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Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid December 24th 2007

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to YO ALL from Madrid. Best wishes from Yo Nathali - Desde Madrid. :O)... read more

Europe » Spain » Canary Islands » Tenerife December 24th 2007

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Granada December 24th 2007

Described by Lonely Planet as “the stuff of fairy tales” The Alhambra is one of the must-see attractions in Granada. Unfortunately, with all must-see attractions, The Alhambra attracts thousands of visitors and bulging tour groups everyday, so for us, the promised fairy tale didn’t quite live up to expectations. Tickets are sold on a quota system and it is advised to book a ticket in advance during peak season or arrive very early to purchase tickets on the day of your visit. Being low season we arrived an hour before the gates were due to open. We weren’t too concerned as we hopped off the bus and walked towards the ticket building. As we rounded the corner, our hearts sank. Already the queues stretched for miles, twisting around so much it was hard to see where ... read more
Reflection
Inside the Palace - Alhambra
Palace from the Generalife gardens

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona December 24th 2007

....I'l ex-Spain it to you....? Okay, that sucked. Shall I just talk about Spain. I will. We both wondered how a bus to Sevilla could possibly take eight hours from Lisbon. The answer is that it goes all the way to Faro, pretty well the southernmost large town in Portugal and then across to Sevilla. It's one of those funny Schengen land borders and the only way you actually realise you've reached Spain is the large sign saying Welcome to Castille and Leon! We only had one day in Sevilla and it promised to be a fairly busy one! There's a lot to do there and so we decided to make the most of it. We got out of the hostel nice and early and after wandering blankly around the middle of the city for a ... read more
Torre del Oro
Plaza de Espana
Alcazar Main Gate

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona December 23rd 2007

The first time I was in Barcelona I spent a grand total of an hour, seeing little more than the Sagrada Familia (which was impressive btw). This time thankfully, I got a night and the better part of an afternoon. Doesn't sound long but I had the priceless advantage of a local as a guide and chauffeur! :) We weren't flying in early to start with but the flight delay by over an hour meant that we were too late to catch the special Christmas lighting at the Sagrada Familia and at many places. The rain was also keeping people behind doors so it was a rather quiet Saturday night in the Catalonian capital. We drove around town for an overview and swung by Camp Nou, where to my surprise, some dedicated shemales perched by the ... read more
Us and our local hosts at  Parc Guell
Musician in Parc Guell
Tios on sale at Sant Feliu market

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona December 22nd 2007

Spain is a country famous throughout the world, dear reader, whose language and culture have branched out to dominate Latin America. But that doesn't lessen the excitement of visiting the country for the first time. Barcelona and Madrid are the two most famous cities in Spain, and are the focus of my first week travelling in this wonderful country. The train journey from southern France into Spain hugged the mediterranean coast, and was an interesting experience. Right on the border we entered a long tunnel, and magically re-entered the light to be in a Spanish speaking country. Voila, that was pretty easy! There were no border signs, no customs and no officials. The train travellers all waited in a terminal cafe for two hours in a congenial atmosphere, before our connecting train arrived to take us ... read more
Looks kids, isn´t Gaudi great!
Casa Battlo, Barcelona
Park Guell, Barcelona

Europe » Spain » Canary Islands » Tenerife December 22nd 2007

Saturday 22nd 1145 am UK 1045 am Ship. Made our first stop yesterday after three full days at sea. We stopped just for the morning in Tenerife. The weather has begun to get better, 17 degrees when we arrived and it rose to the low twenties in the afternoon. We were greeted by a group of singers and dancers, but no brass band as there was in Southampton. I done the wrong thing in the afternoon and stretched out on the deck, not realizing how strong the sun was, and yes, you can guess the rest. We did our usual mile around the deck this morning and met a couple of Australians who are on a six month holiday; how nice to be wealthy. We are at sea now until the 28th, so hopefully we will ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid December 22nd 2007

We land half an hour early at Heathrow airport thanks to some good tail winds. So another few hours to spend in the airport terminals. We head straight through to the terminal bus to transfer from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1. Then through the cues for Security at the airport before having 1.5 hours to kill in Heathrow airport with no Pounds to spend. Main thing of note is the “World of Whisky” shop where they have a fine collection of Scotch and Irish whiskeys. Now most of you know I appreciate a good Whisky, but here I found what can only be called extravagance. There were a few Glenfidch whiskies of real note. - A 64yo for 10,000 pounds and a - 51yo at 52.5% for 5,000 pounds. With the flight departing Heathrow 30 min ... read more
50yo Scotch
Glorieta Puerti de Toledo
Catedral de la Almundena

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Granada December 21st 2007

Om mij in te schrijven was ik vroeger al eens tussen de andere studenten gaan aanschuiven aan het secretariaat. Na een uurtje wachten legde de beambte mij uit dat ik helemaal hier niet moest zijn, maar wel in het Oficina de Relaciones International. Les geleerd, voortaan ging ik rechtstreeks naar dat kantoor. Eigenlijk was dat wel een verbetering: de wachtrijen waren er aanzienlijk korter. Ze konden er geen Engels -wie wel in Spanje- maar waren wel vriendelijk, wat al veel hielp. Op zich draaide hun systeem goed, er was enkel één gepatenteerde luilak die de boel vertraagde: het kantoorhoofd. Die man kon er wat van! Door hem zal ik één Spaans woord alvast niet vergeten: mañana. Wel duizend keer zei dezelfde vrouw tegen mij:“Uw papieren zijn nog niet getekend, dus kom morgen nog eens langs, ok?”, ... read more
De speer
De twee spiesen
Afmaken

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Seville December 21st 2007

We began our trip in Seville where we spent a few days checking out the sights and dodging the occasional shower. We liked - Streets lined with orange trees - covered in fruit, even in December. Getting lost in Barrio de Santa Cruz. The town's old Jewish Quarter. A maze of skinny streets and colourful old buildings. We spent hours exploring this area. The colourful tiles at the weird Plaza de Espana and the park area around it. The size and price of the drinks at the Flamenco venue La Carboneria (and the Flamenco was interesting too of course!) Discovering tapas at Levies near La Carboneria - the fried potatoes in Aioli sauce …. Tempted to go back for another portion. The Cathedral - unexpectedly gothic in sunny Spain. While we enjoyed our stay, by the ... read more
The old town #1
Plaza de Espana
Orange trees everywhere in seville




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