The last leg of my Spanish-Portuguese adventure took me to Lisbon, the land of egg tarts. They were seriously selling Portuguese egg tarts on every corner in the city centre. I had 3 egg tarts while I was there for a 2.5 days visit and the best one has to be in Belem where the lines for the store was constantly stretching outside the shop.
Lisbon's traditional centre was rather old as expected and you can tell that Portugal is probably not as rich as it used to be. The place itself is actually very cheap by Europe standard. I probably should have guessed since the flight over from Madrid only cost me £15 including taxes. Since the temperature was pretty much in the mid 30s when I was there, I decided to get a bottle of water from the supermarket. I also wanted some change for the tram ride later so I thought I would go to the supermarket and break my tenner. When I walked in and found what I wanted I had to check the price twice because they were selling 500ml of still water for 10 cent. I had 10cent in my pocket and since I don't like carrying coins I decided not to break my 10 euro and ended up walking up to the castle instead of taking the tram. To this day I am still amazed that I can get a bottle of water for 10 cent in Europe.
Apart from the tarts, the rest of Portuguese food was pretty ordinary. I wasn't very impressed with what I sampled but at least it was cheap. I think overall it is definitely worth visiting. A day trip out to Sintra was also very nice and the warm weather was definitely a welcomed escape from the crappy cold condition in the UK!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Lack of Updates
Have been busy with work and recently out of action due to illness.
Tried to register with a GP, filled in the form then they asked me to go in to show them my passport and other details. She specifically told me they open on Saturday morning and I even checked their website. I got there this morning and no one was there. How stupid is that.
Tried to register with a GP, filled in the form then they asked me to go in to show them my passport and other details. She specifically told me they open on Saturday morning and I even checked their website. I got there this morning and no one was there. How stupid is that.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Madrid
Ah Madrid, what can I say. What an amazingly BORING place! Lucky I only spent a day here because seriously, apart from some decent food, there really is not a lot that interest me. I even went to the Santiago Bernabeu for a visit but after Camp Nou, it really didn't do much for me.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Barcelona Day 2
After a night of excitement at the Camp Nou I decided to take it easy the next morning. Since it was such a nice day I thought I would roam around in Park Güell. Getting there itself was a bit of a hike and I had pretty good instruction from the guide book I was carrying. It warned me of the steep hill to climb and I was so not looking forward to it as I jumped off the metro. As I was getting off, I noticed that there were other tourists that stayed on the metro and I wondered where they were going. The walk up the hill was hard enough and the increasing temperature didn't help one bit, but when I finally made it there I think it was worth it. While I was admiring the design of the park, I saw some of the other tourists who didn't get off the metro where I got off, I think they got off at the next stop and perhaps avoided the steep climb to the park. I don't know for sure but they did get there before me.
After walking through Gaudi's creation, I decided to hit the beach and have lunch there. It was relatively hot so there were quite a few beach goers. I have never seen beach tennis before and didn't know such a game existed but there is a first for everything. After lunch I walked back towards La Rambla and decided to head towards the waterfront. I didn't know it was a shopping centre but if I had known I probably would've given it a miss. When I got near it the weather started to change and it started pouring down. I almost bought an umbrella from the FC Barcelona store but decided not to as the rain started to ease. I took the opportunity to head back towards town and when it started pouring again I ducked into one of the restaurants to have an early dinner. It claimed to have the best sangria in town so I had to have one. It was quite nice and it was massive but they all taste the same after a while. I did want to take some night shots of some of the Gaudi buildings that night but unfortunately it was raining too heavily so I decided to head back and call it a night.
After walking through Gaudi's creation, I decided to hit the beach and have lunch there. It was relatively hot so there were quite a few beach goers. I have never seen beach tennis before and didn't know such a game existed but there is a first for everything. After lunch I walked back towards La Rambla and decided to head towards the waterfront. I didn't know it was a shopping centre but if I had known I probably would've given it a miss. When I got near it the weather started to change and it started pouring down. I almost bought an umbrella from the FC Barcelona store but decided not to as the rain started to ease. I took the opportunity to head back towards town and when it started pouring again I ducked into one of the restaurants to have an early dinner. It claimed to have the best sangria in town so I had to have one. It was quite nice and it was massive but they all taste the same after a while. I did want to take some night shots of some of the Gaudi buildings that night but unfortunately it was raining too heavily so I decided to head back and call it a night.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Visit to the Camp Nou
One of the highlights of my trip to Barcelona has to be the vist to Camp Nou for the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid game. I got my ticket through the Barcelona FC website and I must say I got quite a decent seat in one of the corners on the second tier second row from the front. After dinner that night I did walk past one of the official Barcelona FC store and you can actually get tickets from there but I think they were all on the top tier so visibility would be quite low in a 100,000 seat stadium.
I got there pretty early because I wanted to take a few photos but at the same time, I didn't realise how quickly and easily you can get to the stadium. Although it wasn't far from the city centre, my experience of getting to a game in London kind of made me think I should try to get there in advance. Well how wrong was I, I got to the game in less than 30 minutes and the gate wasn't even open so I had to stand outside with the crowd for a while. With a 10pm kick off, the gate only opened at 9pm and when it opened I made my way into an empty stadium when half the lights weren't even on yet so I spent some time looking around a bit.
After a while, the players came out to warm up. It was interesting to see the difference the relationship is between the players and the fans. When the players came out, the people chanted the player's names and the players would wave back to the crowd. I don't think I have seen that in England.
When the game finally started, it was action packed from the start. Mr Henry didn't have a great game but in the first 2 minutes, he turned his marker and took a shot that came off the crossbar. It didn't take Barca long though to get on the scoreboard when new boy Ibrahimovic flicked the ball past the keeper. No wonder why they have a massive billboard with his face on it in the middle of the city. They made it 4-0 after 42 minutes and the visitor did pull one back after a stupid mistake by no 16 Sergio Busquets. With each goal, the fans chanted the goal scorer's name and you can understand and almost feel the passion the fans and players have for the club and the game.
The pace of the game dropped a little in the second half and although Barca did come close a few times it was the visitor who got on the scoresheet with Diego Forlan getting a late goal. It wasn't done though as Messi, who was by far the best player on the pitch made it 5-2 in injury time.
It was an awesome experience and if you love football, you should try to see a game if you visit Barcelona.
Score: 5-2
Best Player: Lionel Messi
Worse Player: Sergio Busquets, seriously, this guy made so many mistakes
Funny moment: I notice the away fans were sat at the top of the stadium where no one can hear them
Ugly moment: Dani Alves' goal celebration
I got there pretty early because I wanted to take a few photos but at the same time, I didn't realise how quickly and easily you can get to the stadium. Although it wasn't far from the city centre, my experience of getting to a game in London kind of made me think I should try to get there in advance. Well how wrong was I, I got to the game in less than 30 minutes and the gate wasn't even open so I had to stand outside with the crowd for a while. With a 10pm kick off, the gate only opened at 9pm and when it opened I made my way into an empty stadium when half the lights weren't even on yet so I spent some time looking around a bit.
After a while, the players came out to warm up. It was interesting to see the difference the relationship is between the players and the fans. When the players came out, the people chanted the player's names and the players would wave back to the crowd. I don't think I have seen that in England.
When the game finally started, it was action packed from the start. Mr Henry didn't have a great game but in the first 2 minutes, he turned his marker and took a shot that came off the crossbar. It didn't take Barca long though to get on the scoreboard when new boy Ibrahimovic flicked the ball past the keeper. No wonder why they have a massive billboard with his face on it in the middle of the city. They made it 4-0 after 42 minutes and the visitor did pull one back after a stupid mistake by no 16 Sergio Busquets. With each goal, the fans chanted the goal scorer's name and you can understand and almost feel the passion the fans and players have for the club and the game.
The pace of the game dropped a little in the second half and although Barca did come close a few times it was the visitor who got on the scoresheet with Diego Forlan getting a late goal. It wasn't done though as Messi, who was by far the best player on the pitch made it 5-2 in injury time.
It was an awesome experience and if you love football, you should try to see a game if you visit Barcelona.
Score: 5-2
Best Player: Lionel Messi
Worse Player: Sergio Busquets, seriously, this guy made so many mistakes
Funny moment: I notice the away fans were sat at the top of the stadium where no one can hear them
Ugly moment: Dani Alves' goal celebration
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Barcelona Day 1
On my first scheduled week long holiday I went to visit Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. It started off pretty damn early since I had to catch a 7:15am Easyjet flight at Luton Airport. I took 24hr bus from Paddington to Baker Street and from there, the Easybus to Luton. I actually got to Baker St a bit early and the Easybus man was nice enough to let me get on the early one. The ride took slightly less than an hour and I had this grand plan to sleep on the bus except my fellow passengers had other ideas and talked (loudly) all the way to the airport. It's fricken 5am people, go back to sleep! Maybe I really should get some noise canceling headphones. I did however managed some sleep on the flight to Barcelona, and surprisingly there was no delay and we even managed to park at the bridge so we didn't have to take the bus to the terminal.
I got through immigration quite quickly and proceeded to look for first the information desk before heading to the Aerobus. The Tourist information desk was probably one of the smallest I have seen but they were quite helpful and I got one of those 2 days unlimited travel tickets on the public transport system. No issues taking the Aerobus downtown to Plaça de Catalunya and from there, I took the Metro to the BnB I was staying at. When I got to my destination, since I walked the wrong direction, it did took me a little while to find the place but I got there in the end. It turned out to be directly in front of the Metro exit but on the other side of a 8 lanes road. I must mention that the BnB (Ana's Guesthouse) is really nice and if you ever go to Barcelona you should definitely check it out as an option. When I was there, there was another group of 3 people staying there and I pretty much had the whole place to myself so even though I was suppose to share the (massive) bathroom, it wasn't an issue in the end.
After checking in, I made my way around town. Firstly down the Passeig de Gràcia and looked at some of the Gaudi buildings before heading to the Montjuic Castle. At the Montjuic Castle, I took the cable car ride up because after a 4am start, I wasn't too keen on climbing that hill. The view on top was pretty good and since it was a nice clear day, I was able to see most of the city from there.
It was late afternoon by the time I headed back towards the city and since I have some time left I went to see the Sagrada Família. It's an odd looking church and the tour guide said they estimate the entire building to be finished by 2030. Since it is funded by donations and they still have not worked out the design to parts of the structure yet this estimate is subject to change.
I ate dinner near Sagrada Família and it was OK. I headed back to the BnB first to rest a little before going to the game at Camp Nou!
I got through immigration quite quickly and proceeded to look for first the information desk before heading to the Aerobus. The Tourist information desk was probably one of the smallest I have seen but they were quite helpful and I got one of those 2 days unlimited travel tickets on the public transport system. No issues taking the Aerobus downtown to Plaça de Catalunya and from there, I took the Metro to the BnB I was staying at. When I got to my destination, since I walked the wrong direction, it did took me a little while to find the place but I got there in the end. It turned out to be directly in front of the Metro exit but on the other side of a 8 lanes road. I must mention that the BnB (Ana's Guesthouse) is really nice and if you ever go to Barcelona you should definitely check it out as an option. When I was there, there was another group of 3 people staying there and I pretty much had the whole place to myself so even though I was suppose to share the (massive) bathroom, it wasn't an issue in the end.
After checking in, I made my way around town. Firstly down the Passeig de Gràcia and looked at some of the Gaudi buildings before heading to the Montjuic Castle. At the Montjuic Castle, I took the cable car ride up because after a 4am start, I wasn't too keen on climbing that hill. The view on top was pretty good and since it was a nice clear day, I was able to see most of the city from there.
It was late afternoon by the time I headed back towards the city and since I have some time left I went to see the Sagrada Família. It's an odd looking church and the tour guide said they estimate the entire building to be finished by 2030. Since it is funded by donations and they still have not worked out the design to parts of the structure yet this estimate is subject to change.
I ate dinner near Sagrada Família and it was OK. I headed back to the BnB first to rest a little before going to the game at Camp Nou!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Quiz result
So here it is!
Your Top Strength
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.
Your Second Strength
Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.
Your Third Strength
Industry, diligence, and perseverance
You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.
Your Fourth Strength
Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.
Your Fifth Strength
Perspective (wisdom)
Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.
Your Top Strength
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.
Your Second Strength
Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.
Your Third Strength
Industry, diligence, and perseverance
You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.
Your Fourth Strength
Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.
Your Fifth Strength
Perspective (wisdom)
Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.
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