In ieder geval zit ik - een maand na mijn citytrip naar Marrakech - in een hopelijk zonnig Barcelona! Ik ga er mijn liefste Finse vriendin M. bezoeken en mijn jongste Venezolaanse (gast)broer N. Wat een toeval dat beiden net op hetzelfde moment (in de buurt van) de Catalaanse hoofdstad zitten!

Ik krijg wel een lichte paniekaanval als ik aan de vlucht met Ryanair denk. Nog nooit heb ik met deze maatschappij gevlogen en het beangstigd me een beetje dat je in Girona aankomt waarna je nog met een bus naar Barcelona moet. En die verhalen over gestrande reizigers, te weinig beenruimte en afzetterij probeer ik ook maar zo snel mogelijk te vergeten.

Heeft er hier al iemand ervaring gehad met Ryanair? En was dat positief of negatief? Hopelijk krijg ik geen spijt van mijn gierigheid...

Tips over leuke en interessante plekjes zijn welkom. En wie goede ervaringen heeft met een riad mag die ook altijd met ons delen...Wij zoeken nog een gezellige slaapplaats!

La STIB, certainement dans un but environnemental, lance un grand concours pour gagner un citytrip en Europe. Les gagnants iront évidemment à destination en transports STIB.

Modalités du concours:

1. se procurer un autocollant de ce type dans un véhicule de la STIB ou en station
2. coller cet autocollant sur votre voiture
3. rouler un max pour espérer être repéré par l'huissier qui désignera le gagnant

Et là, excusez-moi, mais je RIGOLE!

Parce que oui, il faut bien une VOITURE pour dire que ton transport préféré est la STIB, dans le genre crétin j'ai rarement vu mieux.

Voilà comment Florence, utilisatrice de la STIB depuis sa plus tendre enfance, ne possedant pas de voiture, ni elle ni ses parents d'ailleurs, ne remporta PAS le concours de la STIB.
Par contre, elle se colla ce magnifique autocollant au cul dans l'espoir de croisier l'huissier dans le tram. Mais en vain. Elle décrocha juste un rencard avec un contrôleur.

LES GENS SONT CONS.

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Dag 1 - Zondag 31 Augustus

Rond drie uur zou T. mij ophalen aan het station van Antwerpen-Berchem. Wegens omstandigheden was ik meer dan een uur te vroeg en daarom besloot ik nog wat rond te wandelen in de stationsbuurt. Niets vermoedend wandelde ik naar de Cogels-Osylei alwaar ik terecht kwam in een waar architecturaal paradijs. Wat een prachtige woningen, ik wist niet waar eerst gekeken. Toen het drie uur was vond ik het zowaar jammer dat ik al weg moest. Hihi. De rit naar Straatsburg verliep vrij vlot. Ik heb zelf ook zo'n 120 kilometer gereden maar aangezien ik geen heldin ben met auto's, was ik enorm opgelucht toen T.  na onze eetstop het stuur terug overnam. Rond negen uur kwamen we aan in Straatsburg. We haalden de auto leeg, ik gaf T. zijn nieuwe appartement mijn zegen en alvorens in onze nest te kruipen, genoten we nog nog van een heerlijk glas spuitwater op het terras. Rond een uur of drie 's nachts werden we letterlijk en figuurlijk uit bed gedonderd. Amai zeg, wat een onweer.

Dag 2 - Maandag 1 September

T. vertrok - totaal niet zenuwachtig - naar zijn nieuwe job en ik bleef de hele voormiddag thuis omdat de meneer van het gas in de namiddag zou komen. Tegen half drie was hij geweest en hadden we warm water. Juij. Om toch nog iets aan mijn dag te hebben, besloot ik de wijde wereld in te trekken. Zo zonder stadsplan op zoek gaan naar het centrum van Straatsburg is niet evident maar na een fikse regenbui en een een dik uur wandelen, bevond ik mij zowaar aan de kathedraal van Straatsburg. In het toerismebureau kocht ik een stadsplan en een Strasbourg-Pass en daarna verkende ik op mijn gemak de buurt rond de kathedraal. Ik kocht en schreef mijn kaartjes en rond half zeven kreeg ik een sms van T. om te zeggen dat hij rond zeven uur thuis zou zijn. Aangezien hij nog maar één sleutel heeft van zijn appartement moesten we dus steeds goed afspreken. Ik vatte mijn tocht huiswaarts aan en een dik uur later arriveerde ik in de juist straat, aan het juiste appartementsblok en aan het juiste appartement. Hoera voor mijzelf. Nog geen vijf minuten later arriveerde T., moe maar voldaan van zijn eerste werkdag.

Dag 3 - Dinsdag 2 September

Toen ik wakker werd, zag ik al meteen dat het een zonnige dag zou worden. T. vertrok naar zijn werk en ik gaf hem deze keer de sleutels van het appartement mee. Ik had op mijn stadsplan gezien dat ik aan het Europees parlement een tram kon nemen naar het centrum en aldus stond ik deze keer op nog geen 30 minuten in het historisch centrum van de stad. Ik repte mij naar het Palais Rohan alwaar ik op de bateau mouche van half elf stapte om een rondvaart van een uur en tien minuten mee te maken. Daarna bezocht ik l'horloge astronomique in de kathedraal, ging ik naar het station om mijn treinticket voor de terugreis te kopen, at ik in een plaatselijk restaurantje (schaam op mij), bezocht ik La Petite France en kocht ik op de boekenmarkt op de Place Gutenberg een poster voor op mijn kamer en drie leuke boekjes voor een dochter die ik ooit hoop te krijgen. In de Librairie Kléber kocht ik nog twee boeken: de Franstalige versie van mijn favoriete Murakami en een boek met op de kaft een afbeelding van een van mijn favoriete Chinese schilderijen (ik wijd er een van de komende dagen nog een blogpost aan). Daarna nam ik de tram terug naar de Europese gebouwen en wandelde ik naar het mooiste park van de stad, Parc de L'Orangerie. Ik koos er een leuk bankje uit en zette mij neer om wat te lezen, mooie mannen te bekijken en mij te verwonderen over de snel lopende joggers. Om half zeven kreeg ik een sms van T. dat hij klaar stond om naar huis te vertrekken. Rond zeven uur wandelde ik naar T. zijn appartement om er niemand aan te treffen. Meer dan een uur heb ik buiten zitten wachten tot T. thuiskwam. Meneer werd meer dan een uur opgehouden door de ambassadeur van Venezuela. Pfff, ik begon zowaar al te denken dat er iets gebeurd was. Dat die Venezolaanse snoodaard mij ooit maar eens een postkaart uit Venezuela bezorgt om het goed te maken. Tsss...

Dag 4 - Woensdag 3 September

Zoals voorspeld was het mooie weer voorbij. In de voormiddag bleef het gelukkig nog droog en begaf ik mij naar het platform van de kathedraal om er van het uitzicht op Straatsburg te genieten. Ik wandelde nog wat door de straten van het historisch centrum en ik bezocht het Musée des Beaux-Arts in het Palais Rohan. Het ligt misschien aan mij maar ik raak dus altijd verdwaald in musea hé. Al die verschillende zalen vol met dezelfde (alé ja, zo ongeveer toch) schilderijen, het is precies een doolhof. En zo toezicht houden in zo één van die zalen, dat is nu toch wel de saaiste job die er bestaat!? Neen, eigenlijk ben ik niet echt een museummens. Na de middag begon het te regenen en wist ik niet goed meer wat gedaan. Ik wandelde nog wat doelloos rond om uiteindelijk om half vier te besluiten dat ik naar de film zou gaan. T. had immers de sleutel bij en ik kon dus niet naar huis. Ik begaf mij naar Le Star om een film uit te kiezen. Er was niet zo heel veel keus en ik wou een ondertitelde film bekijken omdat ik schrik had dat ik de Frans gesproken films niet goed zou verstaan. Uiteindelijk bleven er nog twee films over: het Frans-Ijslandse Back Soon en Happy-Go-Lucky. Net als tien andere mensen koos ik voor Back Soon en ik beklaagde mij dat niet. Toen ik om half zes terug buiten was, kreeg ik net een sms van T. dat hij onderweg was naar huis. We hadden afgesproken om die avond te gaan eten, maar omdat mijn schoenen kletsnat waren, had ik daar niet zoveel zin in en zijn we maar thuis gebleven. We ploften ons in de zetel en met een half oog (bij wijze van spreken, hé) bekeken we de film Mein Mann, der Trinker. Hehe. Tja, veel keus hadden we niet, er is nog geen kabeltelevisie. ;)

Dag 5 - Donderdag 4 September

Toen ik wakker werd regende het en ik besloot dan maar om thuis te blijven tot ik naar het station zou vertrekken. Ik nam afscheid van T. en wist de traantjes nog even uit te stellen tot hij weg was. Daarna heb ik nog wat gelezen, gestofzuigd en nog andere nuttige en minder nuttige dingen gedaan. Om kwart voor twee verliet ik het appartement en begaf ik mij naar de tram om uiteindelijk slechts vier minuten voor het vertrek van de trein in het station aan te komen. Ahum. Een dikke zes uur later kwam ik aan in het station van Deinze alwaar de papa mij reeds stond op te wachten. Mijn trip zat erop. Het was bijzonder fijn en voor herhaling vatbaar. ;)

NP: Udo Lindenberg - Horizont
(Dit mooie nummer speelde toen ik bij mijn vertrek de radio uitdeed. Ik onthield een stukje van de tekst, zocht het deze morgen op en bombardeerde het tot mijn Straatsburglied.)

Ons verblijf
Om onze lange reis af te sluiten kozen we voor een goed gelegen, proper hotel. Allez, goed gelegen?! Eigenlijk is er zowat alles goed gelegen van zodra er een metrostation in de buurt is. Alles is vrij makkelijk te bereiken. Je kan een '7 dagen pas' kopen voor niet al teveel geld.
Ons hotel lag echt wel geweldig, aan Broadway en West 63th St. Recht tegenover 'Barnes and Noble'. 1 blok van Central Park. Schuin tegenover Lincoln Center. Winkeltjes, diners, resto's, broodjesbars, ATM, ea op enkele meters. Ook de metro was maar de straat over en de trappen af, op 3 stops van Times Square. Mijn evaluatie van het hotel vind je op tripadvisor.

Wat gedaan?
Ik was helemaal OP na Florida. Die pretparken zuigen echt wel alle energie uit uw lijf. Constant wandelen van 't één naar 't ander. Veel input en weinig tijd om te rusten. NY zou net hetzelfde worden.
Onze dagen zagen er een beetje zo uit: 10u wakker, 11u de deur uit, 12u ergens aan't eten, namiddag iets aan doen, rond 6u nog steeds iets aan 't doen, na 21u uitgehongerd op zoek naar eten, tegen middernacht halfdood aan 't knorren.
We hebben vanalles NIET gezien. De hele lijst bespaar ik u (en mezelf). Maar we hebben ook vanalles WEL gezien: Rockefeller Center (daar waar in de winter de reuze kerstboom staat die je vaak in films ziet), MoMa (6 verdiepen met een ongelooflijke collectie .. hier kan je gerust dagen ronddolen, prachtig gebouw), Times Square (overdag en 's nachts), Grand Central Station, Central Park (Imagine), MET (met een tijdelijke tentoonstelling van kostuums van Superheroes, ook William Turner voor de schilderkunst en fotografie van de Fotografie met heel wat bekend werk), ea.
Een bezoek aan NY kan niet zonder een musical mee te pikken. Wij kozen voor Marry Poppins.
Natuurlijk huppelden we door verschillende winkelbuurten zoals aan 5th met oa The Nike Store (mega!), Apple winkel, Victoria's Secret, FAQ Schwartz .. Macy's, Gap, Gap, Gap (bijna zoveel Gaps als er Starbucks zijn), .. Virgin Mega Store, ToysRUs, M&M's Store, BestBuy, Brookstone, .. het lijstje is eindeloos.
Van de restaurants in NY is vooral de 'Burger Joint' me bijgebleven. Ook 'Rosa Mexicano' en 'Ellen's Stardust Diner' vond ik goed, maar 'Burger Joint' is echt een goede tip van de lonely planet (een geweldig drukke hamburgertent verstopt achter een gordijn in een poepsjiek hotel).

FAQ
Meest bijgebleven plek?
Times Square met de lichtreclame ... de drukte daar (die is met niets te vergelijken).

Meest bijgebleven moment?
Mss in de metro ... waar er tijdens elke metrorit wel een bedelaar passeert met de boodschap van God, of een schokkend verhaal waar niemand nog van opkijkt.

Leukste winkel die je bij ons niet vindt?
Victoria's Secret in de buurt van 5th (niet de allergrootste want daar is het pokkedruk) of de grote Nike Store.

Hoeveel dagen heb je nodig voor een citytrip NY?
Het hangt erg af van wat je precies wilt zien en doen. Kies op voorhand enkele dingen die je zeker niet wilt missen en neem naast de typisch toeritische dingen toch ook ff de tijd om gewoon een beetje rond te lummelen. Ik vond 6 nachten wel ok (na 23 dagen van huis, verlangde ik wel naar mijn eigen bedje) maar het is lang niet genoeg. Ik moet bekennen dat NY wel geen plek is waar ik een vakantie van 14 dagen zou kunnen doorbrengen.

Na onze vier dagen in Boedapest namen we de trein naar Siofok. Onze hostel was gelukkig vlakbij het station, dus we waren snel daar. Ik ging toen even ontbijt kopen in de spar, nadien moesten we nog een kaartje kopen en de trein nemen. Dat was wel een kleine misrekening want er stonden gigantische rijen aan de kassa's. Na een kwartier kwam Ellen pas terug met de kaartjes, toen hadden we nog 5 minuten om naar de trein te gaan. Het station was echter nogal vreemd opgebouwd. Je had een grote hal met 6 perrons, en dan links en rechts daarvan kon je uit de hal wandelen en naar de andere perrons wandelen, in totaal waren het er een stuk of 20. Wij moesten natuurlijk bij een van de meest verre perrons zijn maar we waren nog op tijd voor de trein. Die trein zat bijna volledig vol maar uiteindelijk vonden we toch twee plaatsen. Ik at rustig mijn ontbijt op en ging verder met lezen in mijn boek over "De levens van een atoom" van Lawrence M. Krauss.

Even later kwam de conducteur langs. We merkten onmiddellijk dat alle toeristen een extra toeslag moesten betalen. Dat vonden wij zeer vreemd. Iedereen die geen hongaars sprak in onze wagon moest 'reservation' betalen. Even later kwam ze ook bij ons, en ook aan ons vroeg ze om bij te betalen voor de reservatie. Blijkbaar moet dat in Hongarije op alle intercity-treinen. Best wel vervelend dat ze zoiets niet zeggen als je een kaartje  koopt. Maar dat was nog niet het ergste, blijkbaar hadden ze Ellen een kaartje voor 1 persoon gegeven, de tekst waarvan wij dachten dat er "2 personen" stond bleek later "2e klasse" te zijn :-) De treinreis waarvan we eerst dachtten dat die 1700 forint zou kosten heeft uiteindelijk zo'n 7000 forint gekost.

In Siofok was het stralend weer. De toeristische dienst was in een prachtige watertoren gevestigd:

In het hotel aangekomen sprak men daar tot onze verbazing bijna geen woord Engels maar alleen Duits of Hongaars. Gelukkig lijkt Nederlands genoeg op Duits om je daarin verstaanbaar te maken. We kregen een kamer op het gelijkvloers met een balkonnetje dat op 1 meter boven de grond hing :-)

Nadat we onze bagage hadden weggelegd gingen we naar het Balatonmeer.

's Avonds gingen we terug naar het hotel om te eten. We hadden half pension, het was geen buffet maar een menu om uit te kiezen. Dat menu was zoals bijna alles aan het balatonmeer in het Duits en Hongaars :-) Sommige Duitse woorden hebben we vertaald door het Hongaarse woord op te zoeken in ons reiswoordenboek. Het eten was redelijk lekker, de goulashsoep en de gepaneerde kipvariëteiten waren heerlijk. Het dessert was meestal niet lekker. Het spijtige aan dat menu was dat er zo weinig keuze was. Het voordeel van een buffet is ook dat je kan kiezen wat je neemt. Als Ellen en ik een buffet hebben, nemen we altijd heel veel groenten en proberen we ook verschillende gerechten tegelijk.

De tweede dag gingen we ook aan het strand liggen, we hebben toen een heerlijke pizza gegeten in een kleine snackbar aan het strand. Je moest daar bestellen aan de kassa en nadien kreeg je een houten kubus met je nummer mee en werd je eten nadien gebracht. Best wel een leuk systeem.

Ik was op dat moment zeer benieuwd naar nieuws uit België, toen we vertrokken leek het er immers op dat ons land misschien niet meer zou bestaan als we terug zouden gaan. 's Avonds vonden we een winkeltje waar ze heel wat buitenlandse kranten hadden. Spijtig genoeg geen Belgische krant. De winkelier was een onvoorstelbare goede commercant die van alle kranten die hij verkocht wist in welke taal, van welk land/regio ze waren en dat ook in die taal kon zeggen. Hij kon de prijs, bedankt, alsjeblieft, krant, de naam van de krant, en waarschijnlijk nog een paar dingen zeggen in minstens 6 talen. Niet slecht voor een krantenverkoper. Hij heeft ons dan de Volkskrant aangesmeerd, best een goede krant maar een beetje dun voor de drie euro die we ervoor betaalden. Daardoor werd ik dus min of meer op de hoogte gehouden van wat er in de Belgische politiek gebeurde.

De vierde dag was het wat slechter weer en gingen we met de boot op uitstap naar het schiereiland Tihany. Een pittoresk dorpje op een vulkanische heuvel die uitsteekt over het balatonmeer. Daar hebben we voor de eerste keer kennis gemaakt met kurtoskalacs. Een heerlijke koek die gebakken wordt terwijl hij rond een houten staaf zit. Je krijgt dus uiteindelijk een holle cilinder van deeg, daar wordt dan honing en suiker/kaneel/nootjes opgedaan. Heerlijk.

De dag nadien was het nog steeds slecht weer dus besloten we nog een dagtripje te doen naar BalatonFured. Als kind ben ik er een paar keer geweest maar nu herkende ik er weinig tot niets meer van. Alleen de camping kwam mij nog enigszins bekend voor. Het meest opmerkelijke aan BalatonFured waren de tientallen/honderden Zwanen op het balatonmeer.

Sommige kregen zelfs een soort nummerplaat rond hun nek.

In Augustus verblijf je een weekendje in een B&B accommodatie in Venetië voor 273 euro. Klik hier voor deze aanbieding. Je verblijft er van vrijdag tot zondag. Nog een dagje erbij is mogelijk, maar wel vrij duur, namelijk 120 euro. Verblijf is inclusief ontbijt en zonder extra kosten (wel vervoer).

Door het aanhoudende slechte weer in België twee weken geleden liet ik Ellen mij toch overtuigen om op reis te gaan. Ondanks weinig financiële ruimte en een thesis die af moet geraken voor tien augustus. Ik had pas op het laatste nippertje beslist, dus werd het nogal een last minute. De busreis en jeugdherberg in Boedapest hadden we rechtstreeks via internet geboekt. Voor het hotel aan het balatonmeer waren we naar jetair gegaan. Onze eerste keuze was niet bereikbaar tot de dag dat we zouden vertrekken. Spijtig genoeg zat dat hotel vol, maar op een paar uurtjes hadden we dan een ander hotel geboekt.

Nog even boodschappen doen en broodjes klaarmaken en we konden vertrekken naar Luik waar we de bus zouden nemen. Daar begon ons eerste avontuur. We hadden enkel een miniplannetje van eurolines bij. Spijtig genoeg stonden daar te weinig straten op om de opstapplaats te vinden. Bovendien hingen er maar weinig straatnaambordjes op in de buurt van het station. Dus vroegen we de weg aan een Afrikaanse jongeman die ons tegemoetkwam. Mijn frans was nog voldoende goed om de weg te vragen, maar het was blijkbaar een ingewikkelde weg om uit te leggen. Wat hij toen deed vind ik nog steeds fantastisch. Hij wandelde een halve kilometer met ons mee om te zeggen waar we moesten zijn. (In volstrekt de tegengestelde richting dat hij oorspronkelijk aan het wandelen was) Heerlijk die Luikse/Waalse/Afrikaanse gastvrijheid. De man aan het Eurolinesloket was zeer onvriendelijk aan het telefoneren dus dachten we dat we daar minder gastvrijheid mochten verwachten. Maar tegen ons was hij zeer vriendelijk, legde alles uit wat we moesten weten en vertelde dat onze kaartjes in de bus lagen en waar we moesten opstappen. Nadat we de eerste bus zagen stoppen aan de overkant van de straat besloten we om ook daar te gaan wachten op een muurtje. Dat was echter buiten de uitbater van de parkeergarage gerekend die er niet mee kon lachen dat die bus altijd voor zijn deur stopte. Terug met de valiezen en rugzakken naar de overkant van de straat dus.

De bus was iets te laat maar proper en er was veel plaats vrij. Ellen en ik hadden een hele rij voor ons alleen. Zolang het licht was heb ik wat gelezen en Ellen at haar broodjes op, die van mij waren natuurlijk al lang op voor we instapten :-) Onderweg stopten we een paar keer om te eten en plaspauzes te houden.

Eén wegrestaurant/wc-keten vond ik ontzettend cool. Je moest 50 cent betalen om naar de wc te gaan, daarvoor kreeg je ook zeer propere wc's. Maar het fantastisch coole aspect was dat je een bonnetje kreeg als je inkom betaalde. En met dat bonnetje kreeg je 50 cent korting in de winkel, het wegrestaurant of de aanwezige burgerking. Je krijgt dus propere wc's met controle dat ze proper blijven en het kost je niets. De winkels en restaurants zijn ook blij want er wordt meer geconsumeerd. Bovendien mocht je zelfs met je rekening teruggaan als je eerst iets had gekocht en nadien naar de wc ging, dan kreeg je gewoon 50 cent cash terug. Het waren toiletten van het bedrijf sanifair, zeker een aanrader als je in Duitsland bent.

Nadien was het slaaptijd. Maar dat viel niet mee in die bus. De zetels waren te hard en konden niet helemaal naar achter. Gelukkig hadden we een volledige rij vrij dus elk twee zitplaatsen. Spijtig genoeg heeft mij dat niet geholpen en ik heb geen oog dichtgedaan. Ondanks mijn humo-badlaken dat ik als dekentje/kussen gebruikte. Volgende keer misschien mijn humo-dekentje meenemen :-) Ellen had wel met tussenposen een beetje kunnen slapen. Mij lukte dat pas na 9u00 in de tweede bus waar ik een uurtje heb geslapen. Ik vraag mij af wat de beste positie is om te slapen. Ik heb zowat alles geprobeerd, behalve in het gangpad liggen. (rechtzitten, tegen het raam leunen, plat liggen op 2 zetels, tegen ellen liggen met de benen aan de andere kant, alleen liggen met de benen aan de andere kant, met/zonder muziek en/of dekentje enz...) Niets hielp, pas na meer dan 24 u wakker zijn kon ik wat slapen.

Gelukkig had ik voldoende boeken bij om de tijd te verdrijven. Bij aankomst in Boedapest had ik de eerste twee boeken uit. Leterme uitgedaagde en Lieven Scheire in zijn element: Fysica. Daarover later meer.

Es gibt viel zu sehen, und irgendwann ist immer das erste Mal. Unsere 72h-City-Tipps für Wien-Newcomer führen Sie an die schönsten Plätze der Altstadt, nach Schloss Schönbrunn, in den Prater, an den Donaustrand, ...

210 Ermäßigungen mit der Vorteilskarte um nur 18,50 Euro. Erhältlich in Hotels und der Touristeninformation am Albertinaplatz, bei Verkaufs- bzw. Informationsstellen der Wiener Linien.
Freie Fahrt auf U-Bahn, Bus und Tram für 72 Stunden.

Um 7,50 statt 9 Euro mit dem City Airport Train (Tickets beim Zugbegleiter) sowie um 5 Euro statt 6 Euro mit den Vienna Airport Lines vom Flughafen ins Zentrum und umgekehrt

210 Vorteile bei Museen und Sehenswürdigkeiten, Theatern und Konzerten, beim Einkaufen, in Cafés, Restaurants und beim Heurigen ...
Gültig am Ausstellungstag und drei folgenden Tagen

Eine Gebrauchsanweisung für die Wien-Karte finden Sie im 112seitigen Kuponheft, das jeder Käufer der Wien-Karte gratis erhält.

(Quelle: 31.07.2008, http://www.wien.info)

De routeplanner voor de wandelaar negeert onder meer eenrichtingsverkeer en tracht je de kortste en minst heuvelachtige route voor te schotelen.

De nieuwe dienst bevindt zich nog wel in een testfase. In stedelijke gebieden werkt de dienst volgens Google het beste. Het bedrijf erkent dat de database, waar de informatie voor de voetganger uit wordt gehaald, nog weinig data bevat over bijvoorbeeld trottoirs of speciale oversteekplaatsen maar hoopt dat in de toekomst te verbeteren. (bdr)

maps.google.com

Bron: De Morgen 24 juli 2008

Still, I started packing my bag, took a last shower and put on something comfortable to wear.
After a large breakfast I sadly missed a step and fell down the stairs! Ouch!!!
It felt a bit sore, but I managed, and went to fetch my travel case and paid my bill.
I left my travel case in the luggage room of the hotel, and went towards the last thing still on my "must see" list: the Picasso Museum.

There already was a long line of people waiting to enter the museum, but I noticed a little sign at the main entrance: "Groups / Barcelona Card / ARTicket", accompanied by an arrow.
So, since I had an ARTicket, I followed the arrows. Apparently there's 3 entrance gates: one for "normal" visitors, one for groups, and the last is exclusively for those holding a Barcelona Card or ARTicket. No people standing in line there at all! Lucky me!!!

Once inside, you're told to leave coats, bags and alike behind at the storage room at the back of the downstairs hall.
You can take any staircase in one of the 3 courtyards to start your tour around the museum.
There's a photography ban on the entire exhibition floor, both inside as outside it. So even if you want to take a picture of yourself on a balcony, a supervisor will prevent you from taking it.

The collection focuses on the life and artistic development of Picasso. Each room has it's own period: early works he made in his youth, commissioned works, landscapes, his blue and pink period, all the way to the cubic style we all know.
Besides that, there's also a hall showing his experiments with prints, ceramics and a section devoted to his Las Meninas-inspired paintings.

I wasn't really enjoying the museum with my sore ankle. There weren't many benches around, and I constantly was behind a group of German art students with sketchbooks and pencils who had already claimed the benches for themselves by the time I entered a room...

Out of all the works displayed here, I really enjoyed the ones showing his blue period and the prints section.
I skipped the souvenir shop, I wasn't in the mood for it. I sorta wish I had, because there was 1 print I really liked, and there's no picture of it on the web: "Faun y Rei" (I think it's called that... it's a print in brown and black, showing a faun and somebody wearing a crown).

While I was walking towards the Rambla to get back to my hotel, I was texting with Raul to check lunch arrangements. We initially would meet at 2.30 PM, but it now would be 1.30, so I now had less then 40 minutes to return to my hotel and fetch my travel case, go to the Plaça Catalunya station of Metro L7, and
meet with Raul!!! Eeek!
On my way, I passed the bar where Raul and I had started out Sunday evening, and since there was a rare moment without much people nearby, I quickly took a picture of it... as memento ;)
I arrived 2 minutes late at the Gracía metro Station, but Raul was just arriving himself as I arrived at the top of the stairs ;)

We had a nice lunch at Fonte De La Muller (Via Augusta nr° 59). I once again was surprised to see it was so inexpensive to eat here in Barcelona: € 19,00 for soup, main course, dessert with coffee and drinks for both Raul and myself! Here in BE, you'ld pay € 19 each for sure!

We kept chatting and laughing till the very last second. I didn't want to let go of that "goodbye-hug", but knew he had to return to work, and I had a plane to catch. So, I had to let go and went down the steps of the Metro station...

***sigh***

Those gates you need to pass when you enter and leave Metro stations aren't really made for people with travel cases, and it often was a struggle between all the different gates I had to pass on my way towards the Sants train station. I only just managed to catch my train: the doors were closing, but I quickly pushed the button to re-open them, and managed to get on quickly... seconds later, it departed towards Barcelona - El Prat de Llobregat Airport.

Half an hour later, I was crossing the pedestrian bridge over the carport again, and when I arrived at the terminal, the heath of the building hit me in the face like a hot wet towel. Soon enough, I felt the sweat on my forehead, and after the check-in, I went back outside, where at least I was welcomed by a soft breeze.

I didn't know how long it would take me to find my gate, but I was sure it would be a distant one, so I went back inside and searched my way towards the gates about an hour before boarding time. Good thinking: the security check had a loooong line with people waiting! That line alone took almost 15 minutes!
I was right about the whereabouts of my gate: it turned out to be one of the last in the B-Terminal of the airport.
As always, I try to go to the bathroom in the airport. I don't like the ones on the plane at all! When I found one on the way to my gate, I noticed it was even warmer in there compared to the already hot terminal building! I tried to make it quick, but by the time I had washed my hands a drop of sweat found it's way from my forehead to the tip of my nose, and dropped on the floor...

Boarding and everything went smoothly. I had the window seat, and as Clickair flight XG 1223 took off I hoped to catch a last look of the city. Sadly, that look only lasted about a second, after that I was looking at the water of the Mediterranean Sea...

During the flight I tried to not have a sad look on my face. Since my window seat was right in front of the wing, I had one of the engines as view. The name of the airline was painted on both sides, but the 1st letter was hidden under the wing, and, I can assure you, reading "lickair" for almost 2 hours will help keep you smiling ;)

When the plane had landed and docked at the gate at Brussels Airport, the light of the sun was pooring right into the building. I had checked, and had about 45 minutes to make my way from my gate at the A-Pier, go underneath the tarmac, fetch my travel case and take the elevator down to the train station.
Tight!
Very tight!
It was Barcelona all over again! My gate here was one of the last. Walking down the A-Pier here in Brussels takes a while, going under the tarmac takes a while too, and we all know that waiting for your luggage can take... well a while "at best".

I was still having trouble with my sore ankle, but managed to be in time to catch my train to Ghent. During the train ride I made a couple calls, and when I arrived back in Ghent... my eyes got a little teary...
I knew, without doubt, that when I would get out on the platform, for me, this vacation, the first I ever made all on my own, the one that had turned out to be one great experience after an other (ignoring me falling down the stairs in the morning and making a bad-shoe-choice on Sunday for a second), would be officially...
over...

Flickr photo set of Day 5
(note: Day 4 and Day 5 are grouped into 1 photoset, because I only made 2 pictures on Day 5)

Alles is uitgepakt en opgeruimd. Ik heb mij terug kunnen douchen in mijn eigen douche. Heerlijk toch een douche met een harde straal en thermostatische kraan :-)

Nu gaan we eten, vanmiddag misschien naar Kapermolen en vanavond frisbeeën en als we niet te moe zijn naar het muziekterras bij the century.

De komende dagen zal ik wat meer vertellen over onze reis naar Boedapest en Siófok. Onder andere het slapen in de bus, de diefstal van Ellen's portefeuille en de douanecontrole zullen aan bod komen. Foto's staan online op picasa.

Something I had planned to do early in the morning, was Park Güell.
Metro L3, which had become my main form of transportation, was good as empty, and within 10 minutes I was already exiting the Vallcarca station.
Raul had suggested this station to me, and not the one before it: Lesseps. Lesseps station in fact is suggested on several websites, tourist brochures and travel guides when you want to go to Park Güell, but afterwards, I was really happy Raul had made that suggestion!

Vallcarca station is close to a side-entrance of the Park. There are escalators taking you up the hill, but when I got there (around 8 AM) they weren't activated yet :(

I puffed as I did all those stairs "the normal way", but when I finally arrived at the small entrance to the Park, the route towards the monumental area goes downhill (YAY!).
The path is very curvy, and very nice! You have a great panorama over the city and the Park itself. Every now and then you can see a part of the park you see on pictures, you even pass one of the colonnades with helicoid columns!
When I finally reached the monumental entrance, I was thrilled! Besides a grey cat there wasn't a living creature in sight! I could have a seat on the bench behind the famous Gaudí Dragon, and enjoyed the silence of this usually busy area. I let my hand glide over the smooth surface of the (restored) dragon's head, and continued my way around the site.

The Hipostyle Hall (the Doric colonnade area underneath the square), has unique mosaics on it's ceiling. There's so many, and each one is different, it kept me wandering there for a while, before I took the stairs up to the actual square.
Once up on the square, the curvy bench was bathing completely in the early sunlight, with not a single person sitting on it! That soon changed as I placed myself in the centre of a curve, and chilled. It didn't take too long until some other early people were slowly arriving at the square.
I offered a young Japanese guy to take a picture of him and his dad, in order to ask to return the favour ;)

For the next hour, I explored the rest of Park Güell.

La Torre Rosa is one of the only house projects realised here, because the entire Park was originally a real estate project that flopped. Today it is the Casa-Museu Gaudí. It's only € 4 to enter it, but if you wanna know my opinion: it's not a necessary stop, bit of a "tourist trap" in fact. Inside you'll see a small recap of the life of Gaudí, with some of the original furniture that was inside the house, and a couple pictures, sketches and models of his projects. You'll have seen several before in Casa Milà, and will see others in the Sagrada Famíla.

Half an hour later, I had walked back towards the monumental area, and noticed it was time for me to say goodbye to this famed Park, as many tourists had now claimed the main entrance. I quickly purchased a nice postcard in one of the small fairytale buildings that functioned as souvenir shop, and strolled out of the main entrance gate.

Remember Raul advised me not to take the Lesseps station to go to Park Güell? Well, considering I now was leaving it, I figured I'ld found out what the difference between the 2 routes actually is.
You first walk downhill for a quite a while. When you've reached the bottom, you're on a busy main road. When you've walked down the road, crossed a square and a busy intersection, you've finally arrived at the Lesseps station of Metro L3.

So, here's a quick recap for all those planning to take the metro to go to Park Güell:

• Vallcarca station: "about" 600m to walk; short but steep hill to climb, which has escalators (when activated, I was there at 8 AM, and they were still off); arriving at side entrance to the Park; once inside it's downhill towards monumental area, passing a couple of features by Gaudí
• Lesseps station: "about" 1500m walk; constantly uphill (not steep near Lesseps station, but as you get closer to the park it becomes a pretty steep hill); arriving at main entrance to the Park; still have to go uphill in the Park itself

Both routes go uphill, and have sign posts showing direction and distance to the park.
Personally, I'm very grateful Raul had made the suggestion to get off at Vallcarca! It is a different way to "meet" the park, but I think it is a better way!

I returned to the old part of Barcelona. The McDonalds at the Rambla was a very tempting place to have lunch, since it wasn't noon yet, so not very crowded. All I can do is quote the 2 American girls that were in front of me: bad experience! I understood enough of what the different dishes had to offer, so tried to order in Spanish, and mentioned which drink I wanted with that. The girl however had to call in help to help me in English. After I finished eating, I had to go to the bathroom. Well... I was welcomed by completely wet floors there, and the cubicles are the narrowest I'ld ever laid eyes upon!

The Picasso Museum was on my "must see" list, but turned out to be closed today due to the San Juan feast. With not much else planned, I decided to tour around this part of town.
I re-visited the Santa Maria del Mar church. There was a service going on, so quietly sneaked around. I sorta felt bad when I tried to take a picture, but still managed a nice one when I left the church.

Not too far from the Santa Maria del Mar was the Gothic Santa Església Catedral Basílica de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia (aka "La Seu") of Barcelona. I had visited it before, but that was a very quick visit. This time, I wanted to take my time for it.
The front was covered for restoration. The canvas had a picture of what was behind it (EU regulation), together with a call for help to the restoration fund.

Entrance is only € 5, not much if you ask me. What surprised me is that you can visit the roof now. Last time I was here, that wasn't possible. I must say that taking a picture of the centre tower is not easy: it was just too big for my camera to capture! Solution: photograph it at an angle, that way you can pature a bit of everything.
Another difference from my last visit was the crypt: it was lit all the time (used to be coin-operated). Taking a picture of that was much easier now compared to before (the picture I had taken of it in 2002 sucked!).

The courtyard and secluded garden still were as tranquil and pretty as I remembered it, and this time I had to take a picture of a small fountain I didn't manage to photograph before. The perspective from the small horseman behind the big Gothic arches had been a sight I remembered for all those years, and now I can look at it as much as I wanna!

When I had completely finished the tour around the Cathedral, I was in the mood for something else.
Another item on my "perhaps" list, and a recommendation by Raul, was the Palau de la Música Catalana. It's about 10 minutes walking from the Cathedral, so easy to do by foot.

The first thing you hear after getting your ticket for the guided tour (€ 10 for a 50 minute tour): no photography allowed inside the building. When you hear this, you're of course a bit sad, but the reason is simple: the Orfeó Català, who ordered this building in 1905, still owns this building, and all the rights to it.

Naturally, you respect their property, cuz it's a rare occasion that a building like the Palau is still owned by those who ordered it's construction in the early 1900's, and I understood they like to protect it in all possible ways they can (I would be the same, as I'm sure would anybody be).

The Palau was built in a time many changes were happening in Barcelona. Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect, was hoping that when the building he designed was completed, a house block right in front of the main entrance would be demolished, and a nice public square could do justice to the very ornate facades he designed. Sadly, that never happened, and today both colourful facades are situated in narrow streets.

Despite that, the inside of the Palau remains very bright. Natural light can enter from many directions all around the building.
The Foyer floor has a very airy open plan design, originally divided into small offices made out of frosted glass and wood. This is partially demonstrated by the partition walls at the back, and at the bar in the centre of this room.
When the tour starts, you're taken into the Chamber Music Hall, behind the partition wall and which lies directly under the main stage. Usually used as rehearsal room (because of the same size of the stage in the concert hall) or for more intimate piano concerts, this is the place where you'll see a short movie about the history of the Palau.

The movie itself is shot in an impressionable way, it managed to briefly gave me goosebumps a couple times!
If you think the movie wasn't "all that impressive" as I think it was, wait till the guide takes you upstairs.
You first enter a nice size reception room, with a view to the mosaic tiled columns and walls on the terrace. Next, the guide will take you into the actual concert hall. Here's where you'll really have to hold your jaw to prevent it from dropping to the floor!

With every step you take, something new hits your visionary field.
The first thing you see is the back of the stage, where 18 women of different nationalities, each in their own dress and accompanied with their local musical instrument. The dresses are made out of mosaic tiles, but from the waist, the women protrude the wall, and surround the performers as muses.
Above the stage you're sure to be impressed by a well designed pipe organ.

A couple steps further into the hall and you'll notice the decorative arch "framing" the stage.
On the list is a bust of choir director Anselm Clavé, and around him the tree and some girls from Clavé's best known song: "The Flowers of May".
On the Right, the top is dominated by "The Valkyries", underneath them a double Doric column to symbolise classical art, and between those you have the bust of Beethoven, as a way to honour his classic compositions.
The choice of the classic masters on the right, and the (for that time) new and modern developed songs in music on the left, was made specifically: they are a way to show that both classic as modern music is welcomed at the Palau.
On either side of the top balcony, Pegasus is depicted, as representation of "the high-flying imagination".

And finally, when you're about halfway the hall and get out from under the 1st balcony, you'll see the skylight.
It's without question the jewel of this hall. Flanked by ladies, the centre of the skylight "drops" down, and resembles the sun.
Words can't really do it justice, you just have to see if for yourself!

As the guide demonstrated the renovated pipe-organ, all went silent and gazed around, most of all upwards to the skylight.
The decoration of the hall is of such beauty, it's hard to notice everything. Still, the high level of decoration isn't really dominating, because it's broken by large windows, allowing even more natural light to enter the hall.

I reluctantly followed the guide to the upper balcony for some more decorative aspects that could be seen better there. I really wanted to stay down, where you could see the skylight properly in all it's glory.
When we returned downstairs, and got some more information about the front facade and it's unusual ticket boots inside the columns, I assumed the tour would come to an end soon.
I was right. I didn't follow the majority outside, but went to the bathroom behind the double staircase instead.

I wanted a drink here too. It wasn't very warm inside the Palau, but I hadn't had a drink in a couple hours. The bar in the Foyer room of the Palau had already tempted me with their small snacks placed on dishes. They were € 2,50 a piece, which I thought was enough, but I still made a selection of 4, and ordered a small coffee to go with them. They were good treats! Well worth their price!
The gift shop across the new square on a modernised side of the Palau wasn't too impressing, but I did get a nice postcard there of the skylight.

Since the Picasso museum was on my "must see" list, I had to switch that with something else that was on that list and that I had planned for the next day: the Sagrada Família.
After a small detour towards a cash machine I knew would accept my card, I took the metro and got off 1 station before the Sagrada Família: Monumental.
It wasn't open, but I just wanted to see the Plaça dels Braus Monumental (the bull ring).
It's got a mix of Moorish and Byzantine design, with blue and white tiled domes on the 4 low towers. Personally, I'm not into bullfights, but often these bull rings somehow manage to interest me architecturally ;)
After trying to take a good picture of El Monumental I looked towards the towers of my next destination, just a couple blocks away.

The opening hours of the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família were on one of the many prints I had made as preparation for my trip. It was already after 5 PM, so time was starting to run out. I hasted myself back to the metro and a couple minutes later I payed the guy at the ticket booth € 8,00 to enter the site.
I had about 2,5 hours to visit everything, and read that both gift shops would close 15 minutes before closing time. Ignoring the Passion of Christ façade in front of me, keeping them for last, I just walked into the building.

As I had heard, the inside of the Sagrada Familià is in fact a very big construction site. It's still nice to see how they manage to execute every aspect Gaudí had designed.
Your eyes are drawn towards the sky, witnessing how the "forest of columns" is already starting to take shape.
The ceilings are designed in a very wierd way: holes are left open in the middle, where a ray-like pattern of reflecting tiles will guide the light inwards when the entire building is completed.
There's a small exhibit about the temple and Gaudí, but pretty quick you've reached the other side, and arrive on the terrace in front of the Nativity of Christ façade.

I looked around at the statues for a while, but kept an eye on my watch.
There's 2 elevators: one that will take you up on the Passion of Christ façade, and a 2nd that goes up on the Nativity of Christ façade. I knew using them was € 2,00 (not much at all) but I didn't know this was "for each" elevator! And I only brought € 10 in cash with me, so had to make a choice!
After asking at an information booth on the site, I decided to only use the elevator on the Nativity side.

There's a waiting line for both elevators, but the one for the Nativity side was considerably shorter compared to the elevator going up the towers on the Passion side.
You had to pay the elevator operator while going up, and once you've reached the top floor, there's only a narrow staircase in front of you.
You don't have to climb it much to reach the passage towards the 2nd tower, and soon enough you'll get to the bridge behind the cypress tree with the white doves, taking you towards the 3rd and 4th tower.

The view on this bridge is awesome! The wind is very strong here, and everybody wants to take a good look at the decorations on top of all the towers, without risking leaning over too far.
As you make your way down the 3rd or 4th tower, you pass a couple balconies where you can enjoy viewing different sides and aspects of the building.
At a certain point, you reach the "helix" stairwell. Everybody has seen a picture of that I'm sure, but when you're starting to actually go down, mixed feelings rise: there's the excitement that you are actually taking these stairs, but at the same time there's caution, because these stairs aren't totally safe. There's nothing but air in the middle. If you slip and fall towards the left, you'll fall down about a meter, and after that... well the only place you'll stop falling is when you've reached the bottom.
So, caution is in order here, and there's some sort of relief coming over you when you finally arrived at the iron door on the ground level.

The crypt has been converted into a museum. It's quite big, and I stayed a pretty long time down there. The main focus lies on the construction. Sketches, prints, scale models: you name it, it's all there!
I also spotted something down here I just had to try and get a copy of: a sketch by Josep Maria Subirach, showing the knights on the Passion of Christ façade, together with the chimneys of Casa Milà which inspired him for the knight's helmets.

The private crypt where Antoni Gaudí is buried sadly was closed at the time I was there, but I really had to hurry up. It was nearing 7.30 PM, and the gift shops would soon close. I had spotted the one on the Nativity side was much smaller compared to the one on the Passion side, and figured my best chances on getting a replica of that sketch by Subirach would be in the big one.
I only just managed to enter the souvenir shop in time, as a minute later a guy went to close one of the 2 entrance doors. I felt the shop keeper's eyes on my back but managed to find what I was looking for quickly, and more!
I left with 3 posters: the sketch of the knight with the chimneys of Casa Milà, another sketch of a knight riding a horse, and a print of the completed Temple, showing the Passion façade.

Since it was a couple minutes before 8, I quickly visited the old school building for the sons of the workmen. It was not at all an ornate building, but architecturally it must have been very inspiring for those boys!

I took a rest in the park across the street after I took some pictures of the Passion façade, trying to figure out what I might still be able to do. The only thing that sprung to mind was to chill out somewhere.
There was no rush, so I tried to catch a metro heading back towards Plaça Catalunya. Once there, I strolled down the Rambla again, and explored some side streets.

After a while I ended up near the Santa Maria del Mar again, and searched a nice place to eat.
Bar Bubo (Caputxes nr° 6 and nr° 10) was a place I also had made a print of. It's not exactly a restaurant, and there's 2 of them in fact: one is a dessert shop, the other is a tapas bar. It wasn't "very expensive" compared to prices here in Belgium, and it sure tasted good! A very tasty, and very sweet finish to my day!

Not into doing anything else that evening, I slowly returned to my hotel, and went to bed, again completely spent after a great day :)

Flickr photo set of Day 4
(note: pictures of Day 5 are also included in this picture set)

Day 3... already halfway!

This day started slow, with me not managing to get out of bed at all!

I was in the breakfast room around 8 AM, which was more then an hour and a half after my alarm had gone off!
I ate fast, and packed up a couple cookies again, and by 8.30 I headed out towards what I knew would be one of the highlights of my trip: Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera.

I arrived there around opening time, and was really really lucky: there were only 3 people in front of me at the ticket window (which is on the right of the actual entrance).

Your first stop is the central court, it's really astonishing. The colors, the curves, the way the light is reflected in all the windows... You can sit down on a small bench, or just gaze upwards... I did both ;)

I knew I couldn't gaze very long, so dropped my bag at the depot, got an audio guide and took the elevator.
You arrive in the loft, the "attic" that was designed as a place to do laundry, and keep the heath out of the actual apartments.
I did the "full exhibition tour", pausing at each display cabinet and listen what the audio guide had to tell about what was shown.
It took me a bit over half an hour, but since the loft floor was good as empty, I really enjoyed it. Architecturally, this building is a real gem! After I finished the tour around the attic floor I enjoyed sitting down on a pouffe for a while, and observe it's repeating brick catenary arches.
As I went towards the stairs to go to the roof, I noticed the first (of many) groups stroll around the corner with their guide.
I told myself to step up my pace a bit more, or I'ld get stuck with a busload of noisy American teenagers all around me... Not that that's a bad thing, but... less crowd = more fun when it comes to touring a museum imho

The roof terrace... well... words aren't good at describing it. It's something you really have to see for yourself.
It was already after 10 AM, and the sunlight was reflected massively on the many tiles that are so typical as decoration for Gaudí.
I toured the entire roof 3 times! I couldn't get enough of the different perspectives and views you see when you slowly walk around. So I often paused and sat down on many places, trying to ignore the other people. It was becoming crowded on the roof after a while, many people also stalled their time here, not willing to go back downstairs, so they could "take in the beauty of the roof terrace" as much as possible, but I can't blame them, I was exactly the same!

After having taken some pictures (which took a while since I often had to wait for people to pass) I took one last look at the beautifully tiled water reservoirs, the chimneys and air vents, and went down the stairs again.

The next stop on the route inside La Pedrera is The Apartment.
As with several architects in the first half of the 20th century, Gaudí designed a whole package: a building with matching interior decoration.
They did a really good renovation on this, and every now and then you'll spot something you wish still would be a feature in our modern day apartments.
Personally, I loved the bathrooms. There's bathtubs and sinks in a style you can't find anywhere these days, perhaps in specialised shops, but you'll spend a small fortune on one of these. I'ld love to have one of those sinks, and one of those shower heads!
An other feature that made me pause for a more observant look were the wooden floors in the drawing/dining room. They're really something you just have to see! Craftsmanship like that is practically non-existant nowadays...

Right before you leave The Apartment, next to the small souvenir shop, you can go to the bathroom. I really recommend everybody to use it, because this is the only chance you'll get to actually use one of the original doorhandles designed by Gaudí!
All other places I've seen show replicas of these handles and knobs, together with a "please don't touch" sign.

The Main Floor of La Pedrera is converted into an exhibition centre.
It's included in the price, so after a short rest on that small bench in the courtyard I went up the grand staircase and visited the current Japanese prints exhibit, with works dating between the 18th- and 19th-century. It was a nice exhibit, focusing on several things: landscape drawings, portraits, young women from respectable families on excursion, erotic (and the occasional pure pornographic) prints ;)
Actually, this exhibit was pretty big, seeing as that I was there for almost an hour! But sadly my feet were starting to hurt again halfway, and there's only 2 benches where you can pause on that entire floor... I vote for at least a 3rd bench!

I felt a bit stuck after my extensive visit of La Pedrera. It was not yet 1 PM, so had plenty of time before I met up with Raul for lunch at 2.30 PM, but not enough to actually visit something.
All I could think of was to take a rest, to let my feet relax a bit so I'ld be able to do something later.
The Passeig de Gràcia has a very neat way to combine it's stylish lanterns with seating accommodations: the usual concrete or stone "feet" that hold heavy wrought iron lanterns, like the ones used on this avenue, are turned into benches here, decorated with the multicoloured decorative tiles you spot all over Barcelona.
Now there's an idea I wish more cities would use! They're pretty comfy, and the one across the street of Casa Milà is great for taking a last good look of the curvy facade of the building (and for taking a picture!).

Raul explained me how to go to the Gràcia area of Barcelona, where he worked.
Metro L7 is owned by a different public transport company then the metro lines I had used so far. The FGC area at Plaça Catalunya has a very different style in both design and decoration compared to the stations from the TMB company I had gotten used to.
At least you can use the entire transportation network with 1 single ticket in Barcelona, thanks to the fare-integrated system covering all major transportation types. Thank you ATM!!!

Lunch was good. Raul took me along to a small restaurant called Spezzie (Carrer de Régas nr° 35) behind the Gràcia metro station. He helped me pick something I'ld like, but after having a taste of the more spicy dish he had ordered, I sorta wished I had taken the same, it was good!
Still, I had a tasty 3 course meal, for a bargain price!
We chatted for as long as time would permit us, but much too soon to my liking we had to part.
Raul quickly showed me the direction towards I needed to walk to find an other house designed by Gaudí, and after a good, warm and tight hug-and-kiss, he rushed back to his office.

Casa Vicens (Carrer de les Carolines nr° 24) was the first important work of Gaudí.
It's a fun building, in a Moorish style: many coloured tiles, plenty of coned and cubic shaped details and a decorative wrought iron fence that can only impress those who see it (srsly, r.e.s.p.e.c.t to the guys who made it!).
The street it's located in isn't very wide, so taking pictures of the full house is nearly impossible.
So far, it was not open to the general public, because it remained an inhabited house.
I was quite surprised when I heard the house has been put for sale!
Anybody got € 30 000 000 aside for this UNESCO heritage classified home?
I hope that the person, or company, that can purchase this, will treat it with the same level of respect used at La Pedrera.

My hunger for architecture was still not over, so next on the list: Casa Batlló!
Raul had informed me how to get to the Fontana station of Metro L3, which is close to Casa Vicens, and is only 2 stops from the Passeig de Gràcia station, practically in front of Casa Batlló!

I was able to get my entrance ticket pretty fast, but so far this was the most expensive entrance fee yet: € 16,50! You do get an audioguide included in that price, and with the Barcelona Card you will get -20%.
The Bel-etage is the only apartment you're able to visit. It was the home of the Batlló family.
The other 4 floors have 2 apartments each, not open to the public.
There's a bigger focus on the interior design here compared to The Apartment at Casa Milà, since most of the rooms here aren't furnished. I didn't mind, I like design!
I for one loved the intense details hidden in many items: the painted pattern on the ceiling and some windows in the vestibule, the stained glass in the door frames, the shape of the ceiling in the living room... I could say more, but it's more fun if you go discover them yourself!

The spacious living room at the front of the house was an ocean of light, thanks to beautiful decorative window that almost completely makes up the front façade.

Funny detail (told to me by Raul) : Madame Batlló had complained to Gaudí about not having a single straight wall available to place her piano (she had the type you place against a wall, not a Grand piano).

The views into the stairwell from the house are very cool! It's nice to see how the light comes down from above, lighting the walls that are completely tiled in more intense blue as you go higher (dark blue tiles at the top, white tiles at the bottom, to reflect as much light as possible).

On the terrace at the back, there's some heavy wrought iron gates and fences. Just like the massive lanterns you have outside on the Passeig de Gràcia, these gates and fences were embedded in walls, decorated with multicoloured tiles.

There's a lift that can take you upstairs, but I took the stairwell. As you go up, watching the white tiled walls slowly turn into intense blue tiled walls, is a nice thing to witness.
Once upstairs, you've reached the loft, with laundry rooms and storage space for each apartment.
Besides washing and storage facilities, the loft also functioned as a temperature barricade, just like in Casa Milà: in summer, when temperatures rise intensely, the loft would become the hottest part of the house, not the top floor apartment (this actually is a feature still used in many modern house projects).

Another similarity between Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, are the catenary arches to support the roof.
Here, they're plastered white, and open! There's plates placed on top of each other at an angle, leaving a small gap open between each plate. Rain can't come in, but air and natural light can. The effect created by the intense sunlight sure is pretty!
Besides the laundry rooms and storage space, there's a larger room at both the front and the back of the house: the "Dragon's Belly" (a room resembling a chest cavity) and the "Fire Space" (a more contemporary space designed by Ingo Maurer).

At the end of the corridor, you can take a spiral staircase to the roof terrace.
Casa Batlló has smaller roof terrace compared to Casa Milà, and also is less decorated, but the items that are decorated, sure are beautiful!
The multicoloured roof at the front of the house, showing resemblance to a dragons pinnacle skin, is the biggest eye catcher here. There's literally hundreds if tiny mosaic tiles, and the chimney shaped like a three dimensional cross completes the surreal appearance of the rooftop.
There's a small room inside that roof, which used to be the place rain water was collected, to use for laundry. Today there's only a small fountain inside, that harkens back to the days of it's original function.
Aside from the "dragon roof", there's the chimneys. These too have curved lines, and are covered in multicoloured tiles.

I needed a rest. At the back of the roof, there's a small oval shaped gap, with a wrought iron grill behind it, and I just sat down there for a while, looking at the chimney in front of it, and how the sunlight played with the different angles of each mosaic tile.
I don't know how long I stayed there... long enough to have taken many pictures of several people in front of that chimney, and to have asked somebody to "return the favour" and take a picture of me.
After a while, I got up, descended the 2nd spiral staircase, and went to the elevator to go back down.
After a quick visit to the bathroom downstairs, I rounded up my visit by taking a last good look at the stairwell and the grand entrance hall, and headed out.

I wandered around a bit on the Passeig de Gràcia, enjoying the different architectural styles of the buildings, catching a bit of sun on my face, enjoying myself, looking at shop windows... in other words: I was strutting! And what the heck! If any place in Barcelona is good for strutting, it's the Passeig de Gràcia ;)

When I was sitting in the metro again, I wondered what I could do next. It was a bit before 8 PM, and not at all in the mood yet for dinner.
Something that was on my "perhaps" list, was Avinguda del Tibidabo. I thought it would be nice to see the stately homes that make up this avenue, and since I noticed earlier it was the final stop of Metro L7, I decided to finish off what was already an "architectural highlight"-day, with some more architecture ;)

Tibidabo Hill, which is dominated by the Torre de Collserola, appeared to be much longer then I anticipated.
The clouds were starting to cloak the sky around the Collserola Tower, a faint breeze was cooling off the city, and me with it, so I figured I'ld be able to climb the hill if I didn't rush myself...

The avenue is a must for those who like extravagant architecture. There's plenty of architectural eyecandy, on both the Avinguda del Tibidabo, and it's surrounding streets, but at one point I stopped and turned around. A full day of wandering around in houses, streets and metro corridors, and with the bad-shoe-choice I made the day before, my feet were heavily protesting with each step.
If I ever come back here, I'ld take the bus, or the Tramvia Blau.
Before returning to the metro station, I sat on a bench for a while near Casa Roviralta (aka "El Frare Blanc"), a well known mansion by Joan Rubió i Bellver, another modernist architect and assistant of Gaudí.

The metro took me back to Plaça d'Espanya, hoping to catch the Font Màgica in front of the MNAC this day. Sadly, they weren't on (it turns out that's only during the weekend) but there were lot's of children shooting fireworks for the San Juan feast held the next day.
After watching the fireworks for a while on one of the big pedestrian bridges near the Font Màgica, I grabbed a snack in one of the many little restaurants, returned to the hotel, had a quick refreshing beer at the bar, and finally went to bed... waisted of a very full, but perfect day.

Flickr photo set of Day 3

Toen ik onlangs weer een jaartje ouder werd,  kwamen Papa en Mama Ruben en mijn wederhelft-in-wording op het lumineuze idee om me een espressotoestelletje cadeau te doen. Om mijn gezeur in de kiem te smoren allicht :-) De keuze viel op een bleekgroen apparaat met van die mini-padjes die je online kunt bijbestellen. En waarvan een mooie presentatiebox bestaat die je met de verschillende espresso-smaakjes kunt vullen, kwestie van je gasten hun kopje koffie in stijl aan te bieden.

En die ik na drie dagen al om zeep geholpen heb, doch dat geheel terzijde...

Breakfast was ok, nothing special, but with enough choice in the buffet. I sticked to yogurt with fruit mix, rolls with chorizo, cornflakes, cookies, a coffee with milk (took without milk the rest of my stay, coffee wasn't very strong) and orange juice (didn't take that on the other days, it's waaay too sweet).

The staff at the reception informed me that today museums would close early, and after checking which ones I really wanted to do, I decided to do the MNAC.
Since I passed by it the previous day, I took the Funicular de Montjuïc, strolled through the park again, helped another tourist to find the Fundació Joan Miró, and was at the ticket desk of the MNAC a bit after 10 AM.

The Palau Nacional that today houses the MNAC was originally built for the 1929 Worlds Fair, and the monumentality of the palace sure manages to give an impression you're not gonna forget.
The museum demands that you leave any bags and alike at the lockers or cloak room (lockers work with money, which you get back, cloak room is free) and if you desire to take pictures, you do it without flash... tricky for taking pictures.
But you do get a free audio guide!

For some reason, I had decided to wear slippers that day (aka flip-flops, but "nice" leather ones, not the rubber ones who can give men testicle cancer). At first I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but after a while I found out it was a very bad idea.
I did the museum slowly, taking my time to observe the art, and a bit after 12.30 PM I had finished the entire upper floor: Renaissance, Modernism and also a couple smaller "departments" for Drawings and Prints, Coinage and the very inspiring room devoted to Photography.
I was worn out after all this because of those slippers, they just weren't suited for the smooth marble floors of the MNAC. I was very grateful to find comfy sofa's in the big Dome Room (the hall underneath the center dome of the palace, first floor, all exhibition halls are positioned around it, also available for rent) and I "unceremoniously dropped myself" in one of those sofa's for half an hour.

I went to visit the exhibition halls on the main floor when my feet recuperated a bit. I had kept those halls to visit last, because they were displaying artworks from the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque period, which, despite their importance in the European History of Art, don't interest me as much compared to what was shown in the exhibit halls upstairs. I did like the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque architectural pieces shown in those halls though.
I had to force myself to speed up my pace, because the museum would close soon, and my slippers were starting to kill my feet pretty fast, despite the half hour rest upstairs...

Somehow I managed to finish everything on the main floor within 1.30 hours, leaving enough time to spare for a bathroom break and a rest on a bench in the Oval Hall, located at back of the palace.
My feet kept protesting with every step, so not even that second rest in the Oval Hall was sufficient, and after leaving the MNAC I took some more rest on one of the many shaded benches surrounding Montjuïc.
It was a relief for my feet! I stayed on that bench for almost an hour, taking the time to put on some more sunblock, write some postcards and take a snack (cookies and yogurt I took along from the breakfast room that morning).

With my feet feeling much better, and after a small detour to take a picture of a nice statue I saw earlier on my way towards the MNAC, I went towards Plaça Espanya, to take metro L3 heading towards Plaça Catalunya.
I didn't do much there, just walked down La Rambla a bit, and walked into an ice cream shop called Maximum (La Rambla nr. 77, across the Liceu). Many flavours were shouting out to me, all coming in their own colour, promising refreshing my body, and I really felt like one, so started my order. Sadly for my wallet: I didn't notice the price system right away.
Apparently, unlike any place I'ld been to so far, small cones had small balls of ice cream, listed at around € 1 per ball, middle sizes cones had middle sized balls at around € 2 per ball, and the large cone... well I'm sure you can guess how I ended up paying almost € 9 for the ice cream I ordered.
It was very tasty though!

There wasn't much time left before Raul and me arranged to meet, so I just hung out a bit on the fountain of Plaça Reial, and then took the metro to Drassanes. I was right on time, but he was already there :)
Happy reunion! Hugs and kisses! YAY!

We went to a pub first (Bar Shilling, Carrer Ferran nr. 23), both of us needed a drink. It was the type of pub I liked going to: diffused lights, deep colors, bit rustic but still classy... (I took Raul to a similar style pub -Patrick Foleys- in Ghent before, though Shilling is more classy then Patrick Foleys)
We didn't need long to finish our drinks ;)

He played guide after that, showing me some interesting places in the old part of town, called El Born, telling lots of history with it, of course I was listening with an eager ear...
He really knows what interests me :)

When we reached the edge of the El Born area, he suggested going to the beach, but warned me it might be crowded since it was Sunday and the weather was fabulous. I didn't mind, but when we took the metro and arrived at Port Olímpic, the entire metro station of Vila Olímpica was crowded, with waiting lines to get into the metro! Raul explained this was normal, since it was the metro station to go, or leave from the beach.
But I wasn't complaining with the sight of all those cute Spanish guys wearing just their swim shorts ;)
(geez I'm terrible, aint I?)

We hung out for a while there, chatting, laughing, sharing ideas and opinions, looking at what was happening on the beach...
One of the places I had researched in advance were nice and inexpensive restaurants, and one of those was not too far from where we were. We started to walk towards it, but Raul (who is a bit bigger then me) could see from a distance that particular place wasn't open. Still, there were enough similar places open, and we sat down on the terrace of one of them.
At this point, my slippers started to really annoy the crap out of me, and after our mussels and fried fishies, we went to my hotel so I could put on shoes. I had to, when we were walking to the bus stop that would take us to my hotel I simply took off my slippers and walked bare, it was getting too painful.
(the next day I had a small blister on one of my toes where the leather strap had been, ouch!)

Sangria! I wanted some, so we went to a place that was between my hotel and the Plaça Espanya, since I wanted to see the Font Màgica, which is between the MNAC and Plaça Espanya.
We chilled for a while, and were happy the Spanish football (soccer) team managed to win the quarter final against Italy!
(all around us car horns were going off, everybody was happy Spain won from Italy, a rare event. Spain would win the European Championship exactly a week after that)

Sadly, the show at the Font Màgica was almost over when we arrived there, but it didn't bother me much since I was so happy to have spent several hours with Raul *hugz*

End of day 2, went to bed around 0.40 AM, completely wasted from a fabulous day!
Flickr photo set for Day 2

So, on to the airport, checked in, blahblahblah (you all know what happens in an airport right?) and boarded on Clickair flight XG 1248, taking off on time at 9.45 AM.

Thanks to the plane being good as empty, I managed to have some rest (thank god!) and was thrilled when the cabin crew announced that we were approaching the city and had started descending. I could see the city the last 5 minutes of the descend, and believe me, seeing it put a grin on my face :D

Soon as I stepped out of the double glass doors of the gate, I found myself in a pretty big and hot building. Temperature announced on the plane was 26°C... and it wasn't even noon yet, so the hottest part of the day would still come!

Barcelona International Airport - El Prat de Llobregat (BCN) is a very long building, and it was pretty easy to find the baggage claim area, getting there took a while ;).

End of Day 1
Flickr photo set of Day 1

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="Statue on the steps in front of the MNAC - Barcelona - Spain"][/caption]

I know that "everything has a beginning [and] everything comes to an end", but I didn't want it to end.

On my last day, Raul asked me how my entire trip was, how I experienced the city. Well at the time I gave him a reply after doing a quick reflectiong of those 5 days, but as I arrived at the airport, and checked in, went to the departure terminal towards my gate... well I sorta had too much time on my hands and started reflecting again on how my trip was.
The more time passed by, waiting to enter those 2 glass doors towards the plane, the more I realised I wanted to make a U-turn and take the train back to the city.

You could say that Barcelona "got into my pores". It's a place where I'ld love to experience a nice chapter in the book that is my life.
I think the "getting in my pores" was possible by me being there for 5 days, instead of the usual 2,5 days most people have when they go there with choosing a trip out of a travel magazine by the major tour operators.
After all, in 5 days you sure can "absorb" much more of the atmosphere of a city, and I've been to places, but untill now, no city has ever made me "miss" it... Well maybe Istanbul, which also got to me, but I don't think I'ld wanna "get a chapter" in the book that is my life there...

Anyway, I'll focus on getting the pics up on Flickr asap, perhaps in "as shot" version and "slightly retouched" version, and will probably write down a day-to-day journal-style post here on my blog.
So keep checking!

From Sat. June 21st till Wed. June 25th I'm in Barcelona, getting drunk and perhaps a tan for a couple days.
I'll grab hold of Raul as much as I can, so ya might see him a bit less too =P

I'll leave a day early (Friday June 20th) to my dads place cuz they live closer to the airport and will drop me off. So wish me a fun trip, and wave baaaai!

Now where did I put ma shades?

image from http://www.luchtzak.be

Laat ik het eens even hebben over dit specifieke eilandje zelve. Piepklein, woeste maar wondermooie natuur en beukende golven. Een eeuwenoude refuge van monniken en schrijvers die de eenzaamheid opzochten. Een landschap van ontelbare kalkstenen muurtjes die de landbouwperceeltjes begrenzen. Kalksteen bij de vleet, gedurende tienduizenden jaren aangevoerd door de Oceaan. Buiten wat amechtig gras en lieflijke lentebloempjes is er geen vegetatie te bespeuren. Tenzij je de kromme door wind geslagen knoesten en schrale struiken meetelt. Dit eiland maakt deel uit van de Gaeltacht, de regio waar het Gaellic of Iers de hoofdtaal is.

Eerst dacht ik dat de plaatselijke bevolking – wederom – een stuk in de kraag had, maar deze taal klinkt hetzelfde of ze nu nuchter of dronken gesproken wordt. Een aardig volkje, die 200-tal Inishmaaners. Officiëel leven ze van landvangst en visbouw, maar in realiteit is het hele dagen hier en daar “foefelen”, en brengen ze vooral veel tijd door in de enige pub van het eiland, waar ze er hun subsidies en werklozenste