barcelona - Travel With A Butterfly

I’ve already covered about Barcelona numerous times already, three times about its food in Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy, Getting Fat and Getting Smart in Barcelona, and What is Living Without Food? The Food in Barcelona. And then another post for Barcelona Architectural Design and More for things to do and visit. In fact, some of the stuff I will cover in this blog post is briefly mentioned in the Architectural Design blog post, such as the La Sagrada Familia and Picasso Museum. But stick around for more photos and more info about these tourist attractions, plus a couple of other cool things like visiting some of Gaudi’s works and Barcelona’s esteemed museums, something I didn’t get to do due to restriction of time from my other Barcelona visits.

And for those of you who have read my previous blog posts, you will know that I am particularly fond of Barcelona. The gradient skies of pink and blue, some surprising and impressive restaurants, and a modern and elegant feel of the environment, it’s one of those cities I love walking around. That said, this time I really got to get a sense of Barcelona as a city, since I came this time not for work but really as a tourist.

Continue reading The Genius of Gaudi – Barcelona’s Architecture and Museums

Spain

What Is Living Without Food? The Food in Barcelona

ByRyan Lee

Seeing that I took a gazillion photos of Barcelona, I decided that I will split the visit to Barcelona into two parts. This post will include all the things I’ve eaten in Barcelona, while the next post will contain everything else such as accommodation, transportation, and things to do.

I have touted Barcelona as one of my favorite cities to eat before, in both my old posts Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy and also Getting Fat and Getting Smart in Barcelona. This time, I will admit I was less impressed and thrilled about the food in general, and I don’t think it is because of Barcelona food fatigue. Who knows, maybe it’s because this time I’m here as a tourist rather than for work and appetites may change depending on the purpose of the visit. In fact, one of the restaurants I went to before ended up being soso this time I visited, when last time I rated it as one of my favourite restaurants I’ve tasted in Barcelona. Continue reading What Is Living Without Food? The Food in Barcelona

Spain

A Small Town Called Girona

ByRyan Lee

We have had more than enough time to cover all the major tourist spots in Barcelona, so we decided why not visit some of the nearby towns in Barcelona to get a sense of a different experience?

The first and most obvious choice was Valencia, but not only have I already been there, we only had one day and we had to be back in Barcelona by the evening, so it was too far for a one day trip. There’s of course Figueres, where it is most famous for having Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself, but we wanted to visit a town rather than just a museum; we’ve seen way too many museums by this time (even though I personally really like Dalí a lot). There was also Sitges, famous for its seafront promenade, but again I have already been there and there wasn’t much to do anyway besides enjoying the bright happy promenade.

So, we settled on Girona. It was a small town located a little more than 30 minutes of train ride from Barcelona Sants, plus it’s most notable for being one of the filming locations for the hit TV show Game Of Thrones, where they filmed Braavos, Oldtown, and King’s Landing for Season 6 (source: barcelonayellow.com) Continue reading A Small Town Called Girona

Spain

Spanish Coastal Gems – Tarragona, Peniscola, Sitges

ByRyan Lee

Tarragona, Peniscola, and Sitges. Three cities that we stopped by on our driving route from Barcelona to Valencia and back. Three cities within maximum 2.5 hours of each other, yet each of these cities carry unique characteristics about them.

Normally, I would suggest people to take the train from Barcelona directly to Valencia, that is, if you’re going only to Valencia. Instead, what we did was we rented a car. The cost is slightly higher for renting a car, but factoring in gas, insurance, and toll fees, and the costs make it less attractive considering the sights you see on a train are supposedly similar to the ones you see while driving. That said, we ended up renting a car because we wanted to stop by other coastal cities as well. Continue reading Spanish Coastal Gems – Tarragona, Peniscola, Sitges

Spain

Getting Fat and Getting Smart in Barcelona

ByRyan Lee

I was back again at one of my favorite cities in the world, Barcelona! Nom.

This time, much unfortunately and for whatever reason, the weather was much colder than last year’s. In fact, at one of the days during Mobile World Congress (MWC), it was actually snowing! Gone were the pinkish and blue skies this time. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed my time in Barcelona, it’s just a beautiful place to be.

I’ll dive right in since I’ve made some posts about Barcelona already – Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy, Barcelona Architectural Design and More, and Mobile World Congress 2017 – The Next Element.

Continue reading Getting Fat and Getting Smart in Barcelona

Spain

Barcelona Architectural Design and More

ByRyan Lee

While my trip to Barcelona was mainly for work related purposes, I had such a phenomenal time that I had split my trip experience there into three different posts. One of the posts covered was Mobile World Congress, the biggest mobile trade show in the world. The food in Barcelona deserves an entire post itself, hence I’ve given the name Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy to give my respects to cuisine in this city. In this post, I will focus on the other aspects of Barcelona, and one thing that sticks out in this city is the beautiful and unique architectural designs notable from block to block.

Some cities in the world are not walking cities; one such city that sticks out in my mind is Dubai. Barcelona has some fantastic cool weather in late February / early March, with beautiful people on the streets and remarkable architecture with many things to see along the way that you would prefer to walk all the time, unless of course you have to go somewhere quite the distance.

I heard that there may be strikes in Barcelona time to time, but lucky for me, there was no such thing when I was there. Usually if I wasn’t walking, I had the option to take the metro, which was easy to understand and takes you near the places you need to be as a tourist. If anything, there’s also the option of taking a taxi as well. Continue reading Barcelona Architectural Design and More

Spain

Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy

ByRyan Lee

The reputation for Spain and its marvellous food is undoubtedly some of the best and most creative food I’ve ever tasted. The struggle to find a fitting title that Barcelona deserves gave me hesitation; it deserved its respects. The City of Food wasn’t even thought of and would have been outright rejected. The City of Taste was too simple and too surface. The City of Flavor was a bit better as it brings out the meaning of tasting in depth that is all too important in Barcelona restaurants.

What about Gastronomy? A simple definition look up indicates that gastronomy is “the art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food” (Merriam-Webster). Perfect, this exact word was what I was looking for. The good restaurants in Barcelona contained all the requirements of good food – flavorful, creative, generous and ideal portions, unique combinations of flavors, fresh ingredients, and the ability to ‘wow’ you when it touches your tongue. Other bonus factors, while not necessary, include atmosphere, service, and presentation of food, and all the good restaurants excel in those criteria as well. Go to a Barcelona restaurant’s website and you can just tell that they take their food seriously. Continue reading Barcelona, the City of Gastronomy

Events

16 Music Festivals To Go To In 2016

ByRyan Lee

It’s 2016 and what better excuse to travel to different places by attending different music festivals around the world? There are so many different music festivals, with different atmosphere, differente venues, different genres, different people, and of course different artists, that each and every single one of them can bring you a unique experience. Here are 16 music festivals you should go to for 2016 (in alphabetical order): Continue reading 16 Music Festivals To Go To In 2016