Barcelona... the Mediterranean Exotica

De Dos Dias - Day Two

With some three hours of sleep and half open eyes, out of the bed to the Passeig de Gràcia metro station, a ten pass ticket(money saver of the hour) for the three of us and right under the nose of the much celebrated icon of Barcelona, the La Sagrada Familia!

La Sagrada Familia

It was just 8 o' clock and people had begun to queue up already. We were just in time as we saw that in minutes, the length of the queue almost covered one quarter of the cathedral's circumference. We got an option to buy tickets for both La Sagrada and Park Guell (where Antoni Gaudi's home was). For the people who are wondering who Gaudi is, in the late nineteenth century, he took over the construction of this spellbinding cathedral . It's construction started in 1882 and is expected to take another 14 years to complete(time enough for a vacation with kids?). One look at this piece of modern art will make you realize the spirit of nature engraved in the form of reptiles, amphibians, orange fruits, honey comb structures and what not amid the carved out tales from the Bible. The Glory facade welcomes you with a bronze doorway and the crucified Christ staring down at you from up there. 

The crucified Christ

Once you enter, don't be surprised to find a forest inside, with the Messiah hanging under the branches of stone trees and the light streaming through the stained-glass windows giving a dramatic touch. After spending some time there and absorbing the truth of how much effort has gone into its making, we took a lift to the top of the Cathedral. The view of the cathedral tower works from there and Torre Aghbar gherkin far away was just amazing.

Bird's eye view of Barcelona from the top of the cathedral

Coming down by the spiral staircase was close to a dungeon escapade act though(yes, exaggerated!). After trying to decipher few more tales of the Bible from the carvings, we decided to hit a resto for hunger relief. Alas, the 'Farggi' brunch was far from pleasing to the taste buds. It was time for metro to Park Guell. As a wayfarer, asking around in broken Spanish+Catalan and traversing steep hill roads in the scorching heat, we reached a place with escalators in the middle of the road to take one uphill to the park.The odds of finding something like that then, but much relief, I tell you! Digging into a cup of ice-cream, we went climbing up the cacti clad rocks, a few more steps and wonder, did we just enter some Mediterranean heaven! There it was, the La Sagrada standing tall in all it's glory, far away. After walking down a winding road flanked with palm trees, we came across a chamber; the stone sculpture trees have almost grown roots in the soil such that surrealism mingles with mundanity.

Rooted to earth

It was a sort of Ayn Randism in architecture, a lot similar to her conceptualisation (ref: The Fountainhead-pardon me, I can't remember the lines!). Added to the magical charm of this wonderland is the music streaming down your ears with it's tint of Arabic influence. It flows effortlessly, echoing the beauty of an ethereal past.

And it flows effortlessly.. music echoing the beauty of an ethereal past!

Along a florid path, trailing past a long serpentine bench and the very famous trencadis dragon, we found our way to Gaudi's home.Park Guell was stunning in its own way and was by far the best in Barcelona, even better than La Sagrada, I would say.After the midday detour, we caught the metro back to La Rambla, our pit stop of every journey. The long trek up and down Park Guell did tire us and we took a bit of rest. Afterwards we sauntered along Passeig de Gràcia, in search of Casa Batllo, a reminiscent of Gaudi masterpieces.

The florid pathway.. Park Guell

Antoni Gaudi's home

After a slight splurge at 'Mango', it was time for some Tapas hunting. Oh and be warned that the waiter of a resto might drive you away if you are looking for a vegetarian paella. :P Finally, we ended up in a restaurant named Divinus, gorging on some excellent assortment of sea food tapas and paella(yes, don't ask me what all I had - clams, lobsters, squids, prawns and baby squids with eyes popping out :O).

Sea food tapas .. at Divinus

The splendid ambiance and Messi's striking goals for FC Barcelona just pepped up our moods and later we stumbled on to a full moon night. :)

P.S: The tan has got off.. but day three and four.. yet to be blogged!

Barcelona... the Mediterranean Exotica

Dia Uno - Day One

The first sight of Barcelona from the air…aanh the fun yet to begin. The bus from airport took us to Plaza Catalunya(where our hotel was). Well, the sights enroute would make you rethink if you are still in Europe or one of those middle east countries. Much to our delight, we found the hotel right in the middle of the city and it just got better when we were welcomed by a sexy Spanish guy(*wink*) who was the receptionist. The view from our hotel room gave a whiff of what was in store for us. Through the window, we could see the buildings standing as a testimony to the rich old times. Even though we were up on the fourth floor room, we could sense the laughter of a happy hen party that was going on under an olive tree in the hotel’s resto.

A happy hen party... Hotel Olivia Plaza

Shadows of Las Rambla

 There was no time to waste as the sun was already on the other side, but the evening was still as bright as a sunny afternoon in London. To the left of the hotel, next to the Hard Rock Café, we took a stroll to the famous Las Rambla. Originally a watercourse, this promenade comfortably shadowed under a long line of trees is now flanked with two traffic lanes and gothic style buildings on either side.

Don’t get trampled by a gush of crowd while rambling down Las Rambla, especially if you are lost in the view finder of your camera.. gasping at the beauty of art in the simplest things in life. Walking past a host of hawkers, human statues, kiosks and ‘ocellaires’(bird-keepers), we found the entrance of Mercat De La Boqueria.

Mercat de la Boqueria

 It was one of the most bustling markets that I have ever seen; you name it you’ll find it - ranging from an umpteen variety of Spanish sweets, wild mushrooms, fruits and vegetables to crabs, fishes, lobsters and meat. The sight of so much food made our stomachs grumble and we went out of the market in search of some gastronomic delight. Our eyes followed the crowd and it took us to a beautiful Mediterranean flair square, Plaça Reial; it was a serendipitous discovery, not once but twice(the reason will follow on a later note).

Plaça Reial

The restaurant kiosks there were brimming with people and for one particular restaurant, ‘Les Quinze Nits’, there was even a long queue. Well, we fell in line to discover that this resto was one of those Lonely Planet recommended ones.  Dining there on baked salmon with pumpkin and a bottle of Ermita wine was a fitting ending to the first episode in Barcelona.