Out and about in Cebu

Most Koreans will tell you that their favourite seasons, spring and autumn, are becoming noticeably shorter each year, so that the switch from hot, humid summer to cold, dry winter now occurs  too quickly to properly enjoy the trees as they gradually change the colour of the mountains across the peninsular. 

Nami Island, the perfect place to enjoy autumn, or at least your own small piece of it

And for most people the change back from bitterly cold (-17'C) winter to summer can't come quickly enough. In this case $300 buys you a 4hr direct flight to Cebu where you can warm up early.  Cebu is pretty much slap-bang in the middle of the Philippines, sitting comfortably within the tropics.

View of Cebu City from the Cebu Taoist Temple

Of course the cost of visiting Cebu has often been dearer; indeed the first Europeans paid tragically with their lives; case in point, one Portugese Snr Ferdinand Magellan. For his time Snr Magellan was a pretty savvy navigator; born in 1480, by age 33 he had already spent 8 years learning how to subdue locals in Portugese India. By late 1519 Magellan secured finances from the Spanish King Charles I and was preparing to boldly go where no European had gone before; searching for the calm strait of water between the Atlantic and the Pacific which now bears his name. How Magellan knew about the strait and who originally charted it remains a matter of much speculation.

Charles I of Spain and
also Charles V of the
Holy Roman Empire;
"I speak Spanish to God,
Italian to Women,
French to Men and
German to my horse".

By early 1521, Magellan reached Cebu with only 2 of his 5 ships and only 150 of his 270 crew. There he befriended a cunning chieftain Humabon who converted to Christianity in return for Magellan's agreement to 'convert' a local rival; chief Lapu-Lapu. Rarely has a man's pulse risen so quickly as Magellan confidently strode up the beach smiling with 48 soldiers, then promptly ran back screaming in abject terror from the murderous onslaught of Lapu-Lapu's 1,500 unhappy warriors. Magellan's death by multiple bamboo spears and lances was neither quick nor merciful, proving that bad things happen to good people, clever people make stupid mistakes and lucky people get unlucky. Today you can overlook the sorry site of the Mactan Shrine and the Lapu-Lapu monument from the luxury terraces of the Shangrila hotel, pondering the folly of it all while casually chasing an olive or two around your vodka martini.  

April 1521: death is a beach;
locals speared the unprotected legs of the visitors to prevent retreat to their ships

Europeans would not return until 1565 when Spain's Snr Legaspi attempted to convert the locals once more. In a classic example of 'shoot first, ask questions later', Legaspi first opened fire on the city with muskets and and then burned 1,500 houses to the ground, killing perhaps 500 in the process. Only afterwards, in the ashes of the houses, the soldiers found a wooden statue of the child Jesus given by Magellan to Humabon, showing that the locals now prematurely interviewing with St Peter had in fact maintained and spread their Christian faith among population for 44 years without any outside coercion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Ni%C3%B1o_de_Ceb%C3%BA

A statue of Legaspi stands outside Fort San Pedro,
quite possibly the world's only example of a military fort re-purposed as a botanical garden

The hanging gardens of Fort San Pedro;
perfect for photoshoots or snuggling on bench, under a tree with that special someone

Much as Korea is a convenient starting point to explore Asia, Cebu is the perfect place to start exploring the Philippines. Across the Cebu Strait from Magellan's miserable death at Mactan is the island of Bohol, location of the world-renown 'Chocolate Hills', so called due to the dusky brown colour of the vegetation at certain times of the year.

The small but perfectly rounded 'Chocolate Hills of Bohol'

A trip to the Chocolate Hills invariably includes a stop at a nature reserve to see the world's smallest (av. 12cm/120g) primate, the painfully shy Philippine Tarsier in its natural surroundings. The female is known for its multiple sets of breasts, which may or may not explain why the male has the largest eye-to-body size ratio of all known mammals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_tarsier

From infeasibly small primates to the world's largest fish; down the coast a little from Cebu is the improbably named Oslob where visitors can swim alongside whale sharks, ie; sharks which filter-feed in the same way as whales. 

Each day a group of approx. 8 whale sharks appear voluntarily in the shallows at Oslob hoping to find food. The locals paddle out in traditional small boats to meet the whale sharks, feeding them while tourists snorkel and take photos.  Admittedly there is some controversy about the impact of taming wild animals in this way, but this is probably the best chance to swim with animals 12m-15m in length and 15 tonnes weight in their (almost) natural habitat.

Slow and graceful; whale sharks reach up to 15m long, 15t in weight

An extended family of 8 is normally present each day

The suction of water into the mouth is powerful; a safe distance of 4m is advised

http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/whale-shark-oslob/index.html

All in all a short break in Cebu provides the perfect remedy for the worst of the winter blues in Korea, leaving you warm, relaxed and energised for the start of spring.

Out and about in ..... Madrid

As November draws to a close in Seoul, daylight fizzles out about 2 minutes faster each day, the sun struggles to climb a mere 36' into the sky at noon and overnight temperatures start to slide below zero. 

Mapo Bridge: icy cold and empty of the usual crowds as the sun struggles to cross the sky

It is a solemn reminder that the short-lived relief after the Dog Days of Summer (previous post) are about to give way to three months of bitterly cold, dry winds from Siberian high pressure systems which will drive temperatures close to -20'C by late January. 

Long cold nights as Siberian high pressure systems sweep the clouds from the sky

Thoughts quite forgivably turn to escaping somewhere else; ideally a place where autumn and winter can be enjoyed rather than endured; a place steeped in empire, royalty and style. It's the time when thoughts turn to Madrid.

One of Madrid's many appeals is that winter can be enjoyed as much as any other part of the year.  Although admittedly a tad cooler than other parts of Spain, residents have no need to emulate Seoul's frenzied annual ritual, ie; the mad rush to the malls to part with $1,000 for a new eider-filled overcoat in this year's neon winter colours. Madrid residents simply put on a scarf, exchange their shoes for boots and pretty much carry on as they did during the spring, summer and autumn. 

Autumn in Madrid - just add a scarf and carry on

In November long lunches and intimate candlelit dinners can still be comfortably taken al fresco in Madrid's countless vias and plazas. In most places a glass of Rioja which is large enough to swim laps in will usually only cost about €2.50. Alternatively a paella which is too large for two people to finish costs a modest €15. 

 

Al fresco evenings - for light showers, just find an umbrella

Meanwhile the mild weather allows pub crawlers, bar hoppers and club cruisers to continue way past midnight and into the small hours wearing small dresses and open shirts much the same as if the summer never ended. Basically, there really is no need to stay indoors, so everyone goes out, everywhere, all the time.

Winter in Madrid; as if the summer never ended

Spain prospered quite well under the Roman Empire but was rudely awakened in August 711 when Moorish tourists crossed from Africa to Spain and decided to make themselves at home. On reflection, any August in the Middle Ages would have been ideal to occupy Spain unnoticed since most of the population would have closed shop and gone to the beach.  The few remaining at home would doubtless have been transfixed by a friendly between Athletico Pathetico and Surreal Madrid or were otherwise sleeping off luxuriously long boozy lunches. Within only 7 years the tourists had taken over the country entirely.  This embarrassing national faux pas gave rise to Spain's most important maxim regarding siestas:  "Four hours, no more, 'cause any Moor is too many".

Siestas: any time, any place, anywhere

The true value of a siesta (and exactly what occurs during 3.5 hours of the working day) is still a matter of intense speculation:

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2012/08/30/spanish-admits-siesta-is-basically-just-a-wank/

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35995972


The founding of Madrid as a capital city came relatively late in Spain's history. There remains some debate whether Europe's busiest King; Charles of the Hapsburg Netherlands from 1506, then also Charles I of the Spanish Empire from 1516 and finally additionally Charles V Holy Roman Emperor from 1519, actually quipped;

"I speak Spanish to God

Italian to women

French to men and 

German to my horse"

However there is no doubt that it was Charles who decided to move the Spanish capital from Valladolid to Madrid. 

The city had originally been founded as 'Mayrit' by the Emir Muhammad I of Cordoba in the late 800s. He built a walled citadel around the site with a modest fortress overlooking the River Manzanares to repel any attempt to take Toledo by water. By 1492 Christian forces had driven the last of the Moors from Spain, Columbus had discovered the New World and the modest fortress had been gradually enlarged into the 'Royal Alcazar'. In 1561 Charles' son Philip II finally installed the Spanish court in Madrid for the first time and then set about converting the Royal Alcazar into a royal palace.       

Although Philip II sat at the pinnacle of the greatest empire the world had ever seen, history records him as a modest and pious chap, often praying in seclusion for up to 8 hours per day. Meanwhile the most unholy, uncharitable and undeserved wrath was being meted out at the pointy end of a sword by the successors of the explorers Cortes, Pizarro and Magellan. All this, of course, in the name of god or in the case of the Philippines, in the name of Philip personally.

1520: Hernán Cortés victorious in Mexico

1530: Francisco Pizzaro victorious in Peru

1521: Magellan killed by Chief Lapu lapu on a beach in the Philippines -
a mistake repeated by Captain James Cook some 250 years later in Hawaii 

Sadly nothing remains today of the Royal Alcazar of Madrid and the royal palace which Philip II transformed it into since all was lost in the last of a series of fires on Christmas Eve in 1734. However the same site was used to build the current Palacio Real; the official residence of the Spanish royal family today.

Palacio Real de Madrid: a royal residence with a splash of Bernini

Palacio Real de Madrid: the palace gardens are ideal for intimate conversation during the daytime or an imtimate fumble after dark

Perhaps the greatest testament to Philip's combined royalty and piety lies 45km outside Madrid; the royal palace and monastery of El Escorial in San Lorenzo.  Work started in 1563 and lasted 21 years, during which Philip could actually see the construction on a clear day from his Royal Palace in Madrid. 

El Escorial; royal palace, monastery, library, museum, university and necropolis
nestled in the quiet mountain air overlooking Madrid

  

El Escorial; gold from the New Word financed unlimited spending

Since completion, El Escorial became the final resting place of the Bourbon and Hapsburg kings from Charles V onwards.  Their remains are held in a breathtaking suite of sepulchers arranged in an octagonal vault lined in gold and marble under the centre of the monastery. Certainly if any king wanted to talk to God, in Spanish or in any other language, then this would be the kind of place where God would be more than happy to sit and listen.

El Escorial: the gilted and marbled Pantheon of the Kings
- the final resting place of kings since Charles V onwards

In conclusion; anyone who has not yet been to Madrid will find it is not only the perfect escape any time of the year but also a place that they will look forward to escaping to again and again and again.

Desigual: Spanish for style, fashion and fun