Seville
Wednesday May 31, 2017
From Tangier, we took the ferry back to Tarifa and then sat on the bus until Seville. There's actually a lot to see here, but we were only here for a night. It was very quiet yesterday because it was a public holiday, but today was much more lively.
We had a walking tour of the city, covering the major landmarks as well as a brief history. After dinner, we headed up the Espacio Metropol Parasol, a large installation colloquially called the Mushroom. From there, we got a magnificent view of the city and the sunset, as well as a free drink of sangria.
Perhaps the highlight was seeing a pilgrimage procession this morning. Every year, various districts send a delegation of people towards Huelva and today, the district of Triana was up. It was amazing to see all the men and women in formals getting ready to go on their journey, some on horseback and others on foot. The atmosphere was jovial but respectful, and awesome to experience.
We covered the Real Alcazar as well; I did my queue cutting trick to skip the line since we were running low on time. This palace is famous for being featured in Game of Thrones as the location Dorne, which I had no idea about because I don't watch GoT. We didn't have time to cover the cathedral, but our last tourist stop in the city was the Plaza Espana, a beautiful building with a fountain and courtyard with murals representing all the provinces of Spain.
Now it's time to leave Spain and head to Portugal!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:00pm on Wednesday May 31, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Tangier
Tuesday May 30, 2017
After leaving Granada, we made our way to Tarifa on the south coast of Spain. In fact, it's the southernmost point of Europe, and less than 50km to a completely different continent, Africa.
We explored the town for a bit; I went down to the Isle of Tarifa where to my left I could see the Atlantic Ocean, in front of me was Europe, to my rightwas the Mediterranean and behind me was Africa. It was quite exciting to me!
We took the ferry over to Tangier, Morocco - we saw some whales on the way! We explored some of the city streets with a deadpan humour guide called Ali and a driver called Mohammed. As we made our way around the various sectors of town, he showed us a row of eucalyptus trees ("we don't have koalas here because we ate all of them") - so good. At the central market area, there were tons of vendors selling leather goods, silver jewellery, and clothing, as well as amazing fresh produce and breads of all kinds. We saw a carton of oddly-coloured chicks too, which was probably not very compliant with animal rights.
We were taken to a spices and oils pharmacy where we were told about the benefits of argane for hair and skin. It felt very much like an infomercial, but I ended up buying some saffron (for €8 a gram) and some Moroccan spice mix. I wasn't interested in the cosmetics at all.
We were taken to some souvenir shops to buy some goods but again I wasn't really interested. The vendors are very pushy here, the most forward I've ever encountered. They really go for the sale and will follow you around, even if you say no. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the girls in the group who seemed to be the target of most of these vendors.
We had dinner at a restaurant with some delicious meat skewers and couscous, but I wish there was more. There was also live entertainment in the background too. We had an early night at the hotel so we could take the ferry early the next day.
This morning, a vendor was trying to sell some amethyst to one of the guys in the group, and after being rejected, turned to me and asked "Japan? Korea?" I rolled my eyes so hard but just said "Yes. Korea." Too early in the morning for this!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:48am on Tuesday May 30, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
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 ::
Madrid
Saturday May 27, 2017
Gosh it's early. I've been getting up past 8am most days and today I'm up at the break of dawn and leaving Madrid for a tour of southern Spain.
Madrid is not as big as I thought it was. There's not too much to see, but the weather here has been unpleasantly hot to walk around and explore in my usual manner. I spent a lot of time in the shade of El Retiro park, with the many others who had come to find refuge from the heat. There was a book fair there yesterday, and an arts and craft fair nearby too.
I covered most of the famous sights; there's the Temple of Debod, which was an Egyptian temple that was dismantled and brought to Madrid, then reassembled; there's the Royal Palace of Madrid, full of art and royal things (you can tell I'm a little over that kind of stuff); there were various markets selling produce and tapas.
One evening I queued for 40 minutes to get into a coveted rooftop bar called Azotea in the Circulo de Bellas Artes building. I was somewhat surprised by the heavy security presence but I figured with a queue that long, they're just looking out for the patrons. Not at all. An envoy of important-looking cars pulls up and a tall gentleman gets out and everyone starts taking pictures of him. I follow suit, not really knowing who he is, but hoping I can identify him later. It turns out it's none other than Felipe VI, the King of Spain, so this rooftop bar must be amazing if the king is here too.
The view was stunning from the top, but the drinks are more expensive than what you'd find elsewhere. I watched the sunset, jostling with the dozens of others who wanted to capture the perfect Instagram moment. As the sangria began to wear off, I got progressively more self-conscious that I was in a bar by myself with no one to talk to. I couldn't even get a seat at the restaurant and I was getting more and more miserable so I left and got a quick bite and went home.
The feeling comes and goes. Though I'm definitely quite introverted, it doesn't mean I shun all social interaction. It's just that I need some space to be alone sometimes, and not all the time. It's also especially hard when you're in a country where you barely know the language and can't easily converse with the locals.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:33am on Saturday May 27, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Valencia
Wednesday May 24, 2017
It's no surprise that Valencia is famous for its oranges, because much like Sorrento and Cinque Terre, the region is bathed in glorious sun for much of the year. I've certainly felt it, both days here have been quite warm, and I can't help but enjoy a bit of schadenfreude upon hearing New Zealand has plunged to temperatures around 3C.
The bus from Barcelona was mostly uneventful, save for a puerile moment when we passed by a place called Peniscola, and another moment where there was a burning tyre on the road. I checked in to the hostel and walked around the Turia River Garden, a massive sunken green area where the Turia River flowed before it was diverted to stop flooding Valencia. With the sun out, it was nice to see so many people (and dogs!!) using the park for walks, runs, yoga, gymming or just lazing about.
I covered most of the city sites the next day. I started off at the central markets, again, a haven of all kinds of fresh and delicious-looking foodstuffs. I wandered around La Llotja de la Seda, a Gothic style civil building, briefly, before heading back to the north side of the Turia River Garden and over to the Jardins del Real.
I returned to town for a very late lunch, but it was worth it - I had lobster paella. I returned to the gardens and went south towards the beach, stopping by three amazing buildings along the way. The Berklee College of Music, the Hemisferic IMAX and the Science Museum are stunning pieces of architecture, and remind me of the arcological structures you can build in Sim City 2000. A few kilometres further and I finally made it to La Malva Rosa beach. What a glorious sight to see, the crystal clear blue waters, the huge stretch of sand, mountains in the distance and not a cloud in the sky. It was so inviting I even took my shoes off and walked down to the water's edge.
Because lunch was late, dinner was late too. I ended up ordering a massive 500g steak that I couldn't finish, but it was so delicious. I didn't even have room for flan.
I'm currently on the train to Madrid, travelling at 240km/h. I was cutting it a bit close this morning but I made it at least. It's supposed to be 30C in the capital!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:53am on Wednesday May 24, 2017 :: 0 comments ::