Tuesday, July 17, 2012

on the edge.

Haven't had internet for more than a week so not much chance to blog either.

This is a continuation of my Spain trip.

Day 8

Reached Barcelona in the afternoon and made our way to the hostel HelloBCN. In some way the hostel was quite high tech in the sense that you get this wristwatch that acts as your key to tap in and out of the hostel/room/personal locker. Settled our stuff down and then had a wander on Las Ramblas while we waited for Wilson to reach as he was coming from Manchester.

The amount of tourists around just made everything seem so crowded. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't even the super peak time as it was still early summer. Had some fresh juice at La Boqueria which is the famous market on Las Ramblas. Mainly it's fresh fruits and meat and just market stuff in general. The funny thing is that the fruits stalls all sell the same thing but those at the front charge more than the ones at the back. Yet there were still people buying from the front stalls. If only they were to walk a bit more to the centre of the market they could save some money, but I guess they couldn't really be bothered.

Later in the evening we went up Montjuic to see the magic fountain. The size of it was massive and I can just imagine the amount of electricity and water that they waste to put on a show every day for hours. Nonetheless it was really really pretty.




Liked the later ones better cause it was dark so you could see all the colours properly.

Day 9

Up bright and early for the main attraction in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia. That has been in construction since 1882, and won't be done for at least another 30 years. Sigh. The Spanish really take their time. Some people who went to visit the Sagrada Familia really needed a lesson or two on how to behave in a church. Yes the place is still under construction but it is still a church and people should stop yelling in it and stop allowing their kids to run about. 

The stain glass just made everything look more fairytale like. 



 
Panoramic view of the place. 

One of the more special churches out there not the typical design that most churches seem to adopt. 

After that we made our way to Parc Guell. Seeing as it is a park, I was looking forward to just lying on the grass for a while, maybe have a nap. When we got there however, there was no grass to be seen. It was mainly sand all around and tourists as well. Yeah sure everything was designed by Gaudi so the fairytale quality was there but would have enjoyed it more if there wasn't such a crowd. 

Made our way to the meeting point of the Runner Beans tour after that. It's another free tour concept company that received really good reviews on tripadvisor. But in my opinion, it doesn't hold a candle to the Sandeman's tours. It wasn't a bad tour but it could have been more lively and entertaining. The tour guide gave us a lot of free time to take pictures and stuff but as you will know I'm not a picture person so all that time was kinda wasted on me. 

Went to this place for tapas and a drink after the tour. 

Their house cava. 9euros for the whole bottle. 
Quite nice and refreshing. 
*Cava is Spain's version of Champagne. 

El Xampanyet ~ Carrer de Montcada, 22

As it was a tapas place and we weren't prepared to spend a fortune we had some food there and then went elsewhere for more dinner. 

Gonna break up the Barcelona part of my trip cause it's a little lengthy.

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