I miss my char mee-hoon.
Left this cowboy style town and move out for our next stop Cordoba at 8:30am
Today we visit the relics of Spain at glorious culture is the Cordoba's Mezquita
On approaching the Mezquita, ones first thoughts are of approaching a massive fortress. All around the exterior there are massive doors, highly decorative but closed and uninviting. When the Mosque was converted to a Cathedral almost all the outer doors were sealed.
(It was like a massive fortress)
The Mezquita is a beautiful and fascinating 8th-century mosque / cathedral combination that symbolizes the many religious changes Cordoba has undergone over the centuries.
Today, it is the cathedral of Cordoba (officially the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption) and no longer a mosque, but the vast majority of its architecture owes its origin to the Islamic architects who built it as a mosque in the 8th century.
(The construction of the Mezquita lasted for over two centuries)
(There is some old writing on the wood)
(Many of the pillars in the Mezquita were pilfered from earlier Roman buildings)
(Inside the Mezquita are row after row of arches and pillars. The building is most notable for its giant arches)
(Marble was required for the Mosque's construction.. If the pillar was too long, it was sunk into the ground and reshaped to fit in with the other columns.)
As we exit out, we noticed there are residents living nearby, so we took some pictures of their houses and walkway.
(Local inhabitant has flowers plant all over their houses)
(It's like walking through a garden. Nice)
Next stop is the Tagus river.
Tagus is the largest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It measures 1,038 kilometers in length, 716 km of which are in Spain, 47 km as border between Portugal and Spain and the remaining 275 km in Portugal.
(I always laugh when mum pose for camera. She look so unnatural)
(Look like a castle on the top)
(I stared at their river, it reminded me of Kallang river. What's so great about this place? Don't believe me? Take a look at the next picture)
(See the river? Really, between Kallang river and Tagus river, there is little different)
(Nope we did not visit the other side of the river. So much life there)
(I'm bored. See river? Nanbei, seem like a big drain to me)
Then we are off the our last city of Spain, Real Madrid.
As our coach drive into New Madrid, we pass by this metro station. What's so great about this station? Remember the The 2004 Madrid train bombings? This station was one of them. Ouch!
Coach drop us at Real Madrid central, and our tour group walk to this nearby restaurant for dinner. Going eat tapas, come with the tour package.
Tapas are small quantities of food sold with a drink in Spain. They can be taken as a snack or combined to make up a full meal. In this case, they can amount to as little as a few olives, a piece of cheese, or something more substantial like a pork stew.
If this were in Chinese custom, we will call this “Dim Sum”
(Mum and sister enjoyed their tapas)
It is very common for a bar or a small local restaurant to have 6-8 different kinds of tapas in warming trays with glass partitions covering the food. One or more types of bread are usually available to eat with any of the sauce-based tapas. Let me show you some tapas we ate.
(They told me the name of this dish, however it in Spanish so I forgot liao)
(Was it nice? So...So. This is like Western “dim sum”)
(Look good, right? I think it larded pork meat slices)
(You can almost smell it)
(I took one piece, put into my mouth and I split out. It is very salty)
(Fried potato dices?)
After lunch we check in our hotel.
This hotel by far is the best I stay in this trip so far.
It is in the heart of the city, near metro and the room is perfect.
(That's my bed)
(That's mum and sister's bed. I have no idea what sis is doing, breakdancing maybe?)
Within ½ hours after we check in, we were out of the hotel again. Mum and sister want to make use of the time we had to explore Real Madrid. We can take cab or we can take metro.
Of course we take the cheapest form of transport.
I find Madrid Metro system is easy to use. Most ticket attendants don't speak English but I was able to get map from him.
(Do Singapore got the same? I don't think so. Even we have a map for tourist, most probably need to PAY)
Buying tickets all is in Spanish language but it quite easy when you know which station are we going. Just feed coin into ticket machines and press yr destination. Ticket will come out...easy as 1,2,3.
(As we wait for train, I noticed there only 3 Asian people around. Mum, sis and myself)
(I sat here thinking about Real Madrid bombing. Will suay suay happen again today.)
(From a crowded to empty train)
(Take this chance to take picture)
(You notice there a door between the carriages? It's lock)
Let me tell you about the train door. It is NOT automatic. When we enter the train, there were people in front of us so we didn't notice. They actually open manually when train stop. Likewise when you stepping out of the train, you have to manually open the door.
We're not aware until the train reached our station. The door did not open and we left there standing until the train move off again. So embarrassing.
Their train design is not the same like our MRT as they have carriages with door closed and lock. Our MRT is without door so we can walk from one carriages to another. So three of us was wondering what went wrong when all the other carriages door open, except ours.
(See the handle? Must push up then door open)
Lucky there this chap using hand signal in other carriages indicate how to open the door. Here, they really bring the term self-service to another level.
Nevertheless still we were able to made it our intend destination. Streets were buzzing with actives and there something that caught my eyes.
It is in the middle of the street. You put in 1 Euro and the door open. You do your thing there. When finish, you open the door and get out. Easy right?
but there is a catch though.
It only allow max of 3 minutes and when time up the door will automatic open. Imagine you shitting and door open and people on the street staring at you.
Hahahaha
(Look at shoppers, busy..busy..busy)
(They paint the aluminum barrier so it will not look as dull even when construction is going on. Singapore must learn from this)
(Guys, I am in Real Madrid. Woooo)
(Temp drop fast at night)
(Ang moh party girls)
Took metro back to hotel and along the way there was this pub. Need to intoxicate myself so I asked mum and sis go back first but they insisted joining me. So,.....
(No bartender, need to self service like metro?)
(Nothing complement each other so well as cigarettes and beer do)
(Singapore serve nut and cracker, Europe serves tapas with my beer)
(I will remember this moment. First time in my life, in a pub, drinking with mum and sister.)
.
