A journey back to Barcelona but this time the aim was meant to be longer to experience living among the locals and also venturing into other parts of Barcelona for photography.

Train from Segovia only brought us to Madrid. We had to change another train for Barcelona. Here’s this bit about Madrid. There are not many signage to tell you how to get out of the station. Ask around and no one seems to either speak English or knew the way out. We dragged our luggage from one platform to another and after almost 15mins, we decided to take our chances. Madrid has a huge train station but it can be a nightmare as we needed to queue for luggage to be scanned to get from the current platform to the next hall to again queue for trains for Barcelona. There was only 1 booth available to service the entire hall of passengers. Queuing took almost forever. By the time we got into the hall and figured out where is our platform, our train just left the station. There were no refunds for no-show and neither were they bothered about what you had to say. They got me to queue at the waiting hall only to realise that by the time I got to the front, I was queuing in the wrong area.

Sounds great, isn’t it? Here’s my tip, accept the limited weight your body has the energy to carry and remember to always ask if upper floors are only accessible by lifts.

Why? Simple. The last thing you need is throwing a sudden tantrum that you had enough of lifting or even touching your luggage. What most of this being as a packaged trial? Well, panting with exhaustion up each flight of stairs and dropping flat without the desire to move at all once you arrive at the apartment with your luggage.

We booked an apartment within walking distance from Barcelona Sants through Booking.com. As much as I was trying hard to place as much enthusiasm making this trip fun, adventurous and delighted over my photos, I was quite put off by the state of the apartment and my room. There was dust everywhere, the dining table being quite wobbly, the kitchen utensils seems like bits of mismatched odds and ends, and mismatched cracked plates and bowls.

Did we stay? Yes and No. I tolerated until the second last night when I could take it no more but to book a hotel just nearby to the airport. BAH (Barcelona Airport Hotel) was a real lifesaver. For once I felt comfortable in Barcelona.

Cathedral of Barcelona

The gothic exterior of the Cathedral of Barcelona (Catedral de Barcelona) is sophisticated and impressive. Works from between the 13th to 15th centuries, the Cathedral is one of the largest and most impressive of churches in Catalonia.

How to get there: The Cathedral of Barcelona is situated in the Gothic Quarter. Nearest subway station – Jaume I.

Standing in front of the Cathedral, I felt renewed to see such a enormous structure despite feeling resentful towards my host for leasing us such a dusty apartment. Then something caught my eyes and stole the attention off the Cathedral and straight to busy reading what was written and started asking myself a question – No Tourism, growth will gradually be restrained as finances is only circulate locally. This local seems to feel that Tourism have robbed him or her rights to enjoy the beauty of her neighborhood. In getting closer to the doors of the Cathedral, I understand why that local got upset.

I need to pay to enter God’s House. Seriously?

To be fair, someone needs to pay to upkeep the Cathedral and for renovations. But can’t there be either free or reduced rates for locals to prevent resentment and full rates or package deals for tourists?

It only gets weirder when mass is celebrated in the Cathedral. Those wishing to celebrate mass do not need to pay to enter the Cathedral. The only difference is that the access is limited.

Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar

Hidden from the busy street of Via Laietana in the Ribera district, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar is a 14th century Gothlic-style church situated at the backlane, C. de I’Argenteria. The church decorated with a pair of soaring columns and grand stained glass windows was consecrated a year after the last stone was laid. Despite being on fire for 11 days at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 which destroyed many of decorative images and the Baroque altar, the church survived. I took a special liking to the interior of this Basilica. The high ceiling adds an impression of light and spaciousness.

Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, was designed by Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect best known for works on Sagrada Família. Gaudi designed of Casa Batlló has unusual, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work with façade decorated with colourful mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles. Those were the very mosaic tiles which attracted my attention to make Casa Batlló one of my travel destination.

How to get there: Nearest subway – Passeig de Gràcia. Along the same street Passeig de Gràcia closer to Diagonal subway, another of Gaudi’s masterpiece, Casa Mila.

The actual highlight of this trip to Barcelona was to visit the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. I saw photos that it was beautiful. After taking the subway up the hill, we realised that we needed to also take a cable car there. The bus only brings us to a point and its cable car up. The ticket for the cable car was just madness that we decided to turn back and leave.