Glasgow : Trip to Barcelona,Spain

Hola Como Esta Me Iyamo Terence (Hello how are you? My name is Terence) These were the few words I got to learn in Spain and needless to say I really didn’t want to leave that beautiful country. I spend five days and four nights in Barcelona going to most of the attraction sights and tasting Spanish delicacies. Here is my diary on the events that went on:

Day 1: We sat the train to Prestwick Airport at 11:30am and it took close to an hour before we reached. Then all 12 of us collected our boarding passes before we headed for the plane. Ok this may sound like ‘rusa masuk kampung’ but usually back in Malaysia we have to go through an interconnected bridge to enter the plane, but I was quite surprised that we got to walk on the airport base this time to board the plane. Once boarded it was a long two and half hours ride to Girona, Spain. Really boring ride as we waited anxiously for the plane to land. When we reached Girona airport we carried our luggages, went through the immigration counters and took a bus which transported us to Arc De Triomf of Barcelona. That was a one hour long ride and then we head our way to Liceu by train and settle at La Ramblas hostel. It was close to night time and we had dinner at LA ZARZUELA where it was a huge plate with seafood consisting of fish, prawns and mussels. We also ordered Paella de Marisco which is saffron rice garnished with seafood. After dinner, we walked around La Rambla street before heading back to hostel to sleep.

Day 2: Woke up at 7:30am to get ready for breakfast offered by the hostel. Wasn’t very appetizing actually cause only had cereal, bread, muffins and hot drinks. Then we head towards Turistic information centre to purchase ticket for a tour around Barcelona greatest attractions. The bus heads two routes that is the Red Route or the Blue Route. There is a green route but is closed during winter season. So we started at the meeting point which is Placa de Catalunya. There is a park in the middle which is filled with pigeons and there were two Spanish kids placing bird seeds on their head and arms. The birds flew all over them and we took the opportunity to have a picture taken with them. So our first destination of the day was Passeig de Gracia building that have two unique elements of hexagonal shaped pavement tile and magnificent streetlamp benches which line the entire avenue. We didn’t enter as it was costly but Jimmie did on the fourth day. Our second destination was Placa d’ Espanya where we skipped Estacio de Sants (A urban design area next to main train station called Sants Station). Placa de Espanya is a gateway to great park of Montjuic where we were hoping to see the magic fountain that changes colour but sadly is only during weekends and it was too late when we found out. We did all kinds of poses (SV creation) and took pictures there. Then there was a flight of stairs leading to MNAC the national art museum of Spain. KJ did a hilarious pose that got a Spanish laughing non stop. (I’ll leave her to tell you the story) We headed on to Anella Olimpica which represent the 1992 Olympic games. So happened that when I was heading to toilet I came across a stadium that was Espanyol club playing ground. After that, we journeyed on to Funicular de Montjuic and Miramar which are sight seeing places that offers views of Barcelona greenery and peak view of the city. World trade centre was our next destination where we quite disappointed by such small building eventhough it is a business centre with a built in hotel. We skipped the Maritim museum and went ahead to Port Vell which is considered the most entertaining area. It has Maremagnum a huge shopping complex, Imax theater and L’Aquarium. I considered that to be my kinda area because it consists of entertainment and by the sea view almost the ideal paradise. So we paid for the L’Aquarium entrance fee and enjoyed ourselves at the underwater world. Our 2nd last destination was Port Olimpic where we took a stroll along the sandy beaches (SV had a white-wash experience) and then had pictures taken at the Grand Casino as well. We skipped Parc de Ciutadella, which is the Zoo and went to Pla de Palau the Santa Maria church. But it was dark then and everything was closed so we walked back to La Rambla street and had dinner. My friends went to the bar after dinner while I went back and slept till morning.

Day 3: So we begin again with buffet breakfast of cereal and bread. Then I suggested having American breakfast on day 4 as SV was craving for bacon. Today time was essence as we want to cover as much attraction as we could. So we started the day off with Casa Battlo a building of legend art and architecture of all time. We skipped Sagrada Famillial (both of our friends separate from us to see it) because we wanted to leave it for day 4. We instead went to Park Guell another masterpiece of Gaudi’s work that is simply amazing. The unique public park has twirling structures and craved stones only come from the mind of a genius. Hehe we took pictures with Spanish chicks and then I bought a necklace with a pendant that looks like Konoha logo for 1 Euro. Tibidabo which is a popular amusement park was closed during weekdays so it was rather disappointing considering the Science Centre Planetarium was also there. But all good things come to those who wait so we ended up in Sarria a town well known for its cakes. We bought a few and here we met up with a baker who owns a PHD certificate for baking. And honestly his pizza and custard breads are really tasty and different. Then again we skipped Monestir de Pedralbes and Palau Reial, the Royal Palace because it was closed. The moment I’ve been waiting finally arrived when we reached Nou Camp, the biggest stadium in Europe and second in the world. It belongs to Barcelona club and there we went for the stadium tour and museum. Did you know that inside the stadium they even have a chapel for the players to pray before a match? So we also get to see the cups that the club won and they even have a huge merchandise centre sponsored by Nike. Finally we headed back to La Rambla and went to Museum Le Erotica where we learned a thing or two about classic films =P Then we had dinner at KFC before I followed my friends to the bar and slept at 1am.

Day 4: Early morning the guys had American breakfast before we set off to finish our final attraction that is the Sagrada Famillial and the view of the building design was outstanding. Ok so since we almost covered every destination in Barcelona we decided to go on shopping spree today. However everything here was quite costly except for the souvenir shop. That’s because we can bargain with the shopkeeper and I manage to buy a few T-shirts for my parents and a Barcelona jersey for myself. But I was most happy to be able to purchase Dunkin Donuts since it is not available in UK. Finally we had buffet at night which was like any buffet – pasta and salad….it wasn’t worth the money =P Then we met our other batch mates on the way back to the hostel. After talking and having pictures taken we stroll along the La Rambla street before ending up in the arcade game centre. We dozed off after heading back.

Day 5: We woke up and went out to have our black sauce Paella before making our back to the Girona airport. Everything was a bit of rush because of fear of missing the flight but we end up waiting for almost 2 hours long. Finally we landed back in Glasgow, took the train and reached Glasgow Central. We headed back home with our heavy luggages (came back with more items) and it was a tiring day. In all I feel Barcelona, Spain is a really beautiful place to settle in only for pickpockets to spoil it all so watch out!!!