Barcelona Trip (Part 2)

Ok, let's go on with it!

Day 3

We woke up rather early again. The 2 empty beds in our 8 bedded room was now occupied (Someone overheard them say:"let's check if any of our stuff is stolen"). Anyway, as Eng Han wanted to show us around Park Güell (he knows the place well), we went to La Sagrada Familia in the morning.

I've finally seen this in front of my eyes! Haha. But it's a bit different from what I saw in books when I was younger, coz they've constructed newer sections. The ultimate completed building might take decades to finish; they rely solely on donations and entrance fees to support the construction.

It was built as a church but it's definitely very unconventional! Again, as this is a wonderful work of Gaudi I'll leave it aside first. Spent one whole morning there. We then walked to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It's also full with fantastic architectural designs a la Gaudi. Found it more suitable to be the site for a university or college rather than a hospital. But anyway we then made our way to Park Güell. I guess I should've gotten more details before deciding to walk coz maps usually don't show you any elevation. It was kinda uphill most of the time. Grabbed some stuff to eat along the way.

One of the buildings in Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Notice there's a yellow ambulance.

Anyway, we entered Park Güell from the side and wandered about, mostly near the large sandy terrace area. There was a long continuous bench lining half of this area, and it was all covered with broken tiles (to waterproof it). Its design was practical yet aesthetically pleasing. It was also surprisingly comfortable to sit on it. Anyway, my friend came after some time and we walked around the area.

Does anyone remember what movie/poster was made like this? Please tell me!

The entrance to Park Güell consist of two houses which look like gingerbread houses from a children's fairytale story. There was also a famous multicolour dragon fountain near the entrance. Will say more in my next post.

"Gingerbread House"

(l-r): Daisuke, Bernard, Seungwon, Hayato, Enrique, Eng Han, me

After that Eng Han brought us up the hill to the highest point. We had a view of Barcelona from up there. Wasn't very clear as it hadn't rained for days and the city was shrouded in a thin cloud of dust.

Anyway we went down and Daisuke wanted to visit a Parvello Mies Van der Rohe, an architecural/design exhibition place quite far away so he split from us. Eng Han then brought us to the booth he was volunteering at earlier that day. It was World AIDS Day. So we got some postcards, stickers, condoms (they gave out female versions as well) and strawberry-flavored lubricants. Then we went to a shop selling FC Barcelona merchandise but it was all too expensive. Hard Rock Cafe was next because Bernard always likes to buy some souvenirs from there.

It was there (Plaça de Catalunya) that we witnessed a rally of people. Police were guarding the situation and keeping everything in place (unlike Malaysia...). They were rallying against the recent chaos in train systems and demand that the rights are shifted to the Catalonia Autonomous Government. I came to understand that Catalonia was kinda like a separate entity, or nation, as they had their own language and culture which they are proud of. Wonder if they'll ever become an independent country. But spain already has to deal with the Basque region.

Protest. They were holding placards like "F*** SPAIN!!! CATALAN STATE!!!"

So nevermind, we then went to have some local desserts at a popular restaurant. Had to queue. Daisuke called informing that the place he wanted to go to was under renovation so we wanted to meet us again. So me and Hayato went to the station to wait for him and guess what? I met my junior college further mathematics teacher! Crazy. What are the odds? We were both 1000s of kilometers from where we last met (in Singapore, at least 2 years ago).

Mr. Ng Hwee Kiang and me, in Barcelona.

Yummy local Catalan desserts. The swiss chocolate (hidden under the whipped cream) was strong. We were supposed to dip the Xurros (the brown colour thingy like 油炸鬼/油条/Yau Zhar Guai) into the chocolate.

So then Eng Han had to leave to do other stuff, and Hayato and Daisuke went to watch Flamenco dancing. The rest of us walked down La Rambla all the way to the sea. Eng Han joined us later. We walked past the shopping centre and down the beach. Then we went to have some "flaming" shots at a bar. Got a bit lightheaded after that. Haha. Then we went to try the local small dishes "Tapas" at Plaça Reial. The waitress was Chinese and we all chatted a bit.

Then we thanked Eng Han for being such a nice host and went back.

Day 4

I forgot to mention we have our breakfast in the hostel every morning (it's in the package). After checking out we made our way up Montjuïc on the funicular train. Walked towards the Olympic Arena to see the magnificent Torre Telefónica Communications Tower.

Olympic Area, site of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. Apparently the tower also functions as a sundial.

Looking towards Plaça Espanya from Plaça de Carles Buïgas

There wasn't much to do. We merely walked around the place a bit and then took a train back to Paral.lel, which is the nearest station to our hostel. Took our bags and headed to Plaça de Catalunya to take a bus to the airport and back to Munich.

The End!

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A special big thanks to Eng Han!

Next up, a post on Gaudi and his wonderful creations.