The producers of “Game of Thrones” fell in love with the beautiful Dubrovnik and ir was the chosen city to shoot scenes of King’s Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms. It is a many centuries-old city with  its peculiar  streets so well preserved, recreated to perfection -with the help of added digital tricks-  the setting that the author of the series, George RR Martin had imagined. the one for a medieval, walled city, high on a hill and surrounded by sea. In addition, like King’s Landing, Dubrovnik grew as a defensive city, among the stones of Dubrovnik Walls that protected from the sieges.

If Dubrovnik was in itself a town of great tourist interest, now it has become a touchstone for fans of the series and to explore the different locations is now a funny way to know the city. Want to know which are the Game of Thrones’s shooting keypoints in Dubrovnik? Want to feel like a king or queen Lanninster touring his domain? Pay attention!

1.- Fort Lovrijenac

Also called Fort San Lorenzo, dating from the eleventh century and is outside the historical district and is one of Dubrovnik’s symbols. Main stage for the most important scenes of the series, as the Battle of the Blackwater between Stannis’s fleet against Tyrion and the Lannister  that marks the end of Games of Throne’s second season.

2.- The Minceta and Bokar towers

The Minceta Tower is the highest point of Dubrovnik’s city walls and one of the most famous defensive structures. Bokar Fortress was the place where Tyrion and Lord Varys planned the defense of King’s Landing in the second season.

3.- Rectors’s Palace

This former medieval fortress and headquarters of the former Republic of Ragusa, has had to be rebuilt several times over the years. It is part of Quarth’s kingdom in the serie’s second season. A curiosity: it is said that the clock on the palace’s wall stands at 17:45, the exact time that the Republic of Ragusa surrendered to Napoleon according to legend.

 4.- Trsteno Arboretum

Trsteno Arboretum, one of the oldest gardens in Croatia, served to set the palace’s exotic gardens of King’s Landing with its historic parks and a large collection of Mediterranean and exotic plant species. A walk in Trsteno Arboretum take us back to the past, so it is not surprising that was chosen as one of the main sites.

5.- Svetog Dominika

Little props were needed to convert the cobbled street that borders the fourteenth century’s Dominican Convent into one of the Seven Kingdoms’s capital’s main streets.

6.- Lokrum’s  Island

You can reach the island of Lokrum in just ten minutes from the port of Dubrovnik by ferry. Here we find the Benedictine monastery that was converted into a palace Qarth during the second season of Game of Thrones. Visit the botanical garden of eucalyptus, cactus and succulents, the remains of a basilica, the monastery with a cloister garden and Maximilian of Hapsburg’s summer residence.

7.- Sponza Palace

It was built in the early sixteenth century and it was one of the few buildings that survived the 1667′s earthquake. Today it is one of Dubrovnik’s most important cultural centers, which you can find the Dubrovnik archive with more than 100,000 documents covering from the twelfth century to the demise of the Republic of Ragusa..

Picture by gari.baldi 

Why not take a trip to Dubrovnik? Have a look at our flights here!

The upcoming 14th International Beefeater In-Edit Music Documentary Festival will be featuring the best music documentaries from the past and present. This time around, what caught our attention is the large number of punk-related documentaries. No wonder, as we happen to be celebrating the fortieth anniversary of this genre. You heard it – forty years have passed since a group of mates got together and crafted a band to start a riot. And, indeed they did. The Sex Pistols lit the fuse in late 1976 and, just two years later, the musical paradigm had changed radically. The system was transformed from a scene dominated by intellectualised, ultra-professional hard rock and progressive rock bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Genesis or Emerson, Lake and Palmer, into another, totally alternative and largely amateur scene. And, London was the nerve centre of this new circus act.

Some documentaries dealing with this genre will feature at this year’s In-Edit Festival. Check out the programme here. Following is a rundown of the documentaries in which London acted as the backdrop. It’s amazing to see what the City was like at such a major turning point in its history, just when it it seemed more like a time bomb on the verge of blowing up, on account of the wrangling between different political trends and the high unemployment rate, particularly among young people. Remind you of anything?

Jubilee (Derek Jarman, 1978)

Rather than a documentary, this is actually a feature film, albeit 100% punk. Its director skilfully captured the spirit of the moment in this marvellous dystopian movie in which Elizabeth I travels 400 years into the future and lands in a desolate, nihilist Britannia where gangs of evil girls and killer police roam the streets.

The Filth And The Fury (Julien Temple, 2000)

Set at the pinnacle of this documentary genre, this film was a watershed in its day. It does true-to-life justice to the story of the Sex Pistols, the band which caused a sea change that rocked the foundations of the music industry in just one and a half years. The documentary is crammed with references to the punk scene in London. Highly recommended.

Rough Cut Ready Dubbed (Hasan Shah and Dom Shaw, 1982)

This film documents the post-punk period (1979-1982), which saw a convergence between various urban tribes, notably the Mods, Rockers, Punks and Skinheads. The editing is markedly punk, while it’s interesting to see the prevailing looks and the way the folks moved in their milieu. The main characters are scene celebrities (press, musicians, DJs, etc.) and the movie is recorded in Super 8. Stills in motion from a fleeting period marked by upheaval.

Rude Boy (Jack Hazan & David Mingay, 1980)

Set in London in 1978 and early 1979, with The Clash as co-protagonists. The movie opens by setting the scene in the electoral context that London was steeped in at the time, with nationalist, anti-communist and even xenophobes on one side, and anti-racist and anti-Nazi protests on the other. The film blends fiction with documentary and also chronicles tours by The Clash.

Punk: Attitude (Don Letts, 2005)

This documentary makes the perfect introduction to the genre for the uninitiated. It features a huge gamut of celebrities who were involved in some capacity, notably Captain Sensible (The Damned), Mick Jones (The Clash) and Siouxsie Sioux (…and the Banshees), brought together by the hardened documentalist and DJ who mediated between punks and Rastafarians in the first year of London punk.

Four Accessories For the Punk Experience in London

1. Dr. Martens Boots

Worn by many of the lads that feature in the In-Edit documentaries. Nowadays you can buy them at the official Dr. Martens Store, and also at the Camden and Portobello street markets, sold by the odd specialty stall.

2. Second-hand Punk Records

If your thing is vinyl, with mangy, well-bent edges, the best deals can be found at All Ages Records in Camden.

3. Pubs

A number of pubs became part of the haunts of the punk movement in the 70s and early 80s, particularly those in the vicinity of the 100 club on Oxford Street, or The Roxy, in Covent Garden. If you still feel the urge to down a few pints among leather jackets with studs and crests, we recommend you head for The Elephant’s Head in Camden.

4. Garments

As much as some voice the opinion that punks were anti-everything – and even anti-fashion – we all know that was not true. The Sex Pistols were the first to be put through the fashion wringer. They were the living mannequins of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, who owned the Sex punk boutique at 430 King’s Road. Today, such designers as Westwood herself or Jean Paul Gaultier still display punk influences. There are currently a number of stores that carry iconic garments, but we recommend a futuristic update of this trend at Cyberdog.

Be sure to put on tight leather pants and spike your hair.  Discover the wild side of London – check out our flights here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Some destinations attract visitors for their museums; others, for their beaches or mountains, for the energy they give off or, simply, because they are fashionable. In the case of Tangier, the journey is inevitably related to the inspiration and yearnings for the past which it harbours like some muse of the arts. Myriad artists and scholars have passed through that city, located on the northern tip of Morocco, and have become spellbound by its charms.

The Light and Colour of Tangier

The first artist to be captivated by Tangier was the French painter, Eugène Delacroix. In 1832 he journeyed there as part of a diplomatic mission and ended up being seduced by its light and colour, as masterfully portrayed in such paintings as Jewish Wedding in Morocco.

The Spanish painter, Mariano Fortuny, who was familiar with Delacroix’s production, also went to Tangier in search of that magic, which infused a host of sketches and notes for his Orientalist works.

Henri Matisse reached Tangier in 1912. There, not only did he encounter “the landscapes of Morocco just as Delacroix had depicted them in his paintings”, as he himself stated, but he also discovered a new palette of colours for his own works. He took up lodgings in room 35 of the extant Grand Hotel Villa de France, where he painted such works as Window at Tangier.

Paul Bowles, Tangier and the Beat Generation

Tangier became a veritable beacon for writers, particularly in the 1950s and part of the 1960s. And, no wonder, as from 1923 to 1956 the city was a demilitarised zone under joint administration by various countries. This measure was implemented on account of its strategic position in the Strait of Gibraltar and the ensuing international disputes over its control. Known as the Tangier International Zone, it became a place of passage for many people – diplomats, adventurers, artists, spies and others. Functioning as “everyone’s city” or, if you will, “no man’s city”, it enjoyed an unusual status as a place of freedom and tolerance which would be difficult to find elsewhere.

One of the best known regulars in the city was the writer and composer, Paul Bowles, who arrived in Tangier in 1947 and was completely swept off his feet by its charms. It was there that he wrote his first novel, The Sheltering Sky, so masterfully ported to the cinema by the director, Bernardo Bertolucci. Then ensued the arrival of other creative figures, including Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Francis Bacon. And, he was also instrumental in spawning the Beat Generation – William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who succumbed to the allure of a place where they could give free rein to their imagination and – there’s no denying it – their vices, too.

Tangier Today

What remains of all that past now? While a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, and the city is in the throes of a process of renewal, the spots which resonate of those artists are still standing.

A visit to the Grand Socco provides a suitable introduction to the city. Its pleasant ambience and colourfulness are guaranteed, as is your likelihood of (literally) getting lost in its streets. You will eventually end up willy-nilly in the Petit Socco, a square in the heart of the Medina, packed with cafés and restaurants. Another square, the Place de France, is also a must-see, as it is the site of the Grand Café de Paris, with a history of its own. This is where our protagonists spent countless hours chatting and observing the passers-by.

The Fondation Lorin, housed in a synagogue, boasts a fine collection of photographs, documents and posters that give you a good idea of what Tangier was like in the first half of the 20th century. Then there is the Tangier American Legation Museum, a visit not to be missed by enthusiasts of Paul Bowles as it features a section dedicated to the writer which displays photos, portraits and Moroccan musical scores which he recorded himself.

The Villa Muniria – now reconditioned as the Hotel El-Muniria (1, Rue Magellan) – was the favourite lodgings of the Beat Generation. Tennessee Williams and the Rolling Stones themselves were counted among the guests that stayed there. It was there, too, in room number 9, that William Burroughs wrote his seminal work, Naked Lunch.

Another landmark of literary Tangier is the Librairie des Colonnes (54, Boulevard Pasteur). It was a meeting place for writers and artists, while nowadays it continues to host cultural activities.

Like the writers and artists of yesteryear, allow yourself to succumb to the charms of this inspiring city and plan your trip with Vueling!

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Dieter Weinelt, Andrzej Wójtowicz

Who hasn’t spent hours enjoying the adventures of Tintin and his dog Snowy (Milhou in the original French)? Do you remember the lonesome cowboy Lucky Luke astride his horse Jolly Jumper, being pursued by the dreadful Dalton brothers? What about the office boy Spirou and his inseparable pals Fantasio and the squirrel Spip? And the little blue Smurfs in their mushroom houses, fleeing from the evil Gargamel and his cat Azrael? What do they all have in common? All their authors are from Belgium, which boasts its share of the Franco-Belgian comic publishing industry, the world’s biggest after those of the United States and Japan. Visitors to Brussels are soon aware of the importance of comics, dubbed “the ninth art” (the first eight, as everyone knows but forgets, are architecture, sculpture, painting, dance, music, poetry, cinema, and television), since comics are all over the place, in museums, shops, outdoor murals, and festivals.

Museums

In the heart of Brussels (rue des Sables, 20), in the sumptuous Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta in 1906, is the Belgian Comic Strip Centre (popularly know as the CBBD, standing for Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée), with a steadily expanding permanent collection and numerous temporary exhibitions that draw thousands of people to this popular venue.

Just down the rueis the Marc Sleen Museum, with a permanent exhibition, a reading room, and a programme of temporary shows focusing on the work of the Flemish cartoonist Marc Sleen, best known for his series “The Adventures of Nero & Co.”

Some 30 km. distant, in Louvain-la-Neuve, we find the Mecca of all Tintin fans, the Hergé Museum, in a building designed by the French architect Christian de Portzamparc. The museum displays original drawings, photographs, objects, films and other documents having to do with Tintin and his creator Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi (1907-1983), the most celebrated Belgian cartoonist of all time.

A more relaxing spot is the Moof Museum (“Museum Of Original Figurines” spells MOOF –get it?) with three-dimensional representations of a host of comic book figures, and well as other collectors’ items, original artwork, and prints.

Comic Strip Route

Thanks to an initiative of the Belgian Comic Strip Centre in the 1990s, you can also enjoy cartoons in Brussels’ streets, where some 50 painted murals on buildings depict scenes from Lucky Luke, Tintin, the Smurfs, Nero, Asterix, and many more comic book series.

Shopping for Comics

Understandably, Brussels is a must for collectors of original comic artwork and for published comics. To start with the biggest, there is Brüsel (Boulevard de Anspach 98), three whole floors of comics, objects, silkscreen prints, and original drawings. For something a little more special try the Maison de la Bande Dessinée (Boulevard de l’Impératrice, 1), a bookstore featuring an ample selection of old comics, special editions, reprints, a Manga departments, and Dutch- and English-language sections. Tintin fans will not want to miss La Boutique de Tintin, (rue de la Colline 13) for every sort of Tintin memorabilia. Lastly, we recommend the Huberty-Breyne Gallery (rue Bodenbroeck, 8ª Place du Grand Sablon), with exhibitions of illustrations, and where original drawing are on sale.

Fairs and Festivals

Devoted comic fans should schedule a visit to the bi-annual Brussels Comic Strip Festival and the Strip Turnhout, specialising in Dutch-language comic strips. There’s also the even merrier Belgium Comics Festival, with a varied activity programme ensuring fun for all, including the Balloons’ Day Parade, a procession of giant inflated cartoon characters.

If comics are your passion, Brussels is the place to be. Check out our fares today!

Text: Isabel y Luis Comunicación

Photos:
Wallonie-Bruxelles Tourisme
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Stéphane Colman, Billy the Cat)_© CBBD - Daniel Fouss
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Jacobs, Blake et Mortimer)_© WBT - J.P. Remy
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Hergé, Quick et Flupke)_© WBT - J.P. Remy
Hergé Museum
Hergé Museum frontage - Nicolas Borel