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Finally some time to start on the second part of the holiday, after a hectic week at work.
Part 2: Barcelona (Days 6 - 11)
Day 6, 12th June
We packed up and set off early to Atocha train station to catch our 0930 train ride. Upon reaching Barcelona, we scrambled around some time along La Rambla before we found our way to our hotel. When we got to our hotel, we were given a shock.
Apparently, we did not have a room as they were overbooked even though we had booked our accommodation a month in advance, due to some error. However, the hotel made up for their error for helping us find alternative accommodation for one night, the night that they did not have a room for us, and would even pay for the difference in pricing. So we got to stay in a more posh 3-star hotel for one night.
Once we had checked in and dropped off our luggage, we immediately set off to spend the rest of the day exploring medieval Barcelona, which we realised was only less than 5 minutes from our hotel. Places that we checked out included Placa de Sant Jaume, where the Adjutament & Generalitat can be found, the Cathedral which had a spectacular view from the tower top and Placa del Rei which houses the ancient ruins of old Barcelona, known as Barcino.
More pictures here.
After we completed medieval Barcelona, we headed off to have an early dinner as we hadn't eaten since 9am this morning. Thereafter, we went to explore the market along La Rambla, before we called it a day.
Day 7,13th June
We wasted some time in the morning as we had to check out of the posh hotel to move back to the one we booked. Once we had dropped off our luggage, we set off to explore the southern part of La Rambla and Port del Mar. The weather was starting to heat up, and more people were showing up in shorts/berms and sundresses. However we really enjoyed the breeze that we were getting from the sea so much that Hubba suggested we head toward the beach later in the evening.
After lunch, we headed up to the Born district, where we visited the Picasso Museum as well as the Chocolate Museum. The Chocolate Museum is one of the coolest places that we visited, coz other than our ticket being a special bar of dark chocolate, we also got to see all the beautiful creations made of chocolate, and enjoy a super thick cup of hot chocolate. Thereafter, we stopped by a church (Igleis de Santa Maria del Mar) where we were able to witness a Spanish Catholic wedding ceremony. After that we headed down to the beach to enjoy the sun, wind and sand.
More photos of day 7 here.
Day 8, 14th June
Today was the day for visiting some architectural wonders of the prodigal favourite of Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi. First, we headed to the monstrously huge temple that has yet to be finished, La Sagrada Familia. We spent a bigger part of the morning exploring this humongous unfinished work, admiring the beauty of the design and even went up to some of the towers to enjoy the view of Barcelona from the top.
From La Sagrada Familia, we followed a route recommended by our DK Eye Witness Guidebook down south to admire some of the other architectural wonders: Casa Terrades o de les Punxes, Casa Mila, Fundacio Tapies, Casa Batllo. By the time we were done, we were so pooped that we headed back to the hotel for some lie in, before we went out for a Tapas meal at a nearby bar, La Xerinola, along La Rambla.
More photos here.
Day 9, 15th June
This morning, we decided to buy tickets from the Tourism Office at Catalunya, to visit the holy place of Montserrat. We were aiming to visit the Basilica at least, but the crowd that joined us there took us by surprise. The queue to enter the Basilica was so scary that we decided to give up and go hiking instead. So we spent the day climbing up to Sant Joan, which took about 20 minutes to reach the peak, and Santa Cova, which had a pretty chapel down on the side of the mountain.
More photos here.
Day 10, 16th June
We spent a good part of today at the Montjuic district of Barcelona. We started off taking a fundicular train up to Montjuic, where we then began by exploring an art gallery, the Fundacio Joan Miro. After having cracked our brains to understand the abstract art pieces, we then walked in search of the next recommended site, Palau Nacional MNAC, which is a museum. However, a morning spent in the Fundacio Joan Miro had already filled us up with loads of artsy stuff, so we decided not to go into the Palau Nacional. Instead, we trudge up a hill in search of the final attraction that we had decided to visit, Poble Espanyol, a quaint little village that was set up in 1929 for an international exhibition.
More photos here.
Day 11, 17th June
We were actually supposed to spend this day either: 1. Travelling to the Dali Museum or 2. The amusement park at Tibidabo. However, experience with the travel to Montserrat had made us a little apprehensive about taking a super long 2 hour train journey out just to visit the Dali Museum. Furthermore, the weather was getting hotter and hotter that it made us reluctant to stay outdoors for too long a period of time. In the end, we ended up returning to Gracia to properly visit Casa Batllo, which we had only viewed from the outside a couple of days ago.
After spending some good few hours walking around to marvel the architectural accomplishment of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo, we headed up from Garcia, with the intention of following another route recommended in the DK Eye Witness book. In so doing, we passed by some exhibition along Garcia, showcasing the wonder of the movie world and all those creatures that had been made for well known movies like Hell Boy, Lord of the Rings etc.
By the time we were done with the exhibition, the day had become so hot that it was impossible to continue to walk around in the heat. Instead we ended up taking the Metro back down to Catalunya, where we had a late lunch before we headed back to the hotel room to rest. The next part of the day's events would be spent at a Spanish Guitar concert that evening, at one of the nearby churches.
More photos here.
Day 12 & 13, 18th - 19th June
The last two days in Spain were spent just wondering around aimlessly, getting back to Madrid from Barcelona to catch our flight back home. Although we were sad that our holiday was over, I was secretly glad to be leaving as well as it was getting way too hot (36 deg C) and costly to be staying there.
Food photos for the last two days here.
Part 2: Barcelona (Days 6 - 11)
Day 6, 12th June
We packed up and set off early to Atocha train station to catch our 0930 train ride. Upon reaching Barcelona, we scrambled around some time along La Rambla before we found our way to our hotel. When we got to our hotel, we were given a shock.
Apparently, we did not have a room as they were overbooked even though we had booked our accommodation a month in advance, due to some error. However, the hotel made up for their error for helping us find alternative accommodation for one night, the night that they did not have a room for us, and would even pay for the difference in pricing. So we got to stay in a more posh 3-star hotel for one night.
Once we had checked in and dropped off our luggage, we immediately set off to spend the rest of the day exploring medieval Barcelona, which we realised was only less than 5 minutes from our hotel. Places that we checked out included Placa de Sant Jaume, where the Adjutament & Generalitat can be found, the Cathedral which had a spectacular view from the tower top and Placa del Rei which houses the ancient ruins of old Barcelona, known as Barcino.
More pictures here.
After we completed medieval Barcelona, we headed off to have an early dinner as we hadn't eaten since 9am this morning. Thereafter, we went to explore the market along La Rambla, before we called it a day.
Day 7,13th June
We wasted some time in the morning as we had to check out of the posh hotel to move back to the one we booked. Once we had dropped off our luggage, we set off to explore the southern part of La Rambla and Port del Mar. The weather was starting to heat up, and more people were showing up in shorts/berms and sundresses. However we really enjoyed the breeze that we were getting from the sea so much that Hubba suggested we head toward the beach later in the evening.
After lunch, we headed up to the Born district, where we visited the Picasso Museum as well as the Chocolate Museum. The Chocolate Museum is one of the coolest places that we visited, coz other than our ticket being a special bar of dark chocolate, we also got to see all the beautiful creations made of chocolate, and enjoy a super thick cup of hot chocolate. Thereafter, we stopped by a church (Igleis de Santa Maria del Mar) where we were able to witness a Spanish Catholic wedding ceremony. After that we headed down to the beach to enjoy the sun, wind and sand.
More photos of day 7 here.
Day 8, 14th June
Today was the day for visiting some architectural wonders of the prodigal favourite of Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi. First, we headed to the monstrously huge temple that has yet to be finished, La Sagrada Familia. We spent a bigger part of the morning exploring this humongous unfinished work, admiring the beauty of the design and even went up to some of the towers to enjoy the view of Barcelona from the top.
From La Sagrada Familia, we followed a route recommended by our DK Eye Witness Guidebook down south to admire some of the other architectural wonders: Casa Terrades o de les Punxes, Casa Mila, Fundacio Tapies, Casa Batllo. By the time we were done, we were so pooped that we headed back to the hotel for some lie in, before we went out for a Tapas meal at a nearby bar, La Xerinola, along La Rambla.
More photos here.
Day 9, 15th June
This morning, we decided to buy tickets from the Tourism Office at Catalunya, to visit the holy place of Montserrat. We were aiming to visit the Basilica at least, but the crowd that joined us there took us by surprise. The queue to enter the Basilica was so scary that we decided to give up and go hiking instead. So we spent the day climbing up to Sant Joan, which took about 20 minutes to reach the peak, and Santa Cova, which had a pretty chapel down on the side of the mountain.
More photos here.
Day 10, 16th June
We spent a good part of today at the Montjuic district of Barcelona. We started off taking a fundicular train up to Montjuic, where we then began by exploring an art gallery, the Fundacio Joan Miro. After having cracked our brains to understand the abstract art pieces, we then walked in search of the next recommended site, Palau Nacional MNAC, which is a museum. However, a morning spent in the Fundacio Joan Miro had already filled us up with loads of artsy stuff, so we decided not to go into the Palau Nacional. Instead, we trudge up a hill in search of the final attraction that we had decided to visit, Poble Espanyol, a quaint little village that was set up in 1929 for an international exhibition.
More photos here.
Day 11, 17th June
We were actually supposed to spend this day either: 1. Travelling to the Dali Museum or 2. The amusement park at Tibidabo. However, experience with the travel to Montserrat had made us a little apprehensive about taking a super long 2 hour train journey out just to visit the Dali Museum. Furthermore, the weather was getting hotter and hotter that it made us reluctant to stay outdoors for too long a period of time. In the end, we ended up returning to Gracia to properly visit Casa Batllo, which we had only viewed from the outside a couple of days ago.
After spending some good few hours walking around to marvel the architectural accomplishment of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo, we headed up from Garcia, with the intention of following another route recommended in the DK Eye Witness book. In so doing, we passed by some exhibition along Garcia, showcasing the wonder of the movie world and all those creatures that had been made for well known movies like Hell Boy, Lord of the Rings etc.
By the time we were done with the exhibition, the day had become so hot that it was impossible to continue to walk around in the heat. Instead we ended up taking the Metro back down to Catalunya, where we had a late lunch before we headed back to the hotel room to rest. The next part of the day's events would be spent at a Spanish Guitar concert that evening, at one of the nearby churches.
More photos here.
Day 12 & 13, 18th - 19th June
The last two days in Spain were spent just wondering around aimlessly, getting back to Madrid from Barcelona to catch our flight back home. Although we were sad that our holiday was over, I was secretly glad to be leaving as well as it was getting way too hot (36 deg C) and costly to be staying there.
Food photos for the last two days here.
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