Buenos diaz! I got up at ten today - had an excellent rest, though I think it was a bit too much - my head felt kinda heavy when I got up. Showered, packed, and went down to check out at noon.
We left our luggages at the hotel while we went to the Mercado de San Miguel (Market of San Miguel) for lunch, a short walk away from where we were staying. It was a very interesting place! It was an air-conditioned market-cum-hawker center with glass walls on the outside - pictures will be posted on Facebook! So we looked around and ended up ordering food at a tapas bar. We found that most of the shopkeepers could speak a modicum of English at the very least. I got myself a Lasane de Carne (meat lasagna) and helped to order a Grates de Patatas (potato gratin) for Mum and also a Fanta Limon to be shared among my family. Dad got himself a Paella y Bolito de Pollo (rice with chicken meatballs). At least, that's how I think it should be in Spanish - I didn't order it so I don't know what it's actually called lol! My dish was alright but there was very little meat in it, the cheese was of a spongy texture that I didn't particularly like, and to top it off, it got cold quickly. I did still enjoy it though! Mum's potato gratin was really good, but I love potatoes anyway! I didn't like the chicken meatballs, they were kind of dry but they tasted alright, and the rice was a little on the sticky side though it tasted nicely cheesy. My dad spied "satay" at a neighbouring stall (it turned out to be yakitori - the stall sold japanese food like sushi and sashimi!) so he ordered one stick. It turned out to be so good that they got me to order three more (tres de yakitori!), one for each of us. So after a cheap-but-not-very-sumptuous meal (which is good anyway, I need to keep my weight down - I realised I was pigging out heartily during the early phases of the trip!), we walked around looking at what else was available and snapping pictures. We left near one and headed back to the hotel.
After collecting our luggages, we headed to Atocha Renfe tren estatione. We walked out to the plaza nearby and almost immediately got two cabs - the receptionist was right! A short train ride later, we arrived and went in to wait for our train to arrive. Mum, Dad took the opportunity to grab a bite at a small cafe (just some cookies and tea) while I watched over the luggage nearby. I had half a chocolate chip cookie, sweet and moist, and drank some Earl Grey tea. The train platform was soon announced and we boarded the train. We were in coach seven but stored our luggage on racks in coach six. Hope the people there had enough space to stow their things away! The train departed silently at two thirty and we were on our uneventful way to Barcelona!
We arrived on time at five twenty thereabouts and got cabs to our new lodgings - Eric Vokel Gran Via Suites. It's not a hotel per se, but more of a serviced apartment. Okay, so I'm staying in the balcony (don't worry, there's a bed and it's enclosed!) and apartments are cleaned once a week but that's alright! It's a nice apartment and we're only staying for four days and there's space galore~ I'll post a couple pictures up on Facebook, maybe. I'd recommend it to anyone who's visiting Barcelona as a three or four person group. After all, it's near enough the Nou Camp for all you FC Barcelona fans! And no, I'm NOT paid to say all this advertisement-like stuff lol!
We met the Hos at seven fifteen to go for a walk and find dinner. We walked out the front door, turned right, and walked for what seemed an age 'til we came to a plaza only to find out we'd walked two Metro stations. -.-" So there was this sort of bar-cum-diner at one side of the plaza that we decided had reasonable prices and settled in for dinner. I had a Tagliatelle de Carbonara. It wasn't good. There were a few hard pieces that were decidedly undercooked and the sauce was nothing to shout about. It came with like, five pieces of bacon or less? Good thing I'm not that picky about food, and I was really hungry, so I practically inhaled it! Mum had a Tortilla which I helped finish. It wasn't half bad, with crispy edges and a firm texture, but the one we had at Cordoba a few days ago sure trumped it! Dad had a pork sausage. It had thin slices of both green and red capsicum in it, was pretty nice tasting, and had a "bursty" kind of texture, to borrow a word from Snubby, one of Enid Blyton's characters. ^^ I enjoyed the few morsels that I tried! Their chocolate caliente was so-so. It was thick but not exactly tasty - had a milky rather than chocolatey taste. =/ Still, thank God for dinner, that it wasn't inedible. Of course, to make up for it, they were showing Champions League football (Manchester City versus Villareal), so my mind wasn't exactly focused on the food! A nice Villareal goal in the beginning stages took good care of that lol (though I found out later that Man City still won in the end. Phooey!), though we left well before the first half was over.
We were milling around outside the diner when Mrs Ho spotted a Bershka outlet opposite the road and it was open! It goes without saying that we made a beeline for it but it was closing soon and subsequently, made our way back to our suites. Stopped at a few minimarts along the way to grab a couple of bottled drinks and some pastry for Mum's supper though. And now I'm sitting on my bed polishing off this relatively short entry - guess I'll be off now 'cause we'll be getting up relatively early tomorrow. Goodnight then, read me tomorrow if you like! =)
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