Europe Day 8: Barcelona

.: October 02, 2012. Tuesday :.

I must say that this one free day in Barcelona is one of my most memorable days from our trip. It was, I think, because we got to sit down and enjoy the moment and for once didn't bother to spend each passing minute snapping pictures. Oh but I did record a street performer, but more to that shortly.

So, we started our day by visiting Barcelona's football club. Hubby was like a little kid in a candy store haha But I can't tell you how happy I was to accompany him to FCB, even tho I know nothing about soccer. We bought ticket to enter the FCB museum, bought an FCB shirt with his name on it. He wanted to buy me one as well, and my eyes went big, all that money to buy me a football shirt? and I can't think a single day I would wear it hahaha

 

Too bad we couldn't spend more time there, coz our friends were waiting outside. Next was Plaza de Espana, La Font Magica (Magic Fountain), and National Museum, all within close proximity to each other. La Font Magica is located at the front of the National Museum, and there is a boulevard from the National Museum that leads to Plaza de Espana with its Venetian Towers.

~ National Museum ~

 

And it was here, at the National Museum, the highlight of the day. Halfway up the building, we spotted a little cafe, hmm scratch that, I wouldn't call that a cafe, it was more like a stall with outdoor seatings. Oh the view from this place was awesome, so we ditched our initial plan of climbing those stairs all the way to the top, although I can't imagine the aerial view from the top, must be breathtaking… oh well. So instead, we ordered churros, calamari, hot chocolate and sangria (for me). It was the best decision me and hubby made that day haha. By the time we got our order, a street performer began singing, and it was good. The singing was damn good. It was a pure relaxing hour. The churros were delish, chewy and not too sweet, the hot chocolate was out of this world and so was the sangria.

 

It was lunch time and we didn't scratch our head thinking what we should eat. We were in Spain, so Paella for lunch. We decided to revisit Las Ramblas again and had our Paella there. And I was surprised to find a local wet market in Las Ramblas. A myriad of colors in there, the color of mushroom, fruits, chocolate, ham, bread, eggs, ...

 

We ended our day by visiting Barcelona famous beach. Just in time for sunset.

Europe Day 7: Avignon to Barcelona

 

.: October 01, 2012 :.

We checked out and started for Barcelona at 8:30 AM today. First stop before Barcelona, a little de tour, was Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman bridge. We got an hour to take pictures.

 

The second stop was Arles, a small city and one of Italian's first settlements in France. There's an amphitheater in the city center, many little alleys, Italian style houses. It was like being in an Italian village. We were too busy taking pictures that we forgot to stop for a while, sit at a small cafe and to have a nice lunch! Ohh we'll come back again to have a more leisure and laid back vacation haha. Because, honestly, that was what I wanted out of this trip, to enjoy a cup of coffee at a cafe in every city we're visiting. But I guess, you'll never really get to manage your time freely if you are on a tour. Hmm next time is free and easy for us.

 

And it was Barcelona, our final stop today. Before checking in, our tour leader took us to the famous Sagrada Familia church. Ooh even though I hadn't seen the rest of Barcelona, I could say that seeing Sagrada Familia church was the ultimate highlight of the day. The Roman church was first designed by Gaudi in 1883, and the construction is estimated to be completed by 2028. Even though Gaudi has long gone, the progress of the church such as the design and even the smallest details are still based on Gaudi's vision and how he wanted it to be. I read the full article of it in wiki and am so amazed, every little detail, and every sculpture has meaning to it. A truly remarkable work of art.

 

Dinner time! Oh I so love the thin pizza. Nothing for the topping, it was just flat bread, but tasted delish.

 

After dinner, we took metro to Las Ramblas, a long street lined with trees and kiosks on either side.  

 

 

 

 

Europe Day 6: From Paris to Avignon

.: September 30, 2012 :.

We started early at 7:30 AM and continued our coach journey to Avignon. I slept the first two hours and after a short break and on the coach again, it was really hard to look away from the beautiful landscape outside. Plain field stretched for acres and acres with few stone-houses spotted here and there, and sheep, cows grazing nearby. A feast to the eyes! The temperature outside was 10 degree Celsius and after an hour driving, a light fog started to form.

And here we were at Burgundy for the wine tasting.

 

A light headed and we hopped back on to the coach. We arrived at Avignon, a city of Popes, around 6 PM and dinner today was provided. Yay. So after checking in, we walked along the city wall to a small restaurant to have our dinner. Later that night, we got a chance to take a night walk inside the city wall. It was beautiful, with the cobbled streets and many outdoor cafes. Behind the small alley, we saw a Pope Palace. It's called the Pope Palace coz eight Popes took residence in Avignon. That is why Avignon is called a city of Popes.

~ One side of Avignon's city wall ~

Hand Made Stamp

My new pleasure!

I've always wanted to do stone or wood carving but my mom won't let me, so does my hubby. They all say it's not fit for a girl. So, I came across a blog mentioning about hand made stamp, and why not. It's carving… on an eraser block! And I couldn't have loved it more. It's so easy to make, so many patterns you can carve, as many as your imagination goes. So far, I've been using my stamps to decorate my journal pages, and since Christmas is around the corner, it's time to wrap some gifts. How about stamping on a plain gift wrapper? Talk about customize your own gift wrapper. Oooh am so excited.

Bye November

*sniff, sniff* I can smell Christmas! 

I don't say I don't like November, but I always find myself wanting to get through November month quickly. Just-give-me-December-already that kind of feeling. But this year's November, we started our important program and that made it so special. Ah and also, my new hobby, stamp carving. Boy, I'm addicted to it. If I'm not careful, I may end up swimming in the hand carved stamps! YES, that addictive!

Crabtree & Evelyn

.: November 18, 2012 :.

They're having a sale! Yay! After much sniffing all the testers, the winner is the Himalayan Blue series. I love the subtle smell… and of course the lovely packaging. It comes with the shower gel, hand care set, body lotion and body mist.