Yve Ramírez, AKA La Ecocosmopolita, author of the book “Vida residuo cero” and founder of the online shop Usar y Reusar, tells us how to travel more sustainably and without generating any waste. And it's not so difficult!

Trainspotting, a movie that became a totem for a whole generation, is the screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh, one of the writers who most accurately portrayed the darker side of Edinburgh. To mark the twentieth anniversary of its release and on the verge of a rendezvous between Mark Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Frank Begbie,we take you on a tour of some of the most significant spots in Edinburgh where the film was set.

Princes Street

Princes Street provides the setting for the opening scene in the movie, one of the most iconic sequences in 90s cinema. The heroin addicts yet well-educated Mark Renton and Spud, who have just been shoplifting in a bookstore, are chased along Princes Street by security to the pulsating rhythm of Lust for Life by Iggy Pop. Princes Street, which was laid at the end of the 18th century, is the main thoroughfare and shopping precinct in the Scottish capital. It runs for one and a half kilometres and joins Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east.

Cowgate

Mark Renton’s flight from the security guards of the shop where he has just pinched a few books ends when he is hit by a car in the Cowgate. A historic street in Edinburgh’s Old Town, as may be inferred from its name, it was once the route taken by cattle on their way to market. Sited alongside the ever ebullient Grassmarket Square, it is now one of the busiest areas in the city and home to some of the best pubs in Edinburgh, namely The Three Sisters, The Last Drop and the Beehive Inn.

The Volley

The psychopath Frank Begbie spends much of Trainspotting’s footage clouting whoever gets in his way. One of these drubbings is set in a popular pub and billiards saloon in the city called The Volunteer Arms, although known to everyone as “The Volley”. The bar still stands on Leith Walk, an avenue running from the city centre to the harbour area. Now, however, it has been revamped as the Cask & Still, an upmarket whisky bar which serves the finest gin and whisky distilled in Scotland.

The Worst Toilet in Scotland

Mark Renton is in the grips of cold turkey and the only thing he can score in the “market” are some opium suppositories. To compound his woes, there is nowhere to hide and he is forced to take them in what he appropriately describes as “the worst toilet in Scotland”, a foul bog located at the back of a bookies in the Muirhouse shopping mall. Twenty years on, this shopping centre is in a spooky-looking area with most of the businesses boarded up.

The Meadows

With the city in full Edinburgh Festival swing and all the pubs full of festival-goers, Renton, Spud and Sick Boy find nothing better to do than to take some ecstasy and wander through The Meadows. They chat up two girls from a nearby private school but end up messing about with some squirrels. Located south of the city centre, The Meadows is one of the largest parks in Edinburgh, one of those endless green commons so typical of British cities, with recreational areas for children, croquet clubs, tennis courts and football and rugby fields.

Leith Central Station

After a sojourn in London, Renton returns to Leith for Christmas and meets up with his old pals. He visits Leith Central Station with one of them, Begbie and describes the station as “a barren, desolate hangar, which is soon to be demolished and replaced by a supermarket and swimming centre.” Leith Central Station was closed to passengers in the 50s and finally made redundant in 1972, after which the building became a haven for the city’s drug addicts. Years later, the area where the platforms once stood was turned into a Tesco superstore, while the terminal building was refurbished as a waterworld complex known as Leith Waterworld.

Easter Road

Although not physically present, theHibernian FC and its grounds, Easter Road, are referred to constantly in the novel and film. Founded in 1875 by Irish immigrants, the Hibernian is Leith’s harbour district club and the team supported by all the main characters in Trainspotting. Easter Road is the headquarters of the “Hibs”, as they call it, the stadium having being unveiled in 1893. That shoebox with its endearing musty smell characteristic of British football stadiums is known as The Holy Ground or the Leith San Siro by the club’s fans. While the Hibs of Irish extraction is the Catholic team, its opposite number in Edinburgh football is Heart of Midlothian Football Club or “Hearts”, most of whose supporters are Protestant, a situation which mirrors the rivalry between the two greats of Glasgow – Celtic and Rangers.

Glasgow

While Irvine Welsh’s novel is set entirely in Edinburgh, most of the screen adaptation was shot in… Glasgow! White lies of the seventh art. Two of the most significant settings in Trainspotting actually located in Glasgow include Volcano, the disco where Renton meets his very own Lolita, Diane. Located at 15 Benalder Street, near Kelvinhall Station, don’t bother to search for it as it was demolished some years ago. The other location, which you will still come across, is Rouken Glen Park, where Renton and Sick Boy discuss Sean Connery’s film career and shoot a Rottweiler in the behind with pellets.

Those of you interested in touring the settings where Trainspotting was filmed can either choose to do so on your own or else sign up for the laid-on Trainspotting Walking Tour hosted by Leith Walks. From Leith Central Station to the “worst toilet in Scotland”, a tour guide will reveal the main locations in Irvine Welsh’s novel as it was ported to the big screen by Danny Boyle.

If you happen to be in Edinburgh, be sure to wander around the haunts where that iconic movie was set. Check out your Vueling flight here.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Naureen-s, Babatuel, Denna Jones, Joe Price, LHOON, GDU photography

In terms of tourism, Germany is much more than just Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. In recent years, some cities from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) are gaining prominence like any other, having shaken off the dust and deadweight of the Socialist regime they lived under during the Cold War. One of these newly emerging cities is Leipzig, its waxing popularity driven by the art scene, its recent history and the great vitality of its inhabitants. In the following we pinpoint the reasons that make Leipzig the ideal destination for your next getaway.

Leipzig – A Music Destination

Listen up, classical music lovers! Music is very much in vogue in Leipzig, and I mean goodmusic, largely owing to the city’s past. It is famous for composers of the calibre of Johann Sebastian Bach, who was cantor of the Choir at St Thomas Church, one of the oldest in the world. And of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck, who entertained their contemporaries as musicians and as a couple. For Felix Mendelssohn, Leipzig was where he spent the last few years of his life, while the city is the birthplace of Richard Wagner. The Augustusplatz is the city’s music hub and the site of the Gewandhaus concert hall, a Brutalist-style building which houses one of the most widely acclaimed symphonic orchestras. Right opposite stands the Opera, the third oldest in Europe. Oddly enough, the two institutions share the same conductor.

Leipzig – A Defiant City

The chain of events that led to the downfall of the GDR unfolded precisely in Leipzig. Throughout 1989, a number of masses and peaceful protests were held around the Church of St Nicholas that gradually wore down the old, established regime and led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Stasi, the feared secret police of East Germany, witnessed these events in silence, as, faced with growing grass-roots pressure, they declined to intervene. Leipzig boasted numerous printing presses in the second half of the 20th century and, in order to monitor their activity, the Stasi had their headquarters set up in the so-called Haus zur runden Ecke (House of the Rounded Corner). Today it is a museum showcasing the workings of the former State security, which so hobbled the lives of the GDR’s citizens.

Leipzig – A Trade Centre & River Port

Leipzig has long been a major trade centre and, to provide merchants conducting their business with shelter from the inclement weather – rainy and overcast most of the year – around twenty covered arcades were built. Two of the best known arcades are Speck’s Hof – the oldest in Leipzig, which currently showcases some magnificent paintings and ceramic medallions, and the Mädler arcade with its stylish glass skylight and the historic Auerbachs Keller restaurant, where Goethe overheard the stories that inspired Faust when he was studying in Leipzig. As a tribute to the celebrated writer, there are two statues dedicated to the main characters in this paramount work of universal literature.

Leipzig’s commercial calling is partly due to the White Elster river, a sub-tributary of the Elbe, which numerous canals criss-crossing the city flow into. They also provide a different way of discovering it – from a small boat.

Leipzig – An Artistic Melting Pot

The Saxon city is currently one of the favourite destinations among painters, designers and creators from the world over on account of the lively art scene that has blossomed in the Spinnerei, once Europe’s largest spinning mill. Today it is an unusual, colossal cultural centre where contemporary art is produced and exhibited. It features twelve art galleries, a hundred art studios and over a hundred cubicles rented out to creators who flock to Leipzig to soak up the latest trends and share their know-how with other colleagues. Here, they feel very much at home.

Leipzig – A Grand City

Leipzig is a distinguished city with character and some striking monuments and other buildings. Prominent in the Augustusplatz is the Paulinum, one of the Leipzig University buildings, featuring a facade emulating the Paulinerkirche, the former university church which was senselessly dynamited in 1968 during the times of the GDR regime. Another building which stands out, at least for its height, is the City-Hochhaus, known as the “wisdom tooth” on account of its design. The top floor of this landmark houses the Panorama Tower restaurant and viewing platform. Their lunch menu is very reasonable and the eatery is worth visiting, if only for the splendid views.

The city also features a colossal monument which, apart from being oversized, also has an unpronounceable name – the Völkerschlachtdenkmal– which was built to commemorate the Battle of the Nations in 1813, specifically the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig by a coalition of nations, namely Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Austria.

Come and discover this German city – check out your Vueling here.

Text by Tus Destinos

Images by Robin Kunz, Michael Bader, Peter Hirth, LTM-Tom Schulze, Nils Petersen

The writer and journalist, David Lagercrantz, took up the challenge of continuing the trilogy begun by Steig Larsson, having authored the fourth novel in the Millennium series, That Which Does Not Kill. In addition to instigating Scandinavia’s black novel phenomenon, this popular trilogy featuring Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist as the main characters has turned into a fascinating alternative guide to the city where the action is set – Stockholm.

7-Eleven

While not a particularly interesting spot for sightseers, establishments like 7-Eleven, at number 25 Götgatan Street, can always comes in handy. As a regular, it is here that the hacker and social recluse, Lisbeth Salander, sources the two essential ingredients of her pernicious diet – frozen pizzas and cartons of Marlboro Light.

Ikea

Ikea is a veritable institution in Sweden and Steig Larsson could not afford to ignore it in his trilogy. It features in the second instalment, when Lisbeth Salander turns up at the Kungens Kurva premises (the largest in the world) to buy furniture for her new apartment. Larsson provides such a detailed list of the purchase – Karlanda sofa, Galant desk, Bonde bookshelves… – that anyone wishing to faithfully replicate Salander’s flat interior could easily do so.

Kvarnen

Among Lisbeth Salander’s few friends are the members of the heavy metal group, Evil Fingers, who she usually meets up with at Kvarnen on Tuesday evenings. Located at number 4 Tjärhovsgatande Street and with over a century’s standing, it is one of Stockholm’s oldest taverns, offering such noteworthy traditional Swedish dishes asköttbullar (meatballs) and surströmming (herring).

Lisbeth Salander’s House

In The Girl Who Played With Fire (2008), Lisbeth Salander moves to a luxury apartment at 9 Fiskargatan Avenue. This block, built in 1910, stands out in Stockholm’s skyline for its green metal roof. Salander enjoys no fewer than 21 rooms in her new abode, as well as tempting views of Djurgården island and Saltsjön Bay!

Mikael Blomkvist’s House

It requires no feat of the imagination to picture Larsson walking in front of 1 Bellmansgatan Street and fantasise settling down in such a privileged enclave. His desire, at least in the fiction tale, materialised when he had one of his main characters, Mikael Blomkvist, move into the attic, a 65m² apartment flooded with light, affording beautiful views over Riddarfjärden Bay, Gamla Stan and the Stockholm City Hall.

Mellqvist Kaffebar

At 78 Hornsgatan Street, the Mellqvist Kaffebar is not just one of the cafés most frequented by the protagonists of Millennium. It was actually one of the author’s favourite spots, too. There are even those who claim that, between one café and another, it was there that Larsson wrote more than a chapter of his successful trilogy. Indeed, the journal, Expo, of which Larsson was the director, was housed on the floor above it.

Mosebacke Torg

Just a few metres from Salander’s new apartment lies the Mosebacke Torg, one of Stockholm’s loveliest squares. Sited on the square is the Södra Teatern, the city’s oldest theatre, built in 1859. It is in the theatre bar that Lisbeth usually meets Annika Giannini to exchange confidences over a few beers. The Mosebacke Torg also houses one of Stockholm’s last-surviving telephone boxes still in service.

Millennium’s Editorial Office

Located on the corner of Götgatan Avenue – one of the busiest arteries in the Södermalm district – and Hökens Gata Street, the editor’s office of the Millennium journal is housed on the floor above Greenpeace’s headquarters. Staunch enthusiasts of the trilogy are likely to be disappointed when they realise that, while the offices of Greenpeace are indeed located on that corner, the upper floors of the building are all just apartments.

Samirs Gryta

Enthralled with their couscous and mutton stew, the Samirs Gryta Syrian restaurant is a favourite among the Millennium editorial staff. The exact address of this fictitious eatery is never divulged in any of the instalments but, in terms of its appearance, Steig Larsson was probably inspired by the Indian restaurant Dado (Tavastgatan, 28) and the adjoining Lebanese restaurant, Tabbouli (Tavastgatan, 22).

Stortorget

Stortorget is the square where Dragan Armanski catches sight of Lisbeth Salander shortly after being hired by Milton Security. Stortorget is one of Stockholm’s historic sites as here, in November 1520, the Bloodbath took place, when Danish King Christian II had hundreds of members of the ruling classes executed in order to seize control of the country. Also in Stortorget is the Nobelmuseet, the Nobel Prizes museum.

The Stockholm City Museum offers a fascinating tour of the city inspired by the Millennium trilogy. Click here for further details.

Ready for an exciting journey through the trilogy? Check out our flights here.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Holger Ellgaard, I99pema, Kirsty Komuso, Arild Vågen, Mstyslav Chernov