Jul 22nd, 2011 at 5:00PM:
Millions of Americans are suffering through an almost intolerable heat wave. So why not add fuel to the fire this Friday with an image that speaks to a dry and unyielding summer heat?
In addition to suggesting extreme warmth, this image of the Plaza de Toros (properly the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla) in Seville, Spain by Flickr user magnusvk is ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Photo of the day - Plaza de Toros
Jul 22nd, 2011 at 5:00PM:
Millions of Americans are suffering through an almost intolerable heat wave. So why not add fuel to the fire this Friday with an image that speaks to a dry and unyielding summer heat?
In addition to suggesting extreme warmth, this image of the Plaza de Toros (properly the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla) in Seville, Spain by Flickr user magnusvk is ...Madrid day trip: Romanesque churches and a Gothic cathedral in Segovia
Jul 20th, 2011 at 9:00AM: Segovia is an easy day trip from Madrid and has plenty of medieval and Renaissance buildings to capture the imagination. Yesterday I talked about the Alcázar, the city's castle, and today I'm looking at Segovia's many churches.
Most of the churches are Romanesque in style, like Iglesia de la Veracruz, which was actually built outside the city walls in 1208. The signage says this church ...Madrid day trip: the Alcázar castle in Segovia
Jul 19th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
As I mentioned yesterday, Segovia makes a great day trip from Madrid. One of the highlights of any visit is the Alcázar, or castle. Rising from the highest point on the promontory on which Segovia is built, it dominates the town and looks impossible to attack. The architects cut away part of the bedrock to make a dry moat cutting off the castle from the rest of the town, so to get in you ...Madrid day trip: Segovia
Jul 18th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
Madrid offers a wide range of interesting day trips, from a Renaissance castle and Spanish Civil War bunker to challenging hikes. My personal favorite is the ancient town of Segovia just on the other side of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains. With a beautiful cathedral and castle, one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts anywhere, winding medieval streets, and delicious cuisine, it's a great ...Couchsurfing: more than just a free place to stay
Jul 9th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Here at Gadling we've talked a lot about Couchsurfing, a very cool organization where members host each other. It's an amazing example of how the world can work if you have a bit of kindness and trust. Millions of people have slept for free on millions of couches and made millions of friends in new places. I've been a member for a year and I've gotten a lot out of it, yet I've never once surfed a ...Green Spain: Exploring Iberia's Celtic north
Jul 6th, 2011 at 10:30AM:
When people think of Spain, they tend to think of a sun-soaked, dry land with a hot climate and beautiful beaches. For the most part that's true, but Spain's northern region is very different and equally worth a visit.
Spain's four northern provinces are often called Green Spain. From west to east, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country are a verdant strip between the North ...Paris: where Picasso got his inspiration
Jul 2nd, 2011 at 10:00AM: Sometimes stereotypes live up to expectations. Paris has long been known as a city of artists, where aspiring painters/poets/writers go to light the spark of creativity that will make them famous. Of course most of them fail, but some succeed, and that feeds the legend. Pablo Picasso was one of the success stories.
Picasso went to Paris in 1900, when he he was 19, unknown, and striving to find ...Five overlooked art museums in Madrid
Jun 30th, 2011 at 9:30AM: Madrid is famous for its art. The Spanish capital boasts a "Golden Triangle" of world-class museums: the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. While these are all worth a visit, Madrid has dozens of other art museums that are generally overlooked by the casual visitor. Here are five local favorites.
Museo Sorolla
The house of one of Spain's most famous painters from the turn of ...Watching bullfights with my five-year-old
Jun 9th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
One of the facts an immigrant has to accept is that your children aren't going to grow up in the same culture you did.
When I want to give my five-year-old son a treat, I take him to dinner at El Brillante here in Madrid. You can't get more traditional than El Brillante--an old-school cafeteria/bar that hasn't had a remodel since forever, with hefty waiters who scream your order back to the ...Images of Paris in La Belle Époque
Jun 7th, 2011 at 9:00AM: Paris has always captured the imagination with its architectural beauty and interesting inhabitants. La Belle Époque from the late 19th century to the start of World War One is considered a high point of Parisian life, and this life was captured by an eccentric photographer named Eugène Atget.
Atget started taking photographs of Paris in the 1890s. Working in the early hours of ...Hiking in a natural park near Madrid
Jun 6th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
While Green Spain, the rainy north of the country, is Spain's popular place for hiking, there are lots of good hikes near the capital Madrid. The Comunidad de Madrid encompasses not only the city, but also several large parks, rivers, and mountains crisscrossed by numerous trails.
Yesterday I headed to one of the most beautiful spots in the region, El Parque Natural de Peñalara, an ...Politics and people: an immigrant's impressions of Spain's Basque region
Jun 3rd, 2011 at 3:00PM: One downside to being an immigrant is that you have to learn a whole new set of politics and social divisions. Since moving to Madrid six years ago, I've heard a lot of people talking about Spain's Basque region. Everyone has an opinion about it but most haven't actually been there.
I've recently returned from six days hiking in the Basque region with a group of Americans and two Basque guides. ...Hiking in France's Basque Region
May 31st, 2011 at 2:00PM:
The Basque region straddles the border between northeastern Spain and southwestern France. For the past five days I've been hiking in Spain's Basque region, and today I and my group are crossing the border into France.
One of our Basque guides, Josu, says the culture on the other side of the border isn't as strong. While only 28% of Spanish Basques can speak Basque (Euskara), that number goes ...Hiking the Basque coastline
May 27th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
While the Sierra de Toloño offers some amazing trails and views, the most alluring sights I've seen in the Basque region are along its coastline.
The coast of northeast Spain and southwest France along the Bay of Biscay is part of the Basque heartland. Inland villages played a key role in keeping Basque culture alive, but it's the ports--Bilbao, San Sebastian, and many smaller ...Climbing a Basque mountain
May 25th, 2011 at 4:00PM:
I've been hiking in Spain's Basque region for three days now, and now I'm facing the most challenging hike of my trip.
I and a few volunteers from my group are going up and over the Sierra de Toloño in La Rioja, Spain's most renowned wine-producing region. At nine miles it's not as long as my daily hikes along the Hadrian's Wall Path or the East Highland Way, but the 1,100-ft. ...Salt, wine, and wealth in Spain's Basque region
May 23rd, 2011 at 3:00PM:
In the modern world we don't give much thought to salt. We casually pick some up in the supermarket or tear open a packet at a café, but in the past salt was a vital and sought-after commodity. Everyone needed it for preserving food and as a source for iodine. Nobody could live without it and those who controlled its supply became rich and powerful.
The Basque region of Spain was a ...Hiking and politics in the Basque region's Grand Canyon
May 21st, 2011 at 2:00PM:
"The Basques have the oldest history in Europe," says Dr. Alberto Santana, historian and co-founder of Aunia, a Basque cultural magazine. "We have been here since the Stone Age and have the most distinct language in the world. There are some 6,000 languages in 12 language families. Basque is in a family by itself."
The Basque language, Euskara, is the heart of Basque identity, he tells our ...Hiking through Spain's Basque region
May 19th, 2011 at 1:30PM:
Most tourists who visit Spain stick to the central and southern parts of the country--Madrid, Granada, Seville, Barcelona, and the Costa del Sol. They generally skip the greener, more temperate north. If they head north at all, it's to stop in Bilbao in Spain's Basque region to see the Guggenheim.
Yet the Basque region has much more to offer. In Spain, it's an Autonomous Community, something ...Summer travel: European beach destinations
Apr 21st, 2011 at 12:00PM: With the summer holiday season just around the corner, it's never too early to start planning your escape to the beach. For many Americans, this means balmy Floridian shores, the sun-kissed Californian coast, far-flung Hawaiian islands or hedonistic Caribbean resorts.
But if you're looking for a slice of culture alongside your generous helpings of sea and sand, then consider escaping to one (or ...Video of the day: The Mountain, El Teide, Spain
Apr 20th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.
This video by Terje Sorgjerd, called "The Mountain", came into my Tumblr feed yesterday. I've watched it several times since that first breathtaking viewing and I'm still in awe. This time lapse video was filmed on El Teide--Spain's highest mountain. The mountain is reportedly one of the best places in the world to view the stars and the Teide ...
