Jhender

after all the rainy weather in madrid, finally i get some sun and warmth. great. barcelona is really so much nicer than madrid, more lively, prettier, more cosy, happier, more touristy. the ocean view is so great, it’s so nice to see the water and sun and good weather. the main La Rambla walkway is, well, it’s nice, pleasant, pretty. but i dislike it for being chock full of street performers and postcard selling shops and lousy eateries. it’s also a pity that the shops at the sides of the streets are rather unremarkable and unimpressive. it does lead down to the port area.

the El Corte Ingles deparmental store is really everywhere in spain. it’s overly popular, i fear for the lack of competition.

ok nvm about that. 2nd day we went to Park Guëll, a park on a hill designed by Gaudi himself. he designed the park. thankfully there were escalators towards the park, else we would have died on the stairs.

i was with these 4 other people, who left me out of the photo. why doesnt anyone ever take non-requested photos of me, bleh.

you might like the sagrada familia, the thingy on the left. this ridiculous piece of junk that’s perpetually under construction. well it might look nice in a certain way, and if you try to examine the details. but i think that it’s not very tastefully down, it’s too much stuff, it doesn’t stand out in a proper environment. the church, or whatever it is, sits in a crowded square with little free space around it, no great views of it, the whole area is a mess. and it’s gaudy. really. it’s not like the statue of liberty with the nice bay around it, the eiffel with the lovely seine and champs de mars and trocadero. something significant has to have a proper place, with a focus that brings it to attention.

yeah there’s lots and lots of gaudi in barcelona. in a certain way, tourist attractions in barcelona are largely gaudi. it’s nice, it’s special, but after awhile i started wondering where’s the rest of barcelona. gaudi is rather recent after all. so other than that we have the old quarter with the narrow streets and shops and cathedral. which is pretty and nice and shady to walk through. and lots of nice shops. great area. there are no great museums around, it prob doesnt fit the vibe of the city. there’s one small salvador dali place, but it din look too great for such an expensive admission price. and then there’s a gaudish museum in la pedrera. and after that you just keep eating paella and go to the beach and try to find good tapas. seriously good tapas-ish food is elusive. park guëll is a great place to sit around.

then there’s this great market just off La Rambla which sells fantastic foodstuff. like a complete piglet, candies, seafood, lots of cheap fruit. like 1 or 2 euros for 1 kg of strawberries or grapes. amazing.

ah yes then there was the olympic stadium and some fort on a hill. not worth the trouble. the plaza d’espana is decently pretty though. but yet again it is shrouded by surrouding ugly buildings and cannot be appreciated properly. this city needs more open spaces.

and then there was St Georges’ Day, where the women give men books and the men give women roses. why. because men appreciate books and women appreciate roses. whatever. the obvious stupid thing was that roses were selling for 8 euros each while books were going at 10% discount. the book will last longer in physical presence while the rose will last longer in mental presence. it’s all quite silly though. it’s not restricted to couples, btw.

and amazingly it was the day of the champions league semi final btwn barcelona and manchester united. watched it in a little cafe/bar cramped with locals. a real pity that it was a goaless draw. i was looking forward to some celebrations or riots on the streets.

rooftop of la pedrera

and another gaudish building on the street

i cant believe the rest of the ppl havent heard or seen paella. it’s so good. i din get to try a good inky one tho.

alright there are too many other pictures to post all here. you can look at them in the albums if you want.

lastly i must applaud their zealous train station which functions like an airport, it had many electronic noticeboards, ppl to guide you around, xray security, departure gate, suited up staff at the platform. prob only for overnight trains but hell it was insane for a train ride.

ah yes they speak catalan + spanish in the north of spain. and scarily the profs in the public universities can choose to teach in catalan or spanish. which means if you learn spanish and come to spain, you might still not understand anything. grr.