Recuerdos de España y Portugal 2009

Recuerdos de España y Portugal

(Memories of Spain & Portugal)
22 November - 3 December 2009

Way back in 1995, Choon and I had planned to go to Spain and Portugal right after our trip to Scandinavia. We finished our final examinations in May that year at the University of Wales, Cardiff and then visited Denmark, Sweden and Norway. And just before the exams (in April), we had already spent two weeks travelling in Europe. So, we had subsequently taken one trip after another and by the time we returned to Cardiff after the Scandinavian tour, we were too exhausted and sick of travelling. That was when we decided to cancel our plan to see Spain and Portugal.

And that had remained as one of my greatest regret because the tour fare was so much cheaper then as we could have gotten good discounts with our student passes.
Anyway, when Hoon (our tour leader from Glowways Travel Agency) suggested the tour of Spain and Portugal, I jumped with joy at the opportunity to visit the places I had always wanted to see. But, I almost fell flat on my face when I heard the price of the tour. More than ten thousand ringgit!!! Urgh! That's a big hole in my pocket!

After some consideration, I decided to join this tour anyway. It was mostly the "kiasu" nature of mine because most of the tour "kaki's" (enthusiasts) I know were going too. It just would not do to be left behind! And so before we knew it, we were at KLIA waiting to fly off to Barcelona (with an hour's transit in Amsterdam).

After some problems at the airport upon arrival (Choon, Hong and Saw didn't get their luggage), we proceeded with the first item in the itinerary, a tour around Barcelona, stopping at Plaça de Carles Ibáñez to get a view of the city and the harbour.

Barcelona is quite an impressive city. Besides being the second largest city in Spain, it is also the capital of Catalonia, one of the 17 Autonomous Communities that make up Spain. It is a city of art, culture and beauty, featuring Antonio Gaudi's works, museums and concerts, and not forgetting the homeland of FC Barcelona's football team.

Here's a photo of some of the ladies in the group. There were 31 of us in this group, including our tour leader, Hoon.

After seeing the harbour, our next destination was the La Sagrada Familia. This gigantic church was designed by the master architect Antonio Gaudi. Despite being an unfinished cathedral, it is truly awe-inspiring with its magnificent spines and intricate sculptures.

At present, there are two facades dedicated to the Birth of Jesus and the Passion of Christ. On completion, there will be a third facade depicting the Glory of Jesus.

This building has been under construction since 1882 and they've still got another 30 to 80 years to go (depending on funding and resources) before it will be finished. We were told by our tour guide, Katrina, that part of the funding came from the donations from sinners. (I guess there are not many sinners there as they still have a long way before they can finish the construction.) But later, I found out from the brochure that donations also came from all over the world.

In the afternoon, we visited Barcelona's most famous park, Park Güell which was also designed by Antonio Gaudi and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The uniqueness of the designs and structures in this park have led to its being crticized as 'outrageous modernism', 'surrealistic island', 'nightmare expressionist park', etc. Personally, I think it is a great place, a mixture of fairyland and grotesque territory. The uneven surfaces of the walls somehow reminded me of the ugly bulges on the troll's skin. Well, one can't help being a little over-imaginative in such a surreal environment.

Below you can see a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks. These pillars are typical of the park and are found everywhere.

At the top of Guell Park is a terraced area which is the public square where we can sit and relax on the multi-coloured tiled mosaic benches while admiring the wonderful view of the park and also of Barcelona City.

We just couldn't resist sitting on the cold tiled seats. The pink building behind us was the house where Gaudi lived at one stage. It has now been converted into a museum which contains interesting furniture designed by Gaudi himself.

The mosaic designs on the benches are created from brightly coloured broken tiles/ceramics -- a technique called trencadis, somewhat like the collage that we do in our art lessons.

There are seven entrances into the Guell Park and this is the main entrance with its grand staircase. The walls on both sides of the double staircase are colourfully tiled with crenelated tops and sides of checkerboard tiles.

Each tile on this wall has a unique design of its own as they are all made up of tiny pieces of broken ceramics in a myriad of colours. Amazing, huh?!

Walking up the main staircase, you will not miss the Gaudi dragon (looks more like a lizard, though) that is adorned in beautiful coloured tiling.
The vibrant colours of the tiles are truly awesome and .... somehow I felt there was something rather hypnotic and magical about the dragon. Imagination runs wild again, I suppose!

At the top of the staircase is the Chamber of the Hundred Columns, but I read somewhere that there are only 96. (Perhaps they should call it the Chamber of the 'Almost' Hundred Columns! He..he...) The roof of the chambers is actually the floor of the public square above it, the place where we sat to admire the view.

These columns look no different from the Greek columns to me. Having little knowledge of architecture, they are all Greek to me one way or another.

Two buildings flanked the main gate of the park and below is one of them, the porter's lodge. Both have undulating roofs and tall central towers. They simply reminds me of the Disneyland.

One can never claim to have visited Barcelona without going to the La Ramblas. It is a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard packed with street musicians, living statues, hustlers and peddlars selling everything ranging from lottery tickets to costume jewellery.


Look at these living statues. Just can't imagine how they can stand being there all day long, posing as statues! Just sitting or standing around doing nothing and yet can still earn some money. Not bad as a part-time job, eh? I wonder how much they can earn in a day!

Would you dare take a photo with one of these creatures? I certainly wouldn't.

Next to the La Ramblas is the most colourful market in Barcelona - the Mercat de la Boqueria. This lively marketplace is an absolutely fascinating place to visit and an experience not to be missed.

Here you can find all kinds of foodstuff like meat, mushrooms, fruits, vegetables, nuts, candies, etc.... some of which I have never seen before. The fruits sold here are certainly fresh and cheap too. We had a wonderful time buying lots of fruits here. The persimmons were really sweet and juicy.

Various kinds of meat products....

mushrooms of all sorts.....

strange-looking fruits....

a wonderful display of colourful fruits....
nuts, nuts and more nuts....

& candies in a myriad of shapes, sizes and colours.

In Barcelona, we stayed at the Hotel Front Maritim which is a four-star hotel set on Barcelona's seafront beside Nova Mar Bella beach. The coach in front of the hotel was our mode of transport during our stay in Spain and Portugal.

On the second day, we set off early to go to Valencia. On the way, we stopped at a town called Cuenca where we had paella (a type of seafood rice) for lunch. It tasted alright but I still like our nasi beriyani better.
It was a pleasant surprise when we were invited into the kitchen to watch how the rice was cooked. I took this opportunity to record the cooking process. Watch the following clip to check it out.
Upon arrival at the city of Valencia, we were met by Pilar, our tour guide. The first place we visited was the City of Arts and Sciences (La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias). This complex includes four buildings: the Palau de les Arts (which is an Opera House), L'Hemisferic (a Laserium, Planetarium and IMAX cinema), the Science Museum (which is one of those museums where it is forbidden not to touch) and L' Oceanographic (a giant marine park or aquarium). These spectacular and futuristic buildings were designed by the Valencian architect, Santiago Calatrava.

The following is the Valencia Opera House (Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia). It is dedicated to promoting the performing arts and has become one of the finest international venues for theatre, dance, opera and musicals.

Below is the L'Hemisferic which is a splendid Laserium, Planetarium and IMAX cinema with a concave screen of 900 square metres. It has the shape of an eye. The cover of the cinema looks like the eye lids that can be closed or opened.

This strange-looking structure below is actually the Prince Felipe Museum of Science. Doesn't it remind you of the skeleton of a whale? It is orientated to learning the sciences through experience, so everything is graphically displayed, with huge texts and pics, experiments, buttons to touch and experience... But unfortunately, we did not have enough time here to do all these..... Sigh! What a pity!

Inside the museum, we could see a whole row of glass pieces with the faces of the famous scientists, inventors and other personalities painted on them. I guess that was all we saw with the limited time that we had.

The City of Arts and Sciences is surrounded by a surface area of 13,500 square metres of sheets of water.

The reflections of the buildings in the water are really remarkable as they form a perfect symmetry. I had to drag myself away from this place because I couldn't seem to get enough of the beautiful scenery. (That was part of the reason why I didn't have enough time in the science museum.)

This futuristic garden is just outside the City of Arts and Sciences.

What I like best about this trip was I did not have to worry at all about where to go, how to go, what to do etc...etc... All had been planned by Hoon and my only concern was to take good photographs and video clips with my newly-acquired camcorder, the Canon Legria FS200. This gadget had been my constant companion throughout the trip. It was the last thing I looked at every night and the first thing I checked on every morning. Below is the evidence of a great photographer in the making!

We continued our tour of the city by heading for the Del North Train Station. On the way, we passed by the Plaza de Toros which is a bullring located just across the street from the train station. Built in 1851, it is currently still used for bull fighting which is often held during the Fallas festival in March.

This is the Valencia Train Station (the Estacio del Nord), located next to the bullring.

The interior part of this building is really breathtaking. The walls and ceilings are beautifully decorated with magnificent art pieces which are made up of colourful broken tiles like those we saw in Guell Park.

From the train station, we took a walk to the biggest square in Valencia, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The Town Hall building (locally called the Ayuntamiento) dominates the square and its bells chime out the time to passers-by. The bells were chiming when we arrived at the square.

At the square, sculptures of various historical figures of the past were on exhibit.

It is interesting that you can find orange trees being planted everywhere in the city (and other cities in Spain as well). One of our group members plucked the orange and tasted it. He found that it was bitter. Later we asked our tour guide why they planted the bitter orange. She said that they export the oranges to England where they are used to produce marmalade. Ironically, the spanish people then import the marmalade from England.

Next, we walked to the Plaza del Mercado where we saw the Mercado Central which is the Central Market in Valencia. However, it was close that day as it was Sunday, so we did not get to visit the market. It is open from Monday to Saturday from 7.30 am - 2.30 pm.

At the Plaza del Mercado, we also visited the Valencia Silk Exchange (Lonja de la Seda). It is a masterpiece of civil Gothic architecture, declared by UNESCO as part of Humanity's Heritage. The following picture shows the main hall of the building with many palm-tree shaped columns.

This is the beautifully carved ceiling above the chapel in this building.

In the evening, we took a stroll in Plaza de la Virgen to admire the impressive buildings that surrounded the square. In the centre of the square is a fabulous fountain which represents the irrigation of the Turia River.

Below is the Plaza de la Reina. On the left, you can see the El Miguelete or the Micalet, a bell tower built in the fourteenth century. It has a spiral staircase that leads to the summit where you can admire the amazing view of the city.

Here is a photo taken with Pilar, our tour guide in Valencia outside a Chinese restaurant.

Although it was already late November, we were lucky to be able to enjoy the autumn colours while we were in Spain. Autumn is my favourite season as this is the best time to capture colourful photographs.

Our next destination is Palacio Real de Aranjuez, the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, located in the little town of Aranjuez. It is the spring palace for the Spanish royalty. Melissa, our guide from Madrid, was already waiting for us there. She was dressed in bright red coat, so it was easy for us to locate her.

It certainly is a huge palace. The tour round the palace was interesting. But it was mostly about history, arts and artefacts. History is not my strong point, so I don't think I will remember whatever Melissa had told us ( not that I want to).

There are so many rooms in the palace with different decor and artifacts that I couldn't tell which was which. Worse still, we were not allowed to take photographs or video inside the palace, so I don't suppose I will remember any of them. But thanks to the internet, I managed to download some pictures of the interior part of the palace. (See below)







One thing is for sure, after visiting the palace, you will surely suffer from neck pain. This is because you need to look up most of the time to marvel at the intricate designs of the ceiling and the exquisite chandeliers of various shapes and sizes. Makes me wonder if the king remembered how many rooms he had in his own so-called 'home'. We made a joke about not being able to find our way back to our bedroom after going to the 'aseous' (toilet) if we were to stay there.





The buildings that surround the spacious courtyard appear majestic and quite imposing. Click on the following video clip to see the impressive courtyard.
Even the corridors look impressive, don't you think?

My favourite place is the garden. Being a great lover of nature, museums and artifacts are not my top priorities. The beautiful autumn colours made this place a haven for avid photographers, even for an amateur like me.

After the palace, we proceeded to a small town called Chinchon, about 50 km south of Madrid. The attraction here is the Plaza Mayor which is roughly circular, surrounded by fifteenth to seventeenth century galleried houses and cafes. It is also used as a temporary bullring.

We also visited the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Ascunción which contains the fine early work by the Spanish painter, Goya (see below) depicting the Assumption of the Virgin.
There were many nice restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops there. Some of our group members had to buy a drink in exchange for the use of the washrooms ('aseous'). Interestingly, the first thing our members looked for each time they got off the bus was the 'aseous' which is the most useful Spanish word we have learnt. Thank God, I wasn't one of them. He...he....

One of the shops there particularly caught my attention. It was the bakery with an interesting arrays of bread and buns. See the pictures below and you will know what I mean.

Compare this bread with the Code of Arms of Chinchon.


This is a photo of Melissa, our tour guide, and me. See what I mean about her coat earlier on. You sure won't miss her in the crowd. She is very knowledgeable and professional in her job. I like her accent very much, especially when she stresses on the last consonant sounds of most words. For e.g. she says /madridde/ and /spainne/ with the stress on 'de' and 'ne'.

As we were in Chinchon till evening, we were able to see the place all lit up. It sure looked more beautiful at night!

It was dark by the time we reached Madrid. After checking in at our hotel which was located just opposite the train station, Choon, Helen, my sister and I went for a stroll around the hotel area to enjoy the night view of the city. We met some of the other group members galavanting round the city too.

The next day, we started early to go to Toledo, about 70 km south of Madrid. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 due to its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire. It is a place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures. When Luis, our driver, took a turn round the corner, we were spellbound by the spectacular view looming ahead of us. Below is one of my favourite photographs. You can see the cathedral on the left and the Alcazar on the right in the background.

The Alcazar is a sixteenth-century fortification located in the highest part of town, overlooking the city. It is encircled on three sides by the Tagus River. The city is congested, with the houses, shops and other buildings built close together. If you explore this place on your own, be prepared to get lost due to the twisting streets and corners.

Shops look similar everywhere as the shopowners sell almost the same things. Language can be a barrier here in Spain, as most locals (except those in the tourism industry) do not speak English. Some could understand and speak a little English but sign language seems to be the only way to help you get by (if understood correctly, of course).

In Spain, food is not a problem. We had Spanish food for lunch and mostly Chinese food for dinner. We were served a three-course meal consisting of a starter (salad and a bun), a main course (meat or fish with chips or baked potatoes) and a dessert (cakes or fruits). But being the typical Malaysians, after 3 or 4 days of these, some of us started yearning for the 'nasi berlauk' or 'nasi lemak' back home.

We arrived in Madrid in the evening and continued to tour the city by visiting the Palacio Real de Madrid, the Royal Palace of Madrid. (Palace again!!) This royal palace is no longer used as a residence but is primarily serving as a tourist attraction. To me, this palace is almost like the one in Aranjuez. There are some excellent masterpieces by Spanish artists and painters including Goya. Again, photography is not permitted.

I downloaded the following pictures from the internet. These are some of the elaboratedly-decorated rooms in the palace.

Although we stayed in Madrid for two nights, we only managed to see Madrid by night. During the day, we would be visiting places in the outskirts. And by the time we got back to the city again it would be dark. Anyway, the night view was great too.

Our next destination was Cordoba. We had to take a train to get there. Melissa repeatedly told us how to find our train and if we could not locate it, we should ask someone, "Ave a Cordoba?" and we would be given the directions.

To be continued..........