We stayed in Barcelona for two days. On our first afternoon we walked about in the historic district, the gothic area, Las Ramblas, and Port Vell. We visited Barcelona’s History Museum which we really enjoyed; you get to explore the subterranean archaeological site of the Roman city that existed here two millennia ago. It provides anthropological and architectural insight into an interesting period of the city’s history.
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- History of Barcelona Museum
We found Barcelona to be a bit of an expensive city to visit, especially after leaving Portugal which was really budget-friendly! From our first moments in Barcelona when we spent about 40€ getting from the airport to our Airbnb apartment we knew we had entered a different tourist economy! We noticed that transportation, food, and accommodations are pricier, most museums charge 20€+ for entry, and even cathedrals charge 8-20€ to enter (in France we are used to the latter for free). We did as much savvy tourism as possible, mostly admiring historic sites from the outside and going everywhere on foot.
Our food experiences in Barcelona were underwhelming in comparison to our previous ones, but of course we may have just not chosen well. When I eat out, as a general rule of thumb I try to order things that a) I can’t make at home, b) I don’t ordinarily have access to, or c) are the specialty of the region I’m visiting. We knew we wanted to have paella in Spain and find some other classic dishes too perhaps…
For our first night in Barcelona, we tried an organic vegetarian restaurant which had a nice description in the guide book I splurged for, but unfortunately the food and service didn’t live up to the potential of the place. We tried our luck at a bakery next door after dinner to find something to carry us through but we struck out again by selecting a dry, tough loaf of bread. Then we came upon a fabulous outdoor market off of Las Ramblas (a bustlng, touristy, lively street in downtown Barcelona where everyone must go when they visit), where I got a fruit smoothie which finally hit the spot. 🙂
The next day we visited La Sagrada Familia: a super interesting cathedral that continues to undergo construction today. It’s worth looking up for more information if you aren’t familiar with this ongoing art project of a construction site [more about La Sagrada Familia]. We opted to tour it with our eyes from the outside because entry is expensive and the lines are crazy long! Next, we walked all the way downtown to the Gothic area again and eventually to Barceloneta, Barcelona’s premier beach neighborhood. We had a late lunch here at one of the countless outdoor restaurants which advertise a fixed menu for paella and other things… Nick got to have the paella he’d been waiting for here. We also checked out their fried cod balls and gazpacho soup which was awesome, albeit heavy on the olive oil.
Knowing that our last vacation destination would be a beach in France, we didn’t push ourselves to experience the beach scene by day in Barcelona, but we did catch the end of a beautiful sunset here on the beach.
We are happy to have visited Barcelona on this vacation, but also happy that we will be returning with friends later this year since there’s lots more to be discovered here than we had time for!
Life-Pause in Toulouse 