Spring in Barcelona

ESPANYA- One of our happy places. I do not want to compare this to other Countries we visited but this so far, our favorite destination that my husband and I want to visit at least once a year. Apart from the fantastic gastronomy, unbeatable weather, spectacular structural design and its nonchalant folks, the City itself has so much more to offer. So, this spring, we had our foot in the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia- BARCELONA.

Barcelona is beautiful in the Spring- This season in this city means outdoor dining, flower-filled parks and different street events. Not to mention, it's the impeccable time of the year to book a holiday ticket and accommodation. The temperatures in the spring diverges and sometimes it rains but fortunately, we had lovely and sunny Barcelona during our 4-day trip. I did my research on what to pack for spring but as I observed, don’t wear shorts and sleeveless just yet until it’s officially summer. If you’re going to be out sightseeing, always bring a light jacket as it cools down after sunset.
Transportation-Barcelona has a superb public transport system. Buy a T10 pass from any ticket machine to get ten one-way trips for 11euro. Otherwise, if you buy individual single tickets, they will cost 2.15euro. The passes are valid on all metros, buses, trains and trams. Taxis in Barcelona are also cheap – 2.10euro flat rate, hassle-free and easy to find.

NOTE: I do not recommend using hailo or any taxi application- we had a bad experience where it took us more than half an hour waiting for our taxi. The app says our driver is just 100m away, we kept looking for the car plate, kept ringing the mobile number provided but we couldn’t get through then suddenly, the app notified us that the driver left and charged us for his “waiting time”- so we went online, wrote a review and we got a refund after 3 weeks. Well, not that big deal to spoil our holiday– just be cautious next time and check travel advisor for reviews. It could be your hotel, restaurant or tourist attraction around.

Fares and prices of the “Hola BCN“ travel card (2017)
2 days: 14.50 euros
3 days: 21.20 euros
4 days: 27.50 euros
5 days: 33.70 euros

Below are some of the "must see" landmarks in Barcelona- these are only few and I recommend you checking trip advisor and other travel websites for the complete list of the things to do while in this City.

Sagrada Familia

The very remarkable Gaudi building began in 1883. It is still incomplete. The completion date at present is estimated by the year 2026 so that's 10 years from now :). This neighborhood has many businesses with street cafés and shops around the temple and they are just affordable. You can get there from the city center by Metro L5 or L2 or Buses 44, 43 and 34. We were passing to this astonishing building everyday as we booked our hostel just two blocks away.

If you want to visit the inside, you have to book your ticket at TicketBar ahead of time to avoid huge queues.


Montjuic
A prominent hill overlooking the photogenic Barcelona city and harbor, that for ages played a strategic part in the defense of the city. There's a cable car that takes you directly to the castle for 12.50€ return ticket if you book online. If you want to know the history of the castle, you can have a tour inside for an entrance fee of 5€. You can take bus 150 from the city center to Montjuic, but because we do not want to wait longer, we took a taxi and paid 15€ for one trip.

TIPS: If you do not want to use public transport, you can rent a scooter for 30€/day. This is by far the fastest way to get around the city.

Casa Batlló
This colorful modernist building is one of Barcelona's most recognizable sites.  Casa Batlló is one of the two great buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi on Passeig de Gracia, the other being La Pedrera. Pass by Casa Batlló at night when it's facade is illuminated and its colors are even more impressive than day time.  Gaudí used colors and shapes found in marine life as inspiration for his creativity in this building e.g. the colors chosen for the façade are those found in natural coral.

TIPS: Start your walking tour from La Pedrera and you will be passing the high-end shops on your way to Casa Batlló.

Las Ramblas
Your Barcelona trip is incomplete without a stroll down the Ramblas which is considered as Barcelona's most famous boulevard.  This is one of my favorite places to wander around. There's a lot of affordable outside seating restaurants, sweet shops, flower shops and living statues all part of the ever-changing street scene all year.  It is crowded every day until the wee hours. Las Ramblas is just 5 minutes by foot to Plaça de Catalunya in the center with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell.


TIPS: You can rent a bicycle for as low as 10€ per day and you can visit all city in one day.

Port Vell

Port Vell commences at the end of Barcelona's La Rambla, by the Columbus monument.  It is a world class marina and home port for super yachts in the Mediterranean with five stars’ facilities and services.  There are a lot of things to do in Port Vell, from just staying and having cappuccino or tea with churros con chocolate or crepes and making your eyes full of the beautiful yachts or by visiting the aquarium which is probably the famous attraction and the largest aquarium in Europe. This aquarium has more than 11,000 water creatures, 450 different species and 6 million liters of water from penguins, to seahorses, to the Sandbar Shark.

'Las Golondrinas' Boat Trips - One of the unique experiences we had.  It was a 1.30hrs sailing around the port enjoying the fantastic sights of the Barceloneta including the coast beaches of Poble Nou.  Choose the upper seating to give you a 360-degree view of the City while having your tea or coffee.  I do not recommend booking your tickets online, you can go directly to the port and buy your tickets from the stalls around.  Boat trip fare is 15€ per person. 

...Hasta la proxima ves, Espanya 😊

Tips: Most of the locals can speak English fluently but it will be an advantage if you know basic Spanish- I thinks it's more fun learning the language.  Thankful that my husband speaks Spanish fluently and he actually served as my tour guide translating some of the menus, maps etc. with no English translation provided.

 

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Winter in Amsterdam

Amsterdam - When my husband's colleague and some friends asked where we're going - an interesting reaction, that curious look, that knowing half-smile on their faces. "Amsterdam," they say with a mischievous grin, "lucky you!" that never bother me so much having no clue about what they meant until my husband told me about the legal prostitution and the numerous marijuana-selling coffee shops. I did my research and I was aware that Amsterdam is famous of their "coffee shops" which I imagined loads of hot chocolates/teas/lattes and desserts to try (I know, I should have done my research seriously, haha!) .

Four days in Amsterdam isn't enough to see what the place has to offer but we made sure to make the most of the four days worth it. The city is small enough to get around by foot and yes, everyone speaks English. Our winter trip to Amsterdam saved us quite a bit on travel expenses. Not only are flights to Amsterdam cheaper in the winter months – sometimes less than half what you’d pay during the summer – the prices on Amsterdam hotels and hostels are drastically reduced as well so that was a great bargain for us. We booked in ITC hotel thru booking.com for 200euro for three nights. It's very accessible to all city's attractions and it's located just by the canal.

We spent two days seeing Amsterdam city center by foot and nearby museums.  You can use the hop on- hop off sightseeing by double-decker bus and boat for 24 hours for 26euro/person but we preferred to walk. Hello? I'm a photo fanatic, how could I take good pictures if I'm in the bus? but of course, we did not miss the lovers canal cruise and                                   enjoyed the breathtaking views of Amsterdam from the water for 11euro/person.  

Have you heard about the Red Light District (RLD) – The RLD has been there reputedly since the 15th century when most of this area (De Wallen)  was a haunt of sailors from ships moored close by.   It can get very crowded on weekend evenings.  Out of curiosity that we went to the place, how it actually looks like and all...so...a brief description - the ladies were in each glass cubicle waiting for customers to pick them, sex live shows are open like cinemas, peep shows, sex shops and some walls with satanic writings and drawings.  It's not normal, not pleasing, the other side of the world (hell?).  Witnessing and actually being in that place made us very sad plus we saw some Christians preaching the bible weaving placards with bible verses just at the other side of the bridge.  Reaching the end point of the red light district, husband and I became emotional that I wanted to turn around and give those Christians a hug :( . 

Moving on... Tulip Mania-  Tulips really are an integral part of Amsterdam life and culture.  It would be nice to see the 12,000 hectares of tulip bulbs but they are yet to bloom on the month of April so we just visited the flower market on our third day. We also visited some museums such as The Rijksmuseum, Museums of bags and purses, Van Gogh Museum and the Torture Museum. I have read once that it's a MUST for a traveler to visit each Country's museum to know it's history and understand their culture.  Join at least 3 to 5 group tours because traveling to one place is not only taking selfies and pictures but also providing yourself with interesting information, which you would not otherwise learn.

FOOD - we are not a fan of McDonald's, we love to try the local foods of each place we are visiting. Amsterdam is full of different cuisine from all around the world but what we enjoyed most is the shawarma, not a local food though but because it's our favorite when we were in Qatar.  We ate twice in wok to walk, it's an Asian restaurant where you can make your own recipe with the freshest ingredients and it's 

cheap. The stroopwafels is very good with tea and you might want to bring home to share to family and friends. We also hunt the best apple pie in town, the Papeneiland cafe is one of the oldest cafes in Amsterdam – a really historic spot. Bill Clinton famously once came here for a cappuccino and a slice of apple pie, thanks to our very informative tour guide :) 

We had the Dutch Countryside tour on our fourth day. I would say that it was the highlight of our Amsterdam trip. We tasted the globally renowned cheese of Edam, it was great! made me full because I tasted all flavors, I actually finished each platter (lol). We also witnessed the art of wooden shoe making in Marken, we took a tranquil cruise to Volendam- (feeling VIP during the cruise) and we marveled at the ancient windmills of Zaanse Schans. A beautiful experience indeed and this is how we spent our third wedding anniversary. Thanks be to God for everything. One thing off our bucket list. P.S I wanted to share more, I know I did not cover other events but it's already 2am and I am sooo sleepy right now. I'm just grateful and happy to be able to write again.  God bless eveyone :)

Another P.S- We of course did not miss to be productive and photographed some of our Bran Marion nautical bracelets :) It's a business with pleasure.  Thank you Lord :) www.branmarion.com ETSY store https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/TheBranMarion?ref=profile_shopname