Shopping in Spain is an adventure

Spain offers all the international brand names you could ever need. But why buy imported goods when Spain has its own specialties? Here are some examples. Spain is a great place to buy leather items, especially shoes. Crafts are famous too. These include ceramic items such as tiles and vases with beautiful designs, often Moorish in origin. Another local craft that's thriving again is lace making.

If you're short on time and want to do all your shopping in one place, you'll find a branch of the El Corte Ingles department store in nearly every town. They sell everything from jewellery to designer clothes, food to to furniture, and so on.

Shopping In Barcelona

Barcelona has undergone sweeping changes in recent years and the shopping scene has been transformed in the process. All the big names are here along with a range of local boutiques, antique shops, art galleries, and futuristic shopping centers.

Maremagnum is one of the new shopping and leisure complexes that's proved very popular. Other than its comprehensive shopping mall, it also offers find a dozen cinemas and many restaurants, pubs and discos.

The new boutiques and stores are great places to shop. But to savour the authentic shopping experience, be sure to get away from the haunts of the glitterati and visit the old city. Here you can take a look in Barcelona's oldest shop, Cereria Subira, which first opened its doors in 1761. If candles are on your shopping list, you're in luck, for Cereria Subira is a candle shop. Even if you're not buying, the vast range of candles of all sizes and colours is well worth seeing. Then plunge into the streets around the Barri Gòtic. Here you can browse shops selling everything from fish and herbs to bullfighter's capes.

Shops in Barcelona open around 8 am and they generally close a few hours after sunset.

Shopping In Madrid

As the nation's capital, Madrid not surprisingly offers the best range of up-market shopping outlets in Spain. But these make up just a small proportion of the city's shopping charms. Madrid's 50000 stores also sell everything from paintings and ceramics to guitars and bullfighters' costumes.

If it's designer labels you're after head for the eastern district of Salamanca. Here you'll find the logos of Prada, Armani, and Louis Vuitton, and all the others. More interesting are the boutiques of trendy Spanish designers like Sybilla, Amaya Arzuaga, and Victorio & Lucchino.

When you tire of the brand name stores, the area around the Street Fuencarral is a pleasant one to visit. It's home to a bunch of trendy boutiques selling both men´s and women´s clothes. There's also an indoor market hawking clothing, bags and jewellery. For shoes, head to the Street Augusto Figueroa. It's lined with mostrarios selling designer's shoe samples at half price or less.

Shopping in Spain would be incomplete without visiting one of the street markets. Sunday morning is the time for the El Rastro street market on the Calle de Ribera de Curtidores which is closed to traffic. You can buy everything from squawking chickens to pirated DVDs to antiques and smutty post cards. But be careful, pickpockets abound.

Accommodation for your trip to Germany

With its picturesque landscapes with fairy-tale castles, crystal clear lakes, rustic villages, the hip urban cities with their dynamic valour and of course the famous Oktoberfest, Germany is a place not to be missed. The cities of Berlin and Frankfurt grab you with their grandeur and majestic auras and each city has its own importance and attractions where there is something for everyone. The country also has a number of amusement parks which can be equally enjoyed by both children and adults.

Deutschland hotels range in their pricing structure; you'll find inexpensive hotels to medium ranged hotel rooms to luxurious suites in the finest hotels. Both Berlin and Frankfurt have superb class hotel services. Some of the top class Berlin hotels are Kempinski Bristol Hotel, Swissotel Hotel, Adlon Hotel, Steigenberger Hotel and the Louisas Place (Suite Hotel).

Two very famous 5 star luxury hotels in Berlin are Kempinski Hotel Bristol Berlin and Steigenberger Berlin. These hotels are two of the most luxurious and grand hotels in Berlin, located in the city centre, where you will be greeted by their warm staff and given a very comfortable and memorable service. Hotel Adlon Kempinski is another 5 star hotel in Berlin, which provides a range of services and amenities to its guests. The hotel has extensive car parking facility, and also has a coffee shop and restaurant on premises.

4 star luxury hotels in Berlin include the Park Hotel Blub, Albergo Berlin, Alsterhof and the Best Western President. These hotels offer facilities and services of unmatched quality; from delicious cuisines to room services. 4 star hotels are very popular among tourists in Berlin.

Berlin also has a wide range of 3 star hotels for the economy class traveler. Some popular hotels include the Agon Frankfurter Allee, Agon Olivaer Apart Hotel, Berlin Mark Hotel and the Best Western Boulevard. These hotels provide almost all the necessities needed by the routine traveler and are more pocket friendly.

For all those who want to explore Berlin and yet have a comfortable accommodation at affordable rates, the 2 star hotels are the perfect choices. Namely 2 star hotels include the Hotel Morgenland, Ibis Berlin Fehrbelliner Platz, Hotel Pension Am Park and the Hotel Pension Berolina. These cheap and economy hotels provide a comfortable stay and relaxing environment, and meet all the basic necessities that you'll need to make yourself at home. These cheap Berlin hotels are a simple choice for the budget-conscious traveler.

Be sure to check out a good hotels website to guide you in choosing a hotel room for your visit to Berlin, Deutschland. HotelRabatt.de is an online hotel booking site which provides online booking and reservation for hotels in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and many other countries and popular destinations worldwide. Visit www.HotelRabatt.de to book a hotel room in advance to book your trip to Deutschland. Secure booking for cheap and luxury hotels is available online and the website is in 5 different languages, which will make it easier for you to book a hotel room by selecting your desired language.

Have you ever experienced the typical Czech Christmas?

If your answer is not, you have a great opportunity to get to know them this year in Prague!

Christmas in Prague belongs to the most beautiful and unforgettable experiences you can ever have. They are connected with a lot of traditions, music and magical atmosphere. The most popular Prague's traditions are the Christmas markets in the main squares in the whole city, but especially in the Wenceslas and Old Town Square. You can see the Old Czech Christmas customs like the floating of walnut shells, the cutting of apple or the pouring of lead that foretell the future according to superstitions. You will find the wonderful smell of mixture of ginger-breads, hot wine and cinnamon all around - surronded by beautiful Christmas Carols. All your senses come surely into theirs own there! This unique Christmas atmosphere is felt in the streets from the last days of November almost till the end of the year. I can strongly recommend renting out a Prague apartment and sense for yourself.

But what if you do not have time to visit Prague? Would you like to have a Czech Christmas at your own home instead then? What about to prepare the typical old fashioned Czech Christmas Eve dinner - fried carp with potato salad? The recipes are very individual and often like family secret, but I can tell you one.

You will need a carp cut up in portions, 2 lemons, 2 eggs, 2 spoons of milk, breadcrumb, vegetable oil and salt and for the side-dish 1kg potatoes, 4 carrots, 3 celery, parsley root, jar of gherkins, 4 onions, salt, 1 spoon of vinegar, 1 spoon of sugar, pepper, 100ml mayonnaise, 100ml natural yogurt and 100ml lemon juice.

First of all prepare the salad. It is always better to make it one day before the Christmas Eve, because it will be even more delicious. Dice all the vegetable and then boil potatoes, carrot, celery and parsley root until tender. Drain liquid and add diced gherkins and onions. After that add the rest of ingredients and mix it well.
When the potato salad is complete, let it in a fridge. When preparing the carp, salt the fish portions, sprinkle them with lemon and let them in a fridge for at least 20 minutes. Dib the portions in egg-milk mixture and breadcrumbs and fry slow in a bigger volume of vegetable oil until the carp is golden brown. Then you can serve it up with the potato salad.