Barcelona

last week, we decided to go Barcelona cos there was some kinda deal for flights and hotel.

after landing, we went shopping immediately after checking into the hotel
apparently Berskha, Pull and Bear, and Haivanas are cheap there.



next day, we went on this half day trip to Montserrat, which is a mountain 50km or so from Barcelona.


at this point on the journey up, the whole road was covered by clouds, and it felt like we were driving to heaven.
maybe it feels the same driving the Genting. =P but neither of us have been to Genting before. so it was quite the experience.

View from Montserrat

the story behind this place is that they found an idol of a virgin carrying a child, and if you touch the idol while making a wish, your wish would come true.

except that the queue to touch the virgin takes like an hour on good days.

they built a monastery there, with real monks.
and there's a also school with a world famous boys' choir. they would kick them out once they are 12 cos of puberty and all.

was really looking to hearing them cos i read that they perform every afternoon, but turns out the school is on summer holidays. boo.

the mountains are shaped weird cos they are actually sedimentary rocks. zillions of years ago this was all covered with water, and water pushed down on these rocks. when the water level went down (i suppose when God parted the sea and everything) the water washed away the weaker rocks to leave these stronger rocks..

actually i am really bad with geography. i hope that made sense. the guide did say that they keep finding fossils of fishes, so they know this whole area was covered by water.

maybe that was when God flooded earth cos of Noah and all. *shrugs*

the inside of the church is really awe-inspiring.

if you look carefully, there's a guy there in the centre (no, not Jesus. above him) wearing white back facing the camera. he is touching the idol and making his wish.

i ought to get a proper zoom lens. =P see the lady in white with golden hair?

then we took a funicular, which is a tram-like ride up to the top of the mountain.

that took all of half a day. and the second half, we went for what is quickly becoming our favourite way of exploring a city, Segways!

it is really quite fun.
for 1 we get to cover 15km in 3 hours, getting to places that would take forever to walk to.
most importantly, we are just fond of feeling the wind as we zip through the crowds.

especially in Spain and Rome where it is like 28 degrees with scorching sun during the summer

the best part about Barcelona has to be the beach.

this is the first big city we've been to that has an actual beach. and... there is a nudist portion!!! =D

it was all nose-bleedingly exciting
until i was too slow in turning away at the last part and saw 2 grandmothers suntanning there.
which kinda just destroyed the whole experience for me.

there are some things we can't un-see.

anyway, of course i only REALLY had eyes for one person

W hotel. gosh, what it must feel like to stay there, even if just for a night.

then there are parks and buildings and everything else

we are not really history people. but the guide is a good story teller. so we had fun listening to her.

and this is a monument for LGBTs

very cool, if you ask me.

and the last day we went on the hop-on hop-off bus around Barcelona, which was typical tourist stuff.

you can see the rest of the photos on my flickr. or click here!