Zafrel After 8pm.....Live For Love

Winter, typically a slow travel season across the board, sometimes brings a big great vacation around the world. Some of top destinations for winter travel season experience chilly temperature, wild others remain mild. No matter what temperature, we enjoyed a great vacation in Europe during the off peak winter season

Last week was a great weekend for us. For those who experience their 1st time in Spain, i would say" OMG!...I can't believe this place..it's so damn beautiful". Enjoying spanish foods was a great moment in Spain , especially Tapas- well-known spanish food. Three of us, as usual the travel team-mates departed from Pisa to Barcelona which took us about 1 1/2 hours to land in Barcelona. It was chilly at night but the day was great. It was sunny for the whole day. We spent 3 days in Barcelona and 1 day in Valencia which is 3 hours away by train from Barcelona.

Talking about Barcelona, however, my favorite place was the Gothic section. Walking through the dark narrow cobblestone alleys literally transports myself back in time. As i looked up at the medieval buildings and spires that loom overhead may find myself staring into the eyes of a gargoyle and realised that i find myself in the middle of a dragon slaying. While there I had the chance to walk in the same footpath as Christopher Columbus where he met with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after his first voyage to America ( Read the travel guide book..:-)). Cruising past the 1992 Olympic Stadium jolts back into the present proving once again that Barcelona can keep up with modern times.”
My craving for seafood always seemed to point me in the direction of the Port of Barcelona. Not only did it offer succulent shrimp or the famous local dish, Paella, but it also was a place of great activity. It is surely home to one of Europe’s finest and most unique aquariums where i can see what the fish looked like before it hit my plate!”

I found Port Barcelona offers everyone, including families, much excitement in the way of the aquarium, IMAX Theater, shops filled to the gills with all sorts of merchandise, and beautiful tall ships docked for the day. We even took a boat cruise through this magnificent world-renowned port all the while the statue of Columbus pointing us in the right direction.

I found the people to be extremely helpful but still a little more on the reserved side. Although some speak English, it is not as common as i would think. Bringing a language book is a must. If all else fails use body language and finger pointing. Another wonderful thing about the city is that it is affordable allowing me to almost be a glutton in eating and having fun — all the amenities of a great vacation

Barcelona is a center for arts, and that is no more apparent than the collection of museums that highlight the works of some of the world’s most controversial and spectacular artists to take to the canvas, such as Picasso and Dali. But the city’s artistic side is not only confined to canvas, but is also seen in much of the city’s stunning architecture created by a genius of unconventional thinking and design — Antoni Gaudi

Not that I’ve ever wondered where the word gaudy came from but it seemed to have stemmed from the early 1900s architect, Antoni Gaudi’s name. I wouldn’t go as far as saying his style was gaudy, but it definitely appeared to be very futuristic, designs before his time, and maybe even before our present time as well. His famous church, the Sagrada Familia, seemed to be a cross between a space station and sandcastle. Many of his other buildings looked like melted boxes of colored wax giving the mortar a wavy design with odd shaped windows and balconies. Even in all their oddity, these designs are quite beautiful. Barcelona must have been a giant architectural playground for Gaudi since you can find his signature work throughout the city.