My top 10 list (in no particular order):
1. Watching a Real Madrid match at the San Bernabeu
God rid me of my fear of heights just before the start of the match. We reached the stadium early and blimey, we were seated so high up that when I got to my seat I was frozen stiff.
At that time, I knew that if I didn't pray to God to deliver me from my fear of heights, I would be watching the game from only one rigid position of utter fright. So I prayed and God responded immediately. After that, I was able to move around easily in my seat and could also go to the ladies, which was two to three levels below us.
The match was an exciting one and ended with Real Madrid beating Espanyol 4-3.
2. Seeing Gaudi's handiwork up close and personal
I felt so joyful and delighted to see the genius of Gaudi - Sagrada Familia, Park Guell
as well as Casa Milla. Gaudi dedicated 40 years of his life to building the Sagrada Familia (which means The Holy Family) as a monument to God.
I felt very humbled and when I stood inside the Sagrada Familia, I cried because I could feel his dedication and God's presence even though the building will not be finished for another 20 years or so.
I believe with my heart that God's architect is in God's kingdom.
3. Stepping into God's places of worship
I could sense God's presence and His Spirit in the many Catholic cathedrals I visited. In fact, in one of the cathedrals, visitors were going in and out of the cathedral even as a mass was being conducted at one of the side aisles.
Some of the tourists were even taking pictures of the Mass and Holy Communion as the service was proceeding, but I reverently stood there and watched the entire process without taking any pictures out of respect for Christ. I've never attended a Catholic service, so it was interesting to see a part of the service.
4. Walking along La Rambla and the streets of Barcelona
I love Barcelona because of the boulevards that separate the two sides of all the roads. It's a beautiful sight especially at night to see families walking along the boulevards or people just taking their dogs for a stroll. The space thoughtfully provided for pedestrians, and for walking, is indeed highly commendable.
The La Rambla shopping stretch is a dream come true for any shopaholic. My friend and I were very Singaporean in our approach towards conquering this stretch.
We went down the left and right stretch of this long street, checking out every single shop facing the roads. Then after that, we wandered through each and every side street, and invariably the better, more whimsical shops were in the side streets. I also like it that we could sit down any time and enjoy tapas or a drink.
5. Viewing divine pieces of art
I saw a Rembrandt and a Caravaggio as well as paintings by many other old masters plus contemporary ones like Rothko etc. Also ogled at masterpieces of Brueghel, Titian, Rubens, El Greco, Dali, Velasquez and a host of others.
I was more than over the moon during the museums trips. I was grinning and smiling like an idiot when I was walking through the museums with my audio-guide in hand that some of the guards were looking at me suspiciously, and some started tailing me. Ha ha ha!
6. Tasting scrumptious food
At one restaurant, I had one of the most delicious risotto I've ever eaten in my life! It was risotto with veal and grapes --- divine. Then at another one, we ordered their signature paella and grilled fish and both dishes were top marks. The other memorable one was a steak for two at another restaurant, which tasted so good and came with a delightful sauce.
The La Rambla stretch has this seafood market right in the middle of the section. We went in to have a look and right at the end of the market, there was a small shop serving up freshly grilled seafood. We had to wait about half an hour for seats at the counter and boy was the wait worth it.
I took pictures of all the food above, except for the risotto which was so tasty that I forgot to take a shot before I finished eating it!
At each of the above restaurants, we paid about 25-30 euros per person. (S$50-S$60).
7. Fanning the flamenco passion
I didn't know that a real flamenco show had actually a very small stage with dining table seats around the stage. We went to the most famous one in Madrid, which was situated in a clubbing district. The cab driver dropped us quite a distance away because the district was jam-packed with seemingly every Madrileno aged 20-45.
It was quite crazy - worse than the Singapore Swing in Orchard Road in the days past. We were trying to get past people who had big plastic cups of beer as well as glasses of wine. It was as if the entire hip portion of Madrid was all there.
We had to stop to ask people where the Flamenco dance restaurant was and thankfully, we reached there before show-time. (We dropped at the place around 11.15pm-11.30pm and reached the flamenco place only close to midnight, trying to fight our way through the crowd.) The 10pm show was fully booked so we had booked the midnight show without dinner, only a drink. They served us sangria, which was very nice.
The show was so intense that I felt tired for the performers. The best part of the show was of course the individual female and male dancers. I was also very gratified to see that although the performers were mostly in their late 30s and early 40s, there were understudies in the show.
This is good because it shows that young people are still keen on flamenco, and ensures it won't be a dying art in Spain.
8. Ogling at city architecture
I'm a big big fan of architecture and structures so I was very happy in both Barcelona and Madrid because both cities had very interesting houses and buildings etc. I shot many photos and was very happy with the results. Some of the graffiti on the walls was also very eye-catching.
9. Taking trips on the Metro
I was extremely impressed with the metro system both in Barcelona and Madrid. We seldom had to wait for more than three minutes before a train came by. As well, there were metro stops dedicated to their prominent artists like Picasso, Gaudi and Dali. I couldn't remember which stop and which artist, but that metro stop had a permanent display of 20-30 small versions of the artist's work on both sides of the metro.
The design of each metro stop was very different from another.
I wish SMRT could consider including art pieces, installation art etc at the boarding/embarking level of MRT stations.
We wisely opted for this T-10 metro ticket which costs about 6.95 euros and entitled us to 10 trips. Each individual ticket would have cost us 1.25 euros. The T-10 card is available both in Barcelona and Madrid.
10. Pounding the shop pavements
I bought four pairs of shoes - one Camper (95 euros), two Diesel (50-60 euros each) and one Nike (20-30 euros), three pairs of underwear, four or five tops as well as eight pairs of socks.
Most of my purchases were from a designer factory outlet called La Roca which is an hour's bus ride from Barcelona.
We needed to take the metro to a particular stop, which has a bus terminal and to wait for the bus to turn up. The bus ride cost us 2.75 euros each way. We took the noon bus to the factory outlet and took the 7.30pm bus back.
My heart skipped two beats there for an entirely different reason, but that will remain a secret with me. :-)
It was enough time for us to go through the 70 to 80 shops there. The timing of the bus was like noon from the metro stop and 3.30pm and 7.30pm from the factory outlet.
We also opted to shop at Spanish labels that haven't made it to Singapore yet like Desigual and Custo Barcelona, rather than at Mango and Zara. Custo Barcelona stocks Spanish designer street wear - phew! Prices are astronomical. We went in and came out pretty quickly because the prices were in hundreds of euros.
It pays to have a credit card with your photo on it in Europe. We had to carry our passports with us daily because whenever we used our credit cards, we had to show them our passports for them to check the ID. Having said that, we experienced no problems with any stores whenever we produced our credit cards and our passports.
PS: I really can't wait to travel overseas again! I love soaking in a totally different environment. :-)
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