p a p e r d o l l

How does one describe Barcelona? It’s an infectiously happy place. You feel giddy upon arrival- giddy with an inexplicable sense of joy. Quite nuts, if you think about it. That’s how we felt the first day we were in Barcelona and it didn’t let up much as the days went by. My second part of the vacation, in words. Before the good stuff, let me share with you the what-the-hell part that preceded my sojourn in Barcelona.

People: Zheng Yang, Gemma, Huilin (who decided to join us a week before we were due to depart for orange Barcelona to escape crazy cold Paris), me.

What-the-hell (part 1): Months ago, Zheng Yang and Gemma and I decided to book a 9am flight to Barcelona. The problem with that was that there was a need to take the transfer coach from the edge of Paris to the Paris Beauvais airport, which takes about two hours. Which meant we had to catch the 6am bus departing from Porte Maillot to catch our plane, which was impossible, since we live in the suburbs and there are no trains that would allow us to catch such an early train. Thus! We decided to spend the night at the airport. Of course, we did not know that this budget airport closed for the night, because, seriously, non-24-hour airports? We were told near midnight by the airport personnel that, well, we couldn’t stay at the airport. Great. We had to go to a nearby hotel. Taxi drivers were already waiting to take us. PLOT! Gnash teeth. At the hotel, I became a translator (which was kinda cool) because there were 18 people needing a room in all, none of them (aside from the 4 of us) knowing any French but conveniently knowing Chinese and English, so great(: Anyway, to cut the long story short- in the chaos, the four of us managed to get a room only paying for two (heh heh) and we all got a good night’s sleep after all.

Now that that has been said, we can get on to the real part of the vacation.

Day 1: We checked into Centric Point Hostel in downtown Barcelona. Near the train station Passieg de Gracia. The hostel was AMAZING- location, facilities, cool factor. We were right in the shopping heart of the city, the hostel was super new and clean and spacious and breakfast and internet were included, plus we were living right opposite Cartier and high-end shops like that. The view was awesome at night. It was quite unbelievable. After a quick shower, we headed out for lunch which was cheap compared to what we’re used to in Paris. Then, we went to the beach! It was so so so beautiful. The weather was great and we sat on the beach eating fruits and watching the sun go down. ZY and Hui were doing cartwheels on the sand and I was uh… watching. And taking too many photographs of the setting sun. For dinner, we went to an Indian restaurant called Chandni. I had superb hot chicken masala curry and a garlic naan.

Day 2: We walked to where Gaudi used to live. The Gaudi architecture that is everywhere in Barcelona is so beautiful. Grotesque, but mesmerizing. We walked to La Sagrada Familia and were bsolutely awed by it. And I just have to say that it looked cleaner than I had imagined. It had looked rather dirty in the film L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). Anyway, after that, we had a buffet lunch at Latuca. There are a lot of buffet restaurants in Barcelona, by the way. The lunch was yummy and totally worth what we paid. Also gave us a chance to rest our feet. We went to a shopping centre afterwards, but this was rather disappointing, so that was that. Too full for dinner, we had space for only desserts at the restaurant right next to our hostel, called No No. It was a nice little place- modern. By the way, all the hot chocolate in Barcelona is wonderfully rich, mixed in this round machine thing that every cafe and restaurant seems to own.

Day 3: Gemma wasn’t staying at the hostel with us- she was staying with a friend on exchange in Barcelona for the semester. We met her and her friend (Shanti, who’s friends with Amira!) for a Japanese buffet lunch, which was again very much worth the money we paid. Then, we broke up to go our separate ways. Hui and I walked along the port, with the sun shining down on us and the birds flying in circles. We continued walking down the famous Las Ramblas, intrigued by the creative street performers. We wanted to go to the Museum of Erotica, but it was really small and rather expensive and so we decided to not go and instead, found ourselves at a market near it, which carried glistening fruits, piled-up goat heads (very disturbing with so many dead eyes staring at us), gourmet chocolates, candy, seafood, gelati etc. It was quite a feast for the eyes and the tummy. We finally arrived at our intended destination: the Mango Outlet Store. There was a sale at the Mango Outlet Store, so imagine if you can that there were skirts going for 1.99 euros. It was paradise(: Tapas for dinner and then an excited visit to Zara.

Day 4: We took a trip out of town, Hui and I! To Figueres, where Salvador Dali was born in 1904. We wanted to visit the Salvador Dali Museum, you see. So glad we made the trip. The museum was very very engaging. We’d split up to go through the museum and for walking about town. After I was done at the museum, I chanced upon a fresh produce market and bought the sweetest plums and navel oranges imaginable. It was divine to walk in 22 degrees celcius sunny weather and munch on the fruits. Very happy trip this was. Hui left for Paris upon our return to Barcelona. ZY and I headed out for a tapas dinner which was absolutely delicious. The grilled squid was the best of all the tapas we tried. We then had gelati and walked Placa Catalunya with the bustling weekend shopping crowd.

Day 5: Today was the last day. ZY and I went to Parc Guell in the morning, which is a park created by Gaudi. It was breathtaking! Truly truly. Itself and the view of Barcelona from it. I left ZY to tan (I am, as many of you know, not one for tanning) and made my way to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which was interesting enough. There were many people in the park of the museum- lying down, talking to each other, cycling, roller-blading, jogging. For lunch, I had grilled squid in a restaurant, with warm bread rolls and green olives and a colourful salad. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Realized afterward to my displeasure that no shops were opened (because it was a Sunday) and so had to contend with reading a magazine at Starbucks with a cuppa latte. Alas, it was time to leave Barcelona! Which brings me to…

What-the-hell (part 2): The bus taking us from Barcelona to the Girona airport where we would catch our Ryanair flight back to the Paris Beauvais airport broke down. RAH. We had to wait at a gas station for another bus to come pick us up. It was a most anxious time. If we didn’t catch the plane, the next plane was the next morning and the next morning was the first day of classes of the second semester! It would not do. Thankfully, we made it just in time (with a minute to spare, I kid you not and yes my heart suffered for it) before the check-in counter closed for the flight we were on… 40 minutes before take-off. Upon arriving at Paris Beauvais airport, we had to board a bus back to the city edge, and then walk a distance (in the heavy rain too! RAH again.) to the train station. We then had to run (with luggage and tired hearts (from the anxiety-inducing bus breakdown) and scheme to catch the second last RER back to our little town in the suburbs instead of the last one. Finally, we were back at 1am. And of course, I had to have a full day of classes starting from 9am in the morning.

Anyhow! Barcelona was fabulous. Couldn’t have asked for a more splendid vacation. Met interesting people in our dorm room. The Portuguese architecture students we liked, a Brazilian girl we(we taught her to say ta1 ma1 de4 and she said it with such zest!), an overenthusiastic Taiwanese guy we kinda liked (he had just been in Singapore before arriving in Barcelona), but also a smelly incomprehensible Italian we didn’t. Oh well. Loved the food and the weather. I think I want to go back there and soak in more of that happiness.