Day 5: Madrid - Toledo - La Mancha - Granada

Our tour bus

Toledo
A former capital of Spain before Madrid






Tagus river



Ayuntamiento (Town Hall)



Catedral de Santa Maria de Toledo






A beautiful shop sign


Marzipan



Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes
The chains were used to tie the Catholics people when the Moorish (the Arabs that settled down in Africa) invaded Spain.





San Martin bridge


The entrance to the Old Town

Local handicrafts


Sword making workshop.


Damasquinos, the art of jewelery making by interlacing gold thread into the steel. The art was originated from Damascus, Syria.


The end product with an old Arab style

La Mancha
This region was made famous by the novel "Don Quixote". I still remembered reading the classics when I was in secondary school.



Granada


City center

Day 6 >>

Day 4: Barcelona - Madrid

This time we had to go to Girona airport (outside Barcelona), which was 1.5 hour by bus.

Arc de Triompf
We were curious because the name was the same as the one in Paris. So we decided to go and take a look.



Girona Airport
This time we took Ryan air which is another budget airline. It felt more cheapo than easyJet hehhee, as they designed the plane to have a lot of advertising space. It was everywhere from the cabinets, back of your seat, on the folded table, etc.






Advertising stickers on the overhead cabinet

Reached Madrid around 5pm after an hour flight. We took the metro to our hotel and joined the rest of our group members.

The tour was organized by Cosmos. The first time we met the rest of the group we had a mixed feeling. 38 of us and majority were seniors above 50 hahahaha... The younger ones were only us, the other young couple, 3 Korean and 1 Aussie girl. Most of them came from US and Canada, the rest were from UK, Philippines, and UAE. I told hubby that we should behave since there were so many seniors :P

Day 5 >>

Day 3: Barcelona

Sagrada Familia
The unfinished church is the most famous creation of Gaudi which is also the most recognised landmark in Barcelona. The construction of the church began in 1882 and estimated to be completed in another 30 - 80 years.


Metro of Sagrada Familia


The cranes are part of the design. ;)




















A dark handsome presenter on the job. :)



Personally I didn't find it pretty. The design was so messy, I really didn't know how to appreciate it.

After this we went back to Placa Catalunya to do some shopping. There is a big deparment store El Corte Ingles which has the most stores in Spain. Things were not cheap as usual, I think I should give up hope of doing any shopping in Europe but I always have an urge to go and take a look.

Day 4 >>

Day 2: Barcelona

We actually planned to visit all the Antoni Gaudi's creation. There were quite many and so little time, so in the end we decided to go to the famous ones only.

Parc Guell
It's all about mosaics.










Zoom in view of the building above.




Up to the main terrace.






The side view of the iconic salamander.


The ceiling.




Mosaic bench at the main terrace.


It was lovely to enjoy the view from here.


View of the two buildings at the entrance.




Gaudi's pink house, he stayed here for 20 years.

From here, we went to Passeig de Gracia. It is the main shopping road in Barcelona with all the designer boutiques.



La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
Apartment designed by Gaudi.








Took the photo of the interior near the entrance. We didn't go in because the entrance fee was quite high.

Casa Batllo
Another Gaudi's apartment.



The building next to it was under restoration. What an eyesore!!






A jaw balcony?


Bones?

Random buildings along Passeig de Gracia











Placa Catalunya








Hard Rock Cafe


Sfera - a department store

La Rambla
This is the main tourist street in Barcelona. There are many cafes, restaurants, florists, souvenirs shops and interesting buskers along the street. The street starts from Placa Catalunya to Barcelona Port which is about 1.2 km. We really walked from one end to the other end.









Gelato time..




All looked yummy.


A satisfied customer. :)


Market was closed that day.


Florist

Street performers in action






What an angel! I loved her best.



We thought it was a flamenco, but it was not.



A very energetic band performance.


Mirador de Colon (Monument to Christopher Columbus)






Barcelona Port
















A lot of fish!!



Evening shot..






Barcelona Cathedral


Restoration again...


Inside the cathedral





We haven't walked so much for quite sometime. More to come hehehe...

Day 3>>