It was an early early morning as we got ready for the next part of our trip! We booked our airport transfer through Airport Taxi Transfers since I’ve used them before and they were okay. Pick-up was punctual and soon we were on the way to airport half awake. We were so early we could watch the sunrise from the terminal. And no shops were opened. So what do you do when nothing was opened? We stoned, till boarding commenced. Lol. 

Soon we reached Barcelona after a quick 1hr and 20 mins flight, where we reunited with the friend. We even had time to grab a drink before our driver found us

But first, collecting our Barcelona Transport Travel Card from the Tourist Information centre at the airport which we have bought from GetYourGuide. The card would enable us to travel on metro, buses and trams and given some attractions were rather far away, we decided to get the card in case we got tired halfway (highly likely. lol)

We were too early for check-in so we dropped our bags at Colón Hotel Barcelona and the friend could freshen up a little before we proceeded to Palau de la Música Catalana which was a short walk away. It was funny how we reached the hotel and the friend was impressed by the size of it. And I was like didn’t you book it? She said it exceeded her expectations. lol

We soon reached Palau de la Música Catalana where there was a small crowd loitering outside but the queue wasn’t too long since we had already purchased our tickets online so you could just proceed in

We did our own audio tour where you just need to connect to your phone and then you can roam around the building

We waited a long while before this area was empty and we could get a shot of it. Followed by all the photographers behind who were waiting for the same thing so that they could get an empty shot of it. lol. And everyone was being very nice as they snapped as quickly as they could so that others could have a chance

It’s a small place and this was the highlight. lol. We probably took the most photos here and we were done in no time

The music started playing shortly and some just sat in there, enjoying the tranquility. Well, we sat for awhile too

There. Angles from all direction

So we headed to Cerveseria Catalana shortly after for lunch cos everyone was hungry. The locals like to have their lunch and dinner late so we were glad to find somewhere that was actually opened for early lunch and by early, it meant 12pm. lol. I was surprised to see so many tourists at the place. And many people also meant it took us some time before we managed to get the attention of the servers. Like we couldn’t figure out were we supposed to call them or they would come to us automatically. Anyway.

Started with a Sangria and it tasted good

Chicken w Ham Croquettes €2.20

Grilled Creamy Mushroom & Fresh Egg Yolk €6.95

Grilled Razor Clams €12.65

Bravas Potatoes (Spicy Sauce) €4.85

Al Ajillo Style Prawns €9.60

Chips w Scrambled Eggs & Jabugo Ham €8.10

Thankfully the food didn’t take that long to arrive and we couldn’t wait to dig in. The friend wanted her prawns but somehow the prawns didn’t turn out what we were expecting so we were like ? And to be honest, I thought the food was just average. It wasn’t bad, but just.. normal. So imagine our surprise when we left the restaurant, there was such a long queue outside! And there were both locals and tourists queuing up. Wow. Why? I had no idea why. Lol

The friend needed caffeine, and so did we after such an early, early morning. So we searched for the nearest coffee place 

And ended up here. Though the rating was quite high, I thought the coffee was rather meh

We made our way to La Pedrera after that cos we had a booking at 3pm. La Pedrera or Casa Mila is a UNESCO world heritage site and also, the last private residence by Antoni Gaudi. It was crowded, even with segregated time slots. So would advisee to make your booking online cos there’s just a lot of people

We had the audio guide which would explain to us what went on in each room

An impressive model of how the whole place looked like

 I had to say it was quite an interesting masterpiece with its unique structure and the thoughts that went through Gaudi’s head and how he conceptualised to this. Though all I could remember was I climbed many floors up cos the queue for the lift was so long. Was it 6 floors straight? I can’t remember. All I knew was I felt very giddy after that. Lol

The rooftop was the last attraction of the whole architecture and we spent some time there, just finding photo opportunities and helping other people take their photos as well. And we witnessed someone who pulled the emergency exit by mistake, causing the bell to ring nonstop. The friend and I shook our head and went … so smart 

And enjoying the wind in our hair 🙂

We had some time before our next attraction at Casa Batllo which was also designed by Antoni Gaudi and a remodel of a previously built house. So we went to window shop for awhile before returning to wait for our time slot

And here’s Casa Batllo

We went for the audio guide version as well which they had an interactive tablet that will play out as you go into each room. It was pretty interesting as it tapped into your imagination

Though honestly, this would be quite boring without the tablet. Definitely preferred the previous attraction

We ended off the tour by watching a digital video ‘Inside Gaudi head’ so we could envision how his mind worked. All I could say was, after watching the video, I felt even giddier. Lol

By the time we were done with our attractions, dinner was still early so we decided to go bar hopping instead. We took a walk to Two Schmucks where they had literally just opened at 6pm and the guy was just standing at the door welcoming people.

Empty empty

Pig Jam €11

Bacon Infused Scotch | Raspberry clarified with Smoked Cream

Tropical Coffee €11

Pineapple Rhum | Coconut Syrup | Cold Brew Coffee | Banana Cream

We said we gonna have 1 drink each

Fruhstuck €11

Pretzel Ealvados | Cognac | Olorosso | Dark Chocolate | Clarified Milk

Polish Battle Royal €11

Gin | Dry Sherry | Elderflower | Fennel Syrup | Cava

5 drinks later.. lol

And I wanted something off the menu so he made a summer cocktail using apple brandy as a base and he claimed i was the first to try it. it was good

The said Apple Brandy which he gave us a tasting portion to try 😀

Felt like the drinks here were not that heavy and they were really easy to drink, so you don’t feel full from it. You can just go from one drink to another yet you could feel the kick from the alcohol after a drink or two. They don’t focus that much on presentation. So just simple, good solid cocktails. Nothing fancy. I’ll recommend you to give them a try. And the bartenders were really friendly

We proceeded for dinner at Arume restaurant after that cos it was finally time for our dinner reservation

Uncle Walter’s Ceviche €13.50

Wild Seabass Ceviche w Leche de Tigre, Pomegranate & Avocado Emulsion

I thought this was really nice. It was slightly acidic yet the whole dish came together quite nicely to get your palate started

Scallops w Creamed Corn & Rye Bread €16

Bay Squid €19

Beach Squid, Pork Jowl, Seasonal Mushrooms, Carrot Puree

Marinated Iberian Presa Fillet, Galician Potato Mille Feuille & Bacon €21.50

Seafood Paella €17.50

Arums-Style Galician Seafood Paella

Chocolate & Hazelnut Cookie, Mascarpone, Red Berries & Violet Icecream €6

Personally, the food was just average. The paella was probably the most disappointing cos the rice was a little on the harder side and I felt like it just wasn’t spectacular enough. Also, the dessert was forgettable so in all, I wouldn’t recommend this place 

We couldn’t wait to get back to hotel after a long day

We had a storage area on one side

The sofa which converted into a bed in the middle

The main bedroom

And the bathroom

I was amazed by the size of the bathroom though not so much by the water pressure that caused the bathroom to be quite wet half the time

It was a rather decent size room

And so we quickly washed up and knocked out cos it had been a long day

Rise & Shine the next morning with some croffles we dabao-ed from the night before on the way back to hotel while the friend added some cup noodles along. Yes, you heard right. Cup noodles for breakfast at 7am. lol

We had a booking for Montserrat half-day tour through Barcelona Local Experiences so we quickly left the hotel to walk to the meeting point which thankfully was quite walkable from our hotel

We were so early we could take a photo with the Barcelona Cathedral as our backdrop with NO crowd. lol. If you had seen how crowded it could be, you wouldn’t miss such photo opportunities. It was really rare to see it this empty

The street were empty and it was such a nice morning for a walk

There were also lots of artwork on the shutters of the shops which we later found out some were painted by the shops themselves but some specially engaged artists to paint it. Interesting

And we finally reached our meeting point. We found our bus and guides in no time cos there was one huge bus at that early timing so it was kinda hard to miss. We weren’t late, but when we realised we were the last to board, we were like oops, was the entire bus waiting for us?

Anyway, it was quite a big tour group so the tour was split into 2 smaller groups where 1 guide would herd 1 each, which I thought was a good strategy since we wouldn’t be able to hear the guides speak with such big group. Since it was quite a distance to Montserrat, the guide spoke of some sights/attractions along the way and then gave us some time to catch up on our sleep which the locals call it Siesta. Well, who doesn’t enjoy a good nap? 😀

About an hour later.. we caught sight of the monastery

I loved that we beat the crowd so that we didn’t need to jostle with the whole world. The guides gave us a brief history/overview of the monastery and also brought us in to see the Black Madonna / La Moreneta

Virgin of Montserrat

There was this small little room at the back which we could enter and take a look

The artwork was actually quite pretty

Came back to the front, took some pictures and left

We had a good 2 hour to explore the rest of the monastery so we took the funicular up to get a view of the entire place

Up, up we go!

And it’s really way up high

So high up the friends didn’t want to come near me to take a photo. I LOL-ed

Okay, you wouldn’t be able to tell from the photo. But as you stood at the edge, it was really w o a h

It was too far to walk to Saint Joan chapel, which was located at the top of the mountain that was another view point. So HI chapel, we see you there. And that was good enough. For those feeling a little adventurous, you could also do some hiking here, cos we saw some people came in exercise outfit

We wanted to keep some time for the farmers’ market so we hurriedly made our way down and it was just so many stalls of locals selling their produce

They were friendly. Too friendly in fact. They enthusiastically made you try everything. And then once you tried them, you would be like omg this taste good, then there goes the buying spree. lol

And then before we realised, it was time to head back to the bus to meet our guides so that we could head back to town

First order of business, lunch. We were famished. We were really not used to having our meals late. And we wanted a change of cuisine, something non-Spanish. So we decided to have ramen. This place had pretty good reviews online and from the pictures, it looked pretty decent, or so we thought

Kimchi €4.95

Kimchi doesn’t really taste very authentic. It was spicy, though not the kind of Korean spicy

Pork Gyoza €6.35

The gyoza, thankfully, tasted decent

Agadashi Tofu €5.50

And the tofu, well, tasted like tofu

Shio €10.20

Shoyu €9.75

Tonkotsu Ramen €11.50

We each had different soup base. Shio was the worst. Shoyu was actually okay though the friend begged to differ and kept complaining it doesn’t taste like Japan’s standard, to a point I really felt like slapping her. Unfortunately this is Spain and not Japan so hello, you need to manage your expectations a little? But really, shoyu fared the best out of all 3. In short, don’t go to this place for your ramen craving. This review, coming from an Asian’s palate

We were full, though super unsatisfied with lunch. So I ended up with coffee and churros! The churros were nice though. I had to say, much nicer than the ramen. lol

The plan was to roam around the Gothic Quarter and also go take a queue for Paradiso, which is ranked World’s No 1 best bar. I mean since we were all the way there, we had to give it a try

We got a text from the friend who reached Paradiso first and told us.. she was the last to take the queue number and they closed the queue after her. And also, please look at the waiting time

ZOMG. What in the world?!

It’s so crazy.

So we went to continue roaming around the area, did some shopping and look who we found along the way

Tintin!

I remembered I loved reading his comic books when I was young

We found a HUGE Kaws too

We crossed over and went towards the harbour, explored the shops on the other side before returning back to Paradiso but alas, it was still not our turn

We were so tired we decided to just sit down at Paradiso’s outdoor area and order some drinks from their outdoor menu, while waiting for our number to be called. Cos they only had a very short grace period for you to return so we didn’t want to venture too far away

And so, this marked the night of many, many drinks

The outdoor menu is different from indoor. But I guessed most people are actually there for their indoor drinks

And 45 minutes later, it was finally our turn to enter. OMG. Cannot wait!

We were first asked to wait at the bar area while they arranged the tables inside for us

And I decided to pose with the entrance. I mean, cupboards

It’s not a big place, which explained the really long wait. And usually people take their time for drinks

On Fire ‎€32 (for 2 pax)

Bulleit Bourbon, Calvados Avallen, Tahini, Sweet Potato, Smoked Milk, Romate Oloroso

The friend and I shared the On Fire. To be honest, it looked pretty for the gram but instructions were too complicated cos we couldn’t hear them over the music and loud noises and half the time we were like.. were we supposed to do this? lol. And the drinks didn’t taste very different even if we added different condiments. So we were very confused

The Cloud €17

Casamigos Mezcal, Hibiscus, Montenegro Amara, Dry Mancino Vermouth, Birch Syrup, Perrier & Coffee Cloud

The other friend wanted to try their very instagrammable Cloud where the staff made a show about bubble foam appearing and floating in the air before landing on the drink. And then you breathed the foam in before drinking the cocktail. Yeps, all for the gram too

And halfway through, we had a free drink cos we were asked to shift to another table. We were like, we are not even done with these drinks yet? lol

Paradiso Express €14

Rum Zacapa 23, Ketel One Vodka, Pedro Ximenez, Coffee, Banana, Sesame

The train was so cute. I wonder how many models they had to cater to all the guests. This felt more like a dessert kind of drink. Think creamy and toffee

Voyage €15

Ketel One Vodka, Amaro Santoni, Italicus, Lemon, Blueberries, Raspberries

The friend ended off with this, which she instantly regretted and went on and on about how the drinks here were below average. To be honest, the drinks were very instagrammable, innovative and they were fairly okay. They were not fantastic, like personally I felt Two Schmucks’ drinks were nicer

And then suddenly, the staff popped by and said they were bringing us to another place. So we followed them to behind the bar area for even more drinks

This secret hideout works differently from the front. Drinks were customised to your preference so you get to tell the bartender what you want

And we ended off with a birthday drink for me

It was a night of too many drinks and I regretted we had to wake up at 7am the next day. Never ever start the day so early next time

We had a 9am entry for Park Güell so we grabbed a coffee and croissant along the way while walking to the bus stop

The said bus stop that will take us to the park

45 minutes later

We wanted to visit the instagrammable spot in the park and had no interest in other areas. So we tried figuring out which way it was, but to no avail. lol. In the end, we took a leisure walk around the park and ended up seeing the sights we had no interest in

But finally we are here!

The area was swimming with people. So. Many. Tourists

You can’t tell from the photo here but there were people all around me

So to get this shot, it was a collaborative effort of one friend stopping people from going into the frame and the other friend did the non-stop clicking. We ended up taking photos for other people too, using our strategy. lol

We left the photo spot and went into the shade and found more artwork

and decided it’s time to leave the park cos it was just too crowded

The plan was to visit Boqueria market and have our lunch there but on the way there, we realised it wasn’t opened that day. We still proceeded cos we wanted to see how it looked

Realised many had the same idea as us. lol

😦

We went to google map and found a highly rated paella restaurant nearby (which was opened no less) so we decided to proceed to Bo De Boqueria for lunch instead

Hidden in an alley, I was a little doubtful if there was even a restaurant in it. lol

Patatas Bravas (Deep Fried Potato in Spicy Tomato Sauce) €‎5.90

Truffled Egg w Ham €10.50

Cod Fish w “All I Oli” €20.90

Garlic Prawns €‎16.90

Charcoal-grilled Octopus €18.90

Seafood Paella €19.90

But it turned out, the food here was really pretty good. The paella was probably one of the better fews we had, and the garlic prawns was decent for once. Love the octopus too. It was definitely a surprise hidden find

The friend was tired and wanted to just nap at the hotel while the other friend wanted to check out a dessert shop we walked past yesterday. So we said our goodbyes and decided to meet up at the hotel later instead

We walked past Plaça de Sant Jaume which seemed rather busy and also did some window shopping along the way

Brunells Patisserie seemed like a place famous for their croissants. But given we just had lunch, we decided to skip that instead

So I had a mocha while the friend had their hot chocolate

Lets just say the mocha was way too gao. I thought I was having a chocolate drink instead. lol. I couldn’t imagine the friend’s

Sara €5.70 Pistachio & Raspberries €5.70

The desserts all looked pretty and the description sounded nice too but sadly I found the desserts a little too sweet and they didn’t have those airy light texture. They were on the denser side and that made you even more filling

I wouldn’t recommend this place at all. But we decided to chill here for abit before heading back to hotel since we still had time to kill

We had arranged for pickup to airport via Klook so we waited around for the longest time ever and our driver did not appear. We contacted the customer service and was told the driver would be here shortly. It turned out they had either missed our booking/messed up our appointment such that a random taxi driver appeared to take us to the airport instead. And in our conversation with the driver, I asked if they had forgotten about us? He said the appointed driver was stuck in a jam. Hmm. Okay. I give them the benefit of doubt. We reached the airport in record time. I suggest taking a taxi from the hotel to the airport instead for those looking to book airport transfer. It didn’t feel that Klook was very reliable in that sense

We ended up having Macs at the airport cos the friend wanted something unhealthy, and having to finish this in half the time cos we had to make our way to the boarding gates already. Macs was quite expensive though. lol but thankfully it still tasted good and lasted us all the way till we reached Granada and that’s for the next part of the story!

Read here for Travelgoue: To Paris & Beyond – Bonjour!