During the last year I have mostly done solo travelling and for this trip, I've been traveling with my sister as a way of celebrating getting my diploma. I honestly was so excited since we had been booking our flights and I could not wait to finally travel again after a couple months of studying.
Day 1 - Arrival / Beach
For this trip, we had reserved an Airbnb at 2 minutes (by walk) from the beach and at 15-20 minutes (with public transportation) from the city center. As we wanted to enjoy both the sea and the city, this seemed like the best choice for us. We were located in the Poblenou area, I am so glad we choose that neighborhood because it is not such a touristic area and there are locals living there.
When we arrived, the first thing we wanted to do was go to the beach because it was very hot and we just wanted to cool off. While we were walking to get to the beach, we noticed that there was a beer festival called "La Fira del Poblenou". Arriving on the beach was very impressive to me because it was all packed with people everywhere and you could have an overview of other beaches which were also fully packed just like the one we were on called Bogatell beach.
Then after enjoying the beach, we decided to go to one of the bars on the seaside to kind of enjoy the evening. I must say that this is a must do. It felt so great to just sit, have a cocktail and admire the beautiful view on the sea!
The plan for the rest of the evening was to go and see what the beer festival was like. We ended up having dinner there which was so delicious because it was all local food trucks. This festival was made of like maybe around 30 different stands of beer brands and what was very interesting is that those brands were not necessarly international brands. I'm personally not a beer person but I tried 3 different ones and ended up having a full glass of one beer that was PINK with (cranberry taste)! Yes PINK!
Day 2 - Brunch
For the second day, we decided to sleep in longer and have brunch at Brunch & cake. If you are ever in Barcelona, I highly recommend going to that restaurant because the dishes are just so colorful, pretty and delicious. However, you might have to wait in line outside until there is a table available, but let me tell you that it was so worth it to wait 15-20 minutes.
We decided that it was the perfect time to walk around the city to look at the architecture since we had eaten way too much food. At that moment, we were in the district called "Eixample" where you can find a lot of amazing buildings, including the two designed by Gaudi called Casa Milà and Casa Batlló.
At about 3pm it was finally time to go to the same beach as the day before.
We came back to the apartment to freshen up and quickly think of what we wanted to eat for dinner. As our host recommended to us a Poke bowl place, we thought it was perfect because we weren't too hungry and needed something light. This Poke bowl place is called Poké Maoli and it was my first time trying this Hawaiian specialty. It was so delicious, I will definitely try to find a place where I can eat Poke bowls in Switzerland. I totally recommend this restaurant to you! As this spot is located next to the famous Barceloneta beach, we thought it was a great idea to eat on a bench and watch the sunset.
If you don't really like touristy spots, then I don't recommend you this beach because it is crowded all day there. After dinner, we thought is it was a great idea to just wander around in the streets for the remaining time of the evening.
Day 3 - La Pedrera / Shopping
First thing first was breakfast of course! One other recommendation for you is to buy food on your first day so that you can eat breakfast and then go right away to explore the city.
The third day was when we decided to wake up early to go to La Pedrera building which has been designed by Gaudi. We were so glad that we woke up early for that experience for the reason that we arrived when the museum had just opened. To go inside that building you have to pay, the price was 22 euros and I honestly don't regret paying that amount because this visit inspired me so much. I loved it, it was crazy to see that Gaudi was inspired by nature to design houses and buildings. Look at the picture below where there is a door, that was actually inspired by butterflies. How fascinating! Right?!
We got out of the museum and realized that we were near "Plaça de Catalunya" where there is loads of shops. After shopping in Barcelona, I can say that it must be very hard for curvy and plus-sized people to find clothes to wear in Spain. Their sizing is so annoying because they cut clothes very small. But anyway, let's talk positive! I've found a lovely store called Oysho, where I've bought some lightweight trousers for summer. That brand is just so great to find trendy beach wear!
Got back to the apartement in time to swim and to tan! For a change, we decided to try the swimming pool that we had on the rooftop of the building.
On the recommendation of our Airbnb host, we then went for dinner to the restaurant Xiringuizo Escriba where they cook local food and Spanish specialties. We also had a lovely view of the sea from the restaurant that is on the seaside. The food was so delicious and we tried their white wine sangria which was incredible!
Day 4 Sunrise / Labyrinth d'Horta
In every place I travel to, my habit is to watch the sunrise and sunset happen at least one time during the trip. It was the last day, so we had to do it! It was truly breathtaking and fascinating to sit in the sand on the beach and look at the sun rising!
As we were already up, it was the perfect morning to go to a park or garden so I suggested going to the labyrinth d'Horta since it was one of my childhood dreams to go to a Labyrinth.
We thought it was a great idea to enter the Labyrinth to try and find the right path to get out. This was so much fun, I loved it! Then we took a stroll in the other part of the park and stopped on a bench next to the waterfall. We had to stop there because hearing the noise of the water falling always makes me feel good and peaceful.
For lunch, we didn't know where to go so we got to the nearest underground station and pointed out on the map a part of the city where we haven't been. We ended up going to Badalona where they have a lovely street "Passeig de la Rambla" with plenty of palm trees and cute restaurants. This area was not so touristic and it felt great to not have so many people around you for a little bit. After that, we found a cute street with plenty of shops, a lot of them were closed because in the summer there is a moment in the afternoon where most of the stores are closed in Barcelona and open again at around 4pm I'd say. In case you are planning to go to Barcelona in the summer just take note of that.
Then we got back to the apartment to quickly grab our beach equipment and headed out there for the last time on our trip. We finished off the evening by going out to eat at a restaurant in Poblenou.
The morning after we had to go back to Switzerland!
My thoughts about Barcelona
This city was wonderful to me, it is all I like which is a mix of good art and architecture. What I liked the most to do was visiting a building designed by Gaudi, it was so fascinating to get to know this artist a little more. However, you have to know that Barcelona is extremely touristy in the most popular area of the city like the Sagrada Familia, everything that has been designed by Gaudi, Las Ramblas... My sister and I mostly wanted to go where locals go and so this means no Starbucks, no Zara. We still went to La Pedrera and on the Barceloneta beach, but aside from that, we tried very hard to buy things from locals and go where they go. And I can say that we succeeded!
Thank you for reading!
Lots of love, Lea xx