A traveller's reflection: Spain/Morocco 2012: 01 Madrid, Spain

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Monday, 12 November 2012

Spain/Morocco 2012: 01 Madrid, Spain

"A thousand disappointments in the past cannot equal the power of one positive action right now..."

(Snacks on board of Qatar Airline)

There's always an excuse to visit Spain again...

I have visited Spain twice before. Both trips were in 2001. First trip was in January 2001 for a family holiday visiting major towns in Spain and Portugal. Second trip was in June 2001 when I joined my hubby on a business trip to Barcelona and Zurich. And this year, hubby and I are going for our third trip to Spain and later will cross by ferry to visit Morocco.

Day 01: 12 Nov 2012

KL– DOHA – MADRID

Our group of 18 gathered in KLIA 3 hours before departure time. The Qatar Airline flight to Doha was at 0330. Once we arrived at Doha International Airport we were transported by bus to the short transit lounge for onward flight to Madrid.

At Madrid International Airport, we were met by our ground tour agent and immediately started our city tour of Madrid, which is claimed to be the highest town in Europe. Among places visited were the Plaza de Espana and the Royal Palace. Plaza de España is a large square, and a popular tourist destination, located in central Madrid, It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. It is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers. The Palacio Real or the Royal Palace is a short walk south from the plaza.

(View from Plaza de Espana)

The Palacio Real de Madrid or the Royal Palace is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family and it is only used for state ceremonies. The palace is owned by the Spanish State and administered by the public agency of the Ministry of the Presidency. The palace is located in the Western part of downtown Madrid, east of the Manzanares River. The palace is partially open to public, except when it is being used for official business.

(The Palacio Real de Madrid)

Later, we had ample time to visit the famous Riel Madrid Stadium also known as the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and managed to have photo shots from the outside. The stadium is an all-seater football stadium and has a current capacity of 85,500 spectators.

(Real Madrid Stadium)

The bus drove us to the Grand Mosque of Madrid for solat Zohor and Asar. The Grand Mosque is the Centre of Cultural Islamico De Madrid popularly known as the Mezquita M.30 because it stands beside the motorway. It is also the largest mosque in Europe. The mosque complex was designed by three Polish architects and financed by Saudi Arabia. The mosque is mostly modern in design, but with traditional elements such as a minaret with balcony. Made of fine white marble, it includes a college, ritual bath house, gymnasium, and an Arabian restaurant called Zahara where we had a light dinner of Spanish version of ‘roti canai’.