TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

The Bib-Rimbla, a pretty square ringed with beautiful buildings and tapas bars & restaurants with terraces is the heart of Granada. The name means ‘gate of the river’ because the square originally stood on a sandy river bank. This central square is actually very important and has served Granada’s annals of history very well. Festivals and jousts were held on the plaza during the Moorish times, bloody bullfights during the Christian era and during the Spanish Acquisition, it was used as a tribunal—those found guilty were burned on the spot. Now, that is a mottled, colourful and turbulent historic square right there. Restaurant terraces on the square. Shameless self-promotion of course. Pretty windows and balconies again that I found on the side streets of the square. The square and the beautiful characteristic facade details of the buildings surrounding it. We had our afternoon tapas on the square at Il Caffe de Roma . Dutchman was hungry so he o...

So we’ve found a strategic underground parking in the center of Granada near Puerta Real (Royal Gate) on Calle de Recogidas, very easy to walk to the heart of Granada, Bib-Rambla where we had our afternoon tapas, but before we got there, we went for a nice stroll along Gran Via de Colon, the main street of the city, home to many stately buildings. The architectural styles of the imposing mansions are a divine synthesis of Spanish Rococo, Mudejar and Art Nouveau. Beautiful facade details of windows and balconies of a building along Gran Via de Colon, they remind me of the buildings along Erzsébet, Budapest and the difference here is the Spaniards maintain their buildings well while the Hungarians they let theirs rot. Stunning facades! Me having a souvenir foto at Puerta Real (Royal Gate) just before Gran Via de Colon. I did not even know the area is the Royal Gate, just thought it was a pretty street! Gran Via is not just lovely, it is grand, imperial and stunning....

To gorgeous Granada!!! So we’ve just collected our rental car that was special delivered to us at our hotel, and now we are on the road! I was actually getting worried when all the rent-a-car shops we’ve visited didn’t have a car available for us until we hit our luck. August is a terrible month to rent cars because most cars are taken, its high season obviously and the agency we’ve hit our luck with says he blames it on the Italians. On the road, we see for the first time the exquisite countryside views of Andalusia. It reminds me of Crete, Greece for its rolling valleys of olive tree plantations and white-washed villages and Nevada, USA as well for the dessert-like expanse and the rock mountains. Now, to help us get to our destination (Granada) in time we have my trusted ‘Free’ OVI Maps on my Nokia Mini N97 mobile phone. No need to buy or rent a GPS with the car when traveling, it’s on my Nokia phone! I can drive or walk to my set destination, there is a canned version of L...

I am not a TV or movie person and the only reason why I watch TV is because of Discovery Channel, National Geographic and all travel, documentary and news-related programs. This poem aired by National Geographic caught me this week, which I believe is one of their recycled advertisements, totally reflects what I live for. If you are, you breathe. If you breathe, you talk. If you talk, you ask. If you ask, you think. If you think, you search. If you search, you experience. If you experience, you learn. If you learn, you grow. If you grow, you wish. If you wish, you find. If you find, you doubt. If you doubt, you question. If you question, you understand. If you understand, you know. If you know, you want to know more. If you want to know more, you are alive. To see the video, go here: IF – Live Curious by National Geographic Of course a foto must go with the poem above and I choose this one taken in Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines last year, August 2009. I snappe...

Pueblo blanco means white village. I mentioned in my previous entry, ‘ Donkey Trails and the Rock Shrine ’ that Mijas is the most popular and most visited white-washed village in Andalucia. You would know when a village becomes exceptionally popular when: (a) tourist buses arrive by the droves (b) you see Japanese or Asian tourists (c) the center becomes a commercial strip lined up with souvenir shops one after the other (d) presence of café terraces on every corner (e) animals, like donkeys and horses had to earn a living. A busy corner in Mijas and the most photographed street on the coast, the San Sebastian Street. The street is named after the San Sebastian Church built in the 17th century. In 1674 the church was rebuilt from ruins, thanks to charity. Now that is the case with Mijas. It is the most popular ‘pueblo side tour’ offered by travel agencies and suggested by hotels to sun-beach holidaymakers in Costa del Sol. View from the terrace of the Tourist Office ...