Pisa and Florence, a dream come true

English:

Pisa and Florence: a dream come true.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog!

I am here again today with the last post regarding the cruise to Malta and Italy that my students and I went on. Actually, the last stop was in Marseille (France), but we did not have time to see anything there.

The last stop in Italy was at the harbour of La Spezia and, as it had already become our routine during that trip, we took taxis again and went to Pisa, to see its famous leaning tower; and to Florence, to marvel at Il Duomo and eat some gelato. Needless to say, the journey to these places is beautiful, especially in spring: fields full of poppies and cypresses - so characteristic of Tuscany -, the sun setting at the horizon and the bluest sky of all.

Taormina: strolling the streets of one of Sicily's most beautiful cities

English:

Taormina: strolling the streets of one of Sicily's most beautiful cities.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!

This week I'm coming back with a new post about the cruise I went on with my students back in 2015 and whose first stop was Valletta, in Malta. 

The post you are going to read today is about Taormina, on the Italian island of Sicily. Our stop was actually in Messina, but we decided to book several cabs and go to Taormina.

Taormina is like a balcony leading to the sea and facing Mount Etna - hence its consideration as one of the most important touristic areas in Sicily from the 19th century. Of course, Taormina has a lot to offer in terms of cultural visits, but, since we didn't spent too many hours there, we left so many things unseen. In fact, we only had time to savour its magical streets, devour a gelato and enjoy its magnificent panoramic view of the sea, with Mount Etna in the background. Needless to say, we would have enjoyed a visit to its famous theatre as well as its well-known Arab castle, but we like to think that there will be a next time.

Amsterdam: the romantic side of this liberal (and crazy) city.

English:

Amsterdam: the romantic side of this liberal (and crazy) city.

Amsterdam was one of the excursions we felt most excited about on our exchange. As you know, it was not my first time in that city, but I still liked going there again: first, the weather was way better this time (it was sunny and the city was covered by many more pleasant colours), we had the opportunity to take a boat ride on several of its canals, the company was not the same, we enjoyed the presence of tulips... We fell in love with the city the minute of our arrival despite how chaotic it appeared to be at first sight: cars, motorcycles, bikes and hundreds of pedestrians!

Amsterdam: from Van Gogh's paintings to nightclubs and coffee shops.

English:

Amsterdam: from Van Gogh's paintings to nightclubs and coffee shops.

In my last year at school, in February-March 2006, two months before turning 18, we went on a school trip to Amsterdam. We were given three different options and we chose Amsterdam for one specific reason: because there we would be able to see many Rembrandt and Van Gogh's paintings and, since we had been studying their work for one year at school, we were really interested in seeing them live. I suppose most students' main reason to go to Amsterdam, specially taking into account that we were between 17 and 18 years old, was because they could go to nightclubs and smoke joints in one of the many available coffee shops; but I wasn't at all interested in that. However, we did enter a coffee shop one night and we did party at the weekend. I like to think of Amsterdam as a clash between culture, tradition and history and the willingness to be an inclusive and updated society where an ancient building, church or museum can be located next to a nightclub, a coffee shop or a sex museum. We spent those days visiting those ancient places and marvelling at the exceptional artists that had been born there and the nights dancing in packed discos. We visited Anne Frank's house during the day, and ate a weed muffin at night. We went around the outskirts of the city by bicycle during the day, and entered a sex museum in the afternoon. If I think about it in depth, at that time, we - my classmates and I - also represented that transition from innocence to adulthood. We were still an in-between when we went to Amsterdam - we were still kids -, but, after that year at school, most of us would go to unversity and we'd have to grow up whether we liked it or not.