World in my eyes
Madrid is a place I am always up for revisiting ever since I was a student there. It made an embedded impression on me back in ten years ago, as much as it did in 2017, when I flew in with a friend for a football game – Spain vs Italy.
To put it simply, this is a city one needs to live in and savour. Tourist visits with limited timeframes don’t do it justice. There is so much to see and experience – the museums, architecture, sports events, parks, food… It is simply one of Europe’s gems.
Nothing shows more the social dynamics of a city than the creativity of its street art. Pamplona made no exception in that and offered more than I have expected within a couple of hours of walking around.
There was the uniqueness of the local culture, the political turmoil of seeking independence, the multinational society and the mastership of the street artist. Each an every one of them making a statement.
I am sure that there is way more to Pais Vasco than the food and wine it is famous for – pintxos and Rioja. And yet, when I am sitting down to write the introducing words for the few photos I have taken there, my taste buds are still feeling the awesomeness Pais Vasco and Navarre cooked for us.
We found ourselves on a plane to Bilbao at the end of August. My wife had an A4 sheet with printed “Bride” stuck on her hands-on language and mine was saying “Groom”. People at the gate looked at us and smiled, while we were way too excited to think about anything else but what has just happened and the awaiting five days in Pais Vasco.
For the past seven years, Verona was always the first major dispatch train station on our trips in Italy. We get on the train in Munich and we either change there or in Bologna. We have never had more than an hour to spend at Verona Porta Nuova.
I kept on promising that we will make a dedicated visit to Verona. I remember the first time I set foot in the ancient city back in 1993. It was a short stopover on the way to Paris and I couldn’t see much of the city, except Arena di Verona and the famous Casa di Giulietta’s balcony.
Fast forward 24 years and I am again there, this time with much more time to devote to the exploration of Verona. And I find myself mesmerised. For most of the time, I can’t even bring myself to pull the camera out of the backpack. I am looking at the old buildings, staring at the inscriptions on elements left from the Roman times, or simply trying not to body-check a fellow tourist.
Brighton is not the conventional and very British city you would expect to see when visiting the island. Its location, the see, and the many young people bring a slightly different taste.
Whether you are visiting the vibrant quarter named The Lanes with all its craftsmanship shops, restaurants and pubs, or you are just walking around, you are more prone to think of Brighton as a continental West European city than an English one.
