Windmills, wooden shoes, dykes, bicycles, canals, Gouda cheese –all of these symbolise the Netherlands, but the tulip has an even greater claim to emblematic status, and, along with other flowers, is one of the country’s main exports.

The tulip’s name is derived fromdulband, an old Persian word for “turban”, and the flower was originally cultivated in the region comprising today’s Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, where it had religious connotations and adorned the tents and palaces of sultans.

The Flemish scholar and pioneering horticulturalist Carolus Clusius (1526-1609) was the first person to manage to cultivate tulips in Europe, and is regarded as the founder of the Dutch tulip industry.

The tulip was initially a luxury item for which large sums were paid, and in the 17^th C. a speculative “tulip bubble” expanded to gigantic proportions –a sale of 40 bulbs for 100,000 florins was recorded in a year when a Dutch workman earned about 150 florins a year. But the bubble soon burst.

Today, entire fields carpeted with the colourful flowers adorn the Netherlands, especially in the northeast, the Kop van Noord-Holland region, and Bollenstreek with its famous Keukenhof, the world’s largest floral park, with as many as seven million tulip bulbs sprouting every spring.

This year’s National Tulip Day falls on Saturday, 17^th January. It is regarded at the start of the tulip season, which finishes when late tulips are picked and the end of April. It is celebrated throughout the Netherlands, but Amsterdam’s Damm square is the place to be.

Tulip growers show their best early flowers there, turning the square into a mosaic of colours and textures, to the delight of tulip fanciers, including many foreign visitors, who are regaled with bouquets to take home.

In the course of the tulip season Dutch growers will sell more than 1,700 million flowers. Most of them to export markets.

Serious tulip fans should also visit Amsterdam’s Tulip Museum, which tells the story of the tulip in its historical context. The museum is in the Jordaan neighbourhood, just across the bridge from the Anne Frank house.

Check out or flights here!

Report by Scanner FM

Photograph by Kang-min Liu

In Madrid, drinking beer is more than just a tradition, it’s almost an obligation.

When the working day is done, people go out for a beer. If it’s been a while since you saw someone, you meet them for a beer. Any excuse for a lager!

The beer is always perfectly poured and accompanied by some form of tapas. In Madrid there’s no other way of doing things.

Here we recommend one possible bar crawl if you fancy a few beers in Madrid but any bar in the Spanish capital is a good place to cañear (a verb that the Spanish have invented from the noun caña, meaning a small beer, and that is used to refer to the action of going out for a few beers).

We begin our bar crawl in the city centre, with three bars that come highly recommended: El Tigre,Cervantes and Kruger on Calle Princesa.

El Tigre is known for being a typical Spanish bar and for always being full. It specialises in cider and your drinks always come with tapas.

Kruger, on the other hand, is not like other Spanish bars. It is, in fact, a small slice of Germany in the centre of Madrid. Located near the Plaza España, this bar serves a wide variety of beers, ham hocks, salads and sausages.

Cervantes bar is close to the Parliament buildings, between the Sevilla and Antón Martín metro stations. Like all good bars, it’s always full and you’re guaranteed a perfectly poured beer and accompanying tapas.

Since there is also life beyond the city centre, let us also recommend the perfect place to go for a beer in other parts of Madrid.

Cazorla: This bar in the Salamanca district boasts quality, good service and generous tapas.

Fass: At this German restaurant you can purchase German products and, of course, enjoy a great beer.

Beer’s Corner: This bar is quite a distance from the city centre (in Ciudad Lineal) but it has one feature that many will find quite quirky. Whilst having a few beers here you can play on the Playstation with your friends, since there is one at every table.

Now do you feel like visiting Madrid? Check out our flights here !

Santiago’s zone of influence stretches through a score of municipalities, ranging from A Coruña to Pontevedra, all articulated around the river Ulla, while various branches of the Road to Santiago run nearby, too.

Hardly 10 km from the city lies a magical spot – Pico Sacro, a legendary hill as far as Galician culture and the Jacobean tradition are concerned. Located south-east of the city, its unusual outline rises sharply to a height of 533 metres. Santiago and the skyline of its Cathedral towers are visible in the distance from its summit.

Galicia is green, and the city of Santiago is also surrounded by green. Nature lovers can go on outings from the city to such amazing spots as the Fervenzas do Toxa, or to Insua; to unique forests like the Fraga de Catasós, with chestnut trees towering over thirty metres, or to mountain ranges like O Candán, with its ancient landscapes and great open spaces.

In a radius of just fifty kilometres you can discover the monumental wealth of such historic towns as Padrón or Melide, both directly related to the Road to Santiago; pazos (country homes) like the Pazo de Santa Cruz de Ribadulla, noteworthy for its camellias and centuries-old olives trees, and even places of quiet and repose like the Carboeiro Monastery, surrounded by splendid natural scenery.

Needless to say, being Galicia, it is also worth planning outings to try the delicious and abundant cuisine in Santiago’s environs, characterised by the use of fresh produce in season. Be sure to try the Padrón peppers, trout and lamprey, cocido (stew), beef, cheeses, melindres (honey fritters), filloa crêpes, almendrados (macaroons) and rosquillas (a ring-shaped pastry), and to end your trip by toasting with a local spirit.

Come and discover all these gems for yourself! Check out our flights here.

For further information on Santiago: www.santiagoturismo.com

For further information on the environs of Santiago: www.areasantiago.es

Lanzarote is a spectacular place, almost magical with its volcanic landscapes that look like other planets, its quiet white sand clear watered beaches, small coves and palm oasis. Declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO for its protection and conservation of nature and the environment, it has natural areas of great beauty and interest, such as the Timanfaya National Park, the Natural Park of the Volcanoes or the Guinate Tropical Park.

With 21 degrees Celsius on average and 4,800 hours of sunlight every 365 days! That is why Lanzarote has pleasant temperatures for most of the year that invite you to enjoy the sea and practice numerous water sports like surfing and windsurfing. You will also find out about its hospitable people -formerly called conejeros due to the large number of rabbits that were in the island- and their ingrained habits.

César Manrique, international artist, has taken advantage of the charms of the island to make them artworks. His work has been recognized as it should in Lanzarote, and he has the César Manrique Foundation which is in Taro de Tahiche. It is the former home of the artist – he designed it himself – were we can see, as well as representative works of César Manrique’s path, his private collection that brings together authors of the importance of Pablo Picasso, Miró, Chillida or Klee.

Do not forget your food! If you visit Lanzarote you have to try, apart from its delicious cheeses and wines, some of the traditional dishes like Sancocho – with fish, wrinkled potatoes, fish fritters or the bienmesabe-traditional dessert made ​​with almonds, biscuits, egg, sugar and lemon-.

Download here the map of Lanzarote and start planning your trip to this magical island.

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

Picture By Pedro caba