Epilogue

Tuesday 15th July, 8 am. I returned home safely - encountering happy and clappy pilgrims at the airport for World Youth Day. I have become very patient in Europe, so I grinned and bore them all.
I have learnt some things for next time:

1. Don't go for as long,
2. Go to one place and do one/two day trips from there,
3. Pack less!!

On my arrival I walked into my townhouse and found the cistern had leaked water all over my carpets and downstairs over my floor boards resulting in them all warping.


Welcome home!

The Land of the Rising Sun

Returning home from Europe, I had four days in Tokyo. Japan is a fascinating country, with lots to see. At night, the place is lit up by hundreds of thousands of neon lights (no wonder we are going to hell in a hand-basket with global warming!!).

I stayed in Shinjuku - an area of large office buildings and the busiest railway station in the world.

Shinjuku at Day

And at Night

Yoyogi Park, near Harajuku

Harajuku rock band

Harajuku is an area where young people buy their funky clothes. During the weekends it is often the meeting place of the Japanese punks - although I think the hot and humid weather scared them off today! Along Yoyogi Park are young people trying out their rock bands - very loud and one band next to another.

A pagoda near Ueno Zoo

Japan is a strange place with the very modern intermeshing with the ultra traditional. You can be in Akihabara looking at the latest electrical goods, standing next to someone in traditional dress. Dotted round the city are shrines and pagoda's everywhere.

The Ginza

The Ginza is Tokyo's prestigious shopping area with many department stores and the famous stores of Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc..

Plastic display meals

Most of the cheaper restaurants have samples of their food on display. These are made from plastic and depict the meal that you are likely to receive. Somewhere in Japan a factory must make these. I guess its because the Japanese language contains three elements; the spoken sounds, the written sounds in english characters and the japanese characters. Many places have pointing sheets with photos of the food that you can point at - good for us tourists!

Ueno Zoo

I was told that Ueno Zoo had a Giant Panda so I took the train to Ueno to see it. I was greeted with signs at the zoo saying that the panda had died on April 28th... so the above is as close as I got to a panda!! Following are some animals from the zoo.

Spain's Capital - Madrid

Madrid's Emblem: El oso y el madroño

Madrid is the capital of Spain, with a population of about 3 - 5 million people. It has been the home of the Spanish court for about 500 years, causing the capital to move from Seville in the 16th Century. Above is the emblem of Madrid and in the background the clock tower where at the foot is kilometre 0 (the place from whence all road distances in Spain are measured). This area is known as Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun).

Cathedral of Madrid "Santa María la Real de la Almudena"

The Cathedral of Madrid was completed in 1993 and was used for the wedding of Felipe, Prince of Asturias in 2004. It is opposite Palacio Real, the home of the King of Spain (although only used for ceremonial functions now).

Palacio Real

The Gardens of Palacio Real, in the centre of Madrid

Plaza de España, Monument to Cervantes

Plaza de España is a large square located in central Madrid at the western end of the Gran Via. It features a monument to Miquel de Cervantes Saavedra and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers; also the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is a short walk south from the plaza. Cervantes wrote Don Quixote - and for some reason is celebrated everywhere in Spain - including on some of the coins.

One of the main roads that leads to Plaza Mayor, Calle Mayor.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The square has been used for bull fights, soccer games and even during the Spanish Inquisition to condemn heretics (but then again, no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!). It is a magnificent town square many centuries old.

I stayed in a hotel near Grand Via, the main street running through Madrid. It was an interesting experience to say the least. One night I woke to someone in the adjoining room banging on the wall very loudly and yelling at me in Spanish. All I could yell back at them was "I don't speak Spanish" and "I don't understand" (both in Spanish). It was a little scarey. After a while I went to reception and spoke to the person on night duty (who also didn't speak English). I managed to explain to him to come upstairs and listen - of course, by the time he got upstairs the crazy man had stopped. So I went to bed listening to every creak and groan next door wondering if I was to be murdered in my sleep!!

36 hours later I was returning from my lunch to see two paramedics outside snapping on rubber gloves and heading upstairs. I went up to my room to meet two policemen. The four of them then opened the door of the crazy man's room and took in a gurney. Apparently he had died!!! Needless to say I checked out of that hotel quick smart!

Soon after I left Madrid and ended the Europe part of my trip. Off to Tokyo for a few days before heading home.

Tiles of Seville (Azulejo)

The art was introduced to Spain by the Moors, who had learned the craft from the Persians. The word azulejo is derived from the arabic word: الزليج (al zulayj) : Zellige, meaning "polished stone". This origin explains the unmistakable Arab influences in many tiles: interlocking curvilinear, geometric or floral motifs. Seville was a major centre of the hispano-moresque tile industry.

The tiles are an integral part of Andalucia in general and Seville, in particular. They are extraordinarily beautiful, adorning walls of almost every building and house in Seville. Some have very detailed glazed art work.

Some examples are below:

San Fiacre from the garden of the Alcazar

A 15th Century tile of the Madonna and Child.

Another 15th Century group of tiles representing a religious scene

A very detailed tiled bench which was one of many, decorating Plaza Espana. This one represents the district of Barcelona.

Some of the general tile work bordering the walls of the Alcazar in Seville

Roman Spain

It appears that everyone has invaded Spain at some time or another - from the Romans to the Moors, then the French in the early 19th Century.

The city of Italica was founded in 206 BC by the Romans in order to settle Roman soldiers wounded in the Battle of Ilipa, where the Carthaginian army was defeated during the Second Punic War. The name Italica bound the colonia to their Italian origins. Italica is only a few kilometres from Seville.

Italica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a forum; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Colosseum in Rome— and was the third largest in the Roman Empire. The city's Roman population at the time is estimated to have been only 8000. The games and theatrical performances funded by the local aristocracy, who filled the positions of magistrate, were a means of establishing status: the size of the amphitheater shows that the local elite was maintaining status that extended far beyond Italica itself.

The modern town of Santiponce overlies the "old city" of Republican times founded by Scipio and the pre-Roman Iberian city. The well-preserved city of ruins seen today is the nova urbs magnificently laid out under Hadrian's patronage.

The city dwindled after Hadrian's death and loss of patronage. The mosaic work in Italica still exists and is extraordinary.

The Ampitheatre

The Ampitheatre

The Gladiators Room at the Ampitheatre

The Baths. Italica

Mosaic work in House of the Birds

The Heart of Andalucia

A view of Seville from the bridge over the Guadalquivir river. The bullring is in the foreground and the Giralda can be seen as the tallest building.

The winds were apparently coming off the Sahara Desert - that's what they told me after 4 days of 40 degree heat. Altogether I had 5 days in Seville. Seville is in the middle of the district called Andalucia. To me it's the true or at least, stereotypical, Spain; bullfighting, flamenco, gazpacho, ornate tiles - you name it. It's also incredibly hot and dry - like an Adelaide summer. It is my favourite city in Spain.

Seville was taken over by the Moors in 712 and reconquered in 1248. It was a hugely propserous city due to imports from the New World until the silting up of the Guadalquivir river left the city in relative economic decline.

Plaza Espana

In 1929 Seville hosted the Spanish-American Exhibition and numerous buildings were constructed for the exhibition. I am not sure that the exhibition actually went ahead as the crash of 1929 came just at the wrong time. Apparently it's Moorish Revival Architecture.

Torre del Oro

The Torre del Oro was a defensive position on the river and also the treasury of returning gold from South America (hence its name).

The Giralda

The Cathedral is the third largest in the world and was built in the 15th Century. It was built on the site of the original mosque left by the Moors. The Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and, most famously, the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower. It is topped with a statue, known locally as El Giraldillo, representing Faith. The tower's interior was built with ramps rather than stairs, to allow people to ride to the top (it can fit three horses side-by-side!).

The Cathedral and Giralda

The huge Gothic Cathedral of Sevilla

The Moorish styled Alcazar

The Alcazar is the moorish palace in Seville. It shows all the arabic influences in the designa nd arch work etc. Apparently it is still used by King Juan Carlos of Spain.

The moorish architecture and design is obvious in the arches of the Alcazar

The Garden of the Alcazar

I have no idea what this room was but the reflection off the water made for a good photograph. It is in the cellar of the Alcazar so I assume it was some sort of storage facility.

Spain wins Euro 2008

I was in Seville when the final of the Euro 2008 was being played. I couldn't find a bar that I could get into - as I left it to the last minute to look and by then they were all packed. It didn't help that the game was on a Sunday night, when many bars were closed anyway.

Spain beat Germany 1 - 0. The People of Seville were very happy and the bars emptied as soon as the game was over and people danced and sang in the street. I met some people who let me celebrate with them. I now have them on my facebook page!

Meanwhile in Madrid, a huge crowd saw the game at Plaza Colon. This was the first time in 44 years that Spain had won a major football competition.

My new friends from Sevilla: Daphne and Caroline and Glauber.

The Alhambra, Granada

The Alhambra in Granada is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of southern Spain (current day Andalusia). Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously.

In 1984 The Alhambra became a listed UNESCO protected site.

Once the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, the Alhambra is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions exhibiting the country's most famous islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th century and later interventions in buildings and gardens that marked its image as it can be seen today. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected in 1527.

The Alhambra is a reflection of the culture of the last days of the Nasrid Kingdom. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as Christian Spain won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra mixes natural elements with man-made ones, and is a testament the skill of Muslim craftsmen of that time.

Everywhere there are fantastic examples of intricate carving in marble as well as arches and columns. After the Christian conquest of the city in 1492, the conquerors began to alter the Alhambra. The open work was filled up with whitewash, the painting and gilding effaced, and the furniture soiled, torn, or removed. Charles V rebuilt portions in the Renaissance style of the period and destroyed the greater part of the winter palace to make room for a Renaissance-style structure which has never been completed. Philip V (early 18th C) Italianised the rooms and completed his palace in the middle of what had been the Moorish building; he had partitions constructed which blocked up whole apartments.

The old town of Granada from La Alhambra