A beautiful city with treasures to see around every corner. Sad to see so many beautiful old churches conducting services for only a handful of old people. Perhaps it is time these beautiful buildings be used for other purposes.
Alhambra in Granada is an absolute must visit. It is highlight of this region. You will find yourself in awe at every turn and taking a ridiculous number of photos. It is crowded with tourists all year so pre-book your tickets. Take your time through Alhambra. Try to feel the serenity and beauty of the place despite the crowds.
The artwork at Alhambra is very ornate and intricate. As a result, the staff policing the Alhambra are quite overzealous. They spend their day telling off tourists to carry their backpacks on their front. This is to prevent dopey tourists with no spatial awareness from inadvertently damaging the artwork with their backpack. The staff at Alhambra was also quite unsympathetic as they repeatedly told a mother carrying a baby that she had to carry her backpack on her front. How was she supposed to carry both baby and bag on the front of her body?
The Alhambra insist that people bring their passports for entry. It’s quite ridiculous but there is no way around it as you have to present your passport numerous times throughout a single visit.
As Granada draws large numbers of tourists due to the Alhambra, the city bustles with lots of souvenir shops and tourist restaurants.
When in the south of Spain, Ronda is a worthwhile day trip destination. It’s small enough that it is perfect for a day trip but the views are so outstanding and breathtaking that it’s worth making the effort to see it. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
Very shortly after arriving in Seville, we headed by bus straight out to Algeciras. Algeciras is not a touristy town but we used it as a base for a day trip to Gibraltar. The accommodation in Algeciras or even the neighboring Spanish border town, La Línea de la Concepción is significantly cheaper than staying in Algeciras. It was a quick 40 minute bus ride from Algeciras to La Linea and the bus runs every 30 minutes. Once in La Linea it is a short walk to border control to pass through into Gibraltar. Suddenly, we were off Spanish soil and onto UK territory. Bizarre!!
Before crossing into Gibraltar, it is impossible to miss the Rock of Gibraltar that looms large on the landscape!
The border control was pretty minimal with many people who work in Gibraltar but live in Spain making the crossing everyday. Lots of people drive or walk in but plenty of people cycle or e-scooter into Gibraltar. To get into Gibraltar, everyone needs to cross an airplane runway. It seems that there are only about 7 planes a day.
Once in Gibraltar, it is a short walk to the main street. This is a very long pedestrianized UK style high street. It is crowded with people but most seem very old and English. There are plenty of mobility aids or gophers being used on this street. The many shops are bright and well stocked with many items on sale. Shopping is clearly the big thing to do when coming to Gibraltar as they do not charge Value Added Tax (VAT) like the rest of the UK. It would seem that the vast majority of people visiting Gibraltar are to be found on this main street!
Wander into a restaurant however, and you will find that the staff is Spanish speaking and there is plenty of Spanish food to be found. Gibraltar is very built up with many apartment buildings and infrastructure. It seems much bigger than the official population count of about 30,000 residents. Thousands of people must live on the Spanish side and cross over every day into Gibraltar for work.
Considering how the Rock of Gibraltar dominates the landscape of this tiny peninsula, it was important to get a closer look. The options for getting up the Rock include hiring a taxi, getting the cable car or by walking up via the Mediterranean steps
Most people catch the cable car to the top. A tiny minority choose to hike up via the Mediterranean steps. We saw very few people on the trail during the hike and the signage for the trail was often confusing and woeful. It’s sad when signage which is such a simple, easily rectifiable thing is done badly.
Climbing the rock was an effort. It took just over an hour to get to the top and it was steep in places. This climb, combined with a walk around town and walking to and from La Linea for the bus resulted in a massive day of about 30,000 steps! My thighs were sore for a few days afterwards as well. This should not put you off though. The climb up the Rock was worth it for the stunning views. You could even see Africa!
After the smaller towns and cities of Algeciras, Gibraltar and Ronda, it was a shock to arrive in Malaga. The train station is set in amongst a large modern shopping mall area. It was Friday night and the vibe of the city was buzzy and dynamic!! It is a strangely windy city, probably due to it’s coastal location. There are lots of affluent, built up shopping areas, big avenues and apartments. The beaches are nice but nothing compared to Australian beaches. The historical old town is a labyrinth of roads. This is a city with many facets.
What would London be like if development was allowed to proceed without planning restrictions for old buildings? Large areas of London are protected against development because of population density limits, restrictions on views and of course preservation of old buildings. This preserves the historic buildings and neighbourhoods but has the side effect of limiting growth. It keeps the city more low-rise and gives parts of London a grimy, run-down, aged feel. Some areas are charming and historic, other parts, look like they need a good scrub and a facelift (and before London cleaned up it’s act, it used to be a lot dirtier!). Prince Charles successfully advocated for many years that no other buildings could exceed the height of St Paul’s cathedral – which meant some of the most valuable commercial real estate in the UK (the city of London – sometimes called the square mile) could only be built to an amazingly low density. Going to the Docklands area of Canary Wharf is an insight into what London might look like if large scale development was possible.
The Docklands area was once a thriving area by the Thames River for port activities, merchants, industry, warehousing and engineering. Due to the criticality of this area for London, it was the target of severe bombing during the second World War. After the war, it struggled to rebuild as the area was not suitable for larger modern container ships. In the 90s, after a lot of feet-dragging by the government, the area was finally transformed and re-emerged as an area for business. Large corporations (particularly banks) established their offices there. Tall office and residential buildings sprung up and this area become a posh, gentrified part of town.
Now, Canary Wharf is a modern, skyscraper filled central business district of shiny glass and steel. People live in the residential buildings in modern new-build, albeit expensive, apartments. The modernity of Canary Wharf is a massive contrast to other areas of London, so much so that it has something of the feel of an American city about it. Canary Wharf is also trying to become an entertainment and dining precinct. Many famous restaurant franchises have already opened a branch in this area. It’s also very well connected with a number of different commuter trains lines running through it including the recently completed (but wholy un-originally named) Elizabeth Line.
We recently visited the Canary Wharf areas to see their free Winter Lights event. Interesting and artistic light displays were set-up in a circuit around the main area. This free event has been very well attended and there were crowds of people walking from one exhibit to another. This free, public event is quite a smart tactic to draw people into a predominantly business district after dark – in the freezing cold depths of winter. Many of these people will duck into the warmth of a restaurant or shop at some point during their Winter Lights walk. Others may be drawn to Canary Wharf for the first time by this event and be struck by the modernity, the entertainment, the restaurants and other amenities available!
Every year in recent history until Covid struck, there was a parade through the streets of London to celebrate Chinese New Year. This is such an entrenched tradition that all manner of tourist websites etc. were touting this parade despite the fact that the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA) had not confirmed the date and time of the parade for 2023. They finally did confirm, only 2 days before the parade. As it was my first time to this parade, and I found it disappointingly short when compared to the London New Year’s Parade, it is not clear if this is normal or a substandard parade. Perhaps, it was smaller this year due to poor organisation. Perhaps it was small because the parade was held on the first day of Chinese New Year and many of the more professional lion dance troupes were booked up doing blessings of business and restaurants. Nevertheless, the parade was well attended by the public, colourful and diverse. There were also events held in Trafalgar square and Chinatown was absolutely filled to the brim with people with queues out of every open business!
With lots of families both participating and attending, the noisy clanging of cymbals and drums to scare away all the evil spirits and lots of traditionally lucky red and gold everywhere, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year! Happy New Year to all. Wishing you and your loved ones lots of good health, good luck and prosperity!!
Sometimes, it is the unexpected discoveries that turn out to be the best. I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to attend this parade. A hint to the size of it came when the bus route terminated early and we were all asked to walk. Some of the streets in the centre of London were blocked off and fenced in readiness for the parade. The parade started at noon and finished 2.5 hours later. There were hundreds of participants. Aside from the awesomeness of the parade, is the massive logistical exercise of organising this magnificent event! The organisers did a great job!
The parade was dominated by Americans, marching bands, flag/baton twirlers, cheerleaders etc. The grandstand was populated mostly by very proud American families that have made the trip to loudly cheer on their teens marching. So many American schools, from all corners of the country were represented. Each of these school groups would easily average a hundred teenage, high school students. Unlike the polished stereotype of teenagers in American movies, these were real kids, young looking, bare faced, pimply and often concentrating on their dance steps or counting under their breath so they could play their instruments at the right moment.
Despite their youth, all the American cohorts were a slick bunch. Amazing uniforms, instruments, perfect, well-rehearsed music pieces and choreography! They must have worked very diligently to prepare for this moment. I can only imagine that for many of these kids, this trip to London is a trip of lifetime. It cannot be cheap. One can only imagine the fundraising that would have happened behind the scenes to support this. What an experience for these young people to march down the centre of London with all it’s historic buildings and to play for thousands of people and then to spend a few days visiting London! Memories of a lifetime for these kids!
In addition to the large number of American bands, was a brass band that have come all the way from Congo and a bagpipe group called, Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Pipe Band. This bagpipe group was in full Scottish kilts and regalia but was incongruously populated entirely of people of South Asian heritage. They were amazing!!
There was a float competition held between the various boroughs. The boroughs that attended made great effort with various themes being reflected such as love for the environment, science, Kodak and multicultural diversity. The responsibility of judging the best borough float came down to one lone American man who probably did not expect the responsibility he would be given when he put his hand up to judge the display.
Other highlights include the highly energetic bhangra dancers, ladies dancing samba in impossibly high heels and stunningly, beautiful costumes, the South American groups in colourful traditional costumes and dance, the horses and ponies marching, the motorcycle stunt group and the vehicle displays e.g. Mini Mokes, Aston Martins etc. Of particular note is the diversity of heritage, ages and shapes of the participants. This was a wonderfully inclusive parade with the common thread of joy running through all participants.
The parade is an absolute must-do and it’s totally free! The whole parade had a wonderful community vibe. It’s such a heartwarming, happy spectacle and I will be definitely be attending again next year (and dragging everyone I know along with me)!