time here. The variety of holiday destination is vast, you could chill on the beaches in Spain or indulge in wine and cheese in Italy or go for the hot tub parties in Budapest or have a summer love affair in Paris or get high in Amsterdam. Basically there’s a lot you could do in Europe, just spend a month here with your friends and make the best memories.

Tomorrowland in Belgium

tomorrowland_1
Tomrrowland, is one of the most talked about and popular EDM festival. As you get in your 20’s the few things you want to do is rage at these massive music festivals and enjoy the vibes there, and Tomorrowland should be top on your list and can’t be missed.

Backpack across South East Asia

south east asia
While we are in our twenties, one thing I suggest is being open-minded and learn about various cultures around the world. One of the best trips to get a different cultural exposure, this will surely be an enriching experience. The countries backpackers visit in South East Asia are Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. So, get those backpacks out and book this trip!

Roadtrip to Iceland

iceland road trip

This road trip would probably one of the most scenic road trips in your life, rent an RV and driving across Iceland’s Ring Road, surrounded with volcanoes, rainbows and northern lights. This is once in a lifetime, and is surely on my bucket list to do in my 20’s.

Hike up to Machu Picchu

machu picchu

Machu Picchu is the world’s most famous and popular Inca archeological ruin, and now voted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The best way to discover the city is through the Inca trek and trails, it’s surely not an easy way to get up here. This trek would be exploring mountains, flora and fauna, sacred valley of Machu Picchu and the culture of course. Your twenties are the best time to explore this city and hike up.

Burning Man in Nevada

Burning man

Burning Man isn’t an average festival, it’s a weeklong cultural festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. This includes camping in the desert, self-expression art from all over the world, music and a lot of cultural influences are found here. Well, this weeklong festival isn’t easy as camping in the desert is difficult and requires you to be well prepped for this exceptional week.

Experience the great barrier reef in Australia

great barrier reef australia

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living space on Earth, with over 1500 different types of species found on a 3000km long marine stretch, this and unbelievable sight. This is the up close experience with the underwater world, undoubtedly Australia is the best place for this experience.

Scuba diving lessons in Indonesia

scuba dive gili islands

Do you love the ocean? The best thing you could do is take Scuba Diving lessons and maybe even become and instructor. Gili Islands in Indonesia is one of the best places to learn scuba diving, a week-long of training to become a pro yourself, and maybe a month-long training to become and instructor. Can you leave a desk job to become an instructor later in life? In the real world it seems unlikely, so go take this leap while you can.

Party in Ibiza

Ibiza

Yes, our twenties are meant to party are asses off! We will be working hard in the future, so what better place to let hair down other than Ibiza, one of the best party islands having the most chilled vibes and that’s all you need. The beach, music and a little bit booze to let lose.

Volunteer in Africa

volunteer in africa

So, I am a big believer of giving back to the world. I mean, for the ones reading this and the ones who’ve had chances to experience even half this list, are really fortunate. Sometimes, we could give back by volunteering in countries like Africa, it could be teaching students, working in a Safari, helping in the fields and experiences like these will make us realise how bless we actually are, so make sure you get a chance to do something like this before responsibilities take over.

Spring break partying in Mexico

cancun mexico

I bet most students have this ticked off their bucket lists, spring breaks are where you’ll are going to prep for summers but in style, Cancun is where most students go party till sunrise and just begin their twenties. Spring break party holidays are the best way to start your twenties travels.

Get wasted on a Yacht at Yacht Week

Yacht Week

Yacht week is a weeklong of sailing, island hoping, diving and partying. You and your group of friends get your own yacht for a week, and this experience is filled with being drunk in the middle of the ocean to waking up on a new island. This could definitely be a perfect bachelor party!

Attend the world’s biggest carnival in Rio

Rio Carnival

This is the biggest carnival in the world, in Rio Brazil it’s even known as the Carnival city. This 5 days long party has over 2 million visitors per day and performances, parades performed poor neighbourhood that make this carnival a world-class event. Before you’re too old to move those hips to samba, attend this street party and be awestruck by Brazilian performances and the samba parade.

Learn Spanish in Spain

Spanish-course-fuengirola-1

Well, in our twenties we are quick learners and the best thing we can learn is a new language, to how about spending a summer in Spain, learning Spanish and immersing your self into a different culture. And this will open so many doors for you in the future in terms of being able to connect with people from different countries, jobs abroad and so much more. Give this a shot in your early twenties!

Get lost in India

India

They say you need a lifetime to experience India, and I wouldn’t disagree as India has got such a vast culture and so much authenticity. This is one trip that should be on your list in your twenties, exploring different cities, food and seeing the most stunning places. Maybe one trip wouldn’t be enough to explore this large country but starting in your twenties will always have you going back to India for a new adventure every time.

Underground clubbing in Berlin

berlin underground

For all those who love deep house and underground music, this one trip you must not miss out on, Berlin is known for having the best clubbing experience in Europe. It’s not mainstream, they are dark underground clubs that make sure you party till 8 am, also it’s got clubs with the strictest door policy in the world. And let’s be honest, as we get older our partying capacity reduces, partying till dawn is something your older self wouldn’t want to do.

Take an Adventurous leap in New Zealand

Queenstown bungee jump

Your young and pretty damn courageous, this trip will give you that adrenaline rush. New Zealand is known for having the best adventurous exposure, having the ultimate bungee jump, to sky dives and ocean walks. These are just to name a few activities here, but there’s a lot more! Seriously, I don’t even need to explain why you should be doing this trip in your twenties, go take this adventurous journey.

Your twenties are probably going to be the best years of your life and these are a few experiences you shouldn’t miss out on, take these holidays abroad the experiences and make some unforgettable memories in these years.

Stereotypes and misconceptions about India 

/ BigCityGirl / 66 Comments

Stereotypes & Misconceptions about India

Recently at a bar in Mumbai, I had a strange encounter with these white guys from Europe traveling across India for a month. Well, it was strange cause, I was surprised what they though of India and us Indians to be, and it made me realise how every white person who comes to visits India or even interacts with us, has a few preconceived thoughts and stereotypes about India. This wasn’t my first experience, while living in the UK I’ve had people ask me questions like “are you allowed to date?”, “why don’t you have an Indian accent?” and the list could go on. I had to keep explaining that India is not what they see in movies or they hear about. It’s really big and diverse, and they’d be so surprised with what I would tell them. Not everything you’d hear about is false, but there is a lot of stuff that’s exaggerated and has just created a bizarre image about India, which is why explaining myself about India, that it’s not what you may think it is.

Indian isn’t a language:

So a lot of foreigners, assume Indian to be a language, and it isn’t that’s our nationality. I was communicating with a taxi driver in Hindi (our national language) and I was asked by one a foreigner, if I was talking to them in “Indian” well they meant Hindi which obviously I corrected. So, a fun fact here, Hindi is our national language, besides this there are 28 official languages spoken across India and over 200 dialects. Yes, this would be probably one of the most diverse nation in the world.

Curry isn’t the only Indian food and not every Indian eats spicy:

India has mastered the art of making curries, but there are debates and conflicts about curry being originated from England (does England like taking credit for everything we do?) non the less, if you’re visiting India, curry isn’t the only thing you should be trying, there is a variety of dishes such as South Indian food like idlis, dosas or chaats like bhel, aloo vada and there’s lot more you could find here. Now getting to our spice tolerance level, for the record not everyone in India can eat spicy, example myself, I have tears streaming down my face if my food has too much chilli. So next time you’re hanging with an Indian, don’t assume they’re spice superman, you’d be surprised to see that you could probably eat spicier food than your Indian mate.

Dating is a taboo:

So, I encountered this experience twice once in London and in Mumbai when I met these blokes from Amsterdam, who tried flirting, but I wasn’t responsive and the next thing they said to me was, “Oh you’re not allowed to date right, you’ll have an arrange marriage.” To he honest, this really pissed me off, cause you know nothing about my life to comment and coming back to our culture, arrange marriages do exist, but as time has passed by, everyone’s allowed to date find who they like and this doesn’t mean if someone’s flirting, I need to give them what they’re looking for. Times have changed, and arrange marriages exist in the rural areas of India and those marriages seem to be lasting a lifetime so I don’t see what’s wrong in that. Guys, honestly watch out before passing comments like this, it is quite personal and offensive.

Every woman would be in a Sari:

When I was a part of an exchange program in college, while talking to these students they told me they didn’t carry their normal clothes as it would be “too revealing” for India and most girls and women would be dressed in saris is what they heard. This has been one of the most false statements I’ve heard, like my mum doesn’t even know how to drape a Sari forget wearing it everyday. Saris are beautiful and elegant, they are worn on special occasions like weddings and festivals, not on everyday basis. In big cities like Mumbai and Delhi girls would be dressed in normal jeans and tops, or even dresses for night outs. And working women wearing indo-western clothes to work which would be wearing a scarf along with your jeans, or a longer top known as “kurta”. We live a pretty updated fashion world, so please get this mindset off and Saris are beautiful.

The Indian Accent:

So every white person thinks the Indian accents in very think and loud, how they mimic us in all the American tv shows saying “what are you doing?” I’m sure you’re imaging the accent while reading this. Now, open up your mind, not every Indian has that accent, we are very well spoken and let me repeat myself about the diversity in languages in India. Literally accents in English change from city to city, people in UK were pretty surprised by my accent as it wasn’t the thick accept you’d have imagined and wouldn’t guess that I was Indian. I’ve been fortunate enough to get the best education which allows me to speak well, but seriously that accent you’d very rarely find across India, maybe if you go down to south India (which is also the most literate part of the country).

These are a few stereotypes I’ve come across, and what people thought about India and sometimes I found it really frustrating about having to explain my about things like this, and such stereotypes did exist but but everything has evolved over time, and sometimes a lot of things could be offensive if you have failed to be opened minded about a country and its culture. So, if you’re visiting India with an open mind I can assure having a life changing experiencing the culture here, seeing two sides to India and be mind boggled with diversity in one country its self.

Dubai Nightlife Guide

/ BigCityGirl / 2 Comments

Dubai Nightlife GuideDubai is a cosmopolitan city, with one of the best partying scene having clubs from all around the world, and even designers have opened up their signature nightclubs. From my experience, the culture in Dubai is about larger than life, everything’s extravagant and super fancy, and the nightlife is no exception to that. You would see a lot of people from East and West coming for a night out to all these places I’m going to list down. Here are few of the best nightclubs in Dubai that you should go to have a crazy night out in this magnificent city. Here, I am mainly listing out all the swanky high-end clubs and bars you could visit in Dubai.

360
360 - Dubai
360 is a bar set-up 1km into the Arabian Ocean, giving a panoramic views of Dubai and the spectacular Burj Al Arab is known to have one of the best views at a bar and is also one of the best bars in the world, it’s definitely worth visiting. The most popular are the Thursday Brunches, watching the sun go down by the sea is mesmerising. The music played here is generally house and R&B.
Location: Marina Walkway, Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Armani Privé
Armani Prive
Armani Privé is launched by the fashion tycoon Giorgio Armani, it’s a chic club located in Downtown Dubai, it’s surely a fancy club where you’d want put your best dress on, and well you don’t need to wait for the weekend to hit this club. Tuesday nights at Armani are suppose to be the best.
Location: Armani Hotel, Dubai Downtown, Burj Khalifa

Cavalli
cavalli club
Cavalli is another designer club by Roberto Cavalli, the interiors speak for the designer’s flamboyance having zebra print chairs, furry lifts, elaborate eye-catching chandeliers. This club, speaks luxury and offers special Roberto Cavalli cocktails while the DJ spins latest R&B and Hip-Hop music and have had celebrities like Paris Hilton, Chris Brown, Will Smith and many more have partied here. Yes, this club is slightly over priced, but it’s definitely worth the experience.
Location: Dubai Fairmont, Sheikh Zayed Road

VIP Room
VIP Room
VIP Room, is one finest clubs where you’d see celebrities partying at St. Tropez, Paris and Cannes is now also in Dubai. This club has some amazing music, don’t be surprised to find well known artists playing at this club on a Thursday or a Friday night, this club is exploding with energy and you could find yourself rubbing shoulders with Will Smith, I guess he loves partying it up in Dubai.
Location: J.W Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, Business Bay

Cirque Le Soir
cirque le soir
Cirque is a circus themed club, which gives it an edge over any other club, the atmosphere inside the club is incredible and what you could expect here would be a world class live circus performance by performers such as stilt walkers, midgets, contortionists, burlesque dancers, fire eaters, magicians, drummers, jugglers and tattoo artists to glam up your face for the circus. That’s not it, you can even get yourself circus snacks like popcorn and candy floss alongside your drinks. This clubs gives you an exceptional experience which you’d not have anywhere else. Cirque’s there in London and Shanghai as well, if you’re missing out on the one in Dubai.
Location: Fairmont Hotel Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road

Blue Marlin Ibiza, UAE
BLUE-MARLIN UAEThis is the first Blue Marlin Ibiza, set up outside Ibiza bring the beach club concept to Dubai, Blue Marlin Ibiza is best known for it’s themed boozy brunches like the Brazilian Brunch, Water Activities, Summer of Love. Here, you can be dancing to house and EDM beats by the beach while sipping on some bubbly. It’s surely a vibrant atmosphere and what could be more perfect than the dancing on the beach to some good beats.
Location: Golden Tulip Al Jazira Hotel, off Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai

Barasti Beach Bar
Barasti beach barBarasti Beach Bar is one of the most popular bars un Dubai, having a very chilled out relaxed atmosphere its a perfect place for brunches, watch games and matches as it has the largest live screen in Dubai by the beach. What’s the best part about this bar that they’ve free entries throughout the week and daily offers on drinks. Besides this, they usually have artists coming here and playing, I feel it’d be the best place to go when you’re looking for a fun, chilled night out in Dubai.
Location: Le Meridian Mina Seyahi Beach Resort, Jumeirah Beach

ToyRoom Dubai
ToyroomToyRoom Dubai is a relatively new club open in Dubai, replacing Vanity. ToyRoom is known for playing the best Hip-Hop and R&B music and having a club’s mascot grooving to the music, he’s a person dressed as a live-size teddy called Frank happens to drive a lot of attention to the club, best nights here being ‘Franks Fridays’. Good news here is that drinks are at standard prices of 55 dhs, which is pretty amazing for a high-end club. This the club to be at for everyone Hip-Hop fanatic.
Besides Dubai, you could get the ToyRoom experience in London and Mykonos.
Location: Al Murooj Rotana, Downtown Dubai

Sass Cafe
sass cafe 2Sass Cafe is a lounge where you’d want to indulge in their food made with exquisite cheese, truffles and wine from Italy. The interiors here are fancy, velvet couches, crystal chandeliers giving it an fashionista feeling, as the night prolongs this lounge turns into a club with live performances. This could be super swanky date place, and their weekend brunches are happening as well.
Location: Al Fattan Currency House, Sheikh Zayed Road

White Dubai
white dubaiWhite Dubai is a one of a kind clubbing experience, which is completely different from the mainstream nightclubs. The concept at White is of a night club inside an arena, giving it a feeling of a festival you’d be attending. Here, you’d be in an open arena with house and EDM, there is white lighting and a circular bar at the centre of the arena where there would be performances taking place. A night out at White is surely a euphoric experience, it’s rated to be one of the best clubs in Dubai and been awarded a couple of times. This concept is absolutely amazing, the only flaw here is you’d need to book a table with minimum cover for a sick night and White Thursdays are suppose to be the best of the week.
Location: Meydan Racecourse Grandstand Rooftop, Dubai

There are a few things you should be keeping in mind while clubbing in Dubai, the minimum age limit is 21 years, make sure you have an ID proof. Dress code at most high-end clubs is formals, you have to make an effort to be let in and they are pretty strict on girls to guys ratio being equal or more girls.They are pretty much basic clubbing rules, but somehow in Dubai they are pretty stringent about these.

For all those who love partying and clubbing, Dubai is the place to be as they bring the best of best clubs from all around the world to Dubai, it’s literally a one stop party destination offering a variety of options and a complete baller experience.

 

Student Travel Planning Guide

/ BigCityGirl / 2 Comments

Students, this one’s for you or rather for anyone who wants to travel on a budget but still have one of the best experiences. Ground rule for traveling as a student I experienced was budget myself, and it’s difficult, as you want to explore the city, party and we can’t forget a tad bit of shopping. Budgeting with so many quests is a task, so here I have a perfect guide that will allow you to do all of it just with minor compromises.
Let’s get started now!
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  1. Decide an Estimate you want to spend:
    This should be the first step in to planning your vacation, have an estimate of how you want to spend on your trip, this will allow you to pick a destination, the kind of hotel/hostel you would want to stay in, transport and the duration of your trip. After having an estimate, you could plan out 2 to 3 options laid out to make the final choice. As much as I love spontaneous holidays, here it’s advisable to plan at least 3 months in advance, as a student you will curb and budget your daily expenses for the coming months to have extra cash for this trip and besides you will get good deals with the advance bookings.
    Here, you will be able to find sites that will help you decide a budget for your holiday.
  2. Book Hotels/Hostels & Flights:
    This is obviously the biggest and the main expense of your trip, once a destination has been finalised it always good to keep a tab on flight deals and offers, book as soon as you get a good deal, For hostels, it’s the same prices tend to be inflated closer to peak season or the hostel you’d be hoping to book could be sold out, its preferable to complete hostel bookings along side flights and bag a good deal.
    For hostel and hotel booking, compare prices from HostelBookers, Booking.com, HostelWorld and for flights the best sites to compare various airlines would be Skyscanner and Kayak, so I would suggest look up all these sites, compare prices and book.
  3. Visas (if required):
    Depending on where you’d be traveling a visa may or may not be required. Incase there is a visa requirement, the best thing to do is do the application as soon as your flight and hotel bookings are done. I would suggest this as you can apply for visas three months prior to your travel and from past experience, the closer you apply for your visa to the holiday season there are chances of delay in your visa arrival. Just to be safe and assured about your holiday, don’t be lazy and leave the visa for the end.
  4. Make A To-Do List:
    For me this is one of the most fun and exciting part of planning a holiday, do a little research on the places you’re going to be visiting, make a list of what you want to there. This would include activities/water sports, museums, restaurants, bars and clubs that you’d like to cover. After this is done, check prices (budgeting needs us to do this). This will give you an idea how much you should keep aside for you expenses per day. My favourite bit would be finding stuff to do for free, I mean besides being on a budget who doesn’t love freebies? Imagine a museum is on your list and then you know it’s got free entry for students (excitement right there), I would be buying couple of beers and fancy cocktails with this saved money. Also, before I forget, it’s good to find out if places give student discounts and offer good deals for a group incase you’ll are traveling in a bunch.
  5. Let’s get packing:
    Girls, this is probably for you’ll. You have to be smart while packing on budget holidays, check the weather forecast, bars and clubs you would be headed to and get an idea of the local culture then start with your packing, letting it be appropriate and minimal. I have made this mistake in the past of carrying heels along with me by just assuming all the clubs else where would be like London and guess what it was the complete opposite. Silly me, let those heels take up so much space in my bag that I could barely shop and had the worry of paying excess baggage with cheap airlines. So just be smart while packing.

    So this how you students will be able to plan in a budget but still have a sick vacation, and trust me you’d be surprised by how much you’ll end up saving following this planning process for your holiday.

 

Postcards From Venice

/ BigCityGirl / 1 Comment

Venice is such a picturesque city, literally whatever image you capture which may or may not be with a professional camera, I can guarantee you, it’ll look amazing just by adjusting your brightness settings, the captured image can be printed into a postcard.
I am going to share few of my postcard photography images of Venice which is visited this ‘city of love’.

I’m going to let the pictures talk for themselves about this beautiful city.

Getting closer to the Grand Canal

All the boats parked by one of the canal

Silhouettes after the late sunset

Symmetrically parked boats at the end of the day

 

Clear skies at San Marco

Grand Canal by night

Capturing the Venetian sunset

A burst of color and sunset reflection

Display of beautiful Venetian masks

The happy tourist – BigCityGirl

 

High Tea At The Taj Falaknuma Palace

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The Falaknuma Palace represents the luxurious lifestyle of the late Nizam, this palace was built-in the 1890’s with Italian marble, timeless architectural design is spread over 93,971 square metres.
What are truly admire about palaces in India is the intricate details to everything even in those times, this palace was no exception to this. Located up hill in Hyderabad, this iconic palace is now taken over by the Taj Group and converted into one of India’s luxury hotels giving you a Nizam style living experience.

Falaknuma Palace Hotel

Reception area at the Taj Falaknuma Palace with Italian marble interiors 

While I was visiting the palace I happen to meet a couple of people staying at the hotel and I really wanted to know what it was like living in this fabulous crib, and they told me its an experience that comes with the hefty price tag, but is truly worth it if you can afford paying £350 a night.

Well, what comes with that price is a king size stay with butler services, spas, breakfast in bed and all the prince and princess pampering that you’d imagine of.

Taj-Falaknuma-Interior

Stairs that lead you to the ballrooms 

But, don’t be disappointed you can get an essence of the luxuries at the palace by opting for high-tea or dinner with a guided tour around the palace just for £30 this is the fair deal I opted for, and this the only way you would be able to get into the palace. I must say they are quite stringent on rules to let people come visit ever since the palace has been converted into a luxury hotel, which is understandable.

So my evening started by being warmly greeted and taken to the palace in a chariot (how I wish that was true), but as you go up, there is a chariot right outside the palace for visitors to take pictures. After strolling around for a bit, we were all called in to take the palace tour, I got to be honest here I felt like I was in school doing this with another bunch of tourists or locals coming to dine here. This tour comes free along with high-tea or dinner.

falaknuma - chariot

Chariot at the entrance of the palace 

As the tour starts, I noticed the high ceilings at the reception and the grand staircases going up, and now it was time to absorb all the facts and figures of this beauty. So, to begin with the palace consists of 22 halls and 60 rooms lavishly furnished and decorated with paintings, artifacts, one of kind master pieces and chandeliers. Falaknuma is known for its largest Vientiane chandler collection with 40 being only in the hall. It’s also known for its unique jade collections and paintings of well-known personalities.

falaknuma ball room

Crystal Ballroom with an infinite chandler reflection 

Thereafter, we arrived in the Nizam’s games/activity room, this room was where he would spend most of this time with friends playing chess, billiards on the one of a kind billiards table which is designed by Burroughs and Watts who designed two identical billiards tables out of which one being in the Buckingham Palace and the other at Falaknuma. Then, I noticed this massive hookah pot which had five pipes and was probably two feet tall. Wow, the Nizam could smoke quite a bit I must say.

pool table - falaknuma

Burroughs & Watts Billiards table 

Now, we moved to the ballrooms, it’s absolutely magical with beautiful tapestry and glittering chandeliers, imagine having your party or wedding in one of these ballrooms it would be a complete fairytale. Moving on to the dining hall where the worlds longest table is with 100 guests can be seated on the table at once, here the chairs are made of carved rosewood and green leather upholstery and the tableware is made of gold and crystal. This is open to guests with a minimum booking of 20 guests.

dining room - falaknuma

100 seater dining table – worlds biggest dining table 

The tour was about to end, and I almost lost my way around wandering in the palace, the only bit that was left was the bedrooms and library which was a replica from the Windsor Castle having the best Quran collection here. Going back to the reception, it was time for tea at the coffee shop.

 

I was really excited and hungry about by this time, after a day of work, walking around the palace I needed this to fuel me. There are two types of high-tea that you can choose from The Nizam Special – this has a variety of arabic teas and indian snacks along side or The English Tea – you can choose from a variety of green & black teas which are served with sandwiches, scones and parties. Knowing my palette I chose the English Tea.

IMG_5167

High-tea with a view

I have to talk about the great hospitality I was provided here, at first my tea was served indoors and it was about evening time. I noticed there was a terrace area and requested to be shifted there to enjoy the city view while the sun goes down and I sip on my tea. Though there was dinner setting being laid out outside, the staff made arrangements for my tea to be shifted there, which I thought was nice, they ensured all the guests were provided with first class service.

IMG_5195

And finally, managed to get someone to take my picture (even though its unclear)

This was definitely a blissful experience and of the best ways to spend my evening in Hyderabad. Whenever you would be visiting this city, a visit to the Taj Falaknuma would be a must. Make sure, you call the restaurant and make reservations as they could deny you entry at the palace if your name is not at the entrance.

And if you’re staying here, I am pretty sure you’d have a once in a life time king size experience.

London Rooftops

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It’s summer solstice, and time to unleash the summer wardrobe and what better way to do it than a sundown or a rooftop brunch. I have always been a bar person, and rooftops are always on top of my list. While London has to offer a variety of rooftops in the city with a mesmerizing view, while visiting London, make sure you visit at least few of these and get a better view of the city while sipping on your rosé. Here are all the rooftops I went to while living in London and are my absolute favorite.

Madison

Madison Summer Sundowns

 

 

Madison has a separate viewing area for tourists to capture a glimpse of the St. Paul’s Cathedral, and an indoor bar serving signature cocktails, my favorite being the Porn Star Martini here. During summer, there are Möet & Chandon brunches organized here, with a lot of cocktail experimentation. It’s perfect for a champagne brunch kind of afternoon.
Location: Rooftop Terrace, 1 New Change, St Paul’s, London, EC4M 9AF
Nearest Tube Station: St Paul’s
Prices: £9–£12 for signature cocktails
Timings: Mon – Sat: 10 am – Midnight, Sun: 10am – 9pm

Radio Rooftop Bar

Radio Rooftop Bar is a swanky bar on the 10th floor of the ME hotel, this modern rooftop bar gives you a 360 of the city from the Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s to the Shard. It has stylish interiors, and poppin’ EDM beats start playing as the sun goes down. Downside would be long queues on busy nights and the bouncers may refuse entries. It’s better to get a reservation with a minimum spend of 50 pounds to skip the long wait. Must haves would be Spanish Tapas along with wine or try the Bellini popsicle. They even offer brunches and high tea. Dress to impress at this lavish bar, as being in casual would be a problem to entry. Besides, there are boozy brunches and sundowner happening through summer, which cannot be missed.
Location: 336 – 337 Strand, London, WC2R 1HA
Nearest Tube Station: Covent Garden
Prices:£13 for signature cocktails
Timings: Mon – Wed: 10am – 1am, Thurs – Sat: 10am – 3am, Sun: 10am- 12am

 

Sushi Samba

 

Sushi Samba a fusion of Brazilian, Japanese and Peruvian Sushi, on the 38th & 39th floor of Heron Towers, it takes under 30 seconds through the glass elevators to see the Gherkin at eye level. The glass wall gives you a very close view to London’s skyscrapers. The interiors are pretty eye-catching, with an orange tree light up outdoor post sunset. This is one of my favorite rooftops as it gives such a close up, panoramic view of London’s skyline. This would be a perfect place for a birthday or any celebration.
Location: Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
Nearest Tube Station: Liverpool Street
Prices: Culinary Cocktails –£14, Signature Cocktails –£13
Timings: Mon – Sun: 11:30 am – 1:30 am

 

Duck & Waffle

Duck & Waffle is located on the 40th floor of Heron Tower, looking over the financial district of London. This is a 24 hours open bar, serving traditional English and European cuisine. This would be an after party delight to indulge in their ‘Late Night Menu’ of champagne cocktails and cheeky mid-night treats with a stunning view. I would also recommend sticking around till sunrise and enjoy breakfast with probably one the best sight.
Location: Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
Nearest Tube Station: Liverpool Street
Prices: Mid-night Champagne cocktails at £15
Timings: 24 hours

 

Oblix

 

Oblix is located on the 32nd floor of the Shard, this fancy spot at the Shard is obtained by restaurateurs Rainer Becker for bring a New York style high-end dining luxury. Oblix would be a perfect date place, as tables are available only for dining, which would overlook the Thames and give a sparkling view of Tower Bridge. They have a variety of Steaks and Vintage Wine to choose from, this would be an ideal date setting with a stunning view, sometimes have live jazz performances and there would be a cover of £5 on weekends.
Location: The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY
Nearest Tube Station: London Bridge
Prices: £100 -£120 for a meal for 2
Timings: Mon – Sun: 12 Noon – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm

 

Aqua Shard

Aqua is located on the 31st floor of Shard, having high glass windows and a table setting around it, allowing you to stick your face to the glass to get an iconic view of London. They have Signature English cocktails, high tea and brunch all year round. It’s advisable to make reservations in advance as it gets booked pretty quick, and you should also keep up with special events happening here during summer. Something I found interesting is, the bathrooms here have long glass windows, having a panoramic view while doing your business.
Location: The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY
Nearest Tube Station: London Bridge
Prices: Signature Cocktails for £16 – £20
Timings: Sun – Thurs: 12pm – 1am, Fri – Sat: 12pm – 2am

 

Sky Garden Bar & Restaurant

Sky Garden is a concept of landscape garden, with open decks and a terrace, this is London’s highest public garden and an amazing social place spread across three floors on the 35,th 36th and 37th floor of 20 Fenchurch Street also known as the “Walkie Talkie Building.” There are free tours, which allow you to explore the gardens and enjoy a 360 view of the city from the South Bank, London Eye, and Gherkin to the Wembley Stadium. Booking for this must be done 3 days in advance. In this big landscape there are two restaurants and a bar. What better way to spend a sunny afternoon than sipping on Mimosa on a rooftop garden with a city view like this, imagine the sun going down while you’re sitting in the garden on the 37th floor. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?
Location: Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF
Nearest Tube Station: Monument
Prices: Sky Pod Bar Cocktails £12 – £16
Timings: Mon – Sun: 7am – 1am

 

Kensington Roof Gardens

 

Kensington roof Gardens is a little Alice in Wonderland, spread across one and half acres, comprises of three different kind of gardens where you can pop in for a glass of champagne or a free tour on advance booking, it has the Babylon Restaurant by the garden and a members on nightclub alongside an open air terrace. Fancy an afternoon high tea or a brunch in the Spanish or English Garden, to a late night partying. This place has it all, for you. Also, you should look out for events happening through summer.
Location: 99 Kensington High St, London W8 5SA
Nearest Tube Station: High Street Kensington
Prices: Signature cocktails from £12
Timings: Gardens & Restaurants: Mon – Sun: 8am – 11pm, Night Club: Fri – Sat: 10 pm – 3 am

 

Queen Of Hoxton

 

Queen of Hoxton is funky bar and club in the heart of Shoreditch, it’s got three levels and a barbecue rooftop. There are drag queens, live performances, photo booths, games installation in the club, with dimed lights and artistic interiors, this place gives the chilled, fun vibes with young kids getting drunk and dancing to the beats. Throughout summer, they have movies being showcased on the rooftops and events happening, which requires prior booking. On weekends it’s usually very busy due to which there is a £5 cover charge.
Location: 1 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3JX
Nearest Tube Station: Liverpool Street/ Shoreditch High Street (overground)
Prices: Cocktails have a standard price of £8
Timings: Sun – Wed: 12pm – 12am, Thurs – Sat: 12pm – 2am

 

Big Chill House

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Pop – up barbecue & drinks at Big Chill Terrace

 

Big Chill is a large bar and event place with a roof terrace, they open up a bar during summer on the terrace, its perfect for barbecue and sangrias. This is literally a house, with a large drawing room, ping-pong table, private rooms and photo booths. It’s an easy going atmosphere, with art work around the house and a perfect pre-drinking place for the summer as you can get cocktails by glass or a big pitcher. Sounds like a perfect way to get the late summer evening started.
Location: 257 – 259 Pentonville Road, London N1 9NL
Nearest Tube Station: Kings Cross
Prices: Cocktails starting from £8.5
Timings: Sun – Wed: 11am – 12am, Thurs: 11am – 2am, Fri – Sat: 11am – 3am

So, here are all my favorite rooftop bars in London for all, fancy high – end bars, Gardens tours to fun, chilled out bars and night clubs. I would suggest at least visit a few, and enjoy the serene view of London, it’s definitely worth that expensive cocktail!

Middle Eastern Layover

/ BigCityGirl / 3 Comments

During most of my travels, I am flying Emirates or Eithad airlines. Now these airlines fly only via their respective countries Dubai and Abu Dhabi. If you haven’t visited any of these Middle Eastern countries it’s a good way to add them in your itinerary just to get a glimpse of Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

To begin with, anyone traveling from a western country i.e the United States, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia etc. can get visa on arrival while traveling by Emirates. This allows you to explore Dubai for a couple of hours, which is more than enough if you have an 8 to 12 hours layover. It’s the same policy for Eithad Airways as well.

Both these cities are fantastic and there is a lot you can explore and see in a couple of hours since everything in the city is in close proximity.

Things to do in Dubai during a layover:

Burj Khalifa

atmosphere

Fancy a drink with this view at Atmosphere on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa

First on the list would be the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building. I would recommend going there first, it would be only a 15 – 20 minutes drive from the airport. This is located at Downtown Dubai, one of the prime areas with a lot of high rises and the Dubai Mall of course.

Going up to the Burj Khalifa should be on the top of your list, there is a coffee shop called Atmosphere if you fancy having coffee on top of the world with a breath taking view.

 

Dubai Mall

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Underwater Aquarium & Zoo at the Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall is located right next to the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping mall, you could easily spend 4-5 hours here with a complete shopping spree, to lot of restaurants to go to and for kids there are a lot of attractions here, like the underwater aquarium and zoo, watch the beautiful fountain show outside the mall and by the Burj Khalifa its one of the best ways to spend the evening in Dubai if you’re visiting for the first time.

Jumeirah Beach

Jumeirah beach

Sunset by Jumeirah Beach 

For the ones that want to explore something outdoors, you could go to Jumeirah Beach side and explore that part of the city, by tanning on the beach or doing the water sports by the beach. This isn’t enough, families with kids can go visit Wild Wadi Water Park and spend the entire day splashing into those notorious water rides. If not this, relaxing on the beach and enjoying some sheesha would be ideal.

Things to do in Abu Dhabi during a layover:

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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Iconic Sheikh Zayed Mosque 


This is one of the largest mosques in the world, and has the largest knotted carpet in the world. This mosque is majestic and an architectural beauty, this one is a must visit during your layover, it’s the best way to appreciate the culture and this piece of art. You could take a guided tour to understand the history, architecture and purpose of the mosque.

Ferrari World

ferrari world

Fastest roller coaster in the world at Ferrari World – Abu Dhabi

Ferrari world is a Ferrari themed amusement park, which has the fastest roll-coaster in the world. Yes, it’s actually the fastest at 240 km/h in 4.9 seconds. This ride is definitely gives you an adrenaline rush by the end of it. Apart from this attraction Ferrari world has a lot other rides, car shows, movies to enjoy for the day. It would be a perfect way to spend your day during a lay over in Abu Dhabi. One-day ticket would cost 350 AED, which would be 65 GBP and the timings are from 11 am to 8 pm.

These are a few things I did during my layover in these middle eastern countries, personally I feel layovers which allow to go explore a new city are amazing, its one of the best ways to explore a new place, get an essence of a different culture and have another destination to add on your list without any extra cost.

 

25 European Music Festivals This Summer

/ BigCityGirl / 1 Comment

It’s that time of the year, I mean its SUMMER! Finally, something to look forward to, while I was planning my trip this summer, and the one thing I was pretty sure about is adding a music fest to my itinerary but I wasn’t sure which one was it going to be, as Europe has so many festivals happening every summer.

Europe has one of the best electronic dance music cultures, and I am not surprised as 70% of the top 100 DJs in the world are European, this list would include Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Avicii, Hardwell, Tiësto, Calvin Harris and many more. If you feel you’re missing out on big festivals like Tomorrowland and Glastonbury, don’t worry there are SO many other festivals on that scale that you could attend this summer.

  1. Sonar - barcelonaSónar
    Date: June 16th – 18th 2016
    Place: Barcelona, Spain
    Headliners: Richie Hawtin, James Blake, Fatboy Slim, James Rhode, Underground Resistance, A-Trak and many more
    Sónar was established in 1994, and is positioned very differently in the electronic dance by uniting established artists as well as emerging artists. Sónar has now travelled to 50 different parts of the world like Cape Town, Seoul, Frankfurt, New York, London, Boston and the list goes on. This festival will definitely have some new artists that you would discover.
  2. Glastonbury
    glastonbury-england
    Date: June 22nd – 26th 2016
    Place: Somerset, England
    Headliners: Coldplay, Muse, Adele, Ellie Goulding, Foals, Disclosure, Skepta and about 100 more artists performing over 5 days at Glastonbury.
    The festival goes back in the 70’s being started in 1971, it is a contemporary art festival, and a hippie culture is usually found at this gigantic 5 days party! Unfortunately this year all tickets are completely sold out, but hey! There is always next year right.
  3. Awakenings Festival
    awakenings - netherlands
    Date: June 25th – 26th 2016
    Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Headliners: Richie Hawtin, Adam Beyer, Dave Clarke, Maya Jane Coles
    Awakenings is known as the Techo Festival and one of the important electronic event in Europe. This is one of the world’s largest outdoor techno festivals in the world. This would be a perfect fest to attend for any sunshine and techno lover!
  4. Hideout
    Hideout - coratia
    Date: June 26th – 30th 2016
    Place: Island of Pag, Croatia
    Headliners: Skepta, Jamie XX, Andy C, Jamie Jones, Adam Beyer, Gorgon City and over 100 artists and underground DJs lined up over 5 days of complete madness.
    Hideout started in 2011, and the festival has been expanding year by year and 2016 is suppose to be the biggest with the festival, boat parties, after parties on the beach till wee in the morning. Plus, this festival is fairly affordable with tickets at 135 pounds and stay at 20 pounds a night. This surely sounds like a deal!
  5. Fusion Festival
    Fusion+Festival - germany.gif
    Date: June 29th to July 3rd 2016
    Place: Lärz, Germany
    Headliners: To Be Announced
    The Fusion Festival is an underground electronic festival in an abandoned military base in the northeast of Germany, the festival does not release it’s line up in advance, which would leave you quite curious. This festival is now being known as the “Burning Man of Europe”. If you’re an electro underground fan, discovering this mystery would be interesting.
  6. Sensation Angles & Demons
    IMG_2990
    Date: July 2nd 2016
    Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Headliners: Yellow Claw, Robin Schulz, Nicky Romero, Sam Feldt, David Guetta, Mr. White, Rob, Don Diablo
    Sensation is an indoor electronic dance festival originated in Netherlands and now traveling around the globe, the uniqueness of sensation is that it takes place in indoor Arenas and has some mind blowing live acts. My sensation experience last year was insane! Read about it more here.
    I would 100% recommend going for this festival.
  7. Balaton Sound
    balaton 2
    Date: July 6th – 10th 2016
    Place: Budapest, Hungary
    Headliners: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Martin Garrix, Armin Van Buuren, Chris Brown, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Robin Schulz, W&W, Nervo, Tyga, The Chainsmokers, Lost Frequencies, Steve Aoki, Alan Walker
    This year is going to be the 1oth edition of Balaton Sound held in Zamárdi. It is going to a banging summer beach party with this amazing line up and boat parties by the Lake Balaton. Isn’t the line up tempting enough to be at this fest?
  8. Electric Love
    Electriclove - austria
    Date: July 7th – 9th 2016
    Place: Salzburg, Austria
    Headliners: Yellow Claw, DVVBS, Hardwell, Jack Ü, Don Diablo, Nero, Kshmr, Darkraver, Angerfist, Coone
    Electric Love as the name says it is all about electric music and love, located in the mesmerizing Salzkammergut Lake District surrounded by the beautiful nature of Salzburg. If you want a picturesque and a nature covered location with electro beats, this would be the festival for you.
  9. Exit Magic
    Exit serbia 2.jpg
    Date: July 7th – 10th 2016
    Place: Novi Sad, Serbia
    Headliners: Wiz Khalifa, David Guetta, Nicky Romero, Richie Hawtin, Bastille, The Prodigy, Ellie Goulding, Robin Schulz and many more.
    Exit has won the award of the ‘Best Major European Festival’. Exit started as a student movement fighting for peace and democracy in Serbia and has grown into one of biggest festivals in the world. For Exit being on such a big scale it costs as little as 107 Pounds and is held in one of the best locations in the world. I would surely not miss this if I were traveling around Serbia.
  1. Dour Festival
    Dour - belgium
    Date: July 13th – 17th 2016
    Place: Dour, Belgium
    Headliners: The Prodigy, Rudimental, Wiz Khalifa, Underworld, Pixies
    The Dour festival is the biggest and one of the most touristic destination for the French speaking part of Belgium. It is a 27 years old fest, getting bigger year by year having 9 stages, thousands of music lovers and a cozy camping site.
  2. Ultra Europe
    Ultra - Europe
    Date: July 15th – 17th 2016
    Place: Split, Croatia
    Headliners: Above & Beyond, Adam Beyer, Afrojack, Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Dash Berlin, David Guetta, DeadMau5, Hardwell, Martin Garrix
    Ultra is a heavyweight EDM festival, having insane yacht parties, after parties and the festival comprises of 4 state-of-art stages with over 150 acts over 3 days, this festival has a maximum euphoric energy till sunrise. If you’re an EDM fanatic this is where you should be this summer!
  1. Melt Festival
    Melt - Germany
    Date: July 15th – 17th 2016
    Place: Ferropolis, Germany
    Headliners: Illes Noise, Oliver Koletzki, Acid Arab, Forest, Isolation Berlin
    Melt is a festival inviting new comers in the industry to perform and the big artists as well, and there are no boundaries in the genre, you would find EDM, hip-hop and indie. If you are into discovering new artists, this would be an apt festival for you.
  2. Secret Garden Party
    Secret Garden Party - England
    Date: July 21st – 24th 2016
    Place: Abbots Ripton, England
    Headliners: Caribou, Air, Primal Scream, Lissie, Milky Chnace, Izzy Bizu
    This is a crazy creative party, spread over 220 acres of garden bordered by a lake and a river. These gardeners take their party seriously theming this years party as ‘The Gardeners Guide To The Galaxy’, it doesn’t only have so many artists performing over 15 stages but its filled with a lot of fun activities like water dance floors, mud fights, astronaut training, laser wars and a lot more.
  3. Tomorrowland
    Tomorrowland - Belgium
    Date: July 22nd – 24th 2016
    Place: Boom, Belgium
    Headliners: Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Adam Beyer, Alan Walker, David Guetta, DVBBS, R3hab, Tiësto, Axwell, Afrojack, Nicky Romero, Robin Schulz, Lost Frequencies, The Chainsmokers, Dada Life, Steve Angello, Steve Aoki, Martin Garrix, W&W, Yves V and many more.
    Tomorrowland the worlds’biggest EDM festival that is larger than life having people travelling from around the world for this three days fantasy, all the best artists from around the world come for this festival and make it a 3 days wonderland. I know tickets are SOLD OUT, but there is always next year! This year’s theme is ‘The Elixir Of Life’ with the best acts with all the world-renowned artists, it’s a once in a life time experience.
  4. Untold Festival
    Untold Festival - Romania.jpg
    Date: August 4th – 7th 2016
    Place: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
    Headliners: Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, Tiësto, W&W, Nervo, Lost Frequencies and many more
    Untold is a festival in the city center in Romania, this is one of the newest EDM fest making it on the charts of one of ‘Best Major Festival in Europe’ with gaging an award in 2015. Untold is representing big EDM and House DJs and is creating a busting line up for this summer.
  5. Eastern Electric
    Eastern Electric
    Date: August 6th 2016
    Place: London, England
    Headliners: Seth Troxler, The Martinez Brothers, Richy Ahmed, Eats Everything
    Eastern Electric is an English electronic festival lined up with a lot of budding local artists, it’s a 25 minutes train journey from London to Hatfield House. It’s a day full of dancing to electro beats across 9 stages, hoping around raving tents, VIP island paradise and to top it off high-quality food vendor. If you’re visiting London, this fun day could be added to your itinerary.
  6. Barrakud
    Barrakud Festival - Pag
    Date: August 8th – 15th 2016
    Place: Island of Pag, Croatia
    Headliners: Paul Kalkbrenner
    Barrakud is a perfect combination of music, partying and traveling. This festival takes place over 5 locations, and also includes a lot of boat and pool parties to commute to these various locations. This is a non-stop party on Zrce Beach for eight days straight.
  7. Sziget Festival
    Sziget - Budapest
    Date: August 10th – 17th 2016
    Place: Budapest, Hungary
    Headliners: Rihanna, Muse, Sia, The Chemical Brothers, Hardwell, David Guetta, Nicky Romero, Travi$ Scott, Afrojack, DVBBS, Yves V, ZEDD
    From 1993 to now Sziget has grown into Europes largest music festival, with 60 stages, 400,000 visitors per day, thousands of international artists from various genres. Sziget has a lot to offer besides music, its got theatre, films, classical movies, fine arts, and performances all across one week. I would rate this as one of the best festivals where there is literally something for everyone. If you’re traveling in Eastern Europe make sure you attend this mega festival even if it’s for a day.
  8. Sonne Monde Sterne (SMS)
    SMS - Germany
    Date: August 12th to 14th 2016
    Place: Saalburg Beach, Germany
    Headliners: David Guetta, Paul Kalkbrenner, Rudimental, Robin Schulz, Dada Life, Knife Party, Nina Kraviz, Tiga, Sven Väth, Die Antwoord
    SMS is an open air EDM festival, this festival is all about Rave-Beach-Party-Repeat for 3 days non stop. This year the passes are already sold out sadly. But like always, there is next year!
  9. Pukkelpop
    Pukkelpop - Belgium
    Date: August 17th – 20th 2016
    Place: Hasselt, Belgium:
    Headliners: Bloc Party, Big Sean, The Chemical Brothers, DJ Snake, Izzy
    Bizu, Nina Kraviz, Rihanna, Lukas Graham, Twenty One Pilots, Greenday
    Pukkelpop began in 1985 by the ‘Young Humanist’. The line up here is selected with an alternative fringe, there will around 200 be current sensations, living legends and upcoming alternative artists performing across 8 stages over a span of 4 days. This would be a mix of all levels of artists that makes this festival so unique.
  10. Creamfields
    Creamfields - UK
    Date: August 25th – 28th 2016
    Place: Cheshire, England
    Headliners: Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Knife Party, Nervo, Kshmr, Sam Feldt, Avicii, Martin Garrix, Above & Beyond, Alan Walker, Nick Romero, Tiësto, Hardwell, Calvin Harris, Robin Schulz, Adam Beyer and many more.
    Creamfields is held on the bank holiday weekend, one of the biggest dance music festivals in UK and winning awards for being ‘UK’s Best Dance Music Festival’. Having live acts by all superstar line-up, Creamfields has been traveling across the globe in the past years, but still this one is the best! No better way to spend a long four days weekend.
  11. Mysteryland
    mysteryland - netherlands
    Date: August 27th – 28th 2016
    Place: Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
    Headliners: Afrojck, Martin Garrix, Diplo, Lost Frequencies, Don Diablo, Kshmr, Sam Feldt, Robin Schulz, DVBBS, Dubfire, Alesso
    This is the longest running and the largest electronic music festival in the world and Netherlands, Mysteryland is known for being sustainable and creative with there set up and achieving its uniqueness amongst all the other fests, this to me is pretty dam impressive!
  12. Outlook Festival
    outlook 3
    Date: August 31st – September 4th 2016
    Place: Pula, Croatia
    Headliners: Andy C, Stormzy, Kano, Mala, Goldie MBE, Slum Village
    The European Summer coming to an end, Outlook takes place at a unique location with a breath taking view and a big party. Outlook has a lot of heavy reggae, dub step and drums n bass, besides this there are green garden areas that provide styling experience to the attendees, I would love that!
  13. Bestival
    bestival - england
    Date: September 8th – 11th 2016
    Place: Isle of Wight, England
    Headliners: The Cure, Major Lazer, Diplo, Years & Years, Skepta, Richie Hawtin, Bastille, Fatboy Slim, Katy B, Hot Chip and more
    Bestival is an award winning 4 days boutique festival set at Robin Hill. The founders of the festival have a creative vision which makes this festival special, they camping site is divided into sections like Cosmic Commune, The Bollywood Tent, Fancy dress emasse, Spaceport. If you’re into camping at festivals, maybe you should give this one a shot!
  14. Lollapaooza
    Lolla - Berlin
    Date: September 10th – 11th 2016
    Place: Berlin, Germany
    Headliners: Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Major Lazer, Paul Kalkbrenner, Lost Frequencies, The Chain Smokers, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, ZEDD, Alan Walker, Years & Years, G-Easy and more.
    This will be Lolla’s first European edition and what you can expect is a lor of dance, hip-hop, rock and even country. This is going to be an artsy affair as Lollapaooza is known to be artistic and colorful, representing a giant lollipop! This would surely be a surreal experience and the best way to bid summer goodbye by welcoming a new fest in Europe.These are most of the amazing festivals in Europe this summer from indoor and outdoor festivals to beach parties. This should help you’ll have a raving and a banging summer if you’re traveling around Europe also add a new experience.
    Please comment below and let me know if you have been to any of the festivals above or are planning to go, I would love to know about your experiences and plans!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts About Amsterdam

/ BigCityGirl / Leave a comment

Amsterdam is the capital city of Netherlands, there are few amazing and surprising facts about Amsterdam that I discovered while visiting this city.

So, I found myself getting lost and losing my way around the canals since they’re all identical. This made me very curious and I wanted to just get to know about how many canals existed in Amsterdam, things just kept getting interesting and I discovered a lot more than the number of canals.

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Get to know Amsterdam better with these not so basic facts:

– There are 165 canals which are more canals than Venice, quite surprising isn’t it? That’s a good enough reason why I was losing my way around the canals.

– If you have been to Amsterdam, I’m sure you must’ve come across endless people cycling around the city. Amsterdam’s bike path is almost 400km with more bikes in the city than people. Woaah, reason why everyone’s fit maybe!

881,000 bikes > 811,100 people

– Something I was quite impressed with was that most people in Amsterdam knew English! Man, that’s something you can’t find it European cities. So, I discovered that English was the 2nd most spoken language that means most people will be able to talk in English, if not they’ll definitely understand what you’re saying.

– Amsterdam is known for its museums, but can you guess how many of them are there? Let me surprise you’ll, there are 75 museums in Amsterdam! You can just imagine what this city has to offer.

– We all know about the popular red light district, in most countries a district like this would be considered ‘shady’ or ‘unsafe’. Ironically the red light district is one of the safest parts of the city. It’s a something you shouldn’t miss out on seeing,

– People believe that the London stock exchange is the oldest, well that’s not entirely correct. The world’s oldest stock exchange is in Amsterdam established in 1602.

– I discovered this fact while talking to a local about the health services provided in the city. In Amsterdam anyone could avail free STD treatment, I am not quite surprised to be honest.

– While I was on the canal cruise I noticed the houses in Amsterdam are weirdly narrow, I was quite intrigued by this and asked someone on the cruise if they knew the reason behind this, turns out that people would be taxed based on the width of their frontier.

I discovered these little strange things while moving around the city by myself, interacting with locals and of course questioning a lot people! I’m glad to take back these unknown facts. I wouldn’t deny that people in Amsterdam are extremely friendly, fun and full of information

*comment below for any other cities fun facts you’d like to know*