Barcelona

After our one night in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, we drove back to Barcelona to spend the rest of our trip. We dropped off the car rental (you can easily forgo a car in Barcelona) and checked in to our hotel. This was hands-down my favorite hotel I have ever stayed in. I booked it mostly, if I am honest with myself, because I love the way it was decorated. It has beautiful pieces of furniture in the common areas, coffee table books, demi-johns, cool lighting, amazing vintage tile and plants. It had other perks too like A/C and a really great breakfast! If I could stay in this hotel for the rest of my life, I would be one happy lady. It was architecturally interesting, beautifully decorated, quiet and in a great location. 

Breakfast included a ton of options--meats, cheeses, pastries, yogurt, fruit, juices, coffee and more! While on a food tour (more on that in another post), we also realized that some Catalan favorites were included in the breakfast each day. 

Walking around Barcelona and taking its metro was great! We walked around La Rambla and had a fresh fruit juice. Check! We walked through some parks and on the boardwalk. We walked by two of Gaudi's other buildings, but sadly did not visit inside (next time!) Pictured above is their Arc de Triomphe (Paris isn't the only place that has one!)

I love finding fun graffiti in Europe. I kept my eyes peeled for the "one" I wanted to remember and came across this on a walk before our paella class (more on that in another post). The nostalgia of this graffiti won me over and reminded me about how my sisters and I BEGGED our parents for Tamagochis when they came out. I even remember shopping at Toys 'R Us to pick them out when my parents finally caved. 

The main draw to visit Barcelona was to see Gaudi's work. I was first introduced to it when watching a travel show (probably Rick Steves). During my research phase for this trip, I read a ton of posts and saw a bunch of pictures. We visit Park Guell as our first introduction to Gaudi. The Park was not as easy or convenient to get to as we originally thought. We easily hopped on the metro near our hotel, but once you get off the train you still have to walk a good distance (partially uphill) to arrive at the park. We had pre-purchased our tickets for the 5-5:30pm window and were so worried that when we arrived about 5 minutes late that we would have to buy all new tickets. Not to worry, though. They scanned our tickets and there were no issues. 

I will have to admit that I was slightly let down about Park Guell. The main viewing area with the mosaic benches was crowded with people lounging on the benches. The lounging is great and what parks are intended for, but it made it very difficult to get some decent pictures. Plus, the pictures I had seen in my research must have been super edited with colorful filters because the in-person perspective was not as dramatic. Do yourself a favor and don't look at all the pictures and just enjoy it in person!