Crazy Digest: 4 Days In Barcelona

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

Sagrada Familia - Under construction since year 1882!

Day 2
Today we had a booking to enter the Sagrada Familia's Nativity Tower at 3:00pm. It is highly recommended to make a booking prior to your trip, as the queue to enter the Sagrada alone will snake around the block! Do your bookings here http://visit.sagradafamilia.cat/?lang=en

We started the day with a healthy breakfast in our hotel room, previously bought from the Supermarket the day before, follower by a walk in the park at Parc Guell. To get there, walk to Girona station, catch the 9:06am metro for 2 stops to Trinitat Nova station. Use the same T10 ticket to take bus #116 at 9:20am for 6 stops. There is an entrance fee to enter the building, but we chose to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and view from the top instead. The park itself looks huge, but surprisingly it's again a false illusion, as you can easily walk the park rather quickly. Again, compliments to Gaudi! Have a look at the photos.

Can you see the Balearic Sea from here?

Queuing for the park's public toilet with doggy

€1 to use this self-cleaning toilet, pretty nice in the park

The great expanse of Barcelona city. No idea what's on the top of that hill

Sagrada Familia is clearly visible in the distance

After Parc Guell, we took a bus to Las Ramblas. I can't remember which bus number now, but buses are very easy to locate, as each bus route is clearly written at almost every bus stop. Here's a sample of the map at the bus stop.

We then visited Las Ramblas, a very famous street in Barcelona for its market and shopping. The best part about Las Ramblas to me, is the La Boqueria markets. This is where we had our lunch, just picking up anything we fancied and having it outdoors on the street.

This is the start of Las Ramblas

And the famous Desigual can be found EVERYWHERE

We had churros and hot chocolate, a must have in Spain in general. Very yummy!

Dang! We are leaving Barcelona on 25 Jan!

La Boqueria Market, my favourite place to snack

We bought a cup of cherries here. €7.99/kg = RM34.00/kg. So cheap!

Chili in oil inside spray bottles. What a cool idea!

Free sampling of nuts. Yummy!

I was so intrigued by this stall. Bought many things here for lunch

Nachos was fantastic!

After our snack, we took the train to Sagrada Familia. Our booking was for 3pm. I didn't realise that you are only allowed to enter 1 hour before your booked time slot for the tower climb. So we had a nice relaxing time outside. Many buskers/street performers outside trying to earn a buck or 2.

Inside a metro station

Mobile devices vending machine

Credits to the photographer HH

When it was time to go in, we had to run around to get the audio guide added to our tickets. On hindsight, please GET THE AUDIO GUIDE! I'd skip the tower climb honestly, but the audio guide is a must! The interior of Sagrada Familia was just - WOW. Words cannot do justice to the feeling you get when you first step in.

Can you see that the pillars represent trees with knobs?

The stained glass brought so much colour. Different times of the day will bring a different feel & colour

When it was time to go up to the Nativity tower, locate the correct left which will bring you to the top. Please remember that it is a lift in one direction only, which means you have to walk the 426 steps down! After climbing so much from the Vatican, to Casa Batllo, to Parc Guell, my left knee suddenly gave way at this church. From this point on, a lot of activities for the rest of my trip was hindered by my knee. Apologies to my travel mates for the inconvenience.

Window to the World, or just Barcelona City :)

Narrow pathways inside the tower

Every part of the tower tells a story. Could you spot the birth of Christ in my earlier photos?

The long spiral staircase down

Next, we took the train to Jaume I station to see Barri Gothic. Once we got there, we were just too tired, and the wind was sooooooooooo cold. We just saw 2 gothic-like buildings, then went to hide in an Argentinan restaurant called Arcano, then it was time to go back to sleep. :)