Let’s take a Bath!

If you ask me for a city to visit on a day trip from London, Bath will definitely be my suggestion.

Bath is the perfect town to spend a day and disconnect from London.

You can rarely see any modern buildings or concrete towers under construction, all you can see are Georgian houses built of the characteristic yellow stone.

The downside side is that there is not much to do for more than a single day excursion.

You can walk through the streets and look around the beautiful houses, most of them with colourful flowers in their entrances. Circus Square and Royal Crescent street are the most famous pinterest places to take a photo and imagine you are in the Georgian Britain. On a sunny Sunday you can even listen to music at the Royal Victoria Park’s bandstand.

The Roman baths are nice. The main pool is romantic picturesque, but being honest, when you come from a Roman City like me, it is difficult to be impressed.

The Modern Spa is a good place to relax and recover your energy. Just be aware that it can be full of hen parties and it can be difficult to have a space in front of the mirror of the changing room. I strongly suggest to bring your own hair (with a sigh of frustration).

Iguazu Falls

There is a legend behind the story of the waterfalls of Iguazu. As usually the legends is about love.

Some centuries ago there was a big snake living in the river Iguazu. Once per year the people from the towns around the river had to sacrifice a women and give it to Boi, the big snake, by throwing her into the river.

That year it was the turn of Tarobá, a beautiful Indian woman. However a young Naipí fall in love with her and planned to save her life.

After trying to convince all the neighbours to not sacrifice Tarobá, Naipí decided to kidnap her the night before of the sacrifice. He took her with his small boat and escaped down the river.

Boi the snake realised of the romance which drove it mad. Its fierceness was so big that it broke the riverbed creating the waterfalls. Tarabá and Naipí were separated by  the water.

Naipi was turned into a palm tree. Naipi was entrapped at the top of the cliff with her hair forming the falls.

The big snake immersed into the river and it still keeps an eye on them to prevent them from being together.

If you go and visit the falls you will see that the creation of Boi is  breathtakingly beautiful. It is for that that the waterfalls are considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

 

Xmas at the Thai beach

No way we would have spent another cold Christmas again. This year it had to be different: hot and beautiful, to close 2014 with recharged energy.

The turkey was substituted for curry and our coats and scarves for swimsuits. No other destination could be better suited for this than Thailand.

It was my first time in Asia but definitely not the last one.

Thailand is a big country with around 500.000km2 which makes it impossible to visit during a 10 day trip only. However, it was enough time to realise of several things such as:

• The wealth divide within the country.
• Their liking for colours and shiny things.
• The happiness of the Thai people always glad to help
• The miserliness of the Western tourists, trying to avoid paying even 100 Bhats(not even £2) without thinking of the value for us and the value for them.
• Thailand offers better internet signal than Europe. You have signal in the middle of the sea.
• The great facilities of the country to receive and assist their tourists.

GOOD MEMORIES

We were invited to spend New Year’s eve with the owners of our hostel, their friends and other guests. At 23.30 I said, that this would be my first time to pass the year without eating my grapes (a Spanish tradition).

Promptly, they run to the nearest supermarket to buy them for me!

BAD MEMORY

Some of the tuc-tuc drivers are completely crazy. I have never been so scared!

MALTBY STREET MARKET: ROPEWALK

Unfortunately, many people visit new cities strictly following the recommendations of their travel guides. This way you end up at the most common and most touristy places without discovering anything new.

London offers a huge variety of things to do and to explore.  One of the charming and most characteristic English traditions are the street markets.

Usually, people visit the markets in Camden Town, Borough Market, or Notting Hill. But there are many more markets hidden away in the streets of London all worth a visit.

Close to Tower Bridge, you can find Maltby Street where you have Ropewalk Market. Come by on a weekend and have a taste of the best street food  and all without the tourists pushing by  to take a selfie.

For more information, check http://www.maltby.st/

OXFORD

The Bank Holidays are the perfect opportunity to do some of the activities that we continually postpone.

So it came about in an act of spontaneous decision making that I visited Oxford yesterday. It’s almost unbelievable that I haven’t been before to Oxford even though I have been living in London for almost 3 years now.

Oxford makes a perfect destination for a day trip to disconnect from London with its historical architecture and colleges.There is a lot to explore in Oxford. An every tourist’s must is to visit the different colleges and follow the footsteps of Harry Potter. The Hogwarts spirit is present everywhere in Oxford.  Also don’t forget to have a walk along the river Cherwell (or punt if you are looking for some adventure). But also Oxford’s museums are not only worth a visit during the odd shower with the Pitt Rivers Museum being my personal favourite.

One final tip: climb the tower of the University Church Of St. Mary The Virgin for an amazing view

of this British architectural jewel.

HELLO WORLD!

It is August 2014. Most people are on holidays and enjoy the sun, the beach, and their free time. Sadly I don't have any of this. However, I had this wild idea of creating a blog as a substitute for all these missing summer pleasures.

The idea to have a blog was on my mind for a long time but I was too scared to create something which won’t be interesting, too personal, or uncreative which makes me stop blogging again after all.

All I know is that right now I have the motivation and I have the idea of what I'm going to publish here. Now we only need to see whether I will be successful to continually do it.

Meanwhile, welcome to my new blog and hopefully see you again soon!