Green pastures and sharp cliffs are the regular landscape of Wales, a land full of myths and legends. At Snowdonia, northeast of Wales, it is said that King Arthur was born. Here you can find the tallest mountain in England and Wales, and the highest lake in Wales. It is located exactly at Snowdon – which refers to ‘snowy hill’ in old English – is the highest point of the park, which is named after it.

The best way to discover Wales is follow the coastline path, the longest in the world. To fully enjoy this wonderful natural environment, a 1.350 kilometers long path was inaugurate in May, 2012, Wales Coastal Path, which follows stunning landscapes.

It’s easy to get to the Welsh coastline. You should take into account that everybody around here doesn’t live further than one hour away to the beach. This is one of the most recommended destinations to nature lovers, as it goes by 11 natural parks and many other natural reserves, this route is accessible to hikers and parts of it are also accessible by bike, trolleys or people with reduced mobility.

Wales Coastal Path right from Chepstow (South Wales) to the mouth of river Dee, in the north, that is by the border between Wales and the Cheshire Country, in England. The route follows all the Welsh coastline in a path that will take you to the Gower peninsula – with sandy beaches by the area of Pembrokeshire-, the strait of Menai in the isle of Anglesey – that links to the land by an iron suspension bridge -, the seafront in Cardiff bay, the cliffs in Porthcawl or the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Along the way, you can enjoy rich and varied wildness species. The cliffs, bays and sandy beaches are great viewpoints to sight sea birds like guillemots, puffins, razorbills, gulls, glaucous and shearwaters. The popular Cardigan Bay is famous for the dolphins, gray whales and porpoises that visit the shore often to play with the waves.

Picture from Wales Coastal Path by Hogyn Lleol | Strumble Head by Hogyn Lleol | Pembroke by JKMMX

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

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 !

Long queues have begun to form lately outside Nº 164 on Calle Girona in Barcelona with dozens of people, half of them Japanese, waiting patiently for Ramen-ya Hiro to open its doors. It’s the latest buzz on the streets of Barcelona: Hiro makes the best ramen in town.

‘Ramen’ is a type of soup that is served in a bowl with noodles. The dish, originally from China, has become one of the most popular in Japan and the small restaurant run by Hiroki Yoshiyuki has captured the very essence of Japan. To start with, they only serve one culinary speciality – as is the case in most restaurants in Japan. The focus here is on two varieties of ramen: one with miso stock and another with soy sauce stock, accompanied with vegetables, some meat and a naruto. Gyozas (small meat and vegetable pasties) are the perfect side dish for ramen and are served five at a time on a Japanese ceramic dish.

Among other things, the menu also includes edamame, onigiri, kimchi and chasu-don (a bowl of rice with strips of pork and onion). Also on the menu is a small selection of typically Japanese desserts, such as strawberry daifuku and green tea ice-cream.

So, what is the secret to the success of Ramen-ya Hiro? The excellent culinary skill and the tradition that goes into preparing the food. The noodles are prepared traditionally every day, as is the stock which is cooked for over ten hours. The flavour of the ramen at Ramen-ya Hiro is so good that just tasting it will transport your mind to Japan.

Ramen-ya Hiro
Address: 164 Calle Girona, Barcelona.
Opening times: Monday to Saturday from 13:30 to 15:30 and from 20:30 to 23:30. Closed Sundays and Wednesday lunch-times.
Price: basic ramen €7.50; plate of gyozas €4.50. They offer a set lunch menu for €10.50 with ramen and gyozas.
www.facebook.com/RamenYaHiro

By Isabel Romano from Diario de a bordo

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It takes 180 square meters of the south wall of the Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate-the convent of the Friar Servants of Mary of the Church of San Antonio in Pisa. The art of Keith Haring, the renowned artist from New York, left the imprint in this pisan wall with a work that wants to give out a message of peace and citizen participation.

Tuttomondo is the only mural painting of the artist thought to be a permanent work, unlike his early works he executed quickly with white chalk on the Subway’s commercials. Haring was identified from the beginning with the Street Art, avant-garde art of the 80s that rebelled against the traditional system of exhibition galleries. So was born a way of counterculture related to graffiti and hip hop . His art seeks graphic simplicity that can be understood by everyone at first sight; uses images as graphic symbols.

The large mural was created in 1989, a year before he died, and took a week to be finished. Tuttomondo thereby became the last public work of Keith Haring. Everything came after a casual meeting in New York with a student from Pisa who proposed the idea. Thus the idea of ​​ Tuttomondo was born, a word that sums up the idea that the artist had about interaction with his audience, and in it 30 figures are represented to symbolize peace and harmony in the world . Each figure has a role within its gear, in this way men with dolphin represent man’s relationship with nature, the figures “human scissors” are a symbol of solidarity to defeat the snake symbolizing evil-or the woman with the baby represents motherhood.

Colours are also very important, and that was his election, Haring chose the tones of Pisa’s buildings, to keep harmony with the environment.

Image: Cutiekatie

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