Episode 3 – Barcelona – A City You Can Fall in Love With (II)

Hot Pink is the Colour!

If you are a shopping person, you will love Barcelona. The prices of goods in Barcelona are by far the least expensive in Spain. Madrid is very advance in style, Toledo is intrigue in its workmanship, but Barcelona has the best combination of everything.

Take L3 – the blue line in Metro and get off at Passiag de Garcia. It is a boulevard spotted by brand name stores. It is also a short distance away from one of the Gaudi houses. There are also a lot of mid-range price stores along the way. Their merchandises are stylish enough to stand the test of time. The colours are fresh and vibrant and yet the prices are often 20% less when compared with other cities. You walk and you get tired. There are lots and lots of roadside cafés that can quench your desires. You can have wine, sangria, beer, ice-cream, at the cafés, sit and watch the lovely Spanish girls walk by with their cheerful laughter. You can also watch the intensity of tourists with maps searching for their destinations with the little time they can afford. Continue reading →

Episode 2 – Barcelona – A City You Can Fall in Love With

The advantage of being senior is incredible. All of a sudden I pay admission fees to a lot of museums, galleries and tourist sightseeing points at a hefty discount. This arrangement motivates me to see more and explore more. We do not need to shy away from anything. The authorities take the discounting very seriously and check for ID. So guard your passports well after you use them.

Entrance at the Iconic La Rambla

Transportation in Barcelona is not as difficult as it looks. Just follow the colours. The roads and streets in Europe are mostly in a spider web form. The piazzas are the centers and main avenues would branch out like the spokes of a wheel. If you are lost, do not panic, follow the road straight and eventually you will reach another connecting piazza.  Then you can find your location easier on the map.

Another tip to help is to carry a name card of the place you are staying. The last solution is to jump into a cab and show the name card with the address of your hotel and you can reach home safe. Continue reading →

David Wong returns and shares his travelogue and unique perspectives when touring in Spain earlier this year. Here you go,

Episode 1 – A Romantic Life

The world has its fair share of trouble with the European Union. A few countries are facing the inevitability of bankruptcy which makes everyone nervous. Yet the EU residents went on its happy go lucky way of enjoying life.

The Spaniards are still flocking all the eateries. They do not want to cook if they are on holidays. That gives them more reason to visit their culinary depots. A little drink, a little food but a whole load of conversation will keep them going for a long time.

In Spain, beware of retail business hours. They usually close the stores in the afternoon between the hours of 3 to 6. The sun will be too hot and few people ventures outside except for the poor tourists. It is time for siesta. Then the stores catch the second wind and re-open after 6. People will get prepared to go out and have dinner starting at 8 or 8:30. Continue reading →

Epilogue

The incident with Fernando in Barcelona concreted my thoughts. Live with simplicity and treat things with humour.

We live in a world where we like to complicate things and then try to find solution to them. It might seem naïve to have so much belief in people but using the famous words of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, “Belief is the only damn thing we got. Not until we find another, we stay with it.”

I led a relatively interesting life. I always run into odd incidents. Like when I came back from Barcelona, sitting next to me was a gentleman of South Asian heritage. He had strong BO. I was going to launch a complaint and asked to change my seat. Then I also found out the button of my pants had fallen off and I might be in danger of my pants falling down if I moved. So the two things together will break even. You win some and you lose some.

Years ago during Christmas season, I was at Chapters. There was a Salvation Army alms stand and there were some young women standing by having their coffee break with coffee mugs. I thought those ladies were from Salvation Army and as I walked by, I put a quarter in one of the coffee mugs. Then I realized it was a mistake and I ran.

My travelling is not over yet. There will be new horizons to discover. There will be new Fernandos. Show some belief in people and treat life with humour and time will slip by without you knowing.

Until next time – Adios Amigos

(click here to see all pictures previously shown in this 13-part travelogue)

Episode 10 Barcelona (II), I found a friend.

Our hotel was on top of the train station. There was no discount of activities there. The first day when we arrived, we asked for a recommended restaurant which we could test the tapas. We were referred to this little restaurant within walking distance from the hotel.

We sat down for lunch and we did not know what to order. Our server came. He was a tall, muscular man with a long face. He was in his 50s or 60s yet he had this lovely smile on him. Using my broken Spanish and whatever limited vocabulary; I asked him what was good. He said he understood French but no English.

I saw the little dishes of food on the counter and I ventured over to see them. We decided on paella, marinated mushroom, mussels, ham, and some other things. The paella tasted pre-cooked and the rest of the food was pretty standard. The server was nice to allow us to share our food. I also found an unusual dish which later I found out it was dried pig snout. This thing was so chewy that I almost broke my teeth in them.

Lunch was over, the little talk began. The server asked us where we were from and whether we were Japanese. We carried on our conversation with sign language and broken words. I finally broke down and stretched my hand and told him my name was David and he said his was Fernando. We made friends. Continue reading →

Episode 9 Barcelona

The Zurich airport is just as messy as the one in Frankfurt. The walking is long from end to end. This airport also has a subway connecting different terminals like the one in Hong Kong. If you have to do connection here, please allow yourself ample time.

Barcelona sits in the region of Cataluña. The Spanish have some strong features of their own but they are more on the rustic side. Again, economy is not too successful and the country is struggling. Tourism is still very promising.

Barcelona is very much related to the sea. The buildings are mostly Gothic style. We did our usual tourist thing. Barcelona is proud of Picasso and Gaudi yet I was not in favour of such. Both of these gentlemen were usual thinkers and that would be it.

Episode 8 – Monte Carlo

It is a wonderful town. It is small and yet it smells money. You have to count your dollars when you do things here. The Hotel de Paris is off limits to tourists. Somehow we managed to sneak in. It was grand but it was old and traditional. I could not imagine people paying 6000 Euros and up for 1 night of service here.

The car racing was finished. We missed it. Not that we could afford to go and watch it. We stood by the dock and watched this yacht “Lady Moura”. It is ranked #7 in the world and owned by some Arabian Shih. It baffled my mind when money could be used in a more proper way.

We went onto the village of Eze which was in the French territory. It is a quaint little village and there are narrow paths and walkways. Everything had to be transported to the town by human labour. A plumber came by and he was grumbling about he had to work. It is a very strange place.

Episode 7 – my town Firenze Florence

While Rome is famous for its quantity of tourist places, Florence makes up for it with the quality of its art and sculpture. In my humble opinion, Florence housed a better selection of architecture, buildings, monuments, bridges, museums, and they are all finely decorated with exquisite sculptures.

The Sistine chapel is grand and overpowering but it lacks the artistic charisma of Duomo (the house of God). The different natural color marbles and the exterior detailing on the walls gives you the far sense of superiority.

You should not miss the statue of David by Michelangelo. That might be a duplicate and yet it is stunning enough to demand your admiration. The fine muscle lines, the lovely flow of the body, the details all pointed out to some life like spirit captured within this figure. The statue might one day come alive. The stare of the statue was just amazing. It brought a strong, determined sense of vision. It can certainly look into the future with its positive influence.

Continue reading →

Episode 6 – Roma, finally

It was an early wake-up call and then rushed into the city of Rome to avoid traffic. I am an early riser and I was having my breakfast at 4 in the morning. I was not the only one in the dining room. Some people were complaining about not able to get window seats. What can you see at that hour of the morning? I do not understand the logic behind this.

Rome was congested with traffic. There was no way to get around the narrow streets with a coach. The best way was to walk, and walking we did. St. Peter’s Square was the first stop. It never fails to amaze me with all the statue and sculptures. We stood in the square, on top of the mark where one could only see a single layer of columns. It was certainly a marvel with this optical illusion.

The guide pointed out the window where white smoke would fly in the election of a new pope. Then the guide told us, there was never any chimney to burn the used ballots. It was a little heater they used on top of the roof to burn the ballots. This is devastating news since all the grandeur was destroyed with the review of the truth.