Milan - June 2015

Buongiorno !

Yes, I know, I am a little bit late in the blog, but better late than never. :-)

Let's move back until June, in order to spend a weekend in Milan, visiting the Expo. I had always wanted to know what it looked like, and never had the oppotunity to go to Hamburg or Sevilla, time to do it now.

In just a few hours, you can travel all aroung the world, visiting China, Nepal, Turkey, US, Finland or Japan, tasting the food of all those countries, without even needing a visa.

 

 

The only problem (apart from the 40°C temperature, without any shadow) is that there is no way you can try all the tasty specialties in one weekend, so you have to restrict yourself to enjoy the smells...

And because there is no way I can go to Milan without paying a visit to the cathedral, I spent once more a few hours in front of the Duomo, watching the colour change with the sun race.

 

Salamanca and Valladolid - May 2015

Welcome to Castille and Leon.

The last time I went to Salamanca, it was for one week stay with my Spanish class in high school. It was... well, let's say a few years ago... Many other students did the same thing, as it is one of the most important university cities in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the Spanish language.
The university was founded in 1134 and is is the oldest university in Spain.

Last time was in February, and the weather was cold, I remember wandering under the arches of the Plaza Mayor with a hot chocolate and churros, back then. Today, the temperature is lot higher, and I look for shade and old drinks. But the numarous churches that were part of my memories are still there.

The history of the city is incrdibly rich: founded by a Celtic tribe, it was afterwards governed by the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Moors.

And then direction Valladolid, the capital of the region. located within 5 winegrowing regions. Its name is linked to the 8th-century Muslim Caliph Al-Walid I who ruled the Islamic Empire between 705-715. The Old Town is made up of a variety of historic houses, palaces, churches, plazas, parks and museums, including the house of Cervantes. In 1469 Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon were married in the city; by the 15th century Valladolid was the residence of the kings of Castile. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid in a house that is now a Museum dedicated to him.