Temple of Sleep

This is the little hotel by the sea called the Temple of Sleep. It sits right by the sea front in Villanova. It advocates complete rest and sleep for all its guests.


Photos like these are found all over the hotel corridor and lobby.

There were no room numbers on the door, just little hand written flags which hung outside the rooms. The alfresco dining area and buffet area where I spent most of my evenings dining on the freshest baby squids and salads. Unforgettable cold gazpacho, and seafood paella which I attempted finish an entire pan by myself.

The quaint setting and lovely dining area. wooden floor boards and table linen in matching color.

Lovely blue and white theme and lovely wait staff.

Random thoughts

Don't let this scare you.


This is a spanish rice dish of squid cooked in its own ink. Yea looks awful, but I could taste the freshness of the squid in each mouthful I had. It was THAT delicious. The squid was done perfectly, no foul taste.

Only the freshest squids could be used for a dish like that. And fresh squids they have over in La Coruna aplenty alright. The rice was nice and fluffy, and squid tasted like they flipped out of the ocean. I miss this dish. Pulpo.







On the way up to Park Guell. Eating Magnum. Mmmm.


A fantastic dish of lightly grilled octopus with onions, paprika and olive oil with lemon sauce. Ooh lala! I had this all to myself that evening.
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I need a holiday.

Park Guell

This is Park Guell a huge park located in the city of Barcelona.

Mr Guell was a rich man who lived in Barcelona a long long time ago. As the city of barcelona grew and grew, crowding out the streets from La Rambla and the old city quarters, he realised that people were losing more and more of park spaces and their opportunity to interact with nature.

Mr Guell was a rich man for his time. He envisioned building a park in the city of Barcelona, to give to the people a place where there is much greenery to reside in.

He found a huge piece of land atop of a VERY steep hill just 10 minutes from the city (by 2008 metro). There are escalators built on these roads to help people get to the park. The downward journey is manual gear all the way though. Hope this picture means something to you about angles.

Mr Guell had a good friend Gaudi who was a famous artist. Very famous artist who had a soft spot for lizards and amphibians. You can see the trademark iguana in most of his works.

Gaudi agreed to design a park for Mr Guell who would in turn sell it to residents who can enjoy the park at leisure.

But for some reason the private housing project didnt quite take off and the hill top was converted into a public park instead for the enjoyment of all the residents in Barcelona.

Below I sat in the shade listening to some excellent sax performance from this guy while taking a break fm the 38 degree C heat.

What you see are the whimsical Gaudi designs created more than 100 years ago. I still stand back and look in awe and amazement at Gaudi's creativity and foresight 100 years later in 2008. Timeless and whimsical. His designs have transcended all barriers across time and space.

Isn't it amazing how much can be said without the need for words?

Art Music and Love. Some things that need so little to mean so much.

In transit - Madrid

Backdated post


In transit - Madrid

Couldn’t take a side trip out of Madrid airport as the city is an hour away. With only 4.5 hours transit time, I couldn’t afford to take the risk. 2 hours spent travelling, leaves me only 1.5 hours max in the city for exploration. I decided to just try to get some rest in the airport.

So here I am pounding these entries. No way to get any rest. Too tired to read, yet too uncomfortable to sleep.

I am also thinking if I should get something to eat. I am still very full from all that german stuff I ate earlier, no point trying to stuff myself. Yet I am worried should I get hungry tonight… Oh what to do? Think I’ll just sleep hungry if need be. Maybe at La Coruna later I might just get something to store just in case.

I just dread the periods of malnutrition I get when travelling alone. Too dehydrated most of the time. And irregular meal times.

I sure hope breakfast is provided. And that the hotel is decent too.

It’s 8pm and the sun is still shining so brightly. Looks like 4pm, just cooler. I wonder what time’s sunset nowadays. The weather gets a little chilly towards the evening. It was fiery hot when I arrived at 4 this afternoon.

Looks like this is what I can expect for the next couple of weeks. La coruna is much cooler, so look out for freezing toes and fingers.

I wonder what the people here do with such long summer days. What activities are carried out in summer and are the malls open till late? What time does the sun set and what time is dinner?

I highly suspect lunch is 2-4 and dinner is sometime 8-9pm. Well I’ll sure find out soon enough.

I hope the I find the driver at La Coruna easily enough…. Tired already. And here’s to an early 845am pick up tomorrow.

A little restaurant by the sea

Dinner was a lovely affair. With my extremely limited Spanish I didn´t want to venture far from my hotel to eat at the main promenade where rows and rows of beautiful cafes and restaurants line the beach.

You see, the Spanish here have a limited command of Ingles (engrish la) and ordering food without my spanish speaking colleagues is a challenge.
Excuse number two is that I hate to dine alone in restaurants where there are no other solo diners.

Villanova is a resort town. People come in pairs or families to enjoy the sight. After 2 days here, I have discovered that I am the only Chinese in this town, and probably the only solo diner anywhere possible.

So I decided to dine in the pretty restaurant of my hotel tonight. A balcony built into the garden of the hotel, it was blue and white , with airy linen curtains all over the open air al fresco area. So pretty. Later in the night the lamps were lit and candles were brought in. Very nice.

I was comfortable enough to eat alone, as the staff know me. But you see, dining alone in a beautiful place is a lonely affair.

Fortunately the food and the ambience made up for it.

I had a wonderful salad buffet of Spanish salads with gazpacho and spanish omelette. The tomato and goat cheese, the preserved capsicums in olive oil, the arborio rice, the cous cous, the pinenuts, the walnuts and much much more. The spanish salad is wonderful. And I love the tomatoes in this region. Sweet succulent and juicy. Wonderful with goat cheese. Mmmm.

And I didnt know the cold gazpacho could taste so good. Its a cold tomato soup served with a blend of other stuff and is amazing on a warm summer day with the fresh green salads. Yum Yum. The spanish omelette is also served cold, a bit like a Bt Timah chai tow kway but cold, though hard but nice. Cannot complain about the freshness of the food here.

Then I had the most beautiful baby sotongs for main course. These are baby squids lightly fried and served with a sour tangy sauce. I could almost taste the sea in these little creatures... Wonderful.

If only I had friends to share this meal with.

I think I´ll have more sotongs for dinner tomorrow night.

Villanova

I am now in Villanova, a 30 min or 100 euro cab ride away from barcelona.

It is a seaside resort town facing a beautiful beach. In fact my room window opens into the sea view just metres away from the hotel. Hotel is basic in amenities as it is designed to promote a beach front lifestyle. There is a 24 hr mini buffet of orange juice, water , cereals etc at the top floor which is a all white balcony with free internet access where i am typing this right now.

All the furniture here is white. I could blend into the furniture except for my huge sunglasses.

The view here is beautiful. That is why I prefer to be here than in the room. The best part of the room is the super comfy pillows and the bed.

The hotel´s color scheme is blue and white. So nice!

This tiny town is different from Barcelona in architecture and design. There are no gothic ancient buildings , no tall buildings or towers or cobblestone streets all over. In fact the town has grid like roads which is good for people like me.

I explored the principle rambla this afternoon by foot and took me something like 30 min to explore the busy part of the city. I know where the market is , the major shopping stretch, and of course the beach. It´s this tiny, but quaint.

I had a croissant, a dark chocolate gelato and a packet of olive oil chips for lunch. My limited spanish could not get me too far in terms of food. I shall be more adventurous tonight as I am craving to have some seafood in this city surrounded by the sea.

Story has it that this town was created in the medieval times. A feudal lord decreed that all brides of the town must sleep with him on the first night of marriage. One couple decided to seek help from an opposing warlord who gave them a piece of land to build their house upon in his land. This freed the couple from the sex-craved feudal lord.

Soon other young couples sought help from the opposing warlord and more people started to reside in this town. Villanova was thus created. Villa = village, Nova = new.

As time passed, the land belonging to the 2 feudal lords merged to form villanova the way it is today.

I also read that this place is famous for horse riding, I´d love to try but i think it would not be possible for me as i have so little time left.

This is why I have to come back to BCN again.

BCN

Barcelona is a magical city. The ancient city is made alive by the trade, the people, the lifestyle, the art, the cuisine, the culture and the interactive mix of all the other possible factors that make Barcelona the way it is.

Every corner I turn in the alleyway there are surprises. The Ramblas, the Carrers, the avenues are not in grid lines; they turn and twist leading you to discover a new square, another old church or a new store in this ancient city of cobblestones and amazing amazing gothic architecture. It´s as though all the modernities of this world has been transported back in time to relive in the ancient streets and buildings. It´s beautiful and so different from other major european cities I´ve been to.

Each time I ventured out of the hotel, I´d remember the land mark stores and shops for me to remember the way back- the Decathlon, the korean store at the junction, the paella store selling dark chocolate magnums in a box, the rituals bath store, the iconic newsstand - without these land marks, I´d probably be lost.

Just 30 min by foot from the centre of the city is Barceloneta. A beautiful promenade and beach facing the sea. Incredible, that such a beautiful beach rests just minutes from the Gucci, Zara, Berscha, Oysho, LV, Massimo, Desigual, etc one was browsing in. It´s really amazing. So I see people in bathing suits walking along the promenades, some to the city etc.

It´s been hectic for me in Barcelona. Work is interesting and intensive. Language and Culture added another dimension to the work too but in all everything is good.

Sunset is at 10 pm. I start the day with coffee about 8 with croissant or one of those mini baguettes with jamon (delicious) I could not get enough of. Lunch is at 2pm, and depending on where I am, it could be another jamon sandwich or something from Pans, or a full spanish lunch yummy. More photos when i can upload. Dinner is usually at 9-10pm and lasts till midnight. It could be at a tapas bar or we sit for a proper meal at a restaurant. Then back to the hotel at mindight to prepare for another day ahead.

It´s good that the hotel is located just 2 min from La Rambla in the old city. Near to the shopping district and walking distance to Pl de Gracia, and mins away fm Park Guell and La sacramento familiar and other Gaudi creations. This will be in a diff post.

Had I more time, I´d take better photos of the city and visit more sights. Secretly, I´ve made up my mind to come back to Barcelona.