Karl's strawberry fun festival

http://www.karls.de/

Everything is sweeter and tastier if you personally harvest for it.

A day trip of physical and mental wellness

Pilgrimage

Walking from one church to next church
Railing from one cathedral to the other cathedral
Praying for
wisdom and strength
focus and perseverance
guidance and support
in achieving “The GOAL”

Along the journey,
we met interesting people
who somehow give you inspiration about the journey of LIFE
You just need to look and listen closely
Its all around us

Pilgrimage:
1. St. Germain des Pres Church (Paris)
2. Basilica de Sta. Maria del Mar (Barcelona)
3. The cross at the top of Park Guell (Barcelona)
4. Iglesia de la Santa Creu (Barcelona)
5. Temple de la Sagrada Familia(Barcelona)
6. La Cathedral (Barcelona)
7. La Cathedral (Valencia)
8. Iglesia de San Pedro (Sevilla)
9. Iglesia de la Anunciacion (Sevilla)
10. La Cathedral (Sevilla)
11. Iglesia de San Gil y Santa Ana(Granada)
12. La Cathedral (Granada)
13. Iglesia Conception real de Calatrava (Madrid)
14. La Cathedral (Madrid)
15. Iglesia de San Gines (Madrid)
16. The cross at Aqueduct (Segovia)
17. La Cathedral (Segovia)
18.Iglesia de San Andres (Segovia)

A day trip to El Escariel and Segovia

Due to holiday in Madrid (2nd of May),
the trains schedules are in chaos.

We first went to El Escariel to see the “valley of the cross” as part of my pilgrimage
Unluckily, it was Monday and everything is closed
The city seemed really dead because it is a Monday

So, we hop into the train and went to Segovia
Thinking that everything is again close because it is a Monday and it is some kind of a holiday
Not expecting much, I was astonished by the medieval city
It is breathtaking
It is unlikely to what you see from photos
Really,
being there and seeing it personally is sooooo different
The scene eased off my depression
and trigger my excitement to explore the city

It is a city so small that you can walk around it for half a day.

Then comes again the thrilling part of our trip
We went to the train station
just on time for the last regional train back to Madrid
Seeing only the guard and a cleaning lady is so strange
The guard said that the last train was CANCELLED due to the fiesta
What?
Why is it not even posted anywhere?
He told us to go to the AVE station (station for fast trains)
As we travelled 10 kms by TAXI to AVE
Tickets were sold out
The person in the reception then refer us to the bus station
Oh…
Praying that we can get a sit back to Madrid
Oh Lord.
Thank you for finally sending us safely back to Madrid

The day trip outside Madrid is a mix of good and bad experiences
However the good feeling weighs more

Granada

We visited Granada for a day.
It was raining and
it was so difficult to travel around
The train station does not have a locker for our luggage
which makes our day trip more challenging

Although, there are still other things to see in this city
Given the time,
We can only manage to visit the cathedral and “The Alhambra”

Note that carrying our backpack that weight almost 10kgs lessens ones enthusiasm to explore the city. I suggest that the city should get their train station some locker please…

Madrid

For the days we were in Madrid
Due to holidays,
The shops were closed most of the time
Or are closed

If I should mention something about Madrid
Perhaps that will be the foods around the city center are more Spanish for the tourists
Why did I say so?
Well, in Barcelona,
they offered a lot of pizzas and burgers for the tourists
Unlike in Madrid, paella and tapas are really everywhere

However, I think the highlights are the places around Madrid
We tried to visit El Escariel and we visited Segovia

Sevilla

A small city
cozy and cultural
We joined the free walking tour (for at least 5€ tip)
Becky from New York (out tour guide)
made Sevilla a very interesting city with stories and urban legends

I learned that Carmen's plot was based on an urband legend story happened in Sevilla

On our tour around the bullfight museum
I learned from the official guide
who tried to tell us with her English
how the bull fight works and
what is it all about

We watched Flamenco show
designed for foreigners
One thing for sure is
down the stage were all foreigners
The show tried to exhibit different varieties of Flamenco
For a person like me who knows basically nothing about Flamenco
It was a good start

So, what do I think of Flamenco?
I like the expression of the foot work
I think its elegant and arrogant
However,
I did not like the serious and sad expression in most of the dancers' face
Although, there were some with cheerful expression
I am just not sure which is the considered a better expression?

The coolest place is Plaza de Espana
Its so beautiful

Sevilla is a place
I will surely recommend my friends to visit!

Valencia

There are two things need to be mentioned in Valencia
(1) The arts and science complex
(2) The plaza

There is actually a variety of paella called “Paella la Valencia”
So, we thought
Perhaps it will be a good idea to try this paella here in Valencia
Disappointedly, we got into a restaurant operated by Chinese preparing coffee and Spanish food
More to our disappointment is that the paella is worst than the same paella we tried in Barcelona

However,
I tried a drinks called Orxata (horchata) made from tigernut.
It is cold and sweet.
And it is really tasty
I had two glasses during my stay there
I had not drink it before
But it tasted like sweetened soya

Barcelona

Barcelona (etc.)
For a different kind of shopping,
visit La Rambla for souvenirs
While for different kind of experience
one must drop by the market for food hoping
The market simply reminds me of the night market in Taiwan
Not better but in its own special flavor

For a leisure walk,
snake around the gothic area and
naked your foot and soak it into the Mediterranean sea

For Gotic art fans,
spend your day at the National museum of Catalunya arts

For an amateur runner like me,
Although I cannot participate into any serious marathon
But visiting Placa d’ Espanya is good enough
To get the feeling of starting my own marathon --- a fresh start


Barcelona: Gaudi’s sculpture
Park Guell


Temple de la Sagrada Familia
My first impression was
“So, this is how the church of our generation should look like”
It is so different to the traditional church and to the less budgeted churches of our century
After visiting a lot of old churches around Europe
I always felt distant to the architecture because of their grandness and antiqueness
However, with Sagrada Familia
I felt connected
Unlike the tradition churches that are usually dark and dull in their interior
Sagrada Familia is so bright and colorful

La Pedrera and Casa Batllo
are the other two famous architectures of Gaudi
Both are designed for people to live into
without losing the touch of ART and humanness
they are not just brilliant
but very humane

After seeing four of the most famous work of Gaudi
I can’t help to idolize Gaudi
his vision and persistence
he is not only ahead of his time
he is still ahead of our time
he is so thoughtful in all of his work
that he always thought of
how will his work be suitable, comfortable and convenient for people
and of course never forget to invite the light and air

I dreamed to be an architect
Although I cannot be an architect now
who knows I might jump into this field as a hobby in the future
Mostly because I selfishly (unlike Gaudi) wanted to build my dream house

The most impressive thing is the Sagrada Familia
How many architects can still build such a huge budgeted church?
For one, more and more people lose their faith
Lessening the need to build a temple
Lowering the chance to raise enormous amount of money
to build a church that will last in centuries
The architecture of the modern churches don’t go for glamour
but square SPACE just enough to gather the people

Disneyland power of two (PARIS)

After a family trip to Hong Kong Disney land (HKDL)
Now, a friendship tour at Paris Disney land (PDL)
Never alone always with company

PDL has more to offer than HKDL
For me,
the LIVE car stunt show in Disney Studio is the best
It was so crowded
but we managed

PDL not only fulfill your childhood fantasy
But also satisfies your adulthood crave for excitement

Tokyo or USA Disney?
Wait for me…