Night Went for a walk last night about 9pm, once again across the Roman Bridge, but much cooler than during the day, the streets and the walls of the buildings were giving off the heat they absorbed earlier ... people going for evening strolls, a joggers taking advantage of the relative cool air at night ... birds (swallows?) calling out as they fly about ... Mezquita Went to the Mezquita this morning, heaps of people, tour groups, school kids ... but as the guidebooks say, the Mosque was one of the most important in Western Islam. Eventually a Cathedral was built [View Full Entry]

---

---

Woke up this morning to rain. First real rainy day in about two months of travelling so can’t complain. Got out my 30 Sole raincoat which I bought in Cuzco, Peru. Don’t know what it is made of, but seems to work okay so long as it is not exposed to water ... just kidding it’s not that bad, kept mostly dry, and Córdoba is the birth place of the Roman philosopher Seneca who was a bit of a Stoic, so was quite stoic about the rain myself. About 9 am went for a walk around the streets, did not get [View Full Entry]

---

---

Took the high speed train (AVE - Alta Velocidad Española) from Madrid to Córdoba this morning. Goes really fast, and only took about 1 hour and 40 minutes. (Don´t know how long it would take by car or bus, but I think the distance by road is about 360 kms). The countryside was mainly rolling hills and it seemed pretty empty, - no great mountains, or rivers to be seen (but I suppose if you are building a fast train track you would want to avoid those sorts of things.) A lot of trees, can´t say if they were olives, but [View Full Entry]

---

---

Okay it´s has been a bit of while, so here is a summary of what I have seen and done of the last couple of weeks ... Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real Went to some of the main tourist places in Madrid. Pretty easy to walk between them. Puerta del Sol. Supposedly the centre of Madrid. It has a clock tower from which I think distances to other places from Madrid are calculated. Plaza Mayor. The main square. I have to say that I was a little bit unimpressed. Lots of tourist restaurants. Managed to hide the truck delivering [View Full Entry]

---

---

A bit late in publishing this blog as am tired and jet-lagged. Left Mexico City at about 8:30pm Monday 10th May (Mexico local time) and arrived at about 2:30pm Tuesday 11th May (Mexico local time), did not get much sleep on 10 or 11 hour flight, and by the time it left Mexico, I had already been awake for at least 12 hours. Metro to the hostel really easy to navigate thanks to the hostel providing really good directions. Pretty much went straight to sleep as soon as I arrived. Yesterday did not feel like doing much but did go for [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well back in Mexico City, did not do much, but did go on walking tour of the city around the hostel again. The last time I went it was May day and a lot of the buildings were closed and also because of the May day celebrations/protests there was a lot of noise which made it difficult to here the guide. This time the buildings were open and I got to see some excellent murals by Diego Riviera on Mexican History in the Palacio Nacional. Unfortunately the tour was all in Spanish as it had about 30 Mexican university students. The [View Full Entry]

---

---

Last morning in Cuba, and the casa particular owner dishes up a fruit platter for breakfast ... papaya, mango, guayaba?, watermellon, and pineapple ... mmmmmmmm Flight to Mexico was meant to be at about 3pm, so spent the morning on one last walk along the Malecon. Was walking on the side opposite the sea, when a police officer or soldier directed me to walk on the other side of the road. When I crossed over I realised why. The police officer/soldier and several of his colleagues were standing outside the US Interests Building, effectively the US Embassy in Cuba. I guess [View Full Entry]

---

---

I thought that the mango juice I had in Peru was great, but had some pretty good freshly squeezed juice for breakfast. Again, excellent coffee. After breakfast walked from the casa along a long street from Vedado through Central Havana and China Town to the Capitolio. Only saw one Chinese looking person in and only a little bit of Chinese looking writing in China Town, but have to admit only stuck to the main road, so maybe there would be more elsewhere. Along the road the buildings were pretty run down, and the narrow footpath was pretty broken up. Heaps of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Breakfast in the casa. Fresh squeezed papaya juice, and really good coffee. Not really a fan of papaya juice or coffee, but these were so good I could probably drink them everyday. (Better than the juice and coffee in the hotel.) Feeling good, so decided to walk from Vedado along the Malecon to old Havana. Not really that much happening on the Malecon, no one launching a boat bound for Florida, only a few people fishing. From old Havana walked up to the Museum of the Revolution, which was a Presidential Palace up until 1965. Displays and information on various revolutions [View Full Entry]

---

---

Decided to take an early morning walk around old Havana. Basically walked down one street from my hotel to old Havana. Lots of people on way to work, walking or waiting for crowded buses. People waiting outside workplaces. In old Havana people walking on the streets because the footpaths too narrow or too broken up. One armed man sold me yesterday´s copy of Granma. People pushing trolleys with their stalls to tourist art market or to the old bookstalls at the Plaza de Armas. Walked back to hotel in time to check out. 10 minute taxi ride to the Casa Particular [View Full Entry]

---

---