Hello everyone,
You may know that I have been missing in action lately, well I have been in sunny Barcelona! I have enjoyed myself so much in the sun for just under a week, I have always wanted to go to Barcelona since I started learning Spanish. And I am happy to be able to show you my amazing time in this beautiful city.
The typical photo when your up in the air. I was flying with British Airways, from London Heathrow to Barcelona El Prat Airport. I went on Saturday 28th May - Thursday 2nd June.
We were staying at the H10 Marina hotel in Barcelona, it was a beautiful hotel in the Olympic Village of Barcelona. It was so close to the marina and only a 20 minute walk from La Sagrada Familia. The rooms were lovely, we could actually see the Catholic Church from our room, it was a lovely hotel and it was in the perfect location! (link)
This was the view from our hotel, and you can really see but to the left of the photo are some yellow cranes, and this is in fact La Sagrada Familia.
This was the view from our hotel, and you can really see but to the left of the photo are some yellow cranes, and this is in fact La Sagrada Familia.
For our first full day in sunny Barcelona, we decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour of the city, we got our tickets on the day from Barcelona Bus Turistic. The tickets were around €23 per person, and you could use this on all three of the route for a whole day. I would highly recommend doing this tour as your at least seeing the whole of Barcelona, their is so much to see but this way your managing to at least see it even if you don't go round looking at it all. (link)
This is Casa Batilo, that we saw while on our tour of the day. This was such a lovely way to see the city, as it was a beautiful day and it was interesting to hear about the city in general and all of the sites.
This was a lot of energy walking around the park, but it was so worth it! The views were amazing, this was near the entrance this photo was taken. It was just breathtaking some of the views up there, everywhere you turned you saw something that would literally take your breath away. Something really cute about Park Guell, was that you had people seeking souvenirs as you walked around, but their was some people performing on guitars and it was such a lovely atmosphere.
As you can see the views were overlooking the whole city, it was crazy! I am going to be honest and say all the walking uphill wasn't easy, especially with steps and the heat being involved! But you can't argue with the views, it makes it all worth it! After we finished with the Parc Guell we then tracked back down the hill to get back on the bus, but we took a detour and went into the Gaudí 4D museum, and we went on the 4D experience (link), this was €9 per person and I would highly recommend this, it was so interesting to see the ins and outs of the thought process that Gaudí had behind all these wonderful sites and designs.
The stain glass windows are one of the best about the Catholic Church, but one side of the church has warmer hues in the stain glass windows, such as reds and yellows, where the other side has colours such as blues and greens as you can see above. So you have two different shades of light on either side of the building, and it's just breathtaking especially the intricate detail on every part of the building.
On one side of the castle you could see all the views of overlooking the city, you could of sat there for hours pointing out all the different sites and places you've been to.
Taking photos of palm trees is a classic, they always make a photo look beautiful!
For our last dinner, we decided to have one on the beach overlooking the sunset! It was a lovely meal and of course I have a cocktail (Sex on the beach) and Sushi (Cucumber & Salmon California rolls)
The our trip came to an end, and we flew home on the Thursday! The flight from Barcelona to Heathrow should be able 2.5 hours maximum, but after being delayed at the airport for nearly 5/6 hours we then had a flight of approx 4 hours to get home! See it was fate, I was never mean to leave this beautiful city!
3 must see places while visiting Barcelona -
1. La Sagrada Familia
2. Nou Camp
3. The Montjuïc cable car
Tips if visiting Barcelona -
1. Book tickets in advance
2. Create a plan for the week, of the must see sites you want to visit
3. The city bus tour is a great way to see the city
4. Taxi's are well priced
5. Try the metro - their was a strike on while we were visiting
6. Go for more than 3 days if possible
7. Find a hotel with a good location that isn't too far away from the main sights/central Barcelona
8. Maps are going to be your best friend
9. Don't forget some sort of jacket for the evening time, it can get a little chilly
10. Watch your personal items, their are a lot of pickpockets in Barcelona
11. Sangria, cocktails and paella are a must!
Would I recommend Barcelona? -
I would highly recommend Barcelona, and I would recommend it to people of all ages! I think the best place about this city is the fact that you have a bit of everything, that can suit every person such as the sites, the beach, restaurants, clubs it has everything! The only thing is, is the fact that your not going to get everything done while your away it's just not feasible if your going for a "longer" weekend, make sure you see the things that are top on your list and anything else is a bonus. But what a shame, you may have to visit Barcelona again (sarcasm), it wouldn't have a problem with this! Also the Barcelona airport BCN, is amazing! We was in terminal 1, and it had every shop possible, also the fact that they have a costa outside with seating it fantastic, as you can soak up as much sun as possible.
I would rate Barcelona a 10/10.
Expect a lot more Barca themed posts soon, including a haul!
Instagram//Twitter//Bloglovin'//Pintrest
This is Casa Batilo, that we saw while on our tour of the day. This was such a lovely way to see the city, as it was a beautiful day and it was interesting to hear about the city in general and all of the sites.
While on the tour we decided to hop off and go see Park Guell, this is something I have been desperate to see while in Barca. This is another one of Antoni Gaudí designs, and it was beautiful! However we arrived here about 1 in the afternoon, and we couldn't get into the actual museum part of the park until 6, because we hadn't purchased tickets. So I would highly recommend to book tickets for this especially, in advance! (link)
This was a lot of energy walking around the park, but it was so worth it! The views were amazing, this was near the entrance this photo was taken. It was just breathtaking some of the views up there, everywhere you turned you saw something that would literally take your breath away. Something really cute about Park Guell, was that you had people seeking souvenirs as you walked around, but their was some people performing on guitars and it was such a lovely atmosphere.
As you can see the views were overlooking the whole city, it was crazy! I am going to be honest and say all the walking uphill wasn't easy, especially with steps and the heat being involved! But you can't argue with the views, it makes it all worth it! After we finished with the Parc Guell we then tracked back down the hill to get back on the bus, but we took a detour and went into the Gaudí 4D museum, and we went on the 4D experience (link), this was €9 per person and I would highly recommend this, it was so interesting to see the ins and outs of the thought process that Gaudí had behind all these wonderful sites and designs.
Finally on our second full day, we took a tour round the La Sagrada Familia, this is the main reason why I have been wanting to go to Barcelona for so long! I even have the pandora charm of this beautiful church. We booked tickets in advance for this, and we had a guided tour. This was one of the best things we had seen in Barcelona. The tour was interesting as it explained every small detail about the church, but it was nice to hear some history behind everything. (link)
The inside was amazing, I had high expectations of this just because of how beautiful the outside was. But this was just so much more than I was expecting, the detail and colours are lovely.
The stain glass windows are one of the best about the Catholic Church, but one side of the church has warmer hues in the stain glass windows, such as reds and yellows, where the other side has colours such as blues and greens as you can see above. So you have two different shades of light on either side of the building, and it's just breathtaking especially the intricate detail on every part of the building.
As you can see the La Sagrada Familia is still being built today, it's aimed to be finished in around 10 years time. To put into perspective how long this has been under construction for, 5 different generations have already witnessed the temple's rise in Barcelona. This started to be built in 1882, and has a lot of history and people helping with this following Gaudí's death in 1926, if your wondering he actually got hit by a tram and that is how he died.
For our dinner we went to the olympic port and had something to eat there, we went to a mexican called Casa Mexicana and had a lovely meal, especially looking out at this view was just pure bliss. (link)
This was my Strawberry Mojito and it was so referring and perfect!
We had walked past this Japanese bar loads of times in the Olympic Port area with all the restaurants, and decided to try it out! It was called Empire Barcelona. You can see from the photo how posh the tables looked and how lovely the place was. (link)
The drink of the left is a Porn Star martini, as well as some salmon california rolls. Then the drink on the right is a Pink Elephant! These were the most beautiful cocktails i've had, and the Sushi was good as well!
Then I had a Baileys, which is my favourite drink! But the glass that it came in was the best! Then the lovely staff gave us a free shot of baileys. Also can we take a minute to appreciate the shot glass! Also the restaurant was such a nice atmosphere as they had DJ's playing, some amazing songs and remixes! The staff were so levelly and down to earth, it was one of the best place i've been.
The next day we was doing a tour of the Nou Campy football stadium! We had pre booked tickets for this and had to tick them up from a travel office in the morning. I have been to a few football stadiums, but this was unbelievable! It is massive, and just is so well kept. (link)
It was so interesting seeing the whole stadium, just because it's unlike no other stadium because of it's size. But it was so nice to see the history behind the club and the stadium especially.
Also Camp Nou had the biggest store I have seen in my life, it was three levels and was massive for a football club. They had everything FCB related and it was crazy! I honestly feel like the store was bigger then the Disney store in Disney World!
We then went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona, just to see how it compared to the food at the hotel in Orlando. Oh my gosh, the burger, food, drinks and atmosphere was just like in Orlando. The staff were just as lovely, and felt like you were talking to your friends at some points. The Hard Rock Cafe was amazing, and here is the link so you can check it out! (link)
Then we have reached out last day in Barcelona. On the Wednesday we decided to go up the Montjuïc Cable Car, I can't believe the views that we got while going up to the top, they were out of this world. (link)
While we were up the top of the Montjuic, we decided to go and see the Castell de Montjuic, which we thought would be the best place for the panoramic views of the city, and we were well and truly correct!
On one side of the castle you could see all the views of overlooking the city, you could of sat there for hours pointing out all the different sites and places you've been to.
The on the other side you got to overlook the port, part of the airport as well as the sea! It felt like you were in two difference countries as one second your seeing city landscapes, then the next your looking over at beautiful blue sea.
This is a time lapse that I took when we were coming back down from the cable car!
Taking photos of palm trees is a classic, they always make a photo look beautiful!
The our trip came to an end, and we flew home on the Thursday! The flight from Barcelona to Heathrow should be able 2.5 hours maximum, but after being delayed at the airport for nearly 5/6 hours we then had a flight of approx 4 hours to get home! See it was fate, I was never mean to leave this beautiful city!
3 must see places while visiting Barcelona -
1. La Sagrada Familia
2. Nou Camp
3. The Montjuïc cable car
Tips if visiting Barcelona -
1. Book tickets in advance
2. Create a plan for the week, of the must see sites you want to visit
3. The city bus tour is a great way to see the city
4. Taxi's are well priced
5. Try the metro - their was a strike on while we were visiting
6. Go for more than 3 days if possible
7. Find a hotel with a good location that isn't too far away from the main sights/central Barcelona
8. Maps are going to be your best friend
9. Don't forget some sort of jacket for the evening time, it can get a little chilly
10. Watch your personal items, their are a lot of pickpockets in Barcelona
11. Sangria, cocktails and paella are a must!
Would I recommend Barcelona? -
I would highly recommend Barcelona, and I would recommend it to people of all ages! I think the best place about this city is the fact that you have a bit of everything, that can suit every person such as the sites, the beach, restaurants, clubs it has everything! The only thing is, is the fact that your not going to get everything done while your away it's just not feasible if your going for a "longer" weekend, make sure you see the things that are top on your list and anything else is a bonus. But what a shame, you may have to visit Barcelona again (sarcasm), it wouldn't have a problem with this! Also the Barcelona airport BCN, is amazing! We was in terminal 1, and it had every shop possible, also the fact that they have a costa outside with seating it fantastic, as you can soak up as much sun as possible.
I would rate Barcelona a 10/10.
Expect a lot more Barca themed posts soon, including a haul!
Instagram//Twitter//Bloglovin'//Pintrest
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