Saturday, November 7, 2015

Travel diaries - Barcelona & Costa Brava ,Spain #photography #travel stories #tourist



We had planned our escape to Spain , not actually knowing what to expect in terms of weather , food and tourism. Pictures do speak a 1000 words and Internet has got abundant information on what to do and what not.. But are they true to what it is ? Guess everyone's perception is different. Being a Human, comparing places is completely normal. We visited La Sangrada Familia , Costa Brava , Montserat  , Blanes Beach & Market, Park Guell  and the famous Ramblas market .
Come read along and explore Spain virtually through my lens and stories. This is picture heavy post!!!



We began our trip , flying with British Airways from London Heathrow to Barcelona, Spain. Flying time is typically 1.5 hours and it goes away quick. Since we were hiring a car for our travel inside Spain , the procedures took us about an hour to get the vehicle in hand.. Phew !! But it was totally worth it. The temperature was 30 C and it was just perfect and welcoming for tourists visiting from UK. Our first destination was La Sangrada Familia , which is a large Roman Catholic Church in Barcelona , Calonia ( Spain), designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). 
Although incomplete , the church is still a  UNESCO World Heritage Site. The contruction commenced in the year 1882 and still under progress.  

Way back home , driving is right side and in Spain it was Left side. We were totally prepared for this new amazing nerve wrecking experience.  Our navigator adoring the deck , we were all set, constantly reminding ourselves , " ON the LEFT please " . I would say an hour on the road and we were all  fine. But the first hour in hand with the vehicle was slightly worrying because we need to get accustomed with the road traffic, rules and driving slangs. 
First lesson that we learnt was apart from the tourist visiting places in list , we must get the the nearest Parking space  post code too. We went round and round , until we found a safe parking lot. To park on road side, one needs to be really swift ., else you are bound to get all the unwanted honking !!

With kids travelling with us , we were not sure how energetic / enthusiastic they would be on Day one of travel  and ended up not booking our tickets online .  On reaching the site , we found out , all the tickets for the day are sold .Since we didn't book  prior to visiting ,we did not get to visit this glorious , religious site . Our friends who had booked it online , managed to visit inside and they claimed it was totally worth it.
Now that we decided to return on our own ,we lost our way to the Parking lot. The local public can hardly communicate in English.  Google Maps came to our rescue.
It was already past midday by then . After having our first share of lessons learnt , we decided to drive down to our Hotel Monte Martim in Costa Brava. Sigh !!! This boat shaped  4 * hotel cum resort was located besides other 10 + hotels next to next . Streets decorated with temporary stalls and markets selling  hand made stuff, guys doing caricature , Football tshirts and soo many.. The beach was hardly 200 meters from the row of these hotels. 

Whilst booking the hotels had a choice to book our meals along  and we chose half board. This includes Breakfast and Dinner.  We all freshened up after a long long day and came down promptly for dinner time . The ala carte buffet had a lot to offer from Soup , Salad , Pizza , Pasta , Meat Varities  , Fruits and a variety of Roulade cakes and Ice creams. But !! apart from dessert , most dishes had a portion of meat in some form mixed up , including the salad. 
The Chef came along to show me what dishes were vegetarian .. Finally they tailor made some margarita Pizza and Tomato Sauce pasta. Desserts and fruits were just too good to forget the very little available vegetarian choices. 
After the dinner , the kids and the adults have thier mini disco and salsa. It was lovely to see how the oldies were enjoying their salsa at this age of 60 + , quietly being romantic just on their own. 


On day Two , after a lavish breakfast , we headed towards the famous Montserrat Monastery in Spain . Again the postcode, given on the website takes you to only to the tram station . We had to go to the cable car pit. Can you believe, this particular place has no pin code. An hour later, when our phone call reaches through to the cable car pit, they tell us the location is the 11th km on C 55 when you drive from Barcelona. Somehow, we managed to reach back.  The destination was quite simple. At a point when you drive on C 55 , you have to take an exit on the right to the tram station. Instead , keep it straight on and park in the space at the 11th km.





There was a waiting time of about 1 hour to get the cable car to the top. Each cable car allows approximately 20 -25 people in a go. The travel  time is approximately 5-7 minutes. 
Montserrat Monastery is of  religious importance and also its breath taking  to see the natural beauty- mountains surrounding the monastery. 


One can go for little trek's or short walks around the place. Its a recommended day trip in your visit to Barcelona. The stroll around the  stalls with various foods, jams, jewellery and other souvenirs for sale  made our visit even more enjoyable. Several places to eat too . 


On Day Three, we decided to chill out and stay local. A little walk by Costa Brava Beach after breakfast. A little drive to Blanes Beach though all the twists and turns was enjoyable. Local Market are quite famous all around spain. Not sure if we would make it to Ramblas market , we visited the Blanes market on Monday, by the beach side. The market concentrated with various stalls selling clothes with newer prints, soveniers, Soccer t shirts , Hand made dolls , food and soo many. My eyes were contantly longing for props that I can bring back and we finally found one. Handpainted bowls , tapas dishes , sovenier plates and soo many. It was pleasure walking past in the beautiful weather .We then spent the afternoon in the Blanes beach. Calms and comforting , with all the waves slushing the shores..  The water was cold , but not that cold that we could not take a walk . 
We returned back to the hotel by evening and spent a couple of hours taking dips in the indoor pool. Since there was a slight overcast of clouds on the beach , as the time passed by , it was no the best day we had chosen. 




Day Four was the day to Return , but late in the evening. So we chose to cover the country's famous La Rambla market and Park Guell. La Rambla is a is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and locals alike. A tree-lined pedestrian mall, it stretches for 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) with a few pedestrian stalls and sovenier kiosks. On one of the alley ways there is a La Boqueria market , housing a diverse variety of goods starting from Sweet Stalls , Fruits and Vegetables, Juices, meat , Olive Oil and many more. 
In my opinion , there was nothing so great to make it a tourist attraction. The fruit and vegetable markets in India are soo diverse with fresh and flourishing choices, that nothing really awed my attraction.




From there we headed straight to Park Guell. Park Guell is a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona (Spain).The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under “Works of Antoni Gaudí” Mosaic art on the outer walls , edges and on the ceiling are works of Antoni Gaudi.




Again parking was one of the biggest issues because the post code would only take you to the main entrance , where only coaches could park. We had to find alternate parking using our navigator a little down the hill  and then there was a dedicated escalator that would take you to the Park. I sincerely wish details of parking are provided on the website , so tourists could reach without going round robin at all.  Before I forget to mention , one must reach the destination on time , else you will not allowed to enter in. Our friends who had booked their tickets along  with us , couldn't make it on time because they took some time to find the parking lot. They were not allowed in .

Pointers to remember :

BOOK TICKETS ONLINE 
REACH ON TIME 
COLLECT PARKING LOT POSTAL CODE

Overall it was a wonderful 4 days trip with warm sunny weather 30 C , quite contrast to our weather in UK at the same time of the year, Lots of memories and fun stories still lingering in our mind.



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