SPAIN
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Mijas The town of Blue and White


Mijas - a little quaint town not far from the Malaga, is situated at the heart of "Costa de Sol" or literally known as the "Coast of the Sun". 
Mijas village
Mijas village

It almost reminds you of Greece, with similar hues of Izmir Blue and Cobalt White, but what is different is the sea breeze and the charm of a traditional Andalucian village. Mijas was devoted to agriculture and fisheries but nowadays, it is a sun-decked village with rows of lavender, jasmine and colorfully potted charm. 

You can also take donkey taxi here! 
 Mijas village
Despite of its narrow paths and cobblestone side street, it is hard to be lost in this town, as it only takes about an hour or so to cover the whole ground. Figuratively, this is an artist town, full of colorful ceramic plates, leather artisan goods, scented olive oil soaps, to be honest this is a town that feels good to be lost! 

Mijas village

Mijas village


Mijas village

Quaint little shops with 100% cotton clothing. Perfect baby gift. 

Mijas villageMijas village

Do try the ice cream at Mayan Monkey Mijas - it is one of the world's smallest chocolate factory, and their ice-cream is divine! 




National Palace of Sintra

sintra, national palace

sintra, national palace

This is a palace that paints the history of the Portuguese voyagers.

Originally built by the Moors in the 10th century, the castle later became a residence for the Christian kings, after the conquest of Lisbon by Afonso Henriques in 1147. The palace did not undergo much transformation until the reign of King Joan I (1385-1433) and later by king Manuel I (1495-1521), where the funds came largely from the new riches found by the voyagers.

Apart from the patterns inspired by nature and geometric shapes (Mudejar glazed tiles), the doors and windows are also ornately decorated in the Manueline style. The rooms were designed such that the ones further away from the main hall had increasing privacy from the Magpies Room (where officials were hosted) to the back chambers (i.e guest rooms)

Magpies Room

The Magpies room was used to host important ambassadors and governmental officials, and received its name with a wooden ceiling full of Magpies.  

sintra, national palace
Magpie Room
sintra, national palace
King Sebastio's Bed chamber

Coat of Arms Room

This room is one of the finest example of the Manueline style and is located at the highest point of the castle. On the ceiling you will find the coat of arms of the 8 children from King D. Manuel I, and below it are the coat of arms from 72 of the noble families in Portugal. 

There is also an inscription that says: 
" Through the efforts of loyal services were these won and with such others shall be preserved". 

sintra, national palace
Coat of Arms Room
Apart from the ornately decorated ceiling, the blue and white glazed tiles are also done by an artist known as Master PMP, which is particularly representative of the Mudejar decor. You will also find similar ones in the Water Grotto. 

sintra, national palace
Water Grotto

Water Grotto 

The Water Grotto depicted the Creation of the World, the Four Seasons with elaborate fountains, gardens and mythical themes. Water would sprout from tiny orifices, keeping the space cool and the ladies "entertained". 

Palatine Chapel 

The chapel ceiling is embossed with geometric lines representing the stars and moons, very much alike the ones we saw at Alhambra. The walls were entirely covered with fresco painting of doves carrying olive branches, which despite the use of red color, somehow gives off a calming effect. 
sintra, national palace
Palatine Chapel


The Kitchen was immensely large and I love the white tiles, really gave off a fresh modern look to it! 
sintra, national palace
Kitchen
sintra, national palace
Julius Caesar Room

sintra, national palace

Falstaff's Love for Sherry & the Tio Pepe in Spain


Those who are familiar with Shakespeare, must be aware of the number of times Sherry wine was mentioned. It is without surprise that this was naturally related to a time when England was one of the largest importer of Sherry wine. It was a time when the British encouraged barter trade, English wool for the wine. The marriage between Catherine of Aragon and King Arthur of England and then later King Henry VIII reinforced and tighten this trade sale. 

Catherine of Aragon, used to complain: "The King, my husband, keeps the very best wines from the Canaries and Jerez for himself". 

Sherrywine
Barrels of Wine with country flags

The Sherry wine is made primarily with Palomino grapes, and only those that are from Jerez region can be called a Sherry. Summer in this region is often dry and hot, with an average temperature of 17 celsius degree. The breeze from the Atlantic Ocean serves as a good moderator of maintaining the level of humidity and temperature that is good for growing the grapes.

Sherrywine

The Tio Pepe winery, is one of the largest and most famous winery in Jerez region. It was founded in 1890 and the name literarily means "Uncle Pepe".

You will also find that there will be roses planted in the vinery, right next to the grapes, as they serve as a good indicator of whether the condition is suitable for the grape. If the roses are blooming, so will the grapes.

The Jesus Barrel Room 
When Queen Isabel II visted in October 1862, she wanted to the the vendimia festival, but this is way past the grape pressing time. So Sr. Gonzalez went to each household to ask for the remaining grapes to make a press for the queen. The total volume is 33 times more than a traditional cask, and was names the Jesus barrel because he was crucified at the age of 33. They later added another 12 casks to represent the "Last Supper", with its twlve Apostles.

Sherrywine

 The Royal & the Famous
There is another room that is full of casks that were preserved for the royalties as well as the rich and famous. It reminded me of a Swiss vault, where you can only get the wine that has been preserved only for you. (Too bad we cannot try any of the Winston Churchill wine).



SherrywineSherrywine       SherrywineSherrywine

The Mouse 
There is a really cute story about this winery is that during lunch hour, a worker had a glass of Sherry beside him, and a mouse came over to enjoy it as well. Amused by its good taste, the worker started leaving out a glass for the mouse every night, and eventually making a mini-ladder for it as well.
The kind of friendship between mice and men.
This is definitely one of the place to chill for an afternoon, and don't forget to do some wine tasting after the tour!
Sherrywine,vinery

Sherrywine,vinery

Metropol Parasol, Seville

metropolparasol

The Metropol Parasol could have ended up as a disaster.

Situated at the La Encarnación square, at  a 2200 years old city Sevilla, this clash of modern meets tradition is a challenge that the German architect Jürgen Mayer H had to face.

The square had accommodated an old market since the 19th century, this was a prime commercial district. The market  was torn down in 1973 and went into dormant for many many years.

The place was in need of an urban renewal. During the reconstruction, ruins of Roman and Al-Andulas were found and the project went into pending again. The project was reopened again for bidding in 2004, to see what is the best way to renew this place.

Jürgen Mayer H kept it all -- the old market, the Roman ruins and added his own icing on top - a gigantic Mushroom timber structure. It is said to be one of the largest timber structure in the world.

The Structure 

The structure has over 3000 joints and has to meet all the standard requirements of waterproof, sun-proof, and so a type of laminated lumber called Kerto was selected. All the different joining parts were actually constructed in Germany (the weather in Spain could pose a difficult threat if it were to be constructed locally) to be assembled in Seville.

metropolparasol

The citizens were resentful at first.
People had memories here. Situated at a beautiful Jewish Quarter, there are unique boutique shops, family-owned bakeries at every corner. How are they to accept a new mushroom in this neighborhood?

And they went from resentment to confoundment and finally to acceptance that this new architecture is going to bring life back to this old neighborhood. No more stores are going out of business, new restaurants and bars and moving back in.

Now there are new memories -- it is now one of the hottest spots that local go to to enjoy the gentle breeze on a hot summer night.


The city of Pomegranate, Granada & the Alhambra Palace


alhambra, spain

Granada was the last city to fall to the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabela in 1492. For a long period of time, the Moors have known it as the "City of Pomegranate".

One of the greatest gem of this city, is the beautiful Alhambra, also known as the "Red Castle", is an Arabian night palace overlooking the fertile lands of the city below.

We first spent some time in its beautiful garden, the Alameda de la Alhambra, which was filled with intricate corridors of roses, wildflowers and myrtles. In particular, there were tall massive English elms that were brought by Duke Wellington in 1812.

granada,spainalhambra, spain



alhambra, spain

Every corner there is a surprise, and needless today, every patio, every corridor comes with a beautiful mountainous view.


alhambra, spain

Chamber of Ambassador

The Chamber of Ambassador is the largest room of the complex and it is completed covered with geometric patterns and ataurique motifs (of flowers and leaves). There are three windows panels on each side of the wall, bringing new light to the room and giving it an unique complexion. The ceiling had a designs of stars and constellations with cedar wood panels, representing the seven heavens of paradise.


alhambra, spain
Chamber of Ambassador Window Silhoulettes


Courtyard of Lions

Adjacent to it is the Courtyard of Lions, which was built in the 14th century, where the 12 marble lions fountain would channel water from each lion's mouth, which really reminded me of the 12 zodiac water fountain at Old Summer Palace in China. I was also very much fascinated by the fact that this courtyard (or many of parts of the palace) was designed with golden ratio in mind.
alhambra, spain
Courtyard of Lions


The tiles also has a lot of mathematical beauty in it to form such delicate tessellation. It is said that M.C.Escher visit to the Alhambra and Mezquita in Cordoba had a very large influence on his work later on.
alhambra, spain



Mugarnas (Honeycomb vaulting) & Mocarabes (Stalactites) 


Apart from the use of geometric shapes, tessellation tiles, inscriptions from the Koran, there are lots of forest and natural imagery involved.

The Mugarnas are these tiny squinches that form the shape of honey-combs, often found in Iranian or Persian architecture.
alhambra, spain
Honeycomb Vaulting 

There is also another similar form, called the "Mocarabes", which are more like sharp stalactites that are found at entrance ways or half-domes.

Carlos V Palace

One may start thinking that this palace seems very much out of the place. In fact, after the Reconquista, Carlos I (also know as the Hasburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V -- we will get into more detail as to why the Spanish and the Holy Roman Empire was related), he decided to add a residential area that is closed to the Alhambra. The building was never really completed (war depleted  Carlos I income in finishing this area), and the roof was only added in 1957.
alhambra, spain
Carlos I Palace 
Despite its Renaissance facade, when you walk into the hall, you will find that there is an inner circular patio, which is unprecedented in Renaissance architecture.


This place felt more like a bullring rather than a palace, nevertheless, it is beautiful.




alhambra, spain
Courtyard of Generalife

alhambra, spain
Night view 










               

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