Barcelona Trip: Day 0.5-1
The weekend following my trip to Budapest I went to Barcelona. I was still sick then and boy I have to say it's not fun to go out when you're sick... But I booked everything weeks before so I had to go or all the money'd just go down the toilet... Good that it's nice a warm in Barcelona. I had to change planes in Munich and both of my flights were delayed because there was heavy fog at Munich airport, and I actually had to rebook my connecting flight. I was supposed to get to Barcelona in the early afternoon, but instead I got there in the late afternoon so I didn't have a chance to go sightsee in the first day... I was surprised I didn't puke on the plane though...
Barcelona is different from all of the cities that I've been to so far. Except for the old town everything's pretty modern, with wide boulevards and Modernist buildings. Some of the most famous ones were built by Gaudi.
A typical Barcelona street.
.
The hostel I stayed at. It has nice wooden floors, but my room's by the street so it's really noisy, the shower water doesn't stay hot and the breakfast is only toast and jam. And the cockroaches aren't so nice either...
the shower
The second morning I really had to make myself get out of bed... I was coughing all night so I didn't sleep well at all... But I was glad I went out and saw the city.
Casa Mila o "La Pedrera," one of the famous Modernist buildings by Gaudi.
.
Casa Terrades, "Casa de les Prunxes"
another Barcelona street lined with trees
Sagrada Familia temple, the unfinished masterpiece by Gaudi
Facade of nativity
portal of the rosary
ceilings of the temple
I climbed all the way to the top of the 75m tower even though I was sick... The staircase was very narrow so visitors could only go single file. I think we spent more time stopping then climbing... which was good I guess since I don't think I could have climbed to the top non-stop...
After I got to the top I was a little disappointed because the view isn't exactly spectacular... And there was no space for us to stop and look, and if we do we'd just hold up everybody behind us on the stairs
In the temple there was also a museum showing the models and plans for the temple
.
the passion facade
Torre Agbar, inspired by Gaudi and mountains of Montserrat
palm trees on the street!
Placa de Toros Monumental
Arc de Triomf
some building?
looking back on the arc from Passeig Lluis Companys
Natural History Museum
big beautiful fountain in Parc de Cascada
sculptures on the fountain
Parlament de Catalunya
some sculpture...
Placa Commercial at the edge of the Gothic Quarter
.
Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar
narrow streets in the Gothic quarter
Casa de la Ciutat (city hall)
Palau de la Generalitat
Barcelona Catedral (please use your imagination and pretend the scaffold's not there...)
entrance to the cathedral: a "donation" of 4 euros... -.-||
.
.
Casa de l'Ardiaca beside the cathedral. It was part of the Roman city wall
Placa de Ramon Berenguer el Gran
Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat
another street in barcelona with palm trees
La Merce
The promenade by Port Vell.
And here I might have possibly just narrowly escaped another incident... There weren't that many people on the promenade because it's not summer anymore and it was just after a heavy shower, and this guy came up to me and asked if he could share my umbrella. But the rain just happened to let off, so that's what I told him and closed my umbrella, but he kept on insisting following me even after I gave him hints to get lost by going and stopping off the path. And when he didn't get the hint and I asked him where he was going, he just said he was walking around because he's not working. That's when I really start to feel uneasy being followed by him and told him I'd rather walk alone, but he kept saying "oh I'm just your friend, blah blah blah." So that's when I told him that I don't know how he could be my friend if I don't even know him, and asked him to stop following me. After that I just walked away, and when I turned around to see if he was still following me, he was nowhere in sight.
Then I noticed a group of people in front of me kept turning and looking at me, and then they stopped to tell me that one guy try to rob one of them (I forgot to ask if it was the same guy), and that's exactly how he was approached too. They go up and be friendly and talk to you, and when nobody's looking, they pull a knife and tell you to give them your valuables or they'll cut your face! I don't know if that's what the guy was planning to do, but I was glad that I told him to go away. It's definitely safer to travel with a companion, especially if you're a female visible minority, and certainly try not to go where it is isolated... I learned this the hard way...
Port Vell
Some building by the promenade
Rambla de Mar
some building beside the port...
Maritime Museum
Monument a Colom
Reials Drassanes
some other building by the column
La Rambla
Placa Reial
buildings on La Rambla
.
Pla de la Boqueria, with a mosaic by Miro
I should have gone to Palau Guell, which is right by La Rambla, but I couldn't find it when I was there :S
Boqueria Market, a traditional market
inside the market with all the food
Palau de la Virreina
Iglesia de Belen, a Jesuit church
the best fake sculpture I've seen: the skeleton will move with the guy and rides its own bike! :P
Font de Canaletes: 19th century iron fountain
Placa Catalyunya, similar to St Peter's Square in the Vatican and the Etoile de Paris
.
.
a theatre close by
University of Barcelona
Another guy approached me near the university... He was asking me where the university concert was and said the people in the university didn't speak any English... which I thought was unlikely... And then he started chatting me up, like he completely forgot about going to the concert, which made me suspicious so I just said sorry I don't know and walked away... Do I look like an easy target or something? Why do weird guys keep coming up to me!?
Barcelona is different from all of the cities that I've been to so far. Except for the old town everything's pretty modern, with wide boulevards and Modernist buildings. Some of the most famous ones were built by Gaudi.
A typical Barcelona street.
.
The hostel I stayed at. It has nice wooden floors, but my room's by the street so it's really noisy, the shower water doesn't stay hot and the breakfast is only toast and jam. And the cockroaches aren't so nice either...
the shower
The second morning I really had to make myself get out of bed... I was coughing all night so I didn't sleep well at all... But I was glad I went out and saw the city.
Casa Mila o "La Pedrera," one of the famous Modernist buildings by Gaudi.
.
Casa Terrades, "Casa de les Prunxes"
another Barcelona street lined with trees
Sagrada Familia temple, the unfinished masterpiece by Gaudi
Facade of nativity
portal of the rosary
ceilings of the temple
I climbed all the way to the top of the 75m tower even though I was sick... The staircase was very narrow so visitors could only go single file. I think we spent more time stopping then climbing... which was good I guess since I don't think I could have climbed to the top non-stop...
After I got to the top I was a little disappointed because the view isn't exactly spectacular... And there was no space for us to stop and look, and if we do we'd just hold up everybody behind us on the stairs
In the temple there was also a museum showing the models and plans for the temple
.
the passion facade
Torre Agbar, inspired by Gaudi and mountains of Montserrat
palm trees on the street!
Placa de Toros Monumental
Arc de Triomf
some building?
looking back on the arc from Passeig Lluis Companys
Natural History Museum
big beautiful fountain in Parc de Cascada
sculptures on the fountain
Parlament de Catalunya
some sculpture...
Placa Commercial at the edge of the Gothic Quarter
.
Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar
narrow streets in the Gothic quarter
Casa de la Ciutat (city hall)
Palau de la Generalitat
Barcelona Catedral (please use your imagination and pretend the scaffold's not there...)
entrance to the cathedral: a "donation" of 4 euros... -.-||
.
.
Casa de l'Ardiaca beside the cathedral. It was part of the Roman city wall
Placa de Ramon Berenguer el Gran
Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat
another street in barcelona with palm trees
La Merce
The promenade by Port Vell.
And here I might have possibly just narrowly escaped another incident... There weren't that many people on the promenade because it's not summer anymore and it was just after a heavy shower, and this guy came up to me and asked if he could share my umbrella. But the rain just happened to let off, so that's what I told him and closed my umbrella, but he kept on insisting following me even after I gave him hints to get lost by going and stopping off the path. And when he didn't get the hint and I asked him where he was going, he just said he was walking around because he's not working. That's when I really start to feel uneasy being followed by him and told him I'd rather walk alone, but he kept saying "oh I'm just your friend, blah blah blah." So that's when I told him that I don't know how he could be my friend if I don't even know him, and asked him to stop following me. After that I just walked away, and when I turned around to see if he was still following me, he was nowhere in sight.
Then I noticed a group of people in front of me kept turning and looking at me, and then they stopped to tell me that one guy try to rob one of them (I forgot to ask if it was the same guy), and that's exactly how he was approached too. They go up and be friendly and talk to you, and when nobody's looking, they pull a knife and tell you to give them your valuables or they'll cut your face! I don't know if that's what the guy was planning to do, but I was glad that I told him to go away. It's definitely safer to travel with a companion, especially if you're a female visible minority, and certainly try not to go where it is isolated... I learned this the hard way...
Port Vell
Some building by the promenade
Rambla de Mar
some building beside the port...
Maritime Museum
Monument a Colom
Reials Drassanes
some other building by the column
La Rambla
Placa Reial
buildings on La Rambla
.
Pla de la Boqueria, with a mosaic by Miro
I should have gone to Palau Guell, which is right by La Rambla, but I couldn't find it when I was there :S
Boqueria Market, a traditional market
inside the market with all the food
Palau de la Virreina
Iglesia de Belen, a Jesuit church
the best fake sculpture I've seen: the skeleton will move with the guy and rides its own bike! :P
Font de Canaletes: 19th century iron fountain
Placa Catalyunya, similar to St Peter's Square in the Vatican and the Etoile de Paris
.
.
a theatre close by
University of Barcelona
Another guy approached me near the university... He was asking me where the university concert was and said the people in the university didn't speak any English... which I thought was unlikely... And then he started chatting me up, like he completely forgot about going to the concert, which made me suspicious so I just said sorry I don't know and walked away... Do I look like an easy target or something? Why do weird guys keep coming up to me!?
posted by Meowzilla at
4:33 PM
|
0 comments
