Benvinguts a Barcelona!

vibrant! I'ts festivities everywhere here in Barcelona. This city really has too many to offer, thus 5 days won't be enough. 

We're glad that we cancelled our hotel in Passeig de Gracia and moved to a Hostel in Gotic area named Equity Point Gotic Hostel. We stayed in a 12 bed mixed dormitory room and shared the room with another 10 interesting people. The best part of this hostel is it's convenient location. Jaume metro only a few steps away, 15 minutes walk to Barcelonetta beach and lots of restos and bars nearby. The staffs are very nice and helpfull, the bathroom is very clean, though the room is too dark, poor wifi connection and breakfast aren't freshly served.

Anyway, we're really excited about this city that we've made endless list to visit. Above all, here I summerized what i love the most =)

Barri Gotic

known for its narrow alleyways and secluded squares, this area best represent the old town of the city. Busy and lively from dusk till dawn, Barri Gotic offers wonderfull architecture as well as rows of eclectic restos and bars. My favorite is Les Quintze Nits in Plaza Reial.

Mercat de la Boqueria

is a large public market in La Rambla and has beautiful selection of fresh fruits and veggies. My favorite spot are the juice stall and Pinotxo Bar, very small yet super busy bar with limited seating, which serves great tapas with affordable price. Try their chickpeas sauteed with botifarra, YUM!

Parc Guell

Situated on the hill of El Carmel in Gracia district, Parc Guell contains amazing stone structure, stunning tilings and fascinating buildings. My favorite is the terrace area at the top of the park, in which you can get a lovely view of the whole park and Barcelona city. Here you can find a wonderfull multi coloured tiled mozaic seat, very Gaudi-esque. To get here you can use the metro and stop in Lesseps, then take a 20 minutes uphilly walk - but trust me, this place worth that effort, or just simply take a cab and pay a bit more. Best visit in the afternoon when the sun ready to set.

Barri El Born
Fashionable. I would say that this is the trendiest part of Barcelona, a place for the youngsters, party goers and art lovers. Home for the famous Picasso, here you can also find Textile Museum, Parc Ciutadella, Palau de la Musica Catalana - the concert hall, and of course those eye catching local shoe shops, boutiques, restos and bars. My favorite spot? all of it! take a morning stroll in the park and watch the hippies play their bongos, or take a visit at night and hang out at their trendy bars with young and cool crowds. Too bad i left my camera at the hostel, below are a glimpse of Born taken with my camera phone.

Quimet Quimet

OMFG! i've had a tapas-o-gasm! this small and lively place serve unique and wicked combination of tapas. Salmon with truffled honey, tuna dotted with caviar and balsamic syrup, cheese with transparent fruit jelly or if you can make up you mind, ask the maestro behind the bar to serve their best then BAM! its a shoulder to shoulder standing room only here, so it's possible for you to mingle with other visitor whilst enjoy their exquisite wine. This bustling little bodega is located at C/Poeta Cabanyes 25, Poble Sec. Best visit before dinner.

Shopping Spree!
Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti and Desigual at the cheapest spread at every corner of the city! if you're a fan of those brands, then this is your moment baby. embrace it. oh wait, and they have 18% refundable VAT for tourist if you shop more than 90 euro.

La Rocca Village
Yes, another shopping spot. La Rocca village is an outlet for international premium brands situated 30 minutes outside the city. To get there, you can take a bus from Plc Catalunya which its ticket can be purchased through the tourist center. Here you can find branded items such as Furla, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Versace, Coach and more with discount up to 60%

Barcelonetta Beach

Well it's actually can't beat the beauty of Bali and Gili but, try to go here after rounds and rounds of late night drinks and do a bit of skinny dips hahaha! (-or just chillin down waiting for the sunrise after partying at Port Olympic)

Razzmatazz

There's party every night in Barcelona. Go to El Raval if you like it underground or to Port Olympic for more posh selections. We tried Shoko at Port Olympic. Nice drinks with older crowds. And then there's Razzmatazz at Calle Pamplona (metro: Marina), claimed to be the biggest club in town, it contains 5 different club spaces in one massive warehouse building. Covering everything from electro to pop, dubstep to disco, this club also offers some of the best line-ups for international big players. A must visit if you're a party goer.

Museum and Landmarks

Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo - all this Antonio Gaudi's creation are a must. You'll be mesmerized by the complexity of his artworks. All strangely beautiful, very well put (...standing ovation...). Then Camp Nou Stadium if you're a Barca junkies or simply just visit their cathedral. all very lovely.

Barcelona has officially become one of my favorite after Bali. 5 days really not enough. I definitely will be coming back real soon, staying a bit longer and will try living like a Barcelonian. 

Adeu Barcelona!

Let's Go Europe!

Finally a Euro trip!

Me and a long time close friend, Lila were off those crazy workloads and flew to Europe last October. We took nearly a month budget trip started with Barcelona then Madrid, Paris and ended in Rome. We were very lucky we got affordable return ticket by Lufthansa, it cost us only around USD 980 for Jakarta-Barcelona-Rome-Jakarta trip. For accomodation, we choose to stayed at the hostel, not only because it's cheap but also so we have the chance to meet other traveler around the world. It was awkward moment at first, as I really not comfortable to share my private spaces with strangers, but then I get used to it and turned out I liked it! Cost in total for the accomodations are USD 517.5 for 3 weeks of stay. We budgeted USD 1000 for daily meals and ground transports and another USD 1000 for shopping. Will give you a bit details on the budget later on this post.

It was incredibly fun trip for both me and Lila, though there's a bit drama in Barcelona. So on day 3 of our stay, after heavily late night drinks at some pub named Bollocks (no joke!), we went to the Barcelonetta beach with our roomates, to celebrate the 24th birthday of one of us. That's, at the chilly and windy 12 degrees 5am in the morning temprature of Barcelona, when Lila's purse got stolen, along with her wallets (it's almost everything in it from credit cards, driving license, ID card and some cashes), cellphones (I Phone and Blackberry) and last but not least, her passport (YES! PERFECT!). It wasn't only her that lost her thing, another friends of us lost his I Phone and her pocket camera. BUMMER! I was so lucky that I didn't lose anything but still, it was sad for my friends, especially for Lila.

And there we were, all 11 of us; 2 Indonesians, 2 Australians, 1 American, 5 British, and 1 Polish, spent the next morning at the police station, a bit high, wet, starving and freezing. We're such a silly and hoodoo tourists, so sad. What actually funny is, a bit later at noon came dozens of another tourists reporting the exact same thing. Lesson learned, pick pockets in Barcelona are mean, don't leave your belongings unattended. 

Oh well, it was devastating at the moment, but both me and Lila now could laugh hard of it. Really a funny story to tell.

To get her emergency passport, Lila need to took a train from Barcelona to Madrid, while I flew over. The process to get the emergency passport's done was less than 1 hour. The officer of Indonesian embassy in Madrid was very helpfull. I forgot her name, my bad, but terima kasih banyak! =)

I'll write my visit to each cities in 4 different posts, I hope you enjoy it.

Euro Trip Budget:

Flights:

Lufthansa Jakarta-Barcelona-Rome Jakarta: USD 980

Vuelling Barcelona-Madrid: USD 109.4

Easy Jet Madrid-Paris: USD 61.8

Easy Jet Paris-Rome: USD 94.3

Total Flight: USD: 1245.5

Accomodations:

Equity Point Gotic, Barcelona: USD 211.8 for two

Madrid Motion Hostel, Madrid: USD 74.5 for two

Prince Albert Opera, Paris: USD 300 for two

Young & Happy Hostel, Paris: USD 204.4 for two

Hotel Tizi, Rome: USD 243.75 for two

Total per person: USD 517.5

Meals, Ground Transports & Daily Expenses: USD 1000

Shopping: USD 1000

Hello Again Lombok & Gili

Never get enough of Lombok and Gili's beauty. Magical Pura's of Lombok, tasty and spicy Ayam Taliwang and Plecing Kangkung, extremely gorgeous tenun NTB, also the white sandy beach and clear blue ocean of Gili island. 

Heaven on earth!

Here's pictures from my photo bucket on my latest trip to Lombok and Gili...

Ayam Taliwang & Plecing Kangkung

Let's preserve our culture and start to learn how to make those pretty Tenun!

Tenun NTB

Tenun NTB

house of the local tribe

house of the local tribe

Our Villa in Lombok

Cidomo

the Pura

Offerings at the Pura

make a wish and throw your coin for a good luck.