Deborah, Songbo and I left for Spain to tour Salamanca, Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona from 23 Dec 2000 to 2 Jan 2001.

We arrived at Salamanca on a coach headed for Portugal. Managed to distinguish some Portuguese words by the end of the 14 hr coach ride, with the help of Portuguese students studying in Paris. Spent about 2 hrs looking for suitable accomodation and went round the sights.

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Salamanca, 24 Dec - 26 Dec 2000

-Protected under a UNESCO Heritage program

One fine day and one day of rain

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Above: Roman bridge

Salamanca is a pink town because of the stone available in the region. Its university used to be an important clerical institution and is still an important tourist attraction because of a.. frog... on one of the skulls on its facade. You have to know what you're looking for else everyone else is staring at the university and the frog is really small.

A 30-yr old Italian, Francesco, on research studies there made friends with us. He helped us a lot with communication since italian is very similar to Spanish. French is also a Romantic language but I have to be really lucky to get myself understood.

Also met up with Carlos, someone under the Pechiney program who is on an exchange program at Lyon. He brought us round to eat our first TAPAS (yum) and we visited some convents together.

Christmas is a family festival in Europe. We met Francesco at 10.30pm for dinner on Christmas Eve and there was NOBODY on the streets. Ever seen the Western cartoons where they just show the scene of an empty street? That's what I mean. We ended up in a bar drinking MOSTO (non-alcoholic grape juice) and eating corn nuts until the bar started filling up at 1am. (That's when the religious ones go to midnight mass)

The confusion about when the Spanish eat started here. We found good tapas at 12 noon on Christmas day but no food at 3.30pm (our logical deduction for lunch time).

Christmas evening was spent at a free Isreali choral concert. We were dragged up the stage to dance and amid the music, I didn't have time to protest that I wasn't Chinese. Only much later when we met the choir on the streets did I have time to clarify my nationality. It was a very heartwarming night.

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Madrid, 26 Dec - 28 Dec 2000

-Capital of Spain

1 fine day and 2 days of rain

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We arrived on 26th morning to a typical breakfast of hot chocolate and churros (aka, also known as, you tiao) at the bus terminal. After checking into our youth hostel, we met Songbo's housemate (fellow Singaporean studying in Munich), Shaowei. A quick detour to the Plaza Mayor, the town square of any Spanish town to get brochures from the tourist information office.

Our hunt for good restaurants was a costly one. In a dimly lit alley, we were accosted by 8 Arabs with knives and they took the 3 bags we were carrying. Two passports, 3 cameras, 1 air ticket to Munich, 1 train ticket to Paris, our coach tickets to Sevilla, 1 credit card and some cash were taken. 3 of us gave chase while Songbo stayed with the eyewitnesses to call the police. We stopped after 2 streets when it became darker and more unfamiliar. When we came back, 2 blacks told us that 2 guys we just passed were part of the attackers but they were already gone when we understood what they were trying to say.

We were not the only tourists in the police station. After signing the reports and making the necessary phone calls, we were sent back to our hostel by the police at 2am in the morning.

The next morning, the 27th of Dec, we find out that the address of the Singapore Consulate in Madrid given to us by the police is not valid. After the hostel helps us to call a Callsearch number, we get a number in Barcelona and it becomes necessary for us to adjourn to Barcelona before Friday, 29th of Dec. to obtain our temporary identification before the long New Year weekend. We manage to get tickets to Barcelone for the night of the 28th.

We eat dinner with my schoolmate, Alban, who lives 30km from the city center. He tells us that the Japanese embassy has just issued a warning to avoid the area where we were the night before.

Above: Running of the bulls

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Toledo, 28th Dec 2000

-Also under UNESCO

1 rainy day

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Above: Toledo

Toledo is 1 hr away from Madrid and there are several trains to and fro each day. We decided to go there as we have one day to spare before our train journey to Barcelona and it is nearer than Sevilla. Alban accompanies us with a guidebook to Spain and serves as our guide for the day. His mother made salami sandwiches for us. Ham in Spain is sold as humongous drumsticks hanging in stores and is red, not pink. Prices are from S$70 a kg.

A town with Arab, Jewish and Christian influence, the architecture in Toledo is very interesting. Famous sights include a painting of the death of a famous count. The artist was reputed to have eye problems, which accounts for his characters having elongated necks and pale faces. Toledo was also well known for its steel and armours and swords are commonly found in the souvenir shop.

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Barcelona, 29th Dec 2000 - 2 Jan 2001

Fine weather

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We go straight to the Consulate after our overnight train and breakfast. We were pretty afraid in the train after we heard stories of how people are robbed at stops. We distributed our money and had a peaceful night in a 1st class cabin with 2 other men.

The Spanish lady, Margarita, at the Consulate is very understanding and helpful. She gives us our documents which are in lieu of passports and informs us that we have to go to our respective embassies to apply for our replacement passports which will approximately take 3 weeks to arrive. That means that, Deborah, who is on an exchange program in Cologne, has to make a trip to Berlin.

Margarita helps us to call various hostales and hotels and after about 2 hours, we find one which still has rooms. Barcelona is packed for New Year's! After spending the afternoon on checking in, buying plane tickets, etc., we meet Lluis, my schoolmate in Barcelona, for dinner.

We have tapas from the Basque region and they are really delicious! Toppings on slices of bread bought by the portion with apple cider on the side eaten standing by a counter, they are heavenly. He also brings us to a reputed candy shop in Barcelona. Traditional sweets include nougat, a muah-chee peanut paste like cake, among others.

On the 30th, Deborah and I sleep till noon. We need the rest after all the days of unrest. In the afternoon, we visit a museum of Gaudi and at night, the Olympic stadium and a musical fountain, which reminds us of Sentosa.

Above: the musical fountain

Above: A house in Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia

The night is spent searching, once again, for dinner at 9pm. Alban has come down from Madrid to be with us and we make a round of the city center to find food. Before ending up at perhaps the only sandwich shop open, we pass a street where we hear screams from afar. Somebody has blood on his face. In the sandwich shop itself, an old man tells us "Get lost, you Chinese".

We countdown at the Spanish village, an open-air bash in a courtyard surrounded by typical Spanish buildings. Entry is S$37 but Lluis thinks it is the safest option with lots of people, drinks and music all night long as compared to the countdown in the town square which did get a bit rowdy after midnight, as we heard from a friend.

Hence, we spend the night dancing until 6.30am. The place is thronged with tourists from all parts of the world. The entrance fee included 4 drinks, 1 beer and a hot chocolate in the morning but Deb and I take only Fanta orange throughout the night.

New Year's Day, we wake up at 3.45pm and meet the rest for dinner. Esther, another of Songbo's roommates, had joined us the day before and we bring her to try another Basquese restaurant. A waitress from China serves us and she brings us all the tapas she loves plus the desserts (creme brulé = burnt cream and cheesecake) which are all oh-so-delicious. The dinner is certainly worth all the S$14 we each spent.

On the 2nd, we leave at 10am for the airport and explore Terminal A and B of Barcelona's airport. Shaowei has a flight at 6am tomorrow morning and will spend the night there.

Many thanks to Carlos, Alban and Lluis for bringing us around.

Love,