When the East meets the West!

1.11.2005

Today marked my last day in Barcelona and despite the early morning sunlight streaming through the window of my room, promising yet another glorious sightseeing day, I was not able to shake off this sense of forboding, knowing my love affair with Spain and in particular, this magical city was about to come to an end.

However, rather than wasting good energy on wallowing in self pity, I decided that if I was to leave Barcelona, it should be with a big bang, after all, no other city in Spain had been able to get under my skin the way Barcelona had, with its slow persuasive and seductive dance of life, mesmerising you and drawing you into its cocoon before transforming and releasing you back into the world as a multi coloured butterfly complete with the sense of awe, amazement and total enchantment.

I decided the best way to pay tribute to this wonderful city was to continue my delectable exploration of the city and to absorb as much as it has to offer. Here is a visual tour on some of the highlights:

First port of call, The castle on top of the Montjuic mountain, buil strategically overlooking the city during the period when Iberians and the Cantalans governed over Barcelona.

Directly facing the Montjuic castle, at the bottom of the hill which you can just see behind me, was the Piazza Espana, a beautifully designed landscape featuring a round hedge centerpiece and twin clock towers surrounding it and just in front of the hedge situated one of the city's oldest monuments.

From there, I made my way towards the coastal part of the city, where the busy city port was located, just south of the Le Rambla. Standing proud between the Le Rambla and the port area was the very highly erected bronze pillar and right at the top of the pillar stood the proud statue of Christopher Columbus pointing knowingly towards the sea. I caught an elevator up through the hollow pillar right to the top viewing booth and was able to enjoy the panaromic 360 degrees view of the city and the port. This is an aerial picture taken from the Tower on one of the port's administrative buildings.

The port area was more of a modernly designed area, complete with a marina and also a very large shopping mall where the public toilets were probably one of the bests I've ever had the privilege to use in Europe. How often could you get an amazing view of the Mediterranean sea while washing your hands at the toilet sink? However, amongst these modern complexes, there stood a piece of history that caught my attention, Spain's first submarine, very cool to look at but unfortunately, like many historical sights in Spain, you don't get any information board located beside it or if you do, they were often only written in Spanish, *mutter*.

Even without written information, the submarine commands one's respect and appreciation of the Spanish naval power of the past..

Further inland from the port stood Barcelona's proud Courts of Justice with its Moorish and Gothic mixed design.

Not to be outdone by the French, the Spanish also erects their own Arc de Triumph and even boldly named it so. Comparing it to its French counterpart, you can definitely see the latino flair in its design, can't you?

From here, I made my way to Mount Trebido, the famous mountain many Spanish believed was where Jesus were meditating when Satan appeared to tempt Him. Perhaps Jesus would have found it harder to resist if he saw this picture below instead of the bare land and a few cows..

The mountain was so high up that you had to take a tram from the bottom of the hill up to halfway and then change from that to what we call the 'cable car' but referred to as the 'furnicular' in Europe. Right at the top of the mountain is a very massive stone and cement church, although only recently built, it was built in the style of Gothic with a giant picture of Jesus Christ standing in front of it. About 20 metres southwest of the church was rather an odd sight...an amusement park, complete with roller coasters. Maybe Satan thought if Jesus ever returned as an adventurous type...

After spending a good considerable of time drinking in the magnificent view from this mountain, I reluctantly returned back to ground zero to make my way back to the Mountjuic Park where if I estimated correctly, not only would I be able to see where most of the 1992 Olympics venue, including the stadium were located, but it would also be a prime spot to catch glimpses of a beautiful sunset.

As the sun descended steadily, I walked briskly up the small hill, passing by the Montjuic Castle once more and finally reached a small park which had access to great views of the setting sun and the city basking in its dying light. Already lines of crimson red and orange could be speen splashed across the skies that were getting darker. Other than myself, there were several older people participating in a friendly game of lawn bowling while their friends watched on from a picnic table nearby. They half heartedly played cards while reminiscing about their pasts to one another, at least that's what seemed to be what they were doing judging from the laughter and animated sound of their voices. I guess for all I know they could simply be talking about how annoying it was to have tourists walking around trying to take pictures of sunsets while they're playing cards....who knows! In any case, I was too busy to notice as I happily took pictures of the many shades of a breathtaking sunset, but my favourite? See for yourself!

My time in Barcelona and Spain has set but I really didn't want o go..

Eventually, not wanting to miss my overnight train to Venice, I made my way back to the hostel and departed for the train station. Upon arrival I was alarmed not to be able to locate my train information from the gigantic departure board overhead. Despite still having a good 10 minutes before the train's departure, I could not for the life of me rid myself of the sense of panic that was beginning to build within me. I cautiously approached the information counter and showed the guy my ticket. He pointed on my ticket some Spanish words that were alien to me but basically he explained in his thick Spanish accented English, "this train leaves from another train station, not this one and you will not make it to that station in time, looks like you've missed your train". I blinked a few times trying to register what this man had just said..."NO WAY!!" my head screamed! I specifically asked the ticket salesperson when I purchased the ticket a few days ago as to whether the train was going to leave from the Sans Station (All Station, Barcelona's main station) and he told me the affirmative and now it's all wrong?

As it turned out, up to like one week ago, trains going to Italy were leaving from this train station but the trains had been rerouted to depart from the other station, the information guy went on to explain patiently to me. He didn't say it but I could see from his expression, the one we all know so well "Didn't so-and-so get the office memo about this?!"

Compounding on my poor run of luck was the fact that there were no subsequent trains departing for Venice or Milan for at least another 4 or 5 days. The only silver lining in this very dark black cloud was that they refunded me the money for my train ticket.

Once again, this was one of those "travelling experiences" one could put this down to but I can assure you I did not feel that blaze and 'c-est la vie' about the whole thing then...I was furious! One guy's "oops" had caused me inconveniences of massive proportion! Also I suddenly discovered that since I was going no where that night, I had to sort out accomodation and figure out what was the best and quickest way to get to Italy. What do you think was the first thing I did?

If you guessed going back to the city to sort out my night's accomodation (it was already almost 10pm that night), then EEEEEEEKKK, that would be incorrect. I actually went first to an internet cafe and tried to find alternative methods of getting to Italy and the best way I discovered was to stay for another 2 days in Barcelona and then fly directly to Venice. That sorted, next pressing thing on the agenda of course was to locate the sleeping abode for the night. Luckilly for me, it was certainly the "off-peak" season (if there's ever such thing in Barcelona) and I quickly found a place to stay for the next two nights. Wellll, after saying goodbye earlier, I did promise Barcelona that I would return to her, just didn't think it would be that soon! So..as the famous chinese saying goes "rice has become porridge" (food theme is big with us), there was no point really sulking, instead, time to get excited again at the thought my affair with Spain being prolonged.

2.11.2005

Gillian (good friend met during stay in Valencia) left for Barcelona when I went to Almeria. I rememberd her mentioning that besides Gaudi, Barcelona of course was also sanctuary to Picasso and another modernist artist, Salvador Dali. As you can see, if these extraordinary figures of history with their high appreciation of aesthetic beauty could see how beautiful Barcelona was, who were we then to argue? In any case, just like Gillian, I wanted to visit the infmaous Salvador Dali's museum, located in Figueres, 3 hours train ride north of Barcelona but due to the limited time, I had to forsake this visit but suddenly finding myself with extra 2 days to spend in Barcelona, I decided that fate must have decided that I should not leave before visiting Dali and I was glad because had I not gone, I would not have seen so many of my favourite surreal artist's works. A very perculiar man indeed, especially if you see some of the statues that he created, including those of a man wearing a 1950's style underwater suit, standing beside a voluptious of a woman who surreptitiously stood gracefully balancing a gigantic loaf of French bread on her head. Yes, certainly the theory that Dali and Gaudi sharing some hash cookies while discussing their next projects sure flashed into my mind more than once!

There is nothing wrong with your computer screen, this is indeed what the outside of Dali's museum looks like. I'm going to go out of the limb here and say that I think Dali likes eggs. What do you think?

This is what happens if you're daughter of Dali wanting a doll house for Christmas!

These were just some of the eccentricities that greet you when visiting this very weird but entertaining "house of mirrors", where the strange and absurd never felt more at home here than anywhere else. The train ride back to Barcelona certainly passed by quickly with my coming to terms with what I saw.

By the time I reached Barcelona, it was getting dark and I was happy then to just take it easy back in the hostel and meeting a few people also staying there but no, did not make any lifetime friend..I can tell when you're mocking me!! :P

3.11.2005

As my flight to Venice was in the early afternoon, I did not have much time to explore too much. But in case you're wondering though, yes, this time, I had checked that there was only ONE airport and my plane was definitely flying out from there!

I chose to spend the little time I had by visiting a cute lil Spanish village, one that has been constructed just before the Olympics of 1992 to resemble how a Spanish village would have looked like in the early 20th century. It was rather facinating to walk through the village with its old fashion equipments being used, lots of shops that mimicked the business ran in the 1910's, like glass blowing and handicrafts.

The impressive Spanish styled church and council building as it would have looked like in the 'good ol days'.

I was so worried that somehow I would get delayed again that I literally arrived a good 3 hours before my plane's scheduled departure time and I was happy to report that of course when you're early like that, then everything was uneventful and the trip was suddenly smooth sailing..oh Murphy, I hate you so...

AO Rating of Barcelona: Do you really need me to spell it out?! In total, I spent 20 days in Spain, the longest so far I have spent durig my trip in one country. It is indeed interesting, despite travelling mostly through the Andulusia part of Coastal Spain, then to Madrid, then Valencia and then Barcelona, I felt like I have seen one country with its easily recognisable particular customs and culture but yet at the same time, I noticed also how different they each were, slight but significant dissimilarities, casting their own kind of spells on you. Valencia certainly would be my most favourite city of Spain and indeed of all the cities I've been to so far, not so much judged from the perspective of its touristic appeal, but more its cosy, warm and friendly appeal, a place outside New Zealand and in Spain which I would consider calling home. Barcelona however, takes the cake when it comes to the "wow" factor. It was like watching a thriller movie with many heart gripping subplots. Each time you think you have had it figured out, you get another jolt to remind you that the journey had just started and you better buckle up if you want to survive the trip. Infinite Exhilaration..Hasta luego Barcelona, so long as the sun rises and sets on Mount Monjuic, I shall continue to hope and dream that I shall return once more..

Till then, I have a date with Venice...

31.10.2005

*Ties hair up into a perfect round bun and put on librarian glasses* Ahem..Class, turn to page 105 on your History of Spain textbook..

Barcelona was originally a Roman settlement founded on a hill during the reign of Emperor Augustus and before the Romans arrived, the present day Barcelona area was inhabited by the Iberians. The Iberian culture developed and flourished for about 500 years from the 5th to 2nd century B.C. The Romanization of the city took place around 218 B.C and the city was modernised and its culture enriched.
The Carolingian Empire than succeeded the Roman Empire in ruling over Barcelona and under its ruling, the city flourished and achieved its golden age as an important port city of the Mediterranean, rivaling Venice in the 11th and 12th century. The region of which Barcelona is located is known as Catalonia and the Catalans once considered themselves a country to themselves, separate from the rest of Spain and it was not until much later when Spain was united under King Juan Carlos and Queen Isobel of Spain in the late 15th century that Barcelona became part of Spain.

*pulls pin out and with a sophisticated head toss, hair came tumbling down at the same time the stern looking glasses were quickly discarded in favour of a short sleeved top and skirt and sunglasses* Right...time for the field trip now class..let's go!!

So it was indeed impossible not to be overwhelmed by the ancient and rich history of Barcelona as I breathed in the smell of coffee and fresh warm croissants on my way Le Rambla, but not before navigating through ancient and modern buildings, situated harmoniously next to one another. It was yet another glorious sunny day, which in turn made it that much easier to feel light and happy and that everything was fine with the world.

The aerial view of the main street of Barcelona, Le Rambla. This is the street where the pulse of the city is folks! Great place to be entertained while getting breakfast thanks to shops, buskers of all shapes, sizes and noises..and other tourists walking up and down this super busy street.

Prior to coming to Barcelona, I had heard so much about its very very infamous resident, the late Antoni Gaudi, architect and engineer extraordinaire who lived between the late 19th to early 20th century, the beloved son of Barcelona whose very much admired and respected work of art adorned the city's landscape. I was not particularly aware of him or his work especially since it would fall under "modernists" architecture as opposed to ancient ruins, which had so far been much of my focus through this tour. Little did I know I would soon join millions of others in becoming one of his biggest fans and you're about to see for yourself why.

So I set off on this Tour of Gaudi as I dedicated today's sightseeing programme. First up on my list was the Casa Bastillo. Prior to arriving at the Casa, I had a first glimpse of what to expect from Gaudi when I walked past one of the least popular buildings designed by him:

This building was not one of the more famous buildings of the city, hence I didn't even know the name or what it's for! But it gives you an indication of what to expect.

Casa Bastillo used to be Gaudi's family residence. A house he designed to reflect his two greatest love, nature and architecture. The result was a house that boasted architectural and interior design that incorporates the theme of nature in one form or another, both in aesthetic style and also in practical function. Take for example the rooms in the house, the corridors were all designed in the shape of a whale's rib cage, semi oval arches painted in white to resemble the insides of a whale and at the same time, not only were they aesthetically intriguing, they also served the purpose of being arches of greater support to the foundation of the house than the normal beams you often see in more conventional houses. Gaudi also cleverly employed extreme designs, colours and textures with extensive repertory of visual solutions, ingenius use of natural light and space to create an almost dreamlike quality to the building. A good illustration of this could be seen on the balcony of the building. The chimneys were painted and designed to look like something straight out of the technicolour dream with the supporting wall designed to resemble a fire breathing dragon. It was all very enchanting. Or if you're a cynic, you would probably say that Gaudi smoked really gooooood stuff when he designed his house! :-P

The outside of the building. As you can see, funky chimney and the windows are designed to look very very fishy...hmmms.. :D

The funky whacky yet super cool balcony!

By this stage, I was as excited as a child about to open her first present on Christmas day as I trotted along to the next Gaudi masterpiece, this time his work would appear in the form of sculptures, buildings and unique architecture incorporating once again both nature and modern art, all to be found at Park Guell, located about 25 minutes from the main centre. This park originally belonged to Gaudi's patron and admirer of his work, Mr Guell who wanted an English park containig Gaudi's work. The park was never fully completd due to the death of Guell but nevertheless, you would hardly notice this as you venture into the magical world of Gaudi. I almost felt like Alice in Wonderland!

The famous Iguana that greeted visitors at the entrance of this "amusement" park. Check out the cool designs..

After sampling and enjoying the "entree" served by Gaudi, I was ready for the main course..the ultimate Gaudi creation. This was Gaudi's biggest project where he dedicated 40 or more so of his life, starting from 1882, right till his death in 1926. This massive project was borne from Gaudi's grand vision which formed the cornerstones on which the current architects are still relying on to continue what Gaudi has started. It is projected that the project would be completd in 50 years time.

The Temple de la Sagrada Familia was Gaudi's greatest gift to his beloved city. Nothing I had seen so far could ever prepare me for what I was about to discover.

The design and overall plan of the Temple were based on Gaudi's studies and obsession with the use of innovative geometrical shapes of naturalist style. Eight of the twelve bell towers of the facade, dedicated to the Apostles and having a height exceeding 100 metres are already built. The four belfries awiting construction are those of the Facade of Glory. Then ther will be a 170 metre central dome in honour of Jesus Christ and finally, the Tower of the Virgin Mary measuring 125 metres will complete this enormous temple. What also makes this entire project more remarkable is that from the beginning, the building of the "Temple of Sacred Family", built under the concept of a temple of atonement, came only from private donations and alms, and it continues to be so due to the general donations from the faithful and admirers of the project.

I stood gobsmacked outside the entrance for a good 5 minutes before eventually able to shut my jaw and made my way inside the already very crowded temple. Armed with my audio guide, I began to explore first the outside of this temple before making my way inside. My jaws experienced the force of gravity a few more times as I moved in and out of the temple, following the audio guide's directions of what to see first. It became easier and easier to appreciate why Gaudi, the perfectionist took so long in first conceptualising what he wanted to build, and then actually carrying out the construction because the man truly took pride in ensuring the marriage of human technology and the geometrical symetry between what is material and natural was indeed astounding. I'll let the pictures show you what I mean!

The front of the facade and the 4 towers

Closer view of the front 4 towers

This time, the other completd four towers located at the back of the temple. You have no idea how huge these towers are!!

As you can see from the interior of the temple, the poles, beams and ceilings are designed to resemble the trees in a forest and this is an example of Gaudi's artful merging of nature and architecture.

No doubt I had taken lots of photos which I could not put them all here but I cannot wait to share them with you all. After taking my time discovering and admiring Gaudi's genius creation, I joined this long queue to climb up one of the towers. Just to give you how popular this place is. It took me 1 hour just to make it to the start of the stairs and another 2 hours of traffic jam, or rather body-to-body crawl before I actually got to the top. The view of course was amazing. Once again, will share all the photos later!

After this, it was rather hard to conjure up the energy or spirit to top this. So instead, I chose to save the rest of Barcelona for the next day. So I was happy to casually stroll back, to reflect on the impact Gaudi and his work had on me. Truly remarkable. The Temple of Sacred Family would easily rate as one of the most amazing building I have seen to date in Europe! Then again, I still have so much to see of Barcelona, I only covered like half of the main sights, if that! Oh boy...I have a feeling Barcelona will be rivalling Valencia soon as my favourite destination the way it was going! We shall see what tomorrow brings..

29.10.2005

After what was a truly relaxing and well needed pit-stop, I bid both Almeria and Robert goodbye before boarding the train that would take me to Malaga before switching to a night train to Barcelona.

I sat down at my designated seat opposite this guy who looked suddenly elated at the prospect of my joining him. This ought to have been a sound warning for me to change seats as there weren't that many seats taken. Anyhow, sitting down, I quickly buried myself in my Harry Potter book before I was interrupted by the guy. He introduced himself and within a minute, he began to fill in me on his tragic love life and how he was just a normal guy seeking love and affection and how he had so much to offer if only there is a woman out there who would give him a chance. He then looked at me enquiringly and I of course without missing a beat looked back blankly as if not understanding his meaning. Already I was contemplating different excuses to offer him for my untimely escape from his company but he proceeeded to regale me with further details of his love life despite my silent protest and look of fear. Eventually, sensing that I was nevver going to propose to be his girlfriend, he outrightly suggested that perhaps we should get together, this is despite the fact that we were going different places that night, so which meant he expected that I would just completely forget my trip in order to be with this Mr Don Quiote. I quickly muttered something along the lines of not looking for love but just wanted to travel and he eventually (after I repeated this statement at least 5 times) and finally the guy conceded that I would never be dancing the flamenco with him anytime soon or be sharing many a siesta with him!

As soon as the train pulled up at the station that I was meant to get off, I couldn't get out of my seat any quicker. Bidding Mr Valentine a quick goodbye, I thankfully disembarked before continuing my journey onwards to Barcelona!

30.10.2005

I arrived nice and early and headed straight to my hostel, which I understood from the hostel's email instruction that it was in the 'heart of the city' only a few metro stops away. Heart of the city my ass! It was at least 6 metro stops away, lasting a good 25 to 30 minutes ride and in the metro, that's not a brief travel time. I was also a bit annoyed to discover terms like "upon exiting the metro, our hostel is just a few minutes away from the metro" turned out to be a good 15 minutes walk uphill on a street. So by the time I dislodge my turtle shell, my mood did not match the sunshine that greeted me that morning. Anyhow, I made my 6 metro stop rides back into the heart of the city, excitingly anticipating my visit to the city's Cathedral. I was also informed given that it was Sunday, there was a free show of Barcelona's traditional community folk dance being held at the square outside the Cathedral. As you can see from the photo, the locals took this event quite seriously, dressing appropriatekly for it and moving with the grace that would have made Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proud. It is hard to describe the dance, except to say they all held hands forming a huge circle and pretty much moving to the music,, converging forward and back and side stepping skillfully.

Ole, ole, ole, ole, feeling hot hot hot! OK, the oldie folk dancers didn't exactly perform to this music but it's my blog and I'll make it up if I want to..

So, after being treated to a pleasant exposure to folk dancing Barcelona style, I decided to drop by at the Cathedral. I was disappointed to discover that like many historical and significant buildings in Europe, the Cathedral was under restoration and therefore it's maginificent architecture was marred by the ugly scaffolding built around it. Luckily, I got around this problem by taking the picture of the church from the back. Whilst it was a hot sunny day, I was glad that I didn't resort to dressing cooly, meaning I would have been turned away by the church fashion police who reminded the crowd to respect the church dress code of covering yourself appropriately. We certainly do not want to tempt the priests do we?

Just outside the back of the church with one of the many monuments

The church as viewed from the back.

As I was still finding my bearings, I decided to simply walk around just to get a feel for what the city is like. It is certainly a very busy city but somehow, unlike the forboding feeling of chaos and "impurity" that I felt about Madrid, my vibes on Barcelona was more promising. Even though the atmosphere was that of a loud hustle and bustle, yet people seem to scurry around not so much in impatient haste, but more as if they could not wait to celebrate life, a rush to enjoy their day as much as they can. From the many buskers performing on Barcelona's main pedestrian street of Le Rambla, down to the police officers directing the busy afternoon traffic, everyone was good natured in going around their business, smiling, shouting in greeting or lounging chatting with friends while having a coffee at many of the outdoor cafes spread sproadically around town.

Unsurprisingly, during my walk, I made several wrong turns here and there when looking for a particular street and during one of these faux pas, it turned out to be one that was worth making as I came across an interesting graffiti with a even more interesting website address. Have a look!

Finally! Being appreciated and receiving a way overdue accolade!

The fragrance of freshly plucked flowers mingled with recently brewed spanish grounded coffee punctured the air pleasantly as I made my way further down Le Rambla and heading east towards the Parc de Ciutedad (city park of course).

As it was a Sunday, there were quite a people sauntering around, mostly young families pushing strollers through the park, a few young kids chasing one another around and several joggers taking full advtantage of the beautiful day. Who could blame them? I happilly joined them, walking through one of the many entrances into the park. I first came to a large rotunda in the middle of the park where several guys were playing some music while at the center, a young man was gyrating away, obviously practising his flamenco moves while a small group of people encircled him, happily absorbing the festive atmosphere plus a free flamenco show. After a few minutes, I reluctantly tore myself away to enjoy the rest of my walk through the park.

I eventually arrived at this most magnificent centerpiece located at the heart of park. It is hard to describe what it is. It's not exactly a monument, nor is it a fountain, but I suppose the closest description I can come up with is that it seems to resemble an elaborate and majestically well decorated man made pond. I guess another one where the picture speaks louder than the words.

See? Told you it's easier to show than tell! Beautiful no though?

Yours truly travelling incognito...

As many of you probably know that I love observing people, that is, in a objective, "trying to figure them out in the development and understanding of the human psychology" kind of way and not in a scary, freaky and spooky kind <cue Twilight Zone music>.

So, the City Park was an optimal venue for my lil hobby as I patrolled and gazed, strolled and was amazed, by how the Spanish truly give meaning to the word, Leisure. Siesta is one thing, but it was difficult not to smile appreciatively and be entertained by the people of all ages going about their daily relaxing ritual ranging from the hyperactive precocious kids, screaming and laughing as they chased one another around the park to young couples walking hand in hand, the girls with dreamy looks and the boys with mischevious twinkles in their eyes that did not bother to hide the anticipation and promises of frivolous fun they were going to have. Then there were the older couples who were equally happy and content to simply sitting on oak wooden benches, watching and living vicariously through the younger park goers as they go about enjoying the remaining sunshine of the day.

So it was with this feel-good and relaxed feeling that I eventually left the park and made my way back to the city, stopping by a hostel that was actually located in the central city and booked my accomodation for the remaining of my stay in Barcelona. Already I was excited at the prospect of the next few days in this city, oh yes, the vibe is certainly good.

b]25th October[/b]

Ok, before I start this entry, please let me clear up something for you. As you can see there's 2 dates on all my entries. The first one (which is always the later date of the two) is the date of when I wrote the entry and the second one is the date of the time I was actually in the place I was writing about. Sorry for the unnecessary headaches for those who are anal about chronology and sequence of events like moi..hehe

In my last entry, I mentioned lost of driver's license. I actually did not even realise it was gone until an hour before boarding the bus, that's how terrible I am with things like that..I mean, sure, passport I'm super careful..but driver's license is something I just keep in my money belt and hardly ever look at it except to use it as a security deposit when renting audio guides from the museums and before you enquire, no, I didn't leave it at any museum either! Anyway, I am about to find out how efficient the NZ embassy is overseas.

Right, now getting back to the blog..so not sure if you guys remember my meeting with Robert Kaasmacher during my stay in Seville. Robert, a German psychologist residing in Almeria convinced me (I'm sure he used hypnotism!) that Almeria is worth visiting because a) It is a coastal town facing the Mediterranean (aka, more beach time) and b) they have the Alcazaba, a city fortress only second to the Alhambra (see my Granada entry) and c) In the midst of the winter, the coldest temperature on average there was over 30 degrees!!! What was a historian geeky and beach loving and sun worshipping girl to do?!! I also needed another pit stop from all the travel hectic schedule and so I boarded the night bus from Valencia for Almeria, thinking this new experience (been on night train before but not on bus) would add another perspective to my travel experience but I think I definitely got more than what I bargained for...

The bus I planned to board was scheduled to depart at 23:48 (see, I'm already telling time like an European) but since it's to a small town like Almeria and it was so late, I did not bother reserving a seat..oh why, why does Murphy's Law mock me so! So as you can guess by now, I was informed that this bus was full and instead I had to take the next one, leaving at 02:30..I was like great, what the heck am I going to do for the next few hours, as all the shops in the bus station has already closed down for the day and it's half an hour's bus back into the city, so I decided to hang around, quietly ignoring that uneasy feeling that was slowly rising from the bottom of my stomache..(maybe it was no more sinister than my hunger..)

Ten minutes into my waiting, I was approached by a Morrocan man trying to chat me up...despite polite subtle hints that I rather be alone which was of course not so subtly ignored by the guy, I decided on a more crafty approach (I always believe that rudeness should be avoided at all cost if possible). Summoning my Oscar winning performance, I pretended to call someone on my mobile and proceed to chat away (which of course gave me a good excuse to dismiss the guy). He of course waited for me to finish my call but I was having the most animated and interesting conversation with myself and refused to hang up (maybe that german psychologist's expertise would come in handy later). Finally, he left me alone and I decided to go to a more brightly lit place, so made my way downstairs where there was a cafeteria.

My initial relief turned into anxiety again as I was about to enter the cafeteria, there were like these 4 men already sitting inside who looked like all their Christmases have just arrived all at once upon noticing my arrival. They started calling out for me to come and join them...arrrrgh! My respite has turned into another lion's cage! Murphy mocked me further when I saw the Morrocan guy approaching as well...Talking about feeling trapped in a corner like a poor lil wee wabbit that I was...

As I was contemplating what would hurt less, the "fire" or the "frying pan", I saw the bus that I orginally wanted to take pulling up and instinctively I walked towards it and decided that perhaps the safest thing to do was to see if they have an empty seat by chance so I could leave on this bus instead of waiting for another couple of hours. I shuddered at the thought of having to fend off these predators for that period of time. I guess to be honest, this would be the first time since I commenced my travels that I really wished I wasn't alone. Where is the knight in shining in armour when you need one (tune of "I need a Hero" playing in the background). Anyhow, through my very limited and broken Spanish and lots and lots of wild gesticulation, I managed to convey my request to the bus driver and to my great relief, he nodded and ushered me into the bus.

You know how I earlier contemplated the "fire" and the "frying pan", well, I just escaped both only to walk into a lion's den. I know then what it was like to be a piece of fresh meat. There were many predators in the bus and I could feel their eyes on me and even though the darkly lit bus meant I couldn't possibly see their faces, I could certainly feel them metaphorically licking their lips in anticipation. There were several seats free and unfortunately, they were all beside "hungry" predators. I walked all the way back looking once again for the least painful path of death and ended up sitting beside a man in his 50's in a bright red jacket who turned out to be quite cordial. I really can't describe it but the atmosphere inside the bus was just eerie for me. I was like a cat with all its hairs standing when danger is near or a dog with a slow menacing growl upon feeling threatened..

While Papa Smurf didn't look like he was going to attack me, I had other problems to contend with. The bus' toilet wasn't exactly pleasant and there was a lady blowing her nose and constantly coughing just behind me. It was going to be a long night..surely nothing else could be worst?! Murphy strikes again! A baby started this high pitch wailing and for a split second, I contemplated wailing myself, in misery! These combining factors made me moved a few seats to the front, risking sitting beside this middle aged guy who after several attempts at trying to be "friendly" with me, in the end, decided to leave me alone. However, there were 2 younger guys sitting in front of me, who kept turning back and smiling and staring at me. Forget white knight, a paperbag would have suffice as well at that moment! I thought right, I'll just ignore them and try to sleep. I closed my eyes for not more than a minute when I heard a clicking sound of a digital camera. I was shocked to discover upon opening my eyes that one of the guys sitting in front of me just took a picture of me with his phone camera. Ohmygosh! I'm on the highway not to Almeria but to hell! This has certainly been the worst night travel experiences I have ever had.

I arrived in Almeria, weary and drained but still too wound up and tensed at the same time. I was so glad though to make it in one piece and awfully glad to see a familiar face. Robert was of course apologetic for my experience but of course it wasn't his fault. Oh, I forgot to say that Robert has kindly offered to let me stay at his place while I was in Almeria. He lives about 25 minutes by car in Almerimar (yes, they really need to work on their originality in name of places) and only 15 minutes walk from the beach. But right then, all I wanted to do was sleep and that was what I got..a good solid 10 hours worth to cure the exhaustion!

Later, Robert took me to a nearby town, El Hida for some lunch and we just caught up on news. He then showed me a nearby fortress by the beach of Almerimar. It was once used by the Moorish empire to guard the Spanish water in the 11th century. Today the Spanish custom uses it to guard the same water from Morrocans trying to enter the country illegally.

The fortress of Almerimar.

As you can see from the picture, the weather was indeed as pleasant as Robert described. It was super hot and humid too! We then walked around the beach for a bit before heading home. Robert's place is a nice 2 bedroom apartment with a great view of the sea and it comes also with a tennis court! Excellent! Poor Robert didn't know what hit him when I suggested a game of tennis. I "accidentally" forgot to mention my level of fitness to him. Oops, also left out that I used to play tennis at school. It was also sometime ago since I was able to do any sports or go running. This and all that added tension in the bus made me just want to go out there and blast the balls all over the court...poor Robert but despite my best imitation of Serena Williams, he did considerably well to return the balls despite the fact that he only played tennis like twice in his life...doh! :P

Coincidentally, Robert's family was also visiting from Germany at the same time, so he went and spend time with them that night and left me at home with his satelite tv of over 150 channels. So after leaving my aggression on court, I was able to transform into a couch potato for that night.

26th October

Robert had to work and so he dropped me off at the bus station to catch a bus into Almeria town centre so I can do some sightseeing. It was a nice pleasant bus ride for a change, with views of the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, almost all the way into town.

Almeria, like most Andalusian towns were of course once under Christian rule before the Moorish conquered this region for 700 years, only to then be reconquered once more by the Christians. This rich tapestry of history was proudly displayed all over Andulusia. Similarly, Almeria has its fair share of mosques that were then converted into churches, this was evident from the Moorish styled domes in most of the religious architectures. However, there was no grandeur sight than the Alcazaba, Almeria's fortress located at the top of the hill overlooking this port city.

In 955, Adb al-Rahman, the first caliph of Al-Andalus granted the status of madina to the nucleus of Almeria, ordering the construction of the Alcazaba to act as a fortress as well as the main administration centre for the Moorish to control Andalusia. After the Christian's reconquest, they extended the fortress including building a Watch Tower and a church with a bell tower known as Santa Maria la Mayor in 1763, under the reign of Charles III. Bell was used to warn the inhabitants of the incursions of pirates (think Johny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean *drool*)

As you can see from the pictures below how stunning this fortress was and imagine how much more glorified it would have been during its heydays!

View on one of the admistrative buildings in the fort.

View of the eastern wall

One corner of the wall and a great view of the city below.

Another beautiful view of this sunny port city from the Tower of the Gunpowder.

Another view of the port and the city.

Sitting on the Tower of the Watermill, Princess Al-Delina waiting for her pirate JD to rescue her! Blasted wind!!

The southern wall leading to a monument built apparently by one of the Knight Templars after the Catholic reconquest of Andalusia and this fortress.

After a good tour of the fortress, I caught up with Robert for lunch before heading back to Almerimar.

The rest of the days spent here in Almeria while was Godsent and great for me in terms of recharging the batteries, unfortunately, they are not inspiring to write about. I basically played more tennis, went for runs, sunbathing or simply reading and relaxing. Then on the 29th, I caught the evening train to Barcelona, and this is where I found another Spanish gem!

AO rating of Almeria: Like Bratislava, it wasn't exactly a historical or overly exciting place to be, but at the same time, it is such a delight to be able to take a holiday from your holiday so to speak and actually have no planned itinerary for the day or worry about which museum to visit first. So besides the stressful bus ride initially, Almeria was a good distraction! Right, Barcelona next!

24.10.2005

Hostel Room 3 was bustling with vibrant energies of its two excited inhabitants who couldn't wait to soak up the warm sunrays and to feel the cool soft white sands tickling their toes..that's right. Today is Beach Day, Hooray! Playa de la Mavarrosa, here we come!!

While waiting for "Miss" Andrea to get ready, Gill and I decided to check out the local Mercardo and get ourselves some cooked breakfast! Gill wanted to make her world famous omelette and I was in charge of hunting down chocolate croissants (oh woe is me!) It was fun walking around the wet market that also housed cafeterias, bakeries and Tabaccas (like a tobacco shop but with newspapers, sweets etc). After completing our shopping list, we headed home to cook up a storm. Andrea of course came out of his room well groomed just in time for breakfast. Gill and I exchanged looks of "Oh, he's soooo doing the dishes". The mushroom and capsicum omelette was delicious and everyone was pleased with my choice of choc croissants, scorring a resounding 9.9 from both the US and Italian judges.

As we were about to head off, a couple of "green turtles" (our nickname for newbies that just arrived to the hostel the night before, you can often tell by their disorientated and timid looks)walked in and asked if they could join us at the beach. Christina and Jenna were from the States but currently studying in England and were in Valencia for their semester break. So 5 of us set of to Mavarrosa beach in the highest of spirits and skimpiest of bikinis. Boys, if you're now scrolling straight to the pictures, you would already discovered to your disappointment that I wouldn't be dumb enough to put them here, would I?! I mean, they are going to be my drawcards in making all of you sit through hours and hours of travel slideshows :P (I am still working on the girls' ones!)

As you can see from the picture of the beach, it's incredibly beautiful. Calm fine day without a single cloud in the sky. As it was considered autumn and thus too cold to be on the beach for the locals, we pretty much had the entire mile stretch of the beach to ourselves. It was heaven with sand. The funny thing was initially, after all that early hype, I think everyone was kind of exhausted and so, everyone actually had a nice lil nap. The whole group was very in sync with one another. We all woke up around the same time, started talking, biting on munchies..Gill brought her guitar, so she was plucking some tunes while we all softly sang along, each displaying reserved enthusiasm, perhaps due to personal insecurities with singing in tunes. Still, we had a ball! As there was hardly anyone on the beach, the bold and daring Gill declared she would be damned if she was getting tan lines and proceed to go topless. Andrea's jaw dropped and stay hung open for a good 5 minutes I think. The rest of us girls kinda giggled with slight shy embarassment. Yes, I know you want to know whether I also threw caution (and bra) into the wind and went topless as well...Remembering my profession, all I am going to say is that this information is confidential and classified. I guess you will just have to wait and see for yourself whether I have a tan line or not when you see me..*smirk*

Can you spot that mysterious topless woman?

After a good period of the morning and early afternoon spent basking in the glory that is another beautiful Valencian day, we bid the Mediterranean sea adiòs and reluctantly returning to the city, but without Andrea who decided he was going to remain at the beach to collect his thoughts. We really could have spent all day at the beach ourselves but Gill wanted to catch a train to Barcelona that evening and I was to catch a bus to Almeria later that night myself. On our way back, Gill told us about this delicious Spanish afternoon tea except that you actually have cofee instead of tea and scones are replaced with what's called "chirios". I should have taken pictures. Hard to describe except to say it's donut dough made into small breadsticks and you dip them in this bowl of rich, thick dark chocolate sauce (like choc fondue). Second time that day, we were in heaven! Here's the pic of the 4 "cats that just finished their creams".

From left to right, Jenna, Gillian, Christina and Adelina, all tanned and happy! Oh yeah, you can see the chirio on Jenna's plate!

As I've described the gorgeous Gillian before, she's a lovely girl but way too laid back. What was her originally planned departure time of 4pm, then became 5pm, then it was 6 because she wanted to follow me to the top of the cathedral tower to take pictures of the city. (She's too proud I think to admit that perhaps she didn't really want to go because we were having such a blast and I certainly was in no hurry to see her go either!) Anyway, we made our way to the top of the tower and took lots of photos and as the sun was setting, we were able to even take great sunset photos.

The majestic baroque styled Catedral de la Valencia!

View of Plaza Reial (Royal Square that's just outside the Cathedral) from the tower.

The sun about to set on Valencia and Gill and my time together, but I can see the sun just rising over our newfound friendship!

I think Gill would have kept delaying her departure but as I really didn't want her to miss her LAST train, I determinedly pushed her along and finally we gave each other an enormous bearhug and said "hasta luego" (until we meet again), trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears. This is indeed another friendship formed in a day but will last for life.

AO Rating of Valencia: Without a doubt, my favourite place so far in all the European places I have been. For you in NZ, Valencia to me is like Christchurch, not a big city, but big enough for all the conveniences you need but it also has character and many different geographical and historical richness that really welcomes you and make you feel one of its own. A home away from home. Madrid, of course would be Wellington, cold, morbid and lacking in vibrancy. No points for guessing what NZ city Barcelona is likened to..you'll have to wait till I get there. For now, I dedicate this page and one of my best times had so far to the city which I had upon my departure, left a piece of my heart and soul and oh yeah, my drivers license! More later..