Photo of the week: The first Shot...

If you are asking yourself about today's post title, the first of 2015, the first after a long break, was this my first photo of the year?
It was not the first of the year but one of my first ever, and I would even say the reason of my passion for photography. With this photo I won my first camera, my Nikon E4300 which followed me almost everywhere for about 5 years...

This was the perfect reason to remember the last year of this blog and to thank you all for the energy that, with each like, each comment, each visit, give me strengh to continue this project and step by step make it grow up...

• One year that fdgoodlife was read in 93 different countries and visited by 2600 readers.
• One year that we ended with:
• 202 likes on Facebook
• 205 followers on Twitter
• 181 followers on Instagram

For 2015 I hope to be able to write more regularly and that toguether we are able to continue to raise this project...

THANK YOU!!!

Photo of The week: Spring is back!

The sun is back to Madrid latitude and to celebrate it the photo of this week is a flower, the icon of this season of the year. One of the images of our Safari in Botswana that I cannot erase from my memory...

Photo of the week: Water is life!

Two days after the International Water Day, the picture of this week, reminds me the moment when we saved this animal that was about to die dehydrated, an example of solidarity and harmony between species... 

Photo of the Week: Lagoas Empadadas

One of the most magic powers of photography is the ability to travel and feel new or past experiences in just a few seconds. 
Last Friday when I saw a photo from Jose Luis Gonzalez-Redondo on twitter, I immediately travelled to this beautiful place in Azores, and remembered all the emotions of this great trip through São Miguel also known as the green island...

Photo of the Week: Hippopotamus amphibius

Hippo or Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), which comes from the Greek "river horse" or "water horse" was, undoubtedly, the most respected animal by all rangers during our safari. This was the only time that, due to the with of the lake and the fact that he was alone, we were able to stay for a while observing him stopped in the boat...

Photo of the Week: Lion (Panthera leo)

This week, one of the lots of photos from our Safari in Botswana that I still have to share with you... Coming soon on fdgoodlife photos and stories from the rest of our trip to Victoria Falls and Botswana!

Pilanesberg National Park

We had our first contact with the African Wildlife in Pilanesberg National Park. If you are on a business travel to Johanesburg and you have a couple of days or a weekend free this may be an excellent option as it is not too big (about 550 km²) and is a bit less than three hours from Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. 

It was an excellent appetizer before our trip to Botswana. It brought us the first emotions of watching some game that, till then, we’d just seen on TV or on the zoo just a couple of meters away from the car.

These were very special moments that I’ll never forget…

Please click the photos to enlarge 

Photo of the Week: Pilansberg National Park

It has been really difficult to choose the photo of this week as it has been a fantastic holiday start in Pilansberg National Park...

Photo of the week: Plitvice Lakes National Park

The photo of this week is one of several paradise landscapes that you can find at Plitvice Lakes National Park...

Photo of the Week: Communication!

Troia Resort, Troia - Portugal

Today is a Special day! We start a new section on the blog, the Photo of the week! The reason why I've picked this photo for the first week could not be more connected to the objective behind this blog: to Share experiences... 

As it is widely said one image worth thousand words, so I hope this photo encourages you to start commenting and sending your inputs about the posts, the recipes, because this is really important to improve our blog...

Much more than wineries...

Normally when we go on vacations or for a long weekend, we tend to organize everything till the minimal detail (I say "we" referring to the usual practice, because normally I'm a complete exception to this rule), which may turn your holidays even more stressful than the normal week routine...

As I said before, I will be the exception to this rule, usually quickly look at some guides or blogs to see what to do, where to eat and visit, but usually we just follow our intuition when we are already there.





 

In last weekend's trip the surprise factor was completly enhanced. Apart from visiting the wineries Portia, a birthday gift from my friend Ana, we hadn't anything planned... which in this case was clearly a good choice ... In terms of tourism, the weather forecast could not be worse: cold and rain. For this reason, as I wrote on yesterday's post, we decided to choose a comfortable hotel to stay - Hotel Boutique & Spa Capítulo Trece, and the plan was no more than rest and rest...





 

We left Madrid by mid-morning, and after 150 kms between rain and some snow we arrived Maderuelo. After the check in in the hotel we asked for some advice about where we could have lunch and then come back to the hotel for the planed target: a nap!

 

Following the recommendation we went to lunch at Ayllón, a medieval village where after the great lunch at La Tenada del chispano we went for a little walk and, as it didn't stop raining we returned to the hotel to rest ...

On Sunday, after the wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we visited the winery of Portia, that you'll be able to read about it tomorrow here on the blog. We had lunch in Aranda de Duero, and as it stopped raining, we went through the Parque Natural del Río Hoces Riaza where for the first time in my life I saw vultures, Gyps fulvus, which made me recall the afternoons spent with the Owl Group observe birds in the nature reserve of the Tagus estuary in Portugal ... 

A pity not to have a little more zoom for pictures and take a closer look ...

Finally, taking into account the weather conditions it was really a great surprise this two-day trip on the region of Castilla y León, Spain.



Travel roadmap:

Lengh: 2 days

Region: Castilla y León, Spain





Where to sleep: Maderuelo - 150 kms north of Madrid

What to see:





Ayllón

Maderuelo

Parque Natural del Río Hoces Riaza (home to the park is in Montejo de la Vega de la Serrezuela)

Wineries in the region of Ribera del Duero

Where to Eat:

La Tenada del Chispano (Ayllón)

El Lagar de Isilla (Aranda de Duero)

Casa Pablito (Corral de Ayllon)