Friday 29 May 2015 – Singapore

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This morning we caught the Metro to Harbourside railway station to go to Sentosa Island. We caught the Singapore Cable Car to the island – this was no mean feat as the gondolas rise to about 150 ft. in the air to allow ships to go under. We got a good view of the southern end of Singapore, which was mainly the container port with all the high-rise buildings of the city in the background.

The island contains quite a few resort style hotels with theme parks and other tourist attractions. One has to pay to go to the island and this includes free travel around the island, which is about 6 km long and about 3 km wide, by a bus and or a monorail, which can also take you back to Singapore.

On the island we visited the butterfly enclosure and insect collection. We thought this attraction was in urgent need of refurbishment and is not up to the ultra-clean, ultra-modern standard that we have come to expect in Singapore. In our opinion, the butterfly enclosure at Melbourne Zoo is far superior.

We then went to Fort Siloso which formed the defence of Singapore during WW2. With our interest in things relating to warfare, we both found this fascinating. Fort Siloso was one of 12 gun batteries defending Singapore during WW2. As the allies did not even consider that Japan would attack to the north through the jungle of Malaysia and Thailand, they placed all their defences of Singapore facing south to defend the port of Singapore. There are a lot of gun emplacements, buildings and other WW2 artefacts on show, including a recreation of the surrender room where Japan surrendered to the Allies. It was a great display which included commentary and actual video footage of the fall of Singapore and the events that led to its fall. The displays continue until Singapore gained its independence from Britain in 1965.

While we both found Fort Siloso fascinating, it is quite run-down and so much more could be done to display the artifacts and promote this crucial time in Singapore’s history.

WW2 Defence Buildings, Sentosa Island

View of Singapore from Cable Car

Inside the Bird and Reptile Enclosure, Sentosa Island

View from Singapore Cable Car to Sentosa Island

Thursday 28 May 2015 – Jan’s Birthday – Singapore

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This morning we caught the metro from Chinatown to Bayside and went to the Gardens by the Bay where we visited the covered domes and the Supertrees. This was an experience as we went into two enclosures of tropical plants, which were air conditioned and very much cooler than the 35 degrees outside. Even so, the plants where thriving. One of the covered domes was called Cloud Forest and contained a huge (approx. 8 storey) mountain covered in plants and waterfalls. We got the lift to the top and walked down via steel walkways and stairs. It’s impossible to describe but the affect was beautiful.

We then went into the flower dome which contained garden plants from different continents and nursery rhymes set in flower gardens. Again, the affect inside the dome was breathtaking.

We left the cool of the domes and headed out into the parkland which contained the big trees. The Supertrees are 18 metal structures approximately 16 storeys high. They have vertical gardens growing up the outside and are connected by a walkway at a height of 22m. We walked along the walkway and had an amazing view of the city of Singapore as well as the vertical gardens on the structures. A laser light show emanates from these structures each night but unfortunately we did not see this show on this trip. Maybe next time.

When we left the gardens, we walked to the Marina Bay Shopping Centre. As the shopping centre contained Dior, Chanel, Versace etc. we figured it was out of our price range and headed to the MTR station to catch the train back to our hotel.

After lunch we walked to Clarke Key to find somewhere that sold Singapore noodles so we could go there for Jan’s birthday dinner. On our last visit to Singapore we had a couple of meals of delicious noodles at Clarke Quay and were hoping to repeat the experience. Unfortunately, after walking both side of Clarke Quay and along Boat Quay and not finding somewhere to have the noodles for dinner and we ended up going into Chinatown to a small sidewalk café in ‘Food Street’ and having satays.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore

Humpty Dumpty, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Humpty Dumpty, Flower Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Old Mother Hubbard, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Old Lady who lived in a Shoe, Flower Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Cloud Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Waterfall inside Cloud Garden, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Waterfall inside Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Happy Hour Birthday Celebrations, Singapore

Wednesday 27 May 2015 – Singapore

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We arrived from Barcelona at 05.30 this morning and we had a transfer arranged to our hotel (Furama Central City) arriving there about 06.30. We were able to leave our bags and get a cup of coffee before heading off to catch the Hop On – Hop Off bus to do a round of the city. A lot has changed since our last stay in Singapore in 2005. There seems to be 10 times the number of high rise buildings and the roads are packed.

We are staying on the 16^th floor of our hotel and there are lots of buildings around us that make ours look small. On our first trip around on the HoHo bus, we got off and went on the Singapore skyway. This is similar to the London Eye and the view over the city and the harbour was magnificent. We then went back to our hotel and had lunch across the street at a small food outlet on the footpath. After lunch we went to the Botanical Gardens and to the Orchid House in particular. Absolutely beautiful! After more than a couple of hours we headed down to “sartay” street but could not find what we were looking for. Perhaps we were too early as we were there at “pensioner dinner time”. We returned to our hotel in time for dinner and the Happy Hour.

Orchid House, Botanical Gardens, Singapore

Botanical Gardens, Singapore

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Singapore harbour

Singapore Skyline

Singapore Flyer

Tuesday 26 May 2015 – Barcelona to Singapore

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This morning we caught a flight to Singapore after spending about 45 minutes and about $50.00 getting a cab to the airport. It was well worth it as it took all the hassle of getting across Barcelona in the morning peak hour.

The flight went well and we arrived in Singapore 13 hours later 05.30 on Wednesday morning.

Monday 25 May 2015 – Barcelona

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Today after breakfast we caught a Hop On – Hop Off bus from outside our hotel into the centre of town. We decided that we would get this bus as it passes three of the remaining places we want to visit. The Art Gallery, the Old Bull Ring and the Barcelona Football Club.

The Art Gallery is where the Magic Fountains are, however, they were not on during the daytime. They were really spectacular during the night but during the day you cannot imagine they could be so beautiful. The Art Gallery is a stunning building and we wanted to have a closer look at it. When we drove past in the bus on Saturday night they had a large cascading waterfall falling down the hill in front of the Gallery. Unfortunately they only have the waterfalls and the fountains operating in the evening, so we didn’t see the Art Gallery with the fountain in operation again.

Bull fighting has not been held in Barcelona since the 2010 and the Old Bull Ring has been converted into a shopping centre. It is a stunning building in the familiar Muslim style we saw in southern Spain. It is called the Mudejar style of architecture which is a style of building designed for Christians by Muslims. The bull ring is a beautiful building and it has been raised and supported by steel beams so that the ground floor is regular retail shops, with the bull ring above. We went into the shopping centre and it is very modern and full of the brand name shops. There are shops over four levels and it was just like most other shopping centres.

When we got to Barcelona Football Club, we could not believe the scale of the organisation. There were shops selling merchandise everywhere; all of which seemed very expensive. No wonder they can afford to pay millions to their players. It seemed that this one club was as big as the whole of the NRL and AFL clubs combined.

We returned to the city centre and had lunch (14.30) before returning to our hotel on the HOHO bus, arriving about 16.45.

Gaudi’s Casa Batllo

Gaudi’s Church from our Hotel

Gaudi’s Pedrera Casa Mila

Art Gallery, Barcelona

The Old Bull Ring – now shopping centre, Barcelona

Sunday 24 May 2015 – Barcelona

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Today we changed hotels as we have another two nights in Barcelona. After breakfast we caught a cab to the Novotel Barcelona. This was a painless exercise and only cost about 10 euro.

After checking into the Novotel, we walked down to the harbour past the 1992 Olympic village and Olympic marina and then onto the main marina. We then continued our walk to the Barcelona Cathedral. The Cathedral is located in the old area of Barcelona among narrow, cobblestoned streets. It is a beautiful gothic structure which dominates the small cathedral square. When we left the Cathedral we walked on through the old parts of the city to a park where we watched groups of tap dancers in a competition. This was quite entertaining and some were very good.

We continued on to the Barcelona Zoo and the Arch de Triomf before returning to our hotel late in the afternoon. We estimated that we walked about 12 to 15km.

We had dinner in the 19^th floor roof top bar and pool. A great way to end the day.

Frank Gehry sculpture, Barcelona

One of five beaches, Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona Cathedral

Arch de Triomf, Barcelona

Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

Friday 22 May – Valencia to Barcelona

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The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, Barcelona

From top of Peniscola Fortress

La Sagrada Familia Church by Antonia Gaudi, Barcelona

Butcher, fresh food market, La Rambler, Barcelona

The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, Barcelona

We woke to another beautiful day and commenced our trip north to Barcelona. We travelled through citrus orchards to the beach resort of Peniscola. We were lucky to be here at this time of year as we were told that this is a very popular resort town and during summer the area is packed with people. It was a very pretty town on the Mediterranean and the castle was the setting for the movie El Cid.

We then continued on to Barcelona, arriving mid-afternoon. We did a drive around the city and saw the sights from the bus, including the Gothic Quarter and the bull ring which has been converted into a shopping centre. We got off the bus at the markets on La Ramblas. These markets are fresh food markets that sell all kinds of food, beautifully arranged on their stalls. The displays of food on all the stores were almost unbelievable.

We also walked around Antonio Gaudi’s unfinished church, La Sagrada Familia. It has been under construction based on Gaudi’s plans, for over 100 years and they are hoping to have it finished for the centenary of Gaudi’s death in 2028. Our tour guide was not optimistic that this completion date would be achieved. It is truly an amazing building.

We drove past several other buildings designed by Gaudi before going to our hotel. They were all incredible and quite out of the ordinary, in typical Gaudi style.

We went out for dinner to a restaurant in the Olympic Marina area. This was a really good night out with beautiful food and nice wine. As per usual, we were given about six appetisers before our main course and sweets. Some serious dieting will be required when we get home.

After dinner we were taken to the Dancing Fountains – the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. This is an amazing display of colourful fountains synchronised to music. The fountains were built in 1929 as part of the exposition held in Spain. This was an amazing display which left us all awestruck.

Thursday 21 May – Granada to Valencia

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Cave Home, Guadix, Spain

Cave Homes, Guadix, Spain

Morning Tea on the road

Science Centre, Valencia

Valencia

Main Railway Station, Valencia

Bull Ring, Valencia

Peter & John or is it John & Peter

We left Granada this morning and headed across the Sierra Nevada mountain range through the Mora Pass. The Sierra Nevada still had some snow covering. The terrain this morning was mountainous desert.

We stopped in the region of Guadix and visited a troglodyte dwelling. There are more than 19,000 people living in these cave dwellings in this region. The caves must be approved by the local council and have all services. The hills in this region are clay and the dwellings are dug out by hand. The home we visited had 3 bedrooms and was quite large but only had one window which was in the kitchen. A cave dwelling costs approximately 50,000 Euro. The dwelling we visited had been occupied by the same family for 5 generations.

The terrain became greener as we neared Valencia. We travelled through almond and citrus orchards and rice paddies.

Valencia was a very pretty city with beautiful buildings in the inner city. The footpaths in the city were pink marble and there were numerous mass plantings of geraniums, which added to the attractive appearance of the city.

We sampled the local specialty drink – Horcharta – which tasted like a drink made from sweetened melted chalk. We also visited the modern Centre for Arts and Sciences. This Centre comprised large man-made pools for kayaking, an I-max theatre, opera house in addition to the arts and sciences building. The architecture of these buildings was very modern and in stark contrast to the beautiful old buildings in the city centre.

We all had dinner at our hotel tonight and were treated to chicken paella – a local specialty.

Wednesday 20 May 2015 – Seville to Granada

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Today we left Seville and travelled to Granada. There was approx. three hours driving with a coffee break which meant that we didn’t arrive in Granada until midday.

We started by going to visit the Granada Cathedral. To reach the cathedral we walked through the old town of Granada containing many old Moorish residences,

As no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the cathedral, the only pictures we have are from the outside. The Royal Chapel of Granada, as it is known, is the burial place of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille. There was a small museum in the cathedral containing many items owned by the King and Queen, including the Queen’s prayer book. The museum also contained the Queen’s silver money chest. Queen Isabella (the power behind the throne) gave Christopher Columbus the money, from this silver money chest (so we were told) to fund his voyage to the New World when he discovered America. The museum also contains numerous paintings from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries all depicting the birth, life and death of Christ.

After the visit to the Cathedral, we visited the Albaicin world heritage site which dates back to the 6^th century BC. The Albaicin is a maze of narrow, winding streets and Moorish homes. It is one of the oldest centres of Muslim culture in Grenada, along with the Alhambra.

We then came back to the centre of Granada and had lunch before going on to our hotel.

From our hotel, we went to visit La Alhambra Palace and fortress in Granada. Alhambra means ‘red palace’. It was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889, was rebuilt in the mid-11^th century and converted into a royal palace in 1333. The current magnificent building dates back to the 14^th century and took over a hundred years to complete. It was saved and renovated by the Muslim Sultan of Granada. In 1492 the Christians reclaimed Granada and extended the palace, retaining virtually all the original buildings.

The buildings and gardens are extensive and decorated in the Moorish colours of green, red, blue and gold. The entire internal walls and ceilings of the buildings were covered in decoration – either tiles in the Moorish colours or decorated plaster which was painted in these colours. The ceilings were carved cypress.

The gardens were extensive and included many large, rectangular, reflective pools and fountains. The gardens had massed plantings of roses, annuals and box hedges in typical Moorish geometric designs. The Court of the Lions was a highlight, containing a fountain comprising 12 carved white marble lions.

Both the Alcazar and La Alhambra have been highlights of our time in Spain and it is impossible to describe the magnificence and beauty and the awesome feeling of being able to visit these ancient sites.

Granada Cathedral

Granada

Albalcin World Heritage Site, Granada

La Alhambra Palace, Granada

19 May 2015 – Seville

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We started our day with a sightseeing tour of the city in the coach. Our first stop was the Plaza de Espana. This is a huge area with a central area surrounded by a waterway. There were several bridges over the water and each bridge was covered in mosaics. There was a semicircular building around one section of the plaza which whilst not the same as the Royal Crescent in Bath, was similar in design. A very impressive area.

We then went on a walking tour of the old town and the Jewish quarter. The streets were very narrow – all the streets in the old parts of towns are cobblestone which was hard to walk on with some of the buildings little more than a meter apart.

We continued our walking tour to the cathedral which had the typically Moorish ablutions courtyard with orange trees and watering channels set into the floor of the courtyard. As with all cathedrals in Europe, they are all magnificent but the highlight was Christopher Columbus’ tomb. Seville Cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in the world, so you can imagine the size and grandeur of this building.

We continued on to the Alcazar. The Alcazar was built by Moorish Muslim kings. It’s the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe and the Spanish Royal Family use it as a summer palace. The wedding reception for the King’s sister was held in this palace.

From the outside the Alcazar looks quite small for a palace and even inside the rooms are quite small. Once inside, however, the rooms seemed to go on and on. All the rooms were decorated in red, green, blue and gold coloured mosaics. The gardens in all the palaces we have encountered have been quite magnificent and the gardens here were no exception. The gardens were huge with large rectangular, reflective pools and fountains we are finding are typical of Moorish architecture.

We then went by bus to the Plaza America which was the site of the 1929 Exposition which brought together all the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies. These buildings were built by South American countries, each in their own unique national architectural style. The buildings are still in use by those countries as ambassador residences and embassies or have been bought by the Seville University.

We had a couple of hours of free time before going to a Spanish BBQ at a Bull Ranch where they breed bulls for bull fights. It was quite interesting to hear how they breed the bulls specifically for use in bull fights and also to learn how the matadors, picadors and toreadors fight the bulls. Without exception, our tour group disliked the idea of bull fighting as a sport.

After dinner we went to a fantastic Flamenco show before returning to our motel at about midnight.