It's the third last day before leaving for home! I had quite a good rest last night but seven hours isn't exactly enough for me. =/ No bad dreams! (Y) Woke up to find Mum in the bathroom washing her hair so I ate my breakfast first. Bought Frosties and milk at a minimart (it's the equivalent of a mama shop in Singapore!) last night so I had a big bowl of that. It was delicious! Looked out and found the morning sky overcast, with grey clouds scudding across the face of the sun.
Went down to meet the Hos after a relatively quick shower (you know what I'm like in the shower!) at nine thirty, then we walked to Plaza Catalunya to take the Barcelona Bus Turistic that follows the blue route to Park Guey, what used to be the home of Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect I mentioned yesterday. To tell you the truth, I wasn't enamoured of the place. Apart from a few interesting bits of architecture, some pretty flowers and a couple of buskers, it was a rather dusty place and my left eye, especially, was soon dry and irritable. We gradually got hungrier and hungrier though, and made our way out of the place quite quickly.
We were halfway down (did I mention Gaudi must've been so rich to have lived in a house with such gigantic grounds on top of a hill?) when we chanced upon Restaurante-Bar La Cartuja and settled there for lunch. Admittedly, it caught our eye because the pictures on the advertisement outside looked really delicious! It didn't really live up to expectations as far as I'm concerned though. I had beefsteak and though it was tender and not overcooked too much, it's thickness was of the coffeeshop variety and it was rather androgynous tasting, as though it couldn't decide whether it was chicken, pork, or beef! Perhaps it was something to do with my taste buds though, 'cause Mum ordered some darker sort of meat which we weren't exactly sure about and came in three pieces. It was tender and grilled to a crisp at some parts but when I tried it, it was strangely vanilla, and I couldn't make up my mind whether it was beef or lamb, even though everyone else was sure it was lamb! My taste buds must've been shot from all that Spanish food! D= Dad had sausages and bacon - he maintains that in Spain, the safest food to order is always a frankfurter lol! He was quite right in this instance though. It was a safe and normal-but-pleasant tasting choice!
So we continued on down the hill to the bus stop, and here comes the highlight of the trip! Imagine Rayson, with his blue Superman tee and brown Kenji Yamamoto bag as ever, walking down the street right beside a building with a ledge right above. He hears a "plop" sound close to him. He ignores it at first. Then it suddenly occurs to him that it sounded closer than it should've been. He rather thought he felt a very slight vibration too. With an impending sense of doom, he whips his head around and stares at his left shoulder, and horror of horrors, what should greet him is none other than the utmost terrifying object of the twenty-second century - BIRDSHIT! Thank the good Lord that it landed on the strap of my bag rather than my tee, for the strap's thick enough to prevent any uh... seepage, if I may put it across so graphically! A few hurried wipes with both dry and wet tissue took care of any potential stains and naturally, the topic of striking Four Digits (4D) came to the fore among the group. Pah!
So after that little sideshow, we boarded the bus and went on our way (on this time we sat in the sheltered section on the first floor of the bus and passed Camp Nou too - FC Barcelona fans, at the very least, should know what this is!) to another building that Gaudi had designed - Casa Batllo. Once again, it's really hard to explain what it's like seeing this work of art in person. The best thing to say is that you HAVE to marvel at the creativity, attention to detail, and yet practicality of the famed architect and keen observer of the natural world. Okay so perhaps I wasn't as awestruck as I was yesterday when I was at the Basilica he designed, but this was an opportunity to take a closer and more intimate look at the many-sided, holistic approach to his work. The best I've got to show you is pictures and they'll be up on Facebook shortly (I hope!), but my only hope is to try, through those pictures, to convince you to make the trip yourself one day. =) I was even inspired to buy a coffee table book which introduces his works in narratives and photographs - and that's something quite difficult to do, that is!
By the time we came out, the sun was starting to set. Surely you know what came next? No, not dinner - shopping! LOL! We walked up the street to Bimba & Lola, where we spent a long time - snuffling around for nice things for the women, and sitting around for us men. I typed half this post then! When we finally exited, the sky was dark. We continued shopping. Went to Desigual, Guess?, Mango... We were heading to La Corte Ingles, a major departmental store, when I casually mentioned that I wanted to go to Burberry, and so we backtracked a little and entered at eight twenty - the closing time was eight thirty! I wasted no time in finding out what I wanted to get - it was a choice between a more formal (and expensive!) dark brown leather bag and a more casual dark blue felt bag. I don't like their typical tan tartan-patterned stuff as I feel like it lacks subtlety. We overstayed our welcome by ten minutes and were subtly herded out at eight forty. Guess i'll go back and pick one tomorrow! We walked some more, saw that Espirit had a big sale going on and entered at right fifty. The closing time was nine. -.-" I tried on a few blazers and their smallest size (that's a thirty four) fit me! Wow, d'you know how rare that is for me!? Was choosing between a black corduroy one and a brownish-grey one that was thicker (and warmer, I assume! =/), but I think I'll go back tomorrow and take the latter because I already have a smashing black blazer and this one's more casual and stylish. ^^ We got herded out AGAIN after their counter closed at nine! We walked further, saw that Zara was still open (it closes at nine thirty here), but didn't go in because we've been in loads of them and we didn't want to be herded out once again!
So we reached La Corte Ingles at a quarter past nine, which closes at ten. We mainly walked around the supermarket at the basement - the Hos were looking for coffee and I was looking for Spanish chocolate to bring home to give away. We got what we were looking for and left the building to head for home. Along the way, we stopped at none other than Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner! And you know what? Their fried chicken's the real deal mate! It's really tender, crispy, relatively lean, and not half as oily as the ones we have back home. They're not spicy though, but the hot wings certainly were! The fries were a big letdown though. They were cold and soft. Still, we we done quite quickly and then continued on our rather lengthy way back.
Back I am, and it's time for rest. I anticipate lots of shopping tomorrow, and perhaps some gift hunting, so I need my rest for that. Goodnight dear readers! ^^
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