Conveuropean

I had the chance to visit the stunning island of Tabarca, just a short ferry ride from Alicante. Although it can be reached in about 20 minutes from Santa Pola, the journey from Alicante is only about an hour and absolutely worth it.

Tabarca may be tiny, but it’s breathtakingly beautiful. The entire island is a designated marine reserve, teeming with vibrant aquatic life and surrounded by crystal-clear turquoise waters. One of my favorite moments was walking from the port through the quaint village streets to the end of the main road, which leads to the historic “Porta de la Trancada.”

There, I dropped my clothes and slipped on my goggles, diving into the refreshing water to explore the rich marine life just offshore. For over an hour, I swam among schools of colorful fish and even ventured to the nearby “Ilot de la Cantera” (Quarry Islet), where I found myself completely alone, surrounded by the serene beauty of the Mediterranean.

Later, I wandered through the labyrinthine alleyways of the town, eventually stumbling upon an authentic little restaurant. I treated myself to their ‘Menu del Día,’ featuring a fresh salad, crispy fried sardines and shrimp, and a traditional Valencian paella that was so delicious it kept me full for hours.

One of my favorite places in Barcelona is la rambla del mar, particularly during sunset. During the summer of 2018 I had the opportunity to visit the city for a couple of days, after attending a wedding in Madrid. The weather was amazing and after a good walk that started in the Plaza de Catalunya I ended up in this place that is really beautiful.

I walk around the place walking by the acuarium and the parks nearby, but before I returned to the hotel, I noticed th sun was starting to go down and I was able to shot a couple of nice pictures, including this one.

A couple of weeks ago we attended a wedding in la Peralada, Catalonia, a small town very close to Figueres. Since anyway we needed to rent a car to get to this place, we booked some days off to visit some of the places recommended by our catalan friends.

We just came back from Malaga where we enjoyed some splendid weather during the last 4 days. We went there to meet some friends of my GF and enjoy the last bit of Spanish summer since the Autumn and cold weather is approaching fast to Switzerland. This was the second time I visited the hometown of Pablo Picasso, but this time around I spent more time there and I discovered a city with some very interesting history reflected in places such as the Alcazaba and the Gibralfaro castle or the Malaga cathedral. The first time I completely missed this church is called “la manquita” (the one armed lady), because the south tower was never finished. Malaga is perse a very interesting city to visit, but it can also be useful a starting point to visit many places in Andalalucia. In this picture you can see the Malaga port area from the uphill road that take you to the Gibralfaro castle.

I really like Barcelona. It's probably my favorite city in Spain where you can find a very nice weather, some very good food and the amazing Gaudi architectural landmarks. One of them is the 'Casa Batllo', a house bought by Josep Batllo in 1900, but reburbished by Gaudi in 1906. Last year I got the opportunity to visit again the city and I was able to take a nice shot of the city on a sunny day.

Probably the shortest city break I have ever done in all these years, but one of the most interesting ones at the same time was the hour I spent in Salamanca back in 2009. I didn't plan on purpose to visit the city for such a short time but it was rather a stop over on my way from Llerena in Extremadura to Ourense in Galicia. I was visiting an old friend from high school in Extremadura, but I was also going to the wedding of a Spanish friend in Galicia and the only flight that I could find was from Dublin to Madrid so ended up renting a car and driving across the Iberian peninsula. I decided to break the trip to Ourense in two and I was glad I did it, because Salamanca turned out to be a beautiful city. I definitively would like to come back and spent more time. Here you can find a picture of the Plaza Mayor.

In the first week of October 09 I had the weeding of a good friend in Galicia, but I took a couple of days off to visit my high school friends M. and C. in extremadura. I went with M. to Merida and I was surprised to learn it was one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire. You can find the Roman remains everywhere but one of my favorite spots was the Roman Theater. I felt like I was in Rome again. Amazing!

The second time I visited Madrid was in the Winter of 07. It was nice that the weather wasn't particularly cold. One night I was walking in the plaza mayor and I got took a picture showing the Christmas Lights.

The only time I haven't been able to enter an European country was a long time ago when I was not an European citizen yet and I didn't have a British visa to get into Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula next to the "Linea de la conception" town in Spain. In this picture you can see the famous Rock of Gibraltar and that was almost the end of my visit to this place. Today I would be able to cross this border without any problem.

Last weekend I was reading in Wikipedia about some of the biggest misconceptions in history and of them was Christopher Columbus and earth round vs flat discussion. Back then many people agreed with the round earth concept but most of them disagreed with Columbus assessment about the distance needed to reach India from europe the other way around (and they were right). I remembered some years ago I visited the city Palos de la frontera in Spain and I had the opportunity to see some replicas of the caravels he used to navigate all the way to America. I remember thinking back then that I was able to understand why there was a rebellion just before they arrived to la Hispaniola. Maybe it’s not so clear in the picture but they were tiny for such an immense trip.