Sant Joan de Labritja
By Anastasia Fontanesi de A Travel’s Tale
Despite the popularity of Ibiza for its discos, parties and nightlife, the island can still offer the experience of living an authentic and typical atmosphere. I am talking about San Joan de Labritja, the less populated village located in the north side if the island.
San Joan is silent, peaceful and surrounded by a gorgeous mediterranean nature: maritime pines, olive trees, fruit trees and magnificent flowers. It is pure countryside and the life there passes slowly.
There aren’t big attractions, big hotel or restaurants but this is what makes S. Joan particular and beautiful in its way: you can still taste the real Ibicean way of life. Just walk down its small streets, sit down for a beer or a coffee, take a walk in the beautiful woods in the surroundings and you will be absolutely fulfilled by its precious simplicity.
June 23/24 is the main local party to welcome the summer. Close to the village there are several beaches such as Cala des Xinclar, S’Illot des Renchi, Portinatx and Cala de S. Vicent
Somewhere well worth discovering for yourself! Check out our flights here.
By Anastasia Fontanesi de A Travel’s Tale
more infoCatania's Street Markets
La Fiera and La Pescheria are two outdoor daily markets that give life to the streets of Catania and have become one of the city’s major tourist attractions as they are a meeting point between indigenous people and curious foreigners who enjoy watching these markets environment.
La Fiera expands along the city center, being la piazza de Stesicoro its nerve center where the market branches on different streets of the city. From early in the morning you can walk through this market and let the smells and colors of the fruits and vegetables wrap you in. La Fiera is always full of people picking through the wide range of things you can find at this huge market.
La Pescheria is the other central market located next to la piazza del Duomo, an incredible fish market buzzing with its merchants from 5 am until noon. La Pescheria offers a huge variety of incredibly fresh fish and seafood and also offers the opportunity to try in situ some of the products such as clams, mussels, oysters and sea urchins.
After walking through these markets, you better enjoy the wide variety of dishes provided by the restaurants in Catania.
Picture by Berthold Werner
Text by Fran Arnaiz.
Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!
more infoMonreale Cathedral
A forty-minute by bus ride from Palermo takes you to the Cathedral of Monreale. This cathedral was constructed during the reign of William II of Normandy, between 1172 and 1190, and is a living example of the fusion of cultures and religions that existed in Sicily during that period. It boasts a syncretic style as it was built by combining Norman architecture with aspects of Moorish art. It consists of a main nave with two wings and an apse. The most surprising features are the interior walls, as they are covered with more than 6,000 m2 of Byzantine gold mosaics inspired by those in the Palatine Chapel in Palermo. The mosaics recount episodes from the Bible, from the creation to the passion of Christ in chronological order from left to right. An impressive Christ Pantocrator crowns the apse leaving visitors speechless.
Adjacent to the cathedral can be found the cloister and its 228 columns, each one supporting a different ornament, along with a number of Arab-inspired arches.
You can travel to Monreale by bus (number 389), which passes by the Piazza Independencia in Palermo. It costs nothing to get into the cathedral but you can hire an audio-guide for 5 euros. Entry to the cloister costs 6 euros.
Image:Urban
By Isabel Romano from Diario de a bordo
A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.
Toykio. Come play with us
- If shopping is supposed to be an experience rather than simply raiding the rails and shelves, there are only a few places that can live up to your expectations and truly surprise and inspire you. Toykio is one of them. After some successful years as an online shop and a pop-up gallery on Königsallee, the guys from Toykio built their new headquarter in the Japanese district of Düsseldorf, just off Immermannstrasse. With its shiny black ceramic tiles and colourful neon signs, it is a hybrid between toy store, art space and a café where you can find pretty much everything your inner child desires.
- Action figures, robots, Qee bears, labbits, comics along with coffee table books, vinyl records and premium poster prints – every item seems to be hand picked by shop owner Selim Varol. The gallery in the basement features a variety of more or less known artists from urban- and pop-art, lowbrow, surrealism and photography, just as Banksy, JR, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Ricky Powell, KAWS, and D*Face. And though it is unlikely – if you ever should get tired in Toykio, you can just sit down and enjoy one of the best coffees in town at the very Brooklyn-like pastry bar.
- By Lukas Blasberg from METAL
A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.
more info