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| Redcurrant (rips in Norwegian) |
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| Blackcurrant (solbær in Norwegian) |
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| Gooseberries (stikkelsbær in Norwegian) |
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Shades of Summer (a photoblog)
Month: July 2012
Stavanger Gladmat Festivalen 2012
It has already been a tradition for me to go to the annual food festival in Stavanger. Without this festival, summer is incomplete in Stavanger (in my opinion). This is the most visited time in Stavanger. Fortunately, the weather is cooperative unlike last year it was rainy. So I made time yesterday after my work even though my body was protesting about it and besides there’s food!!!! 🙂
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| Lots of people! |
Walking in the midst of these crowd and finding where to eat is no joke here. You may find what you want to eat but then you gonna have to stand in long queues! Hence my requirements for a satisfactory Gladmat experience: Empty stomach, patience, cash and a camera!
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| MSC Magnifica |
There were 4 cruise ships at Stavanger bay that day. They’re not just big, they’re ENORMOUS!
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| Grand Princess |
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| Chocolate fountain! |
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| They also have a white chocolate fountain 😀 |
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| Norwegian sausages |
Date of visit: July 26 2012
The Need to be Left Alone
This may sound not me, but I always wanted to do things alone these past few days. I think it is because I am a bit stressed at work and I think a lot about my future. At the same time, I want to prove something to myself that I am a strong brave independent woman who can handle any kinds of situation.
Yeah,I need to unwind, reflect… and to be left alone for the meantime…
Barcelona Spain: Day 2
Second day was rather a relaxing day. Headed to Barceloneta Beach around 11am and stayed there for at least 2 hours sunbathing and swimming. We could’ve stayed longer but I forgot to bring my sunblock.
The beach was crowded but we didn’t mind. The only thing that annoyed us were the sellers who kept coming back even though we’ve already turned them down thrice!
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| At 12 o’clock |
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| At 2 o’clock |
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| At 10 o’clock |
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| Panorama shot of the beach |
After the beach, we went to KFC and bought a bucket meal! 😀 I was really happy because it’s been 2 years since I last tasted KFC’s crispy chicken (that was in Manila in 2010). I wish KFC would come to Norway.
Barcelona Spain: Day 1
Since we just relaxed and took the night when we arrived at the hotel, we were full of energy the following day. I admit that I was very excited to go out and explore the city. After eating breakfast at 9.30am we began walking to the metro station. Our hotel is circa 2-3 blocks away from the station and a block away from the World Trade Center. The temperature was around 25 degrees Celsius and that’s under the shade. Imagine our faces walking under the sun then! We were hopeless. :p Kidding! Well, we live in Norway so for us anything above 15 degrees is way too warm. >.< However we do appreciate the sunny days we get because we do not have it often.
Barcelona is a big city so we had to plan our sightseeings in order to save time, money and energy. Our first plan was to go to the famous Barcelona Cathedral.
We took the metro from Almeda station (it is the nearest station to Campanille Hotell Cornella, the hotel were we stayed) to Marina station. When we got out of the station, we found out that we took the wrong route! So we asked a middle aged woman in a souvineer shop we found on the way, but there was a problem, they could not understand us (language barrier dot com)! They do not speak nor understand English (we’re screwed! lol). But wait a girl teenager came who I think is her daughter spoke to us. She could understand us (finally!! :D), she told us where to go even though she is not that good in English but we understood her and we owe her our life! Gracias! 🙂 hihihi…
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| Inside the Metrotrain. On our way to Espanya Station. |
The instruction was to walk on the main road, then just walk recto. Then after a couple of minutes, we found a park. 🙂 Again, we checked our map and were surprise to find out that it is the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park is located east for the old part of the city.
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| My own postcard of Parc de la Ciutadella |
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| Ping Pong tables |
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| The Cascade Fountain |
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| My background, Museu de Ciencies Naturals (Castell dels Tres Dragons) |
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| Arc de Triomf is not far from the park. 🙂 |
So we walked and walked wherever our feet lead us to…
We stumbled upon a mask shop, Arlequi Mascares at Carrer de la Princesa. They are selling Venetian masks in different shapes and sizes. Also masks for different types of occasion. As you can see, I took pictures inside the shop, which I found out later that it was not allowed to do inside the shop (silly me!).
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| Tada! Destination reached! Barcelona Cathedral |
I got dissapointed here because I was not allowed to go inside the Cathedral because my dress is above the knee.
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| Antiques for sale outside the Cathedral |
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| Mercat de la Boqueria |
Mercat de la Boqueria is Barcelona’s most famous market. Here you can find fresh fruits, meat and vegetables.
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| Dunkin Coffee or Dunkin Donuts in other Countries |
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| At La Rambla |
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| Spanish art |
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| Port de Barcelona |
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| Mare Magnum Mall |
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| Barcelona Aquarium |
Moving on, Barcelona is indeed a beautiful city. It is like a museum, an outdoor one, lots to see and lots to learn. Even though there is a language barrier, I felt like I was home at some point. Probably it is because some of my ancestors were Spanish and the fact that Philippines have been a colony of Spain or it could be that I just fell in love with this city! What do you think? ❤
OMW to BCN and the Arrival
A week ago I was just packing my bags for my trip to Barcelona and now I’m sitting in front of my laptop, sick and reminiscing my short vacation in a very wonderful city. Time indeed is fast when you are enjoying what you love to do. In my case, I love to travel and take pictures of places. A friend of mine told me that I could be a flight attendant, but I told him that I am not tall enough to be one nor the patience to be in the airplane for a long period of time (because I get bored easily).
Anyway, I have never been to Spain before so I was really excited a couple of weeks before our flight. 🙂 Well, I am always excited whenever I get to travel to places that I have never been to (Hvem som ikke gjør det?).
We always fly with KLM. Our departure time to Amsterdam from Stavanger was 17.40 on a Wednesday afternoon, but we took off a bit late because according to the captain, Schipol airport is very busy this time of the year, landing time should either be on time or a bit late as well.
On board flight KL1681 to BCN
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| Had a one hour stop over at Schipol Airport Amsterdam. |
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| No offense to KLM, but the veal sandwiches which are always served on board taste horrible! 😦 |
An hour before landing, the captain updated us on the status of our flight and the weather in Barcelona and then he also updated us on the match between Spain and Portugal. He seemed enthusiastic about the match that he updated us twice about it! 🙂
The arrival at Barcelona Airport
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| The passengers watching the football match between Spain and Portugal. Spain’s winning! |
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| Inside Barcelona Airport |
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| Impressive airport 🙂 |
We arrived around 23.20 in the airport, so there were few people and I think most of the airport employees were busy watching the football match. 🙂
