Of Mount Fuji, the Bamboo Princess, and the time I didn’t train to climb a mountain
There’s a Japanese saying that goes like this: “A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once. Only a fool climbs it twice.” There’s a reason people say that and I got to find out why. I did not really believe René and Vassili the first time they told me we were going to climb Mount Fuji.…
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Literary St. Petersburg: Nevsky Prospect
A walk through St. Petersburg’s most famous avenue: Nevsky Prospect.
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St. Petersburg: Museum City
Город Музей Город Музей, or «gorod muzei» for those who, like me, do not read Russian, museum city, is how some people refer to the city of St. Petersburg. With over 100 museums, one ought to stay there for at least a few months to see every one of them. With only one week and many…
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Saint Petersburg in January
«You’re going to Russia in January? Why? It’s so cold!» Those were usually the first words that my friends and family when I told them the news. In July 2017, after coming from work one day, I received a call from my good friend Miriam. She had had a rather frustrating day and in her…
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Mexico City: Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Studio House Museum
So a friend and I decided to go to the Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Studio House Museum in the beautiful neighborhood of San Ángel, located in southern Mexico City. Two cousins of mine who live near there joined us in our visit to the Studio. Address: Altavista Avenue, esquina Diego Rivera Colonia San Ángel…
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Madrid, Cervantes, and Musical Theater in Mexico City
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is probably the most important Spanish writer in the history of literature. He played such an important role in shaping Spanish literary culture, that echoes of him can be heard in our common sayings, in contemporary pieces of literature, in theater, movies and TV, and in other kinds of media. In short: pretty…
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Thoughts from a Spanish Bus
The trip from Madrid to Bilbao started at four in the afternoon and wasn’t over until I was at the Airb&b apartment at ten at night. I had flown from Hamburg at eight o’clock in the morning, so I was pretty tired by the time I sat on the bus that would take me to the Basque…
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Next Stop: Spain
I have never been to Spain. In fact, going to Spain was not in my short- and even medium-term plans. Not that I have anything against the land of Cervantes, Picasso, El Cid and paella. It’s just that, going there simply hadn’t really crossed my mind. “The whole world is a bigger Bilbao.” Miguel de Unamuno, tranlsation mine.…
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Belgium: Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate
Belgium is famous for its chocolate tradition, which dates back to the 17th Century. Of course, they import their cocoa beans, but chocolates are a big, big part of their culture and economy, and the quality standards for chocolate production are higher than in the rest of Europe. In Belgium there’s a chocolate shop in every corner,…
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Bélgica: de libros y monumentos
Bruselas El último día en Bruselas desayunamos en Le Pain Quotidien, un restaurante-panadería fundado en Bruselas en 1990 por Alain Coumont, un chef que, al no encontrar el pan adecuado para su restaurante, decidió hacer el suyo en un pequeño local en la 16 rue Dansaert. Hoy en día, es una cadena internacional. Nosotras fuimos al que está dentro…
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Belgium: Books and Monuments
Brussels The last day in Brussels we had breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien, a restaurant-bakery founded in Brussels in 1990 by Alain Coumont, a chef who, upon realizing that he didn’t like the bread available for his restaurant, decided to make his own. He opened a small place in the rue Dansaert, and that small shop is now an…
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Brussels: of Writers, Squares, and Cathedrals
My friend and I have just returned from our little trip. We spent four days in Belgium, two in Brussels and two in Bruges, and let me tell you that, although Brussels is not that big of a city, two days is not nearly enough time to see everything. If you ask me, I would’ve…
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Next Stop: Belgium
How are you today? It’s 19th of February and I finally have a few free days before going back to locking myself in the library. Last week I couldn’t write here on the blog because I had an exam coming. It is now behind me and I can write in peace. I hadn’t thought about going…
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Edinburgh: Sir Walter Scott
Good afternoon, my dearest readers! How are you today? How was your weekend? Well, here it is! The last post about my literary trip through Edinburgh. You may notice that Sir Walter Scott is in today’s title. Scott is probably the most renowned author in all of Scotland, but before we talk about his legacy and…
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Edinburgh: Eat, Drink, Read
Good morning, my dearest readers! How are you today? How was your weekend? So I’m home for the semester holidays, which means I’ve been busy eating tacos and getting in touch with old friends. However, I’m not quite done with university stuff; I still have to write a term paper and I still need to study…
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Edinburgh: Detectives and Pirates
Here are some of the things I learned about Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh takes its status as the City of Literature very seriously. The weather is quite depressing. The coffee is ridiculously expensive. August, being the month of festivals, is perhaps not the best time of the year to walk around because it’s so full that…
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Next Stop: Edinburgh
Good evening, my dear readers How are you today? How’s the week going? I’ve been super busy (again) with quite a lot of stuff to read, but it’s all because next Monday I’ll be in another country on a summer school program. So last December, I attended a university meeting in which we were invited to…
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Discovering Germany: Hamelin
Here is the last part of our little weekend-trip through Lower Saxony. Our last place is a little town known for one of the darkest Grimm fairy tales. There’s also a poem written by Robert Browning (1812-1889) that tells the unfortunate story of a certain piper, a plague of rats and a large group of children. Hamelin «Hamelin…
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Discovering Germany: Bremen
Welcome, June! Welcome good weather! The sun has finally graced us with his constant presence and we couldn’t be happier. Sadly, finals are coming, but at least I’ll be able to study in the garden. But that’s a problem for another day. For now, let us focus on the second part of our little weekend trip. Bremen…
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Discovering Germany: Hannover & Oldenburg
About a month ago, a friend called me telling me she wanted to go out for a weekend. A holiday was coming up and she wanted to take the opportunity. It couldn’t be somewhere far from home because last month we were in Paris and we could not afford another big expensive city in such short notice. After…
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Paola Navarro Villa 