Spanish Ceramics

It's Monday again, a bit of Monday blue so I decided to write something which is the continuation of my recent Andalusia trip. Here are some of the Spanish ceramic that I have acquired in Seville and of course hand carry back home. Most of these would add nicely to our current collection of ceramic.

Spanish ceramics are more bulky and more of earthware but they are colorful, bright and enlightening...

On the contrary, this is not really Spanish but Morocco tea set although I bought it from Seville... Will surely find an occasion to drink tea with it...

Fun Fair

Tonight is really like a summer night, it is not cold at all, not even cool or chilly, just optimum for an evening out. We went to the fun fair at Delft briefly this evening. The old town square is transformed into fun fair with various high kick adrenaline games, slot machines, bumper cars and some child friendly games.

For me it is interesting to see all those games equipment along side the old church building and city hall, a mixture of new and old in one compound space.

Some scenes at the fun fair

Johannes playing the slot machine...

It is late now, time to sleep, hope you enjoy your Friday night too!

Scenic Cycling

We are blessed with a wonderful Indian summer today. The weather is so fine that it is ashamed to be in-door. Despite of my yo-yo health situation, I decided to live to the fullest and not let this wonderful day passed by just like that. The idea of cycling came into my mind just because recently I have been driving through N11, a scenic country side route while commuting to work. It is a very green and empty part of the Netherlands and today I fulfilled my cycling wish and also satisfied my photography desire.

Total journey is about 12 km, I started at 3pm, cycling at a very slow pace, stop to take photo whenever I spot something pretty and beautiful scenery's.

Autumn sky, my bicycle and a cow enjoying the sun

Some view along the way...

Beautiful flowers and green...

A boat along the creek and some sheep's on the field

It took me in total 2 hours to complete the journey, much to my surprise that I feel perfectly fine after the bicycle ride, there is no complaints and indeed a journey to recovery. Thanked God for that.

After the ride, I treat myself with this...

Some kind of raspberry parfait, lots of raspberries and layer with yogurt. Since it is yogurt and not cream, it doesn't hold the layer but it is a great treat after the 12km cycling.

It's Friday again, it has been a roller coaster week for me as too many things had happened but today's cycling experience is a rather pleasant way to finish a tough week.

Enjoy your Friday!

My Square - Plaza Dona Elvira

After Plaza de Espana, I walked to Barrio de Santa Cruz in search for a square that named after me i.e. Plaza Dona Elvira (Square of Lady Elvira). I got lost in the old city again, but enjoying the passage through the Sevillian history. Every single building has its own story to tell, the tiles, the bricks, the ruins.... I walked passed and through many squares and finally came to 'my square'.Plaza Dona Elvira is a tiny but atmospheric square with many orange trees line in square and compliments by tile benches and surrounds by small non touristy restaurants. Here are some photos....

Plaza Dona Elvira

The Square in the center, with orange trees and tile benches and of course a small fountain in the middle

A nice tile bench at the side of the square..

A nice charming square that live up to the expectation...

Plaza de Espa�a

After the discharge from hospital, I rested a bit at the hotel and started feeling better again. So I walked to a very beautiful square not too far from the hotel, about 10 min walk but then again Seville old city is really small. Passing through a park and an old tobacco factory (which is now a university), I arrived at Plaza de Espana (Spanish Square).

The semicircular square of the Plaza de Espa�a has an fountain in its center and is flanked by two towers. Bricks are the main material used in this monument, in combination with tiles and marble columns. The building's style today is called Sevillian Regionalism.

I had a wonderful time walking at this place, enjoying the wonderful tile works that tell different stories and histories.. The late afternoon sun also accentuate the color of that hour.

Uploading photo is very slow with the hotel network, I will post more photos of my trip after I got back home.

Alcazar Palace

I had an early start on Friday morning and head straight to Royal Alcazar of Seville - probably the most impressive monument that I have seen so far, not in term of size but in term of the amount of architectural detailed work. It is hard to describe the beauty of Alcazar in words. You got to pay a personal visit to experience it yourself.

Enter through the Puerta del Le�n into the Patio de la Monter�a, which derived its name from the scouts (monteros), who accompanied the king in its hunting parties.

A moorish influence design wall before entering the Hall of King A moorish influence design before entering the Hall of King

It is very impressive monument, rich in architectural details and a confluent of various cultural. Too bad that I actually didn't visited the whole palace which I will share in the next block entry...