My mum and I had been planning a trip away for a while now, and as we never got round to going out for our Birthdays we decided on a mini break, and where better then Barcelona.
Day One
We had a super early flight, so had a full day to wonder around and eat lots of food. We started on Les Rambles, the main walking street in the centre and stumbled across the Boqueria market. I bloody love a market when I'm on holiday (except from when they're full of knock offs), I feel like I should put bartering on my CV. This one was full of fresh fruit, juices, sweets, and other food! There was the most amazing veggie stall, they load up a (MASSIVE) plate full of paella, lasagne, salads, beans, veg, pasta, you name it - Dribbling just thinking about it.
If your in the area you must go, veggie or not. To get there just go through the main entrance all the way to the back, and then all the way to the right and it's on the corner. Thank me later.
If you wander down Les Ramble you eventually enter into all the little cute walking streets which are full of shops, from Zara, H&M, Sephora etc to small independent touristy shops and cafes. The streets are never ending, which I wish I'd realised before I wore the most uncomfortable sandals in life. It was OK though because Sangria solves everything.
We happened to stumble across this cute little square (Placa Reial) which was surrounded with Tapas resturants which we of course took full advantage of. While you eat, various street acts preform for you, lots being topless men dong acrobatics (oi oi) -Needless to say my mum got her coin purse out.
Day Two
On my last few city breaks I've been loving using tourist buses when you have lots to see in a short amount of time. I always thought this was a bit cringe, but it will always stop at everywhere already want to go and you see bits of the city you wouldn't have planned to. You can listen to tour if you fancy or just enjoy the views, beats the stuffy metro anyway.
On one of the stops we ended up going on a cable car up to a castle. The views were insane! (obvs took the opportunity for a few blog pics, which are in the post before this). You can see 360' views of Barcelona from where the sea wraps around the city. Just make sure you hold on to your hats, or skirt in my case.
We then spent the evening wandering around the marina looking for a good veggie feast, which was actually really hard - I feel like we must have completely missed the area where all the good restaurants are. Anyway we ended up on the beach and had some amazing Tapas (surprise surprise) and got chatted up by our waiter who apparently is coming to the UK to live with us.. Ok Juan.
We then went to rest our food babies on the beach and were forced (not really) to get a another few sangrias while the sun set.
Day 3
This day would have been a lot less manic if we'd booked before, please learn from our mistakes if you want to go here.
The Sagrada Famila and Park Guell (Antoni Gaudis best work in my opinion) were the two main places I wanted to visit in Barcelona, but as they're super close we squeezed them into the same day.
It was quite cloudy so we went to book to go inside the Sagrada Famila first but unless you book online theres a 4 hour wait. So in between we went to Park Guell where we had the same issue and had to book our ticket for the evening.
Spoiler alert, it all ended up ok. Luckily most of Park Guell is free to walk around, so that's what we did, and the sun came out just in time! There is the best views of Barcelona and the park is super tropical and cute. If you're travelling on a budget you could bring lunch and spend a whole day wondering around.
We then sprinted back (literally) whilst fanning our sweat with our tickets to meet our time slot at the Sagrada Famila. This building was started in 1882 and is still under construction to make it as beautiful as Gaudi imagined, its definitely worth a visit
Inside was so colourful and beautiful but it didn't take us long to walk around, I'm not religious in anyway so we just looked around at the architecture and then got some much needed pizza and ice cream.
We then went back to Parc Guell to meet the next booking. The walk is quite long from the bus stop and mid way it began to tip it down and we had to run to shelter.( Meanwhile England enjoys heats of 24', typical) The closest place to stand being a tiny triangle which sheltered someones garage, where we got up nice and close with a French couple.
I sat down for a while to rest me little tootsies from all the walking and all of a sudden the garage begins to open and I feel myself sliding into the wet road. A few moments later a Spanish woman runs up shouting apologies, garage key in hand. We took this as a sign to leave.
Luckily the rain slowed down and we made it into the main part of the Parc which was breath taking. This was my fave place of all, as you can probably tell by the endless amount of photos. As you have probably also guessed, I love a view, and this was the best one yet. I now have a new obsession with mosaics.
Day 3
Time to Chil. We made the most of our last buffet breaky; took advantage of the roof top pool; and took a few casual, effortless (not) pics. We then spent the rest of the day wandering around the walking streets, shopping and sneaked in a final bit of sun bathing on the beach.
I didn't bring my beach towel and clearly I'd got to cocky with the bartering. I set my price too low for a beach towel the looki looki men were selling on the beach and they then avoided me for the rest of the day. In the end I stubbornly lay on the beach with sand in my crack. *takes bartering off CV*
