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Cologne Triathlon
One of the best excuses you to travel is sports. Many marathon runners travel the world, while running all the most important races on the planet. However, you don’t need to be an athlete to be part of marathon or a triathlon, like the one that will be celebrated from the 30th of August to the 1st of September in Cologne. Of course I’m talking about the Cologne Triathlon Weekend. Flickr alexlomas The triathlon, as everyone knows, is a competition that combines swimming, cycling and running. We’ll see four types of triathlons in this event: the 226, the 113, the Olympic and the Smart. The 226 consist of 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km run (a regular marathon distance), the 113 is half of the 226, which means 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and 21.1 km run, the Olympic will be 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run and the Smart will have 0.7 km swim, 26 km bike and 7 km run. If you are considering attending the Cologne Triathlon Weekend, most probably you´re thinking about how to bring and store your bike, but in order to forget about that concern, it is a great idea to rent apartments in Cologne during the Triathlon, so you’ll keep your bike secured at home, while enjoying the comfort of having your own kitchen where you can cook up all the food you need to be always at your best condition. Forget about the restaurants that serve junk food. Cologne is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. Among its most important monuments...
Notting Hill Carnival
It was 1966 when the first Notting Hill Carnival took place, a carnival organised by the Caribbean community in London who, almost 50 years later, has turned it into one of the most important street events and celebrations in the whole world. The carnival takes place in the famous London neighbourhood of Notting Hill, in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the western part of the city. Photo: Cristiano Betta The Caribbean essence For two days at the end of August, over a million people go onto the streets to celebrate the carnival. Today, it´s still the Caribbean community who organises the whole event, so you can especially enjoy the music from that part of the world, with plenty of percussion and rhythm. There are various genres that you can enjoy during these couple of days: the calypso, a genre that goes back to the days of African slaves who were taken to work in plantations in Trinidad and that used this music to make fun of their masters; then comes the soca, a genre that bases itself on freedom of expression and sexual freedom, always through metaphors; finally, the steel pan, a genre in which bamboo sticks are used for percussion with different tones and melodies. All in all, Caribbean music is the essence of the Notting Hill Carnival. Also, on the streets there´ll be plenty of Caribbean food stalls, a great chance to try the exquisite flavours of their cuisine that have been prepared by Caribbean people, since many West Indian families emigrated to London during the 20th century. Don´t miss out on trying the jerk chicken, a chicken...
We’re presenting the Only-apartments Summer Look Book 2013
With the growing offer in destinations and accommodation that we provide on our website, we at Only-apartments come across some really beautiful and sometimes peculiar accommodation options. The problem is that with so much to choose from you could easily miss the forest for the trees, but we have come up with a solution. For the first time ever we would like to share some of this summer season’s favorite apartments, so we have decided to curate some of the best into a seasonal “Look Book.” From designer pads in Milan to treehouses in Goa, we have put together a selection of the most stunning apartments, which are available this summer from only 10€ a night. And we’ve used the excellent publishing site Issuu.com to display it in all its glory – take a look here. We hope that it provides some useful inspiration for your next holidays, or just a bit of “eye candy” for a few minutes’ daydreaming from home. Enjoy! Miss Moci We hope you´re going to enjoy our look book. Only apartments in Milan or elsewhere will make sure you´re resting in style and...
Rock en Seine 2013
Paris is one of the most culturally active cities in the world and with the arrival of summer, outdoor festivals become major players in the entertainment scene in the city. This time of year, thousands of tourists from all around the world come to visit the French capital to explore its charming streets, visit its unique museums and sample the exquisite French cuisine. However, other type of tourists, the summer festivals hunters, will meet from the 23rd to the 25th of August at Saint-Cloud park in Paris to attend the world famous Rock en Seine, which is, by the way, the largest open-air musical festival in France. The 2013 edition of Rock en Seine marks the tenth anniversary of the festival, which will feature renowned artists of various musical styles such as Rock (of course), power pop electronica, Indie and Folk, among others. This year Paul Kalkbrenner, Phoenix and System of a Down will be the leading bands of the festival. Paul Kalkbrenner will be in charge of kicking off the first day of the festival. This electronic musician from Germany will play his greatest hits to spice up the mood of the festival. Kalkbrenner will be followed by the performances of great artists such as the Scots Belle and Sebastian who will play “The Boy with the Arab Strap” while making the audience sing their greatest hit in one voice. Daughter, a young British band, will carry us along the paths of folk Indie with Elena Torna’s angelic voice. Skaters, Team Ghost, Alex Hepburn, Kendrick Lamar and Johnny Marr among many others will be part of the first...Be the Star of our Summer 2013! – #TheONLYSummerStar
At Only-apartments we would like to give YOU the leading role in our summer which is why we created the photo contest #TheONLYSummerStar, where we would like to see how you are spending your summer and if your picture receives the highest amount of votes we will pay for the stay that you booked with us between May and August 2013. Are you in? The photos have to have one theme: The summer, so it can really be anything that inspires summer to you. It is not necessary that the rented apartment is in the picture. It’s as easy as following this link http://on.fb.me/12Q4tDd to participate, upload 1, 2, up to 3 photos and share it with your friends and on other social networks to receive more votes. Now you know, if you have booked a stay with Only-apartments since May 2013 or you’re going to book until the 30th of August, 2013 upload your summer photo to participate and let us pay for your stay.* Participate! *Terms and conditions: http://on.fb.me/12eZvEz...
App of the month: City Maps 2Go
At Only-apartments we want to make an effort to make travelling better. Whether you are travelling with your family, your partner or friends it is safe to assume that the smartphone has become an indispensable travel companion. For this reason we have decided to review a new app every month to help you get more out of your trips. The app of this month is City Maps 2Go – an app for iOS and Android that lets you download maps on a mobile device which can then be used anytime without data connection. This review is by our Content Editor Maike. My View: Let me just start by saying that I have personally not been able to use the app on a trip yet, BUT so far it has come in very handy to share tips with anyone visiting me in Barcelona. Here is why: The maps are accesible without data connection and there is lots of useful information neatly organized in categories such as Food, Shops, Nightlife, Architecture etc. But what I find the most useful is that you can add your own pins to the map to which you can add ratings and reviews that you can later share with other users . Particularly in the summer months I receive a lot of visitors. Unfortunately, I can’t always spend as much time as I would like with them. While they’re on holidays, I usually am still in my full-on routine and they go off exploring the city without me. To me one of the great things of living here is being able to share “insider information” that...
Venice Film Festival
There are many film festivals around the world but the festival of Venice, along with the Cannes one, are the most glamorous and prestigious of all. Certainly there are others, like the ones in Berlin and Toronto, which are catching the attention of people for being truly outstanding, but they will never have the experience, quality, beauty and glamour that is the Venice film festival has got. Photo: spaceodissey The Venice Film Festival celebrated its first edition in 1932. Led by Giuseppe Volpi, a Venetian politician and businessman, the festival has been celebrated since then every year in late August and early September, while gathering the best actors, actresses, directors and producers from around the world. The festival takes place on the island of Lido, south of Venice, and is part of the Venice Biennale, which also incorporates other arts such as sculpture, painting and architecture. Finding accommodation in Venice is expensive and complicated, but you’ll always have the chance to book beautiful holiday apartments in Venice at Only apartments, they are a very comfortable and affordable way accommodation. You’ll even find accommodation in Lido itself, so you can have the film stars at the door of your rental. The prizes awarded at the festival are also among the most famous in the world, just a step below the immortals Oscars. The best film is given the Leone d´Oro, while the best director receives the Leone d´Argento. The best actor and actress, get the Volpi Cup prize, which is named after the founder of the festival mentioned above. In addition, a special award commemorating the career of an actor,...
Sziget festival 2013
Summer is already here and with it came the open-air festivals that’ll fill with music our sunny season. If you are a summer-festival hunter, Sziget festival is a must-go event for you in Budapest. An entire week filled with over 1000 shows of all kinds, each year attracts around 400,000 visitors from around the world eager to be part of the biggest summer festival in Europe. Festivalgoers will also have the possibility of camping (room for 40,000 campers) on a safe place that has around 1,500 security staff and 10,000 in charge of general service, responsible for creating a clean and friendly atmosphere during the event. Sziget Festival takes place on the 108-hectares island of Óbuda, which is located a few kilometers from the center of Budapest. Apart of music for all tastes, the visitors will be able to enjoy a wide range of activities including climbing, bungee jumping, tennis and football, as well as access to a cinema and a theater. The 2013 edition of the festival, which by the way was awarded as the best summer festival in 2012, will display performances by various bands from all around the world. On the 6th of August, two Hungarian bands will delight the audience with a parallel between the modern sounds of alternative rock by Quimby in Wonderland and the Hungarian traditional folk music by Muzsikás, while creating an ideal environment for the enjoyment of the festival. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is the most acclaimed band on the 7th of August. They will certainly perform their song “We call upon the Author”, while spreading their unique energy...
Tennis and the city: New York gets ready for the US Open
The US Open is one of the most glamorous events of the hot New York summer by a long way and it´s suitable for all tennis fans and for fashion victims that can´t really tell the difference between an ace, deuce or a donut, and only want to see and be seen among the VIPs of the Big Apple, just like a Sex and the City episode. Walking around the elegant complex of Flushing Meadows and, of course, enjoying a nice day of tennis or non-tennis (if you chose the ´fashion´ option), is one of those things that everyone should do at least once in their lifetime. And if your visit to the Big Apple -or its surrounding area- coincides in between the 26th of August and the 9th of September of 2013, it would be unforgivable if you missed out on enjoying one of the four Grand Slams of the tennis world tour and cheering on your favourite player. Photo: www.taringa.net Just like it happens in Paris with the clay at Roland Garros, in Melbourne with the plexicushion (which is what the surface is called in the Australian Open, no word of a lie!) or in London with the green and wet grass of Wimbledon, New York is the fourth Grand Slam tournament of the season that gathers the best tennis players in the world for two weeks. All of this happens in a city -and especially in a country- that pays more attention to other sports such as basketball, baseball, American football or even ice hockey, so it´s nice to have some five-star tennis every once in...
