United Statesian

Sunset in Atlanta Dear citizens of the world! This United Statesian has left home in the US to go home, but with a stop at home along the way. My 30 hour long journey from home to home... to home was not without its problems -- snow, cancellations, racing to the airport; however, I did try to enjoy the trip. My trip started with a very cold snowy day in Pittsburgh: Snowy Departure The first leg of my voyage took me on a short flight to Atlanta (should have been through JFK) and a three hour layover that gave me the chance to watch the sunset over the tarmac in Atlanta (picture at top)... The nine-hour flight was not too bad, but Delta did manage to show the same movie I had seen on the inbound flight three months earlier... c'est la vie. After a few hours in Madrid at my next home where I switched luggage and went to the train station to catch my six-hour train ride to Valencia. The hour long stopover in Valencia gave me the chance to snap some fotos around the station: Layover at...

The calm after the stor m Dear Citizens of the World! Marina D'Or "Vacation City" is now officially (Rain city). After a week of August rains, a huge thunderstorm rocked the city, flooding streets in seconds. This reflection is from the day after... The day started with rain and dark clouds. The afternoon started looking better, but then I heard the screems... I ran out to our 9th floor terrace which has a good view of the surrounding area. The storm was moving North at such a speed that birds running for cover were blown away. The rain and extreme winds only took a few seconds to cover the mile (1.5km) distance from Marina D'Or Hotel/Spa. The incredible speed of the storm scared the tourists, caught off guard I leave you with a parting shot from this morning. The sun and heat is back to the beach...for now... One of the more colourful buildings in Marina D'Or -- City of Rain The United Statesian

Sunset over desierto de las Palmas and Benicassim, with the unique pinkish red of the local stone Dear Citizens of the World! My motivation for this month will in part be to search for the light that makes the Mediterranean so special. I had almost forgotten about it because it is either raining or too hot to venture out. Today's ride was hampered by a summer storm. Luckily, I was able to watch it from nearby. The picure below shows the rain over part of the sea. A nice tone of pinkish-orange contrasts well with the dark-gray clouds. Just to the right, the sky was blue! Click to Enlarge... Enjoy the rain! The United Statesian

Dear Citizens of the World! I write to you from the "kitch paradise" of the Mediterranean. Marina D'Or, Vacation City, is located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, about an hour North of Valencia. Since Kings Day 2010, I have been coming here on weekends...and now the summer. My luck has not been good because it rained every weekend I came for the first six months. There was a bit of rain last night and there is a thunderstorm as I write this, but in general it is hot, humid, sunny and sweaty all summer long. The main street lights up at night...Spanish Vegas, but without casinos ? Marina D'Or has been designed to attract blue-collar families that dream of spending time at the beach, but feel like they are in need to be surrounded by a cheap version of Las Vegas. OK, maybe I am being a bit harsh, yet it does not feel like the Mediterranean coast of great artists like Soralla and Cezanne. The good part is that fact that I can easily jump on my bike and see lesser tra...

Mountains above the sea... a good mix. Dear citizens of the world, How things can change in just one week. One Saturday we was hiking over an ice-wind swept mountain , and the next we were on the Mediteranian coast, at 700m, a balmy 30 degrees Celsius and a cool sea breeze coming from the beach below. Natural frame in the Desierto de las Palmas, Marina D'or This weekend, will be another wedding in the pueblo ... Hasta pronto! The United Statesian

Classic vs Modern "McCulture diet " Dear Citizens of the world, In my last post on the fallas of Valencia I talked about the prettier and noisier side of the Fallas Festival. This post is about the satyr and parody that most of the Fallas sculptures do so well. Many are like seeing a 3-D newspaper caricature. Obama was one of the more popular topics. One big difference would be that there is no censorship and there is a lot more nudity and crude racial stereotypes that you would not see in a United Statesian version. Super Obama! ... watch that hand... Critique on the USA, but with a large Coca-cola advert behind it... Caricature on recycling... the first one on the left is recycling silicon ;-) Caricature of a Spanish politician.. . O ne of my favourite...gotta love his smile What's he looking for?... Ahhh... the key ;- ) One of the cruder ones...Usain Bolt? Local traditional clothes -- mothers and their dolls... Hope to see you again soon! The United Statesian

Dear citizens of the world! Fire seems to play a central role in many festivals in Spain -- noise is a given. The Fallas (pronounced FAIyas) of Valencia is a Spring celebration in late March where more than 400 pieces of art (Fallas) are created in the plazas and streets. On the last night, all are burned at midnight; all except the best one which gets a pardon and goes off to a museum. This was my first year going to the festival. We had all afternoon to walk around and look at some of the main "fallas" before watching one burn at midnight. A detail of Charlie... One of the top Fallas statues... hard to believe it is paper... While all this is going on, there is an incredible amount of noise. There are thousands of people -- mostly young children -- setting off loud firecrackers. A terrorist attack could happen just down the street and nobody would notice. I jumped out of my skin more than once. A small kid being "indoctrinated" into the world of BOOM ! The mermaid...

Almond tree blooms in Desierto de las Palmas, Castellon, Spain Dear Citizens of the World, Recently, I have neglected one of my favourite hobbies . For some reason, having Galloping Spanish Blightus (pneumonia) reduced my hikes in the mountains to.... zero. Not good for my health - especialy my mental health. Getting a GPS gave me an extra reason to restart my weekend sorties in the mountains of Spain. Now it is possible for me to download tracks from Wikiloc.com and do just about any hike imaginable - as long as my legs will take me. It is quick and easy. Then you can upload your routes, comments and pictures for all to see and use. Here you can find my most recent sortie in Castellon Spain in the Desierto de las Palmas Natural Park. Monestary ruins surrounded by Almond Tree flowers We did 12km and 600m of climbing in this fun hike. The pinkish red rocks, steep terrain, monestaries, hermitages, ruins, views of the coast and mountains were even better with the almond tree blooms. Th...