During our trip with WOW air to Alicante, we decided to make a quick stop into Barcelona. Why Barcelona instead of Madrid or Valencia? Well the answer is a lot more simple than you’d think. I’ve been a soccer fan from a young age and one of the most influential figures for me during my youth was Ronaldinho. The attacking midfielder was such a beast for Barcelona FC when I was younger and I was always excited whenever I was able to catch a game or any time that the World Cup was up.
Our time in Barcelona started off extremely rough as the hotel that we were staying at didn’t have our reservation confirmed. Take this as a note, make sure you get a confirmation email from whoever you book with. We went through a third party website and didn’t get a confirmation email, needless to say – we spent a few hours in the hotel lobby waiting around for a confirmation to come through and it was a massive headache and pain to start our time in Barcelona.
Go see Park Güell early in the morning
We went to Park Güell, which was an absolute marvel. Park Güell is amongst one of the many buildings in the city that’s not only considered a heritage site, but is also the creation from the mind of Antoni Gaudi. His architectural style was based on flowing and fluid movements.
Park Güell was a clear indication of the fluid notion of his mind with pillars far from the traditional sense. As one of the major tourist sites in the city, I highly recommend going as early as you can as the tour busses come in packs and will make taking any photos much more difficult. We arrived around 9:15AM and there were already multiple tour groups there, but luckily we landed during an in-between phase and managed to capture some cool shots.
Visit the Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is still a work in progress, but is definitely one of the most amazing structures in the world. The details that Gaudi exhibited in his vision was absolutely incredible and it’s an astonishing site to lay your eyes on. Beyond that, the Sagrada Familia is still being built upon, as the structure is still under renovations for years to come. It’s projected to be completed in 2026, a century after Gauid’s death. Until then, crews will work relentlessly to try to finish the building and turn it into the marvel that Gaudi had envisioned.
Check out Ciutadella Park
This place is truly incredible and to think, it’s just in the middle of a park in the city. I can’t lie and say that we just stumbled upon the park, but I’m glad it was marked on Vic’s places to must see. The only issue we had was that we went too early in the year, so the fountains weren’t up yet, but the massive statutes overlooking the park and the arches were absolutely incredible. The vibrancy of the golden horses was a true site to see.
Find Quimet y Quimet
Wow, I was so impressed by this tapas joint. I was given recommendations to go here by a few people, plus Vic‘s bank teller (super random, I know) and it did not disappoint. It’s a small standing tapas place, that’s run by a small family and has the feel of a place that only locals would know. The subtly in the environment did not disappoint, as the food was absolutely incredible. Fresh fish, combined with small sides that complimented favours perfectly. This place is a much try, just ask Anthony Bourdain!
Wander some neighbourhoods!
This next one can’t be controlled, and I can fully admit, we got extremely lucky to come across this when we were there. After Park Güell, Vic and I got lucky enough to come across a Catalonian walking parade in the middle of a random neighbourhood. We stumbled across it by hearing what sounded like loud canons. What proceeded this couldn’t have been planned, as we basically saw a pyrotechnics show during our trip home. The pictures below don’t do this justice, but I highly recommend that you check out both Vic’s and my Instagram stories from España to see these people in action.
