Spain Spring 2016

Start: Monday 29^th Feb

We’re lucky with the weather for our first day; although cold, it’s clear, bright sunshine. Even the predictable A14 traffic jams melt away by Fenstanton (10 miles) and we made an earlier tunnel crossing than the one we had booked, so we managed to get as far as Le Mans by nightfall.

Our next stop is near Blaye, in the Bordeaux area, where we stay for a couple of days. It’s wet and windy, but we take a quick trip to the citadel at Blaye which is on the Gironde estuary. The citadel is a massive fort built to protect Bordeaux from assault via the estuary. It looks even more forbidding in damp, miserable weather.

The defences were constructed by ace French fort builder Vauban, in the late 17^th century. The citadel was never captured. The entrance gate shows the thickness of these impregnable walls. It just needs the Three Musketeers galloping through to bring it all to life. 

Inside the battlements was a large area more like a village than a military camp. However, we didn’t explore with our usual enthusiasm as a downpour settled in for the afternoon and we beat a retreat back to the shelter of the caravan. 

We left the Bordeaux area the next day and went for a longer journey than planned, as far as Burgos in northern Spain, so as to run out of the unsettled weather. Burgos was an overnighter, cold and dry, from where we ran due south to Aranjuez. Crossing the mountains to Madrid saw some real snow but the roads were all clear. Aranjuez is 30 miles beyond Madrid.

We visited Aranjuez four years ago, with not such happy memories as we were kept awake all weekend by a heavy metal rock concert! This time it was relatively quiet and we were able to enjoy the town’s faded elegance. It was acquired for the monarchy in 1178 and used by various kings, queens and nobility since that time. This is part of the royal palace.

No palace is complete without extensive grounds so there are parks and fountains galore surrounding the palace. One fountain coming up.

The Prince’s garden, in another part of the town, is probably the most impressive. It claims to be the largest enclosed garden in Europe. The gates are certainly very grand. 

Actually, we need to go through this park to get to the campsite, so walking into town we enjoy the gardens and ornamental paths. Even at this time year there’s some colour.

Another view shows a walk with a boundary wall lined with urns. There are hundreds of these identical urns all over the park and also the palace gardens. They must have got a job lot from somewhere.

At the far end of the park we cross the bridge and walk the short distance to the campsite. Tomorrow it’s up stumps, to Cordoba.

Home Monday 1st Feb: Reflections on Dubai

We expected Dubai to be a modern, skyscraper city with a huge range of manmade entertainments. It was all of that, with skydiving, helicopter rides, desert safaris, artificial snow ski slope and so on, including some things we’d never seen before like this steerable water-jet platform. The man (or victim) is poised on the top like a stilt walker.

These activities are expensive, and your bank balance could plummet as fast as a skydiver, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Obviously we were lucky in seeing sights with Rob that maybe not many tourists would have, but they didn’t break the bank either. Other days we sat on the beach and swam in the sea. It was warm, and clear as you can see.

The hotel provided sun loungers on the beach so we were able to lie in comfort and watch the world- and the camels- go by.

The sun was hot even at this time of the year, but comfortably so, around 25 degrees; even so, a few hours of direct sun was enough and some afternoons we sat in the shady hotel garden. Again, they provided comfy loungers. You’ll spot Jane, one of the loungers on the loungers.

The hotel itself was in a pedestrianised resort setting, kept scrupulously clean, with the emphasis on family activities. There were street entertainers every night and fireworks at the weekend, with a huge variety of restaurants and cafes. Alcohol is very expensive, so no riotous behaviour was observed; in fact, we felt completely safe in all the places we visited.

This is the hotel and immediate surroundings.

So Dubai had all the glitz we anticipated, but more besides: some interesting, non-commercialised trips, and beach relaxation in pleasant surroundings. In other words, we had an enjoyable time!

The Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Completed in 2007, the Grand Mosque has 82 domes and a capacity of 41,000 people. It’s a fantasy shape on the skyline, as we circled in Rob’s car trying to find the entrance to the car park.

Most mosques don’t allow non-Muslims to enter, but this one does, as long as you observe the dress and behaviour protocols. Females' heads and shoulders need to be covered, and this is Jane’s make-shift hijab fashioned by the entrance staff from her cardigan. Rob’s clearly jealous.

The entrance is through the arched portal along an inlaid marble floor. Its design is Moroccan based, which is why it looks familiar. 

Passing through the entrance, the inner courtyard is flanked by columns through which we must walk to get into the mosque itself.

Look to the right from the column walkway and you see the courtyard: the largest marble mosaic area anywhere.

We now enter the mosque; the decoration is exquisite. Look at the colours in the chandelier, which is about two metres across. The floral design on the wall behind is inlaid marble. The largest chandelier is 10 metres across but not so pleasingly designed as this one.

The main area can accommodate 41,000 people and is covered by the biggest hand-knotted carpet in the world (it’s beginning to sound the Guinness Book of Records). Bet the lads from Carpet Rite got a sweat on fitting this one.

And, finally, having exited, the old folks are taking a rest. Jane’s hijab has stood up very well. The mosque was overwhelming in its scale and magnificence.

We leave the mosque, but we’re not finished yet. We are returning to Dubai via the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit. This is it, although it needs F1 cars and spectators to make capture the atmosphere.

Right in the centre of the racing circuit is the Yas Island Viceroy hotel, the building below wearing a hair-net, which is used by the majority of F1 teams. It’s also convenient for quick refreshment stops for drivers on the way round; it’s well known you can’t race your best without consuming a pie and a pint.

Rob says the 60 miles between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is prone to sandstorms. It is indeed all sand desert, but we make it ok this time without needing to call out the Camel Corps to guide us in.  

Old Dubai

The original Dubai grew up around Dubai Creek, a saltwater inlet about 8 miles long. We travelled there on the ultramodern metro for which Rob had got us some swipe tickets.

First stop, the Dubai museum. Here were details of excavations showing traces of habitation in the area going back thousands of years. Then, from the 7^th century, travellers’ accounts mention a thriving fishing and pearling industry. Proper recorded history didn’t begin until the late 1700’s when the oldest building was started, that’s the Al Fahidi Fort, now the museum. 

The museum gave a good presentation of the settlement’s history, particularly of the hazardous pearl collecting that employed large numbers up to the late 1920’s. After that time it fizzled out due to Japanese development of cultivated pearls.

The divers packed onto small boats like the one below and went as deep as 40 metres with just a peg on their nose. They wore full garments to protect against jelly fish stings, and could hold their breath for 4 to 5 minutes.

Here’s the fruit of their labours: pearls.

Proceeding along the Creek’s shoreline promenade, we came to the Heritage Village. This housed trinket shops and recreated traditional dwellings. However, there was no description of who occupied the dwellings or when, so it didn’t add a lot to our understanding of Dubai’s development.  The gaps in the wall’s stonework in this house look uncomfortably draughty, but were perhaps welcome in the heat. The plastic bin possibly dates it to the 1970’s, but there’s no telly, so who knows?

Moving a few doors down to the Sheik’s house, we entered a pleasant courtyard with rooms leading off containing texts from the Koran, with English translation. You’d need to have a good understanding of Islam to appreciate these, so it didn’t add much to our knowledge of the area either. In that respect, the Sheik’s house was no great shakes. However, notice the rectangular tower at the back. These towers were used to catch any breeze and funnel it into the rooms below to provide relief from the heat.

From 1892 Dubai became a British protectorate, and shortly after a tax-free port. This greatly expanded trade and Dubai thrived until the world recession of the late 20’s and 30’s. The Creek is still bustling with boats today, but mainly small ferry boats. 

Markets too flourished, in gold, spice and cloth. These are there today, so here we are, walking through the cloth market that supplies locals and tourists alike. I asked the same question in Morocco- why can’t the stallholders let you browse without hassling? You might just spot something you like and want to buy. Instead, you scurry past, head down, to avoid the hard sell on random items shoved under your nose. There again… perhaps we would have sold more shoes if…

Old Dubai is still a vibrant multi-national trading entity, reflecting the high immigrant population that the whole of Dubai needs to function. 85% is Asian, mainly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

The area was interesting, particularly the Dubai Museum, but we could have learned much more from other historic sites with the use of descriptions and information plaques.

Big, Bigger, Biggest: Burj Khalifa

Dubai has the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. It weighs in at 828 metres, 2,717 feet, overtopping the next tallest in Shanghai by nearly 650 feet. Oddly, my best photo of it was from the metro on the way because close-up it’s too bulky and looks like a space rocket. You’ll see what I mean from these next two pictures.

We have already booked for the viewing platform on floor 124 at 452 metres (1,483 ft) as they do timed entry, although you can stay as long as you like once you’re up there. It almost goes without saying that the views are stupendous, although it is again misty as it was on the summit of Jebel Hafeet near Al Ain. It is more like being in a plane as you look down on the tops of the other skyscrapers.

You also observe details you can’t normally see but know are there, like the modern, but intricate, road system. This interchange is a real spaghetti junction; some of the highways are 7 or 8 lanes wide on each carriageway.

Other features not so apparent at ground level are how they create artificial islands. We’re able to look down from here on the sand dredging and mounding operation that will eventually be developed into hotels and residential buildings. 

The largest of these artificial islands is already completed and is located not far from our hotel. It’s laid out in the shape of a palm- in fact it’s called “The Palm”- and is 5 miles in diameter. It’s barely visible in the next photo because of the setting sun and the distance, but it’s the horizontal strip in the sea in the top right hand part of the picture. The main point of the photo though is its misty atmospherics caused by the sun on the glass that I feel is best appreciated by a black and white treatment.

After sunset there’s a fountain and lights display at the foot of the Burj Khalifa that we are staying to see. We while away an hour in the vast shopping centre adjacent (another biggest in the world, as is The Palm artificial island), but shopping malls are almost the same wherever you go and this one had the same stores as you’d find anywhere in the UK: they're just all together and with higher prices!

Just before dark we meet up with Rob who’s come from work, and have coffee.  When it’s dark we head for the display. The illuminated fountains fire up, all very nice, with the added glow from the camera phones and tablets waving in the air that looks like part of some wild ritual dance.

Perhaps I didn’t sound too overwhelmed? It was really quite good, but absolutely dwarfed by the following light spectacle from the Burj Khalifa itself. The whole height of the tower pulsated in rapidly changing light patterns, like a New Year firework display. The next three photos are examples of the many amazing images produced.

Today was a unique experience of things on a scale almost too extensive to take in, but one definitely not to be missed. 

Sunday 22nd Jan: Al Ain

Al Ain is 100 miles from Dubai, on the border with Oman. Rob thought it might be interesting for us to see a part of the country outside the upmarket holiday facilities of Dubai.

It’s motorway all the way, and we are soon running through the desert. This is a typical view, also with some camel herds that were too far away to photograph so you’ll have to make do with the crash barrier and a pylon.

We’re heading for Jebel Hafeet, a mountain on the far side of Al Ain. The stark rocks are evident as soon as we get to the outskirts of the city.

It’s a beautiful new road up the barren mountainside that has no trees or even bushes. You can see a bit of greenery at the bottom of the photo on the outskirts of Al Ain. The road doesn’t disappear, by the way, but dodges behind the white stone in the lower centre of the picture.

The UAE (United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai and Al Ain are part) is known for poor driving skills. The next photo of a small truck seems to underline that observation; especially worrying as the road is excellent and alcohol is banned. 

At the top we’re at around 3,500 ft, in a huge car park that has clearly been blasted from the rock. The red-roofed building at the back rejoices in the name of the “Asphalt Café”, and did a very creditable chicken tikka wrap for lunch at literally ¼ of Dubai prices. The black, tarry relish came free.

The views were remarkable, if a little misty. We are looking down here into Oman.

The car park contains several of these notices. We stopped writing our postcards home immediately! 

An interesting feature is the sheik’s summer palace, looking like a concrete flying saucer. It’s apparently 10 degrees C cooler up here, so a welcome respite from the summer heat for the local aristocracy. Notice, too, the road running along the ridge: that’s our way down.

We pass through Al Ain once more on our way back to Dubai; it’s a fairly ordinary town, but here and there some buildings stand out: this mosque for instance that looks so elegant. Even the lamppost is in harmony. 

Today we realised that Dubai resort isn’t the whole story. The UAE is a desert land with a harsh climate, but somewhat cushioned by the oil wealth that flowed into the country from the 1960’s.