My 3 Days in Barcelona
April 21–24, 2016
My husband (Gabe) and I ventured to Europe for the first time in 2016. The planning began when Gabe’s dad invited us to join him for a family visit to Spain’s capitol, Madrid; and Tenerife, Canary Islands. We spent our first 5 days with the family, then flew off for two more weeks on our own. Barcelona was our first independent stop; and we could not have picked a better place to start our European Tour!
DAY ONE:
First things first, we bought our one-way Metro ticket from the airport to the Eixample area. We exited the Metro in the middle of the city’s hustle and bustle, and our eyes were immediately drawn up and all around! Wide streets were lined with tall, classy buildings. There were grassy sections in the middle of the streets and lots of space to walk. The streets of this urban/metropolitan area seemed intentionally open & refreshing to promote walking & biking! There were innovative, octagonal “squares” at every intersection, designed with pedestrians in mind (at times, causing you to cross 6 crosswalks over one street)!
Wow. A lot to take in.
We looked for our hostel, Casa Gracia; and almost missed it. It blended in so well with the other old school, street buildings! We had reserved a private room/bathroom in this boutique hostel, and it was wonderful! We loved the upgraded bathroom, simple and tasteful decor, and balcony with views of the city-happenings below (we were on the 6th floor)! The hostel itself had lots of casual social spaces, as well as an elegant restaurant on the ground floor, but we didn’t have much time to utilize either.
Oh, and it was eco-friendly! We learned this when we couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights or A/C. Evidently, you put your room key in a little slot in the room for as long as you want to use electricity. Pretty smart! I don’t think I’ve seen this system anywhere else…
We settled into our room for a little bit, then set back out to start exploring! Passing La Sagrada Familia, we found a little Venezuelan place to eat. Then, with full bellies, we circled back to the cathedral. We were a little early (had to wait until 15 min before our reservation to go in), so we just stood in awe of the massive structure while it started to drizzle. Once we picked up our audio guides, we started learning about the Nativity Facade — the only part Gaudi saw completed in his lifetime. It shows “the holy family,” for whom the church is dedicated. So much symbolism!
Walking inside the cathedral literally takes your breath away: the colors of stained glass, the canopy of tree-like columns (like a rainforest), the winding staircases, the doors covered in leaves and bugs and flowers, and the ceiling! Ridiculously amazing and absolutely enormous! It remains, to me, the most mind-blowing, beautiful cathedral!
Out the other side is the passion facade, showing stages from the last supper, Judas’ betrayal, and Jesus being whipped, to his crucifixion at the very top. It’s very cold, severe, and striking; not happy and playful like the Nativity.
The glory facade is yet to be built, and will become the main entrance.
When finished, the 560 foot “Jesus-tower” will be visible from out at sea! Whaa?!
Down in the museum you can see how Gaudi thought of and designed everything: from candle holders to the massive pulpit.
We stayed until they closed and still wanted MORE time! Afterwards, we strolled back to our “home,” walking 6–7 miles in all! Successful first day, falling in love with the city ❤
DAY TWO:
This morning we got ready and headed out to find our scheduled food tour (with Devour Barcelona). Boy, was this a struggle. We COULD NOT find the meeting place via google maps, despite it supposedly being so close to our hostel. We finally found it at 10 am (15 min early — phew!) by asking around. We actually were the first ones there, so quickly ran back to our hostel for a little coffee and WC visit. Ha! Once we got back, 4 people had gathered: Fiona, our English tour guide; Alex, a Barcelona native; and Mike and Linda, an older couple from the states.
After basic introductions, Fiona launched into telling us about the history of the Eixample (a.k.a. extension), where we were standing. Then we started walking toward Gràcia — a small village-esque neighborhood with the highest percentage of Catalan natives.
Our first stop was a family run “diner” called “Can Tosca.” Here we had sausage sandwiches and cava (Spanish sparkling wine). Next up was the Mercat de l’Abaceria Central, containing 3 of our food-tasting stops: Glòria for olives, Fàbregas for jamón (2 distinct kinds), and a third place for queso (3 different kinds)!
The price of jamón changes according to the kind of pig, what it was fed (acorn-fed is the most expensive), how long it was cured, etc. Here we are comparing two different kinds.
Next up: EVOO tasting. Who knew so much goes into olive oil?! It’s a really big deal! Very interesting to learn about the process and industry standards!
After this, we took a little break from stuffing our faces to see the main square, clock tower, various flags hanging out windows, gigantes, etc. Fiona showed us pictures of human towers as tall as the buildings surrounding us (like 7 stories). This is a major tradition for the people of the region; they have tower-teams that literally train for holiday celebrations, always with a 7–8 yr old who climbs to the top of the tower at the end! They also have street decorating competitions which are very impressive! Some serious cultural identity!
Each neighborhood has their own “gigantes” that they bring out to celebrate holidays.
Just a couple of the flags you might see in Barcelona. The one with the blue triangle is used by nationalists to symbolize the desire for the independence of Catalonia from the rest of Spain.
Our next stop (before “lunch”) was L’anxoveta for pan con tomate (a lesson) and bombas (absolutely delish!). They opened early just for our group and the owner sat down with us for the tutorial. He was funny…like literally telling jokes! This place was sooo good!
Next up: Principe, an Arab pastry place. Very tasty!
Then, our “lunch,” was a hole in the wall called Llegums Cuites Isabel for classic homemade recipes, grandma style (they started out selling pre-soaked beans to newly working housewives).
Nearby, we stopped to see Gaudi’s first commissioning, a house which was under renovation: Casa Vicens.
Oops, I forgot the vermout stop somewhere in there at Ca’l pep bodega. People go to this spot for vermout and tapas…and to fill up their wine jugs from actual barrels! We got some little tapas with anchovies (very popular, but not my personal fave).
Lastly, we stopped at Pastisseria Ideal for concluding coffee and pastries.
Overall, a super cool experience with Devour Barcelona food tours, and Fiona was an awesome guide! The way she tells her story, she visited Barcelona on vacation and didn’t want to go home to London, so she impulsively quit her job and stayed in Barcelona for good! Has been a tour guide ever since!
After we said our goodbyes to our new friends, we looked into tickets for Park Güell and scheduled a visit for later that day. Then, we resumed exploring El Born and the Gothic Quarter — the best section of town to wander around aimlessly!
Notable sights: Barcelona Cathedral and square, Mercat de Santa Caterina, Picasso Museum (from the outside), Chocolate Museum (also the outside), Parc de la Ciutadella, Arc de Triomf, Satan’s Coffee Corner, Church of Santa Maria del Mar, and Chök (Chocolate Kitchen) for Krönuts (duh)!
There was a line down the street for Chök (as well as every other time we passed by)! It was very hard to choose only 2 epic krönuts, but we managed to do so! We had them packed to-go, so that we could start making our way over to Park Güell (via Metro).
Despite what we heard about escalators to the park, we never could find any.
I knew it would be a bit of a hike, but man…it was killer! Our tickets for the Monumental Zone of the park were for a specific time slot, so we had to book it, huffing and puffing uphill for about 20 minutes from the Metro stop. Stairs…a million stairs.
Finally, sweaty and perturbed, we reached the top and still didn’t know where the heck to go and check in. Why no signs? In the end, we found our way, and it was worth the hike! Just would have rather found an escalator (next time?)! We were rewarded with a great view of the city…and our krönuts!
Once at the Nature Theater overlook, we found a spot on a bench, devoured our krönuts, and downed a ton of water! Then, in order of the 9 stops on our map, we toured the park.
Bummed it was a gloomy day. On a clear day, you should be able to see the ocean from here.
This was Gabe’s “PB&J with chocolate curls” krönut; mine was a “white chocolate pistachio with brownies on top”! YUM
Gaudi strikes again with this cool little neighborhood. It was originally intended to have 60 homes, but the project was unsuccessful and became city property instead. Never seen anything like it!
Despite this sign at the metro entrance, Park Güell is nowhere close…haha
On the way back down to the city, we stopped at a small souvenir store. The lady who ran it was Venezuelan, so we talked to her for a bit and happily bought a mug and some post cards. Back on the metro, we headed back “home” and tracked down the Block of Discord, with Casa Batlló decorated with roses for Sant Jordi’s (the next day)!
Then, we found a nice little spot called Betlem to enjoy a late (for us) dinner. It was packed! We ate outside on the terrace — pan con tomate, goat cheese salad, ham croquetes (the best!), crab ravioli, and sangria. Great vibes! If I didn’t LOVE Spain yet, this dinner sealed the deal!
After dinner, we tracked down La Pedrera (only to see from the outside), and then retired to our room for the night (and soaked our feet in the tub lol). This was our biggest walking day of the whole trip: 13–14 miles, plus a whole lot of stairs! Full, awesome day!
DAY THREE: La Diada de Sant Jordi! ❤
Legend of Sant Jordi & the Dragon:
Once upon a time, a terrible dragon had the Montblanc village terrified. The beast devoured all the harvest and animals until there were none left. The king decided to sacrifice one person every day by random and the rest of the residents could live peacefully. Unfortunately, the first chosen victim was the king’s daughter and they had to send her to the dragon’s cave. Just when she was about to be swallowed up by the dragon, a courageous knight appeared. His name was Jordi, and he had come to save the princess and all the village. After a hard and long fight, Jordi beat the dragon and from its blood, there grew a red rose bush. The knight offered one to the princess before leaving mysteriously. For this reason, it is tradition that the men give roses to women and that the women give books to men, since la Diada de Sant Jordi coincides with the Book’s Day.
— explanation given by our hostel, Casa Gracia
Similar to our Valentine’s Day, Sant Jordi’s is Barcelona’s day of romance! The holiday was made obvious to us from the moment we left our hostel that morning, because — overnight! book sellers and flower stands had popped up on every street corner!
We decided to start our day in the (not-yet-explored) Barceloneta neighborhood (marina/beach area). And our first stop was Baluard Bakery, to grab some breakfast. As we got close, we could see a long line down the street, and knew we had made a good choice! Their specialty appeared to be breads of all shapes and sizes, but the pastry selection looked very impressive as well! Once we made it inside, we quickly took in all the sights and smells, and started pointing at each of our chosen selections: a quiche-like, flaky pastry; a baguette style jamón sandwich; an apple tart (to die for); and a berry muffin for later. We took it all to-go (the only option, as it’s a tiny store-front), walked a bit to another place (Brunch & Cake, I believe it was called) for a little coffee and fresh squeezed OJ, then plopped down on a bench in front of the marina to enjoy our spoils! Lots of people were out walking/jogging/biking…generally enjoying the perfect day! We were elated to be sharing such a scrumptious “picnic” breakfast in such a gorgeous setting! Our whole breakfast combo was delicious and an amazingly good value!!!
Next, we walked around to see the beach area, where lots of sports and exercise things were happening, as well as plenty of people sun bathing out on the sand. We also saw some really impressive sand castles built in celebration of Sant Jordi’s, such as the fire breathing dragon pictured below.
Continuing our walk, we made it to the Columbus statue at the base of La Rambla, and then continued up to Plaça Reial. A little artisan market was set up in the “plaça” at the time, so we did a some souvenir shopping! I ended up buying a unique necklace from a lady who upcycles watches, clocks, keys, etc. (you can find her online by searching “Sindrome de Diogenes” jewelry).
Next, we ventured into La Boqueria (famous market), just to look around/say we’d been there because it was CRAZY PACKED! Like, shoulder to shoulder, claustrophobic, squished in like sardines, packed! Needless to say, we were in and out pretty quick. Back on La Rambla, we were on the lookout for a unique and affordable rose + a book to gift each other, per the Sant Jordi’s tradition. Gabe ended up getting me a blue rose, in a funky wrapping…and I got him a Catalan cookbook with lots of fun illustrations (by Juliet Pomes Leiz).
Getting hungry, we veered off to a Venezuelan place we had seen the day before: La Taguara Areparia. The place was standing room only and clearly understaffed, but it seemed a simple enough operation (Chipotle style, except with arepas), so we decided to give it a go! We must have waited 30+ minutes for our arepas, which was not ideal, BUT they were quite yummy in the end! I really wanted to sit down…but came to discover that this was not a day for sitting. Everywhere we went was much too crowded!
Back to exploring, we tracked down the Palau de la Musica Catalana, a gorgeous theater! Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside, but we hope to go back one day to see a show there! Then, we made our way back to the Barcelona Cathedral in hopes of catching some sardana dancing (traditional dance of Catalunya) or castells (the human towers). There were a few mini-towers, some live music, etc., but a storm was rolling in, so we opted to seek shelter.
We ended up at Caravelle cafe, a perfect refuge from the storm! Their kitchen didn’t reopen for like an hour and a half, but we were fine waiting/using their WIFI to download pics and, best of all, rest our feet! We got a coffee and a pot of tea and chilled out. Once the kitchen opened, we got a fried quinoa ball/cauliflower salad + fish tacos, which was refreshing and hit the spot! Refueled and sustained, we started back toward our hostel to take some final pictures and pack up. We saw as much as we possibly could (walking 11+ miles this day too)! And the Sant Jordi festivities were such a fun treat — a special surprise for these two wide-eyed tourists!
So yeah, after only 3 days in Barcelona, the city had 100% won its way into our hearts! And, almost as soon as we left, we were already dreaming about going back — which little did we know, would happen only a few years later…but, that story is still to come!
