Espresso Fiorentino - TRAVEL

Rabat, Morocco

4/19/2015

A (white & blue) coffee in Rabat
... with Ahmed Jade

Luis LOPEZ GALAN

Among the oldest walls and streets of a city, one can see its greatness and feel the effects of time and the vicissitudes of history. This thought is flitting through my mind as we walk through the Kasbah of Rabat, the most important place in Arab cities and where the treasure used to be kept. Today, however, the treasure is a heaven of peace with Andalusian gardens composed by all kinds of flowers, trees and even a well that speaks of hundreds of thousands of desires it had listened over the centuries. Thus, among the aromas and decaffeinated color of the walls of the Kasbah, we enter Rabat, the beautiful capital of Morocco.

Imagen

Lusaka, Zambia

2/28/2015

A coffe (to the memory of Livingstone) in Lusaka
... with Sekwila Mumba

Luis LOPEZ GALAN

The air is fresh this morning when February is almost over; we can feel the breeze in our cheeks and it is also warm, nice. Perhaps these adjectives create a paradox of Zambia, geographically speaking: its situation in Africa could be located just below its heart, forming robust lungs of centuries of legends, races and tribes. Lusaka opens itself this morning letting the sunlight reflects in the windows of the large buildings scattered around the city. Between the blue sky and the copper, Zambia also opens its arms.

Imagen

Athens, Greece

1/28/2015

A (metrios) coffee in Athens
... with Thanos Tsiggas

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

Athens, Greece. Cradle of our society. The ethical and civic values that were reached in Ancient Athens formed actually the basis of modern society, the future Europe, the epicenter of humanity itself. The region that now occupies the city has seen the birth, growth and development during more than 3000 years of art, political thought, philosophy, theater, science, architecture and culture. Athens is beautiful for its temples and its artistic remains, but even more for those values that were born here. Getting into the capital of Greece means entering into the authentic history of democracy.

Imagen

Bali, Indonesia

12/4/2014

An (exotic) coffee in Bali
... with Wirya Panca Saputra

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

Ngurah Rai is one of those airports that have the ability to give the goose bumps to anyone, especially those sensitive ones. From the heights, the islands that form Indonesia can be appreciated among the mist of waves and navy blue that is transformed into turquoise slowly, as if it meant to do it gently, in order not to stain the white Balinese coast shore.

At the time the plane begins to descend, the horizon adopts the green of the jungle, wild nature. Below, like a gap of unhealed asphalt, a narrow landing runway awaits for us, surrounded on both sides by the waters of the Indian Ocean. Around it also awaits what is without doubt one of the most desired destinations by probably every worldwide traveler: The island of Bali in Indonesia.

Imagen

Brussels, Belgium

11/6/2014

A coffee (with chocolate) in Brussels
... with Tatiana Petit

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

There are places that can be easily identified by its monuments and customs, by that street appeared on a famous movie or the renowned restaurant known for its titles. On the other side are the cities and towns where the feelings are the true personality of the place: the taste of their dishes, the smell of the streets or the color of the houses’ roofs, glittering under the sun and placing themselves in our deepest memory forever. As we enter downtown by the Rue des Grands Carmes, we realize that Brussels is the exception that is in both sides and meets every one of the above guidelines: the reddish color of its walls is definitely the perfect companion to the strong smell of chocolate and gaufre that in the streets of Brussels can be breathed, a tale that has been mixed with the fervent modernity to become the current heart of Europe.

Imagen

Izmir, Turkey

10/14/2014

A (turkish) coffee in Izmir
... with Buğra Banas

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

About 450 kilometers from Istanbul, the city of Izmir proudly wears the title of the third largest metropolis in Turkey in the surrounding streets near the harbor, bathed by the legendary Aegean Sea. Getting to Izmir through the area known as Kordon, which we have just done, means doing it through its most populous and entertaining area. In all these streets, bars and restaurants succeed themselves and walkers enjoy the sunrays hitting the small calmed waves on the horizon. With our backs to the Aegean and the smell of Turkish coffee coming to us, our day in Izmir could not start better.

Imagen

Barcelona, Spain

10/3/2014

A (modernist) coffee in Barcelona
... with Elena Blasco

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

There are cities that have such a genuine personality that captures the traveler who, from now will be participant of its customs and stories forever. The Ciudad Condal, the antique name of Barcelona, hides within its streets a hundred of different cities: the Modernist Barcelona, the one you can enjoy with a bike ride along the Ramblas, the city of the beach and the sea, the Gothic area, the Gaudí route, the daily life in the Boqueria Market and in older neighborhoods... and of course the afternoon coffee with the characteristic laughter and joy of a country that proudly shows off one of its most prominent landmarks. We return to Spain to arrive in Barcelona.

Imagen

Baoding, China

9/22/2014

An (emperor) coffee in Baoding
... with Naouye Chen

Luis LOPEZ GALAN

After a long flight and with our mind ready for the explosion of sensations that happens when landing at any point of Asia, we arrive in China a bit tired, but this helps us to have the necessary calm with which one must face the country. Customs, behaviors and ways of living of its people are visible from the airport and the mix of modernity and its ancient culture comes up in any unsuspected corner. In one of them, a taxi is already waiting for us to transport us directly to one of the most charismatic cities of the country: the protective and legendary Baoding.

Imagen

Lisbon, Portugal

9/5/2014

A (nostalgic) coffee in Lisbon
... with Inês Alves

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

- You asked me why I felt in love with Lisbon and now it's the time when I can explain it, with the city before us. Look there, see? Right there. At that point in the horizon the Tagus River is dying. It's over, yes, just like life, yet the sun is reflected on it to live together and forever whenever it becomes sea. The sun and the river are lovers in Lisbon, have you ever seen a more beautiful ray of sunshine? Belém Tower appears to agree, look at it, watching them for years from its white stone. Lisbon and its bohemian decadence remind us something inside ourselves that we didn’t even knew was there. Feel it, I told you that here the melancholy could be felt in the air as it touches your skin. There, look at you! There is already some nostalgia in your eyes! You couldn't help it!

Imagen

Quito, Ecuador

7/21/2014

A (colonial) coffee in Quito
... with Maria Paula Herdoiza

Luis LOPEZ GALAN & Alejandro ROJAS

It is past noon when we cross the mountainous border that plunges us in Quito. Today is not hot in the capital and a cool air welcomes us through the car windows. As we move through its streets, we get on an unexpected hill from which the Pichincha volcano greets us majestically in the distance, for us to check how the city stands on its lap. This is the volcano that gave birth to the first civilizations, the same who presided over the arrival of the Incas and that gave name to the Battle of Pichincha, in 1822, in which the independence of Ecuador was reached. Quito is living history, art, myths and hidden treasures. The Pichincha seems to smile, challenging from its backdrop. Will there be someone who can discover all the secrets of this magical city?

Imagen