No tickets, ah well, more strolling

-
Today we decided to check out the cafe below our hotel. The activity for today was Park Güell, so we were going to eat close to our hotel and make journey to the park (about 40 minutes by bus).  The cafe looked promising and actually had a really good dirty chai and jamon y queso crossaint.   

Instead of doing single train/metro/bus tickets, we opted for the Hola Barcelona card this time as we realized how great the public transport was (being quick and connected everywhere).  The card covered all public transportation, including the airport and came in 48, 76, 96, and 120 hours packages. The amounts are even between hours, and saves a ton rather than buying single journeys every time, so we opted for the 48hrs to try it out. (Let me just say, highly recommend the Hola Barcelona card!)

We made it to the park, only to find it was sold out. We needed tickets? whoops. Didn't think to check, honestly thought the park was free.  No matter, we're on holiday! Pedro went ahead and bought tickets for the next day while we were there, which we could use at any time throughout the day.  Then we hopped back on the bus and ended up on the other side of the gothic quarter to check out more stuff.  I think the quarter is going to be our favorite place.  So many markets and sights! 

We saw the Arc de Triomf and made our way down to Ciutadella Park.


At the end of the park, we continued back towards the Gothic Quarter, and happened upon a lovely mini chocolate and pastry shop.  I've never had chocolate covered cherries quite so boozy!


This time we found dinner on the street, I don't really know how to describe it other than a strip of sidewalk with traffic and squares/streets on either side.  Foot traffic only, with markets and some tents with table.  We choose a place similar to the other night, where we got tapas and an entre for cheap, which left room for sangria!


From there we happened upon the largest indoor market. It just kept going further and further, back, all kinds of finger foods, fruits, fresh seafood and meat, and many different drinks.  It was closing then, so we made a note to visit again tomorrow when in full swing. 



We grabbed some fruit smoothies from the market and used that energy to explore just a bit further.  Casa Batlló, a Guadi landmark, was a 15 minute walk though shops and plazas so we decided that'd be our end of the day.


It was beautifully lit!  I'm not sure what was year round or Christmas, but the lights faded into different colors and twinkled periodically.  It was a very pretty and mesmerizing thing to watch.  On such a cool night with the metro right behind us, we just relaxed and stared it for awhile. 

Popular posts from this blog

New Year, New Country

-
Image
In October, Pedro turned to me and said, "Pick a country and we'll go there for your birthday."  Immediate whirlwind of thoughts and ideas. Do we go somewhere with snow? Get warm? East? West?  At first I picked Iceland.  It's been on my list for awhile, and I figured January might have a greater chance for us to see some northern lights.  However, once we compiled a list of things we wanted to see and stuff we wanted to do, we realized winter was not going to be the best time for us to visit, so we pivoted.   Pedro's always wanted to visit Spain, see his roots.  And I thought it'd be great to visit a more Summery country when it's not so hot.  Barcelona it is!  And this trip was going to be different, as in an actually being a holiday. Relaxing, meandering, enjoying the sights instead of our usual GO GO GO.  We have a big habit of mapping out every second, and while it's great to cover so much ground in a short amount of time, we end up ...
Read more

Yala National Park

-
Image
We were waiting outside our hotel, ready for pick up at 4:30a.  Our safari vehicle was much like yesterdays, a truck with a row of seats set on top of the flatbed, giving us a view over the cabin of the truck. There were two other couples to pick up, then we'd book it to the park entrance to queue before it opened at 6a.  We had a fair warning, our guide Sulu saying, 'I'm going to hurry', and Pedro and I were getting a front row roller coaster experience.  The difference in a safari truck slowly driving on dirt roads versus smooth straight-shot highway was crazy.  We barely had time to snatch our bags and white knuckle the bar in front of us, but it made us laugh all the same.  At each stop, we enjoyed the starry skies with little light pollution, and I was able to quickly braid back the rats nest that was my hair from the ride.   At 5:50a sharp, we were at the gates of Yala, third vehicle in line. Our guide Sulu took that time to go over the game plan...
Read more

Nine Arches Bridge and Udawalawe Elephants!

-
Image
It rained a lot the night before (it's typhoon season after all) so we weren't sure at first if we'd get to see this viewpoint.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day.  Down the road from Ella's main street, a quick tuk-tuk ride, a walk down the side of the valley and along the train tracks, is a hidden little viewpoint called Nine Arches Bridge, or Sky Bridge.  Besides the gorgeous views, it is famous for its architect.  At the start of the 20th century, British engineers struggled to connect the railways between two mountains, which included a 9 degree curve, and delayed plans for years.  Finally, a local Ceylonese builder consulted on the project and managed to build this bridge with his local workers from only rocks and cement (no steel or rebar as these materials were diverted with World War I) and completed this in a year.  Our guide told us of a legend beyond this, that the British did not trust this feat so the Ceylonese man offered to lay under the br...
Read more