Thursday: Sevilla Trip Photos ~ Пътуване до Севиля Снимков Материал

Despite my ultimate laziness I decided to post today some of  the pictures that I made in Sevilla. So here they are with small explanations before each one of them.

The old train station to Cordoba, now a shopping centre near the river.

 An entrance to a typical house in Andalucia. I love the metal work of the door and the way of the tiles on the wall.

Metropolitan Parasol: The biggest wooden structure in the world. It is really interesting and a good way to imbue an old square with new life and opportunities.

Now it is a meeting point, a place to demonstrate your skate skills, a place to hide from the searing heat of the sun... 

...it is beautiful? Isn't it? 

Close shot of the structure which is quite simple, but nicely done. I find it remarkably close to the "bee hive" structure although it is not a hexagonal one.  

 An old façade down town. A real eclectic mix of many styles and traditional building techniques.

 The cathedral. It is huge and it is final resting place of Columbus. That is the Door of Columbus,an impressive Gothic style dated in 16-nth century. 

The Giralda- the most beautiful building in all of Sevilla is a Arab tower with impressive detail work and  now is part of the cathedral. Here it is seen at the right upper corner of the picture.

The Alcazar, the city castle and his wall. Inside there are one of the most perfect gardens.

Patio de las banderas is part of the arab castle. It is a square with white façades and  there are actually people that still live there. From one of his exits you can venture in the Jewish District- La juderia, a place with small and interesting streets, many secret places and low tunnels.

A street behind the walls... 

I am glad that I had the possibility to go there and one day I will repeat this trip. Sevilla is a magical, historical place with its own life and quite nice inhabitants, happy people and many green places. If you have the opportunity to go there, do it. You won't be disappointed.

:") Photos: me

Saturday or Day "??": Baaaaaarcelona, SIA and me!

Say hello to Barcelona! 

The second largest city in Spain, capital of the province of Cataluña and a commercial port of great interest for Europe as a cultural, social, media and tourist centre. It is home of near 1, 6 million people and on 15 of January 2011 I went there for first time... not to see Antoni Gaudi, who I honestly don't like very much, but to get a demo tour and decide if it is worth all that fuss after all. I was there 4 days, more or less, not quite enough to see all. Prepare a couple of months if you want a deeper picture of this city.

First impression... Gaudi is to be seen. Personally, there on the spot. I was impressed. It was great. He was a genius indeed. That although doesn't change my opinion in general of the Spanish Modernism. But if you can, go and see Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Casa Batlo y el Parque Guell. 

Other interesting architectural objects there are the Pavilion of Germany from the EXPO in 1929-30 which is one of fundamental buildings of the Modern Architecture- rebuild in 1989 on the original spot, The Gothic District in the centre, Caixa Cosmo and also the park of Montjuic. 

The beaches... I have seen better, but the littoral walk is quite nice on bike.

And now some photos with a short comment.

see the lamps. :") i liked those really much, not to say that they were perfectly executed and finished... something that in Bulgaria you won't see this often. the chair was like a bubble. quite nice too.

 Sagrada Familia... the light is amazing and the temple is so big. it is like a magical forest of pillars and stone. on the site now work 300 people, the biggest part of them stone carvers. if you want to know how it stands, the answer is so simple- parabolic arcs

the Cathedral's windows. modernistic paintings which give to the interior a magical touch. the artist name is Toni-Vila-Grau. i fell in love with those.

meet La Pedrera or Casa Mila. It is situated on Passeig de Gracia. i really liked the interior of the building. it is still a residential building with people who actually live there in very opulent, decadent, light and cosy apartments...

the roof of the same house. with many stairs and quite strange chimneys

the famous bench in the Park Guell and i doing one of my favourite stuff: writing postal cards

the Botanical Garden on Montjuic. it is a new project and the trees need to grow but it is a wonderful place for a walk. and not to mention the perfectly made entrance and metal bins, and that there is water dispensers everywhere... something that we do not have nowhere in Sofia...

So this is it for now. It is a long post but there are so many new things to tell and the time to write so short. As it is nearing the 14 of February, I want to wish everybody: Честит Трифон Зарезан за втори път!!! as I don´t festive the commercial Saint Valentine´s Day...

One last thing:

Barcelooooona....- it was the first time that we met

Barcelona - how can I forget
The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away
Barcelona - la musica vibros
Barcelona - y ella nos unio
And if God willing we will meet again someday

I don't know if there is anybody that doesn't know this song. Apart of my deep love for Freddie Mercury and his phenomenal voice I will say that the text is quite right...

...and I will come again.

photos: me

Sunday or Day 5: Spending all the time in my bed

I am now officially living in Valencia for the next 9 months as an Erasmus Student. The first days were pretty intense but as the weekend in Spain is quite tranquil and calm I have all the time needed to change my blog layout (at last!) and post my first impressions from the voyage.

Well, here it comes: Valencia is (not so much) big Mediterranean City with lots of nice, well kept buildings, plenty of bars, a big bunch of international students, good well developed metro and transport system, green streets and clean walkways, nicely thought alleys and parks, 130 km. of bicycle roads!, impressive historic center. It is also home of the paella valenciana, la horchata, las fallas and three awesome beaches that are located a 20 minutes from the city center.

I love it! It is the perfect size, not too big, not too small...

The way to get here is with planе: 4 hours without trans-board from Sofia or 7 in my case with one in Rome. The Italian airport is pretty disorganized, you can't get a single word from what they are saying. There was a free WI-FI, but I couldn't connect...so I had to wait for my plain patiently until 10 minutes before my boarding they just decided to change my boarding gate. The result is running through the airport with a backpack (around 10 kilos) to get in time. I wasn't very pleased.

Room and living quarters. Here I need to say a big THANK YOU! to a great friend of mine who took me from the airport to her apartment and was taking care for me these days. Apart of that finding a room is pretty easy here. Finding a cheap one not so much. At the cost of 270 euros monthly you can live in a shared flat in the real center of the city, but I don't recommend it. Too much noise, burglary and it is costly to eat...

For now there is only one great disadvantage: I miss my friends, my brother and my family, as I miss Him. Apart of this I am extremely happy to be here.

This is it for now. Some photos to come soon. :")

Saturday or Day 4: Dos Horchatitas, por favor!

La Horchata is typical drink for the southern regions of Spain.They serve it really cold or as crushed iced smoothie. It is made from some seeds and has sweet, but uniquely refreshing taste. I recommend it for everyone who comes near Valencia to taste it.

The place in which I tried it for the first time is in the center of the city, a small cafe-bar with a view at the Parque Paterne, a few meters from La calle de la Nave. I loved it. The drink, the park, the street with its passing people, the lovely humor of the bartender. Spain can be great indeed...

Wednesday: The Mountain from my window and some rain...

the mountain from my window in a perfect blue-greenish tint and intense rainfall

violent winds

my window after the rain

I am only happy when it rains...thats the truth. It rained intense and hard for 10 minutes over here. The feeling of the cool breeze is so nice to feel over my skin after this long heated day...the only thing that took my smile away today was this broken fellow...old gift from a long forgotten friend of mine.

photos:me

Sunday: City Cats and Sky...

More photos...less posts. I don't have much time to write lately but I want to share these with you. These are two really cute furry cats that I met during my long walk in Sofia this weekend. And some reflected clouds which I want to "give" to one beloved person who passed away this week. You will walk between the stars in the sky, my dear! We all know it!

Interacting with my Nev who is out of the shot.

The Neighborhoods Bad boy who wants to come inside because of the rain.

He is super-sweet, isn't he?

Me: tired, sad and a little older than before...

Here they are. The reflected clouds in a perfect blue sky. Sometimes the reality is duller than our dreams and memories. This is for you and for me.

photos: me

Thursday: Sofia, more rain, less holes...and tea

It is Thursday.
...

Like one of the longest days of this week. I was at my work for first time for near a month and now I feel so tired. My head aches.

It was raining all day long so I am partially glad that I was at the office with no current tasks to do outside. After the long day I drank tea with a good friend and we talked about random stuff as always. I do love these great moments with her persona because she is me in so many ways.

We see each other almost everyday and we use to drink Earl Grey Tea with milk in the Costa Coffee at the CCS. All the personnel already knows us and our taste for the hot revitalizing liquid. (And mine for Hot Chocolate with mint liquor, hers is chocolate muffins, but this is a secret!)

Sofia would be too grey without my yellow friend and my mood too spooky to be honest. Any city would be this way without her.
...

The city is full of noises, cars and lights...nighttime, my favorite lately. And I snapped this shot while walking towards the nearest mall with her.It is from my phone,' cause I didn't took my camera.
One of Sofia streets. See...no more holes. Let's hope that the taxi drivers are going to be happier :")