England - Day 1

Back to posting about our Europe trip in the Spring...

As you may recall, we were in Barcelona over Easter (where we met my sister, Mr. Sister) for a long weekend.  From there, it was off to England:

We left Barcelona on Tuesday, 4/10. Our flight departed at noon, so we had a somewhat leisurely morning to sleep in a bit, get Starbucks and hop on the Aerobus to get back to BCN airport.  Both my sister and I were looking forward to the airport because shopping had been lousy in Barcelona.  Due to Good Friday, Easter Sunday and general store closures on Monday, we never really had a good opportunity to shop.

Well, we got screwed. We were flying British Airways to Heathrow and were assigned to sad Gate G. Why sad? Because there were NO stores or shops besides McDonalds, vending machines and two convenient stores with alcohol, makeup and magazines (and btw, American style gossip magazines are ridiculously overpriced there; equal to about $8 USD). You might there that doesn't sound so bad; but we were starving and wanted to shop.  Looking over the balcony (where all of the over gates were), revealed a mini-mall.  Complete with Desigual and Starbucks.  Trust me, you would be disappointed in Gate G too.  I had few options so I gave in and ate a McDonald's cheeseburger, for the first time in years.  To be more accurate, probably in a decade. BUT, I will amidst that I was so hungry, it tasted damn good.

Thus, the moral of the story is, if you find yourself flying out of Gate G at BCN; I will know your pain and frustration.

 

We landed at Heathrow around 2:30pm and entered hell. Seriously.  Customs are Heathrow was terrible; a huge PITA.  Essentially after getting off the plane and physically getting into Heathrow, we walked about 10 feet and the line for Customs started.

 

My sister took a number of trips while living in the UK and had forewarned us that we'd probably spend at least an hour in line, but even she was baffled by how long the line was.  At one point, we were standing by some elevators and a flight crew got off. Their jaws dropped when they saw the line.  That's how long it was.

 

Two hours later (about the same amount of time as the length of our flight), we were cleared and off to catch the bus.

 

Mr. Sister lived in Reading, UK, which is outside of London.  It is a small town. I don't know why you'd ever want to visit there unless you lived there or were visiting someone living there.  I doubt any of you readers will ever go there. Nonetheless, I will still blog about it for my memory's sake.

 

So, Reading (it's pronounced RED-ing, not REEDing, like I mistakenly called it several times prior to our trip.  However, one of the bookstores sold "I <3 Reading" totes and I contemplated getting one to look like a book nerd); we took the Rail Air bus from Heathrow directly to Reading's train station (about 30 minutes ride; the bus had Wifi).

 

After a 10 minutes walk to Mr's apartment to drop off luggage, we were officially starving (that dang McD's didn't tide us over well).  We went to Zero Degrees, a microbrew pizzeria, for dinner.  The beer was good, but the food was better. I scared down an entire pizza AND dessert.

 

From there we went back to the apartment.  Mr had to return to work the next day and we wanted to settle into our "home" for the next 5 nights.

 

 

Barcelona - Day 4

Monday, 4/9
 
Monday was our last full day in Barcelona and we still hadn’t hit up either of the Gaudi houses; Casa Mila/La Pedrera and Casa Batllo.  We had previously discussed that at 16-18EU/person, we were only going to visit one of the houses.  I’d tried to read up, prior to the trip, which was “better” and the general consensus had seemed to be La Pedrera. Thus, we planned on going there, but first, we got breakfast at our favorite spot around the corner: Creperia Del Mar. 

It was an adorable shop that had a few different stations (crepes/waffles, gelato, coffee, etc).  You order what you want at each station and what you’ve ordered is “loaded” on to a card.  When you’re reading to leave, you go to the cashier, who scans your card and then tells you what you owe.

After breakfast we walked to La Pedrera. 

It was an overcast Monday morning around 10:30 or so and the line was fairly long; but, we thought it was worth it so we waited the 45 minutes it took to get in.  Once inside we followed the stairs and eventually emerged to the rooftop “chimney garden”.  Being in Mechanical Engineering, it was interesting to see this twist on venting/chimneys, but ultimately the three of us were a bit let down.  It wasn’t nearly as colorful or amusing as we’d expected. 



Looking into the courtyard from the roof

Leaving the rooftop, we toured a space with the history behind the building, as well as Gaudi and his designs.  A portion of this “museum” was dedicated to the history and research that went into building Sagrada Familia (which was interesting since we’d visited there already.  I can see why some books suggested touring La Pedrera prior to visiting Sagrada Familia, although I don’t think it’s entirely necessary).  Next toured the apartment of Mila.  While the lower portions of the building are privately owned and occupied, Mila’s apartment is more or less a museum to tour through.

After leaving La Pedrera, we intended on going to the Born or Gothic area for lunch. On our way, we walked by Casa Batllo and saw that there was no line.  Earlier in the day on our way to Casa Mila, there’s been a block long line.  Since we weren’t overly impressed with Mila and because we were in Barcelona, we figured what the hell, why not take this tour also. 

Case Batllo
(With the "fish" scales)

SO glad we didn’t; hands down, we all enjoyed this much more than La Pedrera. Admission, 18.15 EU/adult, includes an audio guide.  Throughout the house there are locations with assigned audio commentary.  Essentially, you can tour the whole house at your own pace hearing the information and background about each room.  I definitely recommend visiting Batllo; the architecture, the details, the colors, it’s really spectacular!

We headed back on our original plan and went to Gotic area for lunch.  We had our second “get up and leave” experience at an Italian restaurant, La Perla Nera (Via Laietana, 32).  It looked nice from the outside, but once seated inside, the cups were dirty, the menu wasn’t appetizing, etc.  Poor Ben; dealing with me hungry is rough enough and add in my over-the-top opinionated sister and you’re bound to need a few drinks to get through this duo at mealtime.  Lucky for Ben, drinks were found quickly at the nearby Irish pub, Dunnes.  The staff was friendly and the food was delicious.  Just the change we needed.

However, the drinks didn’t seem to be enough for Ben so after lunch we parted.  He headed to the L’Aquarium while my sister and I explored more of the Gothic and Ravel neighbhorhoods. For anyone considering touring the aquarium, Ben was really disappointed. He was excited to see sharks.  While there were some there, he paid 18 EU to get in and spent less than an hour there.  Perhaps he’s too spoiled with having Shedd Aquarium at his fingertips?

In early evening, our YouStylish apartment rental representative stopped by to check us out and give us back our deposit so that we could leave whenever needed the next morning to catch our flight.

For our last meal in Barcelona, we decided to play up being tourists and eat on Las Ramblas.  After eyeing a few menus, we agreed on The Attic.  We’d thought we were going to be able to get on the rooftop bar; but it turned out that was for drinking only, so we were seated inside.  The food was good, not outstanding, but the restaurant itself was hip and trendy, which we enjoyed. We also learned that La Botiga, from the night before, was owned by the same parent company.

After dinner, we debating trying to find a club, but none of us are really into the club scene (even in a foreign country), so instead we headed to Scobies pub to watch the end of a soccer/football match before calling it a night.

 

Barcelona - Day 1

Barcelona - Day 2

Barcelona - Day 3

Barcelona - Day 3

Sunday, 4/8
Sunday was Easter Sunday.  Being a Sunday, and Easter (especially in a Catholic dominant country/city), we anticipated a lot of stores and sites to be closed.  Because of this, we opted for a leisurely day without any true plans.

We strolled Las Ramblas and stopped at side streets along the way for the multiple plazas, churches and sites of interest indicated by our Lonely Planet map.

 Unfortunately, La Boqueria, the huge covered market off Las Ramblas, was closed. Based on the research I did, I think I would have loved it, but it was never open during our trip when we passed by (Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Monday). I wish we would have had the opportunity to shop and eat there

 

We walked down Las Ramblas all the way to the water’s edge, which has a port, view of Montjuic park (and a cable car ride to get there), as well as Mare Magnum, a shopping complex full of stores and restaurants. We strolled along the edge and looked for a place to eat.  Essentially all of the places specialized in seafood, but that wasn’t calling our name, so we walked towards the Born neighbhorhood in search of something to eat.

Cable ride to Montjuic

Mare Magnum

One of the travel boards I frequented had raved about a place called Bobo for its chocolate cake in the Born neighborhood/barrio.  It took some patience to find (for those seeking, it’s right in front of the plaza of Santa Maria Church del Mar (by the Sea; there’s another in the Gothic area that’s  Church of the Land), but when we did, we realized it was a patisserie and really didn’t have any valid lunch options. 

Santa Maria Church del Mar

After two nights of tapas, we all agreed that we wanted something else for lunch.  Right next to Bobo was Caputxes.  Even though their menu said tapas, they had a variety of other items so we opted to eat there. AWESOME decision.  Mr. Sister and Ben both got pizza and I got a pasta dish that was to die for. Seriously, I recommend that place 100%.

After lunch we realized we were close to Picasso Museum.  It wasn’t a must on our list, but considering that Sundays are FREE admission after 3pm, we figured we may as well stop by.  A lot of others had the same idea because the lines (yes, two of them going opposite directions out of the door) were both blocks long.  Instead we decided to walk down to Barceloneta Beach.  It was in the upper 70s.  We didn’t have bathing suits or towels; but we did stop at a convenient store to get some beverages to bring along.

The beach was fairly crowded despite the cold water. It didn't matter, it is gorgeous.

Simpsons anyone?

After relaxing on the beach some, we walked towards the Olympic Village (1992 Olmypics).  We considered going to the Barcelona Zoo, which we’d read good things about, but opted against it. After checking out the views, and desperately needing to go to the bathroom, we got on the metro and went back to the Gothic Quarter.  Right off the Jaumel metro stop was a coffee shop, Cappuxccino, we stopped in for a drink and a pitt stop.

Coffee Smoothie

From there we decided it wasn’t that far from Picasso Museum that we should go back.  The line was still long, but only took about 30 minutes, so we waited.  Pictures of his work aren’t allowed, but I would say that if you’re slightly interested in Picasso’s work, the museum is worth visiting. 

After the museum we shopped/browsed more of the Gothic Quarter and Ravel before heading back to the apartment for a brief rest. 

We mutually agreed that we wanted to stay away from tapas for dinner, but truly had no idea of other recommended options so we decided to walk around.  We found one huge restaurant on a corner in L’ Exiample with two floors of seating and patio seating.  The menu looks decent so we went inside.  We were taken upstairs to our seats but before sitting down Mr. and I had already decided, in our heads, that we did not want to stay here to eat.  The glasses were dirty, the entire upstairs smelled like fish, etc.  As soon as our hostess was out of site, we bolted. (I apologize I don't remember the name of the spot)

Man, am I glad we did.  We wandered around before finding a charming, simple, modern spot called La Botiga. (There are a few locations; we ate location: Rambla de Catalunya, 27)  If you have the chance, eat here!  We were seated on the main floor and only after having to find the restrooms downstairs through the second/main dining area did we realize how big this place was.  The menu was anything but tapas and everything was fabulous.  We had some bubbly (cava) as well as more sangria and I think this was one of our most expensive dinners, near 95E for three people, which includes apps/salads/entrees/dessert/drinks.  Score!

Brie Veal; scrumptous!

Chicken Tempura

Barcelona - Day 1

Barcelona - Day 2
Barcelona - Day 4

Barcelona - Day 2

Saturday, 4/7

Two of our must-see’s in Barcelona were Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell, so we decided to tackle those on our first full day.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the little indoor mall right by Plaza Catalunya.

Our apartment was right by the metro.  As advised by my contact at our apartment rental company (You Stylish), we purchased a 10-pass metro ticket to try to save some money.  For all of the cities we visited with mass transit (so Paris, Barcelona, and London), prior to the trip I printed off copies of each cities’ metro maps to carry in my purse.  Sagrada Familia has its own stop, so it’s very easy to figure out where to go.  We arrived there around 10:30am or so and there was a decent sized line.  (There is an option to prebuy tickets online, which require you to choose a date and time.  We had discussed this, but because we had a very loss itinerary, we opted against it).  The line probably took about 45 minutes, but it was worth it.  We also opted against paying extra for the audio guide.

From the outside:

Some background on the church is that it is another work of Gaudi and has been under construction for over 130 years and still isn’t finished.  However, even though it’s not finished, it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.  You can see for yourself...

Inside

The altar

Size perspective

On the door of what will evenutally become the main entrance;
"Give us this day our daily bread" in 50 langauges

Nativity Scene

Seestahs!

After spending about an hour and a half at Sagrada, we decided to hit the road.  We were starting to get hungry so we walked around a bit looking for a food option, but nothing really called our names, so we decided to go to Parc Guell and figured we could get something there.  We looked at our map and metro map and got on the Blue, L5 metro and got off at El Carmel 
This was nowhere near Parc Guell like we thought it'd be. We were pretty much wandering aimlessly, but in a general direction we thought was correct based on our map and my sister’s iphone.  After 20 minutes of wandering, we found what appeared to be the back entrance to the park and it was!  (FYI- the CORRECT metro to take is Green Line, L3 and get off at Lesseps!!)

We actually did a little hiking, or so it felt, along gravel lined paths and the more we went, the more people we came across.  And finally, we hit the breathtaking view that is so often raved about:



See Sagrada?





We made our way down to the main plaza, at this point we were all starving and exhausted, so we practically ran to get in line for the sandwich and sangria vendor.  We found a table to sit at, but then were surrounded by pigeons, which freaked the hell out of my sister and I.  It’s repulsive to try to eat lunch while there are birds practically pecking at your feet. 

We took our sangria pitcher and sandwiches and sat on the edge of the plaza.  Life was grand, until we had the pitcher thief come by.  Yep, a woman walked by and grabbed our pitcher of sangria.  Ben bolted as her and then she started to yell at him in Spanish.  It turns out she was supposedly the vendor supervisor and thought we were trying to steal her plastic pitcher.  Her colleague brought out more cups, they poured the sangria into the cups and took off with the pitcher.  We sat and enjoyed our sangria.



Gaudi's famous mosaic benches

Happy couple :O)

Nicknamed the Hansel and Grettle houses

Leaving the park, it was easy to find the main route to the metro by following all of the people.

We took the metro back to our apartment and relaxed a bit before deciding we would go check out The Magic Fountain.  The Magic Fountain; Fountain Montjuic, is a fountain located at the base of the gorgeous National Catalunya Museum of Art. It’s water “show” is choreographed to lights and music.  It was listed in a lot of tourist books as well as websites as one “must-see” item. Well, we begged to differ.

The shows are every 30 minutes from 7-9pm, Friday and Saturdays (Oct 1^st – April 30^th; check other dates’ hours on the website).  We got there a little before the 7:30pm show, so the 7:00pm show was just ending.  It sounded like traditional Spanish music.  Being April, it was still light about, so we couldn’t see the choreographed colored lights like the video’s I’d seen on YouTube….and it was a bit windy too so for certain parts, it didn’t seem like the fountains were really in sync with the music.  However, the plaza was crowded, so we found seats and sat to wait for the 7:30pm show.

 

The moment it started, the three of us looked at each other and burst out laughing.  I’m not sure what happened to the traditional music, but we must have hit the “USA” show.  Our music mix consisted of artists like Michael Jackson, N’Sync, Hanson, etc.  Definitely not what we were expecting!!  We didn’t find Magic Fountain all that amazing, but it was free and a short metro ride from our apartment, so we didn’t mind having gone.  I wouldn’t put on top of the must-see list though!

From the fountain we went straight to our pre-planned dinner spot; Ciudad Condal (in L’Exiample neighborhood), for more tapas.  It was about 8:30 when we got there, which we figured was early for Spain on a Saturday night.  We were offered a bar spot  up front within 10 minutes of being there, but were told a table spot would only be 20 minutes longer of a wait, so what the heck?  Well, twenty minutes turned into an hour and a half.  Yeop.  I can’t believe we didn’t leave, but we kept being told, 10 minutes more, 15 minutes more, and sadly we believed them.  We were finally seated at 10pm, by that time we were starved and very annoyed.  Not to mention the table behind us was a Bachelorette party which was obnoxiously loud. 

Our waiter barely helped us (but of course answered every beck and call of the girls’ table).  We weren’t really delighted to realize that the menu was the exact same as Cerveceria Catalana, as in identical, but at that point we didn’t care.  We ordered a variety of tapas and just stuffed our faces.

Given the two options of Cerveceria Catalana vs Ciudad Condal for dinner; I’d definitely recommend Cerveceria over Ciudad; based not only on our experience, but also the ambiance and appeal of the restaurants in general.  Another restaurant option that is supposed to be fabulous is Tickets.  We didn’t make it there (make reservations in advance if you want to go), but I’ve seen it rated as a “world restaurant” in a few articles.  I wish we would have gone there instead of Ciudad Condal.

Oh well, next trip!

Barcelona - Day 1

Barcelona - Day 3
Barcelona - Day 4