Praising Spain Again

Spain is one of my favorite country, ever since my first visit there in 2002. What started as a simple plan to visit Madrid, Cordoba, Granada and Barcelona, turned up to be an eye-opening experience when I discovered that the smaller towns from these main cities are packed with wonderful offering. Spain has one of the most sites listed in the Unesco World Heritage List.

> Segovia: Famous for 2nd BC aqueduct. Unesco world heritage site 1985 (Went by bus from Madrid)
> Cuenca: Famous for Hanging houses. Unesco world heritage site 1996 (Can go by bus from Madrid)
> Figueres: Famous for Teatro-Museo Dali (Can go by train from Barcelona)
> Bilbao: Famous for Guggenheim Museum

 

Besides, a visit to 2 free museums (on certain day in a month), Museo del Prado and El Museo de arte Thyssen-Bornemisza introduced me to the beauty of Spanish paintings. Here are some painters and one of their most famous paintings that I can still remember. Included are the links for your further reading.


> Pablo Picasso: Guernica
> Diego Velazquez: Las Meninas
> Francisco Goya: The Third of May 1808
> Salvador Dali: The Persistence of Memory

 

  

Not to forget that Spain has one of the most famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. I have promised myself to make my 3rd visit to Spain, particularly Barcelona in 2027. The Basilica de la Sagrada Família will be completed by then with 18 towers: 12 dedicated to the apostles, 4 to the evangelists, one to Jesus and another to Mary.

 

*p/s: Amended title from Talking About Spain Again to Praising Spain Again (20 Mar 2014)

Wander Around Oslo

Oslo is the capital of Norway. It is considered a faraway city to Malaysian, where no one will ever thought of flying there for holidays. They are famous for being an expensive city, and also one of the great cities to live in. I believe one of the closest company or brand that we know from Norway is Telenor, the parent company of Digi.

I was fortunate to be able to explore this city, and managed to get it done in a day. Going there from Stockholm was easy but costly. I took the overnight bus trip by Swebus, and the journey was around 8 hours. This is acceptable to us, but to the Europeans, they will ask why didn't I take the plane and it is only an hour flight? No comments really.. This goes to show that we have different point of view in terms of time and money.

Below are some of the cityscape. It was autumn, and things look grey and dull. But the interesting things are usually found in the shops. In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway, the products are done beautifully and tastefully displayed. Just take a look at Ikea.

 

One of the most beautiful building is the Opera house, with its trapezium-shaped architecture and the roof that slopes down to the sea.You can even run up to the roof, but much stamina is needed.

Malaysian Planning To Estonia

There seems to be a chance for me to visit a relatively unknown country, Estonia soon. For me, it's not unknown, but rather unfamiliar. I will start to make to make the trip plan on my own, just like my other trips to Europe. This will be quite a challenge, since I'm not sure if they are as advanced in the infrastructure as their Scandinavian neighbours, and if the city of Tallinn, its capital is safe enough for foreign walkers like me.

A check on the Lonely Planet and Visitestonia.com shows some interesting facts about Estonia.
1) Estonia was occupied by the Soviets for decades but Estonia sees itself as more influenced by Nordic tastes and traditions - Scandinavia with a twist.
2) Tallinn is our medieval capital and by far the biggest city, with a population of around 400,000. In 2011 Tallinn will be the European Capital of Culture.
3) It is the closest capital city to capitals of Finland (Helsinki, 80km); Latvia (Riga, 315km) and Sweden (Stockholm, 380km).
4) Euro is the official currency beginning 2011.
5) Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the main airport.
6) Estonian and Russian are the most common languages, though you won’t have any trouble with English (especially in the service sector) and German and Finnish are quite widely spoken.
7) Recommended things to buy from Estonia: Estonian handicraft, textile, wooden kitchen utensils, and traditional Estonian jewellery.

I think I will most likely end up within Tallinn, and this should be a good opportunity to plant my footprint into an unknown land. Another quick check on the airfare shows that the cheapest to date for travel from Kuala Lumpur to Tallinn would be by KLM via Amsterdam, and the cost is close to RM5,000. Not a cheap destination to fly to, but hopefully, things are cheap within the country. Within Tallinn city, there is a possibility of doing hop-in-hop-off, and this should be one of the option to choose from if the city really look unsafe. Else, it will be a solely walking trip for me.

To save the time and minimize the hassle of travelling back and forth between Sweden and Estonia, I don't discount the possibility of doing open jaw flight. Meaning that, flying in to Tallinn and flying out from Stockholm Arlanda. In case I'm adventurous enough, I could even fly out via some other spots such as Helsinki or St Petersburg.

Interesting Buildings People May Have Missed

I have seen many postings and articles on interesting buildings, and I'm also joining the bandwagon to create my own list. I'm not sure if the authors were really evaluating based on their preference, or just copying from the first author that published this list.

As for my list, I have been to some of these buildings, and some of them are in my wish list. I have also included a local favourite, Petronas Twin Tower in my list, reason is because of the aesthetic value rather than national pride. It looks like a poster look when you stand just beneath it and look upwards towards the twin towers at night. Just simply amazing! For those who are familiar with the China people, this building is one of the icon that made Malaysia known to them.

 
Some of the interesting buildings I saw was in Barcelona, especially those that was designed by Antoni Gaudi. Buildings such as Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila,  Casa Battlo and Casa Museu Gaudi surprisingly were not listed at all in any of those so-called interesting building lists. Besides, you can also find other interesting buildings in Spain such as the Twin Tower in Madrid and Museu Dali in Figueres.

 

I also thought that Mont St Michel in Saint Malo, France is an interesting and beautiful building, especially for the fact that at high tide, it turns into an island with a land bridge, and when it's low tide, it's back as a hill. It would be an interesting idea to walk from the mainland to the castle during low tide. The distance is just close to 2km that should take approximately 30 minutes by walking with a backpack.

Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia Current Look

I have visited Sagrada Familia twice (2002 and 2008), and both times I saw many scaffolding and crane working on its construction. According to the information displayed, Sagrada Familia is supposed to be completed by 2026, which is 14 years from now.

Just wonder how it looks like today, after it has undergone construction for such a long time. They started building it in 1883, and some of the parts are already 129 year old now.

Below are some of the comparison pictures back in 2008 and latest ones from www.sagradafamilia.cat.

2008

 

2012

Don't forget to look out for the inverted tree structure, and try to understand how Gaudi came up with this method of calculation for his design. You will see what he imagined when you look at the mirror below this structure.

Stockholm Beauty

Some sharing of the beautiful Stockholm cityscape during the winter and what makes Swedish design so good to own. Hope there's another chance to go back there next year.

> Stockholm city view from top of the bridge at Slussen

> Reputed to be the most interesting shopping centre: NK

> Creatively decorated metro stations at Hornstull

Morby Centrum

T-Centralen 

 

> Swedish design products

 

 

> 7-Eleven

> The shop that we missed: Nordiska Galleriet

> Made in Stockholm product: Absolut Vodka

Back From Cold Winter

Got back from another once in a lifetime experience trip to Stockholm. It was the 2nd time going there on business trip during winter, but I do hope the 3rd time would happen in summer or spring time. Going there in winter was a big challenge for us, Malaysians especially when we were exposed to the chilling wind and winter temperature of between -5 and -10 degrees. On our last day there, the temperature dipped to -18 degrees. Even Stockholmers thought we were tough and surprised that our winter clothes can keep us warm.

We took the cheapest way to go to city centre from Arlanda Airport, that was by Swebus that only cost SEK89. It is advisable to either purchase the ticket online or from the counter because buying from the driver cost an unbelievable SEK110. The place to stop is Central Station, which consists of train and bus station, and metro on the opposite.

We had only few days in Stockholm, and covering Gamla Stan (Old Town) and visiting design-related shops were our other targets. Of course, first priority was to finish off our work and do what we were assigned to do. This time, I didn't find Gamla Stan as interesting as the first trip. We reached early, but found almost all the shops were not opened until 10am.

The things in Stockholm were extremely expensive, and I think our high paid executives will also feel the pinch. This made us think that shopping in Malaysia is still not too bad, but better still if it was done in Thailand. This was also why Swedish likes to go to Thailand (other than the other reason best known to them).

Some interesting facts were learned this time.
1) There is only 1 company licensed to sell liquor, and Absolut Vodka originated from Stockholm Reimersholme area. However, it was cheaper elsewhere in the world (Thailand airport and Malaysia) than in Stockholm.
2) The things were expensive in Stockholm not because of the taxes imposed on the goods, but because Stockholmers can afford to pay the high prices.
3) Stockholmers seldom eat Swedish food when dining outside, but like Thai, Chinese and Japanese food a lot. Food prices were comparable to those in Hong Kong.
4) You can still find many people using Sony Ericsson handphones, besides iPhone. iPhone is called iFynd in Swedish.


I found 2 reasons why I should visit Stockholm again, and hopefully in next year with my cool colleague. It would be good if we could extend my visit to cover Copenhagen or Oslo.
1) To visit Nordiska Galleriet- a design-themed shop
2) To visit Skansen- an open air museum (not advisable on winter)

Paris : Simple Guide

Just some simple guide and photos of Paris landmarks and architecture, minus the photographer and partner who are non-Parisian.

TOUR EIFFEL
> Metro: Trocadero, Iena, Passy, Bir Hakeim, Champs De Mars-Tour Eiffel, Pont De l'Alma, Ecole Militaire
> Entrance: Euro 8.20 (to the top level by stairs & lift)

Tour Eiffel at day (view from Parc Du Champs De Mars)

Tour Eiffel at night (view from Trocadero)

ARC DE TRIOMPLE & CHAMPS ELYSEES
> Metro: Charles De Gaulle-Etoile, Kleber, George V, Argentine
> Entrance: Euro 12 (to the top level)

Arc De Triomphe at day

Arc De Triomphe at night

Avenue Des Champs Elysees (view from Arc De Triomphe)

NOTRE DAME
> Metro: Cite, Saint Michel, Gare Saint-Michel-Notre Dame
> Entrance: Euro 7.50 (to the top level)

Notre Dame

MUSEE DU LOUVRE
> Metro: Louvre-Rivoli, Palais Royal-Musee Du Louvre, Pont Neuf
> Entrance: Euro 6 (after 6pm on Wednesday & Friday)

Mona Lisa in Musee Du Louvre

BASILIQUE DU SACRE COEUR
> Metro: Abbesses, Anvers, Pigalle, Chateau Rouge
> Entrance: Euro 5 (to the top level)

Sacre Coeur

Paris Abbesses Metro Station