Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Travel

Mona Lisa’s double in Madrid

People are excited at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The world-famous museum is currently exhibiting a copy of the Mona Lisa, painted by one of Da Vinci’s apprentices in his workshop.

The art world is buzzing about this new find. They say it’s the oldest and most important copy of the Mona Lisa ever discovered. For years they thought this one was painted long after Da Vinci’s death, but recent restoration revealed it was straight out of his workshop. Pretty cool.

The painting will be on display at the Prado until March 13. Then it will move to the Louvre in Paris to be near its original.

The Prado, by the way, is one of the world’s most renowned art museums, Mona Lisa copy or no Mona Lisa copy. I actually haven’t been there (somehow Madrid has eluded me all these years), but I hear only good things. The museum has loads of European art, with a special focus on Spanish painters (Velázquez and Francisco de Goya are the headliners). The collection’s best-known work is Las Meninas by Velázquez.

If you’re going on an EF College Break trip to Madrid, and you like art, you’ll be happy. It includes a visit to the Prado. Though, if it’s a summer trip, you’ll still have to go to the Louvre in Paris if you want to see the newsworthy copy of the Mona Lisa (not to mention the original).

Photo: gushnu via Flickr (CC)

Europe will be buzzing with Euro 2012

Going to Europe this June? If so, get ready to be caught up in Euro 2012 fever. The UEFA European Championship (Euro, for short) happens every four years, and it’s the biggest soccer event in Europe after the World Cup. Obviously soccer is huge in Europe, and the Euro championship pits 16 national teams against each other to compete for the ultimate honor. It’s a huge deal. People go nuts for it.

Euro 2012 kicks off on June 8 and lasts three weeks, with the Final played on July 1. The host countries are Poland and the Ukraine, but the whole continent will be buzzing. Lots of EF College Break trip destinations are competing (Greece, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, England), so get ready. It’s a blast watching games, seeing the locals going crazy, feeling the national pride, soaking in the festive atmosphere. And if you’re lucky enough to be in the country that wins the whole thing, well that’ll take the life-long memories to a whole new level.

I’ve experienced big international sporting events while abroad, and there’s nothing quite like it. I was living in Prague during the World Cup, watching tons of games at the beer gardens and pubs around the city. I will never forget being at a beer garden for the semi-final between Italy and Germany, when a table full of Italians sitting next to us went completely bonkers after Italy’s go-ahead goal late in the game. Weirdly, I also remember there was a big spider at the bottom of my beer. (It’s funny the things that stick with you.)

Photo: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep via Flickr (CC)

Madrid just got greener

As a native of Boston, where the Big Dig transformed a large stretch of downtown highway into a pristine green space, I was interested to read about a similar project that recently finished in Madrid, Spain.

It’s the new Madrid Rio park. Anyone going to Madrid this year? You should check it out.

The park is a sprawling new green space where a highway once stood. It is six miles long, built on top of a network of underground tunnels (the new home for the highway). The park has 8,000 newly planted pine trees, a wading pool for toddlers, a plaza big enough to fit a few hundred thousand people, and a slew of paved paths and fountains. All in all, it sounds like a nice place to be. You can get all kinds of details here.

Madrid is a very green city. It has more trees and green space per resident than any other city in Europe, and its main train station has a plant nursery filled with around 500 species of plants, goldfish and turtles. They also have a street paved with special high-tech asphalt that removes pollution, and they’re laying down other streets made from recycled tires to cut down on noise pollution. It’s all very clever.

Good job, Madrid.

Photo: La Citta Vita via Flickr (CC)

Spanish village votes to stay Smurfy blue

I like this story. A small village near the Costa del Sol in southern Spain has just voted to keep all the buildings in town Smurf blue.

All 175 buildings in tiny Júzcar were painted sky blue for the filming of the Smurfs movie. Sony Pictures promised to paint the town back to normal after filming (normally the buildings are white), but the people of Júzcar have just voted overwhelmingly to keep it Smurfy blue.

I’d like to say it’s because the 221 residents of Júzcar love the Smurfs, but really it’s because they love the money they’re raking in from tourism. Before Sony and the Smurfs came in, the little village would get around 300 tourists a year wandering through. Since the town was Smurfed about six months ago, it has welcomed about 80,000 visitors. Obviously that’s great for the little town’s economy.

And it goes beyond the blue buildings. The town has gone Smurf-crazy. They have a Smurf moonlight fun run, Smurf painting competitions, Smurf trade fairs and Smurf-themed weddings. Somehow, the Smurf center of the universe is now in tiny Júzcar, Spain.

Photo: thesuiteworld.com

Barcelona's biggest festival: La Merce

These are festive days in Barcelona.

Starting today and running through Sunday, the streets of the Catalan capital will be alive with the celebration of La Merce, the city’s biggest annual festival. I have never been, but it looks like a great time. They have countless events and activities, including plenty of standard festival fare like music, food, drink, performances and general merry-making.

But La Merce has three special highlights that make it unique.

First you have the gigantes. These are giant figurines that march through the streets, dancing around and spinning. Pretty cool. Could maybe give kids nightmares.

Then there are the castells. I love these. I’ve written about them before. This is a local tradition of human tower building. The goal is to build the highest tower, the one with the most levels (of humans). Castells can reach as high as ten levels, about 50 feet high. You can see castell-building in action here.

Finally there’s the correfoc. This is where a bunch of people dressed as devils run through the streets wielding firecrackers, torches and very intense sparklers. There are normally two such displays, one for the kids (which is a bit more mellow), and then one later in the night for adults where things get really wild. The devils spray the crowd with sparklers and fireworks. They suggest spectators wear hats and sunglasses and protective clothing.

Photo: vosh via Flickr (CC)

Go where no one's gone before at the Alhambra

It looks like there’s some good stuff coming next year for visitors to the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. You will (sort of) be able to go where no visitors have gone before.

The Alhambra is an elaborate medieval Moorish palace. I’ve been there. It’s very cool. And now there’s a new project in the works called “The Hidden Alhambra” that’s taking the palace into the 21st century. With a smartphone or a specially-designed tablet, you’ll be able to virtually explore some of the smaller, less accessible, more fragile parts of the palace. You’ll get images and videos and some info about these hard-to-reach places, place that can't handle large numbers of visitors. Things like storage areas, towers, pavilions, and an underground space under the palace of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

The idea here is to let people access more of the palace without damaging it. It’s all part of the sustainable tourism concept. I'm all for it. I like sustainable tourism.

As for the Alhambra itself, it was built around 700 years ago by the last Muslim rulers in Spain. Since then the huge fortress and palace has had many additions and renovations—new structures, Christian chapels, that kind of thing. So today it’s an eclectic mix of styles, very easy on the eye. About two million people visit it every year. You can too on the Spanish Fiesta trip with EF College Break.

Photo: RaMaOrLi via Flickr (CC)

Spain’s giant tomato fight

It’s that time of year again in Buñol, Spain. Time for La Tomatina, the world’s most famous town-wide tomato fight. Of all the world’s odd festivals and traditions I’ve written about for this blog, this one always stands among my favorites.

It happens every year on the last Wednesday in August (that’s this Wednesday). More than 30,000 people get together in this little industrial town in the province of Valencia to partake in a huge tomato-throwing free-for-all.

The fun starts early. The thousands of people come to town and get started with a traditional breakfast of chorizo and rose wine. As they’re filling up, trucks roll in from the countryside carrying about 90,000 pounds of tomatoes (that’s a lot of tomatoes). Then, at 11:00 AM, with everyone feeling good and ready to go, a ceremonial tomato-filled rocket is shot into the air, and the madness begins. Everyone starts throwing tomatoes at each other. It doesn’t take long for the whole town, and all the people in it, to be covered in red.

Though it's basically total chaos, there are some ground rules. You can only throw pre-squashed tomatoes (whole tomatoes can do damage). And you can’t throw anything besides tomatoes. A lot of people wear safety goggles (I’ve never had tomato in my eye, but I can imagine it isn’t pleasant). And most people wear old t-shirts they don’t want anymore (many of which are removed and tossed at some point during the battle).

When the tomatoes have all been thrown, another rocket is fired, and the battle ends. Then it’s time to help clean up. Lots of tomatoes everywhere. And lots of smiles.

Photo: ale77dan via Flickr (CC)

Winning, and then dropping, the Cup in Spain

Something funny happened after Spain’s Copa del Rey championship game a couple nights ago. You might have seen it. Wednesday night, legendary soccer team Real Madrid beat their archrival Barcelona to win Spain's national championship. Then, a few hours later, during a parade and celebration back in Madrid, defender Sergio Ramos dropped the coveted trophy from the top of a bus and the bus ran over it and crushed it.

Here’s the video.

Pretty funny. Definitely embarrassing. Though Real Madrid is one of the most storied soccer teams in the world, this was their first Copa del Rey win in 18 years. So they're really cherishing that trophy, even though it's currently mangled and in need of repair.

When the trophy tumbled, 60,000 fans were gathered in central Madrid to celebrate the big win. It looked like a fun time. Being in a European city after a monumental sports win is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things. I was in Prague a few years back when the Czech Republic won the Hockey World Championship (hockey is hugely popular there). I watched the final game in the packed crowd of Old Town Square, and then celebrated with the Czechs in the streets after the game was won. It was awesome. I know some EF travelers were in Madrid when Spain won the World Cup last summer. I’m sure that was awesome too.

Going to a sporting event is a great way to experience the local culture. I’ve been to a couple of soccer games in Europe (one in Prague, another in Paris), plus a couple of hockey games in Prague. I highly recommend it, even if you’re not a huge sports fan.

Photo: Jan SOLO via Flickr (CC)

Carnival time!

This is the time of year when Carnival celebrations abound. The festivals leading up to the beginning of Lent take place all over the world, and each country has its own traditions and customs. I was just poking around online, looking for something beyond the more well-known celebrations (like Brazil and New Orleans) and two in particular caught my attention.

One was Madrid. In Madrid they have fancy-dress contests and parties all over the place. A highlight of the celebration is the traditional “Burial of the Sardine”, in which people dressed in black cloaks and hats parade through town carrying a coffin that contains a fake dead sardine. Great tradition, two thumbs up.

Another big European Carnival celebration is on the French Riviera. They really go all out every year. They have a special theme, which they incorporate into all kinds of events and parties and performances. Last year the theme was King of the Blue Planet, with a nod to environmental awareness and appreciation for our Earth. This year it's King of the Mediterranean. It starts tomorrow. You can learn about it at their website. It looks like a cross between Mardi Gras and The Little Mermaid.

Happy Carnival, everyone.

Photo: Alotor via Flickr (CC)

The amazing new Google Art Project

There's a cool new thing to get you excited for all the incredible art you'll see on your next trip to Europe. It’s called Google Art Project, and I can't stop.

Much as Google Street View leads you through the streets of the world, Google Art Project leads you down the halls of some of the world’s best museums. You can view all the amazing paintings right on your computer. The paintings are photographed in such high resolution that you can zoom in and in and in, seeing the tiniest details and the texture of the brush strokes. It’s very cool.

The site includes 17 amazing museums. Some of my all-time favorites are on there, including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Tate Britain in London. It also has some museums that I hope to visit for the first time soon, including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

Like the museum officials interviewed in this article, I think this project is great for fans of art. Of course, nothing can replace the experience of standing face to face with these paintings, but it’s definitely great for piquing the interest and figuring out which museums and masterpieces you want to check out when you go to Europe. Thanks, Google.

Photo: MicheleLovesArt via Flickr (CC)