Sara Saez: A weekend in Cantabria

June 15th

The day started at dawn for me. In spite of the long 360-km journey, I was delighted. It was going to be only a weekend but I’d been counting the days for a fortnight. When I arrived at the station in Santander, my sister Macu was anxiously waiting for me. She had been doing a one-week English course and was totally exhausted. The only thing she wanted was to have a rest, so I left her at the hostel and I went for a walk along the promenade.

I arrived at the beach, and as soon as I lay on the sand, my phone rang. Macu had just woken up and she wanted me to pick her up. If only she could move around the city as I can do! After going back to the same beach, called Los Peligros, we ate a sandwich and took some pictures. I was quite excited. The landscape was amazing! The Magdalena Palace was just in front of us, on the top of the hill, surrounded by a dense forest which gives it an air of mystery. 

Later at the hostel, we came up with the idea of visiting Castro Urdiales the following day. It was my sixth time in Santander and the sixth day for my sister. We needed a change, and we’d never been to Castro before. Furthermore, I’d mentioned it hundreds of times, so I hurried to the station in order to buy two tickets for the following early morning. It was 8 p.m and we were exhausted, so we only sat on the balcony and chatted, when suddenly we saw the huge ferry that sails to the south of England.

June 16th

Early in the morning we packed our luggage. We lodged at a B&B hostel, so a plentiful breakfast was served – typical cakes included! The only drawback was the treatment received from the staff, which surprised us because, as a general rule, people there are warm and hospitable. Moreover, the room wasn’t comfortable enough, so the best choice was to leave the place. My sister suggested writing a letter of complaint but it wasn’t worth it even so. We just forgot about it. When we arrived at the station we only had 15 minutes left until the bus to Castro would leave. Before that, we had to keep our luggage into the lockers, but it was Sunday and the staff there were off. Fortunately, the man in charge of the security helped us kindly, and eventually we got on the bus in the nick of time. 

In Castro we felt a bit lost and the station was quite a long way from the town centre. Fortunately, a guy from Bilbao led us to the beach. He wasn’t very fond of the place, but we didn’t let him discourage us. It was hot and sunny, and the beach is great, beautiful as well as crowded. Most of the people there were from Bilbao, and they were so chatty that we talked to them without a feeling of shyness. Their Basque accent sounded quite strong and striking but it was OK.

The journey back to Santander was pretty eventful: people saying funny things and our noisy laughter, a plane taking off quite close to us, and a group of English people in front of us talking to each other in a distinctive accent. 

Finally, we ended our trip with a long walk along the promenade in Santander and said goodbye to this amazing city “until the next time”. Undoubtedly, I always feel at home in Cantabria!

Elena Herrero: Scotland revealed

Scotland, in the northernmost part of Great Britain, is one of the four countries that form the United Kingdom. Famous for its historic castles and epic battles, as well as beautiful lochs and stunning landscapes, a varied wildlife or stylish shopping, it is a land of legends, almost mythical for its incredible beauty.

The capital, Edinburgh, recognized as a World Heritage Site, is well known for its cobbled streets and the sandstone façades of its wonderful architecture in the Old Town, where you can imagine yourself  transported back in time, exploring the secret Closes along the world-famous, historic Royal Mile, or strolling along the “Water of Leith” walkaway, where you can dine while watching the impressive twilight. However, although Edinburgh is esentially a modern city today, you can still admire centuries-old ruins in the centre. 

The Royal Mile

By the way, if you are an archeology lover, you should travel to St. Andrews, the world's home of golf, to visit the picturesque ruins of its cathedral, overlooking the North Sea.

The ruins of St. Andrews' Cathedral

The Scottish Parliament

Tradition and modernity live together on both ends of the Royal Mile. On one end, at the top of the hill, you can find Edinburgh Castle dominating the city, where Royalty lived within its walls for centuries, waging countless battles; meanwhile, at the bottom you suddenly bump into the award-winning Scottish Parliament building, designed by the late Spanish architect Enric Miralles, who sadly died before the building was finished; its risky, controversial design, an original twig and leaf inspired by the flower paintings of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s unique architecture, underlines the sketch as a complex landscape scheme, a landmark building connected to the landscape, as opposed to other more classic venues, which has become one of the most important visitor attractions in Edinburgh nowadays.

The Scottish Highlands are completely different; I’m talking about its awesome scenery, which is synonymous for peace, relaxation and, of course, malt whisky! Alba (the Gaelic name for Scotland) is the place where nature puts its beauty into words. Home to the forest of Caledon (Roman for ‘wood on the hills’), we can discover impressive hill lochs, wonderful moorlands, high cliffs or great glens. It’s mind-blowing, literally! As Scotland has two different coasts, both on the Atlantic and the North Sea, it shows incredible diversity, a bit of everything, from wildlife to birdlife, not to mention the rich heritage or the warm welcome its Celtic descendants will give you. A visit there will open you up to a world you could have never imagined, a place that will seduce you!

Left to right: Glasgow Tower, Science Centre & IMAX cinema

The Transport Museum

But if you think that Scotland is just Edinburgh and the rest of the cities aren’t worth visiting, you are absolutely wrong! Don’t miss Glasgow! Located on the River Clyde, and reborn as a center of style against the historical Victorian buildings after its industrial background, Glasgow is a cosmopolitan alternative to Scotland's countryside, with the latest urban renewal projects, which give the city its current modern image; actually, some of the most exciting projects in Scotland in recent years, bringing people to the Riverside, are the innovative Science Centre, promoting the importance of technology, and the breathtaking new Transport Museum. Designed by the famous Irani architect Zaha Hadid, it is one of the most challenging projects in Scotland lately, encapsulating the building in a ‘wave’, open at both ends, with two clear glass façades, which light the main exhibition space and its fantastic transport collection.

A must-see is the work of Scotland's best-known architect, the afore-mentioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh, especially the School of Art, one of the finest examples of the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. 

Nevertheless, the visit won’t be complete if you don’t explore the city's wide streets, scattered with welcome pit-stops around Merchant Square, or the GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art), which boasts famous art collections.

I hope you have enjoyed this post dedicated to Scotland, which maybe one day will encourage you to visit these incredible places I strongly recommend.

Nuria: my trip across the Med

Last month I travelled around Greece and Turkey; now I can say that it was the best trip I’ve ever made!

This is the last year of my degree, so my friends and I decided to save some money and spend a week together. During these five years we’ve visited many places: London, Paris, most of Italy… so we chose a country that nobody had been to before: Greece. But the cheapest option was a cruise through the Mediterranean, which included Turkey, so we booked one.

The first island we visited was Santorini. I swear it looks exactly as you can see in postcards or in Google images! Santorini is white and blue, lost in the middle of the nowhere … you can breathe peace! 

Santorini

But I have to admit that my first contact with the idyllic island wasn’t really good. When we arrived at the port, we realized that we had to take a cable car to the village … either that or or we had to “rent” a donkey (one per person, of course)! We didn’t think it would be so dangerous and terrifying! The donkey walked all the way to the village alone, and it ran as fast as it could! Furthermore, I have to say that the conditions for the animals (food, water …) weren’t that good.

Then we travelled to Izmir and Marmaris. In my opinion these crowded cities aren’t culturally oriented but simply focusing on commerce. We could see one or two lovely, tiny old mosques, but nothing more.

Izmir

We were slightly disappointed but then … we arrived in Istanbul! It’s so beautiful and magical! You can get lost so easily in its noisy suburbs and streets … but if I have to point out something negative it is the outrageous prejudice against women that we found there. For example, they have to pray in a different part of the mosque. In fact, they must be behind men and in a separate room.

Then we went to Mykonos, for me the nicest island on our trip. I loved its delicious food, above all the bread, the feta cheese … yummy!

And finally our last port, Athens! Visiting this ancient city was one of my childhood dreams. There is so much history around its famous monuments … everybody could feel it. 

We were exhausted after our crazy yet memorable seven-day trip but I know that we enjoyed it a lot, especially Athens!