In an age when American culture seems to permeate and even obliterate traditions around the world, it’s refreshing to local traditions hold strong against the ceaseless tide. Here in Spain they have incorportated Santa Claus and the mass consumerism of America into their Christmas season, but the main event is still the Three Kings Day…
Sierra Fría – Valencia de Alcántara © Fátima Gibello Chapter 5 begins… “As you leave the tiny village of Las Huertas de Cansa, a jagged grey shark fin rises out of a patchwork of changing green. The bluff cuts across the horizon like a megalithic dorsal fin of craggy granite, making the way seem impassable until…
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Nathan James Thomas from Intrepid Times for a wide-ranging podcast interview where we dive into the heart of travel writing—and the heart of Extremadura. From the winding medieval streets of Cáceres to the winding paths of the writing life, we cover it all, of course, my…
War on Christmas concentration camp It’s the big loooong weekend here in Spain, the equivalent of their Thanksgiving travelwise, and even though the season started a long time ago, it seems like Christmas is in the air. Company parties are out in full force and the streets are filled with holiday shoppers (if you’re looking…
I’ve been writing for the Spanish newspaper HOY for almost 15 years now, but my pieces have always been in, surprise surprise, Spanish. It took a tragedy in Valencia and a chance look at a tranlated piece by my colleague J.R Alonso de la Torre to put the pieces together. Today, I try out my…
In today’s Camino a Ítaca memories of a parachute flapping up and down above the bar as I easily peeled the labels off sodden beer bottles in the Florida damp heat. The end of the world was on its way and it was too late to get out. The Green Parrot seemed as good…
Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain This weekend the regional and local press both published interviews with me (in Spanish) about my new book, Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain, published by the University of Alberta Press. The first interview in Avuelapluma is a very indepth…
Give us this day our daily bread, but just make sure it’s Portuguese. A stale item makes a return this week in the Camino a Ítacain the latest additions to a series of articlesI have written on bread.A recent headline read that bread consumption has fallen 70% (!) in the region over the past 20…
In the first of the #StonesDeepDive series, an indepth look into Chapter 16, Stone Cartoons from Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain published by the University of Alberta Press. This part of the adventure takes place in Monfragüe National Park and the Sistine Chapel of prehistoric rock art in the region.…
Celestial interventions in this week’s Camino a Ítaca. And Virgins? Did I forget to mention Virgins? Click over to read the originally published piece in Spanish in the HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF en castellano abajo) For the past few weeks the local papers in Cáceres have taken on a distinctly retro…