Ceramics in Barcelona Lane Ways...

Many moons ago I studied Ceramic Design and never, ever thought I would get myself over to Barcelona - a city famous for it's ceramics. Twenty years, one husband and two daughters later, I got there.  Besides all the ceramic architecture from Antoni Gaudi, there were bits of ceramic artwork dotted throughout the city, especially in the Barri Gotic area.  I have to say, it was lovely to be able to share a passion I once held, with Monet.  It was great to have her see it all first hand.

In the little backstreets and lane ways of Barri Gotic (that's another post!), we came across a fabulous ceramic shop.  And of course we had to go in and see all the work in there.  Some of the work was magnificent, others, not so magnificent, but it was still pretty awesome to come across a store loaded with ceramics.

The store, Art Escudellers, ships worldwide (for our future reference).

Just out of no where, you would see beautiful hand painted tiles plastered onto the walls - showing where a particular place was or explaining something (in Spanish).  I loved spying them...

Ceramics isn't for everybody, nor hand painted tiles for that matter, but for me, I loved seeing that side of Barcelona.

A Market Visit Along La Rambla

One thing we noticed was how nice it was to have a city full of beautiful, big, green trees. They lined the main shopping streets and covered over the main tourist mecca, called La Rambla.

 La Rambla was about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment. The first time we saw it, we were amazed and soaked it all in. Even at 9am in the morning it was getting busy. We learnt that day though,  to try and avoid the strip, due to what seemed like a million people who pounded that section of the city. Kind of our idea of hell on earth.  But without the hoards of people, it was beautiful...

There was a lot of little stalls dotted along La Rambla - selling everything from souvenirs, to sweets, to pet budgies.  There was also annoying men, trying to sell these stoopid annoying bird whistles - why anyone would want one is beyond me...

We're not really into buying a lot of souvenirs (nor sending postcards for that matter)...

We were keen to see a famous fresh food market we were told about, La Boqueria.

Located along La Rambla, I have never seen a market quite like this in all my life.  I have seen a variety of fresh food markets across certain sections of the world, but never had I seen row after row of fresh, air-dried Jamon hanging like this...  In Barcelona, you get quite used to it - it is everywhere!  I guess the market wasn't really one for die-hard vegetarians...

But the fresh fruit, ohh the fresh fruit displays were, in a word, AWESOME!

The girls selected a little platter of fresh fruit each and then we chose a fresh fruit juice each.  At 1.5 Euro, it was pretty good value.  The juices were all made on site and the varieties were irresistible.  I think Monet raved about hers for at least two hours afterwards (she chose Strawberry and Pineapple) and Lily seemed to enjoy the drink I chose for her, Strawberry and Coconut.  Yummoh.

You must visit the market if you ever find yourself in Barcelona.  No doubt you will find yourself there anyway, you don't need to me to tell you.

Staying In Barcelona

In Barcelona, we managed to get ourselves another apartment that catered for our needs. This one, I am pretty sure, we were the first occupants in it.  It wast newly renovated. This I know, as because when we were walking in with the keys in hand, a builder was coming out and in broken English, explained he just had a couple of things that he was still doing which he promptly finished. We were more than impressed with how modern and clean the place was.

This apartment was in a residential block, with a teeny tiny lift, which we could either all just squeeze into, or if we had the stroller, it took two turns. And we were up on the top level, so it was never a quick relay.

The front door to the complex looked very typical of the area we were in;

Beautiful hey?  Inside, as I mentioned before, was clean and modern and we had a little balcony which over looked typical Spanish residences...

I loved the fact that we looked out onto the creeper on that wall.  As we currently live in a country surrounded by sand, anything green is usually welcome!

Imagine my surprise when MrL returned from a little walk after settling in and telling me to go up the stairs on the right, outside our apartment door.  "You're going to like what you see", he said.  He was dead right.

The stairs led up to the rooftop of the apartment complex.  The view was magnificent and made me feel very excited that I was in Spain and in Barcelona.

And when I saw just how close I was to Gaudi's final masterpiece, I could hardly contain myself.  (The photograph below is zoomed in a little)

I just knew I was going to love this city....

And Then We headed To Barcelona...

Pretty sure I couldn't believe it when we landed in Barcelona. It had been on my own bucket list for about 20-odd years and we finally made it.

The first thing that struck me that afternoon, after we had settled into our accommodation and had gone for a stroll around the immediate neighbourhood, was the architecture.  As I had encouraged Monet back in Berlin, to always look 'up' and take in everything that surrounds you, she very much enjoyed looking at the buildings too.  There were many beautiful buildings we saw over the whole week we spent in the city...  This one was a few doors down from where we were staying.

When we spied this building below, across the road a few blocks down, we had to explore in there - it was a fresh food market with a two storey supermarket in it.  I am pretty sure we were in awe.  Looks gorgeous, doesn't it?

It wasn't too long before we spotted our first Antoni Gaudi ceramic architecture masterpieces that the city is famous for.  But more on Gaudi in posts to come.  All I will say is 'wow', after having a degree in Ceramic Design (shh, don't tell anyone) and learning all about the great man all those years ago and seeing his work with my own eyes - well that is something else.  Just awesome....

It is always worth having a quick wander in the neighbourhood when you arrive somewhere new.  Good to get your bearings, see what is around the corner and on your doorstep.

Barcelona immediately had a very different feel and smell to it, after being in Berlin.  That's what I so love about Europe.  A two and a half hour plane ride, we went from some where where it was cool to somewhere that was humid, and how each country is so very different.  Melbourne to Cairns is a 3.5 hour plane ride which puts it all in perspective for us.  How very fortunate were we to be able to do this.  Very....

Not Sharing, But I'll Share Berlin With You.

I reckon if MrL was offered a job tomorrow in Berlin, we'd take it with both hands. Hopefully you can tell over the past couple of weeks posts, how much we enjoyed the city, and yeah I know it is different to live in a foreign city rather than visiting but still!

I quite like the fact that it is acceptable that drinking places are child accepting.  Drinking beer seems to be a part of German life, with what we saw.  Berlin is very different from Munich, which we visited with Monet three years previously, which is all Beer Halls and Breweries.  Berlin is more than that.  They're not into the big Beer Halls and values itself in being a city of modern history, with modern eateries and cafe culture.  Mind you, I think we sniffed out the (small) Beer Halls, more 'pubish', but still quite pleasing for us.

Monet was rather pleased to having picked out the below Ice-Cream Sundae in one we had sniffed out, whilst her baby sister napped in her stroller.


"Bewdy - no sharing required!"

I think that's what MrL and I both thought of our beers too; though they were always big enough to share, it's not the done thing!

Menus are always quite a read, no matter where you are in the world.

In this particular place we decided on a couple of share dishes which were quite delicious and enjoyed by us all...  Since being home, I have tried to recreate these two platters, but they will never be as tasty as they were on that cool, rainy Thursday.

It may seem that all MrL and I did during our 'foodie' time was drink.  Well, maybe we did - only the one or two mind you - but we were on holiday and justification isn't needed! Lol.  Living in an Arab country where drinking is severely frowned upon, you can probably understand the next photo a little better.   Where's the big black plastic bag to hide what you're holding MrL?

Berlin was awesome and I hope you enjoyed reading about our six days spent there.  Part of us did not want to leave but we knew we had another country destination to head to.  We did return back to Berlin for a night in a different part of the city, before heading back to Abu Dhabi the following week, but we still had Barcelona, Spain to explore and for me to blog about.

We traveled to Barcelona via the fabulous Air Berlin.  It is a 'cheap' airline but it is German so we knew it was trustworthy and would run smoothly.  We were right.  Kids were treated like Royalty - always brownie points with me.  If you travel with an infant, you don't have to pay extra for seat reservation and we got to board the plane both times before everyone else.  Such a bonus when traveling with kids.  Monet loved the little loot bag she got on both trips, both girls got Air Berlin beach balls and caps (*so cute*) and it was the first flight I had ever been on which the infant of the family got a special goodie bag consisting of a special rattle, a nappy, wipes, baby bottle, pacifier.  So keep Air Berlin in mind if you're ever trying to get from A to B in Europe. =) - This is NOT a sponsored post!! Lol

I Interrupt The Holiday Posts For This...

Since our return to the land of sand, coming up to two weeks ago, it may seem like nothing much has been happening in my neck of the woods.  In fact, you couldn't be further from the truth, so I'll put a holiday post at hold for today.

So tell me, what the heck is happening in our beloved London?  The visions I see, the words I read, the texts from my sister - it is unbelievable.  I just hope that something happens soon to calm the place down.  The looting is beyond call and makes me angry.  I can't get my head around it.

Yesterday I received a text from one of my best friends over here (she's Australian too) stating that her and her husband's world was shaken upside down by the fact that her hubby's father was missing, presumed killed, in a helicopter crash in deepest, darkest PNG.  He was a pilot and my mate's husband instantly put wheels into motion to get himself from Abu Dhabi to Papua New Guinea to help search for his father.  When you hear of things like this, it puts life into perspective and makes the London looters and violence hunters look more stupid than they already are.  My thoughts all yesterday evening and today have been with my dear friend.

On the upside, I have to say, I took baby steps and took the plunge into launching my skirts for the public.  I made a Facebook page (listed there on your left hand side bar) and posted it onto the Gated Community where I live, Facebook page.  Immediately I was getting 'Likes' left, right and center and I was quite overwhelmed by it all.  Within two days of me doing that, I have had two definite sales (came and bought from me) of three skirts and have about four pending sales.  I am rapt.  I still am, two days on.  Biglittlesister Skirts has now arrived.  Only available for Abu Dhabi customers at the moment, due to the fact that I don't trust the mailing system over here.  Before I launched the page, last week, I sold five skirts alone.  I think I know what western ex-pat women want!

More Holiday posts still to follow...

Better Than Harrods.

We discovered quite a few 'cool' shopping areas of Berlin. The guy, who we met to pick up our keys at our apartment, suggested an area just north of the Spree River which was full of little indie shops in small little streets.  When we found the area, it was getting on in time, we were all a little tired from all the walking, and I think we were a little over whelmed by our discovery of finding an array of stores we had been keen to look in.

MrL, Monet and myself all walked out of the area with a new pair of Birkenstocks each - paying less than half if we had bought them in Abu Dhabi.  Monet had earned hers very much so and they never left her feet from that day (and still haven't, two weeks on).

On our final full day in Berlin, before we headed off to Barcelona, we caught one of those hop on/hop off buses.  For us, those buses are more like, hop on/stay on till you do the full loop.  It didn't help that it was wet and rainy on that final day, but we did manage to get off and visit a store I had previously read about, KaDeWe.  It is known as the capitals equivalent to London's Harrods.  I thought it was better than Harrods...

Our first floor stop was the top floor, which housed the Gourmet Section.  Oh we ohhed and ahhed over the displays and the little eateries housed in there.

Monet's eyes just about popped out of her head when she noticed the 'sweetie section' and promptly chose a lolly pop for both her and her sister.  Truth be told, neither of my girls have indulged in their 'pop' due to them forgetting.  (I have them tucked away!)

Of course MrL and I quite enjoyed the beer section.  If given half a chance, we probably would have liked to purchase one of each...

We gave our legs a break by stopping into the little bar in the Gourmet section and sipped a cool pilsner whilst the two girls munched away happily on cheese topped rolls.  No one looks at you twice when you have a beer in Germany, at any time of the day - it is just the done thing.  Love that.

Down on the lower floors, Monet couldn't believe this section dedicated to Dogs.  Spoilt pooches more like it... (yes, this was all poochie stuff!)

The toy section was pretty cool.  I love me a cute cuddly toy...

I recommend visiting there if you do happen to visit Berlin.  I'm glad we did.

German Food? Yes please!

Have you ever seen such an amazing shop sign like this one for Berlin's Galeries Lafayette below?

The French Department in Berlin

I thought it was stunning as it was up about two stories high, on the shop facade.  Inside was lovely too.  The 'Food Hall', which the Galeries is famous for (there is one in Dubai Mall), was amazing too.   It's centerpiece was an inverted glass dome that looked back up into the upper levels...

The Food in the Hall was worth taking photos off....  These Macaroons really caught my eye.  In hindsight, I wish I had of bought one of each and did a taste test!  (But at 1 Euro each, perhaps not.)

And I am a sucker for bread.

One of the things we like a lot about Germany (it being our second visit), is the food.  And because we currently live in a country where pork products are not widely available, we ate a lot of pork!  I love a good German Wiener Escalope, and this one was no exception.   Served on a bed of pan fried potatoes, a few fresh herbs and tiny cubes of bacon, washed down with some delicious Berliner Pilsner, what else can I say?...

Another day, another pork German meal - this time I ordered roast pork, served with sauerkraut, and a potato dumpling.  No doubt I washed this down with a beer too.

Our final meal in Berlin, before we flew home to Abu Dhabi, (and after we spent a week in Barcelona), we were after something typically German.  So of course, I had to order a German sausage on a bed of sauerkraut and those delicious potatoes with herbs and bacon again.

We were gone for two week on our holiday and tried a lot of different foods.  Both girls were quite good in trying new stuff and in that fact, so were Lyndon and I.  I'm pretty sure we'll return to Germany down the track sometime, if not for the food,  definitely for the beer! ;)