Thie Cave

Travel log, Thursday, 25/9, 7:08PM (singapore time)

I’ve touched down at Singapore. Now, I’m waiting for a connecting flight SQ221 to Sydney. The flight will depart at 20:20 and arrive at 5:40 (Friday).

There were rumours about SARS cases in Singapore. The last news I heard was that there was only one case detected some time ago. The situation in the airport seems fine. No one is wearing any mask. It doesn’t seem to be a big issue here.

More details of my flight from Barcelona is here …
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Travel log, Tuesday, 23/9, 9:25PM

Today I returned back to Barcelona from Madrid.

I woke up around 7 and checked out immediately. I went to the chamartin station around 7:40. It took about 30 min to get there from metro Opera. It turned out the train was delayed about 25 min. It departed at about 9:25 and arrived at 5:03. Yep, the journey itself was also extended by another half hour.

For lunch, I had the sweet snacks I bought yesterday in the Toledo. They?re really sweet, even sweeter than the Mooncake.

As I arrived at the Sants station, a tourist gave me his metro travelpass. He said he was going to beaches and no longer used it. Well, that was God?s grace to me. If it had not been delayed by an hour, I would not have got the metro pass. It?s only valid for the day. So, once I reached the hostel, I used it to travel to Sagrada Familia, Gracia, Maria Christina, Catalunya and soon to the Olympic villa.

I found the hostel worse than the hostel in Madrid. It?s still a reasonably good quality kinda hostel. But, there is no kitchen, only one microwave. The locker is only for rent and small. The room has 14 bunkbeds. It looks like a refugee camp Each bed has a blind to separate it from other beds. The location however is pretty good, about 5 min from Barri Gothic, 10 min from La Rambla.

After travelling to the places I mentioned earlier, now I?m in Catalunya, entering the log of course. There is a festival in the plaza and huge crowd in the La Rambla, as usual. I?m going to hang around at the plaza for a while before going to the olympic villa.

Tomorrow afternoon, I?m going the airport. The flight is at 7:40PM. In the morning, I plan to go to the Montjuic (Jewish mountain) and then hang around La Rambla until afternoon. That should conclude my trip in Barcelona.

End log.

Travel log, Sunday, 21/9, 6:23PM

Sunday is the day I stayed in Madrid. I followed the suggested walking tour in the lonely planet book. I entered the Palacio real (royal palace) which cost ?3.30 for student. Then I headed to the Temple of Deblo(?) and then walked along Gran Via which has all the shops, hotels and restaurants. I was told that there were several “futbol” shop there but I could only find one shop. I walked towards the museums. The Museo del prado and archeological museum are free during saturday and sunday. So, of course I went in but unfortunately, all captions are in Spanish. I didn?t take any photo inside these buildings. I?m hoping to buy a guide book which should have a thorough set of photos. That should be a cheaper way and of course, the photos are nicer.

From Sol, I went to the flea market by metro and reached there around 3:30. Most stalls are already packing up. There was nothing much to see. I went back to Callao by metro to find “futboll” shops. I found El Corte Ingles?s shop which especially sells sport stuffs. As I walked back to the hostel along Arenal, I found two sport shops which seem to sell soccer tops too. All shops are closed on Sundays so I have to check them out on Monday after my trip to Toledo.

On Monday, I plan to go to an old town, Toledo. According to the information, there is a mixed of buildings with Roman, Muslim and Catholic influences. That would be an interesting history lesson.

End log.

Travel log, Saturday, 20/9, 9:19PM.

The main activities today are travel to El Escorial, visiting the monastery San Lorenzo de El Escorial and the monument in the El Valle de los Caidos. I went there by bus. The first journey started with metro from Opera (nearest one to the hostel) to Moncloa. Then, I caught a Herranz bus No. 661 to San Lorenzo which costs €2.85 for one way. The entry costs €3.30 for student and they accept my UNSW student card. I also rented an audio guide which costs another €2. I took about 2.5 hour to go through the monastery.

The impressive sections are the paintings, which focus on Jesus´s birth and Mary, and the passion. Most of them are huge, about 2×3m. Some even cover the entire corridor, especially the one that tells the battle story. I bought a guide book which has many pictures/photos.

One remark I think worth mentioning that as the audio guide explains the picture about Joseph being sold to Egypt, it also says that this event foreshadows Jesus being betrayed and sold to the Pharisees. Waw, the audio guide understands biblical theology.

At about 2, I finished the visit and wandered around the town area. The bus that will go to the El Valle de los Caidos is not ready until 3:15. It costs €7.80 for return trip and entry. The journey took about 17 min. The monument was built on a hill and inside the hill they built a crypt. Inside, there are tapestries which tell the story in the Revelations. I am impressed with the way they tried to illustrate the story. I´ve bought the guide book with complete pictures/photos. Unfortunately, the funicular which goes up to the monument was under renovation. Nonetheless, the book has good photos of the monument. It is a huge cross and at the foot, there are sculptures of some of the apostles.

At 5:30, the bus took me back to the San Lorenzo and I immediately took the bus 661 back to the Moncloa. Then I went to Arguelles to check out the shopping centre (El corte ingles), browsing the soccer tops.

Surprisingly, there is one section that sells weapons like swords, samurais, rifles and handguns. The 9mm handguns only cost about €120. That´s cheap. Of course, it´s not colt or smith and wesson.

I arrived back at the hostel around 8. After shower, I had noodle for dinner. Everyone else in the hostel were also cooking around the same time. So, the kitchen was bit crowded.

After dinner, I write this log and it´s now almost half an hour.

Tomorrow, I´m going for a walking tour around the city centre. Also, there will be a flea market which may be worth visiting. I have to remember to watch out my pocket and bag. Rumours say that there might be pickpockets.

End log.