Barcelona

As a Christmas present, my sister and brother-in-law very nicely got me plane tickets for Barcelona. Spain is a country I often thought about visiting, but never had the chance previously. So this week, I brushed off my long-forgotten high school Spanish, and went for a short visit. Hm. Wait, the official language of Barcelona isn't Spanish?? 

Barcelona is located within the Catalonia region of Spain, thus the language most commonly spoken there is Catalan. As a matter of fact, the people of Barcelona really consider themselves Catalonians rather than Spanish, and there is a fierce pride in their heritage. So I googled a few Catalan phrases, and off I went!

I stayed in a small room in Barcelona city center, near their Arc de Triomf. Public transportation was extremely convenient, and a fanatastic deal with their 10-trip card costing less than 10 euro. 

Barcelona's Arc de Triomf. With its brown-red color, it looks more festive than the
one in Paris! I think it's quite smaller in size though.

A beautiful fountain inside Parc de Ciutadella, located just across the street from the Arc. This fountain was
designed by Antonio Gaudí.

Italian and French art and architecture may be world renowned, but their Spanish counterparts aren't any slouches either. The most famous in Barcelona has got to be Antoni Gaudí. Many of his distinctive buildings are dotted throughout the city, culminating in the stunning Sagrada Familia. I ended up spending a lot of my time viewing his work.

The Sagrada Familia. It is still an unfinished work! 

A zoomed out view of the Sagrada Familia. The sheer size is breathtaking, and is
unfortunately not something that can be captured in pictures.

The back (front?) of the Sagrada Familia.

I enjoyed seeing Gaudí's work, mostly because a lot of it seemed so organic in nature, with its wavy lines. His ironwork and use of stained glass was also beautiful, reminding me of undersea lairs.

Casa Milà, or more commonly known as La Pedrera.

Casa Batló. This definitely looks like an evil seawitch castle, no? 

I ended up taking a tour of one of homes that Gaudí designed: Palau Güell (seriously, all the accents and diaeresis are making this entry tough to write!). Located in the Gothic Quarter, this lavish home was rather subdued from the outside. Large parabolic gates signaled the entrance, so armed with an audio guide, I stepped into wonderland.

Palau Güell looks pretty normal from the outside, none of the flowing lines and
dramatic ironwork like the other buildings pictured above.

A view of the parabolic iron gates from the inside. A unique feature of this gate is that
the twists in the center make it possible to see outside, but when you're outside, you
can't see in! Quite the marvel for its time.

The basement. This was originally used as the stables of the house. Although it was a
basement, the space was quite airy, made possible by the arched ceilings.

The main room in Palau Güell. This was used as the main entertainment area, for both
religious and secular activities. The acoustics in the place was phenomenal; one of this
room's main purpose was as a music hall.

A view of the amazing ceiling. It is domed, and consists of hexagonal tiles that gradually
diminish in size. The various cutouts brought in light, day or night. There were also
many windows that opened out into the center room from above, all for different reasons.
The most interesting one I found was that the choir for music performances were housed
in one of these upper rooms. When the windows were open and they sang, the acoustics
made it seem like their voices were floating around the room from all directions.

One more picture of the main room. Beyond, you can see from the window, other
rooms in the house.

I don't know if I had magnificent, or terrible timing... I decided to visit Palau Güell on an overcast, drizzly day. I was warm inside out of the rain, but the terrace area on the roof was closed due to weather. It's supposed to be quite beautiful up there, so I was a little disappointed.

Luckily, I had nice weather for some of my visit, and I spent many of these hours roaming around what turned out to be my favorite area in the city. The Gothic Quarter is one of the older neighborhoods, and it is composed of tiny streets that wind back and forth in a veritable maze. In rain or shine, it seemed like a place out of time, especially when street musicians' songs would waft by. 

The Cathedral of Barcelona. With its Gothic architecture, this beautiful building fits in perfectly with the neighborhood.

Small pedestrian streets lined this neighborhood, which was understandably filled
with tourists. Even then, there was an unmistakable charm to the place.

A unique circular courtyard.

Another impossible tiny street.

The interior of the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. 

I found Barcelona a lovely place to visit. Unlike many cities I've been to, its streets are very wide and welcoming (outside of its older pedestrian neighborhoods), almost beckoning visitors to stroll on foot. An abundance of benches everywhere also offered relief when one got tired. A unique feature of its streets is that often there would be a wide, tree-lined 'island' in the middle of the road, and cars would traverse on both sides of it. The center would be left for bicyclists and walkers. 

A compelling mix of the old and new, Barcelona offers much for both its residents and visitors! 

Contentment

Compared to the harsh winters of New York, the month of March in Cannes is like a gentle lamb. Although not nearly as tropical as places like Miami or Hong Kong, it is nevertheless wonderful to take a stroll on a sunny day. It's sometimes these simple pleasures in life that brings out the most joy; the wind in my hair, beautiful scenery in front of me, listening to my favorite music. It is, perhaps, the essence of the words 知足.

Although Cannes' shore doesn't always feature sandy beaches, the water is still beautiful. This is a mere 3 minute
walk from my apartment!

Off-season in Cannes means lots of boats docked. Come summer, the area will be
filled with people taking these boats out for the day.

All lined up in a row.

After about 10 minutes of walking down a very narrow sidewalk between the sea and some perilous traffic, I reach
my destination: a deserted pier.

The pier leads straight out to the water, with no safety rails! It was calming to be

surrounded by the water, watching the seagulls fly by.

Sitting on the pier. It got a little chilly, but it was worth it!

Some young kids (maybe like 10 years old?) were taking sailing classes as I walked by. There they are, sailing away!
It looks really impressive, no? And they were having so much fun!

My journeys have really taken me to some breathtaking places.

Grenoble, France

Taking advantage of a free ride to a new city, I headed to the foothills of the Alps on a cool winter weekend. Grenoble is located north of Cannes, about a 4 hour drive away (due to either windy mountain roads, or a flatter circuitous route). And although the weather was uncooperative and rainy, the city was beautiful and utterly charming, exactly what you picture a French mountain town to be.

The cloudy, damp streets of Grenoble. A street tram
runs along the perimeter of the city center; you can see
the tracks here.

Since the weather was rainy, I had no choice but to pursue artistic endeavors and visited some museums. Luckily, there are quite a few to choose from, and I spent some time perusing portraits of dead French kings and saw an interesting exhibition about rural life in the Alps.

An old French King, Louis XIV

The Eglise Saint Louis, a pretty church located right in front of my hotel.

One of the highlights of Grenoble is the Bastille, a fortress located on a large hill overlooking the city. Unfortunately, the cable cars that service the ride from Grenoble city center to the top was out of service for winter maintenance, so my only option was to walk.

And... I didn't quite make it all the way up. I walked up a whole lot of stairs for about 20 minutes, and then decided to stop when I reached the Musée Dauphinois. The view was still very pretty, so it wasn't a total loss!

Those are snow-capped mountains waaaaay in the distance

The museum itself was quite interesting. In addition to a few exhibits, the building itself used to be a monastery in the 1600s. The original chapel is still on display, featuring an elaborate French Baroque ceiling.

Faaaaancy!

Grenoble is the perfect city to meander around in, with its beautiful architecture, modern conveniences, and lovely views!

Period of rest

After so much traveling this year, it has been nice to just sit back and be still for a past couple months. My days have been occupied with my new nephew, who seems to grow and do new things with each passing day. I have been lucky to have this respite in a warm, beautiful city, and in a very very nice apartment. So while things have been relatively quiet, I still have been enjoying my days.

I'm lucky enough to live really near the water. There isn't a real
'beach' in the American sense, but it's still really pretty.

I live about a half hour walk away from the central
shopping area.

The older buildings in town are impressively
picturesque.

More shoreline pictures. On nice days, there are often
surfers, kayakers, and kitesurfers out here.

A good place for fishing, or maybe some
contemplative strolling?

Day trips are fun! Short stop in Monaco

Tiny tiny Monaco. I had to look this up, but Monaco is the second smallest country in the world (the smallest is Vatican City). But surrounded by beautiful architecture, imposing cliffs and wide open waters, Monaco is absolutely stunning. 

After a quick stroll/drive around, my companions and I headed to our OTHER reason for being in this tiny city/state... there was a chocolate festival in town! 

Unfortunately, the chocolate show ended up being a little bit of a disappointment. I had previously been to the show in New York, and it was both larger and more extensive in its displays. Still... chocolate is chocolate, and we had fun browsing around (for like a half hour) and tasting samples.

Day trip to Marseilles

I was lucky enough to be able to tag along for a short day trip to Marseilles. I only got a couple hours to look around, but the pretty port views and stunning architecture really impressed me.

Gorgeous early fall day, on the water. It was relaxing to
stroll along the port

At the corner of the port, there's a museum that looks like a large fortress. I
was later told that a new wing with amazing architecture was located just
around the corner, but I missed it. Oh well!

I walked around the old Marseilles area, which is steep
and windy with lots of side streets. Good exercise, and
very pretty.

Where do all these side streets go?

Stairs. SO MANY STAIRS!

Even the random buildings look pretty here

One more picture of the port. So pretty!

Milano, not the cookie

After two days at the World Expo, it was time to explore a little of the city of Milan. I've never been to Milan before; I've always thought it to be a fashion-based city and not much else. But luckily, there were other things to see and marvel at during my stroll there.

I set out without much of an agenda, with only vague ideas of hitting up some of the most famous landmarks. The metro was convenient and easy to use; and at 4.50 euro for an unlimited 24 hour pass, also a great deal.

I was staying at an Airbnb located by the Loreto metro stop, which sat on an intersection of the M1 and M2 lines. It was perfect, as it allowed me to criss-cross the city with ease. I also had time to stop and eat a delicious (and not too unhealthy!) lunch.

Of course my first stop was to the famous Duomo church. It was large,
imposing, and very very impressive

Surprisingly, the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
was located just next to the Duomo. Wikipedia tells me
that it is one of the world's oldest shopping malls, and
you can find high end stores here, like Prada, Gucci, and
Versace.

The amazing architecture and glass roof makes it more appealing than the
items INSIDE the stores!

But don't forget to look down... the mosaic tiles are also
beautiful. I didn't take a whirl on the private parts of the
nearby bull in Turin's coat of arms, but it is said to bring
a person good luck.

The Navagli riverside. The area was a little lacking in
things to do (lots of restaurants though). Maybe it's
more bustling in the nighttime?

Cute subway art

Well, this definitely doesn't encourage me to enter!

I stopped by a local market, and LOOK AT ALL THE CHEEEEESE.

Of course, one of the best things about Italy is its food. While at the expo, I was able to try a classic Milanese style risotto. As with all well-made risotto, the rice was toothsome and separate. I could taste the earthiness of the Parmesan, and the citrus saffron sauce added a brightness to the dish.

Almost looks like a modern art piece instead of food, no?

I was also able to go to Joia for lunch, which is interestingly a Michelin starred vegetarian restaurant. It sounded like creative food, and I was enticed by the 20 euro lunch set. For that price, I received a plate with 5 different 'courses' or components. Each was beautifully done, with really complex flavors. I found that I didn't miss the meat at all; each dish had something texturally interesting, which more than made up for the lack of meat. Along with the plate, I also received bread (mmm, foccacia!), water, and coffee.

In the middle was a farro 'risotto'. It was creamy with
cheese, with crunchy kale. It was topped with a small
slice of dried apple, bringing a tantalizing sweetness. Then,
clockwise, from the bottom right: crispy potato pancake,
topped with cheese. The pancake was delightfully crunchy.
Spring rolls filled with veggies. Beet tartare, a visually
playful dish that was slightly spicy. And dessert was
a coconut bonbon with raspberry sauce, and a dark
chocolate ganache with cherry sauce.

I got this fruit from the Colombia pavilion at the expo.
It is called a granadilla, and it's a type of passion fruit.
The skin is thick and waxy, and the white pith is spongy
like a citrus. The inner seeds are edible; they taste
sweeter than a regular passion fruit.