About Barcelona

Casa Batlo's resident ass display-er. :)

You do know that we've contemplated about moving to Barcelona, right? Surprised? We've seen looks of people shift from pleasant to 'wtf??', some even retorting 'ay, baket?' or 'Talaga? I didn't like it there, mukhang madumi eh'. Well, we loved Barcelona. Of all the places we've been to in our Euro trip (well, Mediterranean trip, plus Paris to be geographically correct), it's where we felt at home. Para bang walang ka-hassle hassle. I mean yeah--Las Ramblas was packed with tourists, also Gaudi's Parc Guell. Pero for some reason we haven't really figured out yet, it felt like a place you can call yours. Well, ours. A friend of ours supposed "Ano, familiar yung mga lugar? May Echague ba, o Avenida Asturias?" Yeah, she's referring to our streets in old Manila. Can it be the reason we felt more 'at home' there? Hindi siguro. Yes, there were very familiar names (for one, the surname Castaneda, with an enye felt so much in place in that enye-abundant country. hehe) and words (napalaban ako ng espanyol sa taxi, aba siningil kami ng extra. Well, okay--that's pushing the term 'napalaban' too far. hehe. Pinaliwanag kasi nung driver na may tarifa. Edi napa "Tarifa? Para?" ang lola mo (yun lang, pota. hahaha). Edi paliwanag si Senor...kasi daw nga galing kami ng cruise center. "Bueno" sabi ng lola mong halos bumagsak sa Spanish 101 at Advanced Spanish in college, even if she sings Enrique Iglesia's 'Solo en ti', with matching voicing to save her life. )

shooting Barcelona (from Tibidabo).

yes, this aeroplane ride overlooks that view from above picture.

Casa Mila (La Pedriera)

Mabalik tayo. Barca is not the cleanest city in the world, nor is it the safest. But it's so alive, and I don't even mean 'night club or bars' alive. It's got lots of things going on in it--very diverse and active arts scene, interest groups for every erm interests (hehe), it's got this very cool 'by-cing' (bikes you can rent from the side walk) atmosphere, different sorts of people and personalities, it's got a monastery carved out from a mountain (Montserrat), scenic places from each end of the city, one of which even has an 'antigo' theme park in it, just below a small cathedral , a bustling port, effective transport, ZARA everywhere, and an omg chica airport. Pramis, chica ang airport nila, that when my husband walk through it, he looked like he was ready to cry. Barca strikes me as a place na walang ka kiyeme kiyeme sa buhay. Hindi insecure, and things were just happening naturally.

And art is soo accesible. Below is a "metro art". Actually, lahat ng stations eh ginawang playground ng artists. Para bang naisipan lang nila, while deliberating all these na gumawa ng 'call for tender or collaboration among these artsy people". Hanef.

best metro art ever. Was soo inspired from looking at this that when I get a room to vandalise, I'll do something inspired by this quirky tiled mural. aww.

somewhere in la boquiera...

check out those legs. hehe.

you know pare--that's sagrada. you know. :)

pictures pa dito o!

Oh, have I told about the Mussels (tahong)--the best and freshest I've ever tasted. At ang Bacalao?? Josko. Seafood heaven. Even their goodies for desayuno (breakfast)--salami, queso and jamon were unforgettable. And the people? Mababait. Very informal.

Oh yes, we're soo coming back. :)

p.s. Syempre, dahil Pinoy tayo, and we can be found anywhere in the world (kahit sa antartica, according to reports, haha)--madami ding Pinoy sa Barca. Most of those we've come across are families, as in mga Ilocano couples na may kids, plus the lola and lola. Sabi nga nila, there's this huge probability that the person preparing your paella is Pinoy. They seem to have integrated very well, some of them are even Spanish citizens na. I was really glad to hear about this, kasi their stories are not of the 'paiyak' varieties. Very empowered and proud. Wala lang, i had to put this down, kasi ang galing eh. :)