When Christopher Columbus and his famished crew first smelled the earthy terrarium air of San Salvador in 1492, the plateau of Castile-Leon in Spain was falling into the chill of autumn. Its vendimia had passed, and the leaves in the vineyards had begun to coat the hills with rows of canary yellow and burnt orange. In… Read More 1550, a Year for Human Rights
It’s time to play American or Spaniard? !! A culture game of esoteric quirks and tics, habits and norms, where you read grossly generalizing observations, possibly a stereotype or two, and decide if it’s describing an American or a Spaniard. But be careful! Some of these silly pet peeves could describe either our flag-waving American… Read More American or Spaniard?
Visiting Italy in 21st-century August is a tricky thing, it takes skill and preparation. The country is dense. It is dense with art, culture, and historical artifacts, but it is also dense with the tracks of mindlessly spending zombie tourists with a chronic lack of interest in much beyond the lack of ranch dressing at… Read More The Crowded Roads to Rome
Two small streams, the Arroyos de Los Carneros and del Morete flow through the thick pine forests of the Sierra de Guadarrama into the palace gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso. The water collects into a mirror-smooth lake, then pours down an intricate system of canals and piping, and on special occasions, the water… Read More It Tolls for Thee because of the Queen
The Guardian is a very large and reputable newspaper, a prolific factory of words, ideas and comments. It produces an overwhelming amount of articles from almost all walks of life. But, from time to time, it seems to struggle to find things to fill the empty spaces of the Internet. The following “rant” is an… Read More Stop Worrying about Grammar Snobs
Every man or woman eventually pines for the days of the past, at least occationally, and either marvels or shudders at the speed at which thing happen, change, and disappear. Unfortunately, most of these observations of culture are drowned in sentimentality and eventual contempt for “the crazy things kids do nowadays.” But our collective memory… Read More What is this?
As a slight break-away from my usual travel writing, I´ve published a piece in Huffington Post´s World Post about free speech and Islam. Free speech and the ability to debate intelligently and freely is extremely important, especially for writers. Thanks to Huffington Post´s blog team for plastering the giant photo of Reza Aslan below the headline.… Read More Dear Liberals: Being Critical of Islam is not Racism
