When Peter and I were putting together the first half of our travels we decided that in October we would pick a city to live in for a couple weeks. In August we had stayed in Florence for a few weeks, but beyond that we hadn’t stayed in a single spot for more than five days. We figured October would be a good month to settle in a European city to unwind and live like a local. Our initial list consisted of Lisbon, Majorca, Zagreb and Barcelona. We quickly chopped it down to Barcelona or Lisbon. I think a part of us didn’t like the idea of going back to a place we had already traveled on this trip; additionally, Peter had never been to Barcelona. So it was decided. Barcelona.
Strangely enough, the initial plan was to stay in Barcelona for a few weeks, but due to some developments of a friend that would meet us in our next destination, our stay in Barcelona would be for just 9 days. This turned out to be a really good thing. Barcelona was a bit of a bust for us.
No offense to Barcelona and I am sure under the the right circumstance this city would be great. We both felt that we had heard a lot of really good things about Barcelona, but something was a bit off. Namely our AirBnb.
Since we were staying for 9 days we of course wanted a nice place to live where Peter could work, I could blog and we could have some semblance of a normal life. We stayed in the trendy neighborhood of El Born which is a fantastic part of the city to be in due to all the activity and ease of walking to restaurants, shops and bars. Its oozing with culture. At this point in our travels Peter and I had rented a number of different AirBnb’s and have had great experiences but this was a miss. To start we were on the 4th floor without an elevator up a windy narrow staircase. And by narrow I mean shoulder width. Peter could barely get my (huge) suitcase up the stairs because of how tiny the space was. That alone was tolerable, but unfortunately, once inside, the pictures on the website grossly misrepresented the apartment. On the website the apartment looked clean, spacious, with nice decor.
As advertised….
And in reality….
From the website….
And in reality…
Ok, it may not look that bad in the pictures, but that bed wasn’t really a bed – it was more like 4 inches of a pillow that indented in the middle in which we would roll into every single night. That wasn’t even the most challenging part. That was crowned by the deeply engrained dirt and filth that blanketed the apartment and laced the smell with a cross between must and sweat. What made it even grosser is that we were hanging out in other people’s dirt, not our own. For 9 days. Showers were an act of speed and efficiency as the warm water would run out just about the same time the shower would be filled with a few inches of water, flooded (drain didn’t work). The Wifi was at a snail’s pace which was a struggle for Peter looking for some long, productive work days. Again, not the worst thing to ever happen – we lacked a comfortable sleep, warm showers and modern technology for a week and half. We were also in Spain so we’re not looking for pity. We have perspective; however, what we anticipated misaligned with reality.
Since we did have a kitchen and a grocery store right downstairs I did make breakfast every morning. Also I had fun ironing for Peter with a makeshift ironing board. I really got domestic in Barcelona.
Side note. To give you an idea of how hipster the hood we were staying in was – we found a place for good coffee, Cafe de Magnifico, which takes their coffee very seriously. Yes, that’s coffee in a wine glass.
Another struggle we had was finding food we really, truly enjoyed. For example I did some research on restaurants in the area that serve good paella. I was really looking forward to paella because we were in Spain after all. We landed on 7 Portes, walking distance from our flat, and ordered the paella speciality. It ended up being over the top salty to the point where all the other flavors were drowned out. We also kept trying to find good tapas but found ourselves mostly in front of overly fried or fatty foods.
But enough of the bad. On to the hits for us!
We found a fun pizza place in the neighborhood, Le Pizza del Born and ate there a couple nights. Its right in the midst of a dozen or so bars which made for fantastic people watching. The pizza was delicious with fresh ingredients and a light, airy, slightly oiled crust. The atmosphere was unpretentious with a mellow vibe, good music, and the price was right. Extra bonus – the sangria was freshly made and delicious.
One tapas place that we loved, Cuidad Condal, was recommended by our friend Andre. I didn’t realize it when he first recommended the restaurant, but when we got there I realized right away that I had been to the restaurant before on a previous trip to Barcelona. I remembered exactly where I had sat by myself so it was fun to return with Peter. Everything was great but I especially loved the grilled calamari and shrimp skewers.
One night we treated ourselves by going to a Pakta, a Michelin starred restaurant recommended by our friend Christina. The restaurant is an infusion of Japanese and Peruvian culture. It was a gastronomic experience of six courses with drink pairing for each. Each time the waiter returned he would explain each food in detail and give special instructions on how to eat it in terms of both utensil and consumption cadence. Just about everything was melt in your mouth good while being unique due to the fusion of the two cultures. Thanks for the recommendation Christina. It was a great date night!
Throughout our 9 days in Barcelona a lot of our time consisted of Peter working while I blogged. There was a Starbucks really close to our apartment so I found that to be a good place to write because the internet was much faster and I could enjoy an Americano. One day I think the universe was telling me to have a better attitude with Barcelona because I got hit in the head with a door. If I’m going to be honest, I was leaving Subway after grabbing a couple of chocolate chips cookies for Peter. As I tried to open the glass door I first pushed. Realizing it was a pull-door, I overcompensated with too much force and pulled the glass door right into my forehead. I hit it so hard tears started to stream down by face. I wasn’t crying – it was some sort of reflex of pain. Also my forehead immediately swelled. I’m super special. Upon relaying this story to Peter as he enjoyed his cookies he insisted on a picture stating that I would thank him later. It’s later. I still haven’t thanked him.
Barcelona is an easy walking city. From El Born we never took a cab. We could get to the beach, all of Gaudi’s creations, and the rest of the city sights by foot.
The highlight of our walking tours for me was Gaudis’ Cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. Construction of the cathedral started in 1882 and it still hasn’t finished. I loved everything about it, from the outside architecture to the jaw dropping beauty of the inside. I’ve been very fortunate to see many beautiful churches throughout my travels but never has there been such a wow factor for me after experiencing the inside of La Sagrada Familia. The outside of the church is impressive by it’s massive size, gothic style, and intricate detail. I think for me the surprise came with the contrast of the outside versus the inside. Because of the gothic style I didn’t expect for the inside to be so colorful, delicate, and light. When I walked inside the cathedral I anticipated a dark church but instead Gaudi used every color of the rainbow on stain glass windows as tall as the walls. I could stare at the stain glass all day. La Sagrada Familia is an inspiring place to be, even if you don’t love visiting churches.
Here are photos of the outside.
Photos of the inside.
It’s safe to say that all of Gaudi’s work are inspiring and worth a visit. The cathedral was my favorite, but we also enjoyed Casa Batllo. It’s this house where one can witness Gaud’s love of everything nature. The roof is the shape of an animals back with scales. Inside the building you get a feeling of an under water world with the use of a sky light and the ombre of blue tiles covering the walls. Peter and I went for the audio guide which was useful and we always get a kick out of it for some odd reason. I think it’s the fact that we look like complete tourists with our headsets and have fun embracing it.
Another Gaudi attraction is Park Guell. A park is a park is a park, right? Wrong. This might be the most beautiful park in the world. I can’t say for sure because I haven’t been to every park out there, but Gaudi did design it. And its fabulous. You can walk the park grounds, take in some lovely, live local musicians performance and stroll to the top of the hill with great views over the city. All while enjoying Gaudi’s visions. And speaking of the local street performers, I have been so impressed with the street talent in many of the European countries we have visited. Specifically Italy, Ireland, and Barcelona.
The public part of the park is probably enough to see and enjoy. For a fee there is another part of the park to enjoy more of Gaud’s works and a view of the house he lived in for 20 years. Then there is an extra fee to tour the inside of the house which we opted not to do. The paid part of the park wasn’t as relaxing and not really recommended. Lots of tourists fighting for every inch to get their perfect picture of God knows what.
Another couple highlight for us in Barcelona:
Something the host of our airbnb recommended. One evening at the college nearby there was a festival of local music, arts, crafts, and a beer garden. We mixed with the locals while listening to music, sipping beer, and taking in some art.
We had a wonderful spa experience at the Mandarin Oriental. This was a get all your knots and kinks out of your body and relax your soul type of massage. There are a ton of spas in Barcelona so after careful research I booked us here which ended up being a great decision.
As I mentioned previously Barcelona is an easy walking city. The following pictures are places that were accessible by foot.
La Rambla for sangria and people watching
Arc de Triomf
The Beach
Random street performers
After 9 days of sight seeing combined with some relaxing, working, and blogging we were off to Croatia. I was very excited for this next adventure for a couple reasons. My Grandmother Helen was Croatian or Yugoslavia and this was something she was always very proud of and my dear dear dear friend from middle school, Jessica was joining us for the next two weeks of our travels.
See you in Croatia.
Lot’s of love,
Jaime
