Barcelona

Met up with the gang at Centric Point Hostel in Barcelona (really good location.. recommended!) I was allocated a separate room by myself coz i made a separate booking. But no prob.. coz i was staying with 3 nice Canadian girls haha..

Went for Tapas dinner immediately..

Centric point was just 1 block away from one of Gaudi's works.. The Casa Batllo..

Barcelona Intro:
Barcelona is Gaudi city! Second largest city in Spain after Madrid. It hosted the 1992 Olympics.. Famous for the works of architect Antoni Gaudi and of course FC Barcelona =)

We spent quite a few days in Barcelona so this post is gonna be quite long.. Started of by taking a walk from Centric Point towards the harbour.. here's what we saw..

Placa Catalunya
A big square where people gather for various reasons.. more than 200000 people came here to see Barcelona beat Man U in the Champions League final (on big screens)!

Barcelona Cathedral

Kids choir outside the Cathedral

Ducks in the Cathedral?

Market along the way

Spices and Tea..

Cheese..

Barri Gothic

An old area of town.. really narrow streets lined with shops.. very local and lively =)

La Rambla

The main shopping area.. Tree lined pedestrian walkways.. super touristy stretch!

They sell animals along the street..

Many interesting buskers.. (too many to feature all of them!)

Give coins to take a photo with them..

Strolling down La Rambla..


Christopher Columbus statue..

I just had to..

Part of the team..

First of many zi pai group shots.. =)

Barcelona Harbour..

Taking a banana break..

Looney Tunes cruise ship..

Buoy asthetics

Shiny facade makes for a good photo opportunity..

These kids are all wearing "Messi 10".. future superstar in the making?

Unknown church along the way.. quiet and nice.. i like!

St Joseph's Market.. off La Rambla


The next day we signed up for the Gaudi Tour! This guy is basically a genius, even though his contemporaries probably felt that he was a nutcase!

Casa Battlo:
Located on Passeig de Gracia. A house that Gaudi restored for this Battlo guy haha. The name basically means House of Battlo.. Gaudi didn't just remodel it.. he made substantial changes to it. Adding a floor, changing both the interiors as well as the exterior. Much of the facade is decorated with broken ceramic arranged into a beautiful mosaic. There are no straight lines in this building.. imagine the rooms having no corners! Notice the bone like supports.. and dragon scale roof. Really striking building.. with a long queue outside as well!

Our Gaudi Tour guide..

La Sagrada Familia:
You can't consider yourself having been to Barcelona if you haven't seen the Sagrada Familia! Meaning the Temple of the Holy Family. Gaudi dedicated the last 15 years of his life to this project. This catholic church is massive.. and has been under contruction since 1882! They are trying to complete it by 2026 to coincide with Gaudi's 100th death anniversary.. =) It has 3 facades.. dedicated to the Birth, Passion and Glory of Christ respectively. After Gaudi's death, architects followed his plans and carried on

Check out Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia for more info!

What La Sagrada Familia is supposed to look like after it is completed!

This facade was done when Gaudi was around.. it looks like it's melting.. so different from the other facades by more recent architects!

Apparently, Gaudi was admiring the progress of the temple.. when he was knocked down by a tram.. he then died a few days later..

Walking along..

Overwhelming support!

Fernando Torres!

Hospital Sant Pau
Heard its really nice but we didn't go in!

Park Guell:
Initially meant to be a private housing estate, this garden complex has been made converted to a public park. Designed by Gaudi.. in fact, Gaudi's own residence is located within the park..

I didn't see Jack when i took the pic.. haha

Cast Iron works.. technique used on La Padrera (more details later!)

Ceramic Mosaic Techniques..

I'm not used to sandy parks haha..

The longest mosaic decorated benches in the world..

Doric Columns..

The Salamander.. the symbol of Barcelona!

A really interesting park featuring Gaudi techniques.. read more here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Guell

Cindy struts along haha..

T-10 card recommended for metro =)

Burger place recommended by Visa (Wei Sing's tutor)!

Heading towards the Olympic Stadium..

Olympic Stadium..

We spent a long long time amusing ourselves with multi shots.. but as u can see.. we suck at this.. haha guys.. pick your favourite!

We left for dinner.. Coming back for the Magic Fountain show later!

The place looks so different at night..

We were treated to a spectacular show.. a different one starts every 1/2 hr.. and we sat through like almost 2 hrs of it.. =)



Amigos para sempre!

Saw thousands of people running through the streets the next morning.. Barcelona Marathon!

I didn't talk about Casa Mila/La Padrera when talking about the Gaudi Tour coz i'm going to go a bit into detail here! We went back to Casa Mila, also known as La Padrera, and went in, instead of seeing it from outside =) It was really really worth it!

Casa Mila / La Padrera:
Gaudi built this place for a rich and flamboyant couple =) I'll talk about the details as i go along..

View from the exterior..

Gaudi drew much of his inspiration from nature. He observed the environment around him with great interest and in this project, he utilised Catenary Arches. He found this arch to be common in nature, adding strength and integrity to a structure. By doing so, he freed up space in the attic, and saved on material costs. The arch also serves to hold up the waving roof top.

Scale model of La Padrera..

By positioning a mirror on a surface and hanging chains or strings from above, he can get an inverted image of how the building will look like. The forms that take shape are thus the most stable and efficient..

He also designed many fittings and items of furniture within the building. These include chairs, beds, door nobs etc..

The most photographed chimneys in the world!

Do the chimneys look like helmets of knights? That is precisely his idea, that the soldiers keep watch and "protect"..

Water tanks, Chimneys and Ventilation vents are all functional and aesthetic at the same time..

Wei Sing just can't open her eyes when the sun shines.. i thought i'll join her.. =)

Security guard falling asleep..

We then took a tour of the interior of the building.. which shows how a typical house in this building would be furnished..

Atrium of Casa Mila

We decided to head to the beach since it was a Sunday.. as recommended by the hotel manager Marco.. (who was kinda freaky).. haha..

La Rambla (on the way to the beach)

Mosaic on the floor..

The weather was really hot.. after an ice cream and lots of walking we finally arrived at the beach! We're not really in beach wear la.. but we just decided to take a look =) And yes we saw many interesting things..

Sand Dog? With a plate for people to put coins..

This guy is only gonna get a sun burnt face..

We found a place to rest.. too much walking.. and Wei Sing fell asleep really soon!

Nguyen and I!

Cindy learning origami from Ri Hao (?!?)

This is the most interesting thing we saw at the beach.. Look at the old man wearing black swimming trunks on the extreme left. Now look closer.. is he really wearing trunks?? Haha.. he is actually totally NUDE! the trunks have been TATTOOed on.. gosh.. haha.. and his privates were hanging out in front obviously. And there an elephant face was tattooed.. his penis is the trunk.. How disturbing..

Barcelona is a really happening city.. lots of passion and energy =) Look out for your belongings though.. a group of people tried to block my way in the metro.. while this girl tried to slip her hand into my sling bag. Fortunately my bag was at my front. I "very lightly" brushed her hand away.. erm.. ok maybe not so light after all.. and shoved my way through the group. My first experience with a pickpocket! I'm just glad that nothing was lost on this trip haha..

Next destination: Athens!
Might have to wait quite a few days for the next post.. kinda tied up with stuff!