After a sun-filled month of July on the beaches of Greece, Montenegro and Croatia, we were excited for a change of pace and ready to get back to a city with more to do and see. Time for Barcelona…
Pro tip: If you’re planning a trip there, be sure to book tickets in advance for the major tourist attractions (i.e. Sagrada Família). This was the first major European city we experienced and didn’t realize many of the prime time slots for things we wanted to see were already sold out, so we had to take what we could get.
Highlights of what we did and saw while in Barcelona:
- La Sagrada Família – easily the most impressive gothic style church in the world. We were both in awe touring the inside.
- La Boqueria Market – Barcelona’s Pike Place. Great little market. We went here multiple times and ate our way through it trying fried anchovies, fresh juice, gelato, etc.
- Picasso Museum –had more than 100 Picassos. I think Travis stopped paying attention after the 65th but don’t worry he kicked back in around the 90th.
- La Rambla – roamed this main street checking out the shops and people watching.
- Park Güell – full of the artist Gaudi’s sculptural work.
- Casa Batlló – Gaudi designed building, well worth checking out.
- Gothic Quarter – roamed the neighborhood, great architecutre and historical buildings.
- Paella cooking class – the advertisement had us at “unlimited sangria”
After three months in South America speaking *some* Spanish followed by two months in Turkey/Greece/Montenegro/Croatia knowing none of the local language, getting to Spain was a treat. We could slightly understand people and at the least exchange general pleasantries and read menus. This helped so we could devour all the delicious meats and churros we could find…and be “we” I mean Travis.
Throughout our couple of days in Barcelona we walked nearly everywhere and only rode the metro once. This allowed us to get in 6-10 miles of walking each day which is actually a treat when you don’t have gym access.
Barcelona has SO much to offer and is one of our top favorite cities from our trip! We’ve already decided it will be one we go back to in the coming years to pull more experiences from.
Government building
Getting lost as usual
One of the main squares
Flower market
Even the street lamps were cool
Mosaic of Flaminco dancing
Loving the street signs
Where the king use to make rulings from
Bullet holes from firing squads that use to kill people against the church
One of the many cathedrals in the city
Trav letting his hunger show him the way
The Pike Place market of Barcelona
Fresh fruit and juice everywhere
All sorts of fruit
Trav’s kryptonite
Seafood cones
Sardine cone
jamón is EVERYWHERE
Just checking out some Gaudi sculptures
Gaudi built houses
Park views
Golden chariot above the park
Understide of the park with beautiful mosiac stonework
Had to get a picture of this lil guy
Rock pillars paying respect to culture
Rooftop of Case Milà
Segrada Família from afar
Roof of Casa Milà
Gaudí artwork
Casa Milà
Outside of Casa Milà
Barcelona streets
Arch during the day
Paella cooking class
Fresh seafood for our Paella
Finished product
All the fixings for Paella
Amazing meal next to our hotel
Being sneaky and getting free coffee at a Nespresso store. Don’t judge, we are homeless.
Breakfast date!
Too many good deserts in Spain
Sagrada Família
Inside of Sagrada Família
Sagrada Família continued
Inside of Sagrada Família
Inside of Sagrada Família
Sagrada Família continued
Ceiling of Sagrada Família
Another angle of the ceiling
Outside artwork
Coolest door ever
Close up of the door
Under construction for more than 100 years