Having been invited on a pintxo crawl of San Sebastián by the club, Dabadaba, and to steer the DJ booth for revellers to dance to their heart’s content, I set out some hours ahead of my session to find the best pintxos in town. I was lucky to have my friend, Borja, as my guide. Apart from being a local, as well as producing and DJ’ing good music, he knows the temples of those delicious dinky bites like the back of his hand. Here we go…

Evenings In the Thick Of It

Our tour began at Txepetxa, home of the anchovy, offering all kinds of pintxos featuring that small yet noble fish, accompanied by cream of spider crab, sea urchin, olive paté, foie gras, stewed apple or trout and salmon roe. Everything looked awesome, but I opted for a fresh anchovy classic. Great! We went for a stroll to La Concha and headed into Narru, in the basement of the historic Hotel Niza, with views over the bay which clearly ratchets up the experience of tasting their dishes, notably their luma gorri (chicken wing) with potato, smashed fried egg and alioli or the secreto ibérico ham. Stunning! We retraced our steps to the old town and went into Zazpi, where the young chef, Paul Arrillaga, doles out happiness from his fiery helm in the form of a spectacular “potato volcano”, a pintxo based on truffle, egg and potato or an exquisite ox-tail ravioli. A veritable banquet. We made our way to Dabadaba.

After opening in April 2014, the locale has been graced by the likes of Allah-Las, Sean Nicholas Savage, The Godfathers and Omar Souleyman, among others. On stage were The Space Lady, a pioneer of electronic music, with a staging as minimalist as it is breathtaking. They bewitched us completely and, when we came down to earth again, we were faced by Fernando Lagreca churning out his particular electronic brand as a matchless prelude to my own set. My turn came. I started with some new releases I have been DJ’ing recently, interspersing themes from Italo disco, acid and disco bizarro. Things perked up and Dabadaba ended up dancing in full swing. A great night – we had a smashing time. Then we hit the hay.

Saturday In Donosti Is No Ordinary Saturday

Rising early is a virtue, but doing so when you’ve been to bed late is untenable. So we headed straight off in search of pintxos. Again in the old town, I was taken to Paco Bueno, a spot I wouldn’t miss for anything. Offering a meagre four or five pintxos, notably shrimp dumpling, hake in batter, croquettes and pie, this is one of the city’s most crowded bars, opened in 1950 by a retired boxer. The business was later taken over by his son, a rugby player, as is his brother, Chufo, and his son, Gorka. A family concern with warm, family service, the bar walls crammed with pictures of boxing and the sport with a melon-shaped ball – what else would you expect? Still in the inner city, we made for Borda Berri, whose staff are shared by La Cuchara de San Telmo, another illustrious pintxo temple. The star dish is their “kebap”, a delicious pork ribs with an incongruous name which prompts veritable pilgrimages to taste it. Other dishes with the same fate include their cheek of beef, octopus and risotto de Idiazábal. Just opposite lies Txuleta, specialising in meat dishes, if you fancy that. The best thing then was to work off the meal by striking out and we ended up at the Club Náutico de Donosti, with the whole La Concha bay before us. The sun was blazing that day and this spot was divine. The upstairs floor houses GU, another club where you can dance house or techno, depending on the night. I made a point of visiting Tabakalera before I left.

On the verge of making its debut as the European Capital of Culture, with the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the San Sebastián Jazz Festival among its leading cultural draws, the city boasts a peerless interdisciplinary space known as La Tabakalera. This public International Contemporary Culture Centre focuses on promoting upcoming local creatives and hosts activities revolving primarily around research, production and exhibition. Their feature-film and documentary seasons, exhibitions and Hirkilabs spaces, their Digital and Technology Culture Lab and Ubik – Tabakalera Creation Library – make this one of Donosti’s liveliest and most avant-garde hubs. The premises have character, set in a building that was once the city’s tobacco factory. A city with character, too.

There you have it – there’s a lot more to San Sebastián than La Concha. Fancy discovering it? Check out our flights here.

Text and images by Luis Costa for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Our main reason for visiting Iceland’s capital was to uncover the city’s musical melting pot. Reykjavik has continued to churn out musical icons ever since the initial boom in the early 1980s, as reflected in the documentary and double LP, “Rokk í Reykjavík”, featuring such Icelandic bands as Baraflokkurinn and Tappi Tíkarrass – the latter was Björk’s first serious music project. When talking of Iceland, the first thing that springs to mind are the two most popular names on the international scene – Sigur Rós, and the aforementioned Björk. However, there is an amazingly long list of artists distributed across the length and breadth of the land, as well as countless bands, soloists and collectives that often share their members, regardless of each group’s musical style.

All of these have at some time performed in Húrra, Reykjavik’s leading concert hall, previously known as Harlem. When we were there, we were impressed by the varied setlists scheduled for the following days – an extreme metal festival, a reggae group (Hjálmar, very popular in Iceland)  and a tribute group to the Sex Pistols which hails from the continent. Húrra really acts as a downtown music hub, covering all the musical genres. For starters, it is one of the customary venues for the popular music festival, Icelandic Airwaves, which is held at the beginning of November at various settings in the city, including the marvellous Harpa, a musical and cultural activities centre which has fairly galvanised the local scene in the last few years.

Needless to say, we had to finish off the night with a beer. There are myriad Icelandic brands, including the ubiquitous Viking, in addition to some imported varieties. We ended up at Kaffibarinn, also known as KB, owing to the fact that Damon Albarn from Blur is one of its proprietors. The downstairs hall is comfortable, cosy and features a good, ongoing soundtrack, principally pop and electronic. But, remember not to bother the DJ – not for nothing is there a metal plaque near the crockery which reads, “No requests accepted”. If you want to smoke, which is not allowed inside the premises, they have an open-air interior patio where you can smoke and still keep up a conversation with friends and acquaintances. But, at midnight, everything changes and the upstairs area at KB becomes a dance club which operates until the early hours.

The local scene is clearly both extensive and surprising. Apart from groups with a proven track record, notably Of Monster And Men, Sólstafir, Amina, FM Belfast and Sin Fang, it is the new generation that is shaking the very foundations of the city. We could start with Retro Stefson, a pop group which has been migrating toward electronic and has recently shot to the number one slot in Iceland thanks to their new single, Skin, a preview of their upcoming album, Scandinavian Pain. In fact, it was their vocalist and guitarist, Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson, who acted to some extent as our host during our fleeting visit. After inviting us to see his new studio, which is bound to become one of the most active in the city, he took us to have a coffee in Sæmundur í Sparifötunum, a hipster gastro hotel where he introduced us to two of Iceland’s best known rap stars, the upcoming talent, Gísli Pálmi, and the veteran Emmsjé Gauti, the author of a single called precisely Reykjavik. He talked to us about the female collective Reykjavíkurdætur, currently on a meteoric roll, and remarked how one of the leading lights of Iceland’s parliament, Óttarr Proppé, has played in various bands, among them HAM, which was very popular in the early nineties. He also revealed that his favourites included the very young singer (aged sixteen) from R&B and trap music, Aron Can, and the pop singer, Sturla Atlas. Truth be told, Manuel – of Portuguese and Angolan extraction – is also the brother ofLogi Pedro,one of the most celebrated hip hop producers in Iceland and the composer of much of the bass and rhythms for some of the aforementioned artists.

When it came to discovering new artists, we were also lucky enough to have the assistance of the writer, Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, who goes under the stage nameSjónand who collaborates closely with Björk. He recommended the DJ, Flugvél Og Geimskip, and the trap duo, Úlfur Úlfur, whose popularity is on the up and up and who feature among Iceland’s best known current stars.

We could go on about contemporary figures well worth watching, including Sin Fang, who has just worked with Jónsi of Sigur Rós on the latter’s new album. Then there is the electropop group, Gangly, and Alex Somers, the hyperactive writer of American soundtracks who resides in the city and who, together with his boyfriend, the aforementioned Jónsi, recorded under the name Riceboy Sleeps.

And, of course, a must-visit is to the best record shop in town, Smekkleysa, associated with the Bad Taste label (which is what “Smekkleysa” means in Icelandic), and originally related to members of The Sugarcubes. In short, this venue is the basic driving force behind the burgeoning Icelandic scene, due largely to its promotion of such internationally acclaimed projects as Fufanu, Gus Gus, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Minus, Mugison, Múm and Sigur Rós itself.

You will be dazzled by the huge variety of musical offerings to be had in Reykjavik. Don’t pass up the chance to venture into the city’s music scene – check out our flights here.

Text by Joan S. Luna (Mondo Sonoro)

Images by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

David Bowie moved to the German capital looking for anonymity in the atmosphere of Berlin during the Cold War, when he was interested in the local music scene of the city at that time, with bands like Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk, and also focused on his detoxification.

"Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger" are three albums comprising the Berlin trilogy, three fundamental titles on David Bowie’s discography, recorded with Brian Eno’s contribution on the 1970’s and bathed by the influence and power of a city and a time unique on history.

To follow the key locations from the stay of Bowie in Berlin we should start by going to Hauptstraße 155, the address of the building where the British genius lived. Curiously, you should know that his partner on parties and also a rock star, Iggy Pop, lived here in the same building but, contrary to popular belief, in a different apartment.

Bowie & Iggy were regulars at the nightlife in Berlin. One of the venues they visited the most is the second stop on this route: Neues Ufer café. Previously known as Anderes Ufer, this place is one of the first openly gay bars in Europe. That is the reason for its name, which means “the other side of the shore”.

If we take the metro in Berlin, it’s mandatory to stop at Neukölln station. We encourage you to bring a MP3 music player with you to tribute the instrumental song "Neuköln", included in the album "Heroes" (1977).

After this tribute, we can stop at Potsdamer Platz, right where the Wall crosses the square. In the song “Heroes” Bowie sings “I, I can remember, Standing, by the Wall, And the guns shot above our heads, And we kissed, as though nothing could fall”. Besides being the spot where Bowie sees the wall, this song is about lovers kissing. At that time, Bowie said it was just inspiration but later on it was known that the lovers were Tony Visconti, Bowie’s guitarrist, and one of his backup singers, who were having a love affair.

Bowie was looking at this lovely scene by Visconti from the next stop in the route: Hansa Estudios. The place where they were working in what later became a trilogy beyond comparison on music’s history.

Last stop in the route is in front of Brandenburg Gate looking at the Republic Square. This square, in front of the German Parliament, is where Bowie returned for a show at the Berlin Festival, in 1987.

Image from Jean-Luc Ourlin

We’ll be there. If you want to come too, check out our flights here.

The modern design is what better identifies Denmark, its trademark, with high quality classic and modern objects and colourful furniture. These are not relevant only for the original aesthetic; these are elegant objects that offer intelligent solutions for the daily needs.

Among the best Danish designers, who experiment and conduct functional ideas, names like Børge Mogensen, Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, Poul Kjærholm, Poul Henningsen or Verner Panton stand out. This is because, before functionality was trendy, Danish were already using natural and high-quality materials.

For instance, the best house in the world is a work by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, awarded at World Architecture Festival in the housing category. His work, House 8, is located at the Ørestad district in Copenhagen. Kaare Klint, considered the father of furniture design, has mythic creations such as the Safari Chair, the Propeller Stool or the Church Chair. Poul Henningsen, better known as PH, started creating lamps in the 50s but his designs are never old-fashioned. You can purchase them at Louis Poulsen or in Illums Bolighus

Considered the best city to live, according to the prestigious magazine Monocle, Copenhagen is the perfect destination to gift yourself with a modern whim - a home accessory, an object on Scandinavian style or a sample of Danish fashion – while you do tourism.

To start discovering this universe, get to Bredgade street. Here you will find a great variety of shows from famous brands, like Georg Jenseny and Arne Jacobsen, or Design Museum of Denmark with the greatest design exhibition in Denmark.

Made in Denmark offers high-quality Danish design. Founded by Asger Daugbjerg and Brian Engblad, the shop is located in Brolæggerstræde since 2011 and it quickly became a success.

Normann Copenhagen is located at the old cinema of Østerbro area. Its products are sold to many countries. Started in 1999 by Jan Andersen and Poul Madsen, they offer their own designs and collaborate both with well-known and new designers from around the world.

In the area of Kongens Nytorv there is a great variety of interior design stores from the most vanguard designers. For instance, here is the main store forBang & Olufsen. 

In Bredgade street you’ll find great antiques and many distributors for Danish furniture. This is the place to get, for instance, a classic from Arne Jacobsen or Finn Juhl. Or in Læderstræde, where besides the cosy cafés, you can get exclusives jewels or vanguard clothing.

TV-series likeForbrydelsen, Danish version of ‘The Killing’, made famous the Peruvian alpaca fiber sweaters that the main character dresses often. They’re from the brand Gudrun & Gudrun and come from the Faroe Island, which belongs to Denmark. They’re hand-made and warm, perfect to get through the cold Nordic winters.

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.