The Beautiful City that’s called Barcelona.
Wednesday 23 november 2005 4.09am s’pore time
9.10pm spain time
Another day of a wonderful holiday is gone, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Todae’s schedule to leave for this factory outlet was late. 1030. but all of us woke up early still. Papa woke everybody up by on-ning the tv so early in the morning. Mother curse and swear, but still got up nonetheless haha. After breakfast, I spent abit of the time to further explore my idea for solo exhibition. Its progressing well, no doubt spurred on by all the art and beauty I see here.
Wait for my parents to come up from breakfast, then when there’re ready, we decided to go out to do abit of walking around the area. Our hotel’s located in an old residential area, more for the upper middle class, so the neighbourhood got some nice and interesting houses.
I walk in front, then turn back saw my parents at the back there. Were fussing over something on their jackets for SO long. Nao hia waste my time. First make me wait for them for almost one hr to do finish their business after breakfast, then later walk walk that time kerna birdshit on their jackets. Then make such a big fuss over such a small thing. Ahyo. So they say have to go back to hotel to wash up. Clean wif tissue not enuff. Come all the way here to experience n see new stuff, and u let such small irritating things get into ur way. go back to hotel and wait until 1030 to leave.
While they were busy in the toilet fussing abt their nonsense, I looked outside the hotel window to just appreciate the panoramic scenery outside. Its still considered early morning at 10 here in Barcelona and u see pple coming out of their homes and going to work or sch or what not. There’s this hospital next to our hotel, so u see doctors and nurses coming in and out also. And while I was observing the traffic, I realized that barcelonians r very gracious pple, ever ready to really stop to give way to pedestrians and other cars. Ya I noe u also see this in s’pore, but over here its like a habit, a way of life. back home u only give way after giving it a second thought.
So after that went to the factory outlet located in the city outskirts. Just some high end shops fitted into some pretty buildings. Not fun one. Not a very interesting place la. Even mother who likes to shop so much also didn’t really buy much. Had lunch in one of the cafes coz were were leaving the factory outlet at 1 and the restaurants only open at 1. Ho mia. The café food was gd enuff anyway. I ordered this spicy majorca sausage hot sandwich which is tip top, wif a solid hot choc to go.
After that went back to town and they dropped us off at catalunya square, one of the more popular spots in the city. Itenary was to allow us to have the rest of the day to ourselves to explore the city on our own. me and my parents walked from there to see gaudi’s casa batllo and casa mila. Both were very impressive and nice both on the outside and inside. Batllo’s interior had a lot of curves and unexpected twists. It used to b a house that gaudi designed for this rich guy whose name is obviously batllo. And after a while, u get a sense of being disoriented and confused. There’s no clear organization to the house. In a gd sense. it’s a pleasant sensation and it adds to the building’s charm.
Mila’s also used to b a house belonging to a rich guy called mr mila. Gaudi designed this huge house for mila’s family. The balcony of the building had this strange shapes, wif chimneys that look like hoods worn by those penitents during holy week in spain. And the view on the balcony was spectacular. Cd almost see very landmark of Barcelona. And mind u r, the balcony not like ours so small. Theirs is huge. See this ar, ur balls r guaranteed to shrink one. Mila’s apartment on one of the floors was also open, and they left all the furniture and décor untouched, so walking thru those rooms was like a step back in time. Cd feel how it was like to live like a well-to-do in the 19th cen. Very song. And the house is huge. Very impressive, and I have to say once again that this gaudi guy is a genius. And yes he also designed that famous sagrida famiglia church that I saw yesterday. All of gaudi’s buildings here r landmarks la.
Then after that sit metro to see Picasso museum. Its located in the old town. Had dinner at one of the restaurants/cafes near to it after seeing Picasso. Then went to the famous las ramblas, something like barcelona’s version of our orchard rd. but here, its more historic, and the focus is not so much on the shopping but more on just taking in the atmosphere. Took metro baack to our hotel. Our tour guide conned us. Earlier when we asked her in the morning whether the hotel is near to the metro she say yes. Wha lau, its actually quite a distance. Walk until pock. That’s why come back already so tired. I want to go into detail of my reflections and describe what I saw, but I’m really so tired that I’ll have to hold back my recollections for tmw’s entry.
Sleep overpowers the desire to explore further and do anything else at this point in time. Dong even have energy to say gdnight and ciao.zzzzzzzzzzz
alvin ong dozed and watched the sawdust trampled night @ 10:00 PM
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