The Zara Pilgrimage

So what happens when Zara opens its first store in a sleepy, modestly dressed, kind of laid back city like Namma Bengaluru???

Well, me for starters, dressed up a bit more than usual. I had to go to ZARA after all... And brush shoulders with fellow fashionistas and Zara-obsessors (is that even a word!?) I even carried the slightly-too-heavy Canon DSLR around my neck... Such was my intent and excitement. Who knew, I would probably put up pics all over my blog about "my day out" at the Bengaluru Zara.

But what exactly happened?
I did not manage to take even one decent picture!
And well, not to exaggerate, but it was a bit more like a factory visit, the whole journey with my colleagues to the outskirts :P Sorry, all you people staying in Whitefield. Until my work place shifts to some non-central location, I will always consider Whitefield the "out-skirts".

Ah, but the mall was quite large (I'm not always critical!) and spacious- a welcome change for malls in Bangalore. The Zara store is supposed to be 17,000 sq feet. An expansive la-la land of fashion. But, somehow to me, it just seemed empty and some merchandise looked like it was last season(horrors!) Specially after just visiting all the Zara's through my Euro trip (I am one devoted pilgrim , right?) and of course the Zara's in Delhi n Mumbai... Okay, okay, it just opened a week ago and all that, let's give it a break.

So, I realize I am not supposed to behave like this. But this is great news!
I speak for all fashion conscious Bangloreans. We have been waiting foreverrrr for Zara to come here. Now let's just hope that we get fresh stock around here. Fingers crossed :)  The absolute lack of international brands in this city makes us behave in such funny ways! And the best part is that all other brands are going to follow suit, now that Zara is here.
 Hoot hoot!

The devotees await :)

Toned , stoned and Barceloned

No I don't mean 'that' stoned, though I wish we were... haha!

Things to do before going to Barcelona :

1. Make sure you're toned. Or at least half way there. It reaaaallllllly matters how the legs look in those short shorts. Oh yes they do.
 2. Make Gaudi your God. Yes, worship him.Or at least google him and his famous works so that you don't feel like an idiot visiting the most mind-freakin'blowing architecture that you will see (made by a human).
3. Beware of the La Ramblas... Its supposedly the most 'happening' street of Barcelona. But all it had to offer was lousy touristy objects(which are must-buys of-course :P), a bunch of tourists and a whole bunch of fellow hindustani shop-owners who will give you special discounts as you're Indian.
4.Learn some spanish. Nah not really. Can manage just fine without it. But learn it anyway as its a beautiful language.Though I prefer the South American Spanish to The Spanish spanish.....

Things to do once in Barcelona :

 Become a hippie.Roam aimlessly. Its really easy once you're there. The vibe just got to me.... Sadly we were there for a very short while :(  But then I bought whichever trinkets (see my right hand) which took my fancy and consoled myself... sigh!!

Go to Zara! ( well, we have one now in Bangalore too, but who cares!)

Must buy this season: The coated pants!

Go to the Desigual store (only if you want) as you're in Spain. Or not. I didn't. No, really. I find it over the top, garish and in-asthetically loud. I'm sorry if I'm hurting sentiments here, but that's what I think :P Maybe this point should be called "What NOT to do in Barcelona"!

 All of Gaudi's masterpieces are completely worth going to and gawking at. For hours... My favorite-favorite was Parc Guell. 
 

 Sagrada Familia (the famous still-under-construction church/monument ) is definitely the biggest and the most ambitious piece. What I love about it the most is the contrast between the outside and inside. Depressing vs Divine. Structured vs Flowing. Obviously, I loved the inside. How did he manage to carve such crazy intricate things in stone!

The tree trunk - his inspiration

The pillars inside Sagrada- his creation

Have the Sangria or dieeeeeee! I mean seriously. Sangria is the most delicious, mouth watering wine punch ever made. And make sure you have a litre- pitcher. The pitcher works beautifully in making all things blurry... Sangria made me talk super-fluent Hindi as well!  :)

Walk around.  And see how beautifully the whole city resonated Gaudi's aesthetics in beautifully crazy way. Initially I thought the word "gaudy" comes from Antoni Gaudi's surname, but that's not true. Though the souvenir shops seemed to have taken "gaudy" too seriously, we did manage to find some beautiful mosaic trinkets :P