letter from spain (day 1 - day 3)

salam wrt.

bismillah.

disebabkan tahun ini ramai yang akan berjaulah/bercuti ke spain, maka saya 'compile'kan some handy notes yang dicatat sepanjang berjalan dari first day until today (3rd day) which may or may not become useful to you readers.

1. first day itinerary. moscow-munich-barcelona-malaga. reach malaga at 21.20.
2. for those transitting in barcelona, there's a prayer room outside the security control. after the security control you should head to the left. there's a multireligion prayer room.
3. if arriving in malaga and taking public transportation, the last bus is at 11.30pm. Bus heading center is labelled 'A' and it will cost you 2 euro.
4. bas di dalam bandar 1.2 euro untuk setiap ride. dan lebih murah kalau beli banyak tiket.
5. second day itinerary : malaga (10.00) -  granada (11.30)
6. if taking ALSA bus, make sure you arrive on time. sebab ia bergerak tepat pada waktunya.
7. dari granada bus station ke city center ( and vice versa) ambil bas 3 atau 33 (1.2 euro/ride). lebih mudah jika dah download siap-siap ke dalam handphone map, bus map, metro map dan yang seumpamanya.
8. di stesen bus ada information counter, just ask anything you want. they speak english.
9. jalan-jalan petang hari di granada (1st day granada) : Plaza Nueva, Carrera del darro, Lower Al Baicin, Sacramento, Upper Al Baicin (cari Miradora san nicholas), GRAND MOSQUE OF GRANADA, palacio de dar al horra, cathedral, royal chapel.
10. referring to note 9, sila bersedia untuk jalan kaki dan mendaki yang sangat jauh. yang berkereta juga disarankan park kereta di plaza nueva and jalan kaki. do not rush, just take your time to stroll along the river and up to the hill. if you decide to use our itinerary, then you will reach Miradora San Nicholas by around asar time. Miradora San Nicholas ni just a squre behind plaza san nicholas. from this square you will see a beautiful panorama of al-hambra. And yang lagi penting is that the GRAND MOSQUE OF GRANADA is just somewhere near the square. if you are at the square and al-hambra is in front of you, then you should head ke arah barat daya untuk ke mosque.boleh solat asar di situ. or if dah jama' kan semasa zohor, solatlah sunat masjid, baca matsurat sama2 ke~
11. Mosque ada waktu masuk untuk visitor, tapi boleh je masuk bila-bila for prayer,etc. The door look like it is lock, tapi boleh buka sendiri (option lain : jerit assalamualaikum kuat-kuat.. : P ) mosque ni ambil masa 20 tahun untuk direalisasikan. pergi google sejarah bagaimana boleh ada again mosque in granada after 500 years takde mosque kat sana. borak-borak lah dengan pakcik penjaga masjid.(oops, this should be a short note, cerita panjang2 later kay )- pakcik masjid ada bagi kami tourist map for muslim traveller in granada. supaya kita tak pergi tempat pelik and biar tempat yang kami pergi ada islamic significance. jzkk pakcik :) remind me to upload it later.
12. kedai makanan halal is located along the road from centre heading to plaza nueva. there are two : kebab king and shawarma house. price range 3-6 euro. ada banyak lagi kedai halal in granada but these are the nearest to our hostel. big portion. kami divide in half to be eaten later at night. (applicable for orang perempuan sahaja)
13. drinking water is available in most places, so bring along a water bottle, you can top it up later.
14. take note that palacio de dar al horra (tempat tinggal mak Boabdillah) is located di belakang churh of something2.. tak ingat.. jez ask around.. the road leading to it pun nampak macam scary but just keep walking. and it is only open from 10 till 2. so we didn't manage to go since tomorrow morning dah plan ke al-hambra.
15. cathedral and royal chapel 4 euro each. tak terima student card.
16. you will be very tired after this very long walk, so have a good rest.
17. itinerary 3rd day (or 2nd day granada) : 1st half of the day : al-hambra. 2nd half of the day :coral de cabon, la madraza, alcaiceria,plaza bib rambla (history and significance i'll tell later or google it yourself) then journey to cordova.
18. al-hambra 8.30 am ticket with 9.30am entrance to nasrid palace. take note about your entry time to nasrid palace. you have only 30 minutes entry window. maknanya kalau kat tiket tulis 9.30 maknanya boleh masuk nasrid palace dari 9.30 ke 10 je. kalau terlepas takley masuk dah.
19. kalau waktu tiket sama dengan kami then ambil masa untuk berjalan ke nasrid palace. tak perlu berkejar-kejar, insyaAllah you have a plenty of time.
20. make a research beforehand tentang al-hambra and all its part. useful when walking, kalau tak tahu apa-apa. information bersepah di internet. audioguide is available for 4 euro (basic : nasrid palace, al-cazaba, generalife) 6 euro (complete). tapi cari info kat internet pun should be okay iA. takpun satu audioguide kongsi ramai2(that's what we did)
21. jangan hilangkan tiket sepanjang berada di al-hambra. sebab dia akan scan ticket at every entry point of different part of al-hambra. (kalau terhilang juga, buat-buat cuak and kelamkabut depan pakcik kat entry point tu, nanti dia akan walkie talkie ngan kengkawan dia kat diff entry point untuk tanya ada tak terjumpa tiket.. hehe,sebab ada ahli trip kami yang buat gitu.. : P )
22. again ada banyak air, so bawak botol air. rehydrate all the time. jauh n besar al-hambra tu.
23. pack your lunch dan bawa ke al-hambra. bila dah penat, pilih satu tempat dengan pemandangan cantik dan makan~
24. tak perlu berkejar-kejar, waktu yang diberi iA menukupi untuk cover al-hambra.
25. oh lupa, perjalanan ke al-hambra jika berjalan kaki dan mendaki bukit yang oh-sangat-tinggi itu ambil masa 30-40 minit. that's why waktu pulang kami decide guna je bus yang ada which is available juga dari bawah untuk ke atas. bus nombor 30 dan 32. untuk yang berkereta sila search before hand tempat parking kereta, sebab you cannot park depan al-hambra itself. you have to park at the designated parking space and walk your way up a bit to the entrance.
26. refer to itinerary 2nd day granda, tengok tempat-tempat yang after al-hambra tu, semua tempat tu ambil masa yang sangat sekejap. sebab dia macam untuk ambil-ambil gambar je.
27. souvenier time. ada kawan pesan granada and cordova mahal souveniernye, but if memang nak dapatkan souvenier from granada boleh je cari kat area-area alcaiceria. setelah disurvey ada dua kedai yang agak murah. Artesanias Medina : ada kat plaza bib rambla and plaza nueva. and yang lagi murah tapi tak banyak choice dekat plaza nueva jugak nama dia artesania-recuerdos.
28. kalau naik bus, budget about an hour from hostel to bus station.
29. if taking alsa bus from granada-cordova, take note yang ia berhenti in many places. so jangan turun at the wrong place (kisah kami : after tertidur dalam bas, terjaga bila ramai-ramai orang turun, terus salah sorang kejut and ajak turun. kami keluarkan beg bagai, tiba-tiba nampak muka pakcik bas yang pelik n blur tengok kami, rupa-rupanya belum sampai cordova.. malu gi letak beg again and masuk bas semula. semua senyum2 sampai ke cordova)
30. don't be afraid to ask around, most of people yang kami tanya reti cakap bahasa inggeris.

actually nak buat info bergambar bagai, tapi tak sempat nak upload, so i guess a short note is better than nothing. mungkin ada lagi benda nak pesan tapi terlupa nak tulis.... haa kan baru teringat..

31. kompas kiblat
32. go to islamic finder and jot down siap2 waktu solat for every city.
33. since food will cost you a lot here, bring some food with you. food yang boleh makan terus or yang kena guna dapur depends on the type of hostel you are living. so plan ahead. tapi takpayah bawa selori makanan, confirm akan nak pergi kedai makanan halal jugak kan.. at least makanan yang dibawa boleh cover breakfast and light lunch sudahlah.
34. check weather before pergi, jangan tertipu dengan angka belas-belas degree hanya kerana russia sekarang at negative.. wind sangat sejuk.. kami pakai glove lagi. tapi we are here in early january.. so much colder than the time most of you datang sini. tapi takdela sejuuuukkkk sangat pun.. bearable iA..

that's it for now iA..
time to sleep, long day ahead..

2.52 am
thursday, january 12 2012
senses and colours anil hostel
cordova, spain.

p.s : anything terlupa nak pesan, minta maaf ye~


Comments

senorita said…
jazakillahhu khairan katheera dear nad.

keep them coming :)

take care.