Valencia is not all Calatrava and paella, just as Barcelona does not account for all of Spain’s Modernist buildings – well, someone had to say it! Clichés aside, if there is anything the first-time visitor to Valencia is likely to be amazed at it is the sheer quantity and quality of its Modernist heritage. It hits you as you wander down its streets, particularly in the historic centre and the Ensanche.

Valencia saw marked urban development in the late-19th century, the upshot of its economic boom at the time. The city grew beyond its old walled precinct, giving rise to an overspill known as the Ensanche. The expansion coincided with one of the burgeoning art movements of the moment, one that would become all the rage among Europe’s middle classes. The movement became known as Modernism, elsewhere dubbed Art Nouveau, Modern Style, Jugendstil, Liberty or Floreale, depending on the country. Not to be outdone, the Valencian middle classes became enthralled by this new style, which a marked a break with the prevailing academic tradition. Its artificers were inspired by nature and experimented with new applications of iron and glass in architecture.

Valencian Modernism is characterised by the use of glazed ceramics on facades and in interiors, which usually feature motifs associated with the region, notably oranges and orange blossom. Among the standout buildings, which you should make a point of visiting on your itinerary of Valencia’s Modernist heritage, are the following:

- Mercat Central. Built in 1914 and designed by Francesc Guàrdia i Vial and Alexandre Soler, both of whom trained at the Barcelona School of Architecture, this is one of the city’s major tourist attractions and it’s not for nothing. The interior metallic structure is painted white, making the colours of wares sold in the stalls stand out all the more. Further, visitors are met by the striking, spectacular central dome, which floods the interior with light. Both the stunning architecture and the congenial atmosphere in the market make this a must-visit for all sightseers in the city.

- Mercado de Colón. Inaugurated in 1916 and designed by Francisco Mora Berenguer, it was commissioned to provide services for the Ensanche district. Prominent is the ornamented brick facade, decorated with a host of ceramic figures – it couldn’t be otherwise! Restored in 2003, the interior now houses various shops, cafés and bars.

- Estación del Norte. Passengers arriving in Valencia by train are rewarded with the sight of this marvellous station. Opened in 1917, it boasts some beautiful areas, notably the vestibule, decorated in wood, glazed ceramics and marble.

- Casa Ordeig. Located next to the Mercat Central, it was designed by Francisco de Mora i Berenguer. He drew inspiration from the Lonja de la Seda (Silk Exchange), which accounts for the Neo-Gothic motifs on the facade.

- Edificio Suay. This grand edifice with its white facade is located on the corner of Calle Correos and the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It was designed by the same architect as the Casa Ordeig.

- Edificio de los Dragones. Located on the corner of Calle Sorni and Calle Jorge Juan, it was designed by José María Manuel Cortina Pérez and built in 1901. Its Neo-Gothic-inspired decoration is striking and features a profusion of mythical animals, particularly dragons – hence its name.

Apart from the aforementioned landmarks, we recommend you take a stroll along Calle de la Paz, where you will come across numerous Modernist buildings, including the Edificio Camaña Laymon, Edificio Sancho, Casa Gray, and Casa Sagnier I and II.

Ready to discover one of Valencia’s most alluring and evocative architectural facets? Book your flight here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Jocelyn Kinghorn, Marja van Bochove, Carquinyol, Pleuntje, Paul Thompson

By Panenka www.panenka.org

Panenka, the football magazine you can read, leads us through its passion for the soccer to other countries, this time to the Czech Republic’s capital, Prague. They show us their ideal eleven for places related to sport king as for the most touristis ones.

SPORTING ELEVEN

1 Dukla | The Czechoslovak Army’s team was one of the most hated. With democracy had a hard time but has returned to the top.
2 Strahov | They say it is the second largest stadium in the world (200,000 people can fit) but it seems a field with bleachers.
3 Palacio Michny | Home for Czech Sport: in 1862 the Sokol movement, paneslavian style, here
4 Teatro Nacional | Well worth the visit, even more when you know that there it was held the state funeral in memory of a legend: Emil Zatopek.
5 Sparta |> Workers club in Prague, founded in 1893, with 11 leagues from Czechoslovak division since 1993. Play in the old Letna.
6 Club de Tenis | Inside Stvanice island is located the club that forged the best tennis players in the East: Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl.
7 La Carrera de la Paz | At the Rude Pravo’s newspaper’s offices was founded in 1948 ‘Tour Cyclist of beyond the Wall ‘.
8 Dolicek | A humble stadium where a young Antonin Panenka devised his countercultural penalty. The Bohemians play again in here the second division league.
9 Slavia | The other main team in Prague, the one for the bourgeois and intellectual, has just scored three championships in the last two decades.
10 Krematorium | Here have ended up some Czech sports legends like Frantisek Planicka, goalkeeper of the finalist at Italia’34.
11 O2 Arena | 18,000 seats to enjoy Ice Hockey, the sport that delights the Czechs. Six times world champions after 1993.

TOURISTIC ELEVEN

A Astronomical Clock | Located in the wall of Old Town City Hall, is one of the biggest tourist attractions.
B Petrin Hill| A promontory perfect for taking pictures of the city and stroll through its old vineyards. A funicular gets you up to the top.
C Jewish Cemetery | Testimony of the richest Jewish past of the city. Up to 12,000 graves are in this breathtaking corner
D Museum of Communism | The dictatorship left so many bad memories that when finished, two decades ago, Czechs and Slovaks were forever separated.
E Mucha Museum | Before the totalitarian gray, Prague was a city colored by modernism. Alphonse Mucha brought Art Nouveau to the city.
F Karlovy Lazne | You get into the biggest club in Central Europe for just 180 crowns. Different ambients, 50 meters from Charles Bridge.
G Oktoberfest | The Czechs average the highest consumption of beer on the planet. The Oktoberfest Prague is in late May.
H Bridge Tower | One of the most characteristic elements of the city’s skyline, leading into the Stare Mesto (Old Town).
I Dancing House | Not everything is medieval in Prague: Frank Gehry designed this deconstructivist building on the banks of the Vltava in 1997.
J Wenceslas Square | Emotional center of the Czech Republic. This square-like avenue starred the Velvet Revolution (1989).
K John Lennon Wall | A wall painted in memory of former Beatles’ generated this monument to the Freedom of expression.

Ilustration by Pep Boatella / @pepboatella

So you feel like visiting Prague, do you? Book your flights here!

These days street food is really trendy among most European countries. What used to be considered unhygienic now sweeps away everyone in Europe and gets new supporterss all the time.

In fact, it’s difficult to imagine other countries without street food stalls. In the United States, for instance, food trucks are an institution, even a showcase for new entrepreneurs cookers sometimes, who use these stalls to introduce themselves before they can get a place in an actual restaurant. In other countries, like Turkey, China, Nigeria and Pakistan, or around Latin America countries, street food is part of the daily life.

To eat in a street food stall is such an experience anytime you travel; that’s the way to try the most popular food in the country without the finery of a restaurant, hanging out with locals and getting to meet them, and is much cheaper.

The exotic Marrakech is the culinary capital in Morocco, and the main spot is the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa square and the surroundings, where there is activity all the time.

By the morning, stalls with fruit juices share space with tattoo artists or snake - and tourists - charmers. For about 4 dirhams, you can try orange juice freshly served that will help you on dealing with the warm weather.

Early at night, it’s time for the stalls full of tables and cooking tools. The grill i son and the square of Jemaa el-Fna becomes a big dinning room. There is a sea of smoky food trucks offering all kinds of food at all sorts of prices. Un mar de humeantes puestos callejeros con ofertas para todos los gustos y bolsillos. From the delicious lamb kebabs or chicken, cookies and sweets made of honey, almonds and dates are sold at stalls all around the square.

The spots are numbered (but messy) and you can find many recommendations, like the fresh fish at 14, best mint tea at 5 or the spot number 31, famous for serving the best sausages.

The golden rule for a traveller says, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” and you can apply that here, too. Not all the food stalls have the greatest quality, though. Ideally, then, you should go wherever you see Moroccans eating.

This is a list of what you can find at food trucks and stalls in Marrakech.

- The crunchy bread (Khobz) is one of the basic elements on Moroccan gastronomy, usually cooked in a wood oven. Among the different kinds of bread, there is the baghrir (like a crêpe, a fluffy pancake with holes), harsha (made of semolina) or rghaif (semi-crispy rectangular bread), usually accompanied or fill in some garrison.

-Tajine, is a lamb stew with lemon and spices.

- Merguez, a spicy sausage with an intense flavour.

- The steamed lambs head or the snails’ soup are two of the most “exotic” options to the traveller looking for new gastronomic adventures. They are considered true delicacies among locals, but not the favourites for the tourists.

- Morocco is one of the largest exporters of sardines, and you can find this fish at most food stalls. They are cooked in the grill and usually filled with a spicy chermoula paste, which has tomato, cilantro, chili, lemon and garlic.

- For the veggies, the smoky and tasty fried eggplant slices can a good choice.

- Sweets like briwat ( fried triangles filled with almonds) and shebakia (sesame cookies in a flower shape).

- All kinds of nuts! Dates, sugared almonds, walnuts, raisins and figs.

- To drink, mint tea is good anytime, this is the most famous drink in Morocco, often referred “Moroccan or Berber whisky”, as a joke and because it looks similar even, obviously, mint tea has no alcohol.

So you feel like visiting Marrakech, do you? Book your flights here!

If we had to choose the ideal day for visiting Barcelona and seeing it in all its finery, that date would undoubtedly be 23 April. The celebration of the Catalan “Diada de Sant Jordi” (Feast of St George) sees Barcelona festooned with books and roses, and thousands of people crowding the streets in search of new book releases or their favourite author to autograph a copy of their purchase. Roses are also in evidence everywhere, particularly red ones, which all young men are duty bound to gift to their beloved. The ritual is re-enacted year after year and draws numerous booksellers to the city. Following is a list of the main bookshops in Barcelona which you are encouraged to visit on the Feast of St George or, to avoid the crush, any time you happen to be book hunting in Barcelona.

1. Laie
A true beacon of Barcelona’s literary scene and a must-visit destination for any reading enthusiast is Libreria Laie, specialising in art, literature and the humanities. This well managed bookstore also features a café-restaurant on the upper floor, the perfect spot for chatting about the latest literary releases.

2. La Central del Raval
Located in the heart of El Raval quarter, and housed in the former Chapel of Misericordia, is Central del Raval, a classic in the city’s literary scene, boasting some 80,000 titles. Featuring books on anthropology, architecture, design, art, cinema and photography, as well as poetry and the performing arts, among others. Also on the premises is an area devoted to literary activities.

3. Altaïr
Planning to travel anytime soon? Make a point of visiting Librería Altaïr to research your trip beforehand, as there you will find all the books you need to prepare your getaway. They specialise in travel, and as such are one of the largest bookshops in Europe, stocking travel guides, maps and books relating to all possible destinations imaginable.

4. Taifa
Located on the Calle Verdi, in the heart of Gràcia, is the bookstore Librería Taifa. Founded in 1993 by the poet, publisher and literary critic, José Batlló, they stock both new and secondhand books. While specialising in the humanities, the store is noted for its section on cinema, which the proprietors hold in great esteem.

5. Hibernian Books
Also located in the Gràcia  district is Hiberian Books, which is celebrated for being the only store in Barcelona specialising in secondhand books in English. Their list runs into some 40,000 titles, covering all possible genres, including a section featuring children’s books.

6. Loring Art
Loring Art are specialists in contemporary visual culture. The store started out in 1996 with just a hundred titles, while nowadays it has some 20,000, a treat for connoisseurs of this genre. Their offerings provide a journey through 20th- and 21st-century painting, sculpture, design, fashion, photography, architecture, cinema, music, the performing arts and electronic art.

7. Casa Anita
This unique bookshop located in the Gràcia district is dedicated to illustrated books. While targeting primarily children and young readers, their titles are a delight for children and adults alike.

8. Arkham Comics
This small bookshop in El Raval specialises in comics. Although it can be challenging to jostle your way among so many volumes, this is the perfect place for devotees of graphic novels, who are urged to take the advice of Xavi, the ever-helpful owner.

Book your Vueling to Barcelona and delve into the city’s literary world, as well as revelling in one of the city’s most becoming festivities.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS