december-2011

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There’s plenty to keep you busy
in the evening too, including
some great pubs, bars and clubs,
many of which are located in the
labyrinth of the old city.
Krakow off ers something for
everyone: old-world charm and
lively bohemian nightlife – it’s a
city of two halves!
www.2012.europoland.com
July
Bye-bye, Hollywood Hills, hello,
Dinaric mountains! Each year,
cinema’s fi nest descend on the
banks of the Bosna and Miljacka
for the Sarajevo Film Festival,
(6–14 July in 2012). Illustrious
guests have included Kevin
Spacey, Bono, Morgan Freeman,
Daniel Craig and Wim Wenders.
Last summer, fi lm’s golden
couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad
Pitt, made an appearance at the
national theatre in the old town.
For many, it was a sign that the
festival was fi nally up there with
the likes of Venice, Berlin and
Cannes. The festival has come a
long way since its inauspicious
beginnings.
Founded in 1995 by a group of
fi lm enthusiasts following the
four-year Siege of Sarajevo, the
festival was a protest against the
war and an attempt to regain
some sense of normality. It was a
surprise success, attracting an
audience of 15,000. That fi gure’s
now ballooned to around
100,000, which is about a third
of the city’s population, so make
sure you book early.
www.sff .ba
August
London hosts the Olympics for
the third time with a dynamic
Olympic Village in the city’s East
End, with two fabulous new
additions to the local skyline:
the Olympic Stadium and the
futuristic Aquatics Centre. A
record 17,320 beds will be laid on
in the Village to accommodate
the world’s fi nest sportsmen and
women. Top athletes from 26
diff erent sporting disciplines,
including, for the fi rst time,
women’s boxing, will be hoping
for medals in 302 events.
London has extended its
transport network for the games
and numerous new hotels have
sprung up. For shopaholics,
there’s the new Westfi eld centre,
which is located conveniently
between Stratford underground
station and the Olympic Village.
If you’re able tear yourself away
from the sporting action, that is.
It’s not every day that you get to
watch world-class athletes
go for gold!
www.london2012.com
September
See a diff erent side to
Copenhagen: the hippy
commune of Christiania. On 26
September 1971, at the height of
the era of peace, love and
happiness, Danish hippies
founded an independent
commune on the site of an old
barracks on Christianshavn, an
island in Copenhagen. They
called it Christiania and quickly
colonised the site, creating a new
autonomous living space,
independent from the state.
Around 1,000 people still live in
the self-declared “free city”
whose residents consist of a
mixture of ageing hippies,
young families and dropouts.
Every year, around a million
tourists visit the off beat bastion
of self-government, where all
decisions are made at grassroots
level. Possibly the best time to
visit Christiania is September,
as that’s when the commune
celebrates its birthday with
bands DJs and exhibitions, all in
characteristically laid-back
style. Christiania is actually
much more than just the village
behind the door. If you want to
experience the freedom of the
enclave, go native and ride a bike
around the surrounding idyllic,
open countryside and its
expanses of water and greenery.
You’ll feel like you’ve opened the
doors to another dimension.
www.christiania.org
October
Autumn is sailing season in
Croatia. Throughout October
the sea is calm, the weather
warm and the summer crowds
have thinned. What better way
to explore the country’s 1,185
islands and 1,778km coastline
than at the helm of your own
yacht? There are 50 or so
marinas in Croatia, 21 of them
managed by the Adriatic Club
International, and if you don’t
have a skipper’s licence, you can
hire a skipper along with your
yacht. It sounds glam, but it’s
surprisingly aff ordable,
certainly if you compare it with
the price of sleeping in a fi ve-star.
If you don’t fancy sailing
yourself, you can always watch
the professionals do it. The
RC44 class of boats holds a race
from Rovinj each autumn,
taking advantage of the northwesterly
maestral wind. You can
watch the eerie grey sails and
sleek black hulls of these hightech
racing boats from the
harbourfront in historic Rovinj,
over fresh fi sh (the fl eet leaves
Rovinj nightly) and a litre of the
excellent local beer. The race is
set for 3–7 October this year.
www.aci-club.hr, www.rc44.com
November
Albania’s attractions, which
include scenic mountain
regions, stunning Adriatic
beaches, thriving cities and
friendly people, have long been
off the tourist path. On 28
November 2012, the Albanians
will celebrate 100 years of
independence, which is a good
excuse as any to visit the capital,
Tirana. One of the anniversary’s
highlights will be the
inauguration of both a new
parliament building and the
33,000-seater, UEFA-standard
Qemal Stafa Stadium. Increased
traffi c at Tirana’s Mother Teresa
international airport – around
1.5 passengers passed through
last year – refl ects Albania’s
ongoing growth. Albania may be
a well-kept secret, but word is
spreading.
www.albaniantourism.com
December
Silent night? Not likely! Prague’s
Christmas markets only really
come alive after dark. That’s the
best to time to linger by a mulled
wine stall with a hot mug of svarak
(mulled wine), munching on
Langos and Staroceske Trdlo, a
traditional Bohemian Christmas
caramel and almond pastry.
The largest market is located
in the Old Town Square, and
extends from the town hall to
the Charles Bridge. Combine a
stroll around the market with a
relaxed sightseeing tour
through the stunning historic
city centre. You can warm up
and get some sustenance at one
of the many stalls off ering food
and drink on the way. Visit the
Wenceslas and Republic Square
markets for some hot mead and
a look at the hand-carved
wooden nativity scenes, a Czech
tradition which has the natives
fl ocking to the markets in
droves every year.
The Havelska Christmas
market is the oldest and most
authentic in town, and off ers
Bohemian crystal and handknitted
woollens, among other
things. The stands are open
every day during the four-week
run-up to Christmas.
www.praguewelcome.cz
Fotos: Paul Burroughs; Text: Dagmar Schramm, Robert Fishman, Nina Klotz, Steven Handley, Wolfgang Duveneck, Lydia Polzer, Kerstin Zumstein