Semana Santa in Seville

Semana Santa is the holy week of Easter in Spain.
Seville is arguably the most famous for processions such as the one in the photo, although they occur all over Spain. Different churches have different colour combinations of hat and cloak, but all of them have the pointed hat. The candle wax is poured on to the hands of the people watching to bring them luck.
This procession was next to the famous Seville Cathedral.
The procession is a sombre event, marking the death of Christ.

Traditional Parade in Belém

An unexpected parade in Belém of traditional Portuguese people adorned with gold family heirlooms and brightly coloured shawls.

The Great Earthquake of 1755

This is the Carmo Church and the ruins of the convent.
This is the remains of the aftermath of the great earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.
The remaining arches of the church contributed to the research of earthquake resistant architecture which is now a part of Lisbon.

Sintra

Day two in Portugal, I took a train to Sintra. A little town 4o minutes from Lisbon but miles apart in atmosphere.
With 6 Palaces, a Moorish Castle, and numerous gardens, it's a picture perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. Lovely long walks in the mountains with pretty buildings and fountains. It's touristy but not overwhelmingly so.

Fall asleep in Seville, wake up in Lisbon

With Feria being a 10 day festival, we had a four day weekend, so I took the opportunity to go somewhere a bit further afield. As soon as work finished on Wednesday, I took a train to Seville and caught an overnight bus to Lisbon, Portugal.
I arrived at the majestic Oriente Station at 5am, welcomed by a chilly breeze and faced with the challenge to find the bus that would take me to the hostel .
A taxi ride to the hostel later (I admitted defeat pretty quickly, fighting fatigue and cold.) I was decidedly too tired to follow the original plan which was to drop off my bags and take the first train to Sintra - a small town 40 minutes outside Lisbon.
Instead I took a nap until 12pm and after a shower, I felt refreshed and ready to seize the day.
One of the first things I was surprised by was my lack of preparation. I had no idea where to go or what to see. So armed with a map I went for a stroll, taking a tram until a stop where everyone else got off and wandered around that area.
A quick trip to the tourist information centre informed me that Lisbon is pretty expensive city for tours, so I found an internet cafe to look for free tours.
This was quick and easy, and after 20 minutes, I had booked myself on a walking tour that started in an hour and a Fado tour for the evening.
The tour took around 3.5 hours, and took us all around Lisbon, and the labyrinthine streets of Alfama. It was very good exercise climbing up and down the hills of Lisbon!
The guides were very informative and helpful. At the end of the tour they told me the best areas to go and eat that were less touristy and thus less expensive. Also, a gem of information was when they told me where to go for the best and supposedly original Portuguese egg tarts.
The tours can be found here.

The traditional music of Portugal is called Fado. Famously melancholic, a little sad, there are also happier versions. We went to a restaurant and had some traditional fried cod cakes and flame cooked chorizo, washed down with copious amounts of red wine, sangria and a shot of ginjinha (cherry liquor) in a chocolate cup.
This might sound a little Spanish, but it was most definitely Portuguese.

A little mountain village called Zuheros

Back in March I took a spontaneous trip to Zuheros, a village with a population of 821 in the middle of the mountains.
What started out as a day trip, ended up a weekend trip after taking an unintentional tour of the province of Cordoba.
We stopped in Lucena and Cabra before finally finishing in Zuheros where we discovered there were no buses leaving that day! The only hotel in the village was fully booked, so we begged the nearby apartment rental place to let us stay one night. It was off season and they weren't normally open, but seeing us drenched from the rain, they took pity on us and let us have a room. Needless to say, we were very lucky!
The next day, the weather was much nicer thankfully, and we took a walk up the mountain to the nearby Bat Cave where there are ancient wall paintings and interesting rock formations.

Vamos A La Feria!

Feria!!
I came here a second time to spend more time and go to the casetas.
At the Feria, there are two parts: The fair ground part, where there are rides, games and food stands selling candy floss, churros, caramel nuts and all the other wonderful unhealthy snacks your pre diabetic pancreas can handle.
This picture is a particularly eye catching stand selling wine from Aragon. One of the busiest stands in the fair ground area, with people standing around holding little plastic cups of delicious Spanish red wine.

The other part are the marquees, or casetas. Each one is a different to the next, some selling freshly prepared food, others selling all sorts of wine, others were like bars and then there were ones that were like nightclubs. I don't even know how many casetas there were, but so many it was easy to get lost. Meeting friends was quite the task, trying to find a specific caseta.

The women were beautiful in their traditional dresses, a big flower adorning their heads and matching earrings. Some danced the traditional Sevillanas while some danced to the latest chart songs.

I tried on a traditional dress, complete with coordinating flower and earrings. It was beautiful, perfect for posing for pictures!

Little Morocco in Spain

Granada and the Andalucia region has many Arabic influences which the Moors left behind almost 800 years ago as can be seen with the Mesquita in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada. However, today, there is a large Moroccan population in Granada, selling things such as Moroccan leather bags, stools and clothing (although I suspect some of these items are from Thailand) and offering to write your name in Arabic.
There are also Moroccan restaurants, as well as offerings from Lebanon, Libya, and other areas of North Africa. Altogether, there is an added colourful cultural dimension to Spain, where you're reminded that Northern Africa is only a 12km (7.3 miles) ferry ride away.

Street Performers in Granada

One of the things I love about Granada is how bohemian it is. A contrast to many other parts of Spain, especially Cordoba. You'll see people walking around with their own styles, obviously not caring what other people think about them. These four were performing super catchy jazz tunes by the river, and it was hard not to stop and listen. Of course, as the sign in front of them dictated, I left them a couple of Euros.

La Alhambra!

I finally made it to the Alhambra!

Feria Begins!

The biggest event on the Cordobese calendar kicked off tonight at exactly 00:00 with the turning on of the lights and fireworks.
Lots of people crowded in celebrate the much anticipated Feria!
I had candy floss and went on the biggest ride in the park.
Now I feel a bit ill. Haha, what's wrong with me??

For the times you're treated like a Princess

This is Jaen, where on top of the hill over looking the town, was me, in an old castle converted in to a luxury hotel. A Parador.

This was the view from our balcony.

After a long car journey from Madrid, we spent the night here. It was meant to be a treat, but I had food poisoning and had been throwing up all day and night! 

Haha, you've got to take the highs with the lows!

Something Old, Something New

One of the things I love about Córdoba is the lack of the influence of globalisation.
The clothes shops are mainly Spanish, although we have H&M and Benetton, all the others, such as Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear are Spanish.

McDonald's is now international cuisine. With only two that I know of and both out of the city centre, a "McPollo" wrapper on the street in Madrid was novel. I couldn't even tell you what is on the menu in a Spanish McDonald's, but I imagine there would be a McPaella, with a side of McSalmorejo, and if you go for the meal, you'd also get a Sangria.
The bonus toy with your Happy Meal, if you're interested, in my hypothetical Spanish stereotype, is a chorizo. Because there's no better toy than the one you can eat.

Starbucks, the face of the anti-globalisation movement, who even managed to open a store in the Forbidden City in Beijing, has not managed to open it's doors here. Not a single Starbucks here.

But yet, next to the city's pride and joy, our 1500 (or so) year old Mesquita, is a Burger King.

Appreciation

Today's photo of the day is one of my favourites from last year.

It was taken on the bridge that separates Thailand from Myanmar (Burma).
The mother was begging for money while he was rummaging in the trash for things to eat.
For me, it was his innocent naivety in not knowing a different life that struck me the most. While the mother was playing up her poverty, he was taking the day as it came, just like any other day. Because he wasn't "poor", this was normal. 

Busking across Europe

 

Today's photo of the day is more like, video of the day.
While I was in Madrid, I had the pleasure to meet two guys from Fresno California who had just begun their adventure touring around Europe for the next two months funded by their music.

After a night out fuelled by tequila and tango dancing, they offered to play some of their music, to which I couldn't refuse!

We went to the nearby Plaza Jacinto Benavente where the bus stop proved the perfect stage.

I wish the both of them the best of luck on their brave adventure!