of the wrong bed.

Second half of my Barcelona trip.

Day 9 continuation

After some wandering around, we found there was some sort of Catalan festival happening in front of the Barcelona Cathedral. For those of you who don't know this, the people of Barcelona identify themselves as Catalan rather than Spanish. The language may be similar in some sense but they like to think of themselves as an independent country rather than being part of Spain. So there are certain cultural things that are more associated with the Catalan culture.

One of it is a Catalan castle. It's basically a human pyramid that usually goes up to nine levels with the castle being considered complete only when a child gets to the top and raises their hand. If I was the child I'd be way terrified to be so high up. There were a couple of teams around with different teams in different colours cause I think they were having a competition.

The base is usually men. 

The middle levels are young women.

The top are the children. 

The little girl must have been terrified. 

When they did it in front of the town hall the next day, they also walked a good 100metres with their full formation where one team also made a turn. The balance is just amazing. 

Day 10

Morning was spent looking at two of Gaudi's most famous buildings. Casa Mila (aka La Pedrera) and Casa Batllo. Kinda pricey to go in so we just admired it from the outside. 

Casa Mila looks like a sandcastle.

The metalwork must have taken ages.

Casa Batllo is a lot more colourful. 

Looks like a paint palette exploded over it.

Next door to Casa Batllo. But not by Gaudi.

Gothic architecture is so pretty. 

Traditional Catalan dancing.

With a live band.

Some more wandering around later, found this shop that rents these 'vehicles' out which are like bikes but cars? Don't know what they're called or how to actually describe them. It was a four seater thing where the two behind cycling and steering. So we got into it and the guys cycled and steered across the road (we feared for our lives) and into Parc de la Ciutadella which was just across. 

Twas a good one hour. 

Steering and cycling was difficult. Sonia and I tried for a while but we couldn't go as fast as the guys.

Wanted to go boating as well. But didn't in the end.

We got so many people looking at us cause we were laughing so loudly. Well funny. Walked towards the beach to check it out. Had dinner along the way in this family run restaurant where the woman who ran it was this nice old lady who didn't speak any English and we didn't speak any Spanish so ordering involved a lot of pointing and hand gestures. 

The really yummy paella. 

Spent my time on the beach collecting shells. 

That I just left there. 

The beach wasn't that impressive. But it was gonna be a day out to Sitges the next day so wasn't fussed.

Day 11

Day trip out to Sitges. Aside from the fact that it was suppose to have nicer beaches than Barcelona, wanted to check out Casa Bacardi over there where you could learn about how rum is made and learn how to make a cocktail properly. 

But when we got there, the place was closed. Sad sad sad. So instead I spent the day napping on the beach while the others dug holes and played in the sea. The wind on the beach was so strong that I kept getting covered in sand. At one point I seriously thought it was a sandstorm. However as I was going to find out some time later, it was actually Sonia and Wilson 'throwing' sand at me. 

Sort of rushed back cause we had a concert to attend at the Palau de la Musica Catalana. The only other way to get into it is to attend a guided tour. In the end we decided that watching the symphony orchestra there would be more worth our money rather than attending the tour. 

More stained glass.

The mosaics were prettyy.

Quite enjoyed the music. 

The place was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. And everything was so colourful, from the walls to the ceiling. Overall a good experience so I do recommend watching a performance there. 

Day 12

Last day in Spain. Wanted to visit Casa Batllo but in the end couldn't be bothered and instead went to visit Camp Nou. Home to the Barcelona football team. There were so many people there going for the Camp Nou experience or just buying merchandise. Jerseys were a lot more expensive than I expected it to be with the price being somewhere around 70euros. What a ridiculous price.

Getting to the airport was an experience in itself. Ended up on the wrong train that took us out of Barcelona. So we had to get off and wait for another train back before waiting yet again for the right train to take us to the airport. Thankfully we made it to the airport in time. The staff at the ryanair counter did not make things any better though. Pretty sure there were quite a number of people who missed their flights because one of the counter staff decided to take a coffee break when the line was still massively long. 

So with all that travel stress aside, was pretty glad to be on the plane back to the UK. Even though I've been living in Manchester for less than a year it feels like home. 

And that's the end of my Spanish experience. 

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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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pictures in the sky.

Day 4

Up bright and early for out flight to Ibiza! *Pronounced E-bee-tha* Strangess I know.

Honestly there isn't much to say, cause didn't really do much. Ibiza has many areas but we ended up in San Antonio a.k.a party central. Apparently where all the uni students who want it party up stay. Dumped all our stuff in the apartment and it was off to the beach!

The beach nearest to us was pretty small. Nonetheless while some people went to play in the sea I took a nap. And ended up with sand EVERYWHERE. My eyes, my ears, my mouth, my bag, my clothes. It was just all over the place. Such a bother. And that was it. That's what I did the whole day. Haha.

Night time however. Went to this club for a water party. The thing is, cause we signed up for this package thing we had to be in the club by a certain time for the guaranteed entry. Which was honestly wayy too early by Spain standards. And the stupid water was only expected at 5am by which most of us were pretty dead on our feet. Music was good though cause they played a nice mix of old stuff that you can sing along too alongside the new stuff.

Day 5

While the day was suppose to start in the morning, by the time everyone got up and was ready to go it was well pass noon. Seeing as we were staying in San Antonio, the day was a day trip to Ibiza town to see D'Alt Vila. The old part built on a hill in Ibiza town. 

The sea was such a gorgeous colour. 

Overview of Ibiza town. 

It was quite a climb to the top but the views more than made up for it. 

Night was another night out for a Neon Party. 

Everyone had neon paint all over them. Fun night but getting everything off our skin and clothes was a hassle. Especially since we were pretty worn out after getting back. 

Day 6

Wednesday! As I've mentioned in my previous post I absolutely love flea markets. So when I found out that there was a hippy market every Wednesday at Es Cana, how could I say no? Thankfully I'm not the only one who loves flea markets so everyone came along to do a little bit of shopping. 

But honestly, it was so much small when compared to El Rastro in Madrid and most sold the same things like accessories and tie-tyed clothes. 

There was suppose to be a bar crawl that night. However, seeing as we're not used to partying so much we decided to sit it out. Instead, we sat on the beach and just talked. Slightly cold at night though so we didn't stay out for that long. It was the last night for Ashley and Krystal as they both had flights to catch. 

Day 7

The remaining 5 of us wanted to wake up early and catch a boat to San Miguel to see the Cova de Can Marca which is supposedly a must see in Ibiza. Sad to say we didn't wake up in time. Haha. Walked around a bit wanting to get tickets to David Guetta's F*** Me I'm Famous night at Pacha but at 70euros we had to think about it a little more. So in the mean time we went to the beach again. On the way there, we passed by some booths advertising water sports like banana boats and jet skiing. One thing that caught everyone's eye was paragliding which is where you get strapped down and sent up into the air with a boat pulling you along. 

I'm terrified of heights but seeing as this was going to be the only I'd every do such a thing I agreed to go for it as well. 45euros for a two hour experience out in the waters with 15minutes of being let up into the sky through a 1500metre long rope. Sounds good. 

And we have take off!

Got dunked into the water a couple of times. 

That's us up there.

Beautiful sunset after. 

We got onboard another boat to watch the sunset together. 

Super memorable ending to our time in Ibiza. 

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have.

Day 1

Madrid!

Although most people give Madrid a miss when going to Spain because there is apparently not much to see, my research told me that there would be plenty for me to do. So Madrid became the first stop of my Spain trip. 

Flew from London to meet the others who had already reached Madrid before me. Had little trouble finding the hostel La Musas Residence, quickly checked in and went up to my room. The funny thing was that I had booked my hostel room separately from the rest so didn't expect to be placed in the same room. However when I did go into the room, the stuff lying around looked vaguely familiar and sure enough I had ended up in the same room as the rest. Haha.

First thing we did was go get some churros! The most famous churros place in Madrid is a place called Chocolateria San Gines which has been opened for a good 100 years. One major plus point is that the place NEVER closes. Basically it's opened 24 hours a day. Considering it was Spain, having a place open for 24 hours is quite an impressive feat.

Some oily dough dipped in chocolatey goodness. Excellent start to the trip!

One thing that came up on my list to do in Madrid was watch a flamenco show. Most shows would cost at least 35euros but after searching high and low I finally found a place to watch a show for free. Although it was a small stage in a restaurant I thought it was pretty good. 

Clan ~ Ribera de Curtidores, 30 every Friday and Saturday from 12.30am. 

Of course we couldn't just sit and there and not order anything. First jug of sangria it is! Definitely developed a great liking for it throughout the trip. 

Super duper yummy. Pretty much alcoholic fruit juice. 

I would upload some pictures of the flamenco dancers (one male and one female), but the quality of my iPhone camera is seriously not up to scratch. The dancers just look really dark and grainy =(. But boy does flamenco look tiring, the dancers had beads of sweat dripping down their face even just halfway through the dance. 

Day 2

Set out in the morning looking for a convent where I wanted to buy some convent sweets. Read somewhere that buying the sweets was the experience as you had to know where to go and ring the bell as it wasn't advertised as a shop. Then when you go in you placed your order through an intercom and got your sweets through a turntable device without ever having to physically deal with the nuns. Pretty hush hush stuff so was really looking forward to it. Got there only to be greeted by this sign.

No sweets. Sad sad.

Oh well. Made our way to the tour meeting point after a little bit of wandering. One tour company I definitely recommend is the Sandemans New Europe tours. Had them in Paris, Amsterdam and now in Madrid and I have to say their tour guides are always excellent. They operate as a free tour which means that you just tip the guide at the end how much you think the tour is worth. So the guides are motivated to providing the best experience. Definitely check out where there is a tour available in the city as they don't have tours in every single city. Kinda wish they did. 

After a very late lunch where I got my first taste of paella (definitely prefer risotto), went to the bullfight stadium to buy tickets. Yes we were going to watch a bullfight! For those who don't know, a bullfight is not just about the matador waving about a red cloth and making the bull run about. They are meant to kill the bull in a slow and perhaps torturous way. Bullfights are not exactly encouraged and are actually banned in certain parts of Spain with it maybe being banned completely in the future. So taking this chance, I wanted to watch something that has always been associated with Spanish culture. Picked up the ticket for about 18euros for seating in the shade and not too far from the actual ring. Not recommended for animal lovers as you're basically paying to watch people taunt and kill 6 bulls in the span of 2 hours. 

The bullfight was only at 7pm so wanted to go check out this little museum beforehand. Madrid has three big museums, namely the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza. However, on tripadvisor(my bff during trip planning) Museo Sorolla was ranked just below the Prado despite it being small. Quite enjoyed it, the museum was actually the home of Joaquin Sorolla (the artist). 

The front. It also had a little garden with fountains and seats where there were a few people reading. So nice, definitely want something like that next time. 

Onwards to the bullfight! 

The bullring is massive. 

Sort of an opening parade. 

The first and oldest matador of the 3 that day.

Not many tourists around. Much less Asian tourists. Haha. I would liken the bullfight to horse races in the UK. It's mainly the locals of who go. Pretty sure most of them were there cause they had bets. Majority of the people were old men who all seemed to know each other. Really liked the atmosphere as at certain times everyone would cheer together and at the end everyone stood up and waved white handkerchiefs or tissues in some cases for one of the matadors. Later learned that it was an indication that he was the best matador of the day and so the bull's ears were cut off and given to him as a trophy. He was also the youngest one of the 3 so I suppose he was more adventurous. 

Set off for my first proper tapas experience after that. Tapas are sort of a small 'snack' meant to accompany a drink before dinner. While there are sort of more upper class tapas places where you sit down and order in a nice setting, poor students go to cheapo places where there is standing room only. Haha. Definitely a fun place to be though. The place was so crowded with everyone packed in like sardines and tissue and toothpicks all over the floor but it had a nice lively atmosphere. Locals and tourists alike with a drink in their hand and food on their plates. How cheap was it? Here's an indication. 

One glass of sangria was 5euros. 

10euros between two people made both me and Ashley very very full. 

Downside is you don't get to choose what food goes on the plate, the guys at the bar just pick out random stuff and put it on a plate. 

El Tigre ~ Calle Infantas, 30

During the tour, the guide talked about the emblem of Madrid which is a bear eating from a tree. What caught my attention was the fact that the fruits on the tree fermented on the tree itself making it alcoholic. It's called the Madrono tree. The guide pointed out this place that served shots of liqueur made from the fruit so we decided to give it a try. 

Funny thing about making our way there. Only Ashley and I wanted to walk there so the others took the metro. Despite that, both of us made it there well before the others even though we stopped a few times to watch street performers and stuff. Everyone else got lost! Haha. Madrid at night is nice as there are lots of people about and performers singing dancing around every corner. 

Shots were served in the ice cream cone thing with the insides and rim covered with chocolate.

The shot was quite sweet and it was fun to eat the shot 'glass'. Think it was 1euro50 for the shot.

El Madrono ~ Calle de Latoneros, 10

Seeing as the night was still young and that we were right next to Cava Baja (street famous for tapas and bars), we decided to walk a little and perhaps settle somewhere for a drink. Or two. It was a Saturday night so most bars were packed with people. Finally settled at this bar where you could get 5 bottles of beer, albeit small bottles for only 3 euros in a bucket of ice. Fun times. 

La Surena ~ Cava Baja, 15

Day 3

Final day in Madrid. Sunday morning in Madrid can only mean one thing. El Rastro! This massive flea market selling pretty much everything. I love my flea markets and this was no exception. Bought some stuff like a scarf for 1euro and a handmade ring for 3euros. 

And the it was Museum time! Museo Reina Sofia first which is a modern art museum so more fun I would thing. I like modern art cause there is so much that you can interprete from it but there are times when I'm just baffled by what is considered art. There was this painting that was just painted fully blue with one red stripe through it. Quite a number of works by Dali and Picasso though so it was nice to be able to see work by such famous artists. 

Walked to the nearby Caixa Forum after that to take a look at their vertical garden. Yes you read that right, a vertical garden. A garden growing on a wall. Cool stuff no?

Wonder why it isn't pulled by gravity. 

Had some time to kill since I wanted to go to the Museo Prado when it was free at 5pm only. So we stopped by a restaurant and ordered some sandwiches with sangria to go. Took our food and made our way to Retiro park. Found a nice shady spot and sat down for a picnic. After finishing our food, we all laid down with some falling asleep and the rest of us just chatting. 

The sky was so beautiful and the park so peaceful.

Around 5pm, Ashley Jian Han and I made our way to Museo Prado while the rest took a nap in the park. Haha. The line to get into the museum was just unbelievable. We just kept walking and asking ourselves where the end of the line was. Thankfully despite the length of the line, everything moved pretty quickly so was able to get into the museum around 5.30pm. Sad to say the museum closes at 7 and 1.5hours is definitely not enough time to get through the museum. Would have loved at least another hour. Oh well. 

Made our way back to the hostel before going out for our last meal in Madrid. San Miguel market is like a high end food market so I would say that if you want to eat till you're stuffed be prepared to shell out a significant amount of money. However, it is a nice place to just be able to try a bit of everything Spanish. One main reason we went there is because Ashley and Krystal wanted the rest of us to try this plateful of jalapenos. 

A plateful cooked with salt for less than 10euros.

Now if you know me you'd know that I'm terrible with spicy food. So when Ashley said that it's not spicy at all I was well within my right to be skeptical. Luckily for me, she wasn't lying. Phew. Learnt that not all jalapenos are spicy as these tasted just like green peppers. Also had some tapas and paella and fried squid and a some yummy yoghurt. Spent less than 10euros but then again I am a small eater. 

Bar for a drink after that. Funny story. Andrew and Jian Han (the only two guys) ordered cocktails while Ashley and I ordered beers. So when the waiter delivered the drinks, guess who he gave the cocktails to and who the beers to? Typical stereotype would be that the girls drink the mojito while the guys drink the beer so it was funny when we had to switch the drinks around ourselves.

That was the end of Madrid. Was actually a little sad to leave as would have liked another day there at least. But it was Ibiza next so that was it. 

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