Spain
Leòn, Spain Third city on my journey was León located in the biggest Autonomous Community in Spain - Castilla y León. I only decided to stay there for 4 quick days, taking refuge in a tiny hotel located in the very centre of the city. I quickly realised that it may have been a mistake and that I misjudged it. Turned out León has a very colourful history starting from having been created in the 1st century BC by the VI Roman Legion - Victrix, which was founded by general Octavian in 41 BC (14 years before he became the first Emperor).It's not the VI Legion that has a street named after in León. It's actually VII - Gemina, created by Galba in 69 AD. They decided to create a permanent settlement around what is now Leòn, which name... Comments (0)more...15 aug202015Logroño, Spain The Land of GrapesI have never been a big wine drinker. I don´t mind having a glass or two socially but it has never been something I would just buy for pleasure. Rum of course, but wine not so much. When I planned my trip Logroño seemed like a natural step. Even though wine as a drink is not of interest to me, I am always interested in seeing where things come from or how they are made. I realised that the city is the capital of La Rioja. Despite its size of only 5 045 km2 and being the smallest of the 17 autonomous regions in Spain, the people of La Rioja produce wine of the highest standard in the country and that´s what makes it such an important part of Spain. The name comes from Rio Oja that flows through Oja valley and into the Tirón... Comments (0)more...30 jul202030Zaragoza, Spain It's Good to Be Moving AgainI was never a creature that liked to be caged and kept in the same place for too long. The lockdown showed most of us how terrible such life would be, when you can only walk around your home, from one end of the apartment, to the other (I'm excluding the lucky few with gardens and terraced). Personally it me the hardest when I realised that it's exactly what all the animals in zoos feel like but instead of 4 months we are talking years. Some people will argue that since they were caged since birth it's what they're used to. I don't think so. Even if I were to believe in it, it takes much more than one generation locked in a cage to remove the inherent need to be free. I was secretly hoping that this lockdown might have a positive impact,... Comments (0)more...5 jul20205Barcelona, Spain The Many Colours of Black & WhiteMost of the time, when somebody asks me "let's watch a movie!", my mind takes off into a whirlwind of thoughts somewhere around 1936 and wanders through 1940s to find a gem I would like to watch. I know, I know, that's not what today's people mean but I am an old soul. I used to be afraid of black & white movies. "It's boring", "You end up trying to imagine more than you actually see", and more - I've heard it all, either from people or in my own head few years ago.Then I watched a few of those movies. Those were mostly musical comedies with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and some film-noir titles with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. My brain exploded. Splash! Baaroom! All those prejudices... Comments (0)more...16 mar202016Barcelona, Spain 6This is how many days I was missing from having spent one year in London. On February 2nd, 2019 I arrived to the 26th most populated city in the world (thought that it would be higher) but didn't get to see another February in the UK. Spain has always been a dream of mine. Last year was my 20th of watching and supporting Valencia CF through good and bad times. It was also 100th anniversary of the club. I managed to visit it with my friend Abhi, after group of us from work had travelled to Spain to practice our Spanish, and salsa of course :) Ever since I had left South America I was longing to go back there or at least to a Spanish-speaking country but assumed I would have to get my Spanish at a very good level before I will even have the slightest chance landing a... Comments (1)more...
