|
minukkie  To navigate, please hover over the image. Thank you. :) Lovenotes Reading List by schreient_0 | Expectations | by aquariuslover | A Learning Process | by little_passions | Play The Keys to My Heart | by sweetsweets | I'm Yours, You're Mine | by jaejoongah | 1095 Days Later | by meheartyunho | Gravity | by memoryRy | Immortal Desires | by walin | The Agreement | by SuperBlue | Nanny 911 | by Kairi_Ichigo | Entrapped Into Love | by OnyxAriezz | Without A Trace | by Ginseng  Credits
| ♥ Treurotrip: Ola~ (Part 1) This has been long overdue, but I feel that I am obliged to share this memory so that one day I can go back to it and be reminded of the things that I did and the paths that I took in my younger days which has undoubtedly contributed in shaping my inner personality. And so, here it is, a BARCELONA, Spain. 20/12/11-23/12/11 This is such a gorgeous city. Out of all the places I’ve visited, this could be the most wonderful city I’ve set foot on so far. When we first landed at Barcelona International airport, I wasn’t awed just yet. The airport was of a simple, minimalistic architecture. There was nothing flashy about it unlike our KLIA. Perhaps I could put it on the same level as LCCT or Coolangatta Airport, only that Barcelona International Airport is bigger in size as it has three terminals of separate buildings and it takes about ten to fifteen minutes to walk from one terminal to the other (depending on how fast you walk).  We exited the arrival gates and went straight to the Tourist Information booth located right in front of it. There weren’t that many people queuing so we didn’t have to wait long. We greeted the person in English. There wasn’t any problem of us understanding each other since the person had a good command in English, although she did have a strong accent that I find very amusing and pretty. She gave us some brochures and maps, and marked roughly on the route we should take to arrive at our booked hostel. We had absolutely no clue where we should go next, but I was thoroughly excited to start on this adventure. Unfortunately, we forgot to ask the person where the train station was! We walked out of the airport and all I could see is a vast car park, the blue skies and a few palm trees. We examined the direction signs and none of them gave us a clue of where the train station could possibly be. We had to depend on our instincts and turned left, and soon we were grateful to find a building across the road with a train icon on its roof, and saw a bridge connecting the airport to that building. It was quite a long walk from our terminal (terminal B) to the fly-over bridge and to the train station. A part of me regretted wearing the high-heel boots, though it was necessary because it was winter, it was the only boots I owned and it was VERY comfortable since it fitted the contours of my feet perfectly. We had a little bit of a problem when we arrived at the train station. We didn’t know which tickets to buy! They have this T10 ticket, which you can use ten times within zones 1 and 2 at reduced price. We argued if we should get the ticket because we weren’t completely sure if we’d make use of all the ten rides, and we weren’t sure if Park Guell was located within the two zones. We didn’t want to waste our money because the currency is like four times higher than where we came from. So we ended up buying a single ticket, and that is with the help of one of the train staff who came to ask us if we were okay because we looked so clueless. LOL. We’ll think about the T10 ticket again when we arrive at our hostel and rest for a while. :p The train brought us from Aeroport station to Passeig de Gracia station. It took about 20 minutes if I could recall it correctly. The moment we entered one of the carriage, I was pleasantly surprised that the train that looked so-so from the outside actually looks very comfortable and modern on the inside. They feel comfortable too! :D As the train started moving, suddenly a group of street performers, whom I've thought came out of nowhere, began playing their instruments and singing catchy Christmas song. I thought it was very lovely of them to welcome the tourists like this, but that is before they started shoving paper cups to our faces saying that we should give them some change since it's nearly Christmas and Christmas is an event for joy, happiness and "sharing". =_=' When we arrived at Passeig de Gracia station, we went up from the underground station and began our search to find our hostel. The hostel gave useful directions on how to get there on their webpage. I read it a few times and had thought that I memorised it because it was so simple, but once we saw the streets and the buildings and the cars around, we were somehow lost. It took us a few minutes to think of what to do then. The roads in Barcelona looks similar at every junction because their buildings are set in blocks. Trying to search for the name of the roads proved to be a bit hard too. My friend decided to pull out her iPad and we went to a corner to hide from prying eyes. However, it didn't help much since we couldn't be sure at which end of the road we're actually on. So we gambled and took a corner at random and began looking at the building numbers and the road names as we passed, referring back to the free map every time we received new input. Compared to the simple directions given on the web (should've taken at most ten minutes only), it took us half an hour to locate our hostel. But we found it nonetheless. :)  Barcelona Central Garden Hostel. This is where we stayed at for four days and three nights here in Barcelona. It is highly recommended! The place is very homey and comfortable, and the staff are very friendly and accommodative. They're about our age, contributing to better understanding. ;) We were welcomed with wide smiles and open arms. Firstly, we settled all payments before we were given our keys. They informed us of some simple rules (i.e. how to use the kitchen, you must label your food in the fridge, selected toilets and baths will be locked from 12am to 9am every day etc) and the gave us another comprehensive map of Barcelona. This one actually has small scribbles and notes specially written by them, highlighting even where we can get cheap food nearby the hostel. When all that is done, the girl invited us to sit at the coffee table and she voluntarily began telling us more about Barcelona and the places worth visitting, just in case we don't know where to start. Her explanation just made the excitement in me heighten! :D It was only about an hour later before she was done with her stories and we retired into our rooms to take a quick rest and wash up for the day ahead. It wasn't even lunchtime yet! :) TBC. -This feels like a cliffhanger of a fanfiction. :p A/N: |
