Black Madonna

22nd September 2018

TC decided last night that we would spend today at Monserrat.  Monserrat is part of a multi-peaked mountain range and it houses the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Monserrat, which hosts the Virgin Mary of Monserrat.

While we were waiting around at the station, I asked Michelle (who had been on the East Europe tour with mum and WT), how she felt about organised tours vs our current DIY tour.  She said they are completely different activities.  Organised tours are easy of course as far as sightseeing goes when you have no local knowledge.  DIY is preferred if you have at least one team member who has good navigation and planning skills.  The pace is also more relaxed and you can stop and smell and drink the coffee. And more shopping time, of course! However, the most important criterion to a successful DIY trip is the compatibility of personalities within the group.

The R5 railway took us there in 61 minutes.  After a 30 minute queue, the cable car cabled us up in 5 minutes.  According to the sign at the cable car station, the peak was 1,200m.  The other way up was by funicular, its like a short train except slanted.

The very solid rock formations were well weathered and smooth.   You can see all types of shapes and faces.  Like Homer Simpson tummies and Easter Island faces.

While the others were taking pictures, mum and I joined the cable car queue and we went up first. There were no seats, so everybody stood when inside.

The little cable cars took about 20 people so after 2 cars the rest joined us.

A short walk and the Basilica came into view.

Then I was sent off to the information centre to:

• Get a map
• Locate the toilets
• And I forget this 3rd request which I forgot to ask..... received aiiiya! feedback 

We spotted a long queue at the concourse and immediately joined.  We thought this might be the queue for the famed boys choir.  

The young exchange student ladies in front told us there was no choir on Saturdays.  And the queue was for viewing the black Madonna.  We queued for 1.5 hours, so we got chatting with the students.  They were 2 Hungarians, 1 Austrian and 1 Brazilian.  The exchange programme was at University of Vic, a city an hour or two north of Barcelona.

Queuing.

And then there was light. 

And we saw and touched her.

Soon we were out.  Water bottles were filled from the holy tap, where we assumed the water was blessed every morning and therefore holy.

And we wandered around the concourse a bit more taking in the views.

Fake disapproval photos were sent to the friends who recommended this place.

Lunch was ham and cheese baguette.  

Monserrat is a lovely place with plenty of walkways to various scenic sites and spectacular views.  

Returning to earth on the cable car.

I received a request to go shopping.  As we were taking the R5 train to Placa Espanya anyway, we went above ground to Las Arenas shopping mall, which is the circular structure on the left.  Things and food were bought.

 

The view from the top floor was 360 degrees and towards the MNAC museum on the hill it looked like...

23rd September 2018

We were invited to lunch by my late god mother's daughter Tai Mooi and her husband Josep today.  Meeting place was the Liceu Theatre on La Rambla.

The Merce festival was on this weekend. I think this is for the patron saint of Barcelona and Monday is a public holiday.  There were a lot of activities going on in the plaza like concerts and exhibitions.

After a bit of meandering on the the way, we meet up with Tai Mooi and Josep at Liceu Theatre.  After introductions and warm greetings, we made our way thru the Gothic quarter to the El Gran Cafe Restaurant.  They serve traditional Catalunyan food here which is what we had.  Josep choose an excellent local red, the Nomes Garnatxa Negra made in the Emporda region on Costa Brava.  Garnatxa is Grenache. 

We ate tomato and olive infused baguette, cured meat platters, croquets, omelettes, pork sausages and beans, pork knuckles, beef and mushroom, marinated fish and creme brûlée.  It was a feast.

Tai Mooi is from KL and Josep is a Barcelona native.  It was great catching up with them, and WT cleared up a mystery that only a local can know.

 As in many European cities, rubbish is sorted and put in these bins, which are collected by magnetic cranes on the street.  They are everywhere and usually only metres from your apartment.  We could figure out the paper bin, glass, organics and plastic.  But there is still a whole bunch of left over general non-recycling-classifiable stuff to go somewhere.  But where?

Tai Mooi cleared that up.  General rubbish goes into the R - reject bins.  

Soon lunch was over, and the restaurant started filling up with patrons on normal Catalan lunch time.

We bid Tai Mooi and Josep a warm farewell, as we enjoyed their warm Catalunyan hospitality.

We hung around the Gothic quarter after lunch to wander the narrow alleys that occasionally bursts into large piazzas with outdoor cafes, fountains, statues and playgrounds. 

Shops were shopped at, and some shops were more interesting than others.

We carried on home but TC who peeled off from us earlier stayed on for the festivities in the Plaza.

TC's Merce

After leaving the others to their own devices, I ventured into the Gothic Quarter, which is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. I wandered around the labyrinth streets  where many small streets open out into squares, exploring the area.

After a relaxing cup of coffee at one of the squares in the shade, I headed back to the Plaça de Catalunya, a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be its city centre. The Mercè Festival 2018 was in full swing there. It is Barcelona's biggest festival of the year and is also known as La festa major de Barcelona, and a public holiday on 24th September for Barcelona only.

At the Plaça, there was an air of festivity with swarms of people thronging in between the stages and tents, and crowds watching the performances at the various stages on the warm, balmy evening. I caught a flamenco dance performance, having managed to squeeze through the crowd, and was very tempted to stay on longer to see what was on offer at the other stages. However my tummy was starting to growl and the thought of Michelle's yummy dinner meals and nightly (yes, nightly!) delicious soups managed to extract me from the festivities to catch the bus back to satiate the hunger pangs that grew with each minute on the bus journey back to our Airbnb accommodation.

Barcelona Bus Turistic

19th September 2018

Michelle, WT and TC decided to go for a walk before dinner this evening to the Bunkers Del Carmel lookout near our apartment.  Clearly a coveted spot for a fabulous view of sunset over the city.  TC enticed the girls to take the hike up the hill, saying the sunset was beautiful as he had done the trip up the night before.  The girls expected a glorious globe sinking behind the hills but were disappointed on that score. 

However, the magnificent 360 degree panoramic view of the lights of the city was well worth the effort.

I stayed back at the apartment with mum to ensure that beverages were maintained at the right temperature for dinner.

20th September 2018

We start our 2-day Barcelona Bus Turistic tour.  This is a hop on/off bus with an open roof that travels most of Barcelona on 3 routes (Red Green and Blue).

We walked thru Parc Guell to the bus stop there to catch one of those.  We arrived at the location indicated on the map but no bus stop.  Some locals were asked and we were sent in the general direction of the bus.  Eventually we spotted one bus and worked backwards to the bus stop.

Pictures taken from the roof top seats had weird angles.  Most of the significant landmarks were covered by the 3 routes.

This tour is well worth doing if you are new to Barcelona.  It helps to orientate the city when you read location maps later, and the audio guide on-board offers information on the landmarks and advice generally as well.

Interesting sites can be noted for a later visit on foot.  The 2-day pass allows for doing the loops again with more "hop offs" for a closer look.

It was super warm on top, but breezy due to the open roof.  We experienced cognitive dissonance from the conflicts of keeping hats on for shade and the risks of losing them in the wind.  As you can see there were a number of resolutions to this conflict.  The free wifi on board was far superior to that at our Airbnb, so Michelle took the opportunity to conduct business enroute.

It was difficult to pay attention or get good shots of the various Gaudi buildings when the bus was moving - my good shots are limited to those when the bus stopped at the lights.

The start of La Rambla.

Went past Casa Batllo, which will be revisited on foot later today.

And of course THE La Sagrada Familia to which everyone is booked for a 6.30 pm entry this evening except me.  Saw it last time with Marcus.

The bus completed the Blue route, and we hopped off for a closer look at Casa Batllo from the outside.  

Then on to Vodafone, Michelle needed  a local sim and I needed a top-up.  Netflix was left running on my Spain prepaid last night, so the 10GB I had was gone.

Hunger pangs struck and we stopped at Cafe Lola's sidewalk tables (they have in-doors as well) for some lunch of tapas, paella and beer.

I thought Michelle and I could go around the corner to Vodafone while we waited for lunch to be served.  I got up and reached for my satchel hanging off the back of my seat and it was gone!



We were shocked and amazed at the same time.  We could only recall the waiter being around to take our orders, and the satchel was stolen from right under our noses.  A mystery that will puzzle us for 24 hours.

I told the waiter and he unhelpfully suggested I ring 112 and to be careful with our bags.  The next table also said they didn't see anyone take the bag.  I lost a water bottle, my regular glasses and the spare camera battery.

The jug of beer arrived first and helped calm me down.  The second glass followed pretty quickly and calmed me down further and eventually I was very calm.

WT insisted that we replaced the glasses immediately and we followed her into a nearby optician where a pair of Mont Blanc frame was chosen and prescription made for collection next day.  Luckily, I'd had my eyes tested recently so my prescription was up to date.  For a branded and quality frame I thought the cost was a reasonable - 230 euros plus 90 for the lens, 320 all up.

Then it was on to Vodafone where we both bought the 15 euro prepaid plan with 7GB of data and unlimited everything else.  This is valid for 30 days.

After all that excitement and errands, it was time to relax at the bus stop waiting for the Red Loop bus at Placa Catalunya.





The Red Loop route covered the west side of the city including Barca FC stadium and Olympic stadium where Barcelona hosted the summer Olympics in 1992.  After going thru the Barceloneta port, we were back at Placa Catalunya in 1 hour 45 mins.


Michelle and my mum decided that they were tired and had too much sun, and will not be visiting La Sagrada.  We took the 24 bus back to Carmel while WT and TC carried on as planned to La Sagrada.

They hopped back on the Blue Loop bus which took them there (and saved on one regular metro fare).  What to do with the 2 spare tickets?  

TC/WT ticket story here.
We wondered how we could scalp the tickets and make a killing as tickets had to be booked well in advance to guarantee entry.  However, in deference to the spiritual context of this expedition, we decided that face value was fair.  TC approached a couple from Guatemala who had been turned away at the ticket counter after attempting to purchase tickets.  They had flown in yesterday and La Sagrada was top of the list of must-do for them. They were hugely disappointed when told that the next available tickets were for Tuesday - 4 days away - and they were departing on Monday.  Staunch Catholics, they said there was no point visiting Barcalona if they couldn't get in to see the Sagrada. They gave thanks for this Godsend intervention and remarked that God sent us to them. We reckoned that they would have paid any amount for the tickets, in retrospect!

The tickets are for a self-guided tour which can include a 7 euro audio guide.  Aside from the spectacular church itself, there is a museum in the basement that is easy to overlook.  The museum presents the back story of Gaudi's process and challenges in building the church, which is still on-going.  See the cranes?

 And we enjoyed yet another wonderful Michelle dinner. We have been thoroughly spoiled by our residential gourmet chef.  Michelle can whip up a delicious dinner despite a full day of hard work sightseeing.  Soup every night was a real treat.

21st  September 2018

It was a 11 am start today due to laundry, blog editing and a general lack of motivation.  I had to submit my draft for review by TC and WT because apparently there were unintentional typos, grammatical errors and my spelling of somebody's name wrong.  

I won't mention names here, to protect the guilty, but it is more common and correct to spell Teck Teck instead of Teik and also Brian should be spelt Brian instead of Bryan.  From now on, I will insist that I am Jet (the non kung fu model).

We took the metro to Port Olimpica to catch the Green Route bus on our 2nd day on Bus Turistic.  This route is a short one - 35 mins covering Casino side of the beach Mare Bella.

It was the beggar I said to the others on the metro.  She was an Arab type person with long flowing robes.  When she came between WT and I at the table, she must have just smoothly slipped the bag off the chair into her robes.  There was general murmuring of agreement and advice was freely offered on how this could be avoided next time.

We hopped off at the Forum stop where Diagonal Mall was located.  The girls spent about 2 hours in 2 shops in total and we bought lunch from the supermarket.  

M&M and Twix drinks

Then it was back on the bus and TC wanted to look at the beach, and Mediterranean again so we hopped off soon after.

Part of the beach was nude, but you must be between these signs.  Take a close look at the stick figures especially the boys.

JAKIM could send their people here for training.  Lots of haram targets.  And why are these guys smiling?

Then it was time to collect my glasses ordered yesterday, check out the Mt Blanc snow tips.  We then enjoyed another Michelle special meal for dinner.

Back to Barcelona

18th Sept. 2018

WT, Michelle and my mum had already spent the last 10 days on a coach tour of east European cities of Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest  (but they like to be called central Europe - east is like Russia, Ukraine, Romania etc).  They will be flying from Budapest to Barcelona today.

Teik Cheong (TC) and I are flying directly to Barcelona to meet them.  The Qatar female steward was impressed by my command of Spanish based on the two words I used, gracias and adios.  I was going to use Arabic as well but could not tell the Arabs from the Spaniards.  

We arrived in the morning to check into the Air BnB while the girls' party will be later in the evening around 10pm - which is the start of Catalan dinner time.  I will be cooking because I think no one will want to eat out after a full day of touring in Hungary and then flying to Spain.

I have already fielded domestic questions such as "is there detergent at the Air BnB, and if not can you buy some".  I am suspecting some people have 10 days of laundry to do.

The apartment is in the El Carmel district and our metro on L5 was El Carmel!  I introduced myself to Antoinette, the building supervisor whose acquaintance may become useful.

First order of business was to buy provisions.  It took us 2 attempts, buying dinner and forgetting about breakfast and going out again to buy breakfast provisions.

Unlike the Qatar steward, the shop assistants here ignored my Spanish and signed instead, like "do you want a bag or not", and "are you eating here?". 

The girls got dropped off at the wrong street number, so I had yell at them from the balcony, to come to the right apartment.  Dinner was tomato rice with prawns and salad.  Now we can start our adventure!

19th September 2018

Knowing that WT was going to sleep in (due to hints dropped at dinner last night), I  was up at 6 and went for a walk to Parc Guell.  The Parc was 15 mins from the apartment, and I found out later that I saved 8.50 euros.  At that hour the Spanish government was still asleep (comment deleted - sorry, private joke between me and WT - well I hope she thinks so too) and there were no officials to collect entry fees from me and all the local joggers.  So I got to see all the Gaudi buildings, bridges and steps, and also great photo ops because there was no one around.

I was back by 8 am and had breakfast with mum.  WT was not out of her bedroom till 10 am, by which time TC had decided to go for walk in the Parc.  Directions were misinterpreted and he added a 15 mins uphill detour to his itinerary.  The refreshing morning shower he had was completely wasted in the 26C morning heat.

After three breakfast sittings between the 5 of us, we were ready.  TC was waiting for us by the Gaudi Museum.  It took 30 mins to meet TC because I missed a turn of short cut steps, the tourists were out in force and Michelle and WT stopped to haggle with some of the vendors lining the paths.

By this time the Barcelona Tourist department was out in action, and barriers were set up to collect that 8.50 euro I saved earlier.  Now that we know, WT said she will come earlier another time for the free entry.  What could go wrong with that idea!

We walked 1.2km to the nearest metro Lesseps where I purchase 5 ten trip metro/bus passes for us.  Mum was the last to go thru the gates, and she couldn't figure out where to stick in her ticket.  We were yelling instructions from the other side of the ticket machine, while the queue built up behind her.

The metro took us to Placa Catalunya where I purchased the Hop On bus, Bus Turistic Barcelona and the Sagrada tickets from the tourist info centre at the Plaza.  The others gave the shop there a thorough examination but acquired nothing.   As it was 1 by this time, I asked for the bus tickets to be activated on the 20th, tomorrow, to take advantage of the full days usage.

Then we walked towards La Rambla.  T-shirts were looked at Hard Rock but a request to stay for a beer was declined.

Marilyn Monroe is in the balcony window behind on La Rambla under the banner "Erotic".  WT spotted this exotic pepper plant seed.  Hmm might have to fill up with "yong tau foo" to stiffen it a bit.
                                                                                                                                                 

It was well into lunch time and we acquired some tapas and meat rolls at the open mecardo.

Alien was at the end of the street, just before we entered Barceloneta.

We walked Rambla de la Mar towards the Maremagnum shopping mall for a place to eat our bought lunch and toilet stops.

And emerged feeling like the Right Stuff.  I thought the 1MDB yacht Equanimity was moored here but it turned out to be something else.

After some bargaining and purchases.....

we got to Barceloneta beach.  Plenty of bathers with skateboarders and bikes zooming past us on the boardwalk.  There was even some nudity but my zoom is not long enough.

By this time 4pm, the stops to rest our feet were getting more frequent, and perceptions of distances were getting longer.  Time to go home and buy some supplies for Michelle to cook us pork soup dinner.  Yum.

For TC and I, this was day 2, but our bodies feel like it's been thru a lot more.  Tomorrow will be a Hop On/Off bus day, so we will be exercising our butt cheeks instead.