Category: travel

This year I travelled to the Azores Islands. Somehow I was a bit apathetic, I wasn’t in the mood of a big trip, not sure.

I followed this blog to make my planning. And didn’t check much as I wanted to go a bit with the flow. My main goal was to see whales (because swimming was not possible), trekking and see the sea. I visited Sao Miguel, Faial, Pico and Sao Jorge.

Although I made a couple of blunders in my planning (expired credit card, booked flights for something that I could take a ferry), it turned very good. I liked a lot, I trekked in the morning, and then I chilled in the natural pools in the afternoon. It was simple. I like the bread with corn flour: tasty, moist, fluffy, I need to try. As well, I tried the local banana and pineapple, and they were great! I dont like to go to restaurants alone so I mainly bought food in supermarkets.

I used this page for all treks, being the one linked the hardest one I did (go and back)

I didnt socialise much apart from one hostel that was really focus on that. But it was good to think on myself and refresh/recharge.

Beautiful landscape, great trip, great food, a lot of laughs, the best company. What’s else?

Last year I went to Uzbekistan. I wanted to visit places from the Silk Road. This is the main guide I used. And I checked a bit this one too.

Plov was best in Tashkent in the Plov center. And tried several types of local bread, I liked them. (Video about Samarkand bread)

I was surprised with the amount of pomegranates and cotton fields! There is a lot of irrigation. Mostly taxis run on propane or similar. It seems UZ is energy free. Boxing and UFC are the king sports. I was surprised to see so many tour groups and not many solo travellers. I travelled in a TALGO train too 🙂

In general, it was a nice trip.

One day….

Patagonia: This page was amazing for organizing the treks in El Chalten. Included even the GPS maps that worked perfect with GPX.

And this is one of the best views in many years. It was hard to get through the snow without proper kit but that view…. I wish I could have stay a long time but the temperature and mainly the wind didn’t help. “Lo bueno, si es breve, dos veces bueno”

Buenos Aires Bakeries: Something that I was really surprised about BA was the insane amount of bakeries (confiterias) and butchers in the city. I followed this link to find some good ones. But you can find some gems in any borough.

This is a random bakery around “La Boca”. Really tempted to apply for a job there.

MediaLunas: It is kind of a small croissant. video, recipe

Empanadas de Acelga: I need to learn how to make them

Futbol: I went to a game of San Lorenzo. I was really impressed with the passion. San Lorenzo lost but the supporters didnt stop singing during the whole game, didnt repeat a song and never stop cheering their players. Not sure if that happens very often in EU. And a lot of families, and a lot of kids playing futbol inside the stadium.

A friend of mine asked to go on picnic to a nearby lake: Teufelssee. The place was really nice, I could swim and the water was perfect! Although I was murdered by mosquitos… The lake is inside a forest and is huge, really impressive thinking that I was so close to the city. As well, we visited Teufelsberg, there were nice graffiti and good views from the top.

Totally agree!!

Of course!

There are worse thins in life 🙂

As well, the local neighbourhood Grunewald was interesting. While cycling could amazing town houses.

Visiting Sardinia I found a type of bread that I didnt expect: pane carasau, that is a flat, crunchy bread. You could find it in restaurants and supermarkets! As well, the typical sweets were very good. I was lucky to try some of them from this local pasticcerie, and reminded me to the “old” classics where people used only the ingredients they had around. I tasted papassini, gueffus (like marzipan), pardulas (small ricotta based pies), etc. Very good all of them

And I was very lucky to trek with a friend through the Dolomites. Really, really nice. It was a bit harder than I expected, but totally worth it! We did the Alta Via del Granito, the “giro verde”. A bit more info about that route.

I read this paper about “Blue Zones” regarding life expectancy and what have in common those areas. One interesting thing, checking the map, those blue zones are not in extreme weather regions and three of them are islands.

So these are the 9 points those communities have in common:

• Move naturally (no climbing 🙁 )
• Purpose
• Downshift (disconnect)
• 80% rule (dont get full)
• Wine
• Belong (faith, philosophy)
• Loved one first
• (Correct) Social network

So all those points are very nice. I like them, but they dont fit in our current cut-throat capitalism world.

Would I live in a similar community? I think I could. I would have to adapt though (technology?)

I visited Galicia recently. It was a great trip and with better company!

My main goal was to visit Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. And we spent nearly a full day seeing it inside, outside, in the roofs, etc.

It is a building with a very rich history starting from a Romanesque foundation to several changes of style in the next centuries. The most impressive part was the “Portico de la Gloria”. I didn’t have much idea about the actual setup of the Cathedral as I thought the external facade would be the most important part. The “Portico” is indoors and you can only see it with a tour. But it is worth it. It is a piece of 12th century and has been under restoration for 10 years: the colors, figures and setup are really impressive.

We visited Combarro and Islas Cies. Really beautiful places. We were lucky at the end in Cies and we could trek the whole island. Pity we couldn’t have a swim.

And by luck, we stopped in Bueu, and saw dolphins! from a very nice terrace.

And food wise, very important in Galicia, I tried “arroz negro” with just squid and its ink. Definitely I need to try at home.

Another thing we discovered was “pan de maiz“, really tasty! I need to try the recipe too.

The last thing we visited and really without planning was the “Monasterio de Armenteira” It was a very peaceful place. We couldnt visit the church due to Covid restrictions but we could walk in the claustro that was nice too. And by the way we discovered a very nice trekking route that we couldn’t do due to time constraints. It was beautiful, very green, following a river and with several water mills in the way.

So very good trip and as usual, with the best company. Can’t ask for more.