Barcelona Trip (26-28 May 2006) - Part 1: Intro and Old Town
Another long holiday, so it was off to the land of paellas, fresh seafood and nice warm Mediterranean weather: Barcelona!
Barcelona is best known now for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics. It has a beautiful Olympic park that looks good even today. Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain and is the capital of Catalonia in Spain, an autonomous region whose people have their own culture and language/dialect, very similar to the Bavarians of Germany.
Situated along the Mediterranean coast on the northeastern side of Spain, Barcelona offers plenty of seafood in its cuisine, as well as bright sunshine and is indeed appealing to many people who go there for the crowded but beautiful beaches and seaside. Barcelona is also home to many ancient structures, with Gothic buildings, Roman walls and of course, Gaudi architecture, as can be seen from the Old Town or Barri Gótic.
Accomodation downtown is not cheap, so we decided to stay a "little" out of town, in a nearby district called Mollins de Rei.
The RENFE station at Mollins de Rei
It was quite a comfortable place, even though it was overlooking the highway, but it had a beautiful toilet.
The view from my room
It was dark when we got there, and the street signs were practically non-existent. Even the locals will give you directions based on number of rights or lefts, but they are still helpful nonetheless. So after hunting for the hotel (literally hunting, because the guy at the train station gave us totally wrong directions), we managed to check in in the middle of the night (about 0045H). Time for a shower and then koonz!
Next morning, we were off to the Ciutat Vella, or the Old Town. Getting off at Jaume I metro station, we were greeted with a Roman wall:
Section of the Roman wall that once encompassed the city
Just beyond the wall, the spire of the local cathedral pops out over the skyline: The Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia.
Built from the 13th to 15th Centuries, the cathedral is designed in Gothic style, which is very common here. Dedicated to the co-patron saint of Barcelona, Saint Eulalia, the cathedral has 13 white geese, which is the year she died, according to legend. For more about her, click on her name.
Splendid time to come! While it is under renovation... what could be more "perfect"?
The interior is lit very well, giving the atmosphere
The altar
The graves of the two founders of the church
The choir stand
And what would a cathedral be without a crypt?
1 of the famous geese, this one's the hungriest
And a first for me: a palm tree in a cathedral
But outside the cathedral is a square where there was alot of activity going on.
Even dancers
We settled for a paella lunch, which is a must-try Catalanian dish. Just imagine the seafood platter at Fish & Co with rice covered to the brim of the pan, a thinner pan, and more sauce. Something like that.
Source: Wikipedia
Walking around the Ciutat Vella after lunch, we saw quite a few interesting sights, and of course, got lost quite a bit too, due to the lousy placement of street signs, if they even existed at all.
Casa de la Ciutat
Palau de la Generalitat
Church of Santa Maria del Pi
Another view of the church
So that's about it for the Old Town. Got lost quite a bit, so we only got out of it around late-afternoon. Next stop: The seaside!
Photobucket: Ciutat Vella
Barcelona is best known now for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics. It has a beautiful Olympic park that looks good even today. Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain and is the capital of Catalonia in Spain, an autonomous region whose people have their own culture and language/dialect, very similar to the Bavarians of Germany.
Situated along the Mediterranean coast on the northeastern side of Spain, Barcelona offers plenty of seafood in its cuisine, as well as bright sunshine and is indeed appealing to many people who go there for the crowded but beautiful beaches and seaside. Barcelona is also home to many ancient structures, with Gothic buildings, Roman walls and of course, Gaudi architecture, as can be seen from the Old Town or Barri Gótic.
Accomodation downtown is not cheap, so we decided to stay a "little" out of town, in a nearby district called Mollins de Rei.
The RENFE station at Mollins de Rei
It was quite a comfortable place, even though it was overlooking the highway, but it had a beautiful toilet.
The view from my room
It was dark when we got there, and the street signs were practically non-existent. Even the locals will give you directions based on number of rights or lefts, but they are still helpful nonetheless. So after hunting for the hotel (literally hunting, because the guy at the train station gave us totally wrong directions), we managed to check in in the middle of the night (about 0045H). Time for a shower and then koonz!
Next morning, we were off to the Ciutat Vella, or the Old Town. Getting off at Jaume I metro station, we were greeted with a Roman wall:
Section of the Roman wall that once encompassed the city
Just beyond the wall, the spire of the local cathedral pops out over the skyline: The Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia.
Built from the 13th to 15th Centuries, the cathedral is designed in Gothic style, which is very common here. Dedicated to the co-patron saint of Barcelona, Saint Eulalia, the cathedral has 13 white geese, which is the year she died, according to legend. For more about her, click on her name.
Splendid time to come! While it is under renovation... what could be more "perfect"?
The interior is lit very well, giving the atmosphere
The altar
The graves of the two founders of the church
The choir stand
And what would a cathedral be without a crypt?
1 of the famous geese, this one's the hungriest
And a first for me: a palm tree in a cathedral
But outside the cathedral is a square where there was alot of activity going on.
Even dancers
We settled for a paella lunch, which is a must-try Catalanian dish. Just imagine the seafood platter at Fish & Co with rice covered to the brim of the pan, a thinner pan, and more sauce. Something like that.
Source: Wikipedia
Walking around the Ciutat Vella after lunch, we saw quite a few interesting sights, and of course, got lost quite a bit too, due to the lousy placement of street signs, if they even existed at all.
Casa de la Ciutat
Palau de la Generalitat
Church of Santa Maria del Pi
Another view of the church
So that's about it for the Old Town. Got lost quite a bit, so we only got out of it around late-afternoon. Next stop: The seaside!
Photobucket: Ciutat Vella
posted by Chiu Weng | 10:40 PM
2 Comments:
Oei. Once again, damn chio lah. Yr page is a must see for me sia. Keep up the good work man.
Thanks for your support man!
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