I am sorry to interrupt the regular Barcelona program for a special bulletin. BlueOrca eloquently summarized at her new Cove (shameless plug) about the misfortunes she had to deal with on her flight to Rome. Out of courtesy, I will recount my adventures in trying to get to the airport to greet our honoured guest on her arrival.
Due to class schedules, BlueOrca was arriving a few days later than me, so I had to pick her up at the airport. I was informed of BlueOrca’s flight fiasco in the morning, but knew she got onto her flight to Rome alright. Her flight wasn’t due in Barcelona until early afternoon and given the events of the previous night, my morning schedule was out of whack. I had planned on checking out the FC Barcelona stadium, but ended up just taking a leisurely stroll around Barcelona Sants.
Trains run between Barcelona Sants and the airport every 20-30 minutes. I had time to spare, so I decided to head to the airport early to chill. Since we were staying at a different hostel over the next few days, I had all my worldly belongings with me. The airport train was suppose to arrive at Platform 10. About 5 minutes before the train was due, an announcement came over the PA that the train will be arriving at platform 11. While you can see platform 11 from platform 10, you had to cross the tracks, so a big mass exodus of people crunched together to get up the escalators to head to platform 11.
Now things didn’t seem right, since platform 11 and 12 were reserved for international departures and had a security check point. However, the mob flooded and overwhelmed the checkpoint that people just towed their luggage passed their x-ray machines. As luck would have it, I was singled out by a security guard to place my backpack on the x-ray machine. I was thinking the entire time - “You must be kidding! There’s so many people just walking by and why did you have to pick on me. The train was arriving any minute now. Grr.”
By the time I got to the platform, the train had already arrived. Many people were jamming to get onto the train. However, the train was different than the airport train I took a few days ago; the layout of the airport train was like a subway rather than a long-haul train like this one. But what do I know about trains? I got my way onto the train and took the first seat I could find. I started getting quite puzzled when passengers came into the cabin saying they had certain seats reserved. I grabbed hold of the first person with a seat reservation and asked “Aeroporto?” “No.” “What?!? Not Aeroporto?” After my shocked reply, a couple heads turned and the commotion began. Don’t move the train yet, we need to get off!!
Crap. The train pulled out a few minutes later. There were a bunch of confused passengers on the platform. Three of the passengers in my cabin thanked me profusely for catching our mistake. I’m pretty sure there were folks on the train still, thinking they were heading to the airport. The next train to the airport was coming in 25 minutes later, back at platform 10. Back in the concourse, I could see some very livid passengers complaining to the Sants staff. Imagine if I was still on that wayward train or if I had a flight to catch.. *shudder* Good thing I was early and had time to spare.
I got to the airport and saw from the flight status screens that BlueOrca’s flight had arrived. I had come prepared with a “GBO” sign, in case she could not spot me. BlueOrca came out quicker than I expected, since she had no checked luggage. She did not even take notice of my awesome sign. –.-;
sigh.
The following is the itinerary for E08. We had worked out most of the high level details before the trip. Despite some unexpected situations, we managed to follow the itinerary pretty well.
May 17-20th - Barcelona + Montserrat, Spain
May 20-21st – Carcassonne, France
May 21-22nd – Marseille, France
May 22-26th – Nice + Cannes, France + Monaco
May 26-28th – Milano + Lake Como, Italy
May 28th-June 1st – Venezia + Verona + Trieste, Italy.
We truly picked an awesome set of places to visit, and in many ways, the timing could not have been more perfect. Overall, I’d say we spent pretty much the right number of days in each place. Many thanks to all the awesome input I received from various people, who help tweaked the schedule. In hindsight, the only place I would have loved to stay for a few more days would be the French Rivera region (Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Côte d’Azur). But given the time constraints, I would have stuck to the same schedule again.
A random trivial tidbit that BlueOrca suggested I record. Combined total between BlueOrca and me were 12,316 photos + videos, coming out at 96.8GB. Breakdown by day is as follows: 317,435,761,1021,975,1127,768,878,1269,1073,287,1153,487,798.
I have decided to break up my Barcelona recaps into two posts, since there were really two phases of my visit. This post covers a lot more of the cultural and social aspects of the city that I got to experience, while the second post will cover more of the traditional sightseeing attractions. Given some feedback from BlueOrca, I have decided to tweak my writing style in this post, hopefully for the better.
Barcelona
During the original plans for this trip, Spain was not part of the itinerary. Later on, we considered starting in Madrid followed by Barcelona. After trimming the trip down, Barcelona was left as the sole representative from Spain. Despite having never been there, some people had expressed to me a strong distaste and disinterest in Spain. However, after experiencing Barcelona, I have to say the city was one of the most interesting places I visited on this trip.
As I came out from Barcelona International Airport (BCN), my first thoughts were that this place is so different than Amsterdam. The air is much warmer, more humid. The architecture feels more open and less developed. The people and atmosphere felt so raw. Exactly the characteristics that I would expect from Spain. This reminded me of my trips to Mexico in the past, except now, this is Spain, where it all started. I am really here! :D
Since my flight arrived quite late in the evening, my first order of business was to find my hostel. This is my first time staying at a hostel, so it should be an interesting experience.
Lesson #2: Directions from hostels are crap.
I got out at Barcelona Sants and tried to follow the directions provided by the hostel. General flow was to follow this street, turn left, go down another street then turn left to arrive at the hostel – a 5 minute walk from the train station. I walked around for 10 minutes and could not even find the first street. -.-; Ended up punching the address into my GPSr and following that. I also realized that a 5 minute walk for a Spaniard is a 10 minute walk for Tochi.
Except for location, Alberguinn Youth Hostel takes the cake as the best hostel I stayed at on this trip. Right when you walked in, you will notice a very clean and bright atmosphere. A very helpful and cute lady at the check-in counter gave me all sorts of useful information on the city. The best aspect of my stay, and I will admit first that this is totally luck, was the other folks staying at the hostel.
You might meet all sorts of people at places like these, hippies, druggies (XD) and weird people in general. However, the bunch I met were all quite social and everyone was around my age group. After I got settled in, we all hung out in the common room draining bottles of beer and Cava (Sparkling wine product from Catalonia that I had been meaning to try anyway). I met two other fellow Canadians, one of whom is a girl who also hails from Toronto, but is currently studying in the UK, a couple Czechs, British, French, Americans and a guy from Peru. To make things even more interesting, 2 of the Americans were from NY, with one being a 2007 Cornell ECE graduate! What a small world! One of the British guys, who had been backpacking for 3 months said that this was one of the best hostels he has stayed at so far, because of the people. I could not appreciate his remark at the time, but after staying at more hostels on the trip, in retrospect, I totally agree with his statement.
I learned quite a bit about the cultural and living conditions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia Republic while having breakfast with one of the Czechs the next morning. It is amusing that the Czech was so courteous, repeatedly apologizing for his poor English. Cultural and political history always interested me, especially revolutions and their aftermath. Hearing his first hand recounts of life for him and his family was quite intriguing. Of course, the conversation naturally turned to sports and the upcoming all important Euro Cup. :)
If there is one thing Barcelona is renown for (at least to our age group), it would definitely be its nightlife. As one of the central hubs in Western Europe for tourists, foreigners, students, with a very modern yet distinctly Spanish feel, Barcelona offers a very cool blend of clubs, pubs and bars to accommodate every taste.
A couple of us from the hostel decided to go clubbing that night. Our group consisted of a French Canadian from Gatineau, QC, an Indian guy from Chicago and a Lithuanian. Since two Canadians made things confusing, I was referred to as Hong Kong :P. I have to admit, we were a most peculiar bunch. The guys had everything stocked and planned beforehand, so off we went.
Everyone knows Europeans are much more liberal than North Americans. I have heard stories and I thought I knew. What I discovered was that I had absolutely no idea how liberal things really were. Fortunately, we had the Lithuanian leading the way to showcase what it is like to party like a European.
Nightlife starts really late in Barcelona. I suspect this is partially due to siesta, where everything seems to be pushed back a few hours. We had time to kill before the club was going to open, so we headed towards the beach. We were drinking some strange concoction of vodka and some pale orange gold stuff. We nicknamed it Goldie. This is the first time I have ever drank inside a subway train – I hardly see that in Toronto. However, it appears to be the norm in Barcelona, as a lot of people on the packed subway had drinks in their hands and were all heading out to party.
We each took turns, hmm, trying to chat with any beauties we saw along the way. Made for some quite embarrassing scenes and great laughs. I also picked up a bit of Eastern European vocabulary to reply to people who ignore or reject us. Now, there were things that the Lithuanian did that I could never do. All I have to say was that any ladies travelling alone in Europe needs to be very careful. You might be contacted in some of the most inappropriate places. Surprisingly though, the ladies took it all in stride, no screams or slaps. As North Americans, we just told the Lithuanian that there are some things one can only do in his country, not ours.
Perhaps the most hilarious situation was when we came up to this subway platform. There was a blonde standing alone on the platform. As vultures, we moved closer to our prey. This time, it was Lithuanian’s turn to attack. We started to egg him on and out of the blue, the blonde started laughing out loud (lol irl). We were stunned for a second, before the Lithuanian exclaimed, “SHIT! (pointing at the girl) I can tell you understand English!”. The rest of us doubled over in laughter. She was the only Spanish girl who understood English that we met that night. It was all in great fun though.
Given the amount of liquid that we had taken, once we got out of the subway, the four of us felt the urge. I had not expected this to be the case, but Spain would become the fourth country where I have watered some plants in public. The sad thing is, as I was doing my job, my only thought was that if someone would take a photo of the four of us from behind, it would make an amazing capture. My photography self was still awake.
We roamed around the beach area for a while. All the really expensive nightclubs and restaurants are located here. Cover charges for the clubs go for over 60 Euros. A lot of night time revellers were coming out and we met angels, devils, ballerinas and all sorts of other weird fashions. One interesting encounter was with a group of 10 British ladies, known as the “Red Ladies”, who were all dressed in bathrobes. They wanted to take photos with each of us kissing a silver bull stuffed toy. It was weird but as gentlemen, we just cannot say no to ladies. I bet those photos are on Facebook somewhere.
We grew a bit hungry, so we roamed looking for food. We came upon this lively restaurant serving Greek food and asked for a table outside on the patio. Unfortunately, there were not any free tables, so they offered us a table inside. However, Lithuanian saw a bunch of pictures of elderly customers who had visited the restaurant. “Guys! We cannot go into a Babushka restaurant!!!”. We ended up going to a small bar and got cocktails and some quick snacks. After we had our fillings, American wanted to leave without paying, since there was no one really watching us. He actually stepped out the door, but we told him, “Maybe in America it is different, but in our countries, we do not cheat Babushkas (the bartender lady).” lol. The bill came out surprisingly cheap - 4 euros per person.
We headed towards Razzmatazz, a 5 room club featuring techno, pop, electro, disco and other trashy music. Cover was 15 Euros to get in. We got there at 1am and the place was pretty empty. In Toronto, clubs would be packed by 1am. The main disco room reminded me a bit of Guvernment, with the tall multi-story room, and balconies looking over. The interior decor was not as nice though. The drinks are still as expensive.
People started filling the place at 2am. Now, this clubbing experience was different than normal for me, mostly because I was here with people I did not really know. Back home, half the time I was not allowed to be as free, especially if I did not want to be ignored forever. :P I think the Lithuanian’s personality was rubbing off on me this night. Never realized I could be this at ease. Overall, a great night of dancing with many people. People get a lot more intimate here that what I am used to. One memorable dance sequence was with this brunette, with whom I exchanged kung-fu style manoeuvres. As they say, creativity is everything in dancing. lol.
As it pressed closer to 4am, people started handing out drinks. By 4:30am, the club was starting to make people leave. The message that the party would continue at Espanya Plaza was being passed around. We decided that we had enough for the night, as American had an early flight to catch, while I had to pick up BlueOrca at the airport the next morning.
Got back at 5am and managed to get 2 hours of sleep. My clothes smelled of smoke, so I was forced to do laundry on the second day of my trip!
What a night I had. Barcelona ranks as my favourite foreign nightlife city. As I mentioned, this entire trip has been one of many discoveries, and on this night, it was discovery in more ways than one – an eye-opening experience that I will never forget. It was truly special to have experienced the amazing Barcelona social life.
One thing I have now realized is that I need to blog first before sending out links to my albums. The blog posts (hopefully) give some context to the photos and prevent the same questions from being asked by different people over and over again. >_<
Anyway, I decided to break up my Montserrat photos from the Barcelona set. The Barcelona set was becoming quite daunting and there was some pressure to share some photos ASAP. So, without further ado…
Montserrat.
It all started when I was looking into a day trip away from Barcelona for the spare day I had before BlueOrca joined me in Europe. AR and MM both highly recommended Montserrat. I cannot go wrong.
Montserrat is a 4000ft mountain an hour from Barcelona. A Benedict abbey, the Santa Maria de Montserrat is nestled near its peaks. Montserrat means “jagged”, in reference to the sudden outcrop of rocks that is Montserrat on the plains of Catalonia. The views are said to be spectacular.
Reaching Montserrat is relatively straightforward. Go to Espanya to get on the R5 train to Madresa. From there, you have two options, take the cable car or rack rail. At Espanya, I was expecting to find a real train station. What I found were nondescript subway platforms that turned out to be the train station.
From the train platform of Aeri de Montserrat, where you take the cable car, you can make out the monastery near the top of the mountains. I was super excited. :D
The cable car ride was only 7 minutes in duration, but definitely quite breathtaking. By far, the oldest cable car I have ever been on too.
As you can see from the photo, the weather was not very nice on this day. This will become a recurring theme.
At the top station, it is a short hike up to the abbey. Now, a must-see at Montserrat is the famous boys choir. I have no real interest in boys choir singing holy gospels, but they are the world’s oldest running boys choir, since the 13th century or something like that. I had read they sing just before noon.
Went to the info centre to figure out where to see this choir. “There is no choir today. It is Saturday.” WHAAT? :’( None of the brochures mentioned anything about this. It is suppose to be daily! Oh well, some things were not meant to be.
Photo stops outside and inside the basilica. A mass was in session, so I squeezed into the back and snapped a couple photos. The interior design was one of the more visually appealing cathedrals I visited on E08. Just something different about going into an empty church versus one jammed packed with people praying in unison.
While I was up in the abbey taking photos, giant clouds started to roll into the area. I’ve been in clouds before, but not such fast moving ones. It was almost surreal.
Took the funicular up to the peak. I was wondering the entire time what a funicular was, and the lady I asked could not adequately explain it in her broken English. When I actually saw the train… OH!! The Peak Tram! I know this. :P
Got to the top, and it started to POUR! I was totally planning on hiking the last 50m of elevation to the true Montserrat peak. Man, I could see jack, and I was not going to take TochiCam out in the rain anyway, so the hike was not worth it. Took the next funicular back down, along with everyone else. bummer.
Had lunch at a pretty fancy cafeteria (you can tell Montserrat is quite rich from all the pilgrims and tourists)... ended up having Paella (famous Seafood rice dish) without realizing it. I was soaked and just wanted something warm and filling. Got a fruit salad with it too.
Still quite foggy outside, so I took the opportunity for some more artsy shots.
The rain was letting up, so several hikes were possible for the afternoon. I decided to tackle a 40min one to Santa Cova afterwards. Santa Cova was where they discovered the black Virgin Mary that started this monastery at Montserrat. Would be kind of cool to see. A lot of sculptures along the way. Because of the rain, many of the faces on the sculptures had streams of "tears" flowing down.
The bottom of the valley was clearing up too, so I finally got to view some of the stunning scenery.
Finally reached the Chapel de Santa Cova. The chapel was built in the 1700's on the order of the Pope to protect the black Virgin Mary. Monks were camped permanently there for many years. For me, I found it amusing that a gigantic boulder sticks out in front of the chapel. :)
Not a lot of people do this hike, but I was expecting someone to greet me inside. No one was there. Now that was creepy. I don't visit empty churches alone. Kind of like I don't really visit cemeteries alone. Just not my thing.
Took quick photos of the Virgin Mary (actually, I'm not even sure which part of stone was the Virgin Mary), and quick tour of the chapel before jetting out of there.
Once I got back to the abbey area, I stuck around for some more photos before taking the cable car back down to return to Barcelona.
Final Impressions
Montserrat is a very cool place to visit, and if you have an extra day in Barcelona, I'd highly recommend making the day trip. While my visit was marred by the weather, I got to appreciate the beautiful, serenity and spirit of Montserrat. There is an all inclusive pass that includes transportation to/fro Barcelona, funicular rides and food. Quite a good deal.
The jagged peaks and rock outcrops had me itching to visit 黃山 for some reason! :P
Next stop - Truly Barcelona. :D
Amsterdam was my first stop on E08 - a 5 hour layover in the city. I had initially planned for a short escape to the area around the airport. However, when I got there, I realized there was a 15 minutes train to downtown.
Lesson #1: Bring your PIN for your VISA, M/C, A/E to Europe. It’s the one you received but never used.
I tried to buy a ticket from a kiosk. Inserted my A/E and it asked for my PIN. WTF. Same thing with M/C. How the heck am I gonna get my PIN? Ended up getting my ticket with cash at a ticket counter with a 0.50 cents extra service charge. PIN’s are commonly asked in Europe by automated systems to prevent fraud apparently.
Having never been to Amsterdam, I just know what the city is notoriously famous for – sex and weed. However, as I stepped out of Amsterdam Centraal, first thing I noticed were the bicycles. Lots and lots of them. Quick mental check. I was in Amsterdam, right? Not Copenhagen?
Not to disappoint however, a block from the train station, my sights veered left, and I spotted the first signs of one of its famous trades. I was actually surprised to stumble onto this so quickly. Took a quick stroll through the red light district of Amsterdam. I suspect given its close proximity to downtown that it is more or less a big tourism draw nowadays.
This trade seems to permeate everywhere you go in the city. Saw many related shops, boutiques, theatres, sculptures and artifacts around town. I remember Catnipped’s reaction to certain posters at PAX. I wonder how she will react in Amsterdam. lol.
Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North. As you step outside the downtown core, you will inevitably run into the many canals that run around the city centre. Unlike Venice, one-way streets mixed with both pedestrian and vehicular traffic clog up the sides of the canals. Many instances, I saw delivery trucks with a train of cars behind them. They’ll just stop, turn on their 4-way flashers to make a delivery. lol. Sucks to be the follower.
I guess I should comment about the other famous trade in Amsterdam. I did go and peer in several cafes to see if people were smoking joints. I was not quite sure what to expect. Perhaps I might see people smoking from bowls like in the Middle East. Anyway, of the couple I visited, I did not see any such activity. A bit disappointed. I was told later that smoking in cafe is a touristy thing now. People just do it at home. lol.
Overall, I had a very amused introduction to Amsterdam. It was everything I expected from the city and so much more. Definitely a place I want to visit again for a few days to truly experience. And last but not least, this adorable little cow…
Next stop – Barcelona.