Monday, August 20, 2007 | 11:39 PM

Very lazy to blog about europe so here's only part I of V of it.

Part I - Barcelona

Random photo taken upon arrival

They still look quite fresh after more than 10h of flight eh?

Some random person basking along the streets - not with music but soccer

Was very excited about Barcelona due to its reputation as a shopping haven. And indeed, Barce did not let me down. Bought most of my stuff from Barcelona – from renowned Zara, Mango (whereby each store boasts few storeys each) to brands unavailable in Singapore such as H&M and Lefties. Summer sale was great but new collection were cheaper than Singapore too. Bagged a couple of shirts for work as well.

Cam-whoring is what we know best

And here are all my buys for the entire trip
New sneakers - very cool right? It's leather!

Bottoms & shoes

Casual tops

New additions for work

Not too much all in all right? That's how I could survive with 15kg baggage allowance with domestic ryanair. And I'm really proud of it! Heh

However, though shopping was good, the weather did not complement our shopping spirits - or rather Jeanne’s and my shopping spirit as Jieyi’s spirit was totally dampened by the sweltering heat. And although our apartment – RamCat was in a good location, there wasn’t any aircon. We almost died in there.

Also, my enthusiasm to speak my limited Spanish was put off by their attitudes. We didn’t feel very welcomed by them. Although the entire city was swarmed with tourists, the Spaniards did not seem as friendly as I expected them to be. And therefore, a quote from Jeanne – Barcelona is the ‘nightmare city’.

However, we did have fun somehow. Visited many of Gaudi’s works – including Barcelona cathedral and the no 1 sightseeing of Barce – Sagrada Familia. Though we queued more than an hour at the latter for the lift to get to the top, it was very much worth it.

Ducks at Barcelona Cathedral

Wanted to visit this but we got put off by the queue

Picture taken along the streets outside the cathedral

Some very famous but weird building (can't remember the name)- work of Gaudi which Jeanne loves!

Temple de la Sagrada Familia

However, coming down the stairs was no mean feat for it was a spiral staircase which was indeed very spiral and the steps were a tad too challenging for my big feet. Haa

Also visited Parc Guell which Jieyi wanted to go badly. Well, I would never forget the journey up the top. Steep slopes and more steep slopes and even more steep slopes up. Both of us were cursing at her for such a great workout under the sun.

So glad that we still remember how to smile despite all the climbing

And there's basking on top too

Also visited Nou Camp – home to the Barcelona FC. Great visit (but definitely incomparable to Stamford Bridge) and locating the stadium under the unfriendly weather worn us out.

So all in all, I would revisit Barcelona for its shopping (it’s so good that I actually commented that we can visit it every summer just to shop!) – but please do not ask me to stay more than 3 days. And aircon is a must in the apartment!

Apart from that, I would always remember that I learnt to savour Brie cheese in Barce. =)