Seville, one of the most charming and beautiful Spanish cities I have visited.

English:

Seville, one of the most charming and beautiful cities I have visited.

As Mary Ritter Beard once said, "Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." And just to deepen on our ideas of life, two of my best friends and I spent a weekend in Seville in May 2014. When we decided to go to Seville, we already knew we would like the city, but perhaps not as much as we really did. From the very first moment we saw the Giralda, with golden light at sunset, and we got into a tapas bar where the potatoes with aioli were delicious, we decided what we really felt for that city - rather than simply liking it, we thought it was fascinating.

My first cruise around the Mediterranean Sea: a great experience that allows you to visit a different city every day.

English:

My first cruise around the Mediterranean Sea: 

a great experience that allows you to visit a different city every day.

I had never gone on a cruise - not once in my life. We had discussed the idea several times at home, but we never got to do it. However, in June 2013, and after having been contemplating several ideas for the school trip, I went on one with the students who were then in ESO 4 (aged 15-16).

On June 20th, we left the port of Palma and set sail to Mahon, one of the ports of Menorca, considered (unofficially) to be the capital city of this small Mediterranean island. I had already been to Menorca before, but it had been years since I had last been there and I enjoyed it so much. There, everyone did what they fancied: some went shopping, others strolled around the market, others rented bicycles and went for a ride, and others just sat in a bar on the waterfront and watched the beautiful views they had.

Madrid, Toledo, and why Spanish cities are as beautiful as many other international sights.

English:

Madrid, Toledo, and why Spanish cities are as beautiful as many other international sights.

I would like to start writing this post by apologising for having taken so long to write another blog entry. I know that there are people who check it daily and I thank you a lot for making it be that way, but it's widely known that we need to prioritize in many occasions and I have been very busy lately.

Secondly, I would like to thank all those poeple who check this blog regularly, very often, every day or in a given sporadic occasion. I created this blog just one month ago and in this short period of time I have achieved more than a thousand visits from people of many different nationalities. I created this blog because I wanted to keep people who are close to me informed about my adventures once I move to India and, even though this is not an internationally recognised blog, I have received visits from Spain, Portugal, the United States, Taiwan, India, Sweden, Ucraine, France, Holland, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Belgium and Italy. Once again, thank you very much for reading me, I hope you have liked it so far and I hope you want to visit my blog many more times.

Having said that, I'll proceed to explain one of my experiences while travelling around Spain. While it is true that I usually choose to travel to international destinations (not for a specific reason - maybe it's the language, the cultural difference, the country's gastronomy, etc.), I must admit that I have discovered some fascinating nooks in Spain. Madrid and Toledo are definitely two of them.

Mallorca: Introducing the beautiful and magical island where I was born and still live.

English:

Mallorca: Introducing the beautiful and magical island where I was born and still live.

Known to many as 'paradise', Mallorca is my homeland. I have lived here for twenty-seven years (despite my periods of time abroad every now and again) and I love this island, but - no offence to the people who are absolutely in love with Mallorca and wouldn't change it for the world - I'm a bit tired of its hot and humid weather most part of the year and I hate the fact that I need to get on a plane every time I want to go somewhere far away (or a ship, but it takes way longer). In fact, I wouldn't mind living in many other places at different stages in my life.

Don't get me wrong, I do love Mallorca because most of my friends and all my relatives live here and I agree with most people in that we could consider Mallorca 'paradise' because, if you think about it, we've got breathtaking beaches, a mountain range (Serra de Tramuntana) which was not long ago declared World Heritage, cute and cosy villages and a massive Gothic Cathedral which dominates the seafront. I fully understand why people from all around the world want to visit Mallorca at least once in their lives, but I don't like the fact that it is currently known to be a place where people can come just to go clubbing, get drunk, take drugs and have sex - in the end, you can do that everywhere. If you want to see the REAL Mallorca, get on a plane, come here, rent a car and drive around this marvellous island that I can proudly call home.