I have to admit when planning my trip to Barcelona and Ibiza I was more excited about Ibiza than I was Barcelona. Well let’s just say that Barcelona by far exceeded my expectations.
Planning the trip to Barcelona was quite easy. I booked through Norwegian Airlines. The round-trip ticket was around $500.00 flying out of Fort Lauderdale. But because I live in Atlanta, I had to book a flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale which was around $120.00 each way. I planned the vacation for August because I had some time off from work but looking back, I wish I had gone in September as both flights and hotels were a lot less expensive. I booked my room at the Four Points Sheraton. While this hotel was pretty nice and not in a bad location, I wish I would have booked the W Barcelona as it was closer to night life and directly on the beach. The hotel itself has two large pools and a DJ on the weekends.
I only stayed in Barcelona for two days but while there I enjoyed the many sites around the city and the food. The first area that I had to check out was Carrer de Salva. Which is known as the tapas street of Barcelona. There are so many bars and restaurants located in this area. The food and drinks are cheap and delicious. This area is a foodie’s dream.
The following day I set out to visit Sagranda Familia which is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. The church has been under construction since 1882 and is still undergoing construction.
Once I was done admiring the Sagranda Familia, I headed over to El Raval known for coffee and three course lunches. It is a vibrant area that has tons of shops, street art and of course wine and tapas restaurants. Once again you can find pretty inexperience places to dine in this area. Cabs started to get expensive and we still had a few places to go explore so we decided to rent electric bicycles from Wee Wheels located on Carrer d’en Gignas street. The owner was extremely friendly and they not only rent bicycles but also scooters. We only paid 25 euros for two bikes for three hours. Once the bikes were rented, we were off to explore more of the city when we stumbled upon Barcelona Gothic Quarters. This area is the oldest residential district and is a maze of narrow streets. We cycled pass the Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia which is a chapel from the 16th century and snapped a few photos.
After all the touring we headed over to the W Barcelona as I wanted to check out the hotel being employed by the brand. They allowed us to hang at the pool even though I was not a guest because I work for the company but we were not allowed to swim in the pool so we decided to go lay out on the beach for a bit.
Because of the limited amount of time, we left the beach within an hour to head to Bunquers del Caremel to watch the sunset. This place boost panoramic views of Barcelona. This was the most breathtaking view I have ever seen.
On a mission to check off all of the things on my to do list in Barcelona once the sunset, we headed back to the hotel to shower and change. We decided to go to the Ice Bar Barcelona. Literally the coolest bar in town. The Ice Bar Barcelona is between -5 and -10 degrees celsius. The entrance fee is 17 euros and this includes one specialty drink. You can read more about my experience at Ice Bar Barcelona in the cocktail and experiences section of my blog.
After a long day and night, we headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye. The next day we were scheduled to leave so I wanted to make sure I was able to visit the Parc Guell which is located in the upper part of Barcelona and also has great views of the city. The buildings are fascinating and are made of stone structures and tilling.
The last thing on my to do list before heading to the airport was to dine a at highly recommend restaurant. The restaurant that was recommend was actually closed due to the owners being on vacation so we stumbled upon La Tagliatella. This was by far the best Italian food and everything was homemade and made in house. The service was great and the menu prices were also good. I have never tasted Italian food this good so I will have to make sure I go back the next time I return to Barcelona.
I recommend having an agenda all of the places you want to visit as Barcelona as it is a pretty large city. At one point we tried to rent scooters and were told we needed an International driver’s license. I’m not sure if this is true or not but it’s worth looking into before you travel to Barcelona as having a form of transportation is not a bad idea. The bus and train system in Barcelona are also pretty good but we had a hard time understanding the routes but there were so many visitors that were using the transit system that swore by it. Safe travels.
