P.S. I LOVE YOU

I wanted to watch the film of P.S. I LOVE YOU before but I have been too busy and this film isn't on cinema now so I bought a book and watched it during my trip.

I'm not a big fans of romance and someone told me the film was good so I had high expectation of this story. Holly and Gerry were perfect couples but Gerry died of a brain tumor and Holly feels lost and depressed. She can't move on and she just stays at her apartment and deteriorating.

Then she received a package from her husband whom wrote a list for her before he died. It is a series of notes to be opened at the beginning of each month which helps her to move on her life. And each noted is signed as "P.S. I love you".

The plot is ok but not as heartwarming as I hope. I don't really like the character of Holly. She seems to be too weak and immuture to move on her life. It just didn't grab me at all. A bit disappointed but maybe the film is better!

DAY 9 HONG KONG

I'm back to Hong Kong!! My vacation is over!! I didn't sleep on the flight at all and I'm extremely tired. The weather in Hong Kong is very gloomy and the sky is grey. I heard that it has been raining when I was in Spain and Porgutal. I'm going to miss the blue sky and the sun in Spain!!

I keep complaining on Spring and rain season coz I really hate it!! Back to Hong Kong is like going back to the reality... Tomorrow I'm going to work again!! Sigh...

Someone asked me if I had seen many good-looking guys in Spain or Portugal. Well, I didn't meet any!! Maybe I wasn't lucky enough!! Guys like Fernando Torres and Raúl González are not usually hanging around the street I guess :D LOL

DAY 8 BARCELONA / AMSTERDAM

Time runs fast and it's time for me to say goodbye again!! My vacation is so short!! I took the noon flight from Barcelona to Amsterdam and then took flight back to Hong Kong.


Overall this trip is quite good, but it would be better to travel on my own. I really hate joining the tour coz it's too rush and I don't have much time to visit the cities. I feel like everyday I spend much time on the coach to sleep :D Next time I will never join the tour again!!

I like Barcelona most and also Toledo. What a shame that I only spent 1.5 days in Portugal and I didn't even visit much for this country! The street scenes in Lisbon looks so much alike Macau!!

I realise learning European language is so important coz it's really so frustrating to communicate with non English speaker! How come Spanish and Portuguese people don't speak English well? :D

Things in Spain are so expensive comparing with Germany!! I was surprised!! I didn't buy many things coz most of the shops were closed during Easter and things are too expensive. I feel empty without buying anything for myself :P

DAY 7 BARCELONA

Spent few hours on the coach coz we were going to Barcelona from Valencia. I was so sick today :( I got stomachache, headache and cold sweat. I didn't have lunch at all since I lost the appetite. Took some painkiller and I felt a bit better.

Then started to visit the city centre of Barcelona. We first took a look on Gaudi's work: Casa Milà. The design of Gaudi is very special and unique. I like his architectures a lot.



Especially the Park Güell and Sagrada Familia. He used a lot of multicolored mosaic at the Park Güell which carries out his own style.

The Sagrada Familia is still building and the project is scheduled to be completed in 2020. It's a very impressive church and I really want to see when it is completed. Didn't get a chance to get in but maybe one day I will visit there again. The artworks of Gaudi makes Barcelona more lovely!! :D

DAY 6 VALENCIA

It's pretty far away from Madrid to Valencia and it took around 4 hours more by coach. When we arrived Valencia it was already nearly 2pm. We had Paella for lunch again but this time it wasn't as good as the one in Toledo.

After lunch we had city tour at Valencia. Valencia is the 3rd largest city in Spain. We visited Torres de Quart, City of Art and Science, the Catheral of Valencia and the Plaza of de la Virgen.





Some centuries ago, The Catheral of Valencia is used to be a mosque, but when El Cid conquered the city, it became a Roman Catholic cathedral.


We had a Spanish local guide to show us around the city, she spoke her English with Spanish accent which I hardly understand and I almost fell asleep :P

We had a drink in a cafe and the coffee there was quite cheap. Spanish coffee was quite good but I still prefer latte or Cappuccino.

Then we went back to hotel to have dinner and once again we had French fries and "dried steak". I didn't like it at all. It's the disadvantage for joining the tour coz you never have choice.

When I went back to the hotel room, the light at the mini bar didn't work well. It kept flashing so I called the reception and asked them to fix it. The lady didn't understand english well and she sent someone to our room to take a look. The other lady couldn't understand English too!! She could only speak Spanish and she wasn't willing to fix it. How come they have such service tho I only stayed for on night... I feel like Spanish people are not so friendly and helpful.

DAY 5 MADRID / TOLEDO / CONSUEGRA

Someone said The Stadium of Real Madrid Club is a must-go place and for sure our tour gudie showed us around there. I wasn't not so keen to see the Stadium of Real Madrid, I couldn't go in anyway and also Owen is not playing there anymore :P It didn't interest me much :D

Today there is a game for Real Madrid and Valencia at 19.00. Many people queued for buying the tickets. I heard that the tickets are pretty expensive.

The coach of Valencia C.F. was driving in to the Real Madrid stadium, I guessed they were some football players in the coach but I have no idea who they are. I don't want Spanish Football at all :D

Then we went to Toledo to have a city tour. First we had lunch at a hotel restaurant in Toledo and we had paella. The paella was so delicious and there were many seafood inside!

After lunch we walked around Toledo city and visited the Catheral of Saint Mary. Toledo is declared as a World Heritage Site and this city is very peaceful and beautiful. The old city is located on a mountaintop, which is surrounded by the Tagus River.

We also went to Consuegra which is not on the list of itinerary so we had to pay extra 10 Euro each for the driver to drive us there. I don't think it really costs so much but I really would like to see the windmills on the hill.

The windmills look fantastic but it was so cold on the top of the hill!! We only stayed there for 15mins coz it was snowing again.

We went back to Madrid for dinner and then went back to hotel for rest. Nothing much to do when I was back to hotel coz I was extremely tired.

DAY 4 SEGOVIA / AVILA / MADRID

It's a cold glommy day. We took the coach for 2 more hours to Segovia. It's a old city which contains a lot of monuments such as the Cathedral, a famous ancient Roman Aqueduct, the Alcázar and some Romanesque buildings.

We had lunch at Spanish restuarant which is famous for serving the Baked Piglet. This is the 3rd generation for them to run this resturant business. They have a tradition custom before eating the piglet. The owner of the restaurant announces something in Spanish (which I don't understand) and use a plate to cut the piglet (to show how soft the piglet is). Then he dropped that plate on the floor.

It's kinda strange to drop the plate on the floor and what a waste!! I wonder how many plates they waste everyday :D The Piglet was really soft but a bit greasy.

After lunch we walked around Segovia to see the castle and Cathedral. It was raining and extremely cold! I didn't expect it could be so cold in Spain in March!!

Then we went to Ávila which is famous for the medieval city walls. I bet the scene would be much beautiful if it is sunny day. It was too cold so I just took a quick snap shoot and jumped back to the coach :P

On the way to Mardid, it even snowed!! So crazy!! It was freezing!! What's wrong with Spain?

Luckily it didn't snow in Madrid, we shopped around at the city centre and had a tour in the city. So many people were hanging around in the street coz it was holiday.

At night we watched the Flamenco and it was a fantastic show. It's part of Spanish culture and their music is very strong, rhythmic. I enjoyed it a lot.

DAY 3 FÁTIMA / SALAMANCA

Didn't sleep much last night but I still had to wake up early without choice!! Fátima is a village in Portugal where Virgin Mary appeared 6 times to 3 children from May to October in 1917.

When I was in Fátima Basilica, I could feel the peace and silence since it was Easter and many prayers and Catholics went there. Some prayers even got down on their knees to walk along the path in front of the Basilica to show their faith and loyalty.

Then we had lunch at a local restaurant, nothing much special, just potatos and meat. After lunch we headed to Spain and we had to say goodbye to Portugal.

When we arrived Salamanca, it was nearly 5pm. We walked around at Plaza Mayor, it looks like the Italian Plaza San Marco. No wonder Salamanca is one of the most spectacular Renaissance cities in Europe. Most of the shops were closed during Easter and we couldn't buy much things there.

Dinner at hotel restaurant, the food wasn't good at all and I have no idea why they don't have sauce for the steak. Maybe Europeans don't like sauce? :D French fries + Steak is more like American cusine than Spanish cusine :D I didn't even have ketchup for the French fries!!