Yes
yes! I am back. Where was I? I went for a holiday. I and my hubby went
to Spain (Barcelona) and Portugal (Lisbon) for a week. I must say both the
cities were poles apart from each other. Barcelona on one hand is bigger and crowded;
Lisbon on the other is smaller with large hearted people.
Barcelona
is a city for everyone. It has something for kids, thrill seekers, beach
lovers, architecture enthusiastic or people in search of peace and calmness. I
just enjoyed walking around the city. We walked around old city, small lanes to
huge squares, saw famous buildings, churches and also the ones where tourist do
not go. Barcelona is all about walking and then stopping and gazing around.
Gaudi’s buildings are the famous ones in Barcelona and one can’t miss them. All
his work is inspired from nature; he liked the mosaic tiles work, the wavy
buildings, tree like churches and many more. Being a food lover, I must say
Barcelona does not disappoint vegetarians. We had Tapas (small portions of food) and Paella (Sticky kerala rice biryani); both these dishes are very
famous and tasty and you will find most of the restaurants selling them. In
drinks, people love to have Sangria –it
is fruit wine punch with hint of brandy and is served in 2 litre glass jug with
some ice cubes; it is very yummy and even if you do not like wine, I am sure
you will enjoy this drink. For Barcelona-Colourful is the word- a perfect blend
of nature and culture.
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| Little Tapas, Fruity Sangria and Colourful Paella |
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| Wavy Casa Mila La Pedrera, On its roof and Wavy Balconies |
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| The Chruch-Sagrada Familia, Looks like tree branches from inside and beautiful mirror work |
Talking
about Lisbon; it is a very cute city on hills. We stayed there for 2 days and
totally enjoyed every bit of it. One thing that I will never ever forget about Lisbon
is the Tram 28. A bright yellow train
making its way through curvy tree-lined streets, hilly areas, the old quarters-
What an historical sight it was!!.. We hopped off and on where we wanted and
enjoyed the ride. On the hill we saw an Indian Restaurant named Agra and we
jumped in. We had delicious chana masala, jeera rice, garlic naan, palak
paneer-I still can’t forget the taste. Yes! Portuguese food is like Goan food
(fish and rice) so we being vegetarians were very happy finding an Indian place
to eat. During our walking tour, our guides took us to Alfama which is tiny
city (more like village) with really very narrow paths and streets. There we
tasted Ginjinha- a sweet alcoholic drink infused with the flavour
of cherries. It was a good and different drink served as tiny shots :-) Next
day we went to tourist attractions like Belam Tower, Abril Bridge and Jerónimos
Monastery. Just across the Belam Tower is Belam Pastries Shop who sells these
amazing Custard Tarts, which is famous all over the world. And you will be
shocked to know that on Christmas they sell 40,000 pieces of it. It is more
like puff pastry as the base with slightly warm custard, hmmmm delightful :). So,
if you are a non vegetarian do go there, you will love the food, the music, and
the city :). For me it was about hills, trams and the people :)
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| The famous Pasties De Belum and its Custard Tarts |
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| US With The Lady Who Sells Ginjinha |
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| Lisbon Top View and Hubby @ Belum Towers |
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| My Favourite- Tram 28 |
I hope you all will like the post. Comments please :) :) :)
