Spain and Portugal

Spain

In my own opinion, Spainish people are not friendly and are very proud of their language.. They litter alot.. and their own people admit that their younger generation are very lazy.. Unlike Malaysians, they prefer going to public universities.. Oh yeah, and their siesta time... kept us hungry.. restaurants will have their siesta time from 2.30pm to 7.30 pm.. no early, no late.. lol..

Portugal

Portuguese are more warm and welcoming.. and they talk to the tourists in English!! lol.. It's nice feeling that u r sort of like welcomed in their land.. I loved their tarts.. bit too sweet.. but crunchy.. special and nice.. Ohya, our bus driver is a portuguese too..

I liked the EU regulations.. the long distance coach drivers must have a certificate in order to drive... and to start the coach, they must first insert a CD like thing into the recorder.. The CD will then record.. Thus, the driver can never cheat on their driving hours.. The driver can only drive 12 hour per day for 5 days.. 14 hours for 1 special day.. and one day rest.. that comes up to a week.. and in a day, when driving, the driver is supposed to have a 20-minute stop after the every 2 hours and an one-hour stop for lunch.. that explain the low count of accidents in European countries..

and lastly, thanks to

our Malaysian guide-Miss Hong,

our 8 days LDC driver-Uncle Joseh ( pronounce as Ho-Seh)

Madrid local couch driver-Mr David

Local guides-Parco, Rachel, Zo Seh and 2 more.. sry to say, but i forgot yr names =)

11 Days 9 Nights Spain And Portugal Trip 2008 Part 2

From Alicante to Granada, nice views of the Sierra Nevada mountain range were captured by our eyes. After the long journey, we entered the capital of Andalusia, Granada. We went up a hill to the Alhambra Palace. Alhambra means red. So, it's also known as the Red Palace sometimes. Our local guide was Parco, the only warm Spanish local tour guide(his jokes were the plus points) in our entire trip. The Alhambra Palace is a palace and a fortress complex of the Moorish Monarchs of Granada. It was once the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court. The floor of the palace was made of marble which made it very cold. the mosque was turned into a church when the Moorish were overthroned. First, we went into this building (built few centuries ago) which looked like a colloseum from the inside and a square building from the outside. The 4 corners were used to build stairs up to the 1st floor. I don't remember much about this, but the amazing thing about this building is that when one make a speech in the center of the building, his voice can be heard aloud as if he is holding a microphone. And, there is no echo. Cool.. Imagine: people soooo many years back can build this type of buildings.


In the Alhambra Palace, the carvings were just so cool.. there's a "2nd version" of Taj Mahal in the Alhambra Palace. Two-Storey buildings were built on the both side of the "Taj Mahal". The upper floor was for the Sultan's women whereas the ground floor were for the VIPs(businessmen). The Sultan had 4 wives and 60-70 concubines. No males was allowed at their room. There were 4 windows named jeolousy windows(for the 4 wives). At the court which is facing the "Taj Mahal"(they have a special name for it which i forgot), the Sultan has 8 advisers with him. It was very well-structured. the entire structure of the court gave the Sultan 3 advantages. First, when the businessman enter the place, the Sultan can see whoever is coming when the outsider couldn't see anything from the inside. Second, when the businessman enter(just like we did), no one would even notice the little higher step, and will trip a bit. must be wondering what so great bout this.. lol.. when the businessman trips, they practically "bows" a bit, "showing respect" to the Sultan and reduce their proud.. smart eh.. guess what's the third one.. When the businessman enter the court, he is sorrounded by the advisers. (The advisers are seated around the palace. so, the businessman who enters get intimidated and this will increase the royalty's chance of winning in any court cases.. smart sultan.. isn't he? =)



The fantasy of "Lace in Stone" is surrounded by arabesque gardens and fountains. There's where the royal summer residence is located. In the garden, there's a row of fountain which the modern tourists call it a Mc Donald's fountain. The garden is pretty even during winter.. And it's like a maize, where one can actually get lost inside.. (for us)



10th Dec, From Granada, we travel again to Seville. Seville has only 2 universities with 80,000 students.. We drove through and viewed the Maria Luisa Park, Plaza De Espana, The bull ring and the Gold Tower on the Guadalquivir River. We had some photo stops in between. In Seville, we walked through some old quarters of Santa Cruz which was once the thriving Jewish quarter. The old buildings are now transformed into shops. there were some parts of the old walls which are still kept as there are pipe lines built in it. Smart Jewish people who knows to build pipe in the walls.. =)



Seville again has a beautiful church-Cathedral of Seville claimed to be the 3rd largest church in the world... It was here that we spotted some gypsies btw.. erm, the church is big but part of it is still under restoration.. It has an outstanding example of the Gothic and Baroque architecture style. We saw many amazing drawings of various Spanish artists. We also viewed the tomb of Christopher Columbus. His body was carried by 4 people representing erm.. i dun rmb.. hehe.. Anyway, it had a celebration later on that day where the church choir will sing with the orchestra playing and the dance boy dancing.. We missed that though as we were rushing for time.. To Portugal..



Crossed the border at 4.30pm(Spain)/3.30pm(Portugal)..



11th Dec, Lisbon, Lisbon, and Lisbon... Local tour guide-Zo Se.. Visited the Jeronimos Monastery(recognized by UNESCO). Viewed the tomb of Vasco da Gama.. Stroll in the old quarters with cobbled stone of Alfama. Had to be extremelyyyy careful not to step on dogs's poo.. lol.. Viewed their bull ring, the Marueline time of Belem Tower, 25th April Bridge, Monument of Navigator, Pombal Statue and Grand Avenida Da Liberdade. Ohya, tasted the famous Portugal tarts.. loved it..



Visited Sintra.. Cooold.. was drizzling.. nice view.. had a good stroll.. it's a hill area by the way.. used up my strength.. tired... then, went to Carbo Da Roca which means Cape of the Rock.. Nice view of the Atlantic Ocean.. The end of Europe land, the starting of the ocean.. Btw, right opposit this place is the United States of America....



12th Dec, Last day with our nice driver... Long travel from Lisbon back to Madrid.. In between, we stopped at Merida for lunch break.. Viewed the Roman monuments.. Not much cuz was drizzling again... Reached Madrid and bye Uncle Joseh...He's nice, very fatherly...



13th Dec, Rachel- ouir local guide brought us to the Royal Palace.. Only 18 rooms were opened i tink.. and we visited all.. the stairs were made of one piece of marble for every steps.. This palace was built on the site of a formal alcazar that burned down in 1934 and it took 26 years to complete.. the queen's office, the king's smoking room, the farmacy and many more.. hmmm, couldn't take any photos and that place was soo nice... ishh..



Visited Plaza Del Sol, Plaza Espana, Monument of Cervantes, The parliment(Viewed), Cibeles Fountain, Elegant Calle Alcala and Paseo De Castellana. It was RAINING in Madrid.. Our guide told us that Madrid is an extremely dry place with only 25-30 days rainfall per year.. So, should be LUCKY US.. but also unlucky us... we can't walk around leisurely.... and it was sooooooo cold.. Well, visited the Christmas market at Plaza Mayor.. never seen such market anywhere else..



14th Dec, boring day, tiring day.. flight.. from Madrid to Doha.. Transit at Doha again.. 5 hours...



15th Dec.. Welcome myelf back to Malaysia.... btw, the name of our plane's captain was also Joseh.. i find it cool to meet, well sort of 2 people with the same name in one single trip...

11 Days 9 Nights Spain And Portugal Trip 2008 Part 1

After few days of packing our bags, last-minute buying of stuff, we are finally heading to the KLIA on the 4th Dec 2008. We departed from home at round 10.00pm, reached the airport at around 11.00pm then checked in our luggages at around 12am(5th Dec 2008). Met up with our tour guide and the other group members. The procedure as usual was boring + it was late and most of the shops were closed that day..We boarded the plane at 1.30am. After 7 hours of flight, we finally reached the transit point, Doha International Airport. It is way smaller than ours and I have been there before, so, have got nothing to see.. We did nothing, sat there and waited for 8 hours.. and finally, on board to Madrid, another 7 hours.. It was around 8pm local time, so we transfered to the hotel for check in on arrival.

On the next day, 6th Dec, we departed from Madrid to Zaragoza. At Zaragoza, we went to The Plaza del Pilar, the public square at the heart of Zaragoza. The square was full of people as it was their local holiday. Youths formed a simple and and sang at the centre of the square while everyone present danced along. There was also a group of youths (choir) singing in front of the church. then, the entire band + choir formed a parade and went around the square, singing and dancing. We visited the Basilica Of Our Lady Of The Pilar, The Roman Catholic Church. Well, this is the first time that I see people crying/kneeling in front of the confession box doing their confessions. As we were still tired from the flight, we only viewed the Cathedral of the Savior from a far(quite far if we wanted to walk). Then, we headed for Barcelona. It was late, so after dinner, we checked in.

7th Dec, met up with the local tour guide at 9am, headed for the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It is a private church, therefore they do not have enough money to finish their construction at one go. The entire church is still under construction since 1882. The entire construction is estimated to finish in 20-28 more years. The church is really pretty, the sculpture, the carvings and everything. There were turtles(sculpture) at the entrance. it is said to represent the long live of the church. there were also pillars dedicated to Jesus's apostles. On both side of the church, there were fruit craftings. If I am not mistaken, they represent the friuts of the summer and another season which I forgot what. The entire walls of the church is crafted based on the story of the life of Jesus. Christmas season.. So, they set up temporary Christmas stalls right opposite the church.

We visited the Olympic Stadium next. If I am right, the Olympics was held here in Barcelona in the year 1992. There were many pillars built in the compund. The stadium is big and amazingly built(well, can't compare to the recent one of course, it's so many years back). Then, we visited the Columbus Square. The 60m high Columbus Monument stands tall at the center of the Square of the Gate of Peace. We passed by the CataluniaSquare. Did not stopped because of the traffic. After lunch, we went to the Quil Park. This park is designed by a weird but creative Spainish Artist. His design is so wierd that nobody wanted to buy it. The park was dedicated to the town council which later opens it as a site for visitations. Later, we went for a cruize. The cruize took us around 40 minutes. It was supposed to be one where we can sit and relax. But, it was just sooo cold and there was this young Spanish girl who keep trying to "entertain" me. How peaceful..

In the evening, we visited the famous La Ramblas pedestrian street. It is a nice street to walk on only if we did not have to be so alarmed that we might be the pick pockets. La Ramblas street is famous for its branded goods, at the same time, its pick pockets too. lol. We got to some shops and bought some souvenirs. We noticed that besides this street, it is hard to find souvenir shops else where. We had Spanish dinner that night. Nice but I did not have the chance to try out their wine(parents didn't allow). After dinner, watched their famous Flamenco show. The show(I would rather say dance) was interesting. The only musical instrument they used were the guitars with 1 or 2 singers. There were 4 main dancers who danced with their legs stamping on the floor(fast and rythemic) and their hands clapping. Quite cool, the way their hands and legs synchronized. their costumes are very pretty.

8th Dec, Departed to Valencia. Heard of the Valencia oranges? well, along the highway from Barcelona to Valencia, there were countless orange trees planted. And the Valencia orange is just SOUR. Urgh. We viewed the Lonja de la Seda from the coach. it was a late Gothic stle civil builind which is now recognized by the UNESCO as one of the world heritage site. Besides that, we also saw the Valencia Town Hall and the Bull Ring. The design of the Arts and Science Complex Center is....cool. The entire Center takes up 4 buildings. the 4th one is still under construction. We managed to get down to take some photos here. We got down the couch at the city centre. walking on the streets in Spain feels very different from walking other Europe Streets. I just dunno why. We saw the Senators and the Quart Towers. Didn't see much as it was raining. Proceed to Alicante.

We did not do any visitations at Alicante as it is only a point for us to "rest one night before continuing the journey".