Barcelona Trip Part 4 (Day 6 & 7)

Day 6 (21/08/2010)
Kalo ikutkan ni hari terakhir Summerschool kitaorg. Pagi tu xde class dah, tp ada sesi workshop utk conference yg officially started that day. Summerschool ni in conjunction the Sound & Music Computing Conference 2010, so org2 yg dtg utk konferens dah mula dtg pada hari ni. In the morning tu ada workshop ReacTable (a music interface), tp sbb aku mmg x minat nak sign up for it, I made the full use of the morning utk go sightseeing, sbb kalo korg perasan, setakat ni x pergi2 lg, dek x de masa huhu. Tp ptg nya at 3 pm aku ada sign up for class CataRT by Sch*warz, mamat ni mmg mahaguru bidang aku, so mmg x nak lepaskan peluang la, so dlm berjalan2 pon x leh melagho sgt, kena tgk jam sokmo. After workshop CataRT tu plak, disambung terus dgn concert from Prof barry Tru*ax, followed by our performances la in groups.

Oleh sebab nak masa x byk, it was obvious that I needed to jimatkan masa drpd sesat perat lg, aku amik keputusan utk invest sket and got the 'Bus Turistic' package. Ini adalah naik tourist bus yg 2 tingkat and x de bumbung tu. Dgn harga 22 Euro per day and 29 Euro for 2 days, kita bole naik bus ni pusing2 serata Barcelona, daripada sekeliling bandar area Las Ramblas, ke kawasan beach front (Barcelonetta), hingga lah ke sejauh the Barcelona FC Stadium.

Konsep bus ni adalah hop-on, hop-off, you see. It's a guided tour, tp pakai headphones yg disediakan, bkn nya pakai org live, so kalo x nak dgr org membebel, x de la pening kepala, and you can choose from 8 different languages. Mmg best lah, sbb nya it tells many facts of the city and mmg byk dpt belajar from it (otherwise mmg x de masa la kan nak spend lama2 pon baca history on different locations tu). Bila tiba kat sesatu tourist destination tu (i.e. Museum Picasso), kita bole la picit loceng and hop off, and spent however long we want kat dlm muzium tu. Then dah habis, tggu balik bus tu dkt bus stop yg sama, yg usually within 5-20 minutes akan sampai busa turistic yg lain and we just hop on again, continuing where we left off. Asal ada tempat best aje turun la. Kalo nak tgk map nya, disertakan di bawah. Laman web penuhnya, sila klik sini (awas, it's entirely in Spanish, as is always the case pon, so mana x meraba aku selama ini weih).



As u can see, ada 3 lines, Red, Blue and Green. Kalo Red tu pusing2 dlm town aje, covering all the unique architectures hasil tgn Gaudi, ke area Las Ramblas, Sagrada Familia, etc. Blue tu plak dah pergi ke outskirts of town, to Park Guell (another hasil tgn Gaudi), to La Padrera, and also Barcelona FC Stadium. Kalo Green line tu plak cover kawasan Platja - area pantai2 dia. Utk line Red and Blue, it takes up to 2 hours per line (kalo amik dua2 4 jam tour) okeh utk sampai balik ke starting point WITHOUT GETTING OFF ANYWHERE, whereas Green Line 45 minute ajo.

Pada hemat aku, kalo ada byk masa nak melawat Barcelona ni, amik aje lah 2-day tour, byr extra 7 pound je pon, sbb nya mmg aku rasa korg akan muntah darah la kalo nak completekan the entire tour in one day, tu x termasuk time spent at each sites lg turun naik, and waiting time dia. Tp sbb aku x dak masa itu hari, aku beli yg sehari je la. Tu pon, sbb aku sesat dan terpinga2 pg tu nak beli tiket nya (bole beli di Tourist Information Centre dkt Placa de Catalunya), start2 naik bus dah pkl 10.30 pg. Ikut hati mmg nak gi sampai Stadium Barcelona FC tu, tp last2 x jd, aku naik Red Line and focus utk pusing2 kat town aje, sbb terdekat dgn Uni in case nak berkejar balik, and kat town tu nak squeeze masa gi shopping souvenirs jap. It turned mmg wise la decision aku tuh, sbb mmg lama tour ni, x termasuk jam dlm bandar lg hoho.

Satu lg, aku mula2 duk tingkat bawah, sbb atas dah penuh, tp aku nekad gak naik sbb kalo nak tggu next bus lg la lama kan (org putih lain sanggup tggu next bus, sbb diorg kan suka kena bakar mentari kat roofless deck atas tu), tp pjg gileeee ok line dia otherwise, so duduk lah aku dkt deck bawah dgn makcik pokcik tua uzur lain nya yg dah x bole naik tangga ke atas tu. Aku x kisah sgt, kat bawah tu ada aircon lg siap. Cuma ralat sbb dlm bandar ni, byk bgnan2 cantik yg Gaudi bina, and nak amik gmbr x dpt la sbb restricted view. Kalo dari atas, full access la kan. Rugi betul.

So the moment aje ada insan2 turun drpd top deck at the next few stops, aku terus grabbed that opportunity and amik seat atas. Woh woh. baru la full view. Tp duduk x lama aku dah start rimas, sbb ya Allah, panas terik weih! Especially kalo dah start jam dlm bandar and bus bergerak cam siput tu, ya rabbi. Tahan aje lah. Mmg hangus la jgk kulit aku ni. Even pakai seluar jeans pon kulit peha still rasa terbakar gitu huhu. So of you do get on tour bus like this, it is your call lah to sit upstairs on downstairs, but one advice - star your tour earlier in the day!

Oo satu lg aku nak point out, company ni claim the waiting period is 5 minutes kan? Mmg bus dia byk, no worries there, tp pengguna dia adalah sgt bykkkkk. At every stop ada le queue spjg 10-20 meter, so jgn harap la 1st bus sampai ko akan dah bole naik terus kan. Ada la dlm 2-3 bus dah berlalu baru bole naik ok? Dah la x de pondok bus tu, terpacak la dlm panas. Seeing this, aku mengambil langkah bijak utk TIDAK TURUN2 drpd bus tersebut haha. Ye lah, aku dah x de masa, tgk2 tempat sudah la, x masuk pon xpe. Udah la utk setiap location yg korg turun tu, kena byr entrance fee dia kan? (segala muzium bagai, cable car etc). So mmg ni langkah terbaik buat aku.

Nevertheless, aku sgt2 enjoy sorg2 trip tu. Here are some pics on my solo travel:

[1] Kat upper deck. Panas ooo.. Started from Placa de Catalunya, going thro the town, jakun berdo'oh tgk2 bganan, x sempat snap gmbr.


[2] Font Magica de Montjuic (Magic Fountain of Montjuic). Kat sini, mlm2 persembahan air pancut. Asalnya mmg plan nak gi ngan CheFadh, tp x sempat gi. Dia panggil area ni Montjuic sbb ramai Jewish dikebumikan di mountain ni dulu.


[3] Lalu perkampungan Olimpic dia. Ni plak dkt Teleferic de Montjuic, tempat naik Cable Car yg bole tgk all of Barcelona Town and the harbour area nearby.


[4]The rest of Montjuic


[5] The harbour area


[6] Mirador de Colom. This is where I went off the bus sbb nak jalan2 kat area La Rambla. Kalo ikutkan bus tu lom habis pusing lg, but I had to get my hands on some shopping first!


[7] Placa Reial. Look how brilliant the sun and the weather is!


[8] La Rambla. Sini kena hati2 sbb byk pencopet sbb mmg kawasan tourists spot. Tp byk jual benda2 amusing, even artists jalanraya pon byk. Charicature, potrait painting in 5 minutes aje dah siap oo..


[9] Street show @ La Rambla - Predator. Diaorg ni minta 'sumbangan'. Nak amik gmbr kena 'huluq' dulu ok.


[10] Street show @ La Rambla - Edward Scissorshand. Mcm real jgk la dia berlakon tu, make up and all


[11] Street show @ La Rambla - Headless Chef. Dia suka buat terjelir2. Ada satu stroller tu, mak dia tutup ngan kain nak lalu La Rambla ni sbb anak dia dah nangis2 takut dek freakshow sebegini


[12] Street show @ La Rambla - Floating Guy. For the life of me x leh figure out how dia duduk terapung tuh!


[13] Lapar, beli Xurro, dek terpengaruh tgk kartun Spanish Handy Manny ngan Aisyah. Ok la, rasa cam Cakoi kita.


[14] Beca, Barcelona-style. Gmbr kelabu sbb tgn berminyak bekas mkn Xurro sat ni gi pegang lense kamera plak.


[15] X paham motif kedai nih nama dia 'Kuala Lumpur'. Cuba masuk kat dlm kot2 tuan kedai org Msia leh tumpang2 tanya, but alas, semua pekerjanya org Sepanyol ajo. Kedai jual baju, bkn kratftangan ke hapa.


Shopping punya shopping utk souvenir, tau2 dah dkt jam 1.30 ptg. By 3 pm dah nak start workshop. Quickly grabbed a Fish-O-Fish kt McD. Musnah impian nak sambung tour naik bus. X sempat nak gi Muzium Picasso bagai huhu. Terus naik metro gi UPF.

[16] Sampai UPF agak awal, so posing dgn poster dulu utk kenang2an.


[17] Hikmah dtg awal - sempat berborak dan bergambar dgn mahaguru Concatenative Synthesis himself, Die*mo Sch*warz! Sukeeeee! Very humble dia


[18] Workshop starts at 3 pm. Byk belajar from here, albeit terkial2 at first. Duk sebelah ngan mamat dari Jepun nih Satoru nama dia. Sblm kelas start terbahak2 went down memory lane citer psl Japanese Influenece dlm mainstream media di Msia - from Oshin, to Maero Attack, to Doraemon, to Juon, to Naruto. Also confessed kesedapan Tako (Sotong Sumbat dia tu) :)


[19] The concert went well, tp x de gmbr. After concert, dianugerahkan sijil kepada semua participants Summer School. Oh sedihnya. Memang it really has come to an end!


[20] Tp after concert je terus zassss balik sbb nak kejarkan gi one last place that I must visit before balik - Sagrada Familia. Bangunan ni adalah temple sebenarnya, tp yg menariknya adalah pembinaannya drpd tahun 1800s tu sampai skrg belum habis2, punya lah grand blueprint architect terkenal, Gaudi. Sampai2 tu waktu Maghrib, so lampu dia x psg lg.


[21] Woh, apa yg terbatung antara bridge tu?


[22] Gi mkn kat buffet berdekatan dulu.


[23] Lps mkn tu dtg balik hah, dah bukak pon lampunya. Bkn senang tau nak amik gmbr sendiri ni.












Lps tu balik hostel, mandi, solat, kemas brg, then zzzz....

Day 7 (22/07/2010)
Pagi esoknya bertolak balik. Have you ever seen train dua tingkat?


Lps train delayed berjam2, then dah naik plane plak, tggu runway sejam lebih, pastu dah sampai bristol Airport plak tggu lg setengah jam sbb ribut x boleh nak kuar flight, then naik transit coach from from Bristol Airport ke Bristol Temple Mead (train station), terlepas train 6.45 ptg, terpaksa tggu yg 7.45 ptg plak, then dua jam perjalanan ke Plymouth, then jalan kaki ke cab punya office sbb nak call taxi duit pound dah abis, tggal duit Euro aje, then naik cab dari bandar ke Mutley, baru la sampai umah, tu pon dah dkt pkl 11 mlm, Aisyah dah nak masuk tido pon. Apa pon, Alhamdulillah!

Aisyah menggayakan T-shirt Barcelona beliau.


Sekian sahaja riwayat kembara Sepanyol hamba. Maaf lah kalo ada yg dah muntah darah by thos point, mmg sengaja tulis jg utk catatan diri esok2. Yang baik drpd Allah, yg buruk, drpd aku sendiri :)