TRAVEL TALES of ranaruby

BARCELONA – La Sagrada Familia, an architectural wonder Barcelona is proud of Antoni Gaudí. It is Gaudí's city. The two seem to be almost indivisible after Gaudí delivered some architectural wonders to the city he loved. Park Güell and Sagrada Familia are two architectural masterpieces he created and gifted to his city. Although Sagrada Familia is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, I perceive it as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I was stumped when the temple façade loomed up for the first time. Awesome! It is an incredible beauty! The only similarity to the Gothic architecture was the Latin cross floor plan, which Gaudí maintained in his design. The core in the Plan is occupied by four aisles of 7.5 M wide each, and a nave of 15 M wide, totalling 45 M The complex geometries developed by Gaudí deviated significantly from the Gothic designs. Such as introducing a system of angled columns and hyperboloidal vaults to do away with the need for flying but...

Barcelona, SPAIN  A fascinating country. An engrossing history. And exotic in every sphere. The thrilling story of the Spanish Armada, the chivalric romances of the errant knight Don Quixote, and the daredevilry of the brave matadors in tackling the bulls continue to fascinate me. The Romans, the romantic Moors who ruled for almost 800 years, the swashbuckling Spaniards who demonstrated their prowess as conquerors, explorers, bullfighters, flamenco dancers, and football players all seemed to be beckoning me to unravel the mysteries of this captivating land. Finally, in 2019, we chalked up our visit to Spain. My travelling companion (my wife) is an ardent learner of Spanish, which proved to be a forte during our journey to Spain. Our adventure in Spain started with Barcelona.  We flew into this city from Frankfurt. Surprisingly, Barcelona's El Prat International Airport (also known as BCN) wore an ordinary look, in unexpected contrast to the jazzy name a...

-the land of Francesinha and Pastel de Nata Lisbon’s Santa Apolonia Train Station is the city’s oldest station. Located in the historic district of Alfama, this simple and stately façade stands close to the bank of the beautiful and serene river Tejo. The station is conveniently connected by public transport from Marques de Pombal, at the heart of Lisbon. From here, the high-speed deluxe trains, adorned with bright colored curtains and carpets inside, take two and a half hours to Porto. Porto’s Campanha station. Porto alias Oporto. Sweet-sounding names for a sweet city. Famous for sweet wine exclusively from the grapes of Duoro Valley. Grapes have been nurtured since the time of Jesus. Like Lisbon, Porto also seems to have been crafted out of the hilly terrains all around. Most of the old parts of both the Portuguese cities have a maze of steep and narrow cobbled streets, narrow roads, and connecting walkways of extremely steep gradients. Like in Lisbon, which is ...