A decision made within a night, without much deep thorough thoughts, we booked the flight to Barcelona.
Trying to 'eat' the Torre de Calatrava and the scene of its surroundings
Day 4
Soon after, other friends who visited the place shared many tall tales of thieveries and syndicates roaming the city and got me really worry as the inattentive person that I am may end up having an unpleasant time on my first European adventure.
I surfed the net for more stories and got even more anxious doing so but was well-armed with really helpful safety tips from other travellers online.
Day 1
With a light travel handbag (so to avoid ill-fitting problems with the small cabin of EasyJet and getting charged for having to check-in my bag), I got on the plane and anticipated the approximate 3-hours journey from Newcastle Airport to El Prat Airport.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by solemn custom officers and unfriendly tourist information counter staff who wasn't interested in helping a bunch of lost kids to the train station. We managed to work out directions from a security personnel who guided us with signs and safely got on our bus heading for our destination.
The sight of busy narrow streets surrounded by multi-levelled buildings and the multi-racial crowd on the bus reminded me a lot of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
At one of the many alleys of the City Centre.
This place is a maze!
Barcelona Lettings Office found after walking in many circles around the City Centre.
Our sanctuary for the next few tiring days.
The monument of a famous general with the lights effect to create a big shadow.
The festively decorated alleys with lots of graffiti on the shutters
The tasty alcoholic fruit punch, Sangria!
The savoury appetizer, fried potatoes and pepper with this yummy spicy dressing
One of the restaurant's famous roast.
The chicken taste good but the skin was a little too salty for my liking though.
The authentic Spanish dish, seafood Paella with meat (chicken and rabbit meat to be precise!).
Paella, for me, is like rice drench with non-spicy curry.
They said it's overrated. Well, not for me! I loved every bite of it!
Day 2
By the docks of Port Vell
By the seaside overlooking a famous building, which I am not sure what it is.
The fountain behind is right above the famous Gaudi Lizard
Entrance of Park Guell.
Surrounded by the interesting inclining columns at the footpaths.
I took a snapshot of this cute miniature nativity scene set-up in a garden of a house near Park Guell.
The high-end street of Pg. de Gracia which houses big names such as Chanel, Michael Kors, and many more designer labels not just limited to clothes.
The signature flat multi-window balconies.
The fancy restaurant where we had a delicious 3 course meal at a reasonable price!
A fancy appetizer with twin rolls of meat covered in creamy cheesy dressing
Salad with Mozzarella cheese
The starter - Deep-fried Hake (which was pronounced interestingly as "egg" by the locals) coated lightly with a flavorful savory juice.
The desert - Catalan Cream (similar to the likes of Creme Brulee)
Finally, we set foot on the much popular Sagrada Familia
Story of Christ is illustrated as little statues on the walls.
Red cross capping the tips of the structure
Inside the cone-shaped Nativity tower and walking down its spiral stairs.
The majestic interior of the main hall of Sagrada Familia.
The tree-like pillars and the amazing geometrical ceiling
The night view of the ever under construction church and the replica of the complete Sagrada Familia.
More of Gaudi's Masterpieces - Casa Milla and Casa Batllo
Gaudi, all I can say about him is an out-of-this-world architect.
The intriguing shape and design of Sagrada Familia was inspired mainly by the works of nature as the little museum explains. But it amazed me how he would have thought of incorporating all of his inspirations to create this insanely wonderful masterpiece.
I wonder what other interesting thought he had in mind as he designs his other creative works.
Manipulations of shapes and illusions of spaces made this master of Catalan Modernism a truly inspiring figure.
We ended the day in a restaurant by Port Vell which serve traditional dishes of Tapas and of course, a jug of Sangria to go with the good food.
Day 3
Barcelona FC Stadium
Not a footie so, sorry I didn't treasure this supposedly 'historical' moment.
A random artsy sculpture near the National Catalan Art Museum
The National Catalan Art Museum is a jaw dropping sight with its grand building and fountains along the main entrance and a large one in the compound plus more fountains on the way.
The entrance of the Motjuic Castle
Romantic footpaths of Montjuic and a stadium under construction
Trying to 'eat' the Torre de Calatrava and the scene of its surroundings
Not sure where is this but it's on the hill top of the Montjuic area which overlooks the city astoundingly.
Part of the city centre as I walked back to the apartment with the help of kind strangers who guided me with a mixture of English, Spanish and loads of sign languages.
Beggars are quite a common sight in this city as in every metropolitan cities.
This one in particular is sleeping peacefully as her sleeping, obese cat guards her, or is it the other way round?
Pg. Colom
Our informative tour guide for our free 3 hours Orange tour.
This tour was really an eye opener as our friendly guide bought us around the city with houses many historic structures in hidden corners which a regular tourist would never learn about.
The revolutions, colonization and war left footprints in the city which stands till today as a symbol of how the city has developed over the centuries to be the ancient cultural city it is.
The pictures below show historical constructions which we saw as part of the tour.
Mouth-watering pastries which are a must-trys!
Little pooping figurines, known as Caganer, which "poops" presents for Christmas!
A piece of art by an artist to symbolize her move to Barcelona
Another piece of interesting art
Had afternoon tea in a little tea house with pastries made by nuns from a nunnery
Inside the Barcelona Catedral
Random art in the square
Spectating an intense Flamenco performance
Day 4
The ancient post office where we post postcards back home as souvenirs from our trip.
And so heavy-heartedly, we left for the magnificient city for the Airport.
Barcelona, it a city truly rich in history and also very artistic with the Gothic architectures with fine details.
I would say my trip is too short for me to have a whole sighting of the city.
Also, I forgot to mention about the beautiful weather with sunshine and light breeze which makes travelling a lot easier and comfortable.
And yeah, I didn't lose anything! Haha, guess being vigilant helps.
No comments:
Post a Comment