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.

Annecy is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is located on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, 35 kilometers south of Geneva, and last July, I had the privilege to visit this interesting place for a whole day.

The city is very beautiful, located between the lake and the mountains. Although you can tell that the site is quite touristy, I found some empty spaces where I could really appreciate this place. Highly recommended.

Located in the current French city of Lyon, Lugdunum was a very important Roman city. The ruins of the ancient amphitheater and the various exhibits in the museum next to it tell the story of a vibrant Roman city, important to the empire for several centuries. The original city was located west of the confluence of the Rhône and Saône, on the Fourvière hills.

Last September I had the opportunity to visit again the city for a second time, and on this occasion I was able to spend a good amount of time exploring this area, which is undoubtedly one of the most interesting in Lyon.

The Victory Column is a monument created to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War. It's possible to visit this monument and climb the stairs to get to the top of the column where you can find very interesting views of the capital city.

The 3rd of October is a national holiday when Germans celebrate their "Unity Day" (Tag der Deutschen Einheit). This is normally a really good day to walk along the "Straße des 17. Juni", since it's open only to pedestrian traffic. I did that walk last year, visited the column, and shot the picture you can observe above.

Last summer I had the chance to visit again the Island of Usedom and to enjoy the Baltic Sea while staying on the Polish side of it, in Świnoujście.

I discovered the Baltic Sea for the first time last year on a long weekend break, and I had such a good time that I was really looking forward to coming back, and I was able to do it again in July.

I was able to capture this really nice sight, when the sunset was starting, and we went to visit Stawa Młyny, a beautiful beacon that was built between 1873–1874 and has a characteristic windmill shape.

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

Sofia is one of the most interesting eastern European capitals. The area had human population since the year 7000 BC, so it means a lot of different cultures and religions passed through this land.

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is one of the most remarkable ones. This Orthodox church cathedral, built in a Neo-Byzantine style, is one of the largest ones of its kind in eastern Europe.

I had the opportunity to visit Sofia in the autumn of 2016, and I really liked this city and would love to visit again.

Malta was on my list of those interesting places I always wanted to visit in Europe. This tiny island, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, has a fascinating history, having been a crossroad between Africa and Europe.

The Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Sicilians, French and British were involved in the island at a certain point, and this created a unique and distinctive place, but the legacy of the Order of Saint John, who ruled the place as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1530 to 1798, is clearly present in the architecture and culture of the country.

In June of 2016, I had the opportunity to visit the island, and I stayed mainly in the capital Valetta, a beautiful harbour city that preserves much of its 16th-century architectural heritage.

In September of 2016 we made a road trip with K and visited Lindau, a major town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance. We stayed at a hotel in the island that’s connected with the mainland by a road-traffic bridge.

The current harbour of this island was built in 1856 and the iconic lion sculpture and lighthouse mark the entrance of this port. An interesting fact is that this lighthouse is the only one in Bavaria!

I published some additional pictures of Lindau in my juanpics domain.

A couple of weeks ago I made a day trip to Poznan from Berlin. There is a train leaving from the Ostbahnhoff station and arriving in Poznan glowny 3 hours later. Once I got there, I started to walk towards the city center, and on the way, I found a place selling pizza that had an amazing margherita—yummy!

I visited the central square, and I thought it was beautiful, surrounded by old buildings, including the Renaissance Old Town Hall. There were many ice cream places, bars, and restaurants. In the information center, they recommended visiting Ostrów Tumski, an island between the two branches of the river Warta. This island was one of the main political centres in the early Polish state, and now it's possible to visit the cathedral that houses some ruins from that era in the subterranean crypt. Very interesting city.

Yesterday I started walking from Prenzlauer Berg, all the way to Postdamer Platz. When I was crossing the Museum Island, I noticed the Humboldt-Box and remembered that I had never been there before, so I decided to make a short stop. This temporary construction, created by the Humboldt Foundation, serves as an exhibition space and viewing platform for the Berlin Palace - Humboldt Forum reconstruction project.

It has been a while since the last time I published any picture in this European photoblog. I have been travelling in Asia, so most of the pictures I have been taking are published now in the Breaksian Career Break blog. Nevertheless, I'm currently on a break from the break, spending Xmas with my girlfriend.

Today we felt like doing some exercise so we took our bikes and rode all the way to Augusta Raurica, a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum, located around 17 km away from Basel. We passed by Aeschenplatz, St. Jakob, Muttenz, Pratteln, and Augst where this complex is located. It is possible to visit an Amphitheatre, a forum, a Roman museum, and a Roman house that displays reconstructions showing the typical life during that era.

I'm in Dublin this week finishing some paperwork I need to sort out before I start my Asian Career Break. Probably this is going to be my last post in this European photoblog for a little while. For obvious reasons, I won't be taking and posting many European pictures in the coming months.

A couple of weeks ago we attended a wedding in La Peralada, Catalonia, a small town very close to Figueres. Since 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.

Have you ever experienced this feeling of being on the road driving to somewhere and then seeing a breathtaking landscape in front of you, so nice that you feel the urge to stop and take a picture? Some weeks ago we went

to visit an interesting open air museum in the middle of Switzerland, and just before we arrived at this place, we stumbled upon this amazing landscape with the snowy Alps in the background, reflected in the calm waters of a lake, surrounded by some green hills. Fortunately, we found a place on the road to park the car and to take this picture. There is no doubt this country has some amazing landscapes!

If you have been following this photoblog, I think you are not going to be surprised if I mention Berlin is one of my favorite cities in Europe. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit it one more time, and since I stayed with some friends living in the south part of the city I got to see the area around Templehof, including the former airport that is now a huge open green space. In a truly Berlin style, it has an art mini-golf in the middle of the park where we got some water, and this is where I took this picture. During the weekend I was visiting Berlin, there was a referendum to keep the Tempelhof park 100% public, and it passed with around 65% of the votes in favor of the initiative. Therefore, the Berliners will keep enjoying this huge and popular park in the city. Well done!.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit London one more time. In my opinion, the British capital is always an interesting place to visit, offering so many things to do, places to visit, and food to eat, that it is hard to decide what to do. This time around I was staying in the Paddington area near Hyde Park, and I tried the London (aka "Boris") Bikes for the first time. Since the weather was pleasant, it turned out to be an excellent decision. I started my ride in Hyde Park, passed by Buckingham Palace, continued all the way through The Mall, and ended up in Charing Cross where I finished the trip. It's here where I took this picture of Trafalgar Square. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory off the southern Spanish coast during the Napoleonic Wars. I really like the view you get from the stairs of the National Gallery.

Last Thursday I read in my tech feeds that Google had released a standalone camera app in the Play Store, to simulate depth-of-field lens-blur effects programmatically to the shots taken with the phone. Since I had updated my "old" galaxy nexus maguro to CM11 the night before I decided to give a go to this new app.

Some weeks ago I was showing my brother the map on this photoblog containing the different cities I had visited during the years I have been living in Europe, and he asked me about Amsterdam. I hadn't noticed, but I realized I haven't published any picture yet from the famous Dutch capital, and since I recently had a connecting flight passing through Schiphol, I thought that was a good opportunity to take a good picture for ConEuropean. One of the most fascinating parts of Amsterdam is its canal system, conceived as part of the city planning in the 17th century. In this picture you can observe one of these canals at night, with the church of St. Nicholas in the background.

Every year the carnival in Basel starts exactly at 4am when all the lights in the old town are turned off, and the different "Cliques" march through it in different parades, playing some traditional marching songs using piccolos and drums. This year has been exceptionally warm, so I thought it was a good opportunity to see the Morgestraich again, and I was not disappointed at all.

We visited Berne yesterday with some friends who came to visit us from Catalunya. This time around we parked again next to the bear park and there were a couple of bears walking there. I brought my camera to take some pictures in the lovely Swiss capital, and while I was taking some shots of the bears, I learned something new: You can't run away from them by climbing to the trees because they surely can do it as well. As you can see in this picture, one of them climbed quite well to the top of one of the trees. All the visitors were surprised and amazed at the same time. They are very cute, as you can see here, but as our friend was saying, they are cute until they bite your arm off! Anyhow, we consider ourselves very lucky to have had the chance to see such a nice spectacle.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Brussels again. This is the third time I visited the Belgian capital known not only for being the heart of the European Union, but also for its beautiful central square, its beer variety, and its "Moules et frites", a traditional dish of mussels prepared with white wine served with fries.

I decided this time to visit the Atomium, a steel structure in the north part of the city, to get a good panoramic view and take some pictures, and I was not disappointed. I was rewarded with some interesting aerial spots including MiniEurope (a miniature park with reproductions of monuments in the European Union) and some other buildings created for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. I find it interesting that even if the Atomium is not as famous as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, both were "temporary" steel structures created for world fairs.

I have the impression Milan is more famous for being the main industrial, commercial and financial centre of Italy, rather than for its landmarks (compared to Rome, Florence, Pisa or Venezia), but between la piazza del duomo and la piazza della scala you can find the remarkable one: the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, named after the first king of Italy. This is not only one of the world's oldest shopping malls, but it's probably the most beautiful one. Once you enter the shopping arcades, you can't stop looking at the amazing structures of the ceiling. At night, with the lighting, it is even more impressive. Last weekend we enjoyed a short city break in Milano, and this place was definitively one of the highlights.

Sometimes you get a nice photoshoot in the most unexpected place, so it’s good to have a mobile phone with a decent camera at hand to capture the instant. This is exactly what happened last weekend when we went to the big shopping center in Weil am Rhein, located very close to the river point where countries meet (France, Germany and Switzerland). We were in the parking lot and getting ready to leave the place, but when we looked outside at the sky, we just saw this amazing view composed of some blueish hues and a stripe of sunny light in the background, so I got my phone and shot a couple of pictures trying to capture this view. I wish we had a new year full of nice sky views like the one we experienced last weekend. Happy 2014.

Probably some of the most iconic art pieces in Basel are the ones created by Jean Tinguely, a Swiss artist famous for his sculptural machines. You can find samples of his work in the Tinguely Museum (hosting a permanent exhibition), in the Euroairport, and in this fountain located where the old city theater was once located. The artist set up these nine iron pieces in constant movement, interacting with each other. Today at lunchtime, I was walking in the city center and was able to capture a nice backlight shot that demonstrates the sculptures in action, splashing water.

I visited Italy last Christmas having the opportunity to go for the first time to the eastern city of Trieste. Even if this place is very Italian when you walk around and observe the buildings, you are constantly reminded that this region used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is also possible to find reminders of how once there was a considerable Slavic population living in this area. The Saint Spyridon Serbian Orthodox church is one of these reminders (1751 when Empress Maria Theresa allowed free practice of religion, prompting the migration of Orthodox Serbs). Unfortunately, it was a short day trip, so I didn't have time to cross to Slovenia. Next time, I will try to visit the southern part of the former "Free State of Trieste."

I have to confess I love the Christmas markets in Germany and Switzerland because they gave me back the Christmas emotion and spirit I used to feel when I was a kid that was long gone. Last Friday we went to visit the market in Basel, located in Barfuesserplatz, and on our way we found out that one of the places serving Glühwein had on top of it one of the traditional Christmas Pyramids. As you can see in this picture, this pyramid has the traditional shape with different motives in each one of the levels. I wasn't aware, but this type of decoration has its roots in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) region of Germany. Anyway, I already had my first cup of mulled wine this Christmas, and I'm ready to party today. If I don't post anything before the 24th, Merry Christmas to all of you!

Yesterday we enjoyed a nice day at the thermal baths of this German city located very close to Basel, Mulhouse, and Freiburg. This was the first time we visited this town, and it turned out to be a picturesque place with a couple of fancy hotels, some restaurants, and full of baths due to the spring mineral waters it possesses. When we arrived in the town, we noticed from a distance the ruins of a castle, and when we were going back to the car, we noticed it again, so I grabbed my phone and took a picture. I was able to get a nice silhouette of the castle at this time of the year.

We just came back from Malaga, where we enjoyed some splendid weather during the last four days. We went there to meet some friends of my GF and enjoy the last bit of Spanish summer before 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, the Gibralfaro Castle, and the Malaga Cathedral. The first church I visited was called “la manquita” (the one-armed lady), because its south tower was never finished. Malaga is per se a very interesting city to visit, but it can also be useful as a starting point to visit many places in Andalucía. In this picture, you can see the Malaga port area from the uphill road that takes you to the Gibralfaro Castle.

Last weekend a very nice colleague of mine invited us over to have dinner at her place and to “spicy it up” she proposed to go to the Bamberg Seilpark, around 10 km away from Solothurn, in the Jura mountains. I have seen these rope parks before in Switzerland but this was the first time I attempted to get into a climbing harness, clicked my safety line and climbed on the trees overcoming a different set of obstacles. I went as far as my shoulders let me go but my colleagues were very brave and successfully attempted the black circuit, full of really high challenging obstacles. In this picture you can see my brave colleague when she was about to swing on the monkey bars some 20 meters above the ground! Chapeau.

In September last year, we spent a couple of days in Istanbul. It was a massive sensorial experience from every aspect: watching the diverse people walking in the streets, admiring ancient buildings such as Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, smelling the spices blending in the bazaars, hearing the call to prayer many times during the day coming out of the minarets, feeling the sun bronzing the skin, sipping tea next to a pistachio baklava, and enjoying a grilled sea bass at a nice restaurant in the Sultanahmet area. As you can imagine, there are plenty of mosques in Istanbul. Every day when we took the tram to the city center, we passed by the Eminönü station and stared at the new mosque. One evening after dinner, I had the chance to get a nice shot of this mosque from the other side of the Galata Bridge using a long exposure.

Last Saturday we went to Europapark, a “Europe” theme park located in Rust, Germany. I wanted to celebrate my birthday there because I really enjoy the thrills you get riding a nicely designed rollercoaster. We were lucky with the weather because we had a sunny day that allowed us to enjoy even the water-related attractions. The park was relatively crowded so we had to wait in line for most of the rides, but those seconds when you are rushing through the sky upside down made it worth it. The Blue Fire is probably my favorite ride with all the fast ascents, descents, inversions, turns, and loops. I always finish with a green face, dizzy but extremely happy! This time around I missed riding the Silver Star that you can observe in this picture, but that’s going to be first next time I visit the park. bis bald Europapark!

I just came back from a short break in Turkey, and even though I only spent a week in the republic founded by Ataturk, I had the opportunity to get a positive first glimpse of the country. We had a wedding in Izmir and stayed for a couple of days in the city. While we were visiting a bookstore, we found out that the ancient Greek/Roman city of Ephesus was not so far away. The day after, we took a train, traveled to Selçuk, and walked the 4 kilometers to get to this archaeological site. The day trip was worth it because we got the opportunity to visit the different parts of the complex, including the beautiful library of Celsus that you can observe in this picture. This library was built in honor of the Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, and he is buried there in a sarcophagus underneath the construction. It’s definitely one of the most amazing tombs I have ever seen!.

Last weekend we had a first glimpse of the future autumn since we climbed with a couple of friends to the peak of Rigi Kulm, also called the “Queen of the Mountains,” through some foggy weather and the temperature dropped to around 10 degrees. Unfortunately, we missed the view from the top, but when we were walking down, the sky cleared up slightly, and we were able to get an idea of how amazing the view was. When we were walking back to Goldau after a nice descent through the forest, we were welcomed by a nice view of its twin town Arth, with the Zug lake. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that is what I got in this picture. Rigi is definitively a nice walk, but prepare your calf muscles!

Last week K. was counting the days until the weekend because she was looking forward to doing some hiking again in Wengen, a small village in the Berner Oberland mountains. Today, now that we are back, I completely understand the reason for her excitement: it’s indeed one of the most beautiful parts of Switzerland, offering some breathtaking views of the Bernese mountains. For the first hiking trail, we parked in Lauterbrunnen, took a train to Wengen, got in the cable car to Männlichen, and from there we walked all the way to Kleine Scheidegg. This trail was particularly surreal because you were walking on the rim of a mountain more than 2000 meters above sea level, with some astonishing landscapes, but at the same time you found on your way cows pasturing, always joined by the sound of their typical Swiss bells tinkling. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me, but I tried to capture one of those moments with my phone's camera.

Today we enjoyed a lovely day visiting the Gruyère district of Switzerland, doing plenty of interesting activities and eating some really good food. We started our visit getting to the town of Gruyères. This ancient town has a couple of interesting attractions, including the Castle, the town fortifications, and an unusual museum: the HR Giger, where you can visit some of the exhibitions created by this Swiss artist who won an Oscar for his work in the movie *Aliens*. We also drove to Moléson-sur-Gruyères, where you can take both a funicular and a cable car to discover the magnificent panorama and take pictures from the summit. From there, you can observe the Moléson mountain, as shown in this picture I took just when we arrived in Gruyères, visible in the top left corner.

Normally I publish pictures from European cities or landscapes in this photoblog, but this time I decided to upload a nice butterfly photo I captured earlier today. We decided to visit Konstanz in Germany, and it turned out to be a very nice city with an old, well-preserved city center (luckily the Allied bombs during WWII didn’t touch it). From there, you can take a boat that brings you to a small island called Mainau. K. always wanted to visit this place because she had studied at the school on this island, which had a gorgeous greenhouse full of butterflies. Indeed, once you enter the place, you find plenty of 'Schmetterlinge' flying all over the place, sucking up juice from orange slices and hopping from flower to flower. So my dear K., here is a butterfly picture for you!

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to visit again the City of Light, and even though I had visited Paris quite a few times in recent years, this was the first time I climbed the Eiffel Tower. Once you cover the 674 steps needed to get to the second level, you are rewarded with a really nice view of the Champ de Mars on one side and the Palais de Chaillot and the Gardens of the Trocadéro on the other. I took this opportunity to take some aerial pictures, and one of the views I liked the most was the one showing the Champ de Mars with people scattered admiring the amazing iron structure designed by Gustave Eiffel, erected in 1889. I will always remember the amazement I felt when I saw the structure for the first time.

One of the plans K. wanted to do for a long time was to visit and walk in the Black Forest in Germany. Basel is located in northern Switzerland, so Freiburg and the small towns in this region of the country are located nearby. Yesterday we booked our economic smart car and headed north to Titisee. Even if the town was a bit too touristy for our taste, it has a nice lake where you can rent a small electric boat and explore around. Additionally, it has some good hiking paths to visit small towns nearby walking through the forest. While we were walking through one of these paths, we had the opportunity to see the lake through this frame made of leaves where I took this shot.

My dad is visiting us during a couple of weeks, and for a long time we wanted to visit the Qin Terracotta Warriors exhibition in Bern. Finally, yesterday we thought this would be a good opportunity to do it together, so we booked a car and visited the Swiss capital to watch this interesting exhibition. When we ended our visit to Bern, after getting quite a few ice creams on such a hot summer day, we decided to also visit Thun, located only 30 km south of Bern. This city has a beautiful landscape where the River Aar flows out of Lake Thun. When we were walking towards the lake, we saw some charming old wooden bridges like the ones you can observe in this picture.

Every time I go to Berlin, I'm quickly reminded why this is my favorite European city. As I get close to Alexanderplatz, I feel excited to be visiting the German capital again. The first time I visited the city was 7 years ago, and it’s amazing how much the city has changed in that short time: The Palace of the Republic is gone, the Hauptbahnhof has been completed, and the area around the parliament is getting nicer and nicer. Each time I visit Berlin, I get the opportunity to see something new I haven’t seen before, and this time was no exception: While we were walking near Postdamer Platz, we saw a small flyer talking about a watchtower, and indeed we found, hidden by a tree, one of the last remaining surveillance symbols of the GDR.

Last weekend I was in Zurich enjoying the last day of the festival Zueri Faescht. I wasn't aware that my friend A. told me this festival only takes place every three years, so I'm glad I made it even if it was only for the last day. The city was absolutely packed and there was music and food all over and plenty of shows. One of the most impressive ones in my opinion was the tightrope walk between the towers of St. Peters Church and the Grossmunster cathedral, over the Limmat River by Alfons Bügler. It was really spooky to see this tightrope walker go from one church to the other without any protection. I took this photo when he was starting the walk in St. Peters.

In my fourth visit to Poland I had the chance to visit a very picturesque town at the banks of the Vistula River: Kazimierz Dolny. I had mentioned the town when we were in Switzerland, so I was very curious, and I was not disappointed at all. The city has very interesting architecture with former warehouses restored to their former glory. It's also possible to climb a small hill to get a beautiful view of the river and the city center that you can observe here in this picture taken earlier today.

Some weeks ago a Polish colleague recommended to us a small city near Colmar called Riquewihr, that he described as a gorgeous medieval city located in the mountains with an old walled center. Today we decided to head north into France to visit this place, and we were able to corroborate that this place is indeed one of the most beautiful towns in the Alsatian region. We were reading that during WWII this was one of the few places that were spared from destruction, since it was relatively hidden in a cul-de-sac, and so there are many houses from the 15th century really well preserved. One of the perks of visiting this place is the route to get there, since you pass through several vinicole plantations and some other nice towns as well. In one of the towers surviving the original wall built by the Duke of Horburg in the 13th century, you can visit a museum with the history of the city. It's called Dolder in Alsatian, meaning the highest point, where I took this picture.

We just arrived from a city break in Copenhagen. It was a really nice city and one of the highlights was definitively the amusement park of Tivoli Gardens. This is one of the oldest parks of its kind in the world, since it opened on August 15, 1843. We were reading that once Walt Disney visited this park and got so impressed that he decided he was going to build something similar. The park is very interesting because it feels old but really well kept. I would definitely recommend it if you get the chance to visit this Scandinavian city.

Today it was a sunny day in Switzerland, so we used our brand new mobility card to get a Smart and headed to Neuchatel to visit a friend of K. When we arrived there, he proposed that we visit a really cool place on the top of the mountain, so we went. I had no idea what it was about, so when we finally arrived after circling a lot of small roads, we got to a place that at first sight doesn't look too impressive: You just see some cows with their bells ringing, surrounded by some rocky fence, but once you cross the field and pass the rocks, you are welcomed by a breathtaking view: The Creux du Van, a natural rocky cirque that looks like a cliff in the sea. You can walk along the edge of the cliff, and in some parts it is scary: the abyss is just 2 steps from the road, but it is totally recommended anyway! Very interesting place.

During this long weekend we visited Hamburg for the first time and we got a very good impression about this German maritime city that once was a member of the medieval Hanseatic League. We didn't know, but during those days the city was celebrating the "Port Birthday," and there were a lot of food stalls, bands playing, and nice ships visiting the port. Berlin is still my favorite German city, but this comes second, very close.

A friend was visiting us this weekend and she wanted to visit Strasbourg so we decided today to hop on the TER train and go to this beautiful Alsatian city. When we got there we were welcomed by a very nice sunny day and while we were walking in the old city center I took this picture of the Place Kléber. This is the largest square at the center of the city, and there is an interesting historic fact: Even if the place is currently named after the French general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, the first name it had was Barfüsserplatz (square of the bare-feet-goers), because once there was a monastery along the square.

The distribution of the holidays in Switzerland is peculiar, since most of them are clustered in May and there are not so many in the remaining months of the year. Anyway, last Monday I wanted to enjoy the last holiday this month, so I headed south to Zurich to meet a German friend. She proposed to go up to Uetliberg by train, and it was a very good idea. This mountain offers an impressive panoramic view of Zurich and its lake, as you can observe in this picture. It takes around 20 minutes to go there, and the trip is totally worth it. Highly recommended if you pass by Zurich.

Today I have been wondering around Freiburg, enjoying the first sunny day of a spring that almost forgot to come to Europe in 2013. Seriously! This has been the longest European winter since the year I arrived in Europe. I know winter can be long in these latitudes, but if you could see the happiness in the faces of most of the people outside enjoying the sun and grabbing coffee in the terraces, you would understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, when I was walking from the train station, I saw this woman taking a picture of the first blossoms, and you can see her and them in this picture. Welcome spring!!!

I feel very lucky living in Europe, and now I feel even luckier living so close to Paris. Knowing I lived close to the French border, I knew that Paris was very close by train, and last weekend I had the opportunity to try out how close it was by taking the TGV to the Gare de Lyon (and it was indeed only a couple of hours). I have been in Paris several times, and there are plans I repeat over and over: taking the metro to Hotel de Ville, crossing "Île de la Cité", stopping by Notre Dame, and then continuing to walk through Rue de Rivoli until I reach Palais Royal. Then I go to le Jardin des Tuileries, continue to "Place de la Concorde", and then I walk all the way up through "Avenue des Champs-Élysées" until I get to the "Place Charles de Gaulle", where "l'Arc de Triomphe" is located. I took this picture at the end of my walk there.

Today we visited Karlsruhe, one of the big German cities in the Baden-Württemberg state. Before going there I read that there has been some speculation about this city being used as a model for Washington, D.C. (since both cities have a centre from which the streets radiate). I couldn't stop thinking about this point when we were walking in the city center. When we passed by the Rondellplatz, we observed this obelisk that might, in fact, be a model for the American one. Probably this city is very nice during the summer, but today we realized spring hasn't come yet to Karlsruhe because it was rainy, grey, and cold... brrrr.

There are 2 Alsatian cities bordering the north of Switzerland: Saint Louis and Huningue, where you can do an interesting bike ride along the Huninguen channel. This old channel, fed by the Rhine River, was built in the 19th century and used to be a fluvial medium of transport in this region. Despite the chilly weather today, we decided to ride along the canal and went all the way up to Kembs. When we were approaching the town, I found this funny tree in the middle of this growing field. Kudos to the owner for sparing the life of this little tree!

A couple of weeks ago I went by train to Besançon, the Capital City of the Franche-Comté region in France. The town has a very interesting history, being one of the first cities conquered by Julius Caesar in the "Gaul" region. I enjoyed walking around the old city center, and when I was on my way up to visit the Citadel designed by Vauban, I stumbled upon these ancient Galo-Roman ruins. Every time I find those types of ruins, I have to stop by, because for me it's a clear reminder that those cities have been there for a really long time.

At the beginning of January I left Dublin, closing one of the most interesting and eventful chapters of my life. On the day I left the city, I woke up early to finish up all the paperwork and all the tasks I had to do before I left Ireland. When I was bringing some clothes to charity, I was welcomed by this beautiful sunrise with amazing colors and a bird passing by. I will always have some really good memories about my time in Éire.

One of my favorite plans when I visit a new city is to go as high as I can to get a panoramic view of the place. When I visited Nice back in January I read that the Colline du Chateau overlooking the Baie des Anges offered an amazing view of the city. So I climbed all the stairs and after a good walk (later on I found there was an elevator, but never mind) I was rewarded with an amazing view of the old town, the bay and the sea.

I was in Heidelberg 4 years ago, but last weekend I had the opportunity to go back and climb to the castle where I had this amazing view of the city. It was quite an exercise to climb the stairs to go to the top, but once you are there, you feel it has been totally worth it.

I visited Belfast for a second time last year (2012) and this time I did the "Black Taxi Tour" and it was very interesting. The driver was part of the Catholic community and he drove me through both the loyalist Protestant areas (i.e., Shankill Road) and the Nationalist enclaves (Falls Road and Bombay Street). One of the most surprising parts of the tour was to pass by the "Peace Lines". I had no clue Belfast had built those walls during the troubles to separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods. In this picture you can see one of those walls along Cupar Way in Belfast.

In September last year, K. came to Dublin to visit me, and we rented a car, headed down to the southwest of Ireland and visited the famous Ring of Kerry. I had heard before that this area was one of the most beautiful parts of the country, and the people were right; the landscapes were astounding! When we were going around the ring, we stopped in this spot where I was able to take this nice picture that shows just a glimpse of how nice the area is.

In the south coast of Ireland, very close to Cork, there is a seaport that could be easily known as ‘Titanictown’ since most of the shops, pubs, and restaurants have reference to the famous British passenger liner. The name of this was Queenstown until 1920, and its history is tied to the Titanic because this port was the last European port where it called before heading to New York, and you know the rest of the history. Last year I had the opportunity to visit this town twice, and in one of my visits, I took a picture of the old pier where the boats were bringing the last passengers boarding the Titanic.

I have to confess I'm a Beatles fan. When I was a child, this group was played over and over at my grandparents' house, so it stuck on me. Last year in August I had the opportunity to make a day trip to the city where this famous band was formed. A very interesting part of the city was the Albert Dock. This structure has a very interesting history because it was the first warehouse to be created with iron, stone, and brick (until that time, they were wood-based). Today it's a very vivid tourist attraction with a lot of visitors, shops, coffee places, etc. This place was one of the highlights of the short visit (besides the whole Beatlemania).

I really like Barcelona. It's probably my favorite city in Spain where you can find 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 refurbished by Gaudi in 1906. Last year I got the opportunity to visit the city again, and I was able to take a nice shot of the city on a sunny day.

The Montreaux Jazz Festival takes place in July every year in this Swiss city, and it's probably one of the most famous ones in the world of its kind. Last year we had the opportunity to go there, and when we visited the city, we found out the Château de Chillon is one of the most visited places not only in this city but also in the whole country. The history of this castle is actually very interesting: it was controlled by the Counts of Savoy who used to tax most of the goods coming from Italy, given its strategic location. We were hesitant about visiting the castle, but I'm glad we did it because it was worth it.

At the end of April I had the opportunity to visit one of eastern European cities that was on my list "to-go" for a really long time: Budapest, and I was not disappointed at all, since it's indeed a beautiful and very interesting city. I was very fortunate because the weather was quite warm for being spring time, so I experienced a mini-summer over the weekend. I visited the famous Fisherman's Bastion, the Royal Palace, the Parliament, and climbed the stairs to the Gellert Hill. On the day I got in, I took this picture of the Parliament and the Royal Palace (Királyi palota) from the Margaret Bridge.

A couple of weeks ago K. was visiting Dublin and we rented a car to go for the first time to the Northwest of the country. We drove all the way to Donegal stopping by in Sligo and Bundoran. One of the highlights of the trip was without question the Slieve League cliffs. They are more than 600 meters high and the view is just stunning as you can observe in this picture.

I still remember how I felt the first time I visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris (it was the same sensation I experienced when I visited the Taj Mahal): a landmark that you have seen so many times in pictures, postcards, movies, books, etc., but this time the place appears right in front of you, and you can almost touch it from a distance. Every time I go to Paris, I try to go to the Trocadero metro stop to get a really good view of the Eiffel Tower. Once, I was playing with my camera and I set up a long exposure while the tower was glittering, and that's how I got this shot.

In the summer of 2010 we were looking for a short break holiday and we found some cheap tickets to Bergamo, so we decided to go there. I was gladly surprised by this beautiful town, particularly the “Città Alta” area with its medieval town architecture, narrow streets, and a history you can breathe in every corner. We were not very lucky with the weather on that occasion (we experienced some torrential rain) and were in our summer outfits; nevertheless, we enjoyed the visit to this place, and I would gladly come back.

Last fall I went to visit my dear friend J. in the Netherlands. This time we took the train and visited the nice city of Utrecht. We walked around the canals, grabbed a cup of coffee, and enjoyed a lovely sunny day grabbing a beer in one of the terraces.

Last summer I found an extremely cheap flight ticket to Edinburgh flying in the morning and coming back in the evening, so I decided to make a "day trip" by plane to Scotland. I'm really glad that I did it because Edinburgh turned out to be a very interesting city with its majestic castle, and the one o'clock gun, bam!!!. I also solved a question during that trip that had been on my mind for a while (why Scotland and England are part of the same united kingdom). I also enjoyed walking around the city and climbing to this park where I got the chance to get a nice view of the city. I will definitely come back!

During the summer of 2011 we took a small summer break and we went for the first time to Dubrovnik in Croatia, flying from Berlin. Many people had recommended me this destination, and I was not disappointed at all since it has nice summer weather, nice food, and amazing sights to see. You can walk around the city in the old city walls, and that's where I took this picture showing the old cathedral. The only minus is the rocky beaches with sea urchins, but overall it was a very nice holiday.

In the summer of 2011 my dad came to Europe for the second time and we met in Berlin. From there we did a small trip including Vienna, one of the cities he really wanted to visit since he was in love with classical music. I used to have a very interesting colleague at work from Vienna, so based on his comments, I was also very interested in visiting the city. We had a very good time there, and one of the plans we made was to attend a concert at the State Opera. The building was built in 1861, but restored after the Second World War.

When you visit Dresden, it's hard to believe that one of the most important landmarks, the Frauenkirche, was reconstructed only after the German reunification and it has been standing there for less than 10 years (the works were finished in 2005). This famous church was completely destroyed during the bombing of Dresden by Anglo-American allied forces in February 1945. When you look at both the pictures before the war and the pictures of this area during the communist German Democratic Republic, you realize they did an amazing job bringing the Frauenkirche to its former glory. I have been in Dresden only twice, but it was just a short visit while catching a train to Prague. I would love to go back and spend more time in the city.

If you have been following this photolog, you are aware that this was not my first time in London, and you might remember that the first time I went there, I didn't have a decent camera, so I ended up taking crappy pictures. In my second visit to London, I went with a good camera and I got the opportunity to take some decent pictures, like the one you see here with the Big Ben. I went for a Juan Luis Guerra concert with G, but we also took the opportunity to visit London for a couple of days, and, as I remembered, it's an amazing city!.

A couple of weeks ago I took one of those cheap flights to Charleroi, Belgium, and there I found out there was a bus service to Luxembourg, so I did a small city break in this small but very interesting country. I learned that most of the people are trilingual since they study French and German at school, plus their national language (Luxembourgish). I also learned that in this country it was the site of one of the most cruel battles at the end of the World War II (Battle of the Bulge). I also learned that Luxembourg is the only Grand Duchy that still exists in the world. So on that weekend I explored the city, walked all over the place, and enjoyed very nice weather. I also rented a city bike (veloH) and went around the different parks. It was a lovely visit, and I would love to go back. In this picture you can see the fortified city.

Venice is one of those places you can read about in many different guides or websites, hear stories from the people who have been there already and browse photo galleries, but nothing compares to actually going to Venice by train, get off at the Santa Lucia train station and start strolling around the narrow streets, crossing bridges until you get lost or, if you are lucky, find by chance the Rialto bridge. I found a connection flight back to Dublin passing by Venice and I got the chance to spend a couple of days in the Italian former city state.

Almost 2 years ago I spent the Christmas vacation doing a small European trip through Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland, finishing it in Krakow, Poland. I took the night train from Prague to Krakow and I had a very good time there with K. celebrating NYE. We went to a nice jazz concert the last day of 2010, and I also had the chance to taste the food in the famous Bar mleczny for the first time. I also experienced the coldest winter ever. Poland is beautiful, but it can be really cold in winter!

The last week of November, we were surprised in Ireland by a "cold snap" that really lowered the temperature in the country and was followed by heavy snowfall. I love to walk in the snow, and this time I had the chance to do it a couple of times going to work and coming back home. I took this picture in Sandymount on the weekend just after the first snowfall.

During the Christmas holidays of 2010, I had the chance to visit a city that was on my list of "really want to go there": Prague. I was not disappointed at all. I really enjoyed my time there, visiting Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the Josefov Jewish Quarter, and of course, the Old Town where you can see the famous Tyn Church. On my second day in this nice city, the sun was shining, and I took this picture of the famous landmark.

The last weekend of October I had the chance to visit Poland for the second time. On this occasion, we went to Gdansk, a beautiful city in the Baltic Sea that was completely destroyed during WWII but was very well restored. Here is a picture in Długi Targ (Long Market) showing the Neptune Fountain with the Main Town Hall in the background. I highly recommend visiting this city!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to visit Stockholm, one of the Scandinavian cities that was on my "I definitively want to go there list." The week before, I asked F., a Swedish colleague of mine, what he would recommend visiting, and the first thing he told me about was the Vasa Museum, a Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628 that sank on her first trip very close to the Stockholm harbor... That was an interesting story, but the amazing second part, more than 300 years later, is that they were able to recover the ship, which was kept in very good condition because of the composition of the water around that area. So you get this incredible experience to visit this gigantic ship almost as it was in the 17th century. I would recommend a visit to Stockholm just to see it. In this picture, you can see the ship in the background with a small sailor doll in the exhibition (using the wonders of perspective, it looks like a real one!).

A couple of years ago I visited Portugal and I had a great time in that country, visiting Porto, Lisbon, Sintra, and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost spot of Portugal and also the westernmost part of the European Continent. I think this fact is really cool because you cannot go any further :). I would love to come back to the country: beautiful landscapes, great weather, nice people, and amazing food!.

In September 2010 we had the chance to visit Porto flying directly from Dublin. This was the first time we visited Portugal, and thanks to a Portuguese friend of mine, we tasted the famous "Bacallau" in a restaurant close to the city center that was absolutely delicious. We also had the opportunity to visit one of the bodegas and tasted the famous Porto. Not only did we have very good food and wine, but we were also welcomed by a gorgeous old city center. Highly recommended.

One of my first images of Europe was the majestic old walled city of Carcassonne. A Scotish friend invited me to visit this place with a friend of hers who was visiting her, and I was so happy that I was able to go. I loved the city! I was able to come back some years later when I took a train trip from Girona to Carcassonne, and during the night I was able to capture this shot.

O'Connell Street is probably the busiest street in Dublin at any given time with buses coming and going to every corner of the city, pedestrians crossing and meeting at the spire, and taxis waiting for passengers. It is almost a privilege to see it completely deserted, as you can observe in this picture. Some years ago, while I was living in Ireland, I had to go once to a public office in the city center, and I tried to arrive as soon as it was opening. The sun was just coming up, and the street looked so empty that I decided to take this shot. It was not intended, but I captured the James Larking statue in the spotlight. He was a trade union leader and socialist activist, and there is a picture honoring him in the middle of this famous street.

In the autumn of 2010, I had the opportunity to make a small trip, flying to Girona and then going by train. I went all the way up to Carcassonne, stopping by in different towns including Narbonne, where I needed to switch trains. I took the opportunity to walk around this former prosperous port located in the department of Aude. I'm always fascinated by gargoyles in European cathedrals, but the ones in Narbonne were particularly spooky, so I took a picture of one of them.

Last year when I was visiting Finland, I went to the tourist office to ask some information about an island nearby Helsinki, but then the guy in front of me began to ask questions about how to get to Tallinn by Ferry... and to make the story short, the next morning I was early at the port buying a return ticket to Tallinn, Estonia. This was the first time I visited one of the Baltic republics and I loved it. Tallinn is a very beautiful city with a nice park, a very well-preserved city center, and some interesting museums. I took this picture when I was getting to Tallinn by Ferry. You can see from the boat the city center on the right of the picture. It's very close so you can walk there.

It has been almost 4 years since I visited Finland, and one of the best souvenirs I have from that trip was the day trip I made to Suomenlinna on a nice summer day. It's a very interesting place; according to wikitravel, "Gibraltar of the North was once the greatest sea fortress in the Baltic, built by the Swedish in the mid-1700s." You can take a boat that will bring you to this place, enjoy the day, and then come back to Helsinki. Totally worth it!

I have heard some positive comments about Oslo, but I have to confess this city was not in the list of the European places I wanted to visit first. Nevertheless, in June 2010, I found some ridiculously unexpensive flight tickets, so I decided to visit Oslo. The weather on that weekend was sunny, and one of the spots I enjoyed the most was visiting Frogner Park, where there were plenty of people walking around, playing, and taking a sun bath. I walked all the way to the end of the park, and when I arrived there, I took the picture you can see here... By the way, if you hear rumors about Oslo being expensive, it's not true... it's superexpensive!!!

In this first weekend of June I decided to go to Scandinavia for the first time. I had to get up early, and when I went to take the bus to the airport, I saw this nice sunrise on the Sandymount beach.

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands for the second time in my life to visit my dear friend J., who works in the Hague. Even if the weather was not great, I had a really good time chatting about so many different topics. On Sunday, since it was a rainy day, we went to the Mauritshuis Museum, which features the famous painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Yesterday, on my way back, I had a two-hour stopover in Amsterdam. In conclusion, I very much enjoyed this weekend :).

Last weekend I visited Strasbourg. I found a cheap flight to Frankfurt and then from there I took a couple of trains to get to that nice French city. Something I had read about and really liked was the "Jardin de deux rives", a shared park between the French and German countries (Strasbourg and Kehl). I had crossed some European frontiers by car before, but this is the first time I have done it by walking back and forth in less than 15 minutes. In this picture I'm looking at Germany from the French side.

The first trip of this year 2010 was to Berlin to visit my aunt and uncle. I'm sorry it was such a short trip because I really liked that city! This time, when I was passing near the Brandenburg Gate, I noticed the path of the former Wall and I followed it all the way to Postdamer Platz where I took this picture. As you can see, it was snowing a lot.

Last weekend I went for the first time to Poland to visit K., and we spent one day together in Warsaw. When we were walking towards the old city center, I spotted this "Cafe Colombia" that actually served authentic Colombian coffee and had some nice pictures and decorations inside (even an "hamaca"). I was ready to be surprised by Warsaw, but the Colombian coffee was not what I was expecting—a nice surprise though :).

Today I realised that I was a really lousy paparazzi :). The story is I went to the IFI (Irish Film Institute) to see the Japanese movie Okuribito (Departures, very good by the way) and then suddenly I saw there were a lot of people taking pictures with flashes. It took me some minutes to realise that they were actually taking pictures of Bono, the lead singer from U2. Instinctively I grabbed my phone and tried to take a picture, and well... you can see the result here... no comments.

Last week we went to Belgium with K. to spend the "mini-holidays" there. It's a funny story because we bought the tickets 6 months ago just because they were very cheap. For me it was the second time I visited the country, and I recall now what I liked so much the first time I went there: nice cities, good food, a convenient train system, and not being very expensive. I went again to Brussels and Brugges, but this time I also visited Ghent (very nice as well). When we were walking in Brugges, we found this "Jerusalem Church". I was reading in wikitravel that it was built by some brothers of Italian extraction. Belgium is a nice country, and it's just 1h away from Dublin.

In the second week of October 9, I went with K. to Munich and Salzburg for a long weekend holiday. I really enjoyed both cities. I passed by Marienplatz many times during the trip, and every time I enjoyed looking at the "Glockenspiel". We even went there the last day to hear and see the mechanical characters come to life for a couple of minutes :-).

I bet you haven't seen this version of Davinci's "Last Supper" before :). This mural is located in Dublin, where there is a nice Italian Quarter with some nice restaurants and cafes. A plan that we like to do with K. on the weekends is to go there and grab a coffee.

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 to visit the city for such a short time, but it was rather a stopover 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 I 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 spend more time. Here you can find a picture of the Plaza Mayor.

Yesterday (Oct 17/09) it was a very chilly morning in Dublin, but a couple of hours later the sun came up and it was a very sunny and pleasant day. K. was very kind to get up early and go with me to get my MSc degree. It was nice because the ceremony was in St. Patrick's Cathedral and I hadn't been there before. I took this picture just before entering the place.

In the first week of October 09, I had the wedding 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!

A couple of years ago I was crossing a pedestrian bridge over the Liffey River and I was able to take with my mobile a nice picture of the sunset over the Custom House in Dublin

Last week just before my birthday I went to the outdoors module of a leadership program I have been doing for some months now in my company. The module was actually very interesting, but one huge added value was the location: Leenane in Galway County. The landscapes were breathtaking. I took this picture on September 16, 2009, at 6:05 pm in front of the Leenane hotel.

I love to fly, and since I live on an island, I have been flying a lot during the last couple of years. I was going to visit some friends in Spain on September 9, and a couple of minutes after taking off, I saw this really nice sky when the sunset was approaching. So I thought it was worth taking a picture.

The first time I visited Austria was in 2009 when I went with K. to Munich. I didn't know, but she told me Salzburg was relatively close to the Bavarian border. Since I always wanted to visit the place where Mozart was born, this was an excellent opportunity to go there. We had a really good time visiting the old town with its beautiful baroque architecture. Actually, just before we crossed the bridge to go there, I took this picture showing an overview of this place, including Hohensalzburg Castle. Of course, we didn't leave Salzburg before visiting the birth house of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Probably the last sunny and warm day in Dublin. I don't know how many times I passed by Merrion Row in front of St. Stephen's Green, but way too many! Nevertheless, today when we were walking with K., we noticed there was a tourist taking pictures in the middle of nowhere. When I watched closely, I noticed she was taking pictures of this old Cemetery, the "Huguenot," where the descendants of the Huguenots, who escaped the French persecution, are buried. Interesting how I missed this spot so many times!

I have been living in Europe for a bit more than 5 years now. I have been lucky enough to meet very interesting people and travel around many European cities, so I thought it would be a good idea to publish random pictures once in a while, and add a small comment :). So here we go: "Saint Patrick's Day Sunset in Dublin 09"

Last Christmas (08) I had the chance to go to Germany and to spend a wonderful Christmas with L. and J. They were wonderful hosts. In this second visit to Berlin I really wanted to visit the Reichstag and I'm glad I did it, but it was not fun to queue outside in the "Berliner Winter". That's a lesson I learned :).

In December 2008, I met my aunt and her husband in Germany. I went to Frankfurt first, and one night, when I was crossing one of the bridges, I took this picture of the lights of the "Wolkenkratzer" in Frankfurt am Main. This was my second visit to the city, and I really enjoyed it :).

Last weekend we went to visit our friend C. in Dijon. It had been almost 2 years since the last time we went there, and we had a great time walking around Dijon, hiking in the nearby towns, and going to the French movies. The first day, when we went to the city center and were heading back, I took a picture of this warm sunset.

Even if one could assume this picture was taken in the middle of the countryside somewhere in Ireland, this shot was actually captured in the Phoenix Park of Dublin. In the western part of the city, there is a huge park (around 7 km) where I used to go once in a while when the weather was nice. Last autumn I went there with some Brazilian friends and we took some pictures including this one.

Last year in September I went to visit my friend C. in Dijon. The easiest way to travel was to fly to Lyon. I had the chance to make a small tour around the city center. Even if I didn't have the chance to visit la Basilique de Fouviere, at least I got a glimpse from the distance here (I couldn't stop comparing it to Montmatre in Paris).

I really enjoyed visiting Berne in August. It is a really nice medieval city, and strolling around the city center at night is a great plan. I took this picture in front of the Bundeshaus.

In the summer of 08, I had the opportunity to visit the nice villa my friend J.'s in this small Tuscany town called Campiglia Marittima. I really had a good time with him, since we had the time to have long conversations about many topics, particularly about relationships. I took this picture from the window in the dining room on a sunny day. If you look closely, you can see in the background the famous Elba island (Famous because Napoleon was exiled there). It was a really nice week in Tuscany!

This year (09) I went to visit my dear friend T. in Paris, and we went together to the Fete de la musique. But the year before, we also did it, and on a very sunny day next to the Eiffel Tower, she took this beautiful picture.

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 took a picture showing the Christmas Lights.

Florence (Firenze) is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. I visited for the first time several years ago, but I still have in my mind the lasting impression of such beautiful architecture. When I was in the terrace of the Uffizi gallery, I had the opportunity to take a picture of the amazing Duomo di Firenze. The cathedral is probably next to the Ponte Vecchio, one of the most recognized spots in Florence. This Duomo, created by Brunelleschi, was a remarkable achievement during the Renaissance period. I wouldn't mind visiting this city again!

One of my favorite European cities is Rome, because I love history, and when you walk around this city, you can see ancient Roman remains everywhere. A place I really liked during the visit in the summer of 07 was the "Foro Romano". As you can see here, it was a very sunny day, and the view was just magnificent!

In January 2007 we went on a paid ski trip to Courmayeur in Italy. One day when the sport guys were skiing we went with J.B. and M.G. to do some sightseeing in Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Actually we wanted to go to Geneva, but the bus schedule didn't work out so we ended up here. Anyway, it was worth it. We took a small train, went up to the mountain, and we saw this beautiful snow lake.

The only time I have been in the "North" (Northern Ireland, for the locals) was in November 06. One of the most interesting parts of the trip was going to the "Giant's Causeway", where the lava formations created these particular shapes that you can see on this picture.

One of the first places I visited when I moved to Ireland was the prehistoric complex of Newgrange. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most interesting ancient structures in Ireland, located near the Boyne River, some 30 minutes north of Dublin. Apparently, this place had religious significance for the tribes living in this region more than 3000 years BC. As you can see in the picture I took, on that opportunity, I was very lucky to have an amazing sunny day.

The only time I haven't been able to enter a European country was a long time ago when I was not a 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 concepcion" 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 am able to cross this border without any problem.

Last weekend I was reading on Wikipedia about some of the biggest misconceptions in history, and one of them was the 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's assessment about the distance needed to reach India from Europe the other way around (and they were right). 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 at La Hispaniola. Maybe it’s not so clear in the picture, but they were tiny for such an immense trip.

The first time I went to Berlin back in 2006 I noticed there was this ugly building "under construction". I was curious and I took a picture that was buried in my hard drive. Today, when I was cleaning up my computer, I found this photo again and I realized they were not building anything, but it was actually the other way around: they were dismantling the "Palace of the Republic". This building was the seat of the parliament of the German Democratic Republic. A couple of years later, I visited Berlin, and the construction was gone. Berlin will always be one of my favorite cities in Europe.

The first time I visited Berlin in the summer of 2006, I fell in love with that really interesting city. I like history, and you can breathe 20th-century history everywhere in this city. When we were walking around with some of my colleagues, we passed next to this statue of Marx and Engels, and that was a good reminder that once this was East Berlin, the capital of the GDR.

The only time I have been in Greece was when I visited the island of Zakhyntos. I flew there with a charter flight organized by a travel agency in Dublin and I didn't particularly like the place, but my initial impression changed when I visited this unique shipwreck beach. It's a very particular place because this short strip of beach is surrounded by high sheer limestone cliffs, so it's only accessible by boat. The white sand is beautiful, and the hue of the blue water is almost surreal. If you get the chance to visit this island, it is a place I would definitively recommend.

The only time I was in London (I think it was in the spring of 06), we didn't bring any camera, and the mobile phone I had at that time didn't have a camera either, so we bought a disposable one that took some really ... horrible pictures! I had to throw them away because in most of them you could hardly tell that was London :). Anyway, I kept a couple of them, like this one where you can see the London Eye... kind of.

During the winter of 04, I was living in France with M. in a really small village next to Bordeaux, called Cestas. I always remember seeing spiders so big you could see their teeth! A nice plan in Cestas was to go to a park nearby. It was there I took this picture.

One of the advantages of Basel is its proximity to both the French and German borders. So two weeks ago we went with K. to visit Colmar in the Alsace region of France. We had a really good time walking around the narrow streets of the old city. I finally tasted the famous "Tarte Flambee" (not recommended if you don't like or tolerate bacon) and I visited the Unterlinder Museeum, which displays the famous "Retable d'Issenheim". If you are visiting the Alsatian region, this city is definitely a recommended spot. I took this picture in a picturesque area of the city crossed by canals, called "Little Venice".

The first time I went to Paris in the autumn of 04 with M, the weather was amazing with really clear blue skies. I took this picture in Montmartre and I still enjoy looking at the colors and the background here :).

10 years ago I started my European journey right here, at the center of the world, according to Salvador Dali. I took a train from Toulouse to Perpignan, and I started a new chapter in my life filled with so many experiences that I feel many decades have passed since January 2004. Today, when I look back, I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to live these years in this continent. I have to confess I didn’t like it at the beginning, but bit by bit I blended in and I fell in love with Europa.

I went through some very tough and very rewarding moments and I made some very important life-lasting connections. These years opened my mind to the world and I matured immensely as well. I’m really looking forward to the next 10 years to come. I’m still happily Conveuropean after all these years :).