Exploring Barcelona
This trip is flying by! Catie and I flew from CDG (Charles de Gaulle) airport to Barcelona at 3:25pm. Being back in Spain after so many years is so exciting. Just from driving over to the hotel I could already tell the vibe was more relaxed than in Paris, which was interesting to see the difference. Although it was forecasted to be hotter than Paris, it actually felt cooler because there were so many trees everywhere. We checked in to our hotel, which was thankfully a lot bigger than our Paris hotel, and then walked over to Casa Batlló.
Casa Batlló is one of Gaudi’s many architectural wonders around the city. His work was heavily influenced by his religion and nature. This casa reminded me of the ocean and even featured fisherman’s nets as railings. It was a fun walk up through the building, getting a drink at the top (we were lucky enough to be served before it closed), and then seeing a media show at the end. The outside of the building was also very pretty with what looked like skeletal bones as railings.
We wanted to explore a bit of the Gothic Quarter before heading to dinner. There were lots of musicians livening up the streets and the architecture looked amazing. I have no idea what the name is, but there were these purple flowering trees everywhere in the city. For dinner, of course, I ordered paella. It was absolutely delicious. When we got back to our hotel, we discovered that the a/c wasn’t working very well. Not the kind of temperature you want to be coming back to after spending all day in the hot sun.
The next morning, we walked over to Sagrada Familia. It is well-known for its architectural design and also for the fact that it is still not complete after over a hundred years. I loved the attention to details: the little figures dotting the facade, the mixing of different styles, the stunning glass windows and the light that streamed in, etc.
We stopped for a little snack and drink break at a cafe across the street from Sagrada Familia before walking towards Park Güell. Since we had time to kill before our reservation, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant called Terra Mia. The food there was phenomenal. I definitely recommend this restaurant if you go to this park.
We entered the park, and I don’t know what I thought it would be like, but I was genuinely surprised how big the place was. It was quite a bit of a walk around the edge and you could get a great view of the beach, Sagrada Familia, and the downtown area. The park was so beautiful with plenty of trees and the architectural buildings mixed in.
After we had exited the park, our data (which had been a joy to use during the trip *note the sarcasm) decided to stop working. We had planned to go to Font Magica de Montjuic but we were a little lost. We managed to get a weak signal to load which bus and where we needed to go. We were off and somehow managed to get to the right stop. Sadly, the fountain was turned off, but we got stroll along beautiful streets and even sat in a cafe (Natural Coffee) that thankfully had wifi and a/c. I was feeling a little irritated from the heat so it was a good way to recharge.
We found a restaurant when we were on our way back to our hotel called Restaurante Jamón y Vino. We had some great wine, pan con tomate (bread with a thin layer of tomato spread), fish and paella, and creme brûlée.
The next morning (our last day!), we took the bus over to Barceloneta Beach to soak in some sun and admire the water. We sat at Chambao, an open-air cafe, for most of the time. We ordered some drinks and patatas bravas to pass the time.
We walked the short distance over to Gothic Quarter where we spent the rest of our day. We ate some food (which was terrible), did some souvenir shopping, and went to Xurreria for some churros with chocolate. It was a perfect end to our brief time in Barcelona.
Our plane was at 8:25pm back to Paris. We had a wonderful dinner at Alas before bidding farewell to Barcelona and flying back for the remainder of our trip in Paris. Hasta luego!
