Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Journeys for the soul

There was a time when the most we hoped to take home from a holiday was a killer suntan and a bottle of local plonk. But with a recent report claiming more than half of all life-changing decisions are made when we’re on holiday*, it seems many of us are in pursuit of a more substantial souvenir. If that’s you, read on to join b.there! on the road to enlightenment…

Practise yoga in the Andalucian Sierras

A short drive from the Costa del Sol, the Sierra de las Nieves is a million spiritual miles away from the suntan-oiled playas. A snow-dusted mountain range spreading across southern Andalucia like the starched frill on a Victorian petticoat, this is Spain at its wildest. There are no tarmaced roads, merely mountain tracks tracing through deep ravines (the Gesm ‘abyss’ is the world’s third-deepest), wild-flower embroidered meadows and dense forestland populated by Spanish ibex, roe deer and wild boar. You can take it all in by mountain bike or Andalucian horse, but one of the best ways to make the most of this pristine stretch of southern Europe is as a backdrop for al fresco yoga. For life-long memories, try the sunset Ashtanga classes at El Convento. Your ‘downward dog’ pose will be silhouetted against the ruins of this 16th-century monastery, and the sun will cast the ragged mountaintops into a dramatic theatre of light and shade as it sets over the grey-green blur of dense forest below. Om…

Way to go The Sierra is a 90-minute drive from Malaga airport. www.andalusia.org

Take a dip in Karlovy Vary hot springs

Charles IV, the second king of Bohemia, founded Karlovy Vary in 1370 after being bowled over by the healing powers of the area’s 300 mineral-rich, bathwater-warm springs. Over subsequent centuries a spa stampede ensued, as the town became a favourite holidaying destination for everyone from Goethe and Beethoven (who, to the locals’ delight, took walks together) to the scions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and, later, dyspeptic Nazi and Soviet officials.

Happily, Karlovy escaped the Soviet makeover, and its 19th-century holiday heyday dominates the city’s historic centre, with the stately, neoclassical Hotel Imperial, Opera House and Grandhotel Pupp. The setting’s no slouch either, with the creased green hills of Western Bohemia above and the Teplá and Ohre rivers rushing by your feet below. Both conspire to make this one of world’s most atmospheric spa-going experiences. You’ll need several days to explore the health-giving highlights: from the ostentatious Mill Colonnade, surrounded by Corinthian columns and drawing its ‘drinking cure’ directly from the Teplá, to the Thermal Spring Colonnade, where you’re urged to strip off and bathe away your cares in soothing, 72°C waters. Bliss.

Way to go Transfers from Prague airport to Karlovy Vary take two hours via private bus (www.asiana.cz). www.karlovy-vary.cz

Experience evensong at Milan Cathedral

Five centuries in the making and seating 40,000 people, Milan’s Duomo is the world’s largest gothic cathedral. The façade is remarkable: a forest of flamboyant pinnacles and spires set upon flying buttresses that seem to strain to pierce the pale blue of the Milanese sky. Hop in the lift to the roof (€6) for one of Europe’s best city views, bordered by fairy-tale architectural froth.

It’s inside, however, that the show really unfolds. Forty columns reach to a faraway roof, candlelight picks out the details of an extravagant gilt altarpiece, and stained glass ripples and refracts like millions of spent sweet wrappers. Take a seat on a pew buffed to a shine by centuries of attendant souls and wait for the evening service, when the air’s scented with incense and the plangent sounds of a male-voice choir fill the Duomo’s five naves, rising and blurring into a wall of sound in the weightless arches above. Performed for 600 years, the Cappella is exhilarating – it’s hard not to be struck with a belief in something that transcends the everyday.

Way to go Admission to the main cathedral (Piazza del Duomo) is free. www.duomomilano.it

Walk the Camino de Santiago

The Camino de Santiago is the world’s most enduring route of Catholic pilgrimage. At the height of its popularity in the 15th century, more than a million Christians a year followed the trail west along the Iberian Peninsula to Santiago (and the mortal remains of Sant Iago), from starting points in the south of France and Basque Country. In recent years, the ‘path of St James’ has been discovered by non-Christian pilgrims in pursuit of an inner journey to reflect the outer one.

You can opt for shorter routes from Sarria (100km) and O Cebreiro (150km), but the 750km Camino Frances is the showstopper – kicking off in Roncesvalles, northern Spain, it takes around six weeks on foot. The landscape is transporting stuff: the dewy Pyrenean foothills, then the dusty plateaus of Castile y León opening out into the bottle-green valleys of Galicia. If these don’t fell you, the architecture will, be it the macabre gargoyles of Burgos Cathedral, León Cathedral’s kaleidoscopes of stained glass, or the clustered rooftops of Santiago viewed from Monte de Gozo that herald the end of your trek. The solidarity with your fellow pilgrims will also make your spirit soar.

Way to go From Bilbao, take the bus to Pamplona and then the Autocares Artiedabus to Roncesvalles.

See the sunset from the Acropolis

From the alphabet and architecture to philosophy and theatre, the ancient Greeks flicked the switch on the lights by which we all still see. The Acropolis of Athens is a postcard from these canny antecedents. Looming over the Greek capital to the southeast of the city, its temples survive as luminous totems to what we humble bipeds can achieve.

Take it all in via the 3km pedestrianised archaeological park, which leads up the steep ascent to the Propylaea and through imposing Doric columns to the big sells: the Erechtheum, with its ranks of draped female figures in the Porch of the Caryatids; the luminous, lump-in-the-throat Parthenon; and a bird’s-eye view of the great terraces of the Theatre of Dionysus, where you can almost hear the roar of ancient audiences.

Time your trip for late afternoon and continue to the Areios Pagos – the great rocky promontory to the northwest of the Acropolis, where St Paul addressed the Athenians in AD 51. A 10-minute walk along (slippery) steps rewards you with breath- robbing panoramas of Athens ancient and modern. Pack a bottle of Peloponnesian red and settle down for the sunset, when a tangerine sun slinks south and the city’s lights twinkle like an earthly constellation.

Way to go A day pass to Athens’ major monuments is €12. www.theacropolismuseum.org

FR Voyages pour l’Ame

Si vous aspirez à une expérience de voyage dont le souvenir vous dure plus longtemps qu’un bronzage, avec b.there!, prenez le chemin de l’illumination…

Yoga dans la sierra andalouse Les montagnes enneigées de la Sierra de las Nieves sont un des endroits les plus sauvages d’Espagne. Pour des souvenirs inoubliables, offrez-vous une séance d’Ashtânga-yoga à El Convento ; là-haut, votre silhouette se découpe en ombre chinoise sur les ruines de ce monastère du 16 siècle tandis que le soleil éclaire les sommets d’une lumière spectaculaire.

Sources chaudes Karlovy Vary Charles IV a fondé Karlovy Vary en 1370 après avoir été ébloui par les vertus curatives des 300 sources chaudes de la région. Aujourd’hui, l’architecture et le cadre époustouflant du lieu en font l’une des stations thermales les plus extraordinaires au monde.

Vêpres à la cathédrale de Milan Le Dôme de Milan – la plus vieille cathédrale gothique du monde – vous donnera des frissons. Assistez au service du soir : dans cette atmosphère chargée de fumées d’encens et des chants du chœur d’hommes, difficile de ne pas croire en quelque chose de plus grand, qui transcende le quotidien.

Le pèlerinage de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle

Au 15ème siècle, plus d’un million de chrétiens faisaient chaque année le pèlerinage jusqu’au tombeau de saint Jacques. Aujourd’hui, les non- chrétiens rejoignent eux aussi cette quête d’un grand voyage intérieur. Les 750 km du Camino Francés se parcourent en six semaines environ. Le paysage, l’architecture et la solidarité entre les pèlerins vous réchaufferont le cœur.

Coucher de soleil sur l’Acropole Surplombant la capitale grecque, l’Acropole et ses temples sont un totem accessible pour les bipèdes. Mettez- vous en route en fin d’après-midi et allez jusqu’au l’Aréopage, le promontoire où Saint Paul s’est adressé aux Athéniens : vous profiterez de panoramas à couper le souffle.

NL Zielenreizen

Als u op zoek bent naar een reiservaring die u meer te bieden heeft dan een mooi, bruin kleurtje, laat b.there! dan uw gids zijn op het pad naar verlichting …

Yoga in de Sierra van Andalusië Kies voor de onvergetelijke ervaring van Ashtanga yoga bij zonsopgang in El Convento. Uw poses werpen er schaduwen op de ruïnes van het 16e-eeuwse klooster in een adembenemend schouwspel van licht en schaduw.

De warmwaterbronnen van Karlovy Vary Karel IV liet in 1370 de Karlovy Vary bouwen nadat hij helemaal ondersteboven was van de heilzame krachten van de 300 warmwaterbronnen in het gebied. Tegenwoordig zorgen de architecturale pracht en het prachtige decor voor een van de meest sfeervolle kuurervaringen ter wereld.

Vespers aan de kathedraal van Milaan De Duomo in Milaan zal u met verstomming slaan. Pik een avondviering mee: de zoete combinatie van wierook en de klanken van het indrukwekkende mannenkoor doen u op slag geloven in bovennatuurlijke krachten.

De Camino de Santiago In de 15e eeuw gingen jaarlijks meer dan een miljoen christenen op bedevaart naar Santiago de Compostela. Het duurt zo’n zes weken om de 750 km lange Camino Frances af te stappen en het landschap, de architectuur en de solidariteit met uw medebedevaarders zullen u vleugels geven.

Zonsopgang boven de Akropolis De Akropolis waakt statig over de Griekse hoofdstad. Ga door naar de Areios Pagos – de klip waar de apostel Paulus de inwoners van Athene toesprak – en geniet van het adembenemende uitzicht.

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