Barcelona

Barcelona, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

I really love the work of Gaudi. The buildings are just like painting and everywhere is curve ever the floor of the rool. La Sagrada Familia, the church that is still under construction, the column that supports the church is unique especially after seeing how it formulate by computer.

Casa Batllo is beautiful house with unique interior design and colorful chimneys. Park Guell is where you can find the lizard and La Pedera has a nice museum inside.

Of course, I also visited the Picasso Museum and the fresh market, Mercat de la Boqueria.

Segovia

Segovia, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Just 1 hour from Madrid, Segovia is a nice city with the Roman Aqueduct of 28m high. I have visited both Alcazar, the fortress with armor displayed inside and the cathedral, supposed to be one of the most homogenous Gothic churches in Spain.

And, I have tasted the roast suckling pig even though it is very expensive.

Back to Madrid

Madrid, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

El Rastro, is a Sunday Market selling all different kinds of stuff. It is like the combination of Ape Liu street, women street and Temple street of Hong Kong.

Porto

Porto, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Porto is famous for their Port Wine. Sweet in taste but contains around 20% of alcohol. It is a nice city with beautiful waterfront, Riberia.

I spent whole day in Vila Nova de Gaia, going to different Port-wine lodges for wine tasting as most of them are free!

Lisbon and nearby

Lisbon, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is easy to explore on foot. Here, the cost is cheaper than Spain and this make my life easier. But it just not fit my image of Portugal.

Evora, is another town surrounded by wall. The Capela dos Ossos, is constructed with bones and skulls of several thousand people.

Sintra, the Sintra National Palace has twin chimneys which shape is pretty interesting. Pena Palace is located up on the hill with bright color. Good for photos!

Cabo da Roca, the western most point of Europe. It is very windy and I hardly hold my camera.

Belem, both landmarks, Discoveries Monument and Belem Tower is located by the seashore. And of course, I tasted the famous Portugal egg tart in Belem!

P.S. Due to the excellent security control in the cypercafe in Lisbon, I cannot upload any photos to Flickr. So, this post grouped my photos of last 5 days.

Seville

Seville, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

May be I have already seen too much Muslim architecture in the past two days. The Alcazar, a Muslim fortress and palace, had no surprise to me.

I did not go to the cathedral there as the admission fee is too expensive, euro 7.50 for student age over 26.

Instead, I went to Plaza de Espana, a semicircle building with a big plaza in the centre.

The traditional famenco show, includes singing, guitar playing and dancing, is quite nice. Seville is Spain's flamenco capital!

Cordoba

Cordoba, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Mezquita, the cathedral of Cordoba, has arches in red and white color. It was originally built as a Islam mosque but changed into a church from 12 century.

The guide book said that the medival Jewish quarter is fun to wonder, but I found it is not interesting at all.

Best photos of South America

Thank you everyone for your participation. And you can see all the best photos picked by you here.

Try to click on each photo to see other´s comment and check which one is my favorite.

As one who take photos, it is no always easy to judge what is really good. So, your choice may surprise me sometimes. Beautiful things are beautiful by themselves and photographers are trying to keep most out of it, but never the whole. This is what I believe in photography.

Granada

Granada, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Alhambra, one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic art and architecture. The place is not really Europe style because the Muslims have controlled this part of Spain for nearly 8 centuries. And Granada was the capital of the last Muslim kingdom in Spain.

The wall and ceiling inside the palace are stunning!

Ronda

Ronda, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

It is not easy to get out of Morocco as the transportation companies are on strike. I, together with one Japanese couple, take a whole day and finally passed through the Mediterranean sea.

Ronda is a little town on the top of the high land, beautiful white houses and the 18 century bridge, Puente Nuero, crosses the 100m deep valley.

The Plaza de Toros is considered the home of bullfighting but I do not have chance to see a real one, just an empty place.

I have also visited the Casa del Rey Moro. It has a stairway cut inside the rock to the bottom of the river. The stairway is around 60m deep.

P.S. This is your last chance to pick your best photo in South America, I will let you know what are the other´s pick very soon.

Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

A peaceful little town on a wide valley in the Rif mountains. The houses in the town are white and blue, very beautiful.

I just wondered around the medina and took some rest.

This is the last stop in Morocco and the first thing I will do when I am back to Europe is... Have a big mug of beer. You know? Without beer for nearly 10 days in Morocco!

Fes

Fes, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

The oldest of the imperial cities, Fes, its medina is one of the largest living medieval cities in the world. It is less touristic than Marrakesh and people do live inside the medina; the old town surrounded by wall.

Fes is also the home for handicraft and you will see people in the workshop making leather goods, cloth, shoes, etc.

The famous tanneries is the place where workers prepare and dye leather. Different wells in various color to process the leather with strong smell. And, I bought a leather bag here for around HKD110.

I have passed through a classroom like place with lovely kids. It is strange that the teacher keep on asking me for money. I saw some tourists gave her big notes. Instead, I just go to the nearby store to buy every kids a pen.

In Fes, you will have so much attention as you walk along the street, shopkeepers and unofficial guides shouting at you. However, one of them took me to a home stay as the nearby hotel were full. Here, I had mint tea and home made dinner!

Casablanca

Casablanca, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Casablanca, well known because of the film with the same name. I came here just to visit the Hassan II Mosque, the world third largest mosque.

The Hassan II Mosque was built in 1993 and it is very luxury and modern. The prayer hall can accommodates 25,000 worshippers with movable roof. The materials used to built the mosque are the finest. For instance, they use titanium to make the door!

Back to Marrakesh

Marrakesh, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Palais el-Badi, used to be the most beautiful palaces in the world. However, nothing more than rare mud brick after the stripping of Moulay Ismail.

The beautiful Saadian Tombs have detailed unique pattern on the central tomb. But you are allowed to appreciate it only in a distance.

The souqs, dusty market in twisting alleys, always give me surprise. Although you are always ask to pay for taking photos. Sometimes, I can get some shots for free. To be honest, I really do not like to pay for photos, not only because I am mean. I do try to pay for several time, but those are not really good shot. So, most of the time I just shot and run, or just skip the shot.

Sahara Tour

Sahara Tour, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

I joined a 3 day tour to Sahara desert. I do not know much about it and there is no information on the guidebook. All I know about this tour is the information of a website written by a Hong Kong guy. So, not really know where I am going.

The tour passed through Ouarzazte and finally reach Merzouga, the Sahara desert.

The desert is really small. I do not think that it is the real Sahara desert. As on the top of the sand dume, I can see the end of teh desert. May be, as someone said, it is the beginning of Sahara desert.

Marrakesh

Marrakesh, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Just 2 hour flight, I am now in a completely different city, Marrakesh of Morocco in North Africa. I spent the whole afternoon in Djemaa el-Fna, a open-air space. Here, you can find snake charmers, stalls selling orange juice, people selling herbs, cooked snails for eating, and all strange thing including someone selling teeth.

Such a place!

P.S. For all friends and relatives who choose the photo you like most in South America. Pls choose only ONE photo, only the best ONE.

Toledo

Toledo, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

A little old town surrounded by river; right on the small hill. Narrow street with plenty of old building. I have been to the cathedral, very nice.

Madrid

Madrid, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

This is the first Europe city I arrived and the first thing I encounter is the difference in price. Everthing is so expensive! I really need time to adjust.

I visit a couple of museum, Museo del Prado and Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, both are great museum. But for me, just good to be there. Some stuff are quite interesting. I also went to a park, quite nice.