It’s not just an incentive to encourage pilgrims on their way. Gastronomy in Santiago de Compostela has, indeed, recognized worldwide. From the products available at Mercado de Abastos, freshly arrived from the fishing harbours or the fields nearby, which are later available in baroque stills at counters and seafood restaurants.

Tourists go to Santiago looking for great quality on seafood, abundant and well-priced ¿The best? The seafood captured at Galician Rías by the North Sea, of course. Species like crab, lobster, shrimp, razor clams, oysters, crabs, crabs, barnacles, clams, oysters, prawns, barnacles and scallops, better known as "Concha de Santiago", which is also the symbol for the pilgrims and Santiago Way. Seafood is usually conserved alive until is prepared, simply boiled or grilled. However, you should know typically a Galician won’t put any sauce on it, as it masks the taste and qualities.

Then, there is the octopus. Any popular celebration to be considered must have octopus as the star course. Inside, it’s usually cooked "á feira", while in the coastline is usually prepared until is "recio", to be topped with coarse salt, pepper and a splash of oil. In Santiago you will find restaurants specialized in octopus at the streets Conxo, Vista Alegre o Concheiros, where you can also try recipes like octopus pie or octopus with rice.

There are other main products around here: Galician beef – juicy, with an intense and delicious flavour – or the cheeses from Arzúa-Ulloa or cheese roll, usually served with quinces, or the famous Santiago cake, made of almonds. In Santiago, you’ll usually get served a tapa as a courtesy. You can distinguish the tapa from an actual course as the ration is more abundant, sophisticated and not free. Near Obradoiro Square, at the streets of Rúa do Franco and Raíña, you can try all kind of tapas with high quality wines, like albariños and ribeiros.

The best option to discover the richness and gastronomic tradition of Santiago is to book one of the gastronomic tours, a guided visit to the most traditional stores and markets like Mercado de Abastos, to discover all the tips and secrets of their gastronomic culture and to try some of their products.

Another option if to go to some of the gastronomic events, like Santiago(é)Tapas, a tapas contest organized in November which allows you to discover the best and most innovative Galician gastronomy as you discover the city, too.

So you feel like visiting Santiago de Compostela, do you? Book your flights here!

Amsterdam isn’t just coffee shops, the Van Gogh Museum and the Red-Light District: it’s also one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable cities in Europe.

I’ve never heard about the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, since not long ago. It’s funny and charming, also pretty controversial. For many years, every December 5th a Dutch friend of mine gathers us at her place to celebrate it; she explains where the tradition comes from, we sing the Dutch traditional songs the best we can and eat the typical sweets from these dates.

There is no doubt that this is the most anticipated day in the year for the Dutch kids because, as night arrives, Zwarte Piet (Peter) will get down the chimney to deliver presents if they behaved well. Before that, they must leave a shoe, a carrot for the white horse named Amerigo and a drawing that shows how well they have behaved.

This is when the mess starts. First of all, according to the tale, Sinterklaas comes from Madrid by boat… “Wait, what?! This makes no sense. From Madrid to Amsterdam, by boat? What the hell?”

The tale says Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) comes originally from Turkey and once he died, the remains were taken to Bari, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, where Charles V would be the king. Once Philip II became his successor in the Kingdom, which covered the Low Countries, Spain and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the story was taken to Spain, specifically Madrid, as the starter of the trip, to make it simpler.

“¿Don’t you think Peter, the ‘assistant’ as a black person is a bit racist?” Apparently, many controversial voices argued that ‘Zwarte Piet is racisme’, which means that Peter, Sinterklaas assistant, being a black person was racist. After that, Peter’s color have changed annually, from blue to red to yellow. Other people argue that Peter is black because of the pollution in the chimneys. Both options set great debates in the Netherlands.

Finally, my friend says that when they’re kids and they behaved wrongly, the tradition was to say "Sinterklaas will take you to Madrid.” I was like “Whatever. What kind of punishment is that?”

Sinterklaas in the Netherlands

It’s clear that Sint’s arrival to the Netherlands is a great event, with many parades previously. On December 5th, at night, families gather at home to sing, read poems and make little presents.

Every year, a Dutch city is chosen to broadcast the Sinterklaas parade on national television, an event followed my many people. This year, the chosen city is Gouda, by the north of Rotterdam, known as the origin of a world-famous cheese.

But Amsterdam is the city with the greatest Sinterklaas parade. He arrives by boat along the Amstel river and to the Maritime Museum, where is received by the Major of the city on Sunday, November 16th. With him, great amounts of cookies to deliver to kids and many different Peters to assist him, like Book Peter, who takes a big book with notes of what all the kids want, there is also absent-minded Peter, Peter the acrobat or Gifts Peter.

Sinterklaas sweets

These delicious cookies that Sint brings are called pepernoten, what means spiced walnuts. They are small and have a very intense caramel and ginger flavour. There is also the to speculaas, with Christmas or Sinterklaas related pictures and made of many spiced and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper.

Other typical sweets from Sinterklaas are chocolade letter, big letters made of chocolate that are usually gifted with the initial capital letter of your name, or schuimpjes, with funny forms and colours.

Pictures Sinterklaas by MarkDB and Michell Zappa

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

Brussels has a heady cultural agenda where exhibitions andvernissagesare common fare. Some especially interesting spaces have been unveiled there in recent times, augmenting the established ones. Thus, art enthusiasts and culture devotees in general would do well to visit them on a brief getaway.

The first of these is the ADAM (Art & Design Atomium Museum), located in the Atomium, an iconic construction in the Brussels district of Heysel which was built for the 1958 World Fair. ADAM is an art and design centre which showcases a unique collection of plastic furniture and other objects owned by the Belgian artist, Philippe Decelle, who has been collecting these artefacts since the 1970s. And, while you’re in the vicinity of the Atomium, you should make a point of dropping in on the light and sound installation, ID#2016, which runs until 13 November 2016 and forms part of the ID (Innovative Display) programme, a digital art festival which has been operating since 2013.

Another major cultural landmark in Brussels is MIMA (Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art), located in the enduringly interesting district of Molenbeek. This space revolves around the highly specific, innovative theme of the evolution of contemporary art following the advent of Internet and the emergence of Culture 2.0.

Another highly edifying cultural landmark in Brussels is the Museum of Natural Sciences, famed for its Dinosaur Gallery, and particularly its iguanodons, the skeletons of which were unearthed in 1878 at a mine in Bernissart in southern Belgium. Be sure to also visit the Gallery of Humankind, a unique exhibition unveiled just a year ago which traces the evolution of man and the human body.

It is always a good time to visit the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, not only because it is one of Belgium’s most dynamic art hubs (it receives an impressive 1 million visitors each year), but for the building itself. Designed by the acclaimed Belgian Art Deco architect, Victor Horta, it is a magnificent specimen of the country’s architectural heritage. An exhibition showcasing 80 sculptures by Pablo Picasso entitled Picasso. Sculptures is due to run here in the next few months – specifically, from 26 October 2016 to 5 March 2017. Organised in conjunction with the Musée Picasso of Paris, the exhibition will feature works expressing the creative power of the innovative Malaga art genius, who used a host of materials and numerous techniques in his sculptures.

Lastly, an area well worth strolling about and which always throws up some novelty is the Parc du Cinquantenaire (“Quincentenary Park”). Located in this park, a case in point is the Horta-Lambeaux Pavilion which showcases the stunning bas-relief known as Human Passions, the crowning work of Jef Lambeaux, sculpted in white Carrara marble. Another interesting venue is Autoworld, featuring the world’s most important automobile collection which this year marks its 30th anniversary.

Ready to discover these offerings in Brussels? Book your Vueling to Brussels here.

Text by Tusdestinos.net

Images by Tusdestinos.net, IRScNB-KBINTh.Hubin (Museum of Natural Sciences) and Visit Brussels (Olivier van de Kerchove)