Barcelona

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Backpacking France & Spain: Day 15 (20-Dec-2017)

Los Bunkers

I prepared some tea and had some bread for breakfast at the hostel. I bought the metro card for 10 travels. It is really helpful to get around the city. My first journey for the day was to get to the funicular station to take a ride up the Tibidabo hill to view the Templo Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. My friend Bianca and Stefan had suggested this place to me. The funicular ride was short but interesting. I visited the church and enjoyed the views of the city from the top.

I had some Churros. They are delicious. Like Crêpe, they have automated the process of making churros as well. I see a lot of potential in doing that for many Indian dishes that we regularly prepare. 

I returned to the city and took a walk along the gothic quarter. The plazas and architecture is amazing here. Highlight of course is La cathedral and the neighbouring medieval architecture. In Spain, the hotels are cheaper than in France but all tourist sites including ancient churches have entry fee that makes traveling here expensive.

There are a lot of immigrants in the citiy selling random items and they always are in the fear of being chased by the police. 

There are some Roman ruins in the Barri gotic. I followed the route suggested by Lonely planet and reached a plaza where an old man was playing piano. The music was really soothing and it really made me forget everything for a moment and be right there, enjoying the melody. I think I have told this before, I am surprised by the amount of talent that exists in Europe. There are singers with excellent voice quality singing in metro station. 

At the hostel, I have two new room mates - Morcoon siblings. Karim is very excited about the whole concept of hostel as this is his first experience. His sister Ghita has had prior hostel experience. They live in France. We had a great time conversing in French. 

I also met Jason at the dining area. He had checked out and was moving to a new hostel since he did not like this one. I was planning on going to the Baterías Antiaéreas suggested by my friend Stefan. He had specially asked me to go there to get a spectacular view of the city. Jason decided to join me so, we met later in the evening at a metro station and walked up the hill. It is also called the bunker where anti-aircraft guns were installed during civil war. Today, it is a place famous for youngsters to hangout and express themselves in what ever manner they wanted. Some painted graffiti and others played music and danced. Many preferred to drink alcohol while enjoying the stupendous views. We stayed there till 10:30 PM. The anti-government and pro-independence slogans hinted towards the tension the city was under. Though it was a peaceful protest, it had turned a bit violent due to police intervention, a few months ago. 

While speaking to Jason, I mentioned that I did not like Chinese cuisine served in India. He wanted me to try this authentic chinese restaurant in town run by a couple where he had been regularly visiting. I agreed and we headed back to have dinner there, at around 11PM. Jason spoke to the owners and recommended some vegetarian dishes for me. I loved the egg plant dish and egg fried rice. It really was very different from all the Chinese food I had tasted before. In india, the chef add a lot os soya sauce to Chinese food which I dislike. Food truly connects people and of course Jason is a great company to hang out with. We had a good time talking about random topics. Well, he also taught me how to eat with chopsticks. It seemed very easy once he explained it to me. It had been another long but exciting day. I was already in love with this city. 

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