27 August 2013

Spain 2013 - part 2

Ancient roman pillars -Cordoba




ancient Arabic decor- nice huh


Right next to the Mezquita



Courtyard made into a restaurant


Time to visit the Inquisition museum


Whips - made of metal-ouch


Many many methods of torture


3 instruments -close ,insert in orifice ,and open.  guess which is for which orifice.


History of the Mezquita


Time to cross the bridge


Almost 8pm....dark huh


Calahorra tower



Ancient master builders



Time for dinner  then sleep  zzzzzzzzzz


The next day...time for a detailed walking tour


Back door of my hotel is through the old walls



Someone's private courtyard nice huh


Time for the Alcazar


Ancient Roman Sarcophagus


Old Roman mosaic 



From the time of the Gladiators


Alcazar ...means royal Moorish palace



Huge gardens



Christopher Columbus meets the Spanish King And Queen



More roman mosaics


Look at that......


Palace and gardens


Nice ......


Higher up




Just a part of the gardens


2000 years old...


Old Arabic mosiac


More Arabic influence


To Mezquita


And finally the famous double arches


You should google this place.





Roman floors under the floors. This was built over  an ancient Roman temple 


The prayer hall



The Cathedral




Amazing huh


Back to the Cathedral



Ornate roofs



Arabic writing


Made from mosaic stuck on one by one


The Mihrab


Dome of the Cathedral 




Carved celling beams


Beautiful




A chapel off to a side


Nice


Ancient Arabic text


Back in the Cathedral




Huge pipe organ


Ornate seats for the choir


The main altar


In the courtyard


From here we went to the Roman tower which is a museum now.
Life during the Emir's time


Model of the prayer hall


And Mihrab


Top of the tower


Nice huh


Food was excellent



The next day - Sevilla


View from the roof top terrace


With its pool


Giralda


I'm NOT walking to the top...



Locals  :-)


The Cathedral of Seville


Gothic



And huge.


inside...its big.


Huge columns


nice huh


Beautiful stained glass



Another huge pipe organ


Big huh 




Relics



The marble floor is worn away with centuries of use 


Ornate 


They all have their courtyards



Now to the Royal Palace - The Alcazar


A last look at the cathedral


See the people...gives a sense of scale huh


Walls of the Alcazar



Main courtyard


Smaller one to the side


Intricate design




Huge painting...hundreds of years old


Awesome celling


Ornate everywhere



One of many courtyards



Look at that !!!



Domed roof


Another courtyard



Beautiful


For the kings




Courtyard no ..... ???





Garden no 1


And the main gardens


That water is from a Roman aqueduct


It flows to the whole gardens without pumps

So cool


Back outside


Thats the ancient gate into the city



Torre Del Oro -built by the Moroccan kings -13th century




Time for a cruise


Mediterranean  houses



Under the Spanish sun

So cool


Our ride


That evening its time for the famous Spanish show





Flamenco.... :-)


Long day... 



Nice huh



The next day...



Amazing


Intricate everywhere


Awesome and huge- Plaza de Espana , built  1928


Nice fountain  :-P


Time for a closer look




So cool




I'm getting monumented out  ;-P







Each is for one province




Huge huh


Some sights along the way on the hoppy bus


I'm too saturated already


The next day...to Nou Camp.
Huge leg room


Very comfortable


Look at the speed


A bit later in the speedy train    ;-0


Roof top terrace in our hotel 



Must go there


Nice


Old skool


funky building by a local artist


Barcelona's famous gothic cathedral



We came here


To see this




If you ever wonder what a Griffin is  :-)  :-)


View of Barcelona


Its by the sea




This is the building on the hill from earlier- Sangrat Cor


Nice



Look at that




Catalunya  :-)


Finally we came here -Sangrada Familia


Arriving back in Kl i saw these 2 monsters - 2... 747s  and what looks like an Antonov 124 


Zoom


Spain was wonderful. The people ,sights , food and lifestyle makes it my favourite country visited by far.
Life is short. 
Go see the world, near or far doesn't matter.
Just go !!!

Cheers .



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