Sunvil Discovery Archive
Highlights of West Sweden
Stretching north from Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city, to the Norwegian border, the West Coast has hidden gems and picture-postcard scenery at every turn. Interspersed between the archipelago of 10,000 islands and the dramatic coastline of colourful fishing villages, visitors will find sites of natural, literacy, historical and
24 hours in Florence
Florence Tuesday 11th October 2011 With a few hours on our hands we decided to take a short walk around some of the principle sites in the city. Starting from our hotel (Hotel Paris), we headed down Via dei Banchi towards the centre. Nothing quite prepares you
Guest blog – Dust tanning and the moral blight of filtered olive oil
Alentejo Day 3 – Tuesday 30 Aug 2011 Vila Galé Clube de Campo, Beja Vila Galé Clube de Campo was a startling contrast to Malhadinha Nova. At more than four times the size (weighing in at a whopping 1,620 hectares) the estate is owned by the Vila
Guest blog – So quiet you can hear the sky
Alentejo Day 2 – Monday 29 Aug 2011 Malhadinha Nova, AlbernoaTranquillity. Alentejo redefined the word for me. Bouncing along a bone-rattling dust track, seemingly no civilisation in sight, even our trusty satnav had given up telling us to ‘turn around where possible; you are not on a
Guest blog – We lose our hearts and waistlines to migas and presunto
Alentejo Day 1 – Sunday 28 Aug 2011 Herdade dos Grous, Albernoa We headed up a long drive, flanked by a blue lake, the deeply etched trunks of old olive trees, and up ahead was the pristine white and blue of the restaurant, startling against blue sky,
Guest blog – Blue and yellow lines
Alentejo Day 1 – Sunday 28 Aug 2011 The airport, Beja I was warned before we set off that everything in Alentejo is slow. ‘Don’t expect anything to happen in a hurry.’ Not true. The little Beja airport, plonked in the middle of nowhere, is square, awkwardly
Honeymoon destinations for 2012: the hottest (and coolest) places to go
A piece of advice I heard before our wedding was that you should spend no more on your wedding than on your honeymoon. This worked very well 20 years ago, although with the price of weddings these days you’d have to spend a fortune on your honeymoon
A journey of discovery in the Norwegian fjords
The picture postcard landscape of the Norwegian fjords has been featured on numerous advertising campaigns and promotions over the years and even today, it is hard to pick up a newspaper or travel by train without seeing a dramatic picture of the region’s steep mountain peaks and
Bergen: A full-day walking tour of the gateway to the fjords
Our walking tour of Bergen commenced at the Bryggen quayside, the historic centre of Bergen. Here the old warehouses used by the Hanseatic merchants have been painted bright colours – reds and yellows – and converted into shops and restaurants. But if you take short walk through
Madeira – home to the world’s best fireworks display
At the stroke of midnight on Dec 31st 2006 a set of loud explosions boomed out across the island of Madeira. The pyrotechnic extravaganza that followed earned the island a highly prized entry in the Guinness Book of Records for holding the Largest Ever Firework Display, with