Where on Earth week 53: Toledo, Spain

by Abha Malpani on

Well done Peter, Craig, Carlos A, GirlsGottaTravel, and Frank who even knew its Latin name (Toletum). In hindsight, I suppose my description was actually a dead giveaway. Oh well.

Located 70km from Madrid, it used to be the capital of the Spanish Empire. Architecturally it is beautiful — this photo does not do it justice. In 1986 it was declared a World Heritage Site for its extensive cultural heritage as a result of the Christians, Jews and Arabs living in harmony here. If you like marzipan, this is the place to get it. As touristy as it is today, I really like Toledo and always take visitors there for a day trip.

Spain to “dance the chiki chiki” at Eurovision 2008

by Abha Malpani on

What’s a country to do when two million residents vote for a man who calls himself Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and looks like an exaggerated (not to mention distorted) version of Elvis, to represent their country in this year’s Eurovision?

Although condemned by the press, there is nothing that can be done but laugh and join in the “chiki chiki”!

Eurovision is one of the longest running television programs in the world. It’s a singing competition where each country sends a representative; the day of the contest, all participants must sing their respective songs live as the European audience votes for the best song.

Being a continent-wide singing competition, the contest is generally taken seriously, but the Spanish people seem to have a different definition of that as they chose to send the contestant they found most absurd and hilarious. The representing song “Baila Chiki Chiki” is a rap reggaton that includes reference to politicians and to grandmothers waving knickers in the air as they dance the “chiki chiki”. Go Spain!

The word is that our Spanish chiki chiki will only face competition from Ireland’s rubber turkey puppet Dustin. The contest this year in on May 24 in Belgrade.

Jellyfish to plague Spain this summer

by Iva Skoch on

Of all the various creatures invading the coast of Spain (including pensioners from Northern Europe), jellyfish are perhaps the least welcome. For a bunch of brainless little, made-up-mostly-of-water suckers, they could be a real pain (the jellyfish, not the pensioners).

The Guardian reports that in November, scientists at the Barcelona-based Institute of Marine Sciences began studying the life cycles of jellyfish off the Costa Brava, and detected large numbers of the Pelagia noctiluca, also known as the “mauve stinger”, growing in the winter, ready for an assault on Spain’s beaches in the summer.

Back in 2006, 21,000 people had been stung on the beaches of Catalonia, while on a single day in August, 400 bathers were treated at a beach in Málaga. The causes of the jellyfish problem are apparently over-fishing and global warming. Here we go again.

How to not land: A picture lesson courtesy of Iberia

by Grant Martin on

It’s difficult to say exactly what was at play in these conditions, but the position and response of this photographer gives a great vantage point of an aborted Iberia (IB) landing in Bilbao earlier this week.

The consecutive photos posted here show a quick time lapse of what was going on in a few scary seconds over the tarmac.

Among the airline community, the general consensus is that wind conditions caused significant shear near the runway, resulting in turbulent gusts just prior to wheels down. After two tries at landing on this in Bilbao the IB flight had to divert to Vitoria for another rough (albeit successful) landing.

So don’t rush off to hate on the Iberia pilot. As we learned from last year’s One-Two-Go crash on Thailand’s Phuket island, landing in high winds can be extremely tricky.

I’ve been through a couple of aborted landings, but never one that has actually touched down and returned to the skies. As docile as my experiences were, they were still frightening. I wonder what people on this flight were thinking.

Spain versus Portugal. Can we get along?

by Iva Skoch on

Before going to Portugal for New Year’s, we were advised that we shouldn’t even try to speak Spanish there. If you don’t speak Portuguese, stick with English because the Portuguese don’t like using Spanish, even if they speak it.

I didn’t realize how deep is their resentment toward the Spanish until I saw this sign spray-painted on a building in Alfama, Lisbon.

I feel for you, Portugal. In the early nineties, there were similar signs in Prague: “Shut up, or stay in Germany.”