Beautiful Barcelona

Upon arriving at Barcelona's airport, we hopped on the metro with our bags in tow. Getting off in the Poble Sec neighborhood, we made the quick 1 minute walk from the metro station to our hotel - Casa Vaganto. It was an old apartment building that had been converted into a boutique hotel. It had a hospitable and nostalgic feel while including all of the modern comforts of a modern day hotel. After cleaning up, we immediately made our way to Carrer de Blai (think of it as a pedestrian walkway in between tapas bars) in hunt of tapas. This street has an endless amount of tapas bars offering a variety of drinks and food. We started as Las Tasqueta de Blai and ordered beer and a plate full of tapas. If you don’t know what a tapa is, it’s essentially a small plate of food. It’s like an appetizer or bite sized piece of food. To be honest, I had no idea what I ordered. I went up to the glass case and pointed to the things that looked good. Thankfully, it was successful. After that, we went to Bar La Bota for more tapas and live music. Feeling full and sleepy, we went back to the hotel and slept.

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel - croissants, coffee, and fresh orange juice. We hopped on the metro and went to La Sagrada Familia. Included with the purchase of our tickets, which they considered a donation to the completion of the construction of the church, came an audio tour. The attention to detail was outstanding! It seems that every inch of this church was intentionally planned out and crafted with the utmost care. My girlfriend and I were left in complete awe touring the church. Our favorite aspect was the many different stained glass windows. They cast a beautiful light into the church and made for some incredible photos. After falling in love with Antoni Gaudi’s church, we decided to visit some more of his work and went to Park Guell. This might possibly be the most Instagramable place in Barcelona. Don’t let the throngs of tourists and Instagram models keep you away. This place is truly beautiful and worth the visit. After hours of sightseeing, we were famished! We made our way back to the Poble Sec neighborhood then walked towards the port. There we encountered a long line for a tapas bar - Can Paixano. It was worth the wait. Glasses of pink rose cava and endless tapas made for an excellent way to cure our hunger and end a great day.

We ventured out of our hotel to Tropic, a tropical themed breakfast joint. I got huevos rancheros and my girlfriend got a short stack of pancakes. Both were delicious. After that, we walked towards the Ramblas neighborhood where we were meeting a group for a unique tour of Barcelona. While our tour would cover the history of Barcelona and take us through its many different neighborhoods, it would all center around one thing - chocolate. Two and a half hours of experiencing and eating Barcelona’s rich tradition of chocolate and pastries. It was truly a chocolate and pastry lover’s dream come true. I found this tour on Airbnb’s experiences. Carla was a wonderful tour guide! After eating an insane amount of sugar, we badly needed a nap. Post nap, we walked to the Rambla de Mar, a pedestrian walkway in the harbor. There we watched the sunset and happened to run into a party of some type with a live DJ. We joined in and danced with the crowd. Feeling ready to eat, we visited La Plata and ordered traditional tapas while sipping beer. Delicious.

Day number four took us to La Rambla, a beautiful boulevard that stretches multiple blocks. We started at the top of it near Placa de Catalunya. Right near the start, there is an ornate lamp post that is also a drinking fountain. It is said that whoever drinks from it will surely return to Barcelona again. After drinking enough water to return at least two more times, we strolled down the avenue admiring the buildings. It is a unique mixture of high end fashion stores and historical monuments. For lunch, we found a unique place called Salterio in the Gothic quarter. It was a low lit cafe with stone walls that were filled with books and knick knacks. It had delicious tea as well as Turkish coffee. For food, we ordered a tortilla-like sandwich that was filled with hummus and delicious vegetables. Good vibes.

Make sure to stop by the Mercado de La Boqueria, especially if you’ve never visited a traditional market before. After that, we strode all the way down La Rambla to the port. Make sure to walk on the Rambla de Mar. It’s a floating walkway that often has live music and entertainment. It also makes for a romantic place to watch the sunset. We walked around the Moll d’Espanya and admired the many yachts that filled the port. If you’re curious about who owns these boats, you can google the boat name and home port and find out. While we were there, the King of Bahrain's yacht was in the port! After oohing and awing, we walked to the Sant Miquel Beach and enjoyed the vibes. Later that evening we made our way to Dr. Stravinsky, a craft cocktail bar. It has numerous awards for being one of the best bars in the world. The bar had a cool, science experiment vibe to it.

For our final day in Barcelona, we decided to cross off the final Gaudi buildings that our hearts had desired to see - Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. Holy cow. These buildings are so cool and they are just a few blocks away from each other. We had downloaded an audio tour for this area and learned about the Gaudi buildings as well as some other ones. It’s around $40USD to enter Casa Batllo. While that is on the pricey side for museums and the like in Barcelona, it is wild. I’d suggest looking at some photos online and then deciding if you want to go inside! After admiring all the beautiful architecture, hit up Faborit Casa Amatller. It’s right next door and has incredible hot chocolate. It’s literally melted down chocolate bars. Wow. For dinner, we visited Perikete near the port for tapas. The jamon iberico is unreal. Following that and a google search of the top fifty bars in the world, we learned that there was another top bar in the area - Paradiso. It happened to be the number one ranked bar in the world! We got there early and managed to snag two seats at the bar. This was easily one of the highlights of our trip. From the drinks that we ordered to the entertainment that the bartenders provided, this was an incredible experience and the perfect way to end our trip!