Highlights of Southern Spain
Spain turned out to be fabulously fabulous…. I thoroughly enjoyed myself there, despite joining my families 2 days late…. But it wasn’t enough to spoil what turned out to be a lovely holiday….
I didn’t really get to see much of Madrid, and my only disappointment was not going to the Bernebeau Stadium, home to Real Madrid (even though I am more of a Barcelona fan)…. After all, it was a mere 6 minute walk away…..
But visits around the southern parts of Spain yielded many breathtaking scenery, stunning architecture, beautiful landscaped gardens, hungry monkeys and very friendly people…..
The highlights of the tour had to be the Alhambra and the ancient mosque, which was later converted into a cathedral…. This is not unsurprising as Southern Spain was once a stronghold of the Muslim empire in the 9th century, which was later taken over the by the Christians in the 13th century…..
The trip to Gibraltar also proved to be delightful, where we were driven over the airport runway to reach the city centre…. There are more cars (70,000 of them) compared to people, it is so safe in Gibraltar that people do not lock their doors and windows…. Crime rates are so low, hardly anyone is ever arrested, the prison in Gibraltar holds a maximum of 19 people, which has proven more than adequate over the years…. And the apes…. Apparently, Winston Churchill said that everyone must take good care of the apes, as should there be no apes in Gibraltar, Gibraltar will cease to belong to Britain…. But the apes proved to be very comfortable in the presence of humans, as shown in the photos attached….
I also attended a flamenco dance performance, which used to be a form of expression (singing and dancing) by gypsies in the Andalucian region of Spain, of how they tell their life stories…. We had dinner, while the food was so-so, the performance was a whole lot better…. The costumes were colourful, the dancers fabulous…. Whether they used castinets, fans, or just plain tap-dancing, we enjoyed the 1 and ½ hour show….
I was very sad to have to go home, for obvious reasons…. It also meant I had to go back to work, which also meant that I would be departing for Bangladesh by the end of the week…. Not something that I look forward to….. but at least I will take the memories (and photographs!!) of Spain along with me!!!
Ed's Note: Apologies over the lack of photos, will post them as soon as I can get a fast enough connection to attach it....
I didn’t really get to see much of Madrid, and my only disappointment was not going to the Bernebeau Stadium, home to Real Madrid (even though I am more of a Barcelona fan)…. After all, it was a mere 6 minute walk away…..
But visits around the southern parts of Spain yielded many breathtaking scenery, stunning architecture, beautiful landscaped gardens, hungry monkeys and very friendly people…..
The highlights of the tour had to be the Alhambra and the ancient mosque, which was later converted into a cathedral…. This is not unsurprising as Southern Spain was once a stronghold of the Muslim empire in the 9th century, which was later taken over the by the Christians in the 13th century…..
The trip to Gibraltar also proved to be delightful, where we were driven over the airport runway to reach the city centre…. There are more cars (70,000 of them) compared to people, it is so safe in Gibraltar that people do not lock their doors and windows…. Crime rates are so low, hardly anyone is ever arrested, the prison in Gibraltar holds a maximum of 19 people, which has proven more than adequate over the years…. And the apes…. Apparently, Winston Churchill said that everyone must take good care of the apes, as should there be no apes in Gibraltar, Gibraltar will cease to belong to Britain…. But the apes proved to be very comfortable in the presence of humans, as shown in the photos attached….
I also attended a flamenco dance performance, which used to be a form of expression (singing and dancing) by gypsies in the Andalucian region of Spain, of how they tell their life stories…. We had dinner, while the food was so-so, the performance was a whole lot better…. The costumes were colourful, the dancers fabulous…. Whether they used castinets, fans, or just plain tap-dancing, we enjoyed the 1 and ½ hour show….
I was very sad to have to go home, for obvious reasons…. It also meant I had to go back to work, which also meant that I would be departing for Bangladesh by the end of the week…. Not something that I look forward to….. but at least I will take the memories (and photographs!!) of Spain along with me!!!
Ed's Note: Apologies over the lack of photos, will post them as soon as I can get a fast enough connection to attach it....
posted by zufar | 5:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home