Archi-tour of Spain: Part 2 | Segovia

Segovia is a relatively easy day-trip away from the hustle and bustle of Central Madrid. We took the RENFE high speed rail train from the Chamartin Station, (can I stress here how much I LOVE fast moving trains that are modern and clean), and a bus into this quaint historic town.

Upon our arrival, Segovia greeted us with its most impressive sight - the ancient Roman Aqueduct.

As you can see above, it is simply a brilliant piece of architecture and civil engineering. The arches are perfectly balanced and in proportion, which is where I see the beauty in the design. The aqueduct was allegedly built during the first century to supply the city with water, using just blocks of granite stone. No concrete or mortar were used at all, and this is evident when you look at the aqueduct up close. I'm still in awe as I post these photos.

Archi-tour of Spain: Part 1 | Madrid

As a keen observer and appreciator of the built-environment, I can only imagine that Spain must be a dream destination for architects. From the whimsical and magical creations of the ingenious Gaudi, the jaw-dropping aqueduct in Segovia, to the grand Catholic cathedrals with traces of Islamic arts embedded in the design, the few days I had in Spain to admire these creations left me wanting to linger in Spain for far more than I had planned to. Spain has had a colourful history, and the architecture which stands now and continues to evolve demonstrates this vividly. Travel is not only about ticking off sights seen, foods eaten, and racing to beat everyone to it, travel is also about understanding history, culture, people and society today, at least that is how I see it. What better way to see a country than through centuries of architecture!

As I present my archi-tour snapshots, I hope you will all come to appreciate the beauty and ingenious of the built environment.

Part 1: Madrid, Spain

Wandering through the old streets of Madrid - such colours and details!

Exploring  the grandeur of the Royal Palace of Madrid. The official residence of the Royal Family of Spain, although they physically live elsewhere. 

Almudena Cathedral behind and built on an old Islamic mosque and site. Love this picture below as it reflects the changing status of religion and history in this city. Surprisingly, this Cathedral is fairly modern as construction only began in 1868 and was only officially declared complete in 1993.

Food Safari Spain

I visited Spain this year from June 2nd - June 9th and had a great time eating my way through Madrid and Barcelona. We didn't research any places to eat during our trip, so everything we ate in this country was something we 'stumbled' into, or only looked into it upon arrival. I have to say Spain is a great country for stumbling into food joints!

I had high expectations for Tapas in Madrid, given it is supposed to be THE CAPITAL for Tapas. I would say we hit some great food joints on some nights with the most mouthwatering offerings, and other nights it was more random, in other words, not the most amazing food. Unfortunately I only took tapas photos of places where there was decent light - most tapas joints we walked into were high on atmosphere and low on light!

Pictorials of the Food tastings in Madrid:

Chocolatería San Ginés - Churros & Chocolate!

Stumbling into food joints in Madrid

Business Class Rocks!

The one unattainable dream for the longest time - scoring a business class flight. I'm not as fortunate as some people that travel on business for work all the time; or am one of those lucky few that get picked by some random formula to be seated at the pointy section of the plane. No, no such luck for me. I've always had to work for things in life, and that includes scoring a business class flight. If you want to find out how I scored a business class flight, read my post from a few months ago.

Alas my 2012 Summer Holiday was going to be THE holiday - not just because I was going to be in Spain, England and France during June, but because I was finally going to experience Business Class Travel! I can report that it was fabulous! How did I survive those long haul flights on Jetstar, United Airlines before? How did I convince myself that Singapore Airlines A380 Economy was the best experience? 

There's a world of difference between Economy & Business. I cannot even imagine the quantum leap between Business and First!

Now lets break down my Thai Airways experience :

Adelaide, Barossa & The Hills (South Australia)

Evidently it has been a long while since I last posted about a trip! My plans to post about Leura after writing about the National Pass have obviously failed - 8 months later still no update. The awesome food-safari-esque trip to Penang Malaysia last year has also failed to materialise thus far, however, I will be writing about my most recent trip to the delightful Adelaide City and surrounds...Yeah!!

Courtesy of my awesome American Express credit card, I am entitled to a free domestic trip each year. As is customary RC style, the best time to redeem a free flight, is when it is just about to expire. As I panicked about the possibility of losing my free flight if I didn't act fast enough, I booked a trip to Adelaide, South Australia, for no reason other than, I've never been there before! As Mothers Day was approaching, I convinced mum and dad to go on this last minute trip with me, just so we could do something different for once on a weekend; and Mothers Day seemed like a good excuse to get mum out of the house! Luckily, my parents were both very keen on the idea, especially mum! Win!

Vineyards @ Barossa

Business Class Travel...it is possible!

A few weeks ago I booked my trip to Europe for June 2012! Holiday planning is definitely one of the best ways to start the new year! My destinations will include and not be limited to Madrid, Barcelona, London and Paris for a 25 day period. Aside from seeing these great cities, I am most excited about experiencing business class travel for the first time ever! Yes, that's right I am a newbie to business class travel. For someone that does zero business travel for work, I think I have done quite well to achieve my return business class ticket on Thai Airways. 

I have shared this with some of my friends, and everyone is asking - how did you score a business class flight for the price of an economy price ticket? 

I am about to share my secret, which is not so much a secret when you ask google about it. 

The secret: points. 

Points? But it takes FOREVER to accumulate credit card points &/or frequent flyer points unless you are travelling for work all the time. That statement is correct. However, another option is to buy points. 

Over a 2 year period I have been buying US Airways miles (points) whenever they have the 100% bonus special on. This enables you to buy up to 100,000 miles for about US$1,600. (I have to thank my travel savvy cousin for sharing this secret with me 2 years ago) Now to travel from Australia to Europe on business class requires 120,000 miles, which equates to approx US$1,900. To me, that sounds like a bargain, especially when economy flights from Australia to Europe are about AU$2,000+. But why would I be buying US Airway miles if I am in Australia? Thankfully US Airways is part of the Star Alliance network which inclues Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand to name a few. Once you have accumulated the required miles, you can claim on ANY of the Star Alliance airlines. All you need to do is pick up the phone and call US Airways (I use skype since it is an international free call), tell the call centre representative the trip you would like to make, wait for them to do the relevant searches, confirm your booking and pay the taxes and fees. For my Europe booking the taxes and fees was about $250, so all up less than $2,200 for a return business class trip to Europe.  I think it was worth all that effort and planning! 

Easy! 

Kind of. 

It's been a learning experience, but I am willing to share more secrets. 

1) If you are planning to redeem a business class flight on Singapore Airlines - forget it. 

SIA make it pretty much impossible for business class flight redemptions. In 2010 I tried to book a business class flight with the points I bought from Singapore-Munich. But because I was such an amateur back then, I ended up booking an economy class ticket! Now that was a waste of points  because I didn't even save that much money! However, given the circumstances of that trip, it all worked out OK. 

2) It is best to know the exact route you want before calling up US Airways. Otherwise, you will spend over an hour on the phone trying to make a booking. How to find my exact route? Use the Star Alliance website to find out which member airlines will suit your itinerary. There is also another tool to use to find business & first class availabilities, but that requires another lengthly blog post. 

3) Book your holiday more than 3 months in advance. I actually tried the business class redemption method last year for my mum's holiday to the UK. I booked 3 months in advance, and whilst I managed to get her to London on business class from Sydney, she had to go via Bangkok & Zurich. A long way, but she got there in the end! 

4) Best to book tickets more than 6 months in advance to popular destinations like London. Unless of course you are willing to travel for more than a day to get there. 

Now I just have 4 months of waiting to look forward to this!

Thai Airways A340-600 Royal Silk Business Class

Important Note: US Airways have recently increased the value of points. So even if they do have the 100% bonus special on again, it is unlikely that you will be paying US$1,600 for 100,000 miles.  But given I don't accumulate points fast enough, it is still a viable option to make business class travel possible!