My trip to Barcelona, SPAIN

I travelled to Spain and Portugal recently. My itinerary was Barcelona-Madrid-Lisbon-Porto before returning to London. The London Stansted airport was absolutely packed due to the Christmas holidays rush and the security checks further exacerbated the situation. I flew on Ryan Air, the no-frills airline that is never on-time. I would not fly with them again if there is a better deal elsewhere. We were delayed for 1 hour to Girona (Barcelona).

I love Spain even though I could hardly understand a word of Spanish! This place is gorgeous. It has a spacious feeling and the sun, ooo I love the sun here, it gives me hope that there is still place in this world other than Malaysia with lots of sun. It wasn't warm though and I am glad I brought enough warm clothings. The building above is the La Sagrada Familia. It is the most famous incomplete Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed and built by Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi started constructing it in 1880. It is still not finished till today after so many years. After Gaudi died in 1926 there were many talks about whether or not construction should continue or be left as it is. But then, it made more sense to finish the building rather than leaving it as a white elephant and a potential eye sore to the city. Within that period to now, several architects to the project have been changed.

Above is La Rambla, the most famous shopping street in Barcelona. Most hotels and shops are located or try to locate along this strip because it is the central part of the city.

And what the...

Above is another masterpiece by Antoni Gaudi called the Casa Batllo. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (house of bones), and indeed it does have a skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

The landmark of Barcelona, Mirador de Colom or Columbus Monument

This is the "yau char kwai" of Spain called Churros. Instead of dipping it in teh tarik, it is dipped in thick chocolate. That's why it's called Chocolate con Churros which literally means "Chocolate with Churros"; simple. You bet after a cup of this, you'd be down with constipation for a week! Haha...The La Boqueria is the market or I'd call it a pasar, smacked in the middle of La Rambla, which makes it the most central pasar or you may say the most "expensive"/ "high class" pasar in Barcelona. We chilled out in this place and tasted some fruits. Prices here are so much cheaper than in the UK despite its location.

The must-eat, must-try seafood Paella which is a famous local dish. I still remember my first encounter of Paella was in Kota Kemuning's family day. After that day, I told myself never to eat Paella anymore unless someone puts a gun to my head. But this one definitely redeemed its respected image of what a Paella should be...

The beautiful night scene of Plaza de Catalunya, central Barcelona.

L to R: KY, Aeni, Me, Sue Anne and Fairuz

O, guess what a coincidence! I was travelling with KY in this trip but met up with Aeni, Fairuz and Sue Anne in Barcelona...it's such a rare occasion to have three different groups of travellers, who did not plan to come to Spain together, but ended up meeting with each other. We had the seafood Paella together. Sue Anne joined later. The probability of meeting a Malaysian in this trip is already rare; and I met three Malaysian Chevening scholars....amazing....