Sight Seeing in Barcelona on Low Budget

Two and a half years ago I was in Barcelona for one month for a Spanish Summer Course. The city was so beautiful and it left some special memories for me. I know one month is not long enough to explore the whole city and live it like the locals, but in here I want to share some of interesting places that are worth to visit with no entrance cost.


1.    Magic Fountain in Plaça d’Espanya

   The Magic Fountain in Plaça de Espanya

 
Plaça d’Espanya or Plaza de España in Spanish, is one of Barcelona’s most important plaza, located a little bit out of the center of town, which is held at the foot of Montjuïc, in the Sants-Montjuïc district. The main draw to Plaça d’Espanya is the Catalonia’s museum Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) which gracefully stands up on the side of Montjuïc.  

 Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)

But there is also one famous fountain that attracts many people to come and see it. This spectacular fountain is famous because of its water arrangement, sound and lighting.  Many people come and sit around the fountain waiting for the show.  When I was there, I saw people stands around the fountain and they danced along with the music. Some of them stand very close to the water in purpose so they can get some water splash.  The Magic Fountain only has shows from Thursday to Sunday at 21:00. So, if you want to see its performance, you better stay in Barcelona on weekend. 

                                

 People waiting for the Magic Fountain show 

   Young people dancing to the music by the pool during the Magic Fountain performance

Plaça Espanya itself is well connected to the centre of Barcelona by Metro (Green Line L3 and Red Line L1). The centre of town is 10 minutes ride away or you can walk there for 30-40 minutes.

2.    Plaça de Catalunya

 Plaça de Catalunya

 
Plaça de Catalunya or also known as Plaza Cataluña in Spanish, is a large square in central Barcelona and to regarded as the city center . It is also the place where the old city (Barri Gotic) and the modern city (Eixample) meet. The plaza is especially known for its fountain, statues and the grass verge, which makes it a welcoming green oasis in the very heart of the city. Near the plaza, you can find some nice department stores like El Corte Ingles and FNAC and also cafes, like Café Zurich which is well known as a social meeting place in the city.


3.    Las Ramblas

Street performers and shops along Las Ramblas

 
This is one of the popular spot in Barcelona that you should not miss. It stretches from Plaça Catalunya in the north until Monument A Colom in the south with 1,2 km walkway. Here, you will see all kinds of food stall, restaurant, bar, and street performer along with many thousands of people promenade up and down Las Ramblas.

4.    La Boqueria

The entrance of La Boqueria

The Mercat de Sant Josep de Boqueria , or well known as La Boqueria is a large public market in Barcelona. The market can easily be found while you are strolling along Las Ramblas. It is situated on the right hand side when you are walking from Plaça Catalunya towards Monument Colon. Right next to it, there is Dunkin Coffee, so I am sure that you wouldn’t miss it. 

 Stuff sold in La Boqueria

Like most market, they sell meat, fruits, vegetables, seafood, fish, sweets, chocolate, candies and other things. There were also small cafes where you can sit and eat tapas or snacks. Surprisingly, when I was there on summer, I saw that they also sold rambutan. Oh yes, one of Indonesia’s tropical fruit was there and they mentioned specifically that it was from Indonesia.

5.    Monument A Colom

Monument A Colom

 
Monument A Colom or Mirador de Colon is memorial to the great explorer Christopher Colombus which is located at the lower end of Las Ramblas. The monument is a high statue towering 60 meters into the sky with Colombus standing proudly at the top pointing out toward the sea. Right across the monument, you can see the marina area of Port Vell. It has an attractive walkway across the marina called Rambla del Mar. 

 Rambla de Mar

6.    Barri Gotic

Barri Gotic

 
Barcelona Barri Gotic or is also known as Gothic Quarter is located in the area where the Barcelona old town is situated. The streets in the area are considerably vary in style but the old quarter is generally characterized by narrow cobbled streets with tall building.

7.    Barceloneta Beach

Barceloneta Beach

 
Barceloneta Beach is the closest beach to the Barcelona city center. If you walk from Monument Colon at the end of Las Ramblas, then you can reach the beach in 15 minutes.  Or you can also take the Metro using the Yellow Line (Line 4). There are many good sea food restaurants in Barceloneta and also some clubs. In summer time, the beach are always full with people, especially on weekends.

8.    Parc de Ciutadella

Fountain in Parc de Ciutadella

 
Parc de Ciutadella is located at the northeastern edge of the old town. Within its 70 acres, it hosts the city’s substantial zoo (which unfortunately I didn’t get to visit), the Parliament of Catalonia, a lake, some museums, and a fountain. 

The Lake and the green area of the park

This park is characterized as a busy place where there are many tourists and locals who are usually going for a walk or picnic. This is also a good place for sports, for example boating in the lake, cycling (both bicycle and boat can be rent), or jogging. Some also play football.

Hollandse Dienst in Jakarta - GPIB Immanuel

Immanuel Church is one of the historical building in Jakarta. It was first constructed on the birthday of King Willem I on August 24, 1835 and lasted four years until August 24, 1839.  The church was then named Willemskerk.

This church is situated in the center of Jakarta, right across the Gambir train station and not far from Monas. With this location, it is easy to reach this place from any parts of Jakarta.

Apart from being an ancient and a historical building, what interests me about this church is because it has Sunday Service in several languages : Indonesian: English, Dutch and Korean.

Here is their schedule :
06:00 Indonesian
08:00 Indonesian
10:00 Dutch
11:00 Korean
17:00 English
18:30 Indonesian

I started coming regularly to the Dutch Service (Hollandse Dienst) around a year ago with my mom. She had heard about the Hollandse Dienst several years ago and we had come there once or twice but we didn't become regular visitor until end of 2011.

The first time I had been there I was a bit surprised because apparently I was the youngest visitor. Most of the visitors were around my mom's age and older. Actually this is not a big surprise because most of the people who speak Dutch these days are around her age. But one thing interests me is that one of their pastors who regularly gives preach is still young and he is around my age. Apparently, he had studied his master in Theology in Holland. No wonder he speaks good Dutch.

The congregation was small, not more than 30 people. But with this small community, they know each another. And to keep the bound strong among them, after the service they have coffee or tea together along with some snack at the small building at the back of the church.

I probably won't be attending this service next year because I will be moving out of town. But one thing I want to say here is that this church has become a part of my life for the past one year and I hope it will continue to grow and by the time I return back to Jakarta, they will still be there. 

Jakarta in a day

When you are in Jakarta for a short visit and have one day off to stroll around the city, here are some places that you can and should see within one day. No, they are not shopping malls.

1.    Monas

Monas is the landmark of Jakarta. Situated in the central of the city, this is the easiest meeting spot for most people. Make sure that you arrive in the morning so you don’t have to wait for too long in line to get to the top of the monument where you can view all over Jakarta

Jakarta seen from the top of Monas

2.    Museum Gajah

I would say that this Museum is the most complete one if you want to see the culture of Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke. They have a complete collection of traditional artwork from the whole country, also from the ancient period. This museum is located right across Monas and it takes around 7 minutes by walking.

Some collections of Museum Gajah

3.    Museums in Kota Tua

There are several museums that are located in Kota Tua, such as Bank Mandiri Museum, Bank Indonesia Museum, Fatahilah Museum, Puppet Museum, etc. There are some alternatives to get there from Museum Gajah : by car (I don’t suggest this because it’s difficult to find parking space), by taxi or by Transjakarta busway line Blok M - Kota. The last option is advisable when you are not rushing with the time and like to travel on low budget transportation. 

Inside look of Museum Bank Indonesia

Some of the puppet collections from Puppet Museum

This area is also famous for people to do some photo shoot sessions because of the ancient look of the old buildings.

Kota Tua area

Museum Fatahillah

4.    Café Batavia

When you are tired after walking around the museums and looking for something to eat or drink, then Café Batavia is a good place to relax. They offer Asian and Western food, as well as Indonesian. This restaurant is really famous among expatriates and tourists because it has a unique atmosphere.

 Bar in Cafe Batavia

The restaurant on the second floor

Men's toilet in Cafe Batavia

5.    Tour Sepeda Ontel / Bike for Hire

In the hall of the Kota Tua area, you can hire a bicycle with the tour guide and he will take you to ride around to visit other places nearby, like Naval Museum (Museum Bahari), Sunda Kelapa port.

Sepeda Ontel

6.    Ancol Marina Bay

Where is the best place to see the sunset if it’s not by the beach. The next place you should visit is Ancol Marina Bay. You can also go there directly from Kota Tua by taxi or by Transjakarta busway. If it’s still to early to catch the sunset, then you can go to the art market (Pasar Seni) or Sea World. There are many nice restaurant along the beach where you can have dinner or just to seat and have some drinks. Of all the places, I think having a romantic dinner by the beach is the best way to end the day.

Pasar Seni (Art Market)

 Sunset by the beach

Walk our way to Tangkuban Perahu

If you happen to travel around Bandung and stay there for a few days, Tangkuban Perahu is one place that is worth to visit. This place is located 30 km north of the city and it is also reachable from Lembang or Subang. If you are coming  from Jakarta, I suggest you to start early in the morning, because you can never tell the traffic  in Jakarta or even in Bandung, especially during the weekend and holiday.

The best way to go to Tangkuban Perahu is by private car because it is quite difficult to reach by public transportation. You can also hire an “angkot” if you are staying in Bandung.

There are many things that you can do in Tangkuban Perahu beside sight seeing. If you are a shopping freak, then there are many shops that sell souvenirs or traditional handy crafts to satisfy your need.


You can also enjoy some traditional snack and drinks which are sold in small huts, like grilled corn or Bandrek (a hot ginger drink).

You can also walk along the crate but at certain point, the road become a bit dangerous if you are not careful. But if you like hiking, then this is an good challenge.

Sultan's Palace, Taman Sari and around Yogyakarta

Oh, it has been months since my last post. I should have posted my third day journey months ago, but things came up and I was so lazy to write anything. Anyway, here is my story. 

Our third day schedule was to visit the Sultan's Palace and Taman Sari Water Palace. We took a becak ride to the Sultan's Palace first. It was quite early but the Palace was already full with visitors. Just like my previous visit to other tourist's destination, again we had an English tour guide to explain everything about the Palace and the history about the royal family of the Sultan. Since we had already visited Ullen Sentalu Museum a day before, we were then familiar with everything that was being explained by the tour guide. Our tour guide is a nice lady. She informed us that every 10:00 AM there is always a performance in the hall of the palace. This time there was a performance of Gamelan. 

Gamelan performance in Sultan's Palace

I remember that years back when I was in school, I did a Study Tour and visit the same palace. But at that time, it seemed that the Palace was big and there were so many things to see. It took one whole day for us to see everything and this time it only took half an hour. Maybe the itinerary for foreign tourist and students are different. 

After we finished our visit at the Sultan's Palace, we walked to Taman Sari Water Palace. As we got out of the palace, there were many becak drivers offering their service to take us anywhere. But since we had known that Taman Sari is close by, we preferred walking to get there. 

Seeing the place, I could see that the Water Palace was a very nice relaxing place. There are 3 big pools that once were used by the royal family of the Sultan to bathe. There is also a room that was used as a place for the family to have spa. 

Taman Sari Water Palace

For this visit in the water palace, we didn't have any tour guide because they also didn't provide one. But there were many "unofficial" tour guides available all around the place in case you need one. You just needed to pay around IDR 10.000 and they would take you to all places and give some explanation about them. Since we didn't feel the need for one, so we decided to guide ourselves all around this place. 

My friend Wolfi and I, we were the unconventional tourists at that time. After we finished our visit in the water palace, instead of taking a becak ride, we decided to walk and went through the alleys to get out of the area. I guess you know what would happen to people who don't use map or GPS when they walk around in an unfamiliar area. Yes, they get lost. That also happened to us. But the beauty of getting lost is to know some interesting places that most tourists don't get to see.

Javanese houses in Yogyakarta

It was really a tiring day because on this day we walked a lot and that reminded me of my tiring walk in Prague. Lucky that this time I was wearing a pair of proper shoes. So, after we found our way back, we walked to Malioboro. It was really an exhausting journey because it was in the middle of the day and the weather was hot. We made a stop to have lunch in a small shopping center and followed with a quick coffee session. 

Old church building

After recharging our energy, we finally made it to Malioboro. There were too many shops in this area, I decided to walk in to Mirota to have a look. The reason why I went to this shop was because there was no need to bargain. I knew that there was no use to bargain if you were walking with a foreigner because they would still give you a higher price than you could get. Being inside of this shop was really relieving. Especially after walking in a super hot day. We didn't stay long here because we also had a plan to go swimming and we tried to get back to the hotel as soon as we could. We learned that during our stay in Yogyakarta, in the day the weather might get really hot but later in the afternoon, around 15:00 to 16:00, the weather got cooler and it turned to rain. So, we wanted to enjoy the pool before it rained. 

As predicted, it really rained after we were swimming for half an hour. So, we decided to take a rest for a while before we went to have dinner. Actually, if it had not rain, we also had a plan to join a Yoga Class. This hotel where we stayed had free yoga classes twice  a week, every Monday and Thursday. But since it was raining quite heavily that afternoon, I decided to just stay in our comforting room instead. 

It was our last night in Yogyakarta, so we decided to dress up a bit for dinner. Wolfi wore the batik shirt that he just bought in Mirota and I was wearing a batik skirt. We had dinner in an Italian restaurant. I had pasta and he had pizza. According him, I made a better choice of food than he did. 

Batik rocks!!

    

Our last dinner in Yogyakarta

It had been wonderful three days in Yogyakarta. Great times, great company and great places made this a wonderful holiday. I am looking forward to having my next holiday!

Exploring Borobudur, Ullen Sentalu, Prambanan

Our plan for the second day was to go to these places : Candi Borobudur, Ulen Sentallu Museum, Merapi and candi Prambanan. After we had our breakfast at the hotel, we went directly with the car we hired with the driver to these places. Our first destination was Borobudur. 


When we arrived at Borobudur, the driver directly took us to the special entrance for foreign tourist. As you probably know, the entrance price for local and foreign tourists are different. For foreign tourist it is USD 15 and for local tourist it is 30.000 IDR. The difference is so high but for that high price, you are welcome to have some drinks before start climbing the temple. And, with the special entrance, you don't have to wait and queue in long lines. 

The famous Candi Borobudur

It was a Sunday morning and Borobudur was full with people. Not to mention the school students who were on study tour. Funny thing was my friend seemed to be the favorite object of all students. They kept on coming to him asking to take pictures together or just to have an interview. They all asked the same things : what was your name, Where did you come from, how did you like Indonesia and what was your hope for Borobudur.

Not too far from Candi Bororbudur, there was also another temple, Candi Mendut. It is a smaller one compared with Borobudur. We stopped by here to take some pictures then we went directly to Ulen Sentallu museum. 

Candi Mendut

This museum is located in Kaliurang area and it looks hidden from outside. When we arrived, all that I could see was big trees. I couldn't even tell where the museum was until we were inside. We had to wait for 10 minutes before we could get it because the English speaking guide was not ready yet. The guide was a young lady named Wiwied. She was very funny and tried as hard as she could to explain what was inside the museum. The museum is interesting. It has many collections of the Sultan's family. We also could learn the history of the Sultan from here. The only bad thing is that we are not allowed to take any pictures. They only allow visitors to take pictures in certain areas. 

Ullen Sentalu Museum

It was already lunch hour and we were both hungry. So, we rushed out with the tour and headed to the restaurant right next to the museum, Beukenhof restaurant. It is a Dutch restaurant which has international menu on their list. The restaurant is nice. It has tables indoor and outdoor. We picked the outdoor table of course. The view from the outdoor table is very nice. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay outside for too long because it was beginning to rain. So, we moved inside. Lucky that we already finished our meal. After we paid, we went to a small merchandise shop right below the restaurant. The shop is also nice but it's too pricey for me. 

Beukenhof restaurant inside and outside view

It was raining heavily when we got out from the shop. But we didn't want to wait until the rain stopped so we just walked through the rain under my small umbrella. And of course we were both wet. Then we went to Merapi Mountain area. It was foggy and cloudy especially because it was raining earlier. So, there was nothing much to see. Our driver told us that we could go up to the mountain by jeep. But since we didn't have enough time, we didn't stay there for too long so we could catch up with Candi Prambanan. 

Merapi Mountain

The funny same story repeated again in Prambanan. My friend Wolfi was again surrounded by a bunch of students asking exactly the same questions and request. There was even a woman asking to take picture with him. I felt as if I was a manager of a famous person. 


On certain days, you can see the Ramayana Ballet in Prambanan. Unfortunately, they don't have it on Sunday. So, we had to miss this one out. We also had to miss Ratu Boko temple because when we arrived at Prambanan, it was already late and the temple was closed at 18:00. But, we got to see the Prambanan museum, on the last minutes before it was closed of course. 

Candi Prambanan

We still had a few hours left for using the car. Since we had no idea of where else to go, so we went to Prawirotaman area again to have some drinks. This time we went to a Turkish restaurant. Just like the previous night, this area was still quiet. For this night, we decided to have dinner at the hotel. If I can compare, the price of the food in the hotel doesn't have much different from the food in the restaurant. Later on, we ended the night enjoying some Dominican Rum brought by Wolfi all the way down from Vienna. Oh, what a lovely day!