Barcelona Other Top Attractions

For Barcelona, I felt like spending 4 days and 3 nights are absolutely not enough to discover and explore this city cause there are plenty of things to do and see here. If not because we're pressed for time, I would definitely would love to spend almost a week here. Minus the overcrowded population, this city offers numerous of awe-inspiring and magnificent buildings which impossible for me see in elsewhere and this indirectly make me fall in love with the city even more. 

Apart from Plaza Espana, Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia where we're successfully went and visit during our stay in Barcelona, there are also other few top attractions we managed to squeeze in into our itinerary and catch a glimpse, like: 

1) Casa Mila - Popularly known as La Pedrera or "The Stone Quarry" was the last private residence designed by none other than Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. However, I decided not to pay visit because I would prefer to visit in the early morning cause as you know, by the noon time, the crowd is getting uncontrollable. So the only thing we did to keep as a memory is by taking the signature pose right in front of the building. Say cheese! 

Share:

La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's Unfinished Masterpiece

Like they said, a trip to Barcelona is definitely incomplete without visit any of Gaudi's masterpiece of architecture. So we went and visit Gaudi's awe-inspiring park, Park Guell on the second day, how about on the third day? 

Luckily on the third in Barcelona, we don't have to wake up pretty early like we did on the day before cause one of the Spain's landmark monuments that we intend to visit will open to public at 9am onwards. And the one I mentioned is none other than the impressive enormous unfinished Roman Catholic church, La Sagrada Familia. 

#1

Do you know that La Sagrada Familia has been under construction for more than 130 years and yet, it's still on-going project even today? It's expected to be completed in 2026 marks the 100 year centenary of the death of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi in 1926. When the church is finished, it will be 144 years after the first stone was laid. 

Share:

Park Güell - Gaudi's Iconic Park in Barcelona

4.30 in the morning - that's where my alarm rang.

Normally, I'm not a morning person but for the sake of travelling, I can get up early than my usual working hours. That shows how powerful travelling is. I prefer to arrive those popular tourist attractions as early as I can in order to beat the crowd. 

So, what's the agenda on the second day in Barcelona that causing me to wake up so early? None other than Park Guell, one of the top rated tourist attractions of Barcelona. It's remarkably popular among the visitors and to be wise, it's best to get there earlier. 

HOW TO GET TO PARK GUELL

To reach here, the nearest metro is either Lesseps or Vallcarca Station under the Green Line (L3). However, both stations require 20 minutes walk to the park. In case you are lazy to walk so far away, you can continue by taking bus 116, 24 or H6 from any of the two stations mentioned earlier. 

#1: Park Guell before the sun rise

Share:

Adeus Lisbon and Hola Barcelona!

Continue from here...

After spending two nights in Lisbon including a day trip to Pena Palace of Sintra, it's time to bid goodbye to Portugal and proceed to third country for this leg of our trip - Spain! 

FROM LISBON CITY CENTER TO LISBON AIRPORT 

Generally for a budget-conscious traveller, it's always better to use public transport - buses or the metro system. You can take metro from any place in Lisbon city center directly to Aeroporto Station (Lisbon Airport) for just €2.00 (including €0.50 for the reusable card). But because you know, we had quite number of luggage with us plus they were heavy too, we opted for Uber. There is no issue in getting an Uber cause it is available throughout the city. From where we stayed in Lisbon straight to the airport, the Uber fare was €6.45 - it's relatively affordable cause we don't have to go through the hassle of changing station. 

FLYING TO BARCELONA WITH TAP PORTUGAL

#1: Barcelona, wait for me!

Share:

2018 Autumn in UK & Europe (Sneak Peek)

Oops!... I did it again

I was away for the past few weeks to United Kingdom (again!) and Europe as well (not again!) 

I booked my flight right after I came back from my trip to Tokyo earlier this year when I happened to stumble upon cheap fare offered by Oman Air. Imagine fly-in London and fly-out Milan for RM1,800 which is definitely so hard to resist this temptation. And so happened Malindo Air was having promo where return flight for Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur for RM225. So in total, the whole fare cost RM2,025. What a great steal!

For this round, I decided to bring along my mom cause she never been to any angmoh (Western) countries before, including Australia due to family commitment. Besides my mom, I also tagged my cousin together. Initially we plan to visit Iceland but I guess Iceland would be slightly boring for my mom, hence I changed my plan to visit Portugal and Spain since I have never been there too. 

Here's the quick sneak peek for our 19 days trip around London, Portugal, Spain and Milan:

#1: Hello London once again! I lost count how many times I've been to London cause I studied in United Kingdom before

#2: First time flying with RyanAir and Ola Portugal!


#3: Porto turns out to be my favourite one among all the cities I visited for this trip

#4: The famous tram 28 in Lisbon. We almost pickpocketed when arrived Lisbon from Porto but luckily I aware of that.

#5: A day trip to Sintra from Lisbon merely for this colourful and magnificent Pena Palace


#6: From Portugal to Spain. A trip to Barcelona is incomplete without visit any of Gaudi's masterpiece.


#7: Sagrada Familia - another of Gaudi's unfinished Roman Catholic church. Glad I bought the ticket online or else, I might need to join the long hours queue.


#8: Madrid, the capital city of Spain and we stayed here for four nights


#9: A day trip to Segovia from Madrid which takes about half an hour via high-speed train


#10: Another day trip to Seville which takes approximately 2 and half hour from Madrid but it's really worth it


#11: Ended our trip in Milan. Unfortunately, it's overrated for me - so crowded and once again, we almost being the target for pickpocket on our way from train station to airport.

For some travellers, they would try to cover as many countries as possible in this almost three weeks trip but for me, I try to slow down my travel pace not just for the sake of my mom but also I dislike rushing my trip lately. I don't feel any sense of enjoyment at all by rushing here and there. Probably this is a sign of aging. Oopsss...

All in nutshell, we explored 4 countries (United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Italy), wandered around 9 different cities and experienced 3 new airlines (Oman Air, RyanAir and TAP Air Portugal). I asked my mom whether she would love to return to Europe again, she said Yes! but with one condition - reduce the number of walking in future. Hahaha. Sorry mom for making you to walk more than 10,000 steps everyday. Sometimes, we even walked more than 20,000 in a day. I'm kidding not! But I glad that we survived till the end of the trip.

#12: My virgin experience flying with Oman Air - Not bad. I quite enjoy the in-flight entertainment but the food is so-so only. Still prefer Qatar Airways in-flight meal better. 

Share: