Hola Barcelona! (part 1)

Finally it's time to blog about our 'real' honeymoon.

We've already wanted to visit Europe for a quite long time. But after I do the research on the cost it makes us think twice, should we use our saving only for few days? Is it gonna be really worth it? etc etc. It's now or never. We decided to go for it!

Europe is such a huge continent, I cannot decide which country should I visit. Definitely I want to go to Paris. It's like #1 tourist destination in the world. But if we only visit one country it feels like waste of visa's fee and air ticket right. There are so many options, from Rome, Venice, Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Prague, etc. London is the first country that being listed out, because you'll need separate visa. So I went to ask my boss, because he's been everywhere around Europe. And he suggested that we should go to Barcelona. Sounds interesting, never thought of that before. Ok, i just follow what the expert say.

The first plan is to buy air ticket from Singapore-Paris, Paris-Barcelona and Barcelona-Singapore. At early on January the price for that route is about S$1,300/pax (malaysia airlines, singapore airlines). But we haven't make up our mind, and in the end when we already want to buy the ticket, the price went up to S$1,800/pax. So sad.. But.. but.. I found out that Air France had a promotion. Singapore-Paris 2 ways is only S$1,200/pas. So i quickly buy the ticket. And the plan went to Singapore-Paris-Barcelona-Paris-Singapore. It's like we go back and forth... For Paris-Barcelona we used easyjet. It's like budget airlines between Europe countries. Our ticket for easyjet is around 200sgd/person for 2 ways.

We booked all the hotels via bookings.com. We read some reviews from Tripadvisor before we decided which hotels we want to booked. Important things to choose your hotel:
1. Near metro, so it's convenient for your transportation. Mostly you'll use metro. We didn't even think to take cab because the cab fares is super expensive.
2. Near airport bus' stop. Metro or MRT in Europe isn't like Singapore at all. There's no elevator or lift. All staircases. If you carry big luggage, it will be difficult for you. And taking cab from airport to the city will cost around 80euro, maybe. But if you take the airport bus, it will cost you around 5-10 euro only.

For airport bus in Paris, there are : Roissy Bus and Les Cars Air France. The difference is the destination. Roissy Bus will stop near Opera Metro while Les Cars Air France have several stops around the Etoile (Arc de Triomph)

First destination is Singapore-Paris (16 hrs), then transit at Charles de Gaulle for 6 hours before our next flight to El Prat, Barcelona.

economy class

right after on board, they served dinner with a mini bottle of wine!

his food

view for 16 hours

Two hours before landing, they served breakfast. some cold cuts and croissant

check-in for easyjets. i guess budget airlines everywhere are the same: long queue.

first photo i took in Barcelona. It was at placa espanya.

bed. finally i see u for almost 24-hours

Finally after 16 hours on the plane, 6 hours waiting at the airport, 1,5 hours on plane again We finally reached our first destination : Barcelona.

It was freezing when we came out from the bus. And a bit drizzling. Our hotel was Hotel Reding. It is located near universitat metro. And there is a bus stop nearby for aerobus (airport bus). It cost around 90euros/night if i'm not wrong. The hotel it self is not huge, but the room is quite spacious. The bathroom even has a bath tub. The cost comes with daily buffet breakfast. 

buffet breakfast

Our itinerary for today is to see the Magic Fountain of Monjuic and do a little shopping. We still have plenty of time, so we just walking around the neighborhood and got mesmerized by the surroundings. Everything doesn't looks real. So pretty, really like what I saw in the movie. I cannot believe finally I'm at Europe.

pretty flowers. yes those are real.

la rambla drinking fountain. they said if you drink the water you'll return to barcelona again. i drank a bottle of it.

eventually you'll see this outfit during my entire post in Europe

the arena. it was a place for bull figthing, but now a shopping mall. it's just the opposite of the magic fountain

in front of the magic fountain.

After the fountain show, which is just so-so, we're going to have our dinner. Finally first meal at Barcelona. We decided to go to Tapas24. Be prepared to queue because this is a famous place.

fave food while in Barcelona : Tomato Bread

French Fries with egg and chorizo

mcfoie burger. best food here

croquette, this one also delicious!

bikini cormac, my favourite.

After waiting around 30-40mins. I didn't really count. Too busy to decide what we're gonna order. Super hungry. We sit at the bar counter. After reading some review from other blogs and website, we decided to order their famous food.They are super delicious. Only the fries taste so-so. May favourite was the bikini cormac, somekind of sandwich, when you bite it, the cheese will melt. It's crusty on the outside but melting in the inside. The iberico croquette also super delicious. 2 pieces wasn't enough, but considering this thing is not cheap i just make my self satisfied with one piece of it and enjoying every bite of it.

Sadly there isn't more space for dessert. Wanted to order their 'olive oil with chocolate' because it sounds so interesting. Maybe next time. (the truth is, there is always space for dessert. But their dessert price is not cheap also. 7 or 8 euros. So never mind then)

Ok, it's the end of part one. I will continue with the touristy areas on my next post. Stay tune...

Tapas 24

Carrer de la Diputació, 269

08007 Barcelona, Spain

+34 934 88 09 77

nearest metro : passeig de gracia / catalunya

price around 5-15 euros per dish.prepare to spend bit more money here.