• Italy,  Traveling

    Summer in Rome: top 7 tips

    It’s 34 degrees Celsius, the sun is shining, and people (including myself) are walking around with a gelato in hand. Is this a scene from London or Rome?   Both! Let me explain… The 29th of June was the hottest day of the year (up till then) in the former; it was also when the Gelato Festival came to town. A week later, I visited the latter, where the temperature routinely rises to (and above) the mid-thirties during the summer. And, of course, gelato is there all year long.     This week, however, I am going to focus on the Eternal City, as Rome is also known as. If…

  • London & UK,  Traveling

    Summer in London: top 20 tips by a local

    London is my favorite city in the world, and I am glad that I can call it home for the last couple of years. Summer is my favorite season and time of the year, so summer in London is simply a dream combination (although, to be absolutely honest, I would probably put summer on the Greek islands first).   A few weeks ago, Glastonbury Festival took place, but sadly I hadn’t been able to secure the much-desired ticket and see Kylie, Chris and Carrie live (it would’ve been my second time for all of them). But every cloud has a silver lining, and I was lucky to attend two extraordinary…

  • London & UK,  Traveling

    Ealing Summer Festivals & 12 tips by a local

    Spread over 6 events, Ealing Summer Festivals take place this month. The programme includes Greenford Carnival (which took place on the 7th of July), Ealing Beer Festival (taking place between the 10th and the 13th of July), Acton Carnival (due on the 13th of July), Ealing Comedy Festival (18th-19th and 24th-26th July), Ealing Blues Festival (20th-21st July), and Ealing Jazz Festival (27th-28th July). The latter is one I would have been looking most forward to, had I not been invited to a friend’s wedding that weekend. The line-up of the latter includes the famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra and the Stefanos Tsourelis Jazz Quartet (daily tickets cost £5). All 4 festivals take…

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  • London & UK,  Traveling

    Chiswick: Top 12 tips by an (almost) local

    Lovebox and Citadel Festivals are coming back to Gunnersbury Park this month. It was a year ago when both festivals relocated from Victoria Park in the East End of London to the lesser-known Gunnersbury Park in West London. Since Gunnersbury Park is located in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, the relocation of the festivals helped put these districts on the map.   As a local to this part of the capital (I live in Brentford, in the London Borough of Hounslow), I am very familiar with Chiswick and Ealing, and this week I will be sharing my top tips for the former (my top…