Barcelona, Spain – January 2018
Hotel: AirBNB Barcelona
*Note: There’s no Uber in the city, but an app called MyTaxi is available and works pretty similar, if you choose to not take advantage of the metro system.*
Unfortunately for all of you, the best thing to do in Barcelona is something I get to keep for myself. Unless, of course, you also know my friend Sarah, who now lives there. (Not to be confused with my friend Sarah, who was also there, but doesn’t live there. Got that?) We’ve been friends for over 21 years, and I can’t grasp how cool it was to be able to meet up with her for the few days we spent in this beautiful city.
It was great having an unofficial tour guide to tell us all the places to be seen and not to be seen — like don’t go to the club before 1am. Still killing me with that one. And although our stay wasn’t long, there were still plenty of places we were able to go and enjoy.
La Rambla
You’ll find tons of shopping and markets along this street. You all know I love my shopping. Eating can get expensive along the main strip, but there’s plenty of little alleys with good food at decent prices surrounding it. We even stayed in this area at a cute AirBNB, which was a perfect location since we were able to walk everywhere we went. Also made for an easier walk home with all those shopping bags.
(Pro Tip: If you’re flying into Barcelona, there’s a bus that goes to and from the airport. It’s only 5,90 euros each way — so way cheaper compared to a taxi which is about 35 euros. It’s called AeroBus, and there’s 3 different stops they have in the city. The closest to La Rambla is in Plaza Catalonia, and for the way back to the airport, you’d just get on either the Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 bus. Super easy!)
La Boqueria
You’ll find this famous market along La Rambla. We only had time to briefly walk through it, but it reminds me of something similar to Pike Place in Seattle.
Barcelona Cathedral
Visiting churches is one of my favorite parts of traveling. This cathedral was absolutely breathtaking, so don’t leave Barcelona without passing by here.
Guadi’s Architecture
There are tons of different places designed by Guadi to explore throughout the city including La Pedrera – Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, and the Sagrada Family (under construction until 2026). We enjoyed all 3 from the outside, but chose to explore the inside of La Pedrera as well. Why did we choose this one of the 3? The honest answer is our friend Jay once checked in here on Facebook, and if you saw Jay’s travel photos, you’d want to visit anywhere he visited too. Total fangirls. Hi, Jay.
It was really cool to walk around and see inside of these apartments and oddly shaped buildings. What’s even cooler — for us, probably not them — is that people still occupy the middle floors of these apartments. You think your upstairs neighbors are bad? Imagine having thousands of tourists walking above you all day long. We chose to do the audio tour, and maybe it was the sleep-deprivation, but I was cracking up at the super informative commentary throughout it. Like did you know other rooftops have features on top that are useful but also ugly? Real life info I learned.
Park Guell
Not gonna lie, I was kind of disappointed here. Online, you see tons of these bright and colorful tiles on a terrace overlooking the city, and I don’t know what kind of photoshop skills all these people have, but all I saw was a small group of faded tiles. I mean, I photoshopped my whole outfit a different color so it matched my Instagram better, so I know pics can be deceiving, but even I was shocked by the reality in front of me compared to the pictures.
I will give the place the benefit of the doubt since it was under construction during our visit, so maybe after completion, it’ll look how I imagined. But, damn, can ya warn a girl next time?
The remainder of the park was quite beautiful, and we walked the trails and came across some guys playing music that did make it pretty magical, so overall the visit here was still worth it.
Gothic Quarter
Here you’ll find tons of little shops and places to eat hidden among all the cool architecture. Some people enjoy taking pictures of their food. I enjoy taking pictures of buildings… and my food.
So we never actually went here. We had heard there were incredible views of the city, but when I looked it up online, I saw a bunch of reviews saying how it wasn’t worth the trek and made it seem so awful. Turns out the locals go online and write that to keep the tourists out of the area. It worked. My friend’s dad showed me pictures of the view at sunset, and it was absolutely stunning, so try to time that out for the evening, if possible.
Also never made it here — probably because I kept falling asleep so early in the afternoon the whole trip — but at night you can catch a beautiful music and light show at the fountain.
Starting with a bit of a reoccurring pattern here for these last few on the list, but due to rain we skipped this stop. A little over an hour out of the city, you’ll find yourself at Montserrat with a panoramic view of Catalonia’s landscape, some hiking, and the opportunity to tour the monastery, among other things.
The Beach
I never thought I’d find myself on a beach in boots, scarf, and a beanie, but there I was at Barceloneta Beach in the middle of winter and rainfall. Although the beach was absolutely stunning (a review online described it as “Huntington or Newport… only prettier” — which was quite ironic since those were the beaches I spend my time at back home on the other side of the world.), my friend who currently lives in Barcelona said the water here is kind of dirty, so if you’re looking to swim, she recommends heading to a beach a little more north of the city.
Food Recommendations:
Flax & Kale – They had amazing healthy and delicious breakfast options and tons — like tonsssss — of homemade juices to choose from.
Nightlife Recommendations:
Jamboree Jazz– For the one night I made it out past midnight, this is where we ended up. Although the name says differently, they play a variety of hip-hop music at night for a very lively dance floor.
Dow Jones – This is a casual bar — which I’ve been told is considered quite touristy — but it works like the stock market, so it makes even a chill night fun. If people are buying a lot of one drink/alcohol, the price goes up, and drinks that aren’t getting ordered, the prices go down. It wasn’t super busy when we went, but I was told there’s also times when the “stock market” crashes and one drink will be insanely cheap for the next 10 minutes or so. And if none of that sounds interesting, they’ve got a dog that was hanging out that night, and he alone was worth the visit.
Between the architecture and the food and nightlife, there are plenty of things to do during a visit to Barcelona. And I know I’ll definitely be stopping at those beaches the next chance I get. Well, as soon as I get this beach body ready.
• Everyday Davis • 