Hello!

This song is dedicated to all my Contiki tourmates!

My favourite things about my trip:

• Meeting amazing people.
• Being able to stay out til 4am most nights and still get up to go to the next day's tours.
• Athens.
• Greece in general! Corfu, Delos, Mykonos, Patmos, Santorini, Crete, all of it.
• The amazing food (especially the Greek food).
• Getting lost in Rome but feeling happy about it because it allowed me to accidentally discover beautiful things.
• The rooftop and balcony gardens of Rome.
• The peculiar idiosyncrasies of genius tour guides.
• The view onto the picturesque alleyways of Sorrento from our hotel room.
• Drinking games on every hotel terrace.
• Stoney beaches.
• The perfect metro system in Barcelona.
• Up close and personal experiences with my friends Salvador Dali and Antoni Gaudi.
• Turkish ice cream!
• George's boat, George's tzatziki.
• Amazing architecture, sculpture, mosaic work.
• Walking through a street and hearing no English whatsoever.
• European summer.

Day Twentyfour

On my last day in Barcelona I actually woke up earlier than my alarm for once. I finished packing, called a taxi and got to the airport in record timing. I got to check in early enough to choose my seat on the plane! Then I just hung around the airport until it was time to board the plane.

And that was my last day in beautiful Barcelona.

My flight to Doha was alright, I spent my time listening to music but after a while a child started screaming and wouldn't stop. I got a bad headache and decided to sleep it off. I woke up as we were flying over Kandahar, Afghanistan. Then I fell asleep again and woke up as the plane was about to land.

In Doha airport I kept mainly to the duty free area to spend the rest of my riyals! 65 riyals (about AUD$20) is too much money to take for two hour-long stopovers at the airport, considering one bottle of water costs 3 riyals and a meal (from what I saw) cost around 10 riyals. I did get something nice from duty free though so no complaints.

My next flight was the real long haul one, 13 hours from Doha to Melbourne. I slept half of the flight, and the spent the rest listening to music and reading. I watched a version of the film Water for Elephants that was edited by Qatar Airways for "flight viewing" and had all the violence, sex and swearing cut out. As always, the food was excellent.

And now I'm home! Short and sweet description of my day. It's good to be home but I miss everything about being away, staying somewhere new, the beautiful weather and being with the best people. I'll make another post later on with a little summary of my absolute favourite parts of the trip.

Day Twentythree

Today I visited the Teatro-Museu Dalí! It's located in Dalí's home town of Figueres, two hours out of Barcelona by train.

I woke up early to half-pack my bags because I had to swap rooms at the hostel for one night. After I'd put all my stuff in my new room I headed to Fontana train station to catch a train to Diagonal, and then another train to Barcelona-Sants station.

The metro system here is excellent, which I've said already. But the staff at the stations are also excellent. At Sants station I had to buy a ticket for the regional rail line called Renfe to get to Figueres. I went up to one guy to ask him where the desk was to buy the ticket, and instead of pointing and describing, he actually walked me to the desk and told me exactly what I needed to ask for, asked about where I was going and doing and wished me a good day. So nice! So much nicer than surly Connex staff in Melbourne!

I opted to get a ticket for the regional line instead of the faster train because it was way cheaper and only took 20 minutes longer to arrive at Figueres. I was reading on the train (Game of Thrones, excellent, highly recommend it to people who love the tv show) and a man came on at Les Corts station with a guitar and began to sing. First he did "Stand By Me" and then the song from the 'One Tonne Rodeo' ad. In Melbourne I think everyone would have looked away awkwardly but on this train people joined in and danced, and everyone gave him a tip (as did I). I felt like I was in a strange fantasy world.

Looking out the window, only half an hour outside of Barcelona and there was already countryside. Past beautiful Girona it was very foresty. I didn't know Spain had forests, I was used to seeing the rough terrain past the cities in Greece. Past Camallera there was a huge field of sunflowers who were all facing the ground because it was another rare cloudy day.

The sun came out as soon as I arrived in Figueres. It only took ten minutes to walk to the museum from the train station. When I arrived (2pm on the Friday), there was a queue to buy tickets that was easily three hundred metres long. I decided to get lunch and wait for the queue to dissipate. I chose a place called Dalícatessen Cafe because I enjoy a good pun, and took fifteen minutes for a little baguette and a coffee and then decided to brave the queue. Thankfully it had receded by about a hundred metres, and it only took under an hour to get in. This may seem like a long time to wait for a museum but apparently it's absurdly fast for what usually takes up to three hours, at least that's what the people in front of me were saying. Plus it's definitely worth waiting for.

I am so glad I made the trip to Figueres for the day. The Teatro-Museu Dalí is mind-boggling. You know what kind of experience you're in for as soon as you see the bright red castle-like walls with eggs lining the roof. Entering the building after the ticket office, you see Dalí's black car which rains on the inside, with his and Gala's prized boat perched atop a column above it. Under the boat drips bright blue tears.

I explored the whole museum, and every room. The layout is pretty confusing but obviously an element of that is intentional. I saw so many of his paintings that have had an impact on me, some that I'd already seen in Melbourne but I was more than happy to see them in the flesh again. I also got to see the Dalí jewels exhibit which included his famous Pomegranate Heart and another golden heart with ruby valves inside that mechanically beat as if they were real. The entire exhibit was so moving though. Tourists everywhere were taking pictures of the paintings, but I preferred to stand back and look at them, then look at them up close, and then stand back again.

Back to Figueres train station and I only had to wait ten minutes until the train back to Barcelona. I spent the whole time reading again and staring out the window at the beautiful countryside.

I got back to Fontana at 9pm, and decided to try to visit the bookshop again. This time it was open!! I browsed for ages but didn't end up getting anything. I'm just glad my persistence to visit it actually paid off.

After I got back to my room, I started packing my things but decided to leave it until tomorrow morning because I would be more organised and less tired then. 

Tomorrow I have a free morning to pack, and then my flight to Doha leaves at 3:45pm. Back home, so sad! I love Barcelona, Gracia in particular.

Day Twentytwo

Today was my walking tour of the city's Gothic quarter! I woke up late again, and this time I really rushed to the station to get to the meeting place, but I took a wrong turn when walking to Saint Jaume square and I got slightly lost. I ended up at the meeting point five minutes past the hour and my group had already left for the tour, there was no one there. So I thought, "F that", and went on a tour of my own after looking at the tour website and figuring out the itinerary.

First I went to the Catedral de Santa Creu, with its Gothic arches and lush, green central garden. It's probably the only church I've seen with a garden right in the middle and I loved the symbolism of it.

Then I went to the Catedral Santa Maria del Mar again and finally got to have a look inside. In the 30s a group of anarchists set fire to the inside of the cathedral, burning everything wooden down to ashes. The good news is that without all the wooden clutter, the bare stone of the walls is beautiful and simple, and you can really see the scale of the structure without being distracted by too much decoration. I also had a look around the back of the cathedral and it was just as beautiful and elegant, and medieval, as the front.

After that, I ended up at a cute little stationery shop called Papirvm, which specialises in making antique-style notebooks and paper. I didn't buy anything but now I wish I had!

Then I went to the Basilica Sants Just I Pastor S.XIV, which is an imposing, flat-faced Gothic structure. It was closed so I couldn't go in, which is a shame because I'm super interested to see what the interior is like.

The laneways of the Gothic quarter in Barcelona are so winding and skinny, with buildings that seem to lean in to one another with age. It's fairly easy to get lost or miss the street you're looking for. One passer-by commented, "It looks like New York", and not having visited New York I can't comment on whether they are right or wrong. But the whole area has a distinct "old" feeling that separates it from the department stores and the modernism of the other side of Placa Catalunya. This is another great thing about Barcelona, the feeling of visiting smaller cities within a larger city. Every district has something different to see and a totally different atmosphere!

Hidden down a dead end under a church and behind a mountaineering shop, I found the Temple Roma D'Augusti, which is where four ancient Roman columns are located. The temple was a political and religious centre during Roman times, dedicated to Emperor Augustus, until the uprising of Christianity in Spain around 5AD. After it became irrelevant, it was demolished over time until only the four columns remained of the huge building, and the marble was recycled for other buildings such as the Bishop's palace. You would think after Italy, Greece and Turkey that I would be sick of seeing columns everywhere but I'm really not.

After the Temple D'Augusti I found I was really hungry so I strayed from my mini-tour and found a nice cafe (not Starbucks) and had a coffee and a sandwich. I really wish my Spanish wasn't so rusty because I ended up just falling back on English when the waiter asked me a question that was beyond my understanding.

After lunch I went back to have a look in Happy Books! I think it's the best name for a bookshop. But I couldn't find anything I was super interested in to read in Spanish. Afterwards, I made a quick stop at H&M which turned into a long stop. I may have spent an amount of money there.

Then I went to El Corte Ingles, a huge department store, determined to find a hairdryer. The giant megalith that looms over Placa Catalunya is a funny mix of high-end clothes, hardware items and kitschy landfill-destined homewares. But I ended up finding a perfect little travel-sized hairdryer so I was happy. It's decorated in a totally naff traditional Swiss-style design, so I am absolutely keeping it for myself. I just have to figure out a way to fit it in my suitcase.

I decided to go home to the hostel to drop off my shopping before visiting Parc Guell again. I felt my first time visiting it with a tour guide was a bit rushed, so I wanted to see it again. I've discovered that the only problem I have with Barcelona metro is that as you descend to your train stop, because everything is underground it gets hotter and more humid every level you descend to. My line is always two levels down and is always like a sauna by the time I get there. However, the trains are perfectly air conditioned! And they're always on time (at least for me they were) so I could stand the heat for a couple of minutes.

I walked back to Parc Guell, and conveniently found the escalators that take you up the steep hill instead of walking up. This time around at the park I got to relax and look closely at everything in my own time. I got a cold drink and an ice cream and just sat and enjoyed being by myself without a tour group filled with old people who might not have even liked Gaudi at all.

After I'd looked at everything, it was definitely bed time because I was so tired. Contiki cough has definitely stayed past its welcome and is making me exhausted coughing all night. Not cool.

Tomorrow is my last full day in beautiful Barcelona and the day I've been looking forward to. I'm visiting the Teatre-Museu Dalí!!

Day Twentyone

Today was my Gaudi tour day! I woke up late because my phone alarm didn't go off, but miraculously I made it to the meeting point at Placa Catalunya in record time to catch the tour bus.

I opted to do two Gaudi tours in one day, effectively dedicating my entire day to spectacular architecture. My first tour visited Casa Batlló and Colonia Guell, and the second visited Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia.

We first visited Casa Batlló which was five minutes' drive from Placa Catalunya. Going through the house is a strange experience because your perception of it changes from your ascent to the rooftop, to your descent to the ground floor. From the outside, it seems to be a boney, concretey, mosaic-y puddle of elements, melting together. But the interior is so organic and ergonomically fit to the human body that everything seems to rest together naturally. The walls meld together in such a way that you forget they're there. The windows make you feel as if you're looking out of a cave, and there is so much natural light. The lower levels have a natural, tan colour scheme, and then you get to the staircase which is lined with shocking bright blue tiles and mosaic work. The stairs themselves appear like a spine. The middle two floors are inaccessible because they are privately owned, but we were allowed onto the back terrace of the house, the servant's quarters and the rooftop.

The terrace is excellent because you can see the extent of Gaudi's creative drive. The two houses next to Casa Battló have very decorative facades, but when you look at them from behind on the terrace, they are just as plain as modern apartment buildings. Casa Battló, however, continues its flamboyant mosaic work and bubbling concrete even though you can't see it from the street. It was really impressive and shows how much of a perfectionist Gaudi was.

Up in the servant's quarters, the walls are stark white and the layout is almost labyrinthine. When you see it for the first time, its arches look similar to that of a church. Then you get to the rooftop of the house where the roof is shaped almost like a dragon, and the tiles are shaped to look just like scales. It is apparently meant to signify the dragon slain by St George. After seeing the roof, you go down to the servant's quarters again and the white arched ceilings look like a ribcage. The stairs seem more like the spine of an animal, and the lower levels' natural colours and textural qualities seem like flesh. It makes you feel as if you're walking inside a living, breathing entity.

So I found Casa Battló both a beautiful piece of architecture and a really interesting perceptual experience. I could probably talk about it for ages but I won't!

Some of the tour group I was with just didn't get it though. One old American guy asked, "Do you think he meant to make it so wobbly?"

After Casa Battló, we took our bus to Colonia Guell. On the way, the tour guide explained Gaudi's philosophy: Straight lines don't exist in nature, so why use them in architecture? If God didn't create straight lines naturally, why do we feel compelled to improve on his design?

On the way to Colonia Guell we stopped at Pavellons Guell, which is now a part of a university in Barcelona, and contains a cast iron dragon gate that Gaudi designed to protect the park within.

We continued along to Colonia Guell, driving through the outskirts of the city and the industrial precinct. Colonia Guell was an industrial estate that housed more than seven thousand people at one time, had factories, houses for the workers, recreation areas, a theatre, a school for the children and an estate doctor who lived on the premises. It was designed by Gaudi to have a triangle between the three most important facets of life: work, education and spirituality. The church he was building there was half finished when he abandoned it because the senior Mr Guell passed away and his children didn't want to support Gaudi's eccentricities anymore. So only the church crypt was completed. But it's still really impressive despite being small. It's more melted, twisted and naturalistic than his other structures, keeping to the design elements of art nouveau. After we saw the church, we went to the town's museum where they gave us some sweet cava to drink! I hadn't had lunch by this point so it made me a bit dizzy.

That was the end of that tour, so we finished at Placa Catalunya and I had two hours to wander the city streets until my next tour began. I decided to go to Starbucks again (shame) so I could use the wifi there at the same time as having lunch (shame). So I spent some time doing a bit of emailing. Then I went to Topshop again and found some nice things!

The new tour started where the old one left off so I went to the meeting point again and boarded the bus. We headed straight for Parc Guell, which is where I accidentally walked on my first day in Barcelona. On the way, the tour guide explained the theory and practice of "modernisme" and art nouveau, which rests solely on taking all art/historic periods and mixing them, with lots of ornamentation and general nature themes.

So we got to Parc Guell and it was another sensory overload. Meant to be a residential estate for 60 families, the plans were abandoned after the beginning of the first world war. But that didn't stop Gaudi from living there until 6 months before his death. It is just a really beautiful place. Again, everything is engineered to look and feel natural, but everything man-made serves more than one purpose. Benches overlooking the city skyline also served to collect rainwater for the underground cisterns. A bridge also served as a shady area to sit on hot days and as a part of the plumbing system. It's a really clever place. And it goes without saying, the mosaic work is so beautiful.

The market space under the bench area with its neoclassical columns that all lent inwards was really interesting to see after visiting Rome and Athens and seeing ancient columns for real. It was fun to see Gaudi's interpretation of them.

Another old American lady didn't seem to get it, asking me randomly, "I wonder what people said when it was first built?" I replied, "I know, isn't it beautiful?" and she replied, "Well. It's certainly exotic." Not impressed?

Then we went to the Sagrada Familia, which is now a holy basilica as of five months ago, consecrated by the Pope. The tour guide explained that, as a historian by trade, the Sagrada Familia is sentimental to him because as the city has grown, so too has the basilica grown. Only eight out of the eighteen towers have been completed, and it is meant to be all finished by 2025. The tour guide advised us to be wary here because even though it is a holy place, because so many tourists visit every day, the Sagrada Familia has become a hotspot for pick-pockets, even inside. Except he said it like "pick-pockers" and it was really funny.

Before we went inside, quote of the day came from an old British couple. The old lady said, looking up at the Nativity facade, "It's got sort of a rough-hewn look to it, doesn't it." And her husband replied, "Well that's the nature business, that. See them palm trees."

I had seen photos of the Sagrada Familia from the outside but I'd never seen photos of the inside. I actually had no idea what to expect, as opposed to St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. But as I walked in, I think the Sagrada Familia had more of an effect on me than St Peter's did. The interior is minimal in design, with columns that reach up to the ceiling and explode into huge, stylised palm leaves. Each pair of columns has a subtly different colour because they've used different materials depending on how much weight the columns bear. The stained glass windows stand out because the walls are so plain, and you can really appreciate their colour and symbolism because your eyeballs aren't darting between stimuli. But I really think it was the ceiling that surprised and delighted me the most. It is so symmetrical and peculiar.

The facade above the front entrance of the basilica is definitely overwhelming though, and that's why I took my time to sit down and look at everything individually. Otherwise it just becomes confusing.

We exited the basilica and the sky had become grey and cloudy. I noted that this was the first time I hadn't seen a bright blue sky during my whole holiday! I haven't felt a drop of rain the whole time.

After the tour finished back at Placa Catalunya, I took the train back to Gracia and tried visiting a bookshop I'd been hoping to see while I'm here, but it was closed again.

I ended up going home and falling straight asleep without dinner, which has been all too common lately.

Tomorrow is my walking tour of the Gothic quarter of the city!

Day Twenty

On my second day in Barcelona, I decided to have a go at navigating the metro system! I woke up leisurely and had a fairly relaxing morning. Then I walked to the nearest station to my hostel, Fontana, on Gracia's main street.

I thought I would be overwhelmed by a brand new train system as I find Melbourne's public transport frustrating at best. However, Barcelona metro is clean, efficient and simple. I bought a 10-trip ticket that would see me through for the rest of the week, and the machine worked perfectly. Trains arrive at Fontana every four minutes on the dot, and there is a countdown clock for each arrival. It only took 5 minutes to get to Placa Catalunya, the nerve centre and tourist capital of the city.

I decided to go into town with a faint idea of what to do, and to find interesting things naturally. I ended up at La Rambla, the huge tree-lined tourist road where gypsies hassle you for money every 2 minutes. La Rambla is lined with high-street shops and souvenir vendors alike, and is packed with people. Needless to say I survived about five minutes before feeling tired of it. I headed down a little laneway that was still busy, but quieter in comparison, and was much smaller.

I walked happily down the laneway, and then down another one, and what do I find? The Dalí Barcelona Real Cercle Artístic! That is to say, the small exhibit containing Dalí's rarer sculptures and about 600 drawings and photographs. I felt so lucky that I almost laughed out loud. It was 10 Euros entry but well worth the price, with stunning drawings ranging from his early years to later life, and sculptures ranging from tiny to gargantuan. I'd seen the huge Dalí exhibit that came to Melbourne which was so inspiring, but being able to experience these pieces in their home was very special. The smaller sculptures are surrounded by red velvet curtains which gives the place a very David Lynch feel, and the Gothic arches that loom over the lower level made you feel like you were standing in a church dedicated to art. One room had a ceiling so low I had to hunch over, and between each sculpture room you had to push your way through the heavy red velvet curtains as well. The atmosphere was very surreal. Plus I was the only person in the exhibit the whole time, so it was lucky I found the place when I did.

After the exhibit, I exited to my right, and where did I end up? Right in front of the huge Catedral Santa Maria del Mar. Another example of just stumbling across something fascinating in this city. It was closed for some reason, otherwise I would have gone inside to look at the burned stone interior that I've read about. I took the chance to get some nice souvenirs from a shop nearby.

I left the way I came and ended up at a Spanish bookshop called Happy Books! Because I want my Spanish to get better, I invested in Harry Potter y La Cámara Secreta (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). I would have gotten Azkaban but it had sold out, boo.

I had heard of some nice vintage shops on the other side of La Rambla, so I headed back, holding my bag tightly. La Rambla is also the pick-pocketing capital of Barcelona and I am determined not to get mugged or pick-pocketed while I'm here.

I found the place I was looking for fairly easily, a Barcelona-famous vintage shop called Holala. It had the most amazing selection of clothes organised by decade, so I could zero in on my favourites! I spent such a long time looking that I started to get the dreaded sticky "vintage clothes hands", but I found two skirts that I adore, so it was worth it.

I spent the rest of my time looking at bigger shops like Zara (real Zara!), Mango and Topshop, but didn't really see anything I liked. I went back to some of the little laneways but the places I wanted to look in while passing by were already closed. Barcelona holiday hours in August are pretty random, smaller shops tend to just close whenever they like.

I got the metro back home to Gracia, walking a different route back to my hostel again, finding more little shops. I think Gracia is also the baby capital of Barcelona because it seems as if a third of the shops are dedicated to toys, baby clothes or prams!

I visited a little supermarket where I bought a LOT of orange juice to get some vitamin C for my Contiki cough/cold which is still pestering me.

And then I went home to the hostel, laid down on the bed to find more Sexo en NY on television! I think I might have found my nightly ritual. I didn't fall asleep accidentally though.

Tomorrow is my Gaudi tour of Barcelona! Excited!

Day Nineteen: Barcelona

Today was my very first full day in the fine city of Barcelona! As I fell asleep accidentally again the night before, I didn't set an alarm to wake up at a sensible hour. But I think half of why I keep falling asleep randomly is due to the fairly hectic schedule of the Contiki tour, so I was happy to have a sleep-in.

I spent what was left of the morning researching and booking some tours of the city. I've booked one that focuses on Gaudi's architecture throughout the city and surrounds, and one that is a walking tour of the city's Gothic quarter. I also have a walking tour app on my phone that I plan to do on my last day here.

So I got ready and dressed, and set out to go to the supermarket to get some things and have a look around the suburb where I'm staying. As with most of the things I do when I don't really know where I'm going, this ended up being an epic walking adventure. I'm glad it was a Sunday because the streets were fairly empty so it felt like I had my suburb to myself.

So I first went to the little supermarket and got some bottled water and breakfast food for my room (apples and croissants). Then I walked about 20m down the road and someone mistook me to be more proficient at speaking Spanish than I actually am. They asked me where the supermarket was and I answered something like, "Esta un supermercado... (points) that way." Awkward.

As I kept walking to have a look through my area, it became more apparent that I arrived in Gracia (my suburb) during their festival weekend. Many of the little laneways were decorated by theme. I found a chicken laneway, a plastic bottle/recycling theme laneway, and a Beatles theme laneway! I wish I'd gotten a picture of the Beatles one but I was too busy trying not too look like a tourist because it was near the main street.

Gracia is a special part of Barcelona because it used to be its own municipality until 1897 when it was assimilated into the main city. You can really tell where the suburb begins and ends because all the streets inside are small, one-way and winding, and outside they are big and two-way. There's a really nice artistic and relaxed vibe and I would compare it to Carlton or Northcote in Melbourne.

Anyway, I continued walking down to the Avenida Diagonal, and it was around that time that I stumbled across Gaudi's Casa Milà! I didn't go inside but it was a nice surprise to see it just sitting there amongst the comparatively normal buildings on the street. I plan to go inside at some point while I'm here, though.

Then I did something shameful that I have criticised other tourists for doing when there are so many amazing culinary options in a new city. I got a mocha frapuccino from Starbucks. I was successful in ordering my drink in full Spanish until I presented the barista with a 50 Euro note to pay, and then I think he hated me a little bit.

After finishing at Starbucks I decided to walk back to the hostel to do some more research on where to go in the city. Being by myself for the first time in a while was a bit tiring. I walked home a different way than I expected, and ended up right in front of another of Gaudi's creations: Casa Vicens! It really is true that you'll see something by Gaudi or something of the "modernisme"/art nouveau movement everywhere you look in Barcelona.

I got home, turned on the tv, and found the Spanish version of Sex & the City: Sexo en Nueva York. I was going to have a shower and wash my hair but then I realised my hostel didn't provide me with a hair dryer, and Jordi (the hostel manager) said he'd already lent all of theirs to rooms already. I decided to buy one for while I'm here and donate it to the hostel after I leave. So there came adventure number two: Trying to find an electronics shop that was open on a Sunday, at almost 5pm!

I walked so far through streets and streets of closed shops that I accidentally ended up at the entrance to Parc Guell, one of Gaudi's masterpieces and one of the city's landmarks. I toyed with the idea of going in, but I realised my tour visited it and I wanted to see it with a tour guide who could explain it all. Plus my legs were tired and I was really ready to have a shower and lie down, it was so hot.

So I walked back down to Gracia and ended up at one of the laneway's live music gigs! I was still really tired but spent a while there listening to the music and people-watching. Many parents had brought their little children and babies out to the gig which I thought was really nice, there was a strong sense of community in the atmosphere.

After that, I went home, too tired to think of going somewhere for dinner. I ended up having a shower and combing my hair dry which worked just as well as a hair dryer! Sexo en Nueva York was still on tv for some sort of marathon, so I watched it for ages. I knew all the dialogue already after seeing the show so many times, so I used it as a Spanish learning exercise.

I'm proud to say that I fell asleep after brushing my teeth and getting changed. Today was a fairly low-key day but I was still really tired and fell asleep instantly.