Granada
Monday May 29, 2017
I've joined a week long tour with a company called Bus About, travelling around southern Spain and even heading to Morocco (which is today!) There's a Brazilian, a few Canadians but mostly Australians. It's nice to finally get some solid social interaction after travelling by myself for so long.
We left Madrid and headed to the medieval town of Toledo, still enclosed in a city wall. There's not much else there; a cathedral, a few buildings and some cafes. We continued to Consuegra, famous for the windmills that inspired Don Quixote, and in the afternoon, we arrived in Granada.
We walked around the city centre a little bit but most of us were tired and just chilled until dinner. We went for a casual tapas where there was too much food and sangria, and then we went up the hill to San Nicolas for some great sights of the city and the Alhambra, a Moorish castle. Nearby was the suburb of Sacromonte, a gypsy area, where we were treated to some Flamenco!
There's something entrancing about Flamenco. The rhythm is so strong and driving, and the way the dancers move their feet is amazing. There's a lot of emotion in the music; it was based on the pain and struggles the gypsies endured when the Catholics took over Spain. Unfortunately many of us were so tired from such a long day (it was almost midnight at this point) that we had begun to nod off slightly! It was entertaining nonetheless, at one point in time, there was a heavy flick of sweat on the closest audience members!
We were up early to head to the Alhambra the next day. It's an incredible building that is pretty well preserved despite the history of the warring Moors and Catholics, and some of the architectural decorations are out of this world. There's so much rich symbolism in the facades and columns and art; they based a lot of their designs around geometrical and mathematical concepts. There's a beautiful symmetry and tessellation to many of the patterns, and a lot of allusions to the number 7, which represents completion or perfection. In total, we spent over three hours walking around, and that was probably the perfect amount of time.
In the afternoon, we went to a traditional hammam - herbal bath - for some relaxation in the water. It was an interesting experience, but probably not something I would do again. I feel like I would have enjoyed a swim in the pool (or the sea if we were near it) more.
After a chaotic dinner, we went for karaoke. I could not contain my excitement. I was over the moon and kept talking throughout the whole day about it. Hopefully I did not disappoint; I got to sing my favourite Let it Go, as well as a few others, but it was a public system and we had to share with the other patrons in the bar, who were all amazing (and all sang in Spanish, naturally.) One guy that was there had even participated on The Voice, and that was a treat to listen to. We had such a good time, singing Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Aerosmith and Whitney Houston, and we finished with the Australian national anthem, John Farnham's You're the Voice. There were so many more songs I wanted to sing but as more patrons started pouring in, the less frequent our songs became, so we left around 1am.
We're on our way to Tarifa to take the ferry over to Tangier, Morocco. I was secretly hoping it would be raining in Morocco so I could bless the rains down in Africa.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:49am on Monday May 29, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Barcelona
Monday May 22, 2017
I arrived in sunny Barcelona on Thursday morning and made my way to the hostel with no problems. The metro system here is very easy to use, and the Hola BCN card means I can take any modes of public transport, unlimited for four days. My room wasn't ready, so I ended up wandering in one direction to see what I could find.
I ended up at Plaça Espanya, where there was an automobile exhibition on. I wasn't particularly interested though, I wanted to make my way to the massive building up on the hill. I'd find out that this was the Palau Nacional, the site of the 1929 International Exhibition, and it overlooks the Magic Fountain, which lights up at night and synchronises with music.
I went back to the hostel and took a break. I'd been suffering from allergies as I made my way through the east of France and Geneva, but I'd miraculously stopped sneezing as soon as I landed in Barcelona. I was still tired though. I went for dinner some time later and made a complete fool of myself, spilling Fanta on my pants and flicking oil from my prawns into my face. I also had a talk with a lady from Hong Kong who seemed critical of my life choices (she called New Zealand boring and seemed shocked I was spending only four days in Barcelona, compared to her two weeks). It wasn't a pleasant night.
On Friday, my first stop was Sagrada Familia. As I exited the metro station, I looked around to see where the cathedral was and as I looked behind me, my jaw dropped. It's massive. It's not even finished - it's going to be taller than that. The architecture is gorgeous and so purposeful. Everything is there for a reason and has a meaning. The stained glass on the east are greens and blues to capture the morning sun, while the glass on the west are reds and yellows for the evening sun. The columns lining the nave look like trees with branches supporting the roof. Each facade depicts one of three crucial points of Jesus's life - the Nativity, the Glory and the Passion. Each apostle is represented by a tower, each gospel writer has a tower as well, a taller tower represents the Virgin Mary and the central tower, the tallest and yet to be finished, will represent Jesus. I spent ages wandering around, admiring all the different symbolism and choices behind them. It's truly stunning. I will have to return in 2026 when it is complete.
I saw several more of Gaudi's buildings throughout the day. I visited Plaça de Catalunya and La Rambla. There was the Mercado de La Boqueria, full of delicious fruit, meat and seafood. I went all the way down to the waterfront by Maremagnum and took a quick doze there. I loved every moment of it, just absorbing the atmosphere of Barcelona and the glorious sunshine.
I returned to La Rambla for dinner - twice. Once in the market and another just off the main road. The advantage of tapas is that you can easily eat more in a single night, but it does get quite expensive, especially for the solo traveller. In any case, it was a much more pleasant experience than the night before.
I caught the Magic Fountain show as well. A full hour of music and lights as the glow of sunset gives way to night; the atmosphere was warm and friendly as we enjoyed hits like Pompeii, Counting Stars and Somebody to Love.
On Saturday, I went to the Arc de Triomf and explored the gardens around that area before taking a stroll on the beach. I can see why Barcelona's beaches are so popular. Your view is a beautiful expanse of blue sea while you laze about on the pristine imported sand in balmy 20C weather.
I took a tour to Montserrat in the afternoon. It's a mountain to the northwest of Barcelona where a monastery was built in homage to where a relic of the Virgin Mary was found. Montserrat translates to English as Saw Mountain (serrat like serrated) and true to its name, the jagged peaks of limestone looked very saw-like indeed. One rock formation on the mountain is called the camel, and a small triangular gap in the structure has been used in a death-defying wing suit jump. No thanks.
You could easy spend a full day up here walking all the hiking trails to various panoramic sites. I only had time to take the funicular up to Sant Joan, where the views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean were breathtaking. You could see the Pyrenees as well, off the in north. I got to try four types of local liquors as well, made by the monks at the monastery, because there's not much else to do on the mountain. There was a sweet herby one, a coffee one, a hazelnut one which was very good, and the last one was a creme brûlée cream liquor which was my favourite.
Yesterday, I did my laundry in the morning, then returned to the beach to take the cable car to Montjuic. It was quite a wait as there are only two cars, but the view of the city is awesome, and it was such a good day as well. I spent the entire afternoon around Montjuic, walking around the castle, various parks and the Olympic Stadium.
For dinner, I took the funicular back down to the city and found a highly rated paella place. I was seated at the bar next to three Singaporean girls, whose accents I had recognised. We had a good talk about travels and food, and it was refreshing to get that level of social interaction. They apologised for taking pictures of their food.
I laughed.
We shared our starters, which was really nice of them, and I also ended up eating some of their seafood paella because they couldn't finish it. The bar had been playing American music throughout the night, and we couldn't help but sing along when Britney's Hit Me Baby One More Time came up. So good. A really enjoyable dinner with excellent company and atmosphere.
A lot of the gentrification of Barcelona was the result of the World Expo and the Olympics. The infrastructure is well developed and it is incredibly easy to get around on the metro; the Barcelona public transport company even runs some of the funiculars. It remains as one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations and I can finally see why. Sagrada Familia alone was worth the trip here, but there is so much to see and do. The food has been fantastic and the weather absolutely glorious. I'd love to come back with a group of friends and enjoy tapas in its fullest form, with bottles of sangria and mojitos.
Adios Barcelona!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:21am on Monday May 22, 2017 :: 0 comments ::