Don't Forget Your Toothbrush

Just another zombie going places.

[thetravellingdead]

"La vida es un carnaval una puta mierda." 

[thetravellingdead]

THE WOMEN IN GAME OF THRONES

Travelling and literature, two subjects that go hand in hand. When you travel, you have to keep in mind you spend quite some time on the road, in a car, plane or any other way of transportation. So, why not read a good book or watch a thrilling serial? After all, even zombies might get tired of picking people’s brain – literally – all the time. Here’s an article announcing the fourth and new season of the HBO television series Game of Thrones. Hope you enjoy it as much as a human’s brain.

The 6th of April, the date to which Game Of Thrones fans already have been looking forward for a while: on that day the new season of the popular television series will be released in the United States. The HBO fantasy series, in which royal families, magicians and monsters fight against each other, thanks its popularity especially to the numerous intrigues, the cruel fight scenes and the many strong characters. But, who were the strong female characters again?

More than a month ago the American television network Home Box Office (HBO) published an almost 15-minutes-lasting trailer, but on the 6th of April it’s finally there: then the first episode of the fourth season of Game of Thrones will be released. The serial – based on George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire – already has been dominating the screen for three years and with good reason. Game of Thrones just isn’t suited for sensitive viewers, since bloody and heavy confrontations are the order of the day. Not to mention the steaming sex scenes, the nail biting suspense, the sneaky betrayal and mythological, but frightening creatures. In the serial it’s not only the kings, knights and servants who embitter each other’s life, the female characters also know how to stand their ground.

Royal blood

Daenerys Targaryen. Probably the most popular and most feared character of the series (what do you expect, when you’re the ‘Mother of Dragons’?). Daenerys – friends call her Daeny, her people call her khaleesi (queen) – descends from the Targaryen dynastie, or the ‘Old Dynastie’, they who are the ‘blood of the Dragon’ and who, according to some, possess inhumanly beautiful features. Daenerys is the only survivor of her family: in the previous seasons she lost her brother, husband and baby (all at the age of fourteen!), but she’s the only one with dragons. Three, to be precise.

In the beginning we regularly got to see a breast or buttock of Daenerys, but in the last season the khaleesi presented herself especially as a freedom fighter, somebody who stands up for justice and without mercy punishes those who do not share her values. Since the third season Daenerys is assisted by Missandei, a young and beautiful Eastern woman who speaks 19 languages and has been saved from slavery by the ‘Mother of Dragons’ (with just one command Daenerys let her dragons burn down the city of the slave drivers to ash and ruins).

Also from high descent are Arya and Sansa Stark, the daughters of the murdered Eddard (Ned) Stark. Sansa is very girl-like, her younger sister Arya completely is not. Sansa is very reserved, loves to sing and sew. Arya, on the other hand, does not mince her words and loves to swing a sword or shoot an arrow. She even often gets mistaken for a boy by random civilians or gatekeepers. Both sisters moved from the North to the West, because initially Sansa was supposed to wed the prince of the West, Joffrey Lannister. But ever since that last one let Sansa’s father get decapitated, the youngsters aren’t on the same page anymore. Sansa still lives in King’s Landing, Joffrey’s home, Arya fled the kingdom.

Being the same age as Arya is Shireen Baratheon, the daughter of Stannis Baratheon, Joffrey’s uncle. Shireen is smart for her age, but her father keeps her locked away in a castle tower, one of the reasons being that she suffers a facial disorder. Her aunt, Margaery Tyrell, was married to Renly Baratheon, Stannis his younger brother. After Renly’s death, plans have been forged to wed Margaery to Joffrey. While Sansa had no influence whatsoever on Joffrey’s gruesome personality, Margaery does manage to control him.

Evil blood

From royal to evil blood and a character who has both running through her veins is Cersei Lannister, Joffrey’s mother. Cersei was married to king Robert Baratheon, the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Officially Cersei has three children with Robert, but actually that’s not quite true. The Lannisters aren’t averse to inbreeding and so Cersei’s children are actually born out of her love relationship with her twin brother Jaime.

Also Melisandre can quite get on your nerves: as advisor and mistress of Stannis Baratheon, who did not only lock his daughter, but also his wife away in a castle tower, she too tries to win the Seven Kingdoms for herself. Her strong qualities? Melisandre is a priestess, has magical powers and can predict the future.

Protectors

Gilly, Myra and Osha. Three women who are on the run with Bran and Rickon, Sansa and Arya’s younger brothers. Gilly is saved from her incestuous father ánd man thanks to her boyfriend Samwell Tarly. Myra Reed is somebody who Bran and Rickon met during their flight and who wants to help them get to their destination, whatever the sacrifices are. Osha is a savage, captured by Bran and Rickon’s elder brothers. After a while Osha got very fond of the young Starks and now she as well wants to protect them.

You need really good protection? Then go and hide behind Brienne of Tarth, a warrior who first was loyal to the house Baratheon, but afterwards start to serve Catelyn Stark (Ned’s wife, also murdered). Brienne is very tall, has short hair, some manly features, is strong, reliable and straightforward. Another good protector is Yara Greyjoy, Asha in the books, from the house Greyjoy. Yara wants to free her brother Theon, who was captured and tortured (Theon his genital organ has been very brutally removed from his body).

 And last, but not least, Ygritte. No high descent. No royal blood. Just a young fighter who lives high up in the North, behind the Wall that protects the rest of the kingdom against the ‘White Walkers’, mythological monsters with magical powers that parade on their dead horses. Ygritte is intelligent, good at archery and she knows how to use her good looks. She’s not familiar with the world on the other side of the Wall, but she is hopelessly in love with Jon Snow, Eddard Stark his bastard son. Unfortunately she cannot be together with him, because he betrayed her people.

So, a handful of characters, and that is only the female part. Just like the previous seasons, the fourth season promises a coming and going of characters. Because next to the royal families and their intrigues, there is Daenerys with her strongly growing dragons who forms an approaching threat in the East. And beside that there are the deadly ‘White Walkers’ that are moving closer from behind the northern Wall. Therefore, watch your step, because Winter Is Coming.

[thetravellingdead]

Greetings from La Place de La Brouckère!

[thetravellingdead]

Hmm, La Grande Place in Brussels, so tasty. 

[thetravellingdead]

ROYALTIES IN BRUSSELS

Ain't this cute? A picture of a zombie doll between still-alive-dolls. No, we're not shopping for toys (to eat), we're checking out les Galeries Royales in Brussels, the capital of beer, chocolate and fries. And also of Belgium.

Les quoi ? Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, or Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen in Dutch. The 'Galeries' are basically a large hall, filled with establishments and covered by a round, glass ceiling. They were built by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar in the middle of the 19th century and were meant to represent a mekka for the Brussels bourgeoisie.

Composition

Yes, it's a hall, but it's called 'the galleries', because it is composed of two main sections: the first one is the Galerie du Roi, or Koningsgalerij, and the second one is the Galerie de la Reine, or Koninginnegalerij. There's a smaller gallery on the side, which is called the Galerie des Princes, or Prinsengalerij (which is actually kind of sweet). Now, where the two main sections come together, there's a sort of 'opening': it's where the Rue des Bouchers, or Beenhouwersstraat, crosses the hall.

What you have to know about Belgium is that ONE you have Flanders - where people speak Dutch TWO you have Wallonia - where people speak French and THREE you have the region of Brussels - where people speak both (and actually also some German), which is why street names in the capital and in the region of Brussels (but only there!) are always displayed in both French and Dutch.

The galleries are situated right in the beating heart of the city: next to les Galeries you can find le Marché aux Herbes or De Grasmarkt, the central station and La Grande Place or De Grote Markt. So naturally the galleries attract a lot of tourists, not only because of their historical value, but also thanks to their strategic location. If you want to meet Asian people with a camera (or iPad), then the galleries are the place to be. 

Establishments

And Asian people have every right & reason to be there! In the galleries you can find some of Belgium's finest chocolatiers, like Neuhaus and Godiva. There are also some luxury shops that sell leather gloves and hand made hats. Next to that, you'll discover some jewelery stores, bookshops, even a Häagen Dazs (!), but also some theaters, galleries (yes, it's a gallerinception), exquisite cafés and a beautifully decorated cinema. You might even encounter a shop that sells very original, hipsterlike clocks. 

And an absolutely must do: visit les Galeries during the Christmas Holidays, because then they look like this:

Ciao! =)

[thetravellingdead]

RYANAIR, SHMYANAIR

When going on a trip and choosing to travel by plane, more precise choosing to go with the airline company Ryanair, there are some things about this company you might want and need to know.

Yes, Ryanair definitely is an airline offering cheap flights to many destinations in Europe. It's also a worldwide hated company (there's even a blog where you can do that). While attracting a lot of clients thanks to cheap flights, the company also tries to sell you a lot of things YOU DON'T NEED. Next to the flight(s) itself, Ryanair offers you insurances, rental cars, "appropriate travel bags", etc. You. Don't. Need. That.

Booking your flight

Okay, deciding to fly with Ryanair means that you'll have to book your tickets online and a little help and explanation with that might come in handy. Let's start with this "travel insurance" Ryanair offers on its website.

If you're going to pay for your flight tickets by for instance Mastercard, you don't need a travel insurance, that's already guaranteed by your credit card company. Still, the Ryanair company will try to convince you to buy one - or more - of its insurances. If you're sure you already have an insurance or that it is guaranteed by the way you pay, just click away. Even if a Ryanair pop-up appears saying that "a lot of passengers flew without insurance and all have regretted it", just ignore it (there's always a click away button, but the Ryanair ICT team did a good job on trying to camouflage them). 

One thing you might do need to pay for: your luggage. Depending on what you're going to take with you and how much, you have to pay a certain price. Ryanair also asks you to pick a seat, as you can see on the picture above. That is not necessary, but it doesn't say anywhere. If you want to reserve a seat, you have to pay for it. If you don't want to, you just skip this option and the cabin crew will point you a random seat once you're actually getting on board.

Checking in online

While booking your flight, you might have noticed that the Ryanair website is a mess (and full, but really full, of spelling flaws). The ICT team did that on purpose, so you can get easily confused and mislead when booking the tickets. Always pay attention to what you're including in your plane trip.

When the time arrives for you to check in online (confirme your flight online and print your boarding pass, something you have to do at least a few hours before your plane takes off), the Ryanair website will again try to convince you to buy certain insurances, get "appropriate luggage", book a hotel, rent a car, etc. Because of that the company placed a frame on the right side of the website in which you can see the price of the tickets going up or down, according to what you're (not) adding to your trip.

DON'T BE MISLEAD BY THAT. Your flight is booked and the price is paid. The only reason you might still have to change or add something is when you take more or different luggage with you than you first thought you would, or if you do want to reserve a seat (but once again, that is NOT mandatory). 

The actual flying

If everything eventually went well - tickets booked, boarding pass printed, luggage checked in - and you're flying high in the sky, the trip with Ryanair isn't that bad. The cabin crew offers you from time to time something to eat or drink, for which you have to pay as well, but that's standard policy with low-cost airlines.

The only - yes I'm going to say it - ridiculous and irritating thing about the Ryanair flight is the following: at the end of the trip the cabin crew let's you hear a bombastic, with trumpets filled tune for telling you that "this was another Ryanair flight arriving on time" and that "Ryanair holds the record of most flights arriving on time in Europe."

So, beware when you book flights with Ryanair: in a lot of cases the company really offers the cheapest deal, but you have to pay attention to what you're including in your trip. 

With thanks to ihateryanair.org for a picture of Ryanair's frequently criticized CEO Michael O'Leary.

[thetravellingdead]

CULINARY SPAIN: POST II

In a previous post I already wrote about culinary Spain in general, now I'd like to introduce you to some Gran Canarian typical recipes and beverages. Brains and blood are unfortunately not involved, but here's the next best thing.

Honey Rum

Rum is a very popular liquor in Gran Canaria and honey rum even more. The most famous Gran Canarian honey rum brand is Arehucas, as you can see on the picture above. The presence of honey in the rum makes the liquor soft and therefore possible to drink pure, on the rocks.

Tropical beer

Gran Canaria - as does Tenerife - has its own beer brand, namely Tropical. This cerveza (Spanish for beer; please make sure you pronounce the 'v' as a 'b', if not, you'll give away immediately that you're a foreigner) comes in a green bottle. The taste is okay (I'm sorry, but you will find no better beer than the Belgian kind), for Tropical it's especially its label that is unique.

On the green bottle label you can see a dog, the symbol for Gran Canaria. This dog shifts colour: if the dog looks blue, it means that your beverage has an ideal drinking temperature; if the dog is coloured white, then your cerveza is either too warm or too cold. That's why the label says "Perro azul, frío perfecto", which means as much as "if the dog's blue, the temperature is perfect."

Mojo

No, this paragraphe is not about Austin Powers his sex drive, it's about a typical Gran Canarian sauce - or salsa - named 'mojo' (you pronounce the 'j' in 'mojo' like a 'ch', by the way). Basic ingredients for mojo: olive oil, garlic (lots of it), paprika and cumin.

There are two kinds of 'mojo': red 'mojo' or 'mojo rojo' and green 'mojo' or 'mojo verde'. The red kind is best served with papas arugadas (as you can see on the Wikipedia picture), the green kind tastes best served with also potatoes and fish. The thing about mojo is that everybody prepares it differently: you can spice it up as much to your liking as you want. Enjoy! 

[thetravellingdead]

¡Bienvenido a Gran Canaria!

[thetravellingdead]

PLAYA DE LAS CANTERAS

The beach la playa de las Canteras is one of the 82 registred beaches in Gran Canaria, just like la playa del Inglés & la playa de Arinaga, mentioned before on this blog. Beaches, beaches, beaches. Why write about this one? Because it's special.

La playa de las Canteras surrounds a big part of the Gran Canarian capital, Las Palmas. A lot of Las Palmas inhabitants - as do tourists - consider la playa de las Canteras an ideal place to get away from the busy city life. Next to being a good getaway, this beach is  popular, because it has some unique properties: you will not find shells on las Canteras. There is this natural, volcanic barrier in the water, called la barra, situated at some meters from the beach. This barra prevents all kinds of stuff to wash ashore. Here you have a picture of the barrier (I wonder if it also stops zombies from getting onto the beach):

Black feet

La barra is not the only unique thing about la playa de las Canteras: the las Canteras beach is a sand beach, but not only with brown sand, it's also covered with black sand (so don't be frightened when you're walking on the beach barefoot and you notice your feet getting black). Some of the sand is black, because of the beach its volcanic roots. If you'd like to see for yourself:

Next to the beach, you can find a lot of nice souvenir shops, cozy bars, fish restaurants and artistic (allowed) graffiti (like I wrote some blog posts before). La playa de las Canteras also attracts a lot of surfers, who even keep surfing in the bay long after the sun went down. With thanks to Wikipedia for a closer look to the beach:

A las Canteras sunset picture:

[thetravellingdead]

Never seen a cockrach before in your life? Go to Gran Canaria, I'm sure you'll find some. 

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Marvelous view, right? It's to die for. 

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Did you know...

That Gran Canaria is an ideal destination for Erasmus students? Here we are getting to know an Italian exchange student who is studying Spanish literature at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

[thetravellingdead]

CULINARY SPAIN: POST I

Okay, you cannot blog about Spain and not mention Spanish food. Or drinks, for that matter. Some keywords representing the Spanish kitchen: meat, tapas, potatoes, olive oil, bread, bread and bread. Feeling hungry already? Let's go into detail.

Here are some facts about the Spanish kitchen you might want to know before hopping on a plane to Spain:

For Spanish people it is normal to consume a cooked meal not once, but twice a day. Plus, Spanish people usually have lunch between two & four in the afternoon and dinner between nine & eleven in the evening. Sometimes even at midnight;

Spain is the biggest producer of olive oil in the world, so it's an ingredient you can find in a lot of Spanish dishes;

Spanish people might consume a cooked meal twice a day, they do have the habbit to serve those meals with bread. Almost every cooked Spanish dish comes with bread;

Seafood is also an ingredient you can find in a lot of Spanish recipes, since the country - as are the islands - is surrounded by a lot of water and has a rich maritime history.

Tapas

When I say 'Spanish food', you say...'Tapas'! Of course. Next to paella and tortilla (don't pronounce the 'l'-s in those words, simply use a 'j'), tapas are one of the most famous Spanish dishes. So, the word 'tapas' is a plural. You say 'one tapa, two tapas'. Usually tapas are described as appetizers, but they really are not. Appetizers are not that big, come in a small amount and can't substitute a whole meal. With tapas on the other hand, you can take it as far as you want: tapas can be served warm or cold. There is a huge variety of tapas; from little chips with meat to entire hot toasts with fish and cheese. The nice thing about tapas is not only that they taste good and that there's a lot of variety, tapas are a type of social dining.

When you and your group order tapas, you do not each get a plate filled with delicious food, but one big scale is put in the middle of the table with different kinds of tapas. For tapas, no forks or knives are necessary, you just simply eat them with your hands (yes, fingerfood, so make sure you wash your hands before you start eating). Actually, Spanish people use this way of eating very often. For example, when a Spanish family makes home made pizzas, they probably won't serve you an entire pizza, but they'll slice it up and share the pieces. Just like zombies. They share humans too, right?

Social

Since Spanish people eat kinda late, they have a rich culture of "bar hopping": because there is some time between finishing work and starting dinner, a lot of Spanish people first go to a bar to drink something and enjoy some tapas. Don't see this as people each sitting at their own table. That situation is perfectly possible, but there are a lot of Spanish bars where you can enter, order drinks & food and consume them standing up at the bar itself. Or go sitting at a table next to a window in which there actually isn't any glass, but where you're in direct contact with the people passing by in the street. It might sound unusual, but it's actually a very social way of drinking and dining and it creates a very lovely, warm & cozy atmosphere.

Addresses

The tapas information put you in the mood and you would love to try some? Here are two addresses where you can try tapas, have some drinks and "dine in a social way".

The first address: Cien Montaditos (translated: Hundred Sandwiches). The Cien-Montaditos-Hundred-Sandwiches-title actually is self-explanatory: this establishment is a sandwich chain where you can choose from a variety of hundred sandwiches. You can choose the type of bread, what you want on it, your beverage and... It is served on one big plate with some chips. You can find a Cien Montaditos in most of the big Spanish towns. A Cien-Montaditos-dish-example:

Second place to be: La Sureña. The La-Sureña-chain describes itself as a 'cervecería', or a bar. It's true, most people go to La Sureña not particulary to eat tapas, but to have some beers. Because in that cervecería you can order - now read the following very carefully - a bucket of ice -- filled with five beers -- for three euros. It sounds amazing and it is in reality as well. This is what a six euro bucket with ten beers looks like: 

So, a summary of culinary Spain: a lot of meat, also fish, tapas, potatoes, olive oil, bread, cold, warm, drinks, sharing & enjoying. Buen provecho.

[thetravellingdead]

PUERTO DE MOGÁN 

Greetings from the Gran Canarian Puerto de Mogán, an ideal place to visit by boat, to go diving, to take underwater and stereotype love pictures.

Some more pictures from cozy Mogán:

[thetravellingdead]

PLAYA DEL INGLES

Right now you might think something, like, "why would anyone create a wooden penis bottle opener and sell it?" Well, Gran Canaria has a huge gay scene, especially in the beach place 'Playa del Inglés' (see Google Maps Image). 

Every year, around the month May, a big gay pride is organized in Maspalomas (situated at the left of Playa del Inglés). Next to a popular gay scene, you can also find a lot of touristic attractions in la Playa del Inglés. Many Dutch, English, French and German tourists visit la Playa del Inglés. Especially Germans like the holiday destination, therefore you can find a lot of bars in Playa del Inglés where they only and exclusively speak German.

Kasbah Kitsch and Metal

One of those touristic attractions is the shopping center Kasbah (source: tripadvisor.nl). In that shopping center you can find the most kitschy bars with the most kitschy music (there's even a YouTube video if you want). Still, if you're in Gran Canaria, you simply have to go to this place. HAVE. TO. GO. For just one perfect reason. Turbo Pub.

Turbo Pub is a metal café situated in the kitsch Kasbah shopping center. When you enter the center, you go straight ahead until you're standing on this circular dance floor (yes, the one from the YouTube video, if you've checked it). There you can see a staircase. Follow them and you will reach Turbo Pub.

Contradiction

Up there, you will not only find Turbo Pub, there are two more metal bars. But, Turbo Pub is the most popular, because it's the oldest of the three cafés and simply the oldest metal bar of Gran Canaria.

So, when you're in Turbo bar, order a beer, take your fresh caña (Spanish for a glass of beer) outside, enjoy the rock music while watching the people dance - better, try to move their feet - on that circular dance floor. A contradiction like you've never seen before.

[thetravellingdead]

PALM TREES

If you like palm trees, then Gran Canaria definitly is the place to be. The palm trees are, like, everywhere.

[thetravellingdead]

PLAYA DE ARINAGA

Next stop: Playa de Arinaga. Gran Canaria has 82 registered beaches (the ones officially recognized by the Canary Islands government) and la Playa de Arinaga is one of them. This beach is situated in the south-east of the island, as you can see on the following Google Maps Image:

Rock beach

The beach itself is a rock beach, not sand. People go and lay their towel on the rocks to sunbathe. Don't worry if you don't feel comfortable on a rock beach, Gran Canaria has a lot of sand beaches as well. 

Ice, ice, baby

One of the nicest ice-cream-related discoveries for me in Gran Canaria? They sell Malteser ice ceam and Kinder Surprise/Joy ice cream on the island. Yes, Mal-te-ser ice cream. And personally, I thought it was really good. 

The Canary Islands are actually ideal places to test new products: since the islands have a concentrated population, alimentation companies, like the Coca Cola one, sometimes first try out new flavours on one of the islands before selling them on big scale. Maybe they could try the same for new zombie blood flavours.

Kinder Surprise versus Kinder Joy

So, two paragraphs ago I mentioned something about 'Kinder Surprise/Joy ice cream'. It's about that Kinder-Surprise-slash-Joy-thing. The Kinder Joy is a variation of Kinder Surprise.

According to the region Ferrero, the company that manufactures the chocolate eggs, decided to sell or the Surprise kind, or the Joy kind. In the Joy egg the chocolate and the little toy surprise are separated by a fine plastic paper. That way the little toy stays clean, in case the chocolate would melt. So, usually you can find the Kinder Joy in warm climates. In Gran Canaria you can find both, depending on the time of year.

And ow, just some fingerlicking good ice cream photos:

As you can see, this is not just Malteser ice cream. This is WHITE Malteser ice cream.

It doesn't always have to be blood...

The Kinder Surprise/Joy ice cream.