Flamenco in Spain - draft (Draft - read only the one, without highlight)

 

Date	Day	Itinerary	Sleep
9.10.21	Day 0	CCU to Delhi	Plane
10.10	Day  1	Del-Barcelona (BCN) reached at 1250 pm (noon) +  BCN ½ day exploration	BCN
11.10	Day 2	Full day city highlights of BCN	BCN
12.10	Day 3	Costa Brava Tour : BCN- Blanes-LLoret Del Mar- Tossa Del Mar-BCN	BCN
13.10	Day 4	BCN -Montserrat- BCN	BCN
13.10	Day 4	BCN to Granada (by Train+Night Bus)	Train
14.10	Day 5	Granada city tour	Granada
15.10	Day 6	Granada	Granada
16.10	Day 7	Granada–Ronda (3 hrs by Train)	Ronda
17.10	Day 8	Ronda > Seville  ( 4 hrs by train ) > city tour	Seville
18.10	Day 9	Seville city tour	Seville
19.10	Day 10	Seville–Cadiz (1.45 hrs by  Train) at 6.40 am	Cadiz
20.10	Day 11	Cadiz -Jerez de la Frontera	Cadiz
21.10	Day 12	Cadiz > Cordoba (2.15 hrs by train) at 7.55 am	Left luggage at Cordoba
22.10	Day 13	Cordoba to Madrid by at 1.00 am	Madrid
23.10	Day 14	Madrid-Toledo (city of El Greco)	Madrid
24.10	Day 15	Madrid-Cuenca Tour	Madrid
25.10	Day 16	Madrid	Madrid
26.10	Day 17	Madrid (at 8.30 am ) >Frankfurt> Delhi	Plane
27.10.21	Day 18	Delhi > CCU	Kolkata

 

09.10.2021

Six of us were supposed to travel to Spain during Durga Puja. But none of them could go, except me ! One of them lost his passport. A family of 3 could not go, since their mother was sick. Another person did not get the visa. It was rejected on 8.10.22. By mistake he showed Current Account of Bank, though he is going on a tourist visa. However I got to know from my Spanish teacher (Bengali), that Spain 's visa is rejected quite often. Even my visa came quite late. Please remember VFS does not process visa for Spain. It is BLS International (BLS INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LTD, Spain Visa Application Centre, 61, Panchkuian Marg, Paharganj, New Delhi – 110055, Near R.K. Ashram Marg Metro station,  Next to metro pole No. 5).  Their Kolkata office at Camac Street has closed down.

Since I am one of the very first travelers doing international tour, after the covid, I had to travel without any forex card. It was not available anywhere. Even after frantic search in Axis Bank or HDFC Bank office in Kolkata and New Town, I could not get one. I had to use my Indian International Credit card. I was bit scared, whether I would be able to use it in Spain. Thankfully there was no problem.

My flight was at 1346 hours by Go First airlines from CCU and reached Delhi at 1600 hours. I left home at 1040 hours from my home. It did not take too much time to reach airport, since the road was empty. After reaching Delhi (T-1), I left for my uncle's house at Vasant Kunj by bus/auto. I chatted with them and had dinner and finally they dropped  me at the airport - T3. I can carry maximum 8 Kg as hand luggage. That is, as per rule, you are allowed upto 8.9 Kg (it should be less than 9). Plus a laptop bag is allowed. 

My flight was at 2.50 hrs next day. 

 10.10.2021

The plane left at least 30 minutes late from Delhi. I got down at Frankfurt airport at 820 hours (instead of scheduled 750 hours) . I was supposed to leave Frankfurt at 0945 hours and reach Barcelona at 1115 hours. Spain is 3.30 hours behind India.  The transit time between two flights was only 1.55 hours – got reduced to 1 hr 25 minutes ! But there was a huge line for baggage checking and immigration control. I decided to change the wrist watch time, after reaching Barcelona - which was a mistake. I should have changed it at Frankfurt and then again at Barcelona. I missed the connecting flight at 9.45 hours, though I tried to go faster, skipping part of the queue. Had the time displayed right time, I would have acted little earlier. But I was not the only one who missed the flight. There was another flight at 1105 hours. They (Lufthansa) re-booked a ticket without any charge. You have to tell at the counter “please re-book it”. Then they will not charge anything.

Later I learnt it is very common for people to miss the fight at Frankfurt. There are not many staffs at the airport to guide us, unlike India, presumably because labour cost is very expensive.

Finally I reached Barcelona at  1250 hours. It takes 1.30 minutes to reach Barcelona from Frankfurt. I took an airport express Bus for standard 5.9 Euro and finally got down at the heart of Barcelona at Plaça de Catalunya in 30-35 minutes. It is like Esplanade of Barcelona. But by mistake, I got down at Espanya, due to communication gap - which is 1 stop before Plaça de Catalunya. They told me to take a bus initially. But later they told me to take another airport express bus, since I came by that bus. The old ticket is still valid apparently. I took the airport express bus from the Red light at Espanya. Though the next airport bus did not let me in, the second bus allowed me - since I told them, I got down here by mistake. You cannot use airport express bus twice.

Anyways I walked for 10 minutes from Placa de Catalunya to reach my hotel at La Rambla or Les Rambles.  I am staying at La Rambla. It was somewhat like the old Boulevard of Gariahat. The car plies in two sides of La Rambla.  This is a very important location. Though crowded with tourists, Les Rambles is tree-lined and beautifully laid out. All along the way, you will meet with interesting street performers, some of them doing stunts, some of them costumed and some of them offering to do pencil sketches. All the important places of interest are nearby -  within walking distance.

The manager of the hotel is a Pakistani from Punjab. So he talks just like a Punjabi. He told me I am giving you a better room since you are from India. It is small, but cute room.

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Know Spain

The history of Spain is oldest in Europe - it has the oldest human settlement – 42,000 year ago. Even in Egypt the ancient period is 5000 BC.

We all knew about the cave art of Altamira. The people who drew the pictures at Altamira cave , went to North Spain from Africa through the strait of Gibraltar in 3000-8000 BC. Gibraltar is still under British. Morocco is very near Gibraltar.They were called Iberians.The Iberians were an ancient people who lived on the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula (south western Europe. ). They were descendants of North Africans, Mediterranean cultures, and local native groups. North Africans were followed by Celtics, Phoenicians (Lebanon), Greek, Carthage and finally Romans. Iberia Peninsula means Spain and Portugal. Iberian food means food from Spain and Portugal.

The name of Spain (España) comes from Hispania, the name used by the Romans for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces during the Roman Empire. The etymological origin of the term Hispania is uncertain, although the Phoenicians referred to the region as Spania (meaning "Land of rabbits"), therefore the most accepted theory is the Phoenician one.

In those days, just like Middle East of today, Spain is the place where you get oil. Even today, around 50% of olive oil comes from Spain. A road went straight from Spain to Rome. Germanic tribe (Vandals) who conquered Western Roman Empire, conquered Spain after 40 years, around 400 AD. Germanic tribe does not mean German people only.

Muslim Berbers and Arabic people collectively called Moor, conquered Spain after another 300 years i.e. 700 AD.  In the early 8th century, most of the Iberian peninsula was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate, and during early Islamic rule, Al-Andalus became a dominant peninsular power centered in Córdoba. This period is the dark age of Europe , but that is the golden age of Spain - when Moors controlled South Spain or Al-Andalus. The Moors controlled Spain for 700 years. They made a huge library. People all over the Europe came to Spain in those days to study. Nalanda of those days was in Muslim Spain. Many Arabic term was incorporated in Spanish ie Kamiza, Pijama , Pagar. 

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, known as the “father of algebra”, a word derived from the title of his book, polymath Al Biruni were all most learned people of that era.  Unani was evolved during this period. Southern Spain has a distinct culture – since Moors ruled that part of Spain.

Several Christian kingdoms emerged in Northern Iberia, chief among them León, Castile, Aragon, Portugal, and Navarre made an intermittent southward military expansion, known as Reconquista, repelling the Islamic rule in Southern Iberia, which culminated with the Christian seizure of the Emirate of Granada in 1492.

In 1469 marriage took place between Isabella I, Queen of Castile and of  Ferdinand II or Fernando King of Aragon :  between the Castile region  and Aragon region (two regions sharing the border). They got united by matrimonial alliance.

The dynastic union of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1479, often considered the formation of Spain as a country, was followed by the annexation of Navarre and the incorporation of Portugal during the Iberian Union. The Spanish king, through the Spanish Inquisition, forced the Jewish and Muslim minorities to choose between conversion to Catholicism or expulsion, and eventually most of the converts were expelled from Iberia through different royal decrees.

In 1492 the last Muslim king of Granada surrendered to the Christian king. In fact 1492 is a very important year, when Columbus reached Bahamas and thought this is America.  They bought gold from Peru, Guatemala, Mexico.

Anyways reconquest or reconquista was completed in 1492 (started from 800 AD).The expulsion of the Moriscos was decreed by King Philip III of Spain on April 9, 1609. The Moriscos were descendants of Spain's Muslim population who had been forced to convert to Christianity.Between 1492 and 1610 alone, some 3,000,000 Muslims left or were expelled from Spain

After, another 700 years, from 1469 onwards, it was under the Catholic King. In 1898 there was a disastrous battle between America and Spain. That was the beginning of the end of Spanish empire.

However in 1936 Spanish civil war started Eventually in 1939 under the Dictator Francesco or Franco, civil war ended, after Franco’s victory. He was supported by Fascists and Nazi and those who were defeated, were supported by Russians and Communists. Around 3.5 Lakh Spanish was killed by Franco. He died in 1975.

Franco bombed the Guernica in North Spain in autonomous Basque country near Bilbao. It is like Kashmir of Spain. Atletico Bilbao is part of this region. They do not think of them as Spanish. They have a distinct language. North West of Spain is Galicia region. They too have a distinct language. Catalonian language (spoken in Barcelona) is somewhat similar to Spanish and French. The region of Catalonia has two official languages.The Catalan independence movement seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. Rest of Spain speak Castilian i.e. what is known as Spanish language. There is nothing called Spanish language actually!  

Bilbao was conquered by Franco after bombing and killing lot of people in Guernica. Then Picasso drew Guernica after that event as a mark of protest against war. I saw Guernica in Madrid ( before that I saw it during Durga Puja inside a Pandal, Behala Nutan Sangha (opposite to Behala Nutan Dal !!).  It is Monalisa of the modern art. It is a huge canvas – 11.5 ft in length and 30 ft in width.  Famous painters like Goya , El Greco (of Toledo – who was born in Greece , but spent last 37 years in Spain :  is the architect of the Spanish Renaissance) are from Spain. Apart from that there is Picasso, Miro, Salvador Dali (Figueres) - all part of Catalonia. Miro drew the logo of world cup football in 1982. The most famous architect of the world is probably Gaudi (1852-1926) – his Modernista style in Barcelona draws many tourists to Barcelona.  Spain made lot of money during the time of Gaudi because of looting around the world. With that money, the rich asked Gaudi to make their building.  However the artistic style Art Nouveau was developed in and around Madrid around 1900.

Due to Franco's declining health, Juan Carlos began periodically acting as Spain's head of state in the summer of 1974. In 1975 Juan Carlos was given succession by Franco. Carlos was able to recover Spain and in 1977 after election, Spain became republic again. Carlos was present during 1982 world cup.

In 1977 Spain became part of NATO. Though during the Iraq war, they refused to join NATO. The area of Spain is 5 Lakh sq km ie 5.5 times West Bengal and 1/7th of India and population is 4.72 Crore , vis a vis 5.9 Crore of Italy and  6.8 Crore of France.

There is 15% unemployment rate in Spain. Its per capita income (nominal) is much lower than Germany,England or Scandinavian countries or even France (44,000 USD) at 31,000 USD approx.

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I planned to go to Cathedral first. I asked the Pakistani Manager how to reach the Cathedral. Surprisingly he does not know this, though he is staying in Barcelona for quite some time . Bangladeshis are much smarter. Cathedral is not very far from here. Basically he has no interest in these things.

After I got down from the hotel, I saw a restaurant "Raja" owned by a Pakistani just beside our hostel. Apart from Indian food, you also get Falafel, Durum. I was quite  hungry. I had both Durum and Falafel.  By that time, it was almost 2 pm. Most of the super markets are manned by Pakistani. I saw few Bangladeshis too. They are from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Just like Italy, I saw many people from Indian sub continent. But the only difference is they are not Bangladeshis, but Pakistanis from Punjab (Pakistani part) - they look like Indians. I was told there are some Indians too - though I could not find them. 

Not many people are wearing mask. They are wearing once they are inside a Museum. Today I mostly walked  in nearby areas - part of old Barcelona. I started with Cathedral- Cathedral de Barcelona, also known as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. Do not confuse Barcelona Cathedral with the La Sagrada Família Basilica. It is a Catholic church located in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. 

It was built in the 13th  century on the ruins of an old Romanesque church. Barcelona Cathedral has impressive Gothic architecture. It also houses many treasures, including paintings, sculptures, and ancient manuscripts. But it was closed, when I went there. I saw it from outside. But I have seen many cathedrals like this in  Vienna, Austria. So it is nothing new to me. But it is nice for a first time tourist. Nearby is Museo de Historia. The aim of the History Museum of Barcelona is to preserve the rich heritage of Barcelona. That was also closed. Is it probably because of corona ? The nearby Placa del Rei or King’s square, is nothing very special.

Then I went to Picasso Museum or Museo de Picasso. The Picasso Museum is a must-visit for art lovers. The Museum houses a vast collection of the artist's work, including paintings, drawings, and engravings. Its highlights include an extensive collection of his early works. It is allowing people by batches due to Covid, I guess. Since it had its quota of guests for the day, no further tourists were allowed. There is a nice park called Parc de la Ciutadella, where there is a lake. It is a very idyllic and probably the greenest oasis in Barcelona. It invites you to relax and to go for long walks as well as for a picnic. You can also use a rowing boat on the lake.  In the lake there are many ducks . There is a Catalan parliament beside the park.

When I reached Basilica de Santa Maria Del Mar - which is probably better than the Cathedral, it was already dark.

Then I saw Mercat de la Boqueria on La Rambla, while walking. It is a popular food market. I did not go inside. It is very near my hotel. Tomorrow I plan to go to Costa Brava, which is French Riviera.

Today I had Paella de Valencia from an Indian restaurant. Paella is from Valencia region. Typically it costs 16 Euro. There is an offer in the restaurant for 9.90 Euro and I had one espresso coffee for 1.5 Euro. ie. 11.40 in total. I had sea food Paella. but they did not give/have Calamari. The typical Indian attitude of not informing the clients that they do not have Calamari - though I asked about the ingredients. 

 11.10.2021

I must also tell you that Italy is relatively cheaper than Barcelona. But coffee is generally cheaper at 1.5 Euro. Paella is typically 10-16 Euro. But for budget traveller one can have Salami. I had Salami  for 1 Euro (60 gms) - very good taste. I also bought white chocolate from another super market.

I planned to see Antoni Gaudi’s creations. The fact that Barcelona is unique is because of Gaudi’s architecture. There is a place/district called  L'Eixample (pronounced 'lay-sham-pluh') is a showcase for Modernista architecture. Gaudi was born in 1852 and died in 1926. He was a devout Catholic. Gaudí put his imagination and talent at the service of the Catholic faith.  The most famous one is La Sagrada Familia.

 My initial plan was to go to Costa Brava. But all the shops were closed (or at least did not see any shop). Only Govt tourism office runs tours to Costa Brava. They have their office at the basement of Plaça de Catalunya. I went to their office running, since I was late -  to start the train tour at 8.00 am.  Even the information counter was closed. Then I planned to use the service of other private tour companies. But I could not find any such Company. Is it possible that they do the tour through the Govt run company only ? I wandered at Plaça de Catalunya twice. Finally the office opened at  8.30 am.  Later I was told that due to Covid there is no Costa Brava tour. I bought one tour of Montserrat tour for 50 Euro on 13^th. I bought one ticket of La Sagrada Familia for 28 Euro.

I learnt at the information counter that one train leaves from Plaça de Catalunya itself and stops at Blanes – which is a station in Costa Brava region. This tour will be taken by local train, (not part of any guided tour).  From there one can go to Tosa De Mar by bus.

 After this information, I left for Casa Batlló.   It is located on the Passeig de Gràcia . This is a unique house – made by Gaudi. The owner, Josep Batlló , did not like the existing style. Originally, the building was built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés (one of Gaudí’s architecture professors). In 1903 it was purchased by Mr Josep Batlló y Casanovas. Mr Josep Batlló granted full creative freedom to Antoni Gaudí, putting him in charge of a project that initially entailed demolishing the building. However, thanks to the courage shown by Gaudí, the demolition of the house was ruled out, and it was fully reformed between 1904 and 1906. The architect completely changed the façade, redistributing the internal partitioning and converting the inside into a true work of art. This signature style is copied everywhere in Barcelona. At the same time, prominent architects were also reforming other houses that, at the time, were competing for the urban awards convened by the Barcelona City Council. These houses are also in the modernist style and along with Casa Batlló, they are currently part of a unique group formed by Casa Amatller ( by the architect Josep Cadafalch), Museu del Perfum (which is in between Casa Amatller and  Casa Mulleras), Casa Mulleras (Enric Sagnier) and Casa Morera (by Lluís Domènech i Montaner) .These 4 houses are joined together like the houses in Delhi and is called "Block of Discord” , since they have no common  pattern. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings.

The entre fee of Casa Batillo is 39 Euro ! The most expensive entry ticket I have ever bought for a house. But the house is unique. There is no option to go inside Casa Amatller or Casa Morera . The audio guide is made wonderfully, almost seamlessly. The moment you reach a certain spot, audio will start talking !  Then I followed the walking tour given by another travel book.

There are many interesting houses on the way. Then fell on the way Casa Mila (nick named La Pedrera (stone quarry) because it resembles an open quarry ) - a building designed by Gaudi and commissioned by Pere Milà. The name, ‘Casa Milà’ comes from the fact that it was the new home of the Milà family. Casa Mila is Antoni Gaudi’s most iconic work of civic architecture due to both its constructional and functional innovations. It was Gaudi’s last work of civic architecture and represented a break with the conventions of his day. Due to Covid they are not allowing any person at that point of time. But I was told to come at 1 pm, which is not possible for me !

So I proceeded towards La Sagrada Familia. There is a time of entry at 1.30 pm. On the way falls a very nice Hospital Sant Pau - founded around 600 years ago. I reached there at 1.10 pm. But I had no time to go inside the Hospital. I heard, if I am late by 10 minutes then the ticket will be cancelled. So I had to skip the hospital. So I left for La Sagrada Familia. It is a unique church. It is still under construction for nearly 140 years, and has become one of the most visited monuments in Spain, receiving 4.7 million visitors in 2019. There will be 18 towers – height according to the importance. The towers are dedicated to important biblical figures: 12 apostles, 4 evangelists, 1 Virgin Mary, 1 Tower of Jesus.  Jesus Christ’s tower is the tallest, followed by Mary. I have not seen anything like this. Initially intended to be a simple Roman Catholic church, the church ultimately became the most prominent example of Catalan Modernism. Pope Benedict XVI declared it a basilica in 2010. The Basilica exemplifies Gaudí’s philosophy that nature is the work of God. Gaudí sought to combine biblical allegories with complex natural symbols like organic, geometric shapes which are prominent in every column, pinnacle and stained glass window of the basilica. The "Belgium glass" inside the church is very different. The play of light on this glass is very unique. At the time, Gaudí was also working on Casa Milà (La Pedrera) and when that was completed in 1912, he focused exclusively on the construction of the Sagrada Família. Gaudí realized that the construction of the Sagrada Família was such an ambitious project that he certainly would not see its completion in his lifetime. In fear of the project being stopped after his death and once the church acquired its worship function, Gaudí decided that, instead of building the central nave, he would start on the external part of the church.

I had seen similarly interesting and differentiated church in Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer. But it is more of a geometrical pattern. What Niemeyer has done for Brasila , Gaudi has  done it for Barcelona. Niemeyer said, who said a  church should look like other churches.

Then I went running to the Hospital Sant Pau. But it was already closed . On Mon - Fri the hospital is closed at 2.30 pm. I saw it from outside , and is very interesting. I took pictures from outside.

So I planned to go to Camp Nou, since I saved some time here. It is the famous stadium of Barcelona. I am told it is the most visited place in Barcelona. The Yellow line of metro - L3 line takes you to last station, Palau Reial .From the metro station you have walk for 7-8 minutes to reach Camp Nuo. In the metro, I met a Bangladeshi (Mamun Khan) who was going to Plaça de Catalunya (or Esplanade of Spain). He told me, if you stay here for  3 years, then they give you residential card. He told me that Spanish people are very generally very nice. He has opened a restaurant nearby and gave his email id and phone no. He told me near Las Ramblas there is a Bengali neighbourhood. They are either from Dhaka or Sylhet. There are 3 mosques. Even there is one mosque at La Ramblas. But there are many Punjabis from Pakistan in La Ramblas.

Anyways, the museum is very nice, needless to say. It made me sad that why we could not make anything like this. Barcelona was started probably by a Swiss person, Joan  Gamper in 1899, along with 5-6 Catalans and rest from some other countries. So Mohan Bagan is even older! Everything was displayed very artistically. I saw the pictures of La Masia Academy. La Masia Academy is near Camp Nou. Previously the stadium was in  Les Corts . Later it was shifted to Camp Nou, when there was a need for a bigger stadium. But they do not practice in Nou Camp. Only the matches are played here. We went inside the ground. Since they do not practice here , it helps to protect the pitch. They were selling grass of the pitch inside the Nou Camp ground, apart from some other memorabilia. They sell lot of souvenirs   - which is very expensive. The entry fee is very high - 29 Euro. A cap costs 25 Euro. Basically they are exploiting the sentiments of fans. The souvenir shop is huge, in two tiers - jersey, T shirt, key ring, mug, pencil, pen - you name it, it is there. They have fan clubs in 80 countries - Cuba, Kosovo, New Calendula etc.

After that I took the metro and got down at Liceu Metro station. Actually Las Ramblas or La Rambla boulevard connects Plaça De Catalunya (where there is Plaça de Catalunya  Metro [like Esplanade] and train station called Estacion de Nord [like  our Sealdah, for local trains], nearby) with the Port. I think the boulevard is around 800 metres. There is a metro train in the middle of boulevard (somewhere between Plaça de Catalunya and Port). It is called Liceu. 

Now there is a major train station called Sants Estació - which is like Howrah station of Kolkata.  At the boulevard, I met a Bengali (Bhaben) from Kalyani. He is here for nearly 10 years and stays with 4 people in a flat. He also told me after 3 years they get a temporary resident card. They pay a Rent of 200 Euro per head i.e. 800 Euro for 4 people i.e. Rs  70,000/- + Electricity bill of Rs 10,000. He has his wife and son in Kalyani. He used to work in Restaurant in the boulevard of La Rambla. Now he got a better job in a Super market. Since one of his friends has taken a leave, that is why he is substituting him today in La Rambla. I also learnt that car here is not very expensive. You can get a car for around 4,000 Euro or Rs 350,000. A bike will cost 1500 Euro. The cost of  petrol is around 1 Euro. There are 3 varieties of Petrol :    (-) 1 Euro, 1 Euro and (+) 1 Euro. So it is quite cheap, compared to average earning. That is why hiring a car in Spain is not expensive. But since I am only left with 1 member, out of this 6 person group, I did not think of hiring a car.

Today I had Paella and 3 types of Tapas in an offer for 12 Euro - Patatas Bravas (Aloo Tikki), Pimenta (Chilli), bread with Tomato (which they changed on my request to Olive). I had sea food Paella. Bangladeshis are working here as chef. He told me the Spaniards own typically 4-5 shops, but it is mostly manned by Bangladeshis, like Italy ! 

12.10.2021

Today I left for Costa Brava, which is French Riviera or Côte d'Azur of France. In the tourism Deptt at Plaça De Catalunya, they told me to buy ticket upto Tossa De Mar, instead of buying the ticket upto Blanes. There is a metro station as well as train station at Plaça De Catalunya. The local train stopped at least 20 stations - it is like  local train stations. The distance is only 70 Km. On the right hand side of the train is Mediterranean. But unlike French Riviera there is no marriage of sea and mountain. The mountain is somewhat far away. We saw mostly the beach. So it is not as stunning as French Riviera. I reached Blanes by train. Then I got a bus from the Blanes station, which took me to Lloret de Mar.  On the way to   Lloret de Mar, I saw marriage of mountain and sea. So the view here is much better than Barcelona to Blanes. I reached Lloret de Mar at 11.10 hrs. From Lloret  De Mar , the bus will leave for Tossa de Mar at 1150 hours, which is our final destination. At the Lloret de Mar, I saw a shop called Ganeshay (or Ganapati ?) - it is run by a person from Jaipur. He told me there are many Indians here, especially from Agra. They are speaking in Hindi. But they all know Spanish. Mar means Sea side. eg Playa means beach in Portuguese. Lloret de Mar has a nude beach - which I did not know. When I went to the beach, I saw a lady sunbathing.

Since it was time for the bus to Tossa De Maar at 1150 am, I could not explore the city much. At the bus stop they gave me a map of the city. There are many shops like Sorrento of Italy.

The history of Tossa is around 500 years old. There is a nice light house. While going to the old part of the city, I found it similar to Positano. There is a nice view point at Tossa de Mar at the old part of the city. From there the sea looks like Azure. I had a wonderful Mixed fruit juice for 3.5 Euro (mind it, the Euro costs 86 Euro now !). The bigger one costs 4.5 Euro. I had a gelato also for 2 Euro. Normally it is 2.5 Euro elsewhere. I also had a cup of coffee for 1 Euro, which is cheaper than other places. I also had a big sausage. I had to skip lunch. I spent around 3.5 hours here.

On the way back, I went to Blanes via Lloret de Mar and from their I took train to reach Barcelona. Since I could not find the train ticket in my pocket, I had to buy the ticket again for 7 Euro. Later I found the ticket in my bag !

On the way to my hotel, a lady asked me , if I want to have massage and spend some time with her. I said no. Tomorrow I had a Montserrat tour. I went to the Information centre to get the information (once again), since I have some time in my hand. I was told near Arc de Triomphe there is a train station called Estació Nord. From there the bus to Montserrat will leave.

Today I had sea food Paella once again. I also had the famous cocktail - Sangria for 5.5 Euro. I had some Pasta and Patatas Bravas. They give Mayonnaise and tomato sauce in Patatas Bravas.

13.10.2021

My bus to Montserrat would leave at 10 am. So I had some time. I left my hotel at 8 am  to see the Port Vell, which is towards right from our hotel (towards left is Plaça de Catalunya), where there is a very big statue of Cristobal Colon or Christopher Columbus. The height is around 5 storied building. Just after that is Port Vell. I saw in the map it is possible to go to Arc de Triomphe from this side too, instead of going back to Placa de Catalunya. On the way I saw Santa Maria Del Mar. It  is one of the most perfect examples of Gothic style architecture . It was built in just 55 years, from 1329 to 1384, and is the only surviving church in the pure Catalan Gothic style.

Finally I reached Arc de Triomphe, little late. Somehow I had to rush to reach the Estació de Nord at the nick of time. It is around 150 metres from Arc De Tromp. I reached exactly at 10 am. The bus left just after that. The bus is not full, probably because of Covid effect. There are people from Bolivia, Nicaragua and Argentina. The guide spoke in Spanish and English simultaneously. Normally I have seen the guide talk in English. But since Spanish in national language of 21 countries - so it is different. Invariably there will be some Spanish speaking tourists. Normally any sign board in Barcelona is written in 3 languages - Spanish, Catalan and English. It appeared to me there is not much of difference between Spanish and Catalan.

Montserrat  is around 50 km from Barcelona. Within 1 hour we reached Montserrat. Here the patron saint  of the Basilica is   Sant Jordi (in Catalan) or St George (e.g. Jordi Alba of Spanish Football team). The guide said Napoleon came here and stolen everything from the Basilica. So everything was destroyed. It was constructed in 1592, 100 yrs after Columbus reached Bahamas in 1492.

We reached here (Basilica) by funicular train - which is free. It is used only for short distance. Then there is another steep funicular, by which you can go to the further top, by paying 12.5 Euro.

When we reached the Basilica ,  a program was going on , so we could not enter there. Guide said we can go to the Museum - which is nice. It is a small museum. - entry fee is 6.5 Euro. In the museum cum art gallery, I saw pictures of some very famous artists like Monet, Manet, El Greco, Pissarro, Degas - but only 1 or 2. After seeing the museum it was already 1 pm. The basilica has opened. The frontal part of the Basilica is not very special. But inside the basilica is interesting. Here the virgin Mary is unique - black in colour - which is a specialty. It is called Black Merry. It is very important for Catalonians.

The Basilica is surrounded by sedimentary rock, somewhat like Morocco in Dades Valley. When referring to Montserrat, people consider that it is more than just a Monastery - Montserrat is a whole mountain.The setting of the church is very unique.

I took the funicular to go to the top. This funicular is called Sant Joan Funicular (it is St John in English). It is very steep - around 80 storied building - 250 metres. There is a great view from the top. You can walk for 15 minutes from the top to go to the church of St Joan and there is another church called Sant Jeroni,  which is another 15 min walk. I did not go there till the end, for want of time, since the next funicular will come after 30 minutes and I would have missed the bus.

We left for Barcelona at 3 pm. After reaching Barcelona, I left for Museu Picasso de Barcelona, almost running, since I have to take the train at 9.30 pm. On 10^th I could not enter the museum due to some restrictions as a result of Covid.

There are 15000 pictures of Picasso, I am told in this museum. There are pictures during various period starting from young age to old age: cubism, blue period, rose period, dove series in Cannes. He spent some time in Barcelona also. The Picasso in this museum is very different from what we know. It starts when he was only 15 years. He was born in the year 1881 in Malaga and died in 1973. His paintings,  when he was very young, was very different. In fact there is an impressionist style art also, and if it is not told that it was drawn by Picasso, you will think it was drawn by Van Gogh. Before he adopted his avant-garde style, he was like any other good painter and one of his paintings at the age of 15 (1897) is astonishing - like Raja Ravi Varma ! He also made some jewellery when he was young. The entry fee of the museum is only 12.5 Euro, which is much less than other museums. The reason is, the most famous ones are not here. This is more about how he evolved.  

https://museupicassobcn.cat/en .

My bags were already packed (and checked out in the morning) and went to the guest house just to collect my luggage. I told the Pakistani manager, that I want to go to Estación de Sans. But he misguided me again, by telling me to go to a wrong Station. It was very surprising that while Bangladeshis are very smart and invariably give right direction, Pakistanis generally give wrong information ! I told him, probably it is better to take the metro from Liceu. I took same L3, from Liceu - which I took to go to Camp Neu last time, to go towards Tarragona (but I have to get down at Estación de Sans  or Sant Estacion railway station, after Tarragona). Sant Estacion is just like an airport. Anyways I Took the train at 910 pm and got down at Madrid Atocha Rail Station at 1200 pm, late at night. The bus station to go to Granada is around 1.9 Km. There are not too many trains which goes to Granada. In fact I bought a ticket from Barcelona to Granada - but the ticket I got is a combo of Train and Bus. So I took the metro, again at Madrid Atocha,  to go to the bus station; for that I took blue line to get down at Pacifico metro station after 1 stop and then took a circular line (ash line) of metro to go to Estacion de Sur (South), unlike Sud in Belgium. The card at Madrid metro costs 1.5 Euro and ticket costs 2.5 Euro. This card will be useful, when I go back to Madrid. 

The bus station is nearby from Estacion de Sur. Here I met a couple. They went to Palermo (Sicily) and  are coming back from a conference. They took me to La Para de Autobus or bus stop. 

14.10.2021

I arrived in Granada at 6:30 am and was advised to take bus No. 33. The fare was 1.4 Euros. It was still dark, when I got off at Constitution Centre - 7. After freshening up at the bus station’s clean restrooms, I bought some snacks and charged my phone and camera .I met a man from Kerala who kindly helped me find my hotel. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to chat, but his assistance was invaluable.

Upon arriving, the hotel was closed. Luckily, an Argentinian girl emerged and helped me get the Wi-Fi password so I could enter. She spoke little English, so we communicated using Google Translate. I asked her to contact the hotel receptionist, who informed me that I could store my luggage but check-in was only possible at 3 pm. I requested an early check-in at 10 am, but she insisted that it wouldn’t be possible.

Inside the hotel, I met a Moroccan man who didn’t speak English. We conversed using Google Translate in Arabic. I showed him my blog and shared how much I enjoyed my time in Morocco, mentioning famous athletes like Saïd Aouita and Mohamed Bouderbala. This touched him, and he kindly offered me tea and a banana! He currently lives in Belgium and was visiting Granada to travel.

 I left for the city around 9:30 am. The hostel had a wonderful kitchen, which I noted for later.The hostel had a wonderful kitchen, which I noted for later.

Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors (Arabic and Barbers) in Spain, who had entered through the Rock of Gibraltar. The Christian kings eventually recaptured Granada in 1492 as part of the Reconquista. It was the last city to fall. The city bears the strongest influence of Moorish culture and architecture in Spain, most notably seen in the famous Alhambra. This region is called Al-Andalus, or Andalusia, with Granada being one of the most fascinating parts of it. The city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen elsewhere in Europe.

The Iberians first came to Spain around 5000-8000 BC, likely through the Rock of Gibraltar, which is close to Morocco. Interestingly, Gibraltar is still under British control, and British pounds are used there. Similarly, Spain controls Ceuta, a small region in Morocco. I’ve read that you can hear the call to prayer (Azan) from Morocco when standing in Cádiz.

After the Iberians, the Romans ruled Spain until around the 4th century AD. Then, the Germanic tribes took over Western parts of the Roman Empire (except Constantinople). 

In the 8th century (after another 300 years), the Moors, a mix of Arabs and Berbers, conquered Spain, which marked the beginning of Islamic rule, particularly in southern Spain. 

Besides the Moors, Tunisians/ Carthaginians (one of them is Hannibal), Celts, Phoenicians, and Greeks also left their mark on this region.

During the Roman period, Spain was known for exporting olive oil, much like how the Middle East is known for oil today. The Moors ruled Granada for around 700 years until the Christians began their Reconquista, or reconquest (from 9th century onwards ie after 100 years of rule of Moors), of Spain. 

Finally Córdoba fell to the Christians or Catholics or Castilian King in 1236, followed by Seville 12 years later. It took another 250 years approx before Granada fell under Castilians i.e. Granada remained under Moorish rule until 1492, during the reign of the Nasrid dynasty.

While this period of 700 years is considered the "dark age" of Europe, it was the Golden Age for Spain, especially during the last 250 years of Moorish rule (approx 1250-1500), when scholars and students from all over Europe came to Spain for education. This era saw the construction of iconic structures at Alhambra and the Generalife. Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr was the first ruler of the Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula, and the founder of its ruling Nasrid dynasty - resulting into construction of the Alcazaba or 'citadel'. It is a fortress at the western tip of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.  

In 1482, a civil war broke out among the Nasrids over who would take the throne, and this internal conflict weakened them, eventually leading to their defeat by the Christian forces. By 1492, not only were the Moors expelled, but also Jews and Muslim converts to Christianity (Moriscos). Those who converted but were suspected of secretly practicing Islam were known as Moriscos, and they faced additional persecution, especially in the early 1500s.

Granada is also the birthplace of the famous Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. Sadly, he was executed by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War due to his opposition to Franco’s regime.

Exploring the City

There was some confusion about which bus to take to Alhambra. Nobody was able to guide me. I eventually boarded bus C32 (C32 is bigger that Tempo Traveller, but smaller than a mini bus.), though you can also walk if you have time. The Alhambra is located on a hill, and the roads leading to it are narrow, which is why only special buses like C32 can navigate them. In some places, there is not enough space, even for a bike.It reminded me of the Lapa region in Rio de Janeiro or Sirince in Izmir, Turkey, where houses are scattered across hills.

The Albayzín neighborhood, with its Moorish whitewashed houses, is visible along the road. White is considered a sacred color in Moorish culture, symbolizing purity. The entry fee for Alhambra is 16 Euros, and I underestimated how grand it would be (after visiting Morocco).

Just like Rio's favela in the mountain/hill , here also the Moorish white houses are in Albasin region - in and around the mountain.

The Alhambra complex is divided into 3 parts: the Alcazaba, Generalife (Jinan al-Arif, or "Garden of the Architect," akin to the Mughal Gardens of Kashmir), and the Alhambra itself. 

First, I explored Generalife, followed by the Alcazaba, but the real highlight was the Alhambra. However, you are only allowed to enter the Alhambra at specific times. I had some time before my slot at 1630 hours, so I visited the nearby Palace of Carlos/Charles V, built in 1527, which reflects beautifully on the water. They are beside Al Hambra. Generalife and Alcabza is not exceptional.   It is beside Al Hambra. 

Although the visit was impressive, one thing annoyed me: they asked for my passport and ticket at almost every corner, even though I had purchased tickets for all the zones. The audio guide wasn’t as helpful as the one I used at Casa Batlló in Barcelona. Inside the Alhambra, I admired the intricate zellige / Zali tilework, porticos, and courtyards reminiscent of a "Thakur Dalan" (Bengali mansion). The mosaic work is amazing. The mosaic work found here is reflected in every restaurant and hotel in Granada.

I rushed back to the hotel by 8 pm to check in before the receptionist left. Here check in time is either at 2 pm or 3 pm generally. 

After settling in, I explored the nearby sights. I visited the magnificent Cathedral of Granada and a nearby madrasa, which, unlike others, hadn’t been converted into a church but had become an office. I also visited the Royal Chapel (Real Capilla), the resting place of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, whose marriage united Spain.Real Madrid means Royal Madrid. (O Rei means King Pele in Portuguese)

The nearby St. Augustine market reminded me of a smaller version of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar or the souks of Morocco and Egypt. I also visited the Plaza de la Rambla and enjoyed a delicious chorizo at the famous Cafeteria Alhambra.

In the evening, I watched a flamenco performance, although the most renowned performances are in Jerez de la Frontera. I ended the night with tapas at the famous Calle Elvira, where many tapas bars offer free tapas with drinks.

With 1 beer, they give you 1 tapa. There are various sizes: Grande (large), Media (medium), and Pequeño (small). I had a small one for 9 Euros. It included an assortment of six items: Iberian ham, salmon, tuna, sausage, etc. They also served garlic bread.

Later, I had sangria at another place that was much cheaper—only 2.4 Euros, unlike the 6.5 Euros in Barcelona. Initially, they didn’t give me any tapas, but when I pointed it out, they brought a free tapas with potato, boiled egg, and chicken. The bus fare here is cheaper than in Barcelona (2.4 Euros and  for 10 rides it is 11.5 Euros), but here it’s only 1.4 Euros. Like Barcelona, the tap water here is drinkable, so there’s no need to buy bottled water.

It’s very helpful to learn numbers from 1-12 when traveling in a foreign country (if somebody tells you the next bus is at 11 / 12 pm , you will not understand). If you know upto 10, then it is good. But upto 12 is even better. For example, uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce. Knowing how to say fifty (cincuenta) is also useful. If you want to say, "I want to go to Alhambra," you say: Quiero ir a la Alhambra. Similarly, if you need to ask where the bus stop is, say: ¿Dónde está la parada del autobús?.

When asking about opening and closing times, abierta means open, and cerrada means closed. Knowing the days of the week is also essential. For example: Domingo (Sunday), Lunes (Monday), and Sábado (Saturday) are the most important ones.

If you want to ask about the train station: Quiero ir a la estación de tren.

Some useful phrases include No es caro (not expensive), Grande (big), Más grande (very big), Pequeño or Más grande  (small) and Todo incluido (all-inclusive set meal). A ticket is called billete.

Supermarkets are also important for budget travelers because food and water are cheap there. Supermercado is the word for supermarket, and you can ask: ¿Dónde está el supermercado? (Where is the supermarket?).Some of the frequently used words are :

Sí means yes, and no means no.

Gracias means thank you, and por favor means please.

Perdón is useful to say sorry or excuse me.

When asking for directions, derecha is right, izquierda is left, and todo recto is straight ahead. A timetable is horario, and you can ask: ¿Dónde está el horario? (Where is the timetable?).

Water is agua, and when greeting people, Buenos días means good morning, Buenas tardes means good evening, and Buenas noches (Notte in Italian) means good night.For titles, Señor (Mr.) and Señora (Mrs.) are used ( Monsieur is Mr in French), while Muy bien means very good. Bien is good. When talking about food, bebida refers to drinks, and comida refers to food. If you don’t want a drink, you can say No bebida.

Chicken is pollo (pronounced "poyo"), mutton is carne de vaca, fish is pescado, and potatoes are patatas. Patatas brava is a common dish of fried potatoes. Ham and Salami is same as English.

ATMs are called cajeros, but "ATM" is understood everywhere.

When asking for the price, say ¿Cuánto cuesta?, which is similar to Portuguese.

 If a store is closed today, people will say mañana, meaning "come tomorrow."

Another useful phrase is ¿Habla inglés?, meaning "Do you speak English?" If you want to say, "I don’t speak Spanish," it’s No hablo español. If you know a little Spanish, you can say Hablo poco español.

Do you (Tu) know Spanish - "¿Tú hablas español?" I normally say Hablo poco Espanyol.

Many people know that Amor is love, Friend is Amigo - but these are not of much use ! . Usted is formal of "You". Como Esta Usted - How are you ? This is very common. 

Hola (hello) is very common, while cerveza means beer, and vino means wine.

Toilets are called los servicios, but in some places, it’s referred to as aseos. In Spain, public toilets are often free, unlike in other parts of Europe where you typically pay 50 cents to 1 Euro. I have not paid till date.

Knowing the conversation  around  your age is also very important. In Montserrat, they were asking a French person "¿Años?"—meaning age—but the person didn’t understand. This is important because if you are over 65 in Montserrat, you get a concession. In Brazil, for example, no ticket is required for the metro if you are over 60.

A small road is called a "calle," while an important or long road is called a "carretera."

Here, they are strictly following mask rules in enclosed areas. People use sign language to remind others when their masks fall below their mouths. 

The quality of the sanitizers is good, they smell like the spirit used before injections. In India I had some doubt whether sanitizers in public place actually work !

However, in public places, almost no one is wearing a mask.

15.10.2021 

Yesterday I have seen the most important things of Granada. But due to Covid, many tours were cancelled - Olive oil tours , Al Puzaara : This is near Sierra Nevada mountain range. So I decided the see the town even more closely. I went to the place , which is famous for Bull fight. It was also closed. I saw some Churches, Monastery. In the meantime , the memory card of my phone was exhausted, so I came back to my hotel to replace it and then I left for Albacin. This is an old Moorish quarter. Before it was recaptured by the Reconquistas, the ordinary Ordinary Moorish people used to stay here. They are all white washed. The location of the houses make it even more interesting - it is on the mountain, some are of them stay  in a cave. (somewhat like Cappadocia). I went to a place called, Sacramento - where are many cave houses , where Flamenco Dance takes place.  you have to walk some time to reach here. Most of them will start at 9.30 pm. Probably it will end at 1130 pm. It is not safe as per LP to be so late. Mugging take place. It is completely deserted place at night. It is somewhat deserted even in the day time. There are many Arabic people here. So I dropped the idea. While going to Albacin, I saw a place at the base of Alacin, where Flamenco dance will take place. I saw Flamenco later there @ 17 Euro. While coming back I read in my guide book that there is a place called Mirador San Nicolas, where there is a church and there is a wonderful view of Al Hambra. Alhambra is on the other side of the mountain. After reaching I saw many people waiting here for the sunset and the wonderful view. I would have missed unless I read it LP at the last moment. Some Arabic people were singing a song - Habibi , from this Moorish quarter. There is a cafe also.

Before the Flamenco dance starts,I had to buy  some Boomerang at the nearby market. So I went there running. While   I was going to the market, I saw a  plaza nearby, where 3 young guy (one is singing, another one is playing guitar and the other one is dancing) and 2 girl are doing Flamenco Dance.  Lot of people gathered to see it. When I came back from the market,  I saw another group singing and doing Flamenco dance. So even if you do not want to pay, if you sit here , you will be able to Flamenco Dance. The place where I saw Flamenco dance has been recommended by Tripadivsor. I have to go little early so that I sit in the front sit. The dance takes place on a wooden Floor. It is meant for Flamenco dance only. When somebody is dancing on the street , they carry a wooden plank for the dance. The Reconquista (Isabel and Ferdinand) was shown through Flamenco. The music is similar to Arabic. The dance took place for 1 hour. I found it quite interesting.

Today I went to another Tapas bar and paid 8 Euros - combinado or combination of any 6 Tapas items you can choose. They also served sweet red wine. I enjoyed red wine. When I came back to hotel, I saw the Moroccan guy. I chatted for some time with him. Tomorrow I will take train in the morning.

16.10.2021

Today I reached Ronda at 11 am. I had to change the train at Antequera Santa Maria. Since the check in is at 2 pm, so I kept the luggage at the hotel and left to the city. First I went to Plaza de Toro. Toro means bull. Ronda is the birthplace of modern Bull Fight or spiritual capital of bull fight. The Bull ring is from 1785. Bull fight no longer takes place here. It is important for documentation purpose. It is used for an important public function.  What I learnt is bull fight did not start in a day. It started initially as a game. The Moors were attacked , the King said people must have horse. In the bull ring Horse has a place in history. The Spanish horse is world famous for its good breed. The King Philip in the 16th Century told everybody, if you have power maintain the horse and he stressed on proper  horse  maintenance. He also ensured proper breeding. That is why the best horse today comes from Spain. The Second oldest horse school for equestrian is in Ronda. He introduced horse training and breeding. One or two years before it started in Austria. Previously a person was in horse and fought with bull. The fact that the matador is on the ground is a relatively new thing. 

Even Assyrians also had bull fight. The previous bull fight used to between a person riding a horse and a bull. The king of Hafsburg dynasty, Austria was a great fan of bull fight. Apart from him, Ernest Hemingway, Orson Wells used to like bull fight a lot. Their statute is there in Ronda. The main theme or logo of Ronda is bull fight. It is projected as a bull fighting city. I saw the Plaza de Toro and there is a museum where everything is displayed very nicely. As per the museum, this bull fight existed for time immemorial. There is a video of horse training, bull rearing up, history of bull fighting etc. There is "still picture" exhibition also.  The bull fighting does not take place in Barcelona any more due to public protest. The last bull fight takes place on 12th October every year. This bull fight is basically culture of Southern Spain/ Andalucia. There is bull fight in Madrid also. The bull meant for bull fight, is given complete freedom and allowed to roam for 3 years . Whereas the beef is kept in captivity before they are killed. The person who is pro bull fight says that till the bull is ready for fight , the bull is given freedom, unlike beef which kept in captivity before killing.  If  matador dies from the bull fight then the bull is freed. und openly.  The pictures of bull fight is everywhere. The picture/ advertisement of first bull fight is also displayed. 

Ronda is also very famous for a bridge. Many people come to just to see the bridge. It is Bridge over El Tajo gorge - 120 Metres/360 ft tall. It is very unique. The gorge divides the city into 2 parts - old city and old  city. My hotel is in new city. ( But in reality everything is old city.) The bridge is called Punte Nuevo or New Bridge. In Italian also bridge is called Ponte. It took 40 years to construct the bridge. The water flows below 120 metres. It is quite interesting. There is a church called Santa Maria da Mayor. previously it was a mosque. Then Christians ( or called Catholic Kings) started reconquesta. First they captured North. The Moors were then in South. Slowly the South also got recaptured :  Ronda, Seville and finally Granada.

In Indian context,say, only Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala (not even AP) was left to be recaptured. In 1492 when Granada came under Catholic Church, few years before that Ronda was captured. After Ronda only Granada was left to be recaptured. There was a water source. The Moors deployed Christian slaves to get water from water mine. To get the water from the gorge below, they made a tunnel. The water is of very great importance. Similarly in Fatehpur Sikri Akbar abandoned the place for want of adequate water. Similarly, here also, the Catholic monarchs captured the water source form the Moors during the reconquista. 

Then I went to Banos Arabes. I had to 4.5 Euro enter - quite expensive. It is nothing but Hammam. The Arabs learnt about Hamam from the Romans. There were 3 chambers - hot water, cold water and steam bath. The Arabs constructed it in 13-14th Century. There is a video on that Hammam which is free with the Banos Arabes. After Banos Arabes, I went to see Santa Maria de Mayor Church which was converted from Mosque. 

Then I went to see the Old city or La Ciudad. It is also an area of white washed house. Then I went down to  till the bottom of the gorge/ bridge. By the time, I reached the bottom, it was dusk/twilight. I had to pay 8 Euro to go down. The view is very nice. Ronda is an important historic city and is located on a strategic location. However the Church and Cathedral's are mostly free. But otherwise entry fee is on the higher side.

The tail of bull killed after bull fight is a delicacy. It is called Robo de Toro.  I had it today. The mutton is quite soft. It tasted quite nice. The restaurant was also recommended in Trip Advisor. It is on the same road as Plaza de Torros. There is a wonderful picture of Bull Ring inside the restaurant.Large portion is 14 Euro. I had small portion - for which I paid only 3.5 Euro. I was almost full with the small portion. There are many places where they make Orange Juice . It seems it is widely available. In Barcelona (La Rambala) I had fresh Orange Juice (in a bottle) in a shop for 2 Euro. 

There is hardly any Indian tourist.I met a Sikh, who is from Canada. I met one Bangladeshi from New Jersey  and one Sri Lankan - New York. Only in Granda on the last day I saw some young Indian. But I did not have the chance to talk to them. It seemed to me they are probably working in IT. In any case in Europe there is hardly any Indian tourist. The hotels here are mostly on Al Andulus style.

Tomorrow I have train at 7.58 am.

17.10.2021

I had breakfast at the Ronda station. I had Orange juice and Bocadillo or sandwich (not exactly like our sandwich. Probably our sandwich is called Tostada). Bocadillo looks like the oval shaped garlic bread , which we get in Kolkata. There are lot of stuffings inside sandwich/Bocadillo - there is Ham inside. I am having lot of Porks here. The place where I had breakfast inside the station is so wonderfully decorated that you will be left speechless. There are lot of pictures of bull fights or matador and painting by famous artists like Picasso depicting bull fight.But all of them are themed on Bull Fight.

Today the train was late by 5-7 minutes. I had to change the train at Santa Maria. On the way to Seville , I saw Olive Plantation all around. 

I reached Seville little after 12 pm. The hotel is not very far. So I walked all the way to the hotel.There is a tourist information centre at the train station. They gave me a map and gave direction of my hotel in the map. Seville is an amazing place to say the least . For some reason it is not very well known in India. People only talk about Vienna, Rome, London. Seville is at par with them. It has a very old history. 

As per folklore it was founded by Hercules. During the time of Iberian, it was a very important city. Later it was under Roman. At that time it used to be called Hispanic ??. The real development started during Islamic era in the 11th century. First it was Abbasid dynasty (11th century), then  came Almohad (12th Century). 

But by 1248 Seville came under Castilian king Fernando. After another 250 years, when Columbus in 1492 found New World and lot of expeditions were made in South America, then Seville was given monopoly by the king for this Spanish trade, because of its strategic location. 

Unfortunately half of people died in the year 1649 ? and river Rio Gaudalquiver got silted, and as a resulted the capital was shifted to Cadiz in 1717. Seville is the capital of Al Andalus. 

The Church in Seville is the largest Gothic Church in the world, it is the largest I have ever seen. The Church was constructed between 1434-1517 ie it took almost 83 yrs.  It was closed today. But you can see everything outside. The Giralda or Bell Tower is  huge - 104 m tall. It was the minaret of the mosque. The mosque was made by Almohad Ruler. When it came under Fernando in 1248 , it was converted into Church. There is hardly anything left of the mosque. It is said the grave of Columbus is here. 

The Greek ? Pattern decoration of the Bell tower is apparently the perfect Islamic architecture of Spain. Some local people went inside during the Church. I was not allowed to go inside since I have camera with me. Basically they are not allowing the tourists. 

There is orange trees all over Spain.Even in the old city where there is little space ,still there is  a orange tree. Even the oranges are lying on the road - nobody is picking it up ! I have seen same things in Morocco. In Morocco orange juices are really cheap - say around Rs 40. Here it is 2- 2.5 Euro (1 Euro @86 INR). 

Then I went to see the Alcazar. The entry fee is 13.5 Euro. The word Alcazar means Fort. All I knew is there is an Alcazar show in Pattaya, Thailand. Just like, there is nothing called Kremlin. There is Kremlin in each big city of Russia. It is somewhat similar here. It was started in the year 913 AD under Muslim rulers and it was changed/renovated number of times. Then it used to be called Al Mubarak.In 12th Century Almohad dynasty further increased / expanded it. It was later captured by Fernando III in 1248 and converted it into a residential building.At different point of time different kings extended it . This Alcazar and Al Hambra Palace has lot of similarity. Both are equally stunning. There is similar kind of work. In fact in some rooms , Fernando accomodated the workman/craftsman from Al Hambra during construction. The Cordoban Governor used it during 10th Century. In 11th extended under Abbasid ruler - they called it Al Mubarak. Although Fernando captured it, it was actually Pedro who really added value and beautified it. One of the rooms had Gothic architecture thanks to the Alphonso, son of Fernando . So it has lot of architectural styles or mishmash. So there is a marriage between Christian and Mudejar (or Moorish architecture). One of the kings was very modern and hired craftsman  (Al Hambra) from the king of Granada , Mohammad Said ??. Md Said is mostly responsible for decoration of AlHambra. Apart from that he brought craftsman from Seville also. The most beautiful room is called Palacio de don Pedro. In some places of the Alcazar it is written Allah is great . In some places Pedro almost converted himself to God and written accordingly, similar to the Pharaos of Egypt.

After this I had some time in hand. Here also there is a bull ring called   Plaza de Toro de Real (or Royal) Mestanza. The bull fighting here in this arena is the ultimate for a matador. Though Ronda is oldest. It started around the same time of Ronda. There are lot of Barroc architecture. The bull ring is based on Baroque architecture.  

There is a Gua del quiver river nearby where cruise which takes place here. I did not have time to do it. There is a Toro de Del Oro, beside the place where the cruise starts.  Torre means Tower. Oro means Gold. It means Golden Tower. It is similar in Portuguese and French. Apparently the molten Gold brought from plundered Peru (Inca) and Mexico (Aztech) or Guatemala (Maya) is kept here.  Concerts take place here. There was a concert going on, so I could not enter. It is just beside the river. 

The cathedral here is located in Santa (Santa means female and San means male) Cruz Barrio. Barrio means neighbourhood. The Santa Cruz Barrio is a Jewish quarter. The lanes are narrow, similar to Ronda. They are white washed. There are lot of Baroque architecture here. The tile/ceramic work / plaster work of Alcazar is displayed throughout the city, inspired by Alcazar. There is not only tile or ceramic work, there is wonderful work of plaster too. Almost every house has been inspired by Alcazar of Seville. So every city has retained its unique signature style of its main landmark. We have seen it in Jaipur, somewhat. There is a restaurant here which sells different kinds of fish. I opted for combinado or combination of fish - anchovies, Gambas (Prawn), squid, Calamari etc - which were marinated with corn flour and then fried . I asked for some Chilli or Pimento with Pollo (Chicken).  They served in a conical paper plate - similar to our jhalmuri in local train ! They charged 7.5 Euro for the fish and 3.5 Euro for the fist. This was for my dinner.

18.10.2021

I had a good nights sleep after some time, since I do not have lot of activity. Yesterday I have seen more or less important places in Seville. Since the Cathedral was closed yesterday , I could have gone there again. But I skipped it. Normally the interior of the Churches follow certain pattern, except probably the church in Barcelona by Gaudi or church in Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer or Belgium glass church in Paris. Rather I decided to see those places , which normally I would not have seen. 

I could not find Hospital de Los Venerables in map. Probably it is closed. I went to a place to buy stamps for my friend. Partha. Even that was closed. I went to see Parca de Maria Lucia near South of Centre.The park is quite nice. There are lot of birds - especially Duck. It is very near to Plaza de Espana. 

Then I went to see Plaza de Espana. There are lot of Govt offices here. I saw many people, immigrants, waiting in Govt offices for long term visa. It is around 100 years old. But the whole area looks grand. The coat of arms of all the districts (?) of Spain is painted on ceramic tiles on the walls of Plaza de Espana. It is more than a Plaza. Somewhat like our Parliament Bhaban - but this is semi circular.  I bought 2 paintings from a Peruvian artist at Plaza de Espana. Two paintings are very common - Matador and Bailar (Flamenco dancer). I bought one pencil sketch also from another person.

We saw a Flamenco Dance here  in Plaza de Espana. The girl you did the Flamenco dance asked me to send the video at caro.rapinii@gmail.com . We all gave donation in their donation box. Lot of people gathered to see the dance.

If you do not want to spend money on Flamenco show, you can see it in the street and in many touristic places. I do not think you will miss out anything if you do not see the Flamenco dance on the street. They are quite good. In a typical Flamenco show one person will sing. one person will play guitar and normally a boy and a girl will dance. So it is typically a team of 4 person. Apparently Plaza de Espana is famous for  impromptu Flamenco dance . 

I sat there and spent some time there. Since I had time I could spend some time in a slow pace. Ideally one should spend 3 days in each place. On first day you acclimatise with a city and  its localities and on the second day, you can plan some organized tour or travel in slow pace and third day you can leave the city. But time is always a constraint !

Interestingly I did not see any Bangladeshi or Pakistani here (and Ronda and Granada) unlike Barcelona. Rather I saw Arabs, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon. Moorish and Mudejar is same. Mudejar means those Muslims who stayed back in Spain. I met a Moroccan guy near Plaza de Espana. I bought a bag made of cork from him.

Then I went to see the Flamenco dance museum. It was not very easy to find , since the lanes in old town are very narrow - which makes it even more difficult. It seemed to me that probably a local sim would have been handy. In the museum I learnt that Flamenco dance was influenced partly by Cuban (?) /Mexican (?)/Caribbean dance form and partly from Oriental dance form and also African drum beat. A very famous Flamenco dancer made this museum. There are many schools of Flamenco dance like Benaras Gharana, Maihar Gharana, Bishnupur Gharana, Jaipur Gharana, Punjab Gharana, Gwalior Gharana. There is hardly any crowd today. I asked a person in the museum that the person who sings with Flamenco dance, does not seem to sing in Spanish. It seems they are singing in Arabic. He said they are singing in Andalusian dialect - which is not vastly different from Castilian. The pronunciation is different. But apparently Andalusian dialect has more Arabic words compared to Castilian. The song during Flamenco dance will be seem like you are in Morocco or Syria, for example. 

Then I went to a place called Metrapol Parasol. It looks like Mushroom .It has a very interesting architecture like Mushroom and honey comb. Today I had food at a very nice restaurant chain - Coffee for 1 Euro, Sangria for 1.5 Euro Euro and Morcia or blood sausage (similar to the one in Manipur) for 1 Euro and Salami or Sachillon. Every day I had Pork. I bought the famous Iberico Ham on the way to the museum for 3.5 Euro - quite expensive. But it was not that good. Since Iberico Ham is famous, I tried it number of places. 

This is all about Seville. The old town can easily be covered by foot. I did not  travel by bus even for one day. There are two main road - Avenue Menandes de Palayo and the other one is Avenue de la Constitucion. These two (parallel) roads are inter connected by Calle San Fernando. (Calle means small road). It is like an U. If you know these 3 roads, then you can understand the city routes of Seville very clearly. You can reach any place if you know these roads. 

19.10.2021

The train is at 6.40 am to Cadiz. The train station is little less than 15 minutes walk from the hotel. The name of the weeks are on the basis of planet e.g. Thursday or Brihospoti is Jupiter. If you think logically then it is not very difficult to understand. ok ok is bale bale.  for is por. aqui is here. Ued is short for Used or formal you .   It is useful in maps - where they write Ued es aqui ie you are here. In Italy grocery shop is alimentary , in Spanish it is alimentacion. They use Pronto a lot.  If you know this then it will be easy to travel. Some part of Morocco is exactly like Spain. In fact there are two territories which is controlled by Spain.

Cadiz has a very interesting city with lot of history. z is pronounced like c. Circus is Zirkus and Churroz is Zurros ! It is located just beside the sea. It is located very strategically near Morocco. In 1717 it was one of the most important cities of the world. When the capital was shifted from Seville to Cadiz its importance grew even more. Columbus did 2 expeditions (he did many more) from here - one of them being to the New World. It is at the confluence of Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean ocean. The good were transported to North America Central and South America from here. The people of Cadiz were very modern, since they interacted with many people. They even travelled upto Philippines. That is why Philippines was a colony of Spain. 

There is a tall tower (Torre Tavira) from there the merchants used to look around if any trouble is brewing and there is a wonderful 360 degree view. I went to the top of the tower for the view (paid 8 Euro).

In those days, the ground floor was used as office , 1st floor was for residence and top floor was for servants. The roads are very narrow in Cadiz. There is a nice Baroque cum Neo Classical Cathedral  here. It is quite big.

There is a museum here. A Lot of artefacts were discovered here. The Iberians came to Cadiz from Africa in the year 8000 BC. The Phoenicians ( or People from Lebanon, who are very good at Seafare)  came here even earlier. Even Romans came here. 

So all the artefacts from Iberian, Phoenicians, Roman period were found in and around Cadiz (ceramic plates, cups were found) .  Many Roman sculptures were found. Even some Egyptians artefacts were also found.  There is a Roman Theatre also. However I could not go there. The oil used to go to Rome from here. Since here most of the places are closed at 1 pm due to Siesta. 

There are 4 walking tours here. I did 2 tours here. I could not do another 2, since it is very difficult to find the routes, since the roads are too narrow. I walked around the same road again and again. 

20.10.2021

In the morning in the Pension they serve Coffee and muffin. Then I went to Jerez  (pronounced Kherez) da Fronterra. It took 40 minutes by local train. I left by train at 8.20 am. It is very nice. There is a bathroom even inside the local train. The only thing point mentioning is that chair can't be reclined. There is no family space, with table in the local train, unlike long distance train. I paid 4.25 Euro for one way.

After getting down, I had Spanish Omelette or Tortilla de Patata (Oueva means Egg and Patata means potato) at a restaurant near the station for 1.6 Euro. They make it beforehand and cut a portion of it to the clients.  I also had coffee (1 Euro), Orange juice for 1.2  Euro . I paid 3.8 Euro in total.

I also tried Processed Pork in Jerez. It is quite expensive. Nothing exceptional.

I went to a market which falls on the way. I normally like to go to a market and see menu card of a restaurant. The price and items tells you a lot about the economy. 

Orange is not expensive. It is Rs 130 per kg : quite cheap compared to their purchasing power. Most of the vegetables are within 2-3 Euro. Pomegranate and Apple is within 2 Euro. Pollo or chicken in around Rs 300- 350. Octopus is within Rs 350-450 Kg. Tigre or Tiger Prawn is 8 Euro , Anchovies is 5 Euro. They are even selling fish egg for 7 Euro. Sardine is 2.5 Euro. Puntelitas is baby squid - which is 10 Euro. Fish Fillet is 6.8 Euro.

Here people do not say Buenos Dias or Buenos Tardes unlike Bon Jiorno etc in Italy . Everybody says Hola only, instead of Buenos Dias or Buenos Tardes. I have seen hardly anybody using camera for taking picture. Everybody is using phone camera.

Jerez is part of Seville. Seville is capital of Andalusia. This region is called Andalusia or Andalusian region - which is written everywhere - including on the bus.

Jerez is famous for 3 reason - horse , Sherry (a kind of wine) and spiritual capital of Flamenco. But if you ask somebody where is Jerez , nobody will understand. If you say Cathedral, then also they wont understand, you have to say Kherez, Lacatedral. No th of Cathedral !

There is a nice Gothic Cathedral here. I saw it from outside. Similarly there is a Bodega (Sherry Cellar) and Alcazar just beside it. I did not go to this Alcazar , after 2 Alcazars in Granada and Seville. Otherwise it would have been repetitive. 

First I saw the cathedral and then I went for the Bodega tour just before the start of the tour. The tour takes place every house or so. The bodega shows that Ayrton Senna, Omar Sharif, Milton Friedman has visited this Bodega (wine cellar). The guide was continuously spoke in German, Spanish and English. We learnt that Sherry does not have its age, written on it. since new and old wine is blended to make wine. We saw 4 cellar. One of the visitors said he has 1000 wines in his house. He has a company too. I met a German lady, around 62,  who is alone. She is an architect cum Interior designer. We had Sherry together. Her boyfriend is doing bike tour in  Tarifa (very near to Morocco - apparently Azan can be heard from Morocco) , which is famous for kite surfing. They are staying at Tarifa. Jerez is also known for Kite surfing. We were taught how Sherry is made. It is a 200 year old tradition. The cheapest entry ticket is 18 Euro - with which you can visit 3 cellars. It is 24 Euro, if you want to visit 4 cellars and taste sherry from all the 4 cellars. I opted for the second one and tried 4 different sherries. They served snacks - akhrot, Khamon or Ham, Sausage and salami with the sherry. The ham sometimes look like Salami. Sometimes Sausage looks like Salami. I have to ask my my friend Belen from Cuenta about this. Without a local people it is risky to be too experimental. It is often difficult to understand if any pork item  is ready to eat or not. She has sent me a ticket for Cuenta by whatsapp, so that I can visit her place. I have to ask her about it.

Two sherries were sweet - which I liked it. Other two were not so interesting. The whole presentation during sherry tasting is very nice. 

After that I went to Alcazar and saw it from outside. Then I went to a Flamenco museum. It is also closed due to Siesta at 1400 hours. This is a very big problem here Jerez and Granada. I did not find this problem in Barcelona. I went to the information centre at 2.30 pm. for map Even then it was closed. It is open between 0900-1430 hours. So it was difficult to reach the horse location without map. So I skipped it. This small town is quite charming. 

I also planned to go to Arcos de la Frontera. My friend Dodi Fog told me I should go there to see the white town or Pueblo Blanco. Moorish people considered white very sacred. There are many pueblo blancos in Spain. Arcos is very beautiful. The train and bus station is co-located. I reached bus station at 4.30 am. The bus will leave for Arcos at 5 pm and then 7 pm. It takes 30-40 minutes. There is no train to go to Arcos. The last bus will leave Arcos at 8.30 pm from Arcos. So  I had to drop it. Initially we planned to go there by Car. Since I went alone, it is not feasible. 

So I went back to Cadiz reluctantly.  There are 4 walking tours in Cadiz. I did not only 2. But there is no white town here, unlike Granada/ Ronda. Today I took the route along the sea. 

Most of the houses are Baroque architecture. Some of them are Rococo too. The architecture of Church here is different. Then I went to Flores Plaza. The fish is very famous in Cadiz. Fritueria de Pescada - Fish Fry. I had Orange juice , Tapas and Sangria ( for 2.2 Euro). In most of the places they are not giving Tapas invariably with Sangria. This is not very clear to me. Here with Sangria they gave a salted cookies. I had to buy Tapas separately.  I am having wine with the expectation that they will serve Tapas - but that is not the case most of the time. There are 3 types of rates - It is 1.5 Euro for Tapas or small quantity. It is half racion - 4.5 Euro and Racion is 10 Euro.  I also had Sortida or assortment of Fish for 5.05 Euro. I would not say very expensive. I did not try Pizza here - since it is not local. However I had to buy Durum once or twice - since it is like a roll and easy to carry in train and you can eat while you walk.

Cadiz is very important in maritime trade. Just like Greenwich Mean time , there is Cadiz Maritime time - since 1717 when the capital was shifted from Seville to Cadiz to trade with America. Wherenver a ship goes,  you have to tell its position relative to Cadiz. 

I could not go to  "Copacabana beach" of Cadiz for want of time.Otherwise it is not famous for beach.

21.10.2021

Today I left for Codoba by train. Since I will not stay in Cordoba, I kept the luggage at the left luggage facility in the bus station. There is no left luggage facility in the train station. The bus station is just beside the train station. There was apparently no free space in the  automatic left luggage of the bus station. They thankfully accommodated for me in the only manual left luggage facility available there.

First I went to mosque or Mesquita in Cordoba. The double horse shoe shaped arch are there inside the Mequita. There are pictures of Jesus and Mary inside the Mesquita. It looks really nice. I underestimated it. Now it is called Lacatedral. Since it now Siesta time, we were requested to leave politely. I had to finish the last part faster. If you say Gracias, they will say Nada (da nada) ie no mention. The entry fee is 13.5/12.5 Euro. The Alcazar is just behind it. Only 5.5 Euro. But it is very ordinary. Some Roman tiles were there in the Alcazar. It was once the Capital of Moors and also capital of Roman Province in Spain. So the place has great significance. It was re-captured in and around 1250 by Isabel and Fernando captured it. So its history is 250 years older than Granada. It is quite different from Granada. I liked Cordoba a lot. Initially I was in 2 minds about coming to Cordoba. There is an equestrian show here. I bought ticket for the show. It is quite expensive - 16.5 Euro. It is an historic place. There is one show per day. There is a Synagogue in Toledo and Cordoba. Rest of the synagogues were destroyed. There is a jewish quarter. There is a house visit tour - Patio tour. I did not have time for that. There are also white towns and old town here also.

I went to a Flamenco museum, but it was closed. The place where Flamenco show used to take place before Covid, there is a place called Thieves den. In Don Quixote Thieves den has been mentioned. Cervantes used to come here and mentioned Thieves den in his iconic book - which is located here. There is a Bella Art museum at this place. I took pictures from outside. I have to reach Equestrian show 15 minutes before the start. The show is nothing exceptional. After the show I reached the bus station and took my luggage and had dinner in the bus station.

22.10.2021

I left for Madrid by bus. The bus left little late at 2 am instead of 100 am. It was good for me. I reached in the early morning at 8 am. I made a metro card for 12.5 Euro for 10 rides. My hotel is near Metro Puetro de Sole or Sole.  It is the most important station. It is considered as ground Zero of Madrid. Everything is measured from here. It is like our Esplanade. The hotel is  near to this metro station. They allowed me to check in early probably because there is less rush. After checking in I immediately left for Segovia and Toledo tour. But I found the tour bus has already left. Again I came back to hotel and got freshened up. The term Madrid came from Arabic term Magrit or water channel ? Madrid was a swamp. There is not much of history. Moors tried to capture it without success. Then they left for South.  Nobody knew it before 1309 . When Philipe II sat in Spanish throne in  1556,  he made Madrid its capital in 1561 due to its central location. Muslims used it as Garrison. It is like any nice city of Europe. There is Palasio Real or Royal Palace (entry fee is 12 Euro) or Kings palace. You are not allowed to take picture. It is comparable to Hafsburg Palace or Versailles. There are around 50 rooms. There is a picture of Goya. 

Unlike signature cathedrals of other cities , here the cathedral is nothing special - not like Cadiz or Seville or Granada. I learnt even inside the Church is not very grand. So I skipped it.

Then I did the walking tour starting from Plaza de orient, Palacio Real, Cathedral, Garrison. The Moors created a wall for their Garrison. There is a market called Marcado San Miguel. This is food court basically . It really looks nice and grand. There is a Tapas Bar too.  Then I went to Plaza Mayor. There is food all around that. Then I went to Chocoloreria San Gines equivalent of our Flurys. I had their famous Churoz with Chocolate sauce. They gave one extra churoz to me free cost, since I had finished it , before finishing the Chocoloate. They normally give 3 Churroz. I paid 4 Euro for the Churroz. Then I went to see the San Gines Church. The walking tour ended at Convent de la des caisus Reales. It was closed due to Siesta at 2 pm. Then I went to see the museum. There are 2 famous museums here - Picasso Museum and Museo Del Prado (Flemish collection, Velasquez etc). I did not go to Del Prado, since I have been to the best ones. So I decided to go to the other museum - museum of Picasso at Centro de Arte Rene Sofia.  The picture of Guernica is there. Some pictures of Dalis is there. The length is at least 11 ft and breadth is huge. The entry fee is 10 Euro. 

When Germans  bombed the Guernica of Basque country in 1936 (?),  at the instance of Franco, many people died. Picasso drew it as a protest against war. It is the Mona Lisa of Modern Art.  There is only 2nd and 4th Floor. You cannot take picture in Picasso museum's 2nd floor. You can be taken picture only in 4th Floor - there is not much in 4th Floor. I complained to a lady in the tourism office. She agreed to me. 

Then  I went by metro to Parque del Beun Retiro near Prado museum. It is somewhat like our Dhakuria Lake. Boating is done here.

Then I went to La Latina - where you get Tapas. But I could not find it and I was short of time. Then I saw a Bangladeshi Alimancion or marcado or Super Marcado. There I met a person from Comilla, Bangladesh. He has a restaurant Kebab nearby. The son has passed MBA. He knows Dharmasagar of Comilla. His father has alimentary shop / restaurant for quite some time. The Manager is from Dhaka.  I bought roasted chicken and had it in my home.

You can cover Madrid in one day. There is an interesting observation as night grows, around 10 pm onwards Africans come and sell their items on the main square - like Rambala of Barcelona. I saw similar thing in Sole. They place a bed cover and sell jersey, hat, bet. There are ropes at the end of the bed sheet. If Police comes they will run within seconds , like a Runner of Sukanta Bhattacharya ! The Bangladeshis said they do not like to work or nobody like to take them unlike Bangladeshis - such is there reputation. They are on high alert the moment they see a Police.

23.10.2021

I left for Cuenca.  This is home town of Belen. She is right now in England.Belen has bought the train ticket for me. It falls within Castilia la Mancha region. It is a very fertile region. It is a Saffron growing area. It is also famous for wines. Maximum qunatity of wine is grown here. The highest quantity of wine is grown here. The fictional journey of Miguel Cervantes - Don Quixote starts from here. There are lot of wind mills here - which I could not see for lack of time.

It has similar Reconquista story. Here also church was constructed above the mosque. There was some Jewish settlement also. Since it is in the North, it went under Catholic Monarch much earlier in 1150s, than the Reconquista  took place in South.. Not many tourists comes here , though it is a world heritage site. It tooks over 2 hours to reach..  The city is the meeting point of deep river gorge . The river flows at the bottom.  The partner (Alberto) of Belen's (she is from this city)  sister came to receive me with a pram. They have a 2 yr old baby. Since her sister is appearing for an important exam, that is why she could not come. Alberto took me to the old city. Belen bought the bus ticket for me. When I was having coffee with him, Belen's mother also came and took the pram from him. 

He had shown the old city to me. He took me to a museum which is famous for abstract art. He also took me to Casa col Gadas -  the most famous picture post card spot - the house is hanging along the cliff. He took me to a restaurant and told me that Belen has booked a meal for you (14.5 Euro).You don't have to pay. This is the first full course meal (I had Plate of the day - Plata del dia), of this tour and that too during lunch time ! The restaurant is beautiful. Since he had some work , he bid me farewell. Then I then saw the whole city on my own. Belen said there is a famous food, which is found only in this city only. But unfortunately that was not there in this restaurant. When I was waiting in the tourist information centre for a map (they explained me everything nicely), he bought a tinned food for me, speciality of this place (which Belen told me), which was not available in my restaurant.My bus was at 8 pm and fare was 31 Euro with return fare. I returned home late at 1030 pm.

24.10.2021

There is a major problem due to reschedulement of train. I had to check out of my hotel with my luggage ,since they will not keep the luggage in the left luggage  facility of the hotel till 7 pm when I come back (more so since the shift will also change). I was not allowed to keep the luggage in the new hotel so early at 9.30 am (check in is at 2-3 pm), So I took the luggage with me desperately, otherwise I will be stuck. I had plan to go to Segovia and Toledo.  I learnt that  the twin city tour is not available on this date.  So I opted for Toledo -which is more interesting and it is part of Castilla La Mancha. This region is famous for the novel Don Quixote.  I was told while buying the ticket, that you cannot keep the suitcase in the bus, whiele doing the tour. So this is a major crisis. I had no option but to take the luggage in the bus and carry it with me during the tour and will face the consequences - Que sera sera !

Thankfully I met a person from Peru, they were also carrying a luggage. That made my life easier - since they know Spanish. Ultimately we were allowed to keep my luggage.

Toldeo is famous for Synagogue (one of the two places where is a synagogue), Islamic or Moorish architecture (Mudejar) and Church . Moreover it is also famous for La Pancha. This tour is quit cheap - only 25 Euro.Though distance is not much.It took only 1 hour to reach. They stopped us at the right place so that we can take some photos.

First we went to see the cathedral. It is quite nice. It is very nice. Toledo was capital till 1561. This church was also constructed on a mosque.There is also a fort/Alcazar. We saw church with Mudejar architecture. By 1.10 we were free and the lady guide told us, we had time till 4.30 pm - which is free time.I got a map from the tourism office and my book has a route for walking tour. It is always better to follow the organized/walking tour. You get to see the town in a short time, without backtracking. The importance of Toledo lost importance gradually.

There are two food items in Toledo which is very popular. One of them is a sweet.I tried the sweet. I did not have time for Khusma-sus ??. since, I have to be back to the bus by 4.30 pm. In fact I skipped the lunch. There is a nice gorge here also and there is a great view from the gorge. I had time to see it,  thanks to the walking tour. 

When I reached the new hotel, I saw the hotel has been shifted ! So I had to shift to the new hotel with lot of difficulty.  They told me they tried to contact me. I met an Argentinian guy. He has a plan to catch the flight. He is from Buenos Aires, but works  in a Pharmacy company's administration department in Germany. My initial plan was to go straight to the airport, by checking out of the hotel at 12 pm at night. My flight is early in the morning. Since I met him and he speaks Spanish, I decided to tag with him.he has to catch an early morning flight at 7.10 am and my flight is at 0830 am.

There is a place called Cibeles, from where you will get bus 2330 hours onwards, for the whole night, every 30 minutes. The bus leaves from Atocha train station (our Howrah station) and goes to airport via Cibeles (around 5 minutes from Atocha) after every 20-25 minutes. However after 2330 hours, the bus leaves only from Cibeles. It reaches airport in 30-40 minutes time.

Today I had Chinese for the first time, from a Filipino restaurant. Philippines was their colony previously. There are some Filipino here. The price is really cheap. By paying 3.9 Euro I had my dinner. On the way back, I saw a Bangladeshi mini Market. The owner is from Sylhet. He has the tone still today. He was in Kuwait for 23 years. He is now lamenting for coming to Spain. He said his shop's rent is relatively cheap @2000 Euro. The width of the shop is around 6-7 ft but  it is quite long. There is another Bangladeshi shop nearby whose rent is even higher. He said in Madrid there are many Bangladeshis than in Barcelona. Most of them stay near La Latina. There are around 50,000 Bangladeshis in Spain. There is even a Bengali newspaper in Spain. His son is staying with him and studying Spanish from College for 2 hours. He plans to study Bachelor degree in Technology.He has not taken admission yet.  A typical Bangladeshi earns around 1200-1300 Euro here. This is the standard rate. He is quite old.

Today I bought some Pan/bread (looks like Hodt dog) and some Iberio Pork (Cerdo) for tomorrow. Then I went back to the hotel for taking some rest. We will catch the bus early in the morning.

In Carrefour (second or 3rd largest French retailer after Walmart) they make very nice orange juice in a bottle for 1.5 Euro. Here people are awake up till 3-4 pm. On Friday or Saturday they are awake till 5-5.30 pm. It is mayhem. There are broken bottles all over the place. Thankfully the glass did not pierce my shoe ! The garbage basket is over flowing. In the morning a water jet is used to clean the street and move the broken glass and packets ahead, so that they are accumulated in one place. A simple broom will not do. It seems to me they are into too much into partying. The way they shout in the Friday and Saturday night , is something to be seen to be believed.   If you are so undisciplined it is difficult to progress. It is difficult to believe how some desolate streets in day time are converted into part zone. They place table all over the place.The Spanish people own lot of property and employ Bangladeshi for the shop /and take rent at the end of the month.

 

 25.10.2021

Cibeles in a huge place. It is a huge plaza.There is a metro station here called Banco Espana. I left little early with my Argentinian friend. We took the bus together from Cibeles.Then I was standing in the queue at the airport, when they asked for my RTPCR test.  I told them, I have done full vaccination in India and done my RTPCR test on 8th october 2021. It is negative. They said without RTPCR you wont be allowed to board the plane. You have to do it again.I could have fainted. It was very  very stressful. Somehow I recovered and sat on a chair. I was not allowed to board. Thankfully since it Lufthansa , they rescheduled it free, next day . When I reached airport it is 4 am. Vaccination will start at 7.30 am. After waiting for some time, they said those who have done it online will be done first. But online is difficult for me, since everything is written in Spanish. If there is small mistake then you might lose 100 Euro for the fees. So I decided to do it off line. Thankfully there was not much delay. 

If you want the report after 12 hours, then you have to pay only 56 Euro. Otherwise you have to pay 100 Euro. You have to register in suvidha portal - newdelhiairport.in. So you cannot afford to wait too long for the report. 

After I finished everything there is a phone call from office today (Monday, 25.10.2021). The Board meeting will be held on Friday (29.10.2021). I called my PA and did everything over whatsapp from the airport and sent the notice to the Directors. There wont be any internet once I am out of the airport. I have to book a hotel again. The Bangladeshi person owning the minimarket told me before leaving for airport that there is a small place to stay and sleep in his shop, so you can come anytime. That turned out to be of great help. I bought an airport express bus ticket to go to Cibeles , by paying 5 Euro. I took Granvia and went back to the shop by taking Calle Ottazella ?. They received me warmly on learning everything and allowed me to keep the luggage and chatted with them for a long time and got to know their life story. I learnt how much they spend here per month to survive. The house rent is 300 Euro, Food is 150 Euro and Electricity bill is 100 Euro etc. In total they spend 650 Euro per month. They put sticker on everything. It is  sold on a reasonably high mark up. Almost nobody checks the real price or nobody bargains . Though there is a Carrefour nearby, many people do not go there for one or two items - otherwise they have to stand in the queue. Since this is mostly a hotel zone, most of the customers are not repeat customers. The keep the shop till 3-4 am. It is not easy life for them. The Spaniards give it for rent to these Bangladeshis. I learnt many things from them. Since he was a legal immigrant for initial few years, so he has lost out on Pension front. Now he earns a Pension of 500 Euro. In fact I saw his son has learnt Spanish reasonably good. The standard dialogue in the shop with the cusomter is Algo Mas (anything more). The anwser is nada mas (not any more).

I had lunch from the same chinese shop.  When I came back it is 4 pm (1600 hrs). The shop was closed by that time. I was completely petrified - what will happen to my luggage ? Bad things came to my mind. Did they vanish after talking nice things. May be they have gone for lunch -since they take lunch little late. The mental condition was such that I did not feel like going out to see the city today. I do not even feel like eating those , which i could not eat till date. I just roamed some placed nearby. But my mind was in a different place.

Internationally travellers would be required to upload lot of information (Passport copy, RTPCR test report, full vaccination etc).  There are lot of critical information to be filled up - for which it is possible to have two different interpretations and there is space constraints too and it has to be done in pdf - not so easy to do it in phone. The size cannot be more than 1 MB. After lot of effort , we could not do it.  The son of Bangladeshi owner also tried to do it for me. Even he could not do it.

26.10.2021

Finally I had to wake up Mohua at 02 00 am in India to do it for me from India. I was told I have to do RTPCR again in Delhi. I was scared, since I will miss the plane again in Delhi. 

I did not want to be late. I left for airport little early. Everything went well. From Madrid I reached Frankfurt in time. When I was in Frankfurt, there is another call from my office, which said that the Board meeting has been postponed and will be held . My PA said,our MD was looking for me. Our JMD called over whatsapp and told me that the meeting was pre-poned from Friday to Thursday (28.10.2021). Again I had to call my PA and do the needful and send the notice to the Directors. For that I had to allow the passenger behind me in the boarding line to go ahead and I was probably the last one to enter the Plane. Once I enter the plane there will be no wifi.

27.10.2021

From Frankfurt I reached Delhi at 1 am. I had already booked my slot between 0200-0300 hours , by paying Rs 500. I was suppose to catch the plane at 8.30 am. But I learnt it is not required, since I have full vaccination. Othwerwise it would have been difficult.

I reached Kolkata in time and went to the office straight from airport.