Barcelona

We took a last minute trip to Barcelona. My husband had a work trip but we had a few days to explore the city before he went to work. I then spent 4 days solo wandering the city of Barcelona. I had previously been to Barcelona 7 years ago so on this trip I didn't go into a lot of paid tourist items.

It was middle of September which is still very warm in Barcelona with temperatures in the 80s but humidity also almost 80%. I had a lot of time in the city so I decided to do a lot of walking on my solo days. I love exploring cities by just walking around the neighborhoods.

Barcelona is a big into late dinners so it took a few day or so to get used to eating dinner at 9PM but we quickly adjusted. We got into a pretty standard routine of having dinner around 8/9PM then going to sleep after midnight. The nice thing about later dinner in Barcelona is that we had plenty of time after my husband finished work to do a little bit of exploring before we had to have dinner. The city really stays alive at night which was pretty fun to see so many shops, restaurants, and galeto shops open until midnight.

Day One

• Sights: Gothic Quarter

We arrived in Barcelona just before lunch after a few flight delays. After checking into the hotel and a quick shower we headed out to wander around the city to try and fight the jetlag. We made our way to the Barcelona Cathedral just at the edge of Gothic Quarter.

Next we wandered all around Gothic Quarter and stopped for a little treat at a cafe. It was fun to re-walk a few of the areas I previously walked around when I was here 7 years ago. Everything is a bit more built up as the city has continued to grow.

Then we made our way to the edge of the water before wandering back to our hotel.

We stopped by a little restaurant right near our hotel for a quick dinner then a drink around the corner at Babula Bar 1937.

Day Two

• Sights: Montserrat

My husband had this day off so we went out for a big adventure day to Montserrat. Check out a post here about that adventure!

It was Catalonia Day so when we arrived back in the city at Placa d'Espanya there were thousands of people out with flags and protesting for Catalonia independence from Spain. This square seemed to be a main spot where different groups are people were gathering. It was cool to see all the pride people have for their region and peaceful protests.

To finish the day we met up with my husbands coworkers for some tapas at a little restaurant near by the hotel and then got our first of many galetos at GIOELIA Cremeria. This ended up being a daily routine for me, much deserved after many full days of walking.

Day Three

• Sights: Sagrada Familia, Gothic Quarter, La Mercado de Botiqueria, Palau de La Musica Catalana

This was the first of my solo days in Barcelona. I started by going for a run in the morning over to Sagrada Familia, it was as large as I remembered it being. I hung out for a bit and took some pictures before heading back to the hotel to start the rest of my day.

Once I was ready for the day I stopped by the coffee shop next to the hotel for an iberian ham sandwich, these became a go to each morning. The best part about the sandwiches was that they are usually large so I would eat half and save the second half for a snack later. There are bakery shops all over Barcelona with different variations of the ham sandwiches.

With my sandwich in hand I walked to Placa de Cataluna to eat my first half of the sandwich. This plaza I nicknamed pigeon park, there were tons just walking about which would slowly move as you walked by.

Next I wandered around Gothic Quarter and looked in a few shops while wandering my way to La Mercado de Botiqueria. This market was very crowded but full of tasty treats.

The final stop of the day before my husband was back from work was to do a little bit of shopping. I window shopped around Mango, Zara, El Corte Ingles (basically their Macys) and then Massimo Dutti (super cute store reminded me of a cross between J Crew and Anthropology) with the intention of finding something later in the week at the stores.

That evening my husband had found a concert playing at the Palau de La Musica Catalana. This place was gorgeous! The show we saw was a guitar trio playing flamenco music while dancers came out for a few songs. The dancing was amazing and was really pretty. There is lots of stomping and hand clapping done by the dancers as they go.

After the show we wandered back toward the hotel and stopped at a little restaurant along the way for a late dinner. It was perfect after the show to have so many places open to choose where to have dinner.

Day Four

• Sights: Tibidabo

Today was going to be a big walking day. I got a myself a larger sandwich and got my day started. The goal of the day was to make it up to Tibidabo. First I walked to Park Guell this was a long uphill walk. Once I got there I learned the whole park now requires a ticket, I had thought there were parts of the park that were free. I didn't paid to see Park Guell since I had seen it before. I took a little break at a small city viewpoint just outside the park then continued my way to Tibidabo.

Check out the post with more details about Tibidabo here.

That evening we went out for pizza and then went to the edge of the Gothic Quarter to do a little bit of bar hopping. The first place we stopped at Mariposa Negra Cocktail Bar - Cocteleria artesana had an assortment of cocktails which all came in ceramic cups that the owner must have made. They had them all over the bar and two shops over was the pottery studio.

Next we wandered down the street to another bar called Savannah where they also had tasty non-alcoholic drinks.

Then to end the evening we went back to the first bar for another round of some fun cocktails. Which included a cute tonic bottle for my gin.

Day Five

• Sights:Arc de Triomf, Parc de la Ciutadella, Gothic Quarter, Platja de Barceloneta, Azimuth (rooftop bar)

The goal for this day was to walk to the beach. As all other days I started my day by picking up a sandwich from a bakery then start my way to Arc de Triomf.

Just past the arc is a little promenade full of plam trees which leads into Parc de la Ciutadella just across the street.

Parc de la Ciutadella was a nice green space in the city, there are tons of paths you can stroll down.

Next was to stop at a few local shopping spots. First up was Ivori cute little shop just at the edge of Gothic Quarter. There are a handful of similar shops all on this street. On my way to the next shop I stopped at another bakery for a lunch sandwich and a white chocolate dipped croissant to bring with me for the beach.

With lunch in tow I continued to the beach and stopped at another cute little shop called La Comet. They had the softest sweaters in the shop! A fun little surprise is that the tags on their clothing are eco friendly, you can plant them and they will grown into flowers! With my sweater in my backpack, I made my way to Platja de Barceloneta.

It was perfect beach weather, mid 80s and sunny. The Mediterranean Sea was a perfect temperature to take a dip in and cool off when I got too warm (tip: if you do go in the water make sure someone watches your belongs on the beach, there are lots of reports of unattended items being stolen). After soaking up the sun for a few hours, I decided to give my feet a rest and take the bus back to the hotel.

After freshing up and getting ready for the evening we headed out to a happy hour organized by the company my husband was working with at a rooftop bar, Azimuth. We had some tasty tapas and Cava (sparking wine). The sunset over the city was really pretty!

After a few hours up on the rooftop those of us still out went to eat some more tapas at Tapa Tapa. A local with us said this place is basically like the fast food of tapas, it was still unsurprisingly amazing. We then ended the evening at a local bar.

Day Six

• Sights: Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi, Gothic Quarter, La Mercado de Botiqueria, Massimto Dutto Barcelona Store, Xocolata Amatller, Sagrada Familia

Last full day! This day I mostly wanted to go around to a few shops to do some shopping before heading home. There was rain forecasted in the afternoon so my goal was to get all my shopping and walking done before the rain started.

First I walked back over to the Gothic Quarter to wander around to a few different shops. While I was walking around I happened upon Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi and the doors were open with a service of some sort happening inside. After listening to the organ play for a bit I returned to do my shopping.

Once I was done in Gothic Quarter I stopped by the market again and got a strawberry coconut drink and debated getting some gummies. The drink was so so so tasty and I drank it in a minute. I opted to not get gummies since I had chocolate on my list for later in the day.

Then I continued on my journey to do a little bit of fabric shopping at Ribes y Casuals and Donna Textile. There were so many beautiful fabrics it was hard to choose just a few to buy to bring home.

After I got a few fabrics to use on some future sewing projects I headed back toward the main shopping area and stopped by Massimto Dutto Barcelona store. This was probably one of the coolest stores I've been in. It was a few floors and just inside an older historic looking building. It felt very elegant like I was shopping in a designer store but all the clothing wasn't crazy expensive.

The final shopping stop was to get chocolate from Xocolata Amatller. There were so many chocolates to choose from, I got a few gifts and some chocolate for myself. One of the items I bought was drinking chocolate which sounds like fancy hot chocolate, I'm excited to try it out in the winter! After picking up some treats made it back to the hotel just in time before the rain storm of the afternoon started.

My husband got out of work a bit early this day so once the rain cleared we walked over to Sagrada Familia. I didn't know at night you can see the colors shining outside. It was really pretty!

Then we had our final night out in Las Ramblas to meet up with some of my husbands coworkers one last time. After dinner we had a nice stroll back to the hotel and got one last galeto before we headed home the next morning.