Seville Snapshots: El Peñón de Ifach

May 20, 2013 by · 2 Comments

Round the N-332, I caught my first glimpse of the dramatic Peñón de Ifach. In all of the research I’d done on Calpe, the 332-meter high rock face seemed to loom everywhere – and we found that to be true once we’d settled into this sleepy fisherman’s town on the brink of touristic glory. Our hotel room at the Hotel Solymar had sweeping vistas of the bay and of the rock, we sailed around it on a catamaran and tasted paellas and fidueas in its shadow in the afternoon. Its size and sturdiness meant that Sunday’s paddle surf lesson would be on calm waters.

It’s the Giralda of Calpe, its most recognizable symbol.

Ifach, pronounced Ee-fahk, is nowadays a bird and wildlife refuge, a last little hiccup of the Cordillería Betica that stretches across much of Andalucía and Murcia. You can visit the Peñón daily from sun up to sun down, and well-marked trails and climbing are available.

Author’s note: I was a guest of the Calpe Tourism Board on their annual blog trip and digital media conference, #Calpemocion, and will be reporting for The Spain Scoop. All opinions are my own because, ya sabéis, I like to give them.

Filed Under: Alicante, Beach, blogging, Calpe, Featured, Places with Encanto, Spain Travel, tourism · Tagged: ,

Habla de Tu Ciudad: An Online Training Course

May 1, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

I have a short list of things that make me happy: sunshine, a cold beer and my friends (and puppies, too). Moving to Seville was a no-brainer for me.

When I graduated college, I expected to live abroad for a year, learning Spanish and traveling as much as 631€ would allow, and the  return to Chicago to become a journalist. But I was hooked, not willing to give up my daily siesta, the cheap tapas and a whirlwind relationship with the Novio. Five years on, I make a living from teaching part-time and blogging part-time. Turns out, with Seville as my muse, I’m able to sell the city I now call my hogar dulce hogar. A city where flamenco seduces, where the sun and empty blue sky reflect off the Guadalquivir, where lunchtime stretches into dinnertime. My visitors to Seville understand the draw it’s had on me, and I seek to relate that to my readers, too.

When Flavio Bastos, a travel professional with a background in digital platforms, offered me the chance to test run his course about how to use your city as a vehicle with which to make money, I couldn’t say no. Habla de Tu Ciudad y Vive de Ella is the result of over fifteen years in the travel industry, numerous city guides and a love for Europe’s great cities.

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The Course

Habla de tu Ciudad is a five-part online course that focuses on the various mechanics of starting up a blog or webpage, learning SEO, writing compelling content and learning how to monetize your blog. Each module comes with mini-lessons, complete with videos and text to helped you get the most out of each one. After deciding to self-host Sunshine and Siestas late last summer, I’ve used loads of resources on the net and other e-books to get an idea of how to begin taking my humble blog to the next level. They’re useful and pertinent, but very one-dimensional in the sense that you read it, take notes, and try to apply what you’ve learned to your own pages. But Flavio’s approach, his videos that show real-time tutorials and “homework” activities that allow you to put to practice the different topics discussed in each module.

Want proof? Type in “guy speedo siesta spain” and see who comes up first. I am an SEO genius. Not really, but the 15-year-old boy in me is loving this. Or, do a google image search for “Ham Fair Aracena” and you’ll see a few of my photos.

 

What Else I Liked

Flavio has worked on this course for the last four years, taking into account the latest rules and algorithms used by Google to rank pages. Apart from having the latest information within the travel and digital journalism, Flavio’s personal anecdotes of trial and error and how they led to his own successes were heart warming and left me feeling at ease. And even though it’s travel and tourism-centric, there are loads of relevant information for bloggers and digital media strategists. The course is easy to follow and starts with the basics, followed by a gradual build up.

Satisfied with that I had learned, I asked the course creator to tell me a bit more about the course.

Describe tu experiencia profesional, tanto en el sector en turismo como plataformas digitales. // Describe your professional experience, both in turismo and the digital world.

De formación soy periodista. Sin embargo tengo más de 15 años trabajando con Internet, trabajé en varias startups a lo largo de mi vida, y siempre de manera muy autodidacta. Cuando vine a vivir a Lisboa, hace 4 años, decidí que era el momento de entender más del área del turismo, que es algo que siempre me había fascinado pero nunca había tenido la oportunidad de explorar. Desde entonces he trabajado en el área de comunicaciones e internet para varias empresas, desde las RRPP para un software de revenue management hotelero hasta el community management para un buscador de turismo rural muy conocido en Portugal.

I’m a journalist by studies. Nevertheless, I have more than 15 years of experience working on the Internet, working on various start-ups throughout my life, and always in a self-teaching type of way. When I came to live in Lisbon four years ago, I decided it was he best moment to start understanding this part of tourism more – it’s something that has always fascinated my, but I never had the opportunity to explore it. Since then I’ve been working

¿Cómo desarrollaste el curso? ¿Tienes algún plan de elaborarlo o hacer otro curso parecido? // How did you develop the course? Do you have any plans to expand it, or begin another, similar course?

El curso nace de una inquietud: ver el potencial de muchas personas que no saben cómo sacarle provecho a las herramientas que nos brinda la era digital. A nivel personal, antes del curso, había formado a algunas personas con conocimientos básicos sobre cómo hacer ciertas cosas.

Por mi experiencia con la industria turística y tras ver casos como el de AirBnb (empresa valorada actualmente en 1 billón de dólares), pensé que esto es algo que puede hacer cualquier persona. Me refiero a “hablar de su ciudad”: la gran mayoría ya lo hace a través de las redes sociales: instagram, facebook, twitter. Y para vivir de ello sólo deben entender un poco más de el mundo digital y hacer eficazmente esas comunicaciones. Deben tener ciertos conocimientos: conocer cómo funcionan los programas de afiliados, optimización para buscadores (SEO), cómo escribir para web, gestión eficaz de redes sociales, asuntos de publicidad,  etc.

El curso es una plataforma pensada en brindar las herramientas necesarias a cualquier persona que quiera trabajar con Internet intentando abarcar de lo más básico a un nivel intermedio. El curso podría perfectamente llamarse “Habla de cualquier cosa y vive de ello”, pero pensé que no sería un buen nombre, y por eso decidí enfocarme en las ciudades y el turismo. Pero el curso lo han hecho personas de varias industrias y todos le están sacando provecho en sus carreras o empleos actuales, además de estar generando webs paralelas que les permiten tener ingresos adicionales.

No tengo planes de hacer un nuevo curso, sino de seguir mejorando el actual. De hecho, el curso está en constante actualización, y tenemos sesiones grupales y personales permanentemente para garantizar que quienes hacen el curso sacan el mejor provecho de las herramientas dispuestas en el curso.

The course was born from restlessness: seeing the potential that many people had to create content, but had no idea of how to take advantage of the numerous digital tools at their disposition. On a personal level, I was already training several people and teaching them the basics.

In my experience in the tourism industry and after seeing cases like AirBnb (currently valued at 1 billion dollars), I thought that it was something anyone could do: talking about their city. Most already do it through social media: twitter, Facebook, instagram. To be able to make a living really only depends on understanding the digital world a bit more and effective communication.  One should have certain skills: they should know about affiliate programs, SEO, how to write web copy, how to use social media, publicity, etc.

The course is a platform that uses the necessary tools that anyone who wants to live and work on the Internet, from the most basic to an intermediate level. It could actually be called, “Talk About Whatever You Want and Make a Living Off of It,” but I thought that it wouldn’t be such a good name, and that’s why I decided to focus on cities and tourism. But the course has been done by people in various industries who have seen its benefits in their professional careers and current jobs, in addition to running additional blogs as an extra income source.

I don’t have any plans to make another course, but to keep improving the current one. In fact, the course is constantly under construction, and we have group and personalized sessions constantly to guarantee that those who do the course get the most out of the tools at their disposal.

¿Cómo pueden los blogueros adaptar tu curso a sus blogs o las redes sociales? // How can bloggers adapt your course to their own blogs or social media?

Una de las inquietudes permanentes de los blogueros es “vivir del blog”. Con mi plataforma, muchos blogueros descubren qué están haciendo bien y qué están haciendo mal, así como generar ideas sobre nuevas oportunidades que quizás no vieron anteriormente.

Así que el curso puede funcionar como varias cosas: mera inspiración y mejoramiento de habilidades, o aprendizaje de cero de cómo iniciarte en el mundo digital, cómo escribir y sobre todo cómo sacar dinero de ello, en cualquier industria.

One of the biggest worries bloggers have is how to “live from” their blogs. With the platform, many bloggers have discovered what they’re doing well and what they’re not, allowing them to create new opportunities that perhaps they didn’t see before.

That way, the course works on many levels: plain old inspiration and improving skills, or starting from zero and learning how to get started in the digital world, how to write and, above all, how to make money within any industry.

¿Cuál es tu ciudad preferida? Descríbela en una o dos frases. // What’s your favorite city? Describe it in a few sentences.

Lisboa. Lisboa es una ciudad que para empezar, no parece una ciudad, sino una pequeña aldea pero al mismo tiempo con todos los beneficios de una capital europea. Tiene playa y montaña a menos de 30 minutos. Y es muy auténtica. Por  eso adoro esta ciudad.

Lisbon. Lisbon is a that, at first glance, doesn’t seem like a city but a small town, but at the same time has all the benefits of being a European capital. It’s got beaches and mountains at less than 30 minutes. And it’s very authentic. That’s why I love this city.

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Mil gracias to Flavio for providing me with a free trial of his great digital training program, Habla de Tu Ciudad. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. Click on the link above to learn more and sign up to learn how you can start living from your city, and take advantage of this incredible offer, plus a 20€ discount by using the code SUNSHINE. First ten to grab it and purchase the course will get the discount. Follow Flavio on twitter at @fba.

Filed Under: blogging, expat life, Featured, Habla de Tu Ciudad y Vive de Ella, Product Review, tourism · Tagged:

It’s all Greek to Me: A Case for All Inclusive Holidays in Greece

April 14, 2013 by · 9 Comments

I’m worn out. Like, really worn out. This year a new job, a master’s program and planning my next big move has left me with grey hairs (yes! Scary!), so I’m looking forward to walking to the Camino de Santiago and having the better part of August to relax.

Wait, relax? Not a word I often use. In fact, having twenty days of vacation during a dead month in Seville has me looking for something cheap and exhilirating to do, and I keep getting pulled in one direction: the country where it all started.

Some type of all inclusive holidays in Greece could be just what I need. I’m usually a DIY traveler, but between trips to Croatia, La Rioja and Italy in the past five months, I’m a little tuckered out. I quite like the idea of just relaxing somewhere near the water and not having to worry about finding a place to eat, a place to stay or things to do.

Whether you want to book a last minute deal or look a little further in advance at a summer getaway, all-inclusive Greece holidays have the ideal climate for those who love to travel from May to October. I had the opporunity to nab an all-inclusive package in Ibiza in 2005 and saved probably hundreds of euros at the height of tourist season, having my food and beverage paid for, along with airport drop-off, a pristine pool and even discounts to the nightclubs that have made the small island a top party destination.

As well as mainland resorts, such as the up and coming hot spot Halkidiki, Greece is known for its vast range of breathtaking islands. Kos, Rhodes, Crete and Corfu, are four of the most popular islands and of gran renombre, while Skiathos and Santorini offer a more laid back vibe, much like some of my favorite beaches in Cádiz like Los Caños or Zahara. I’ve never been to the islands in Greece, and they’re high on my list. For real, why wouldn’t they be:

Approximately four hours from the UK or Spain, the flight time is manageable with families – just don’t try and take your sunscreen in your carry on like I did a few years back! Temperatures can be as high as 35°C in Crete during the height of summer, though I remember most hotels having enormous pools open, even in the center of Athens.

Although Hellas was once known for predominantly offering self catering stints, the rise of luxury accommodation has seen an increase in the number of all inclusive holidays in Greece. Vacations of this type have made the destination more suited to families, offering a more cost effective and convenient holidaying option.

All inclusive holidays in Greece do differ depending on your hotel choice – however, as standard, you can expect three meals per day, snacks and local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Entertainment facilities are typically diverse, with many complexes offering kids clubs, mini discos and early-evening productions (foam party if ya lucky!).

If you’re looking to go inland, I have fond memories of visiting the archaelogical sites around Athens and the olive groves beyond them that are home to the foundations of modern society – Delphi, Mycennae and Epidaurus. If only I had photos of 15-year-old me in Greece to add.

OH WAIT. Don’t say I never gave you a good laugh.

I’m also considering a road trip around Germany or the Balearic Islands, now that I have my driver’s license. Where would you go, or have you already made plans for your summer break?

Filed Under: Balkans Trip, Beach, Europe, Greece, international travel, tourism · Tagged: ,

Photo Essay: Walking the Dubrovnik City Walls

April 8, 2013 by · 26 Comments

“When the war began,” K says, looking at the map and spreading her open hand across it, “my father told us we’d be safer within the city walls. It’s been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. No one would dare touch them.”

She looks down. “As you can see, there were many direct hits within the city center. The orange boxes are houses that were destroyed by the fires caused by the air raid.”

Our tour had been about history in Dubrovnik, and sadly, the Balkans conflict was a recent scar on a long, troubled past. The night before, we’d met Miran, a Mostar, Bosnia native whose life was turned upside down with the war: he spoke perfect andalú because he’d lived in Málaga as a young boy. Staring at a pristine city perched over the crystalline waters of the Adriatic, it seemed impossible that, not two decades ago, the beautifully preserved city of Dubrovnik had been under siege.

Once we’d visited the Old City, we found ourselves at the entrance to the city walls. Our attempt to go the day before had been thwarted by an early winter closing time, but we were determined not to let a near-perfect day slip away. K told us the 1240m of the city walls were perfect to visit at this time, thanks to less tourists and the cool ocean spray. The parallelogram of the stone fortifications, punctuated by a few, round fortresses and towers, would take us 45 minutes to walk.

She apparently hadn’t taken notice of my got-Camarón-glued-to-mah-face approach to her tour.

If you go: The City Walls are open daily, rain or shine. In the summer months, you’ll usually find them overcrowded, and the sun can get hot, so be sure to bring water and snacks if you’re prone to diziness. Regular admission is 80 kuna (just over 10€), whereas a student card will get you a hefty discount, paying only 30 kuna (4,50€). The attraction is open October thru April from 10am until 3pm, and in summer months from 8am until 7pm. Bring your camera!!

Have you ever been to Dubrovnik? Did you get a chance to walk the city walls?

Filed Under: Architecture, Balkans Trip, Croatia, Dubrovnik, Europe, Featured, Places with Encanto, tourism, travel photography, UNESCO World Heritage · Tagged: , ,

The Sagrada Familia: Gaudi’s Obra Maestra

March 11, 2013 by · 14 Comments

The Sagrada Familia is perhaps one of the most well-known construction sites in the world, as well as one of the longest running. Intended to be the obra maestra of Antoni Gaudí, his untimely death leaving the construction site nearly 100 years ago launched the church into the epicenter of a battle over how closely to finish Gaudí’s work.

Nature inspired Gaudí as a child, and his grand temple is a testament to his religious devotion and belief that no man can create what God has done upon the Earth. Every detail of the facade and the towers were conceived bearing that in mind, though recent advances in technology have led to a stray away from the original blueprints. The church is slated to be finished in 2026, 100 year after its mastermind’s death.

On my first visit to the Sagrada Familia in 2005, a hangover dampened our plans to make it to the site early, but we lucked out that the hot July day meant that tourists had taken to the water. The line snaked halfway around the block, but the cavernous church provided refuge from the hot sun. It would be five years before the cranes would be removed, the sound of the drills quelled and the makeshift floorboards that served as walkways around a construction site would be replaced with smooth marble floors.

I went a few years later with my grandmother, and not much more work had been done. On my most recent trip to Barcelona, I could marvel in Gaudí works that partially redeem the city for me. While we scoffed at the thought of paying 20€ for the Casa Batlló, devoting an entire morning to the Sagrada Familia and paying the price of entrance and an audio guide was a no-brainer.

I’m not very religious or even very spiritual, but the emptiness and the contrast of colors, mixed with the soaring buttresses, was uplifting. We spent well over 90 minutes before taking the elevator up to the top of one of eight towers.

If you go: The Sagrada Familia is located in the Eixample neighborhood, and metro lines L2 and L5 serve the Antoni Gaudi plaza, making a stop at the station called Sagrada Familia. The basilica, museum and towers are open daily from 9am until 6pm in the winter, and until 8pm in the summer. You’ll be charged 13,50€ for entrance (11,50€ if you’re a student or senior), or 18€ for an audio guide with entrance fee. The towers will run you an extra 4,50€, and you will be assigned a specific time to avoid lines (we were able to sneak in 15 minutes earlier).

The temple was consecrated in 2010 and mass in now celebrated regularly. Many thanks to Meritxell of Tourism with Me for her help with where to eat nearby. We had a filling Catalan menu at Juanma, located at C/Lepant, 280.

Filed Under: Architecture, Barcelona, Catalonia, Cataluña, Churches, Featured, Gaudi, Holy Week, photo post, religion, Spain Travel, tourism, travel photography, UNESCO World Heritage · Tagged: , ,

Camping on the Islas Ciès of Galicia

February 20, 2013 by · 27 Comments

Julie and I had set out from Coruña after a two-day search for a tent. I have to admit that I’m much more of a luxury Spanish villa type of girl, but the prospect of camping on what has been called the Most Beautiful Beach in the World had me willing to sleep on the hard ground in the cold on the middle of an island in the Atlantic.

Oh, I’m also a mountain girl, for the record.

When my pulpo-guzzling, beach-loving friend mentioned the Islas Ciès, a small archipelago whose only residents are seagulls, I wasn’t immediately keen. Her father’s house on the port of nearby La Coruna was as close as I needed to get to the water because I am a chicken (tuna?) when it comes to getting my hair wet and swimming in the ocean.

The following week, we were on a ferry from Vigo, Spain to Cangas across the river mouth and onto Playa de Rodas with little more than our swimsuits, a towel and some snacks.

The boat docked in front of a small bar and restaurant 40 minutes later. The archipelago is comprised of three mountainous islands, the two northernmost joined together by a sandy bar and jagged rocks. Playa de Rodas, which the Guardian UK called “The Most Beautiful Beach in the World” the year earlier, was nestled between the two, idyllic and blocked from the harsh atlantic waters on the other side of the islands.

Not three minutes after we’d waded from the boat onto dry land, we’d already stripped off all of our clothes. Out came the towels and reading material, the plastic bottles of tinto de verano and all of my qualms about having gone to the beach in the first place.

We spent the rest of the day exploring smaller, beaches tucked away in small, rocky coves and paths that lead up the crags and to clandestine lighthouses. The crescent of white sand was dotted with colorful umbrellas and beach babies, while the bay was full of small yachts bobbing gently against the tide. The squalls off the Atlantic are broken up over the craggy rocks, meaning we had a day of glittering sunshine and occasional breezes.

My phone rang. The campsite had been calling me all day, but our lack of a tent meant we were going to have to slip in after the sunset and find a bar spot of land in between the packed-in tents and call it a night. While we watched the sun sink down behind the ocean, I hatched a plan.

We walked over to the bar on the island, ordered two beers and a plate of fried squid legs and I asked to speak to the owner. I explained that we had been robbed when we fell asleep on the train, and that our tent has been stolen. He told us there were no physical structures on the island, save the bar/supermarket, the lighthouses and the park warden’s cabin. He promised to try and find a few blankets.

Julie and I huddled together for warmth, splitting the last few sips of wine as we sat on a park bench, the lights from Vigo shimmering on the water. A voice came from behind us.

“Are you the girls who had their tent stolen?”

Turns out, the owner of the bar mentioned to the owners of the camping that we were the delinquents who hadn’t checked into the camping that afternoon. They sent their son to hunt us down. I figured we’d be facing some sort of fine, but the boy whose name but not sculpted biceps has long been forgotten invited us to his tent. Sunburnt and with sore muscles, Biceps had a tent with two rooms and a queen-sized bed for the two of us.

The following morning, we woke up with Biceps, who was off to man the camping himself. We unzipped the screen, letting the light breeze in as our bare feet dangled over the end of the mattress. The rest of our day was filled with hiking, random rendezvous with other sevillanos and a shaky ride back to the mainland, leaving behind the gorgeous stretch of beach.

If you go: The Islas Cies can only be reached by boat from Vigo, Cangas or Baiona. Prices and hours will vary, so confirm online. There’s just one place to stay overnight, the Camping Islas Cies (7,90 adults, 8,50 per tent). Reservations should be made before reaching the island through telephone or the website, and the campsite is open from March 1. There are basic facilities for washing up, a small supermarket and a restaurant, but anything you take onto the island must also be carried off.

This is my entry to the March 2013 Carnival of Europe hosted by DJ Yabis of  Dream Euro Trip with the theme “Beaches.”

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Filed Under: Beach, Coruña, Day Trips, Featured, Galicia, OOPS, Rural Tourism, Spain camping, Spain Travel, the north, tourism, travel photography · Tagged: , , ,
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