12th Aug 2008 - Spain

Nearly two months ago, I was in a land so distant that I would not imagine myself being back in the centre of the equator. The land that I travelled to is a place where a melody runs through the land, and in doing so, unifies all its people. This land is known as Spain. In Spain, the national anthem is wordless as it is just a tune. From what I’ve gathered, there are 5 factions of people living in Spain and all speak different languages or dialects. Therefore, the anthem was conceived wordless to show equality.

My first destination in Spain was Madrid. It was a lovely and beautiful city. One thing that struck me during my stay there was the orderliness of it. The metro, or underground, is certainly much better than that in London or Paris. It is a shame really as both of the cities mentioned above are alpha first world cities. However, although I feel that I’m a person who appreciates cities more than nature, the place which I’m fondest of in Madrid is Park Retiro. To be precise, I adore the rose gardens found inside the park. Haha, all three of us, my mom, younger brother and me, were taking pictures while doing stupid poses! Also, I never really fancied Spanish rice, known as Paella, as I had tried it in Singapore and in the UK. However, even in Madrid, Paella isn’t that fabulous as well unless you dine at a place which specializes in it. I went to one such restaurant and it was both tantalizing and mouth-watering. The fish that my mom ordered was lovely to the palate as well. Unfortunately, we were all so hungry that by the time we wanted to take a picture of our meal, all that were left were the serving plates. It was, indeed, a shame.

Besides Madrid, I made a day trip to a nearby city called Toledo. It was the old Spanish capital if I’m not mistaken. I remembered the day as being really hot, say 30 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, we were given wrong directions and we ended up walking for nearly two hours before reaching the old city leaving endless conquered crests in our wake. It was such a hilly place but it was splendid. Toledo is like a barren and non-luscious fort or keep that one sees in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Thankfully, we took a mini tram, lasting about ¾ of an hour, which went around the entire ancient part of Toledo. It was certainly breathtaking and I could imagine myself being a knight then.

Barcelona was our final destination in Spain. It is much messier than Madrid and I was initially irked by the transportation system. In some of the smaller underground stations, there aren't bridges or underpasses in which one could cross over to the other platform. So there we were, three strangers who entered the station on the wrong side and were at a loss of what to do. It would certainly be foolish, if not stupid, to exit the station and buy another three tickets just to get to the other side of the platform. Eventually, we took the train in the wrong direction and alighted at a bigger station before we could cross over back to the correct platform. It was quite infuriating in all honesty. To worsen the situation, their underground systems are not integrated. Imagine if the ticketing in the north-south lines is different from that of the east-west line, one would have to exit the station and purchase another ticket if one needed to transit. In my opinion, I felt it was ludicrous. Coupled with the lack of clarity for the train network system, surely an irate traveler one would be. After lambasting the transport system, Barcelona does have its merits. The city is beautiful, even more so than Madrid and it is a place that appeals more to tourists. The architecture of Gaudi has left me deeply impressed. It is very distinct and unique till I find no words to aptly describe it for his works are really a blessing upon Barcelona. One only has to be there to witness his very work of arts to fathom and grasp the extent of the marvel of his talent. Besides the fabulous architecture, Barcelona’s shopping belt really puts Madrid’s high street to great shame. Although Madrid is the capital, the shopping arena contrasts starkly in comparison to Barcelona’s. It really is a lovely city, bar the metro and suburbs where Madrid has a definite clear advantage over Barcelona.

I went to another two smaller towns but I reckon they’re not worth mentioning so I guess these three main cities depict my experiences and feelings in the “land of melody”.