" the fairest of discords "

Because we only get to travel during the holidays,
where there are longer vacation days,
spending Christmas in Barcelona was a memorable experience for us. ^0^
But most of the time x'mas were spent in southeast asian countries.
and during that season, the streets are pretty lively and festive,
and shops even extend their closing time.






That was quite the opposite when we're in Barcelona.
Almost all of the museums are closed,
except for Casa Batlló and other Casa's by Gaudi.
even finding a place to eat was difficult.
except for tourists (like us) and a few commuters and locals.
We had Passeig de Gracía all to ourselves
and you don't even have to worry about pickpockets!
i guess, they needed a break too.
This was before lunch by the way,
so the streets were still quiet and deserted. ^0^







We highlighted our map and head to the fairest of discords =
Mansana de la Discòrdia.
We lazily walked from our hotel to Gran Via (de les corts catalanes),
all the way to Passeig the Grácia (the Eixample area)
and saw a handful of nice architecture from a whole lot of Casas here and there,
following Cadogan's handy guide book.
Now some people adore food, while others like shopping.
Me, I love gazing at different structures and they never seem to bore me.
I was enjoying capturing every moment,
There was no one blocking my view or someone popping out of nowhere,
the weather was breezy but not too cold and the street literally became our 'museum.'
yes, the tempting thought of shopping and buying a few things
did crossed my mind now and then,
but what can we do, the whole area even the biggest El Corte Ingles was also closed, so... :(



Aside from admiring the works of Gaudi's Casa Batlló's Exterior.
we didn't get the chance to see its interior.
haha, the stingy mode got the best of us. ^0^
spending 17 euros for the entrance and an hour or more inside
didn't seem a good idea at that time,
we wanted to do more sightseeing.

there was Lluís Domènech i Montaner.
his works are utterly astounding,
we were too late to discover that he's famous for designing
Palau de la Musica Catalana, which we didn't get to visit.
But at least, we got to see Casa Lleó Morera.
which isn't hard to find as the one occupying that space right now is the famous Loewe .
















Beside Casa Batlló's museum is Casa Amatller,
the façade, which is decorated with ceramic plaques of blue, pink and cream tiles,
with unending geomteric patterns are called Sgraffito.
It was designed by Puig Cadalfach, yet another remarkable artist.
I could go on with more pleonasms so for now, let the photos speak for itself. ^-^








Here is Casa Batlló's exterior.
a contrast to its next door façade.
Josep Battló was a known tycoon who got bored and commissioned Gaudi to revamped
the whole thing.





The nice flow of Trencadis, the signatured undulating curves,
bulb dome and the cross of St. George was among the many highlights of this museum.





It's already past 2 in the morning and i'm still typing,
my mind isn't sleepy yet but my eyes are seeing double already. ^0^
I'll try to post more of this walk on my next post.

" Let me show you Sagrada "

I've been meaning to show you La Sagrada's exterior.
(the masterpiece of Antonio Gaudi)
But you see, my archives are becoming a mess,
while segregating, some of my photos have been mixed up by
another, thereby creating a folder within a folder.
To make the story short,
I got exhausted and finally gave up.

So I decided to compile it instead,
photo intervals of about 2seconds. ^0^



On Board the Hop On and Hop Off bus,
La Sagrada Familia was the highlight on the 2nd day of our trip.

Even the deprived sleep and lack of breakfast,
I was already beaming when I saw the spires even from afar.

Even as early as 9'oclock in the morning.
There are people already lining up and wandering along the area.

Here's a partial peek.
Hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did. ^-^



* where was this *
La Sagrada
E'ixample
Barcelona

" Bar Davos "

A typical spanish comida ( meal) will surely fills an empty stomach.
But where in Barcelona would you find a suitable lunch that suits your taste and budget ?!

well, it took us 4 days to find one.
The 1st few restos we had were not up to par and because we don't want to waste too much time on eating,
we had too much unhealthy fast foods here and there.
I swear, those fattening foods made me instantly gained weight. ^0^

It was exactly Christmas day, almost all the shops were closed, even the museums.
So, we had a leisure walk along Passeig de Gracia instead.
It was already past 2 in the afternoon and my stomach was already churning.
we head to Bar Davos and saw their Menu del Dia, not too many options but much cheaper compared to
those along Las ramblas.



We decided to give it a try, but was skeptical at first,
we're not expert when it comes to finding the right resto. ^0^

In a nutshell, great ambiance, nice interiors inspired by the famous football player Davos,
and the food was just ultimately divine !





a nice cold beer.



here's what we had:

I had: Canalones Gratinados



heavily baked with loads of cheese, but delicious.

My sis had: Piña con Jamon Íberíca



very light and juicy.
but that's just for starters.

For the Main course:

I had: Pollo a la Mostaza



My sis had: Entrecot a la Parilla



and because we're light eaters,
we decided to skip dessert as
we were already full. ^0^

Overall, It was so far the best (12.95 euros) meal we had.
simply said...
so glad we gave it a try.

* where was this *
Carrer d' Aragó, 217
L'Eixample
Barcelona