Tag: Europe
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The Flysch
Our last few nights in Spain were spent in a camper cabin in the Basque Coast Geopark, a region spanning the coast between the cities of Mutriku and Zumaia that features unique geology. There are 94 such parks Europe (inclusive of Turkey and Russia) and it’s another locally-administered, independently managed, UNESCO joints like the Urdaibai…
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Birds and Bilbao: Basque Country
Yesterday, we left Urdaibai Bird Center extremely glad we prioritized this stop. The Urdaibai Biosphere Preserve’s status reminds me a bit of the Adirondacks Park in New York. It’s not a national park, neither is it entirely or even mostly government-owned land. Still, it’s a specific region packed full of recreational opportunity and science and…
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Urdaibai Bird Center
We’re not the kind of travelers who stick to the big cities and famous sights. I mean, obviously: We structured two days in Madrid around trees, one (admittedly very famous) painting, and a promise to go back to one specific playground. Now, we’re spending a couple of days looking at birds. I’m only kind of…
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Un bosque urbano
We would be reasonably confused if we left Madrid after Wednesday and assumed it was Europe’s most forested capital city. That title belongs to Oslo, for the record. Madrid does have a large tree canopy, especially compared to American cities of comparable size. About 38% of the city has a canopy of “urban woody features.”…
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Sabbatical Day 1: Midway to Madrid
My sabbatical started on Monday, June 19. Since I’m off for three entire months overlapped with László’s and Danielle’s summer breaks, we decided to take a big old trip to Europe. Our first international trip as a family, and my first since the 2019 VIP Grand Meetup in Rotterdam. The first day started with a…