la merde en direct: toussaint trilogy part deux

29 October (Monday)
Our Spanish adventure continued with the four of us heading to Montserrat (kinda like Mount Doom) to check out its peculiar rock formations. It took us about an hour to get to its base by train, then it was another 15mins cable car ride up. The rock formations were indeed very strange, as they had weird sedimentary lines and their edges were bulbous and rounded, unlike the jagged ones which we are more used to seeing. On the other hand, Andi seemed to be more interested in watching the choir boys (there was a monastery up on the mountain with singing choir boys). I wonder why. Hehe.. There was nothing in particular which we had in mind to do, but we all had fun just picnicking and admiring the scenery. Maybe the choir boys too; But that's more for Andi.. Haha.

les choiristes

We tried our hand at a little hike around the mountains too. The path we took was littered with Christian artifacts all the way, most of them portraying Mary and the (very doubtful) Virgin Birth. No doubt these displays of religiosity were inspired by the above-mentioned monastery. Anyway, somehow we took the wrong path along the way and we had to abandon our hike. However not wanting to waste our time, we actually filmed a couple of scenes for our upcoming Hollywood blockbuster "Perdidos" (lost in Spanish). Rather amusing.

unusual rocks

more of them

stairway to heaven

30 October (Tuesday)

Today might as well be called Gaudi day, for we visited all of his famous buildings/structures for the entire day! If you do not know, Antoni Gaudi is one of Spain's most celebrated architects, and is famous for incorporating many aspects of nature into his incredibly orginal architectural designs and works. First up was Casa Batillo, a building originally designed for business and commerce purposes. The differences between it and the adjacent blocks were striking: Casa Batillo seemed to have a life of its own but the other drappy buildings looked, well just plain ol' drappy. We moved on pretty fast as Andi and Sinhui had already been here, and we walked a couple of blocks down to Casa Milà. Similar to Casa Batillo, Casa Milà looked simply magnificent and overwhelming next to the ordinary buildings! However the most interesting design of Casa Milà was not its exterior facade, but its rooftop! I didn't go in as I wanted to save some money, but Andi and Sinhui did so at least I could marvel at their photos.. =P

casa milà

rounded stairway

surrealistic rooftop

The highlight of the day was the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was an ardent Catholic and hence he designed this Roman basilica and intended it to be the last great sanctuary of Christendom. As with all of his works, the Sagrada Familia is biomorphic (objects taking animate forms) to the last bit. Add in its immense size, and you have a building with a hauntingly hallucinatory effect. Truly amazing what the power of architecture can do! And of course due to its difficult and intricate designs, construction is taking an extremely long time - construction began in 1887, and it is still not completed! The latest forecast is 2027, but even that is extremely wishful! Haha.. But not bad lah, I think part of its charm is in being uncompleted and in a state of unending assembly!

la sagrada familia

inside it

The last of Gaudi's works which we went to was Parc Güell. Rather than a nature park, I felt that it was more of a theme park sans the amusement rides given the kooky and almost otherworldly Gaudi installations. Needless to say, the park was filled with tourists and it was almost impossible to take much photos of the park itself. Haha. We wandered in the park for about 2 hours before calling it a day. After all, we still had Madrid to go to! =D

first views of the park (note how crowded it is)

view from a little higher up

horsing about

this is Barcelona

31 October (Wednesday)
'Twas the day (or night, rather) that the Western ghosts and ghouls were supposed to roam the earth. And what did we do? Head for Madrid lah! Haha.. Took the noon flight on Spain's national carrier, Iberia - by far the most bone shaking and mind numbing flight that I have taken; Almost could have joined the rest of the gwei (ghost in mandarin) for the celebrations that night! Anyway this time we were staying at RC Miguel Angel, just right smack in the middle of town! Swell. Did the same as Barcelona; Threw our bags down and almost immediately headed out. We went first to Plaza Mayor, one of the most famous public squares in Madrid. Took in the sights, took the compulsory photos, soaked in the sun a little, then we headed over to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid! Unlike at Camp Nou, we were not able to get into the stadium as there was no match on that day, and the stadium tour was far too expensive. What I did do was to go to the souvenir shop and got myself a souvenir pin. Heh.

One thing that struck me about Madrid was how clean and new their metro trains are as compared to Barcelona's. As Andi pointed out, it could be due to the 2004 Madrid bombings, but it was certainly nice to be able to ride in nice train carriages! The streets in Madrid were also nicer to walk on as well, and touristic sights were situated much closer this time around so we saved quite a bit on metro fares. Heh.. A penny saved is a penny earned!

After the stadium visit we went for dinner. Nothing special, but it suddenly became very cold at night. Not sure if it was due to Halloween or what, but after a tour to Cinema Capitol, the rest went back to the hostel while I continued roaming the streets like a hungry ghost. The aforementioned Cinema Capitol had a special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it was fully booked so I had to contend with just hanging outside the cinema and watching a snippet of it on the giant outdoor screen. There were lots of children out trick o' treating and I felt like having another go at the squid ink paella just to join in the fun. Heh.. =P