Writing101: A Room With A View

Córdoba was my sixth stop in Spain and I was determined to see the Mesquita once I read about the splendours of the building and how it had retained its former structure, a myriad of red and white arches only to be surrounded by an external wall and converted into a Cathedral.

My travels in Spain were instinctive. No plan, no itinerary, no map, ignorant of each city’s history, icons, festivals, idiosyncrasies…

What was I thinking?

It was serendipity that took me on a wanderlust of Spain, and Córdoba was no exception.

Waiting in the Patio de Los Naranjos – the courtyard of the orange trees, the huge wooden door to the entrance of the Mesquita opened and I entered with a crowd of tourists and locals alike.

The experience was surreal…my eyes deceived me, I was plummeted into sheer darkness! This can’t be!

I had attended an early morning viewing, free of charge I might add, from between 08:30hrs until 09:30hrs, however, at the time I was unaware that this would be cut short for a service to be performed that morning.

Hurry, hurry, take a shot, take a shot…oh no! The back of my camera’s LCD screen is devoid of an image…It’s just black!
Ok, calm down and change the settings…what the hell, people milling all over the place, where do I start first? I’m literally spinning like a top as I don’t know where to direct my attention…then I see another photographer…ok, ok, just watch him a while and see what he’s doing. I start to shadow him, and he’s oblivious, thankfully.

Nobody, but nobody mentions that when you enter this unique building with the most stunning and fascinating architecture there’s no lighting apart from a little sunlight streaming in from the windows creating interesting effects. I was totally disorientated.

A few more test shots and I start to find a setting that my camera likes, no flash allowed don’t forget. Phew! Nearly getting there…a shot here, a shot there,

I am in awe. Dumbstruck. The hall of arched pillars before me is becoming overwhelming. Get a low perspective, check for symmetry, get near the sunlight for some shadow play…I want it all and I want it now!

I’ll post a photo gallery of the beauty of the Mesquita Cathedral later but for now here’s an image on my instagram page.

Advertisement

Writing101: Unlock The Mind

I signed up for Writing101 today.

Today’s assignment is: To get started, let’s loosen up. Let’s unlock the mind. Today take twenty minutes to free write. And don’t think about what you’ll write. Just write.

This post was inspired by ThatEmily.Wordpress.com “Hotel Review.”

I arrived on 13 February 2014 to join my husband at the Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona, Spain as it was our wedding anniversary. He was already on business in Barcelona and had checked in to the hotel 2 days prior. I was met at the airport and driven by taxi to the glorious 5 star hotel overlooking the marina. I entered our room (number 607) at approx 14:30hrs. What the hell…where was maid service? The bed was dishevelled, the towels were dirty, and the room was a mess. It was a bad start to my Wedding Anniversary/Valentine weekend…Why did housekeeping not know who was arriving on that day?

Wanting to admire the view of the marina from the balcony, I tried with all my might to open the sliding glass door (on the left) to the terrace but it was very stiff to open so I left it and wandered into the bathroom to put out my toiletries and freshen up. My husband went onto the balcony using the glass door on the right. It flew open with his hand still on the door, needless to say he trapped his thumb between the door and the stationary glass panel wall, almost cutting his thumb off!

When I went into the bathroom, which was not only large but also had an adjacent large shower room and toilet too, I noticed that there was no overhead light in the shower room. Why? It was far too dark especially as it was enclosed with no windows.

We promptly went down to reception to ask for maid service in the room and the first aid box… all within the first 30 minutes of arriving…

We then went on to the roof terrace and found a beautiful sun trap to enjoy the stunning February hot weather…but low and behold, the terrace furniture had seen better days…the fabric on the chairs was ripped to shreds and not the most comfortable of seats…What was going on and could it get any worse?

Returning back to the room, I wanted to make a cup of coffee and couldn’t understand why the tea, coffee and kettle was on a high shelf along the corridor at the entrance of the room. I looked for a plug socket for the kettle but couldn’t find one. I rang down to reception and asked where I would find a socket to use the kettle. The response I received was to use the bathroom socket or to use the socket under the table.

So I was expected to get down on my hands and knees in order to use the kettle or go into the bathroom to make a cup of coffee, in a five star hotel in the middle of Barcelona overlooking the marina!!!!! What was all that about?

The next morning on our way out to breakfast a young receptionist asked if everything was ok to which I relayed all of the above incidents. I ended the conversation by mentioning that it was my wedding anniversary as well as Valentine’s day. That evening after a day of sightseeing, when we arrived back at the room, there was a pathetic tiny box of chocolates on the bed. The box measured 3″ x 3″ and contained 4 chocolates. No flowers, no wine, no fruit….nothing, but 4 pieces of chocolate in a tiny box, it was embarrassing to say the least, I wouldn’t have bothered with such a poor gesture!

On the third day I noticed that our coffee cups were still dirty after maid service and the kettle was still on the floor, to which I was surprised to see the laminate floorboards had moved and the underlay was on display. How much more of this could I take coupled with the fact that on that very same day the sound of high heels was clattering around from either next door or above. This was annoying.

On the day of our departure, the doorman hailed a taxi from the queue in front of the hotel and instructed the taxi driver to take us to the airport. My husband offered a 50 euro note to pay for the fare to which the taxi driver insisted he didn’t have any change. It was stalemate, the taxi driver wouldn’t budge to find change and we didn’t want to hand over the money. Finally, I decided to get out of the taxi in the pouring rain and ask around for change. How can a professional taxi driver not have change? Needless to say, a very disappointing experience at The Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona, Spain from beginning to the very end. Would I stay there again? What do you think?

Here’s a promotional video of the
Grand Marina Hotel, Barcelona, Spainlooks great doesn’t it?