Tuesday 13 November 2007

The Land of Paella and Sangria

One of the perks in living in Europe is that you get to travel in any schengen country without the hassle of applying for a visa. This widened our options in choosing for a place to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. We wanted to go to a place where the weather is comfortably warm, where there will be a new culture to observe, a place that offers both scenic backdrop and colorful ethos all in one package. That is when we’ve decided to go to Barcelona.

I have to say, I love love love Barcelona, the weather was perfect at 25 degrees, the architecture was fascinating and the food was to die for. Upon arriving at the hotel late afternoon, we just dumped our bags on the closet and went straight right out. We immediately grabbed a map and inquired on how to get to Placa Catalunya – the center of Barcelona. After a 10 minute bus ride, we found ourselves at the center of a Les Rambles which was normally swarmed with people from different parts of the world from all walks of life. Les Rambles was filled with camera flashes from tourists clicking their hearts out to capture the spectacular display of souvenirs, flowers, exotic birds and above all street performers.

After allowing our eyes to feast on the tasteful display of a unique culture, we continued on to test for ourselves another aspect that Catalunya is famed for – their food. Having done a little bit of research before going to Barcelona, I have learned of this restaurant which is noted for their authentic Catalan dishes – the restaurant is called Les Quinze Nits. We decided to head for Placa Reial where the resto is located, we soon found out that Placa Reial not only nests one of the best restaurants in Barcelona, it is also very rich in history and aesthetic value. Finally we have been seated at the popular restaurant, and having only eaten a slice of toasted bread for breakfast to last the entire day, we devoured a pot of Paella Tinta Negra, a plate of Calamares and a slab of Grilled Pork in mushroom sauce. I can personally say that Catalan Cuisine is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. I think it’s their passion for food that makes their cuisine superb.

We devoted our next day to exploring the City, we went to Mt. Tribidabo which was absolutely breathtaking. We had to take a cable bus (it was bigger than a cable car and looked more like a bus thus I called it cable bus) going to the top of the mountain. We were greeted by a magnificent church upon reaching the mountain top and in front of the church was an amusement park! It was really lovely – we got a view of the entire city from there. The sight was really beyond words.

Our next stop was the infamous Sagrada Familia by Gaudi. This cathedral is one of the best woks, if not the best, of this genius architect. The intricate walls and the ambitious towers were all so exquisite. It was such a shame that Gaudi did’nt live to see the completion of his fine work. We went up to one of the towers through a lift (you have to pay €2 to have a lift take you at the top of the tower) from where the lift ends, we needed to climb a little bit more to be on the top most part of the tower. It was going down the tower that was tricky. We had 2 options, we can go down through the lift again or go down the stairs – of course we choose the stairs. It was during our trip down the tower that made me realize how this great work could literally take your breath away and leave your knees shaking. We had to go down through a spiral staircase from the top of the tower down to the bottom. The stairs were so damn narrow and when I peaked on the center, I could see how further down the bottom was. I had to cling on to the steel bars at side of the stairs for my dear life. I was plainly out of breath and my knees were wobbling upon reaching the ground floor.


The next day we visited more of Gaudi’s work like the Park Guell, the Gaudi Museum (which was formerly Gaudi’s home) and a couple of other works left by Gaudi which were all painstakingly beautiful.

On our last night before going for dinner, we just sat at the fountain in the center of Placa Reial taking in the rare splendor of this small plaza. Honey and I just sat there having a final look around while feeling that we have made the right choice of spending this special occasion in this exquisite paradise. It would be hard to leave Barcelona in the morning but this place has definitely added more magnitude to an already treasured occasion.

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