Barcelona, Spain II: Casa Batlló & Sagrada Familia

One can hardly go to Barcelona without visiting Casa Batlló and judging by the longggg queue outside, I'm sure everyone agrees. I did not go in though because I was turned off by the queue. Kind of regretting it now after seeing some photos of the interior.

Casa Batlló is designed by Gaudi who is the first person you will get to know when you land in Barcelona. He was a Modernisme architect who integrated crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry into his architecture. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which involves the use broken ceramic tiles to form colourful mosaics as can be seen on the benches and the dragon sculpture in Park Güell and also on the façade of Casa Batlló.

The walking guide told us that Modernisme architecture incooperates many natural elements into the designs. You can see that the pillars infront of the windows look like bones and the windows themselves resemble open mouths. So this house has two nicknames, "The house of bones" and "The house of yawns". The "Venetian eye mask" balconies are supposed to evoke imageries of the surface of a lake with water lilies, gentle ripples and reflections caused by the glass and ceramic mosaic. (I still see Venetian eye masks..) The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon. Hmm seems like Gaudi really liked dragons. On top of the building is a cross of four arms oriented to the cardinal directions. It is a bulbous, root-like structure that evokes plant life.

The house next to Casa Batlló is also really intriguing but often overlooked. It's called Casa Amatller designed by Cadafalch, another famous Modernisme architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona.

Another famous Gaudi architecture. I was pretty disappointed by the exterior of Sagrada Familia. I guess it was mainly due to the unsightly cranes and scaffolding surrounding it. I don't know why but it just looks so run down.. and they are not even repairing it, they are building it. It broke the Guinness World Record as the building under construction for the longest time. No kidding, seeing that it's still under construction since work began in 1882. Our walking guide said that they are definitely not in a hurry to finish it so that they can stay in the Records longer haha. The carvings are stories from the Bible, such as the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

I went inside Sagrada Familia after about an hour of standing in the queue. It wasn't that bad because I made a friend in the hostel riiiight before I left for Sagrada Familia. She came up to me and said hi so suddenly I was quite surprised haha. We talked for a bit and she decided to join me so off we went!

We got the student tickets without any add-ons. There is a timing for you to enter, just like the ticket for Park Güell. It was still quite crowded inside despite the attempt to crowd control but I guess it could be worse. The interior was way more impressive than the exterior. I love the tall tinted windows that stretch up to the ceilings! The ceiling was another thing that blew my socks off. How unique is that! I've never seen anything quite like it.. We spent an hour or so inside full of wonder. Gaudi really lives up to his name but he died so unfortunately. He was knocked down by a vehicle one day but because he was dressed so shabbily, people thought he was a homeless beggar and didn't do anything to help him. When someone finally recognized him and sent him to the hospital, it was too late. :( What a tragic tale, the world lost a great architect due to prejudice sigh. Anywayyy, I hope I will get to visit Barcelona again when Sagrada Familia is completed!

I also went to Casa Milà which is apparently the most famous one. It is one of the last buildings of Gaudi's and at this house he broke all arquitectonical taboo and spent a bomb. The owner who was a lawyer didn't want to pay him that much and the two went to court andddd Gaudi won haha. Most unfortunately, the house was under restoration so the facade was covered up. :( On top of the building, you can see these sculptures which look like Darth Raider. Or rather, Darth Raider was perhaps inspired by these sculptures. You can also see them on Sagrada Familia by the way! Try to spot them if you're there. ;) It's on the side where you buy tickets.

Barcelona, Spain I: Birthday in Park Güell

It's the best birthday present I can give to myself - a flight to somewhere new, somewhere unexplored, somewhere beautiful. Just like last year in Paris, this year I flew to Barcelona a day before my birthday. It made my birthday extra long too with the time difference and everything. I hope I can do this every year but I think it would be quite hard from next year onwards since my holidays don't start so early anymore sharks. So despite the long and dreary 8 hours transit in Doha - it was worth it. My transit was at the new Doha Airport and I think not every airline had moved over yet so it was really empty. I should have done a video like this. His video got so huge that HE MET CELION DION OMG!

I reached Barcelona in the afternoon and took the subway to the station near my hostel. My hostel is really near Park Güell, just 10 minutes walk away up a seriously steep hill. I thought I've seen enough steep roads in New Zealand but I was wrong. And when I thought this was the steepest, Lisboa surprised me yet again. I'm just constantly surprised! haha. Anyway, there are escalators that take you up the steps so have no fear.

I went up to the lookout place near Park Guell and it was flooded with people. I had to squeeze on top just to take a few snapshots of the city. You can see Sagrada Familia standing out from the buildings.

Then I walked to Park Guell. There's an entrance fee of 8 EUR, 7 if you book in advance online. And there's an entrance timing for the tickets for crowd control purposes. You can only enter during the time stated on your ticket but once you're inside, you can stay inside for as long as you want. I was debating whether or not to go in because I read somewhere that entrance is free after closing hours and before opening hours.. but I wasn't too sure if it's true. In the end I decided to just go in and join the crowd. Park Guell is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.. I watched Grandpas over Flowers (꽃보다 할배) right before heading to Spain and they happened to visit the exact same places on my itinerary. Since it was a program, the shooting and the editing made the place looked super amazing.. and big.. It was still impressive but I guess I had too much expectations. I think the downfall of this trip was too much expectations, not that I didn't enjoy myself, I just wasn't too impressed. Like for my last trip to Europe, I didn't do any research and didn't expect anything, I just went and I was blown away. So note to self and everyone else, hold back your expectations, just let the place surprise you!

I really like the curvy seats with the mosaic tiles. The two buildings at the front of Park Guell reminds me of Hansel and Gretel, it looks like the house made of sweets and candies they stumbled upon. I wanted to catch the sunset at the lookout point but it wasn't a good angle or was it because the sky was too cloudy? Anyway headed back to the hostel and finally had some sleep in a proper bed after 20+ hours.

Since I still had jetlag, I was awake at 4+am when I was in Barcelona. So one of these mornings, I decided to go catch the sunrise at Park Guell. The beach was supposedly a good place to watch the sunrise but it was a bit far from my hostel. I was the only crazy one up on that lookout point (the one with the cross) at 5am and it was so peaceful. The sky started to change its colour, welcoming a new day.. I thought I wouldn't be able to catch the sunrise because it was behind the hill and justttt as I was giving up. The sun popped out from behind the hill! :D

After the sunset, I walked to Park Guell to try my luck. What do you know, you really CAN enter the park for free before opening hours! And there was practically nobody around. I had the entire place to myself. So now you know, why pay 7/8EUR to fight with the crowd when you can get this whole place to yourself for FREE.

It was nearly impossible to take a photo with this lizard dragon without anyone photobombing you the first time I was there.. Everybody wanted a photo with it, I honestly don't know why. So when I was there the second time, I took about a thousand photos of it HAH. Nah, just kidding but I did take a few selfies with it. I mean, might as well right? :p

Hostels in Europe

I've decided to compile a list of hostels I stayed at in Europe along with some comments.



Amsterdam
Hostel: Stayokay Vondelpark
Room: 20 Bed Dorm - Female only (Private bathroom). Yes 20 people in a room but it was very spacious and I didn't feel that it was noisy at all. One cupboard for you to store your stuff. Locks not provided.
Location: it's very near the I AMSTERDAM sign and not thaaaat far from the city center. But distance is subjective, I think it takes at least 15 minutes on foot to get to the center? Not a problem for me because I enjoy walking.
Breakfast: the best breakfast I had in a hostel. Different types of bread, ham, cheese, cereal, fruits(!!), yogurt, fruit juice, coffee/tea.
Kitchen: None
Overall comments: Felt like a school dormitory, very clean and bright.

Berlin
Hostel: ONE80 Hostel.
Room: 8 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Shared bathroom). Everyone gets a cupboard and a metal cage below the bed to store your stuff. Locks not provided.
Location: located very near Alexanderplatz station so it's quite easy to get around.
Breakfast: No breakfast
Kitchen: None
Overall comments: Clean, looked and felt a lot like a hotel.

Istanbul
Hostel:??
Room: 8 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Shared bathroom). One cupboard for storage. No locks provided.
Location: Close to Blue Mosque and Hagia sofia. Central location.
Breakfast: bread, tomatoes, cucumber, egg, coffee/tea.
Kitchen: None
Overall comments: Rather messy and old but good location. Not for picky travelers.

Krakow
Hostel: Benedict Hostel
Room: 9 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Shared bathroom). It's the first 3 beds bunk I've seen. One cupboard for you to put your stuff. Locks not provided.
Location: fantastic. It's 5 minutes away from the city center.
Kitchen: Decent.
Overall comments: Not the prettiest, a bit old but location was fantastic.



London
Hostel: Astor Hyde Park
Room: 9 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Private bathroom). Metal cage under bed for you to keep your stuff. No locks provided.
Location: Next to National history museum and Hyde Park. Good neighborhood and metro is near so easily accessible to other main attractions near the river.
Breakfast: bread, jam, coffee/tea.
Kitchen: Good with a big lovely dining room.
Overall comments: I love the architecture of the building, staircase and common room are beautiful.

Paris
Hostel: Absolute Paris Hostel
Room: 4 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Private bathroom). No lockers for your things in the room but the room was nice and cosy.
Location: 5+ minutes from Rebublique metro station which has a lot of connecting lines so very accessible.
Breakfast: bread, juice, coffee/tea.
Kitchen: Quite small.
Overall comments: Good overall.



Prague
Hostel: Hostel Marabou
Room: 12 Bed Dorm - Mixed (Shared bathroom). Spacious but you can't open the windows or something so it was very stuffy at times. One cupboard for your stuff. No locks provided.
Location: quite far from the center. 10-15 minutes by tram.
Breakfast: bread, yogurt, cereal, coffee/tea.
Kitchen: Good
Overall comments: Not for picky travelers.

Istanbul, Turkey: 7 things to do

1) Visit a mosque.. or three
I don't think I need to elaborate. There's plenty to choose from - Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, New Mosque, etc etc. The Blue Mosque is going to be really crowded. I wandered around and entered a random mosque along the way (last picture) and there was nobody inside. I think almost all mosques are open to visitors as long as you're properly dressed (long pants, long sleeves and a scarf to cover your head) and as long as it isn't prayer time.

2) Cruise down The Bosphorus
You can easily hop on a cruise at the ferry terminal for 10 Lira and enjoy the ride down The Bosphorus for about two hours? The water is SO BLUE, I've never seen such blue water before. And the view was great! You can see lots of famous landmarks along the way - Galata Tower, Ortakoy Mosque, Dolmabahçe Palace, Fatih Sultan bridge, Rumeli Fortress, houses along the river, Küçüksu Palace and a lot more. There's a longer cruise which takes you all the way till the Black Sea but I missed the morning departure. If you have the time, go for the long cruise!

3) Be Rapunzel for a day at Galata Tower
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair! No one let down their hair :(

4) Visit Dolmabahçe Palace
I got there too late and it was closed. So I sat down on the grass patch and admired the clock tower.

5) Walk around Taksim Square.. if you must
I didn't think Taksim Square was really worth going, unless you want to shop. I liked looking into Turkish food shops though and the glass lanterns entranced me.

6)Watch the sunset at Üsküda

Welcome to Asia!! Quite a few people I met while travelling told me the only "Asia" they've been to was the Asian part of Turkey. I met up with the Korean friend I made in London who was on exchange in Istanbul and we took a ferry across to the Asian side of Istanbul. We went to this 'cafe' (?) along the water where you sit down on the cushions and the waiter will bring you Turkish tea/coffee while you enjoy the stupendous view of the European side of Turkey with the sun slowly setting before you. You get to see the Maiden's Tower up close from here too.

The Maiden's Tower has a story behind it. According to a popular Turkish legend, an emperor had a much beloved daughter and one day, an oracle prophesied that she would be killed by a venomous snake on her 18th birthday. The emperor, in an effort to save his daughter, had a tower built in the middle of the Bosphorus to protect her from any snakes until her 18th birthday. On the 18th birthday of the princess, the emperor brought her a basket of exotic sumptuous fruits as a birthday gift, delighted that he was able to prevent the prophecy. Upon reaching into the basket, however, a snake that had been hiding among the fruit bit the young princess and she died in her father's arms, just as the oracle had predicted. (Via Wiki)

7) Visit a carpet shop
You'll be bombarded with invites from carpet owners offering you tea and while I really didn't like it when they go 'Konnichiwa'/'Ni hao! Ni hao!'/'Annyeonghaseyo' at me, I was drawn in by the gorgeous carpets. I ended up carrying one home haha.

Ending the post with a picture of a fireworks I saw on my last night in Istanbul. You can see Rapunzel's Galata Tower in the background, all lit up and stunning.