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!

Meme: My favourite song? ... Why not a tango? - A tribute to Jose Luis Sampedro

As every student of English in the Official School of Languages, I have often been asked to write about my favourite song. I have always avoided doing it since I have been quite reluctant to choose a single song. Actually, every time I decided to opt for one, several of them came to my mind,  consequently making my choice a difficult task. 

However, a few days ago I was listening to the radio. Jose Luis Sampedro´s wife, fellow writer Olga Lucas, was being interviewed, and she was talking about her recently deceased husband so I knew that he loved tangos, especially this one called "Cambalache". Then the radio broadcast this fantastic song from beginning to end. I paid careful attention to it and I realized that its lyrics remain highly topical, in spite of having been written by Enrique Santos in 1934.

It was then that I decided to choose Cambalache as my favourite song,  not only because of its lyrics and the forceful performance by Carlos Gardel but, above all, because I want to show my admiration and respect for Jose Luis Sampedro as well as remember him and his wise thoughts forever and ever through this song:

Cambalache’s lyrics

Original Spanish version

English translation

Que el mundo fue y será una porquería, ya lo se... En el quinientos seis y en el dos mil también! Que siempre ha habido chorros, maquiavelos y estafaos, contentos y amargaos, valores y dublés... Pero que el siglo veinte es un despliegue de maldad insolente ya no hay quien lo niegue. Vivimos revolcaos en un merengue y en un mismo lodo todos manoseaos... Hoy resulta que es lo mismo ser derecho que traidor..! Ignorante, sabio, chorro, generoso o estafador! Todo es igual! Nada es mejor! Lo mismo un burro que un gran profesor! No hay aplazaos ni escalafón, los inmorales nos han igualao. Si uno vive en la impostura y otro roba en su ambicion, da lo mismo que sea cura, colchonero, rey de bastos, caradura o polizón... Que falta de respeto, que atropello a la razón! Cualquiera es un señor! Cualquiera es un ladrón! Mezclao con Stavisky va Don Bosco y "La Mignon," Don Chicho y Napoleon, Carnera y San Martin... Igual que en la vidriera irrespetuosa de los cambalaches se ha mezclao la vida y herida por un sable sin remache ves llorar la Biblia contra un calefon. Siglo veinte, cambalache problemático y febril! El que no llora, no mama, y el que no afana es un gil. Dale nomas! Dale que va! Que allá en el horno nos vamos a encontrar! No pienses mas, sentate a un lao. Que a nadie importa si naciste honrao. Que es lo mismo el que labura noche y día, como un buey que el que vive de los otros, que el que mata o el que cura o está fuera de la ley.

That the world was and it will be filth, I already know... In the year five hundred and six and in the year two thousand too! There always have been thieves, traitors and victims of fraud, happy and bitter people, valuables and imitations But, that the twentieth century is a display of insolent malice, nobody can deny it anymore. We live sunk in a fuzz and in the same mud all well-worn-out ... Today it turns out it is the same to be decent or a traitor! To be an ignorant, a genius, a pickpocket, a generous person or a swindler! All is the same! Nothing is better! They are the same, an idiot ass and a great professor! There are no failing grades or merit valuations, the immoral have caught up with us. If one lives in a pose and another, in his ambition, steals, it's the same if it's a priest, a mattress maker, a king of clubs, a cheeky devil or a stowaway. What a lack of respect, what a way to run over reason! Anybody is a gentleman! Anybody is a thief! Mixed with Stavinsky, you have Don Bosco and La Mignon don Chicho and Napoleon, Carnera and San Martin. Like in the disrespectful window of the bazaars, life is mixed up, and wounded by a sword without rivets you can see the Bible crying next to a water heater. Twentieth century, a problematic and feverish bazaar! If you don't cry you don't get fed and if you don't steal you're a fool. Go on! Keep it up! That there, in hell we're gonna reunite. Don't think anymore, move out of the way. Nobody seems to care if you were born honest. It doesn’t matter if you work day and night like an ox, or you live off the others, or if you kill or heal or live outside the law.

My decision might seem strange even if an absolute agreement with the man who claimed things such as "Freedom of speech is worthless without freedom of thought" or "The right to life is widely discussed but nobody refers to the most important, which is the duty to live life to the full”, is easily understandable.

Jose Luis Sampedro (1917-2013) was an economist who was proud of the period of his life that he spent as a professor at the Complutense University in Madrid. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate to resign from his post to support some colleagues who had been unfairly dismissed. He always championed a more humane and caring economy. He stated that considering money as the most essential element in our lives would lead us to catastrophe and admitted that he was absolutely outraged by how indifferent the current situation is considered in general.  He could not stand the government´s ignorance and haughtiness.

He was also an exceptional writer. Sampedro's humanist concept inspired him to create literary works such as "El rio que nos lleva", "Las sombra de los días", "El Mercado y la Globalización". In 1990, he was appointed as a member of the Royal Spanish Academy. His maiden speech, "Desde la Frontera", focused on the harmful influence of consumerism on society.

I would like to finish this post with one of the last paragraphs of this speech, which I do not dare translate into English, in case it could miss its real essence:

Muy colmado de ciencia está Occidente, pero muy pobre de sabiduría. Es decir, del arte de vivir, más aberrante que la ciencia porque, contando con ella, incluye además el misterio. Ahora no se procura alcanzar la iluminación, sino sentir el latigazo del deslumbramiento. Se busca el estrépito, lo aparatoso, los focos publicitarios; no el silencio, lo auténtico, ni el resplandor tranquilo de la lámpara. Un símbolo de nuestro tiempo es preferir la ducha, rápida, ruidosa y acribillante, en vez de envolverse voluptuosamente en la líquida seda del baño, lento y sosegado. Los países de la periferia conservan, aun en su atraso técnico, más sabiduría y eso es una esperanza para todos, porque cada día es más urgente compensar el desajuste esencial de esta civilización: el de tener muchos medios sin saber ponerlos al servicio de la vida.

Jose Luis Sampedro died on 8th April 2013 after, and I quote him, "having passed from a placid old age to a bloody awkward one".

This is my humble way of paying tribute to the late writer, an outstanding human being.