Aventuras en España: Barcelona

Reunited!

Anyone who knows me and has asked me about my favorite places to travel, knows that I love the city of Barcelona. I could never live in there, but if I could visit it frequently, I would be a very happy camper.

I took my second trip to Barcelona two days after Christmas and the only thing that could have made the trip better, happened. My mom, aunt and cousin came to meet me there!!!!! When they had decided that they were going to come visit me, we were trying to choose a place to go. I told them about how much I loved Barcelona and I think I sold it to them.

And I'm pretty sure that after the week we spent there, they dont need my word to know that Barcelona is a great city, they know from their own experience.

Tuesday morning after some complications with the bus schedule, I caught a taxi to the Granada airport and took off for Barcelona. Once I landed, I practically ran all the way across airport and through baggage claim to be reunited with my family! It was amazing to see their (exhausted) faces after almost four months!

View from the top of the Colombus statue

After finally settling into our apartment, some lunch and a siesta we went out and started exploring the city. We walked down the Rambla, checked out Plaça de Catalunya and the mercado. It was really exciting to see the familiar sights again and to see all of it through their eyes. I loved hearing their comments about cultural differences in Spain because I have been here so long and am now pretty immune to some of them, or I am not too surprised by them anymore.

Patatas Bravas - we had to order two the second time!

A nice café we had breakfast at twice

Every morning we started off with a breakfast of café con leche and some kind of pastry or toast. I believe that I created a few more café con leche addicts :) I also made them try every kind of food I could think of. No Spanish vacation would be complete without a little jamón serrano, tortilla española, patatas bravas, sangria, kebabs, paella, gofres, fried calamari and MANY other things. I think the best thing we tried that week was patatas bravas. We happened to stumble upon a bar near our apartment that had the BEST patatas bravas. They were so good, we went back another night and ordered two plates of them!

Halfway down one of the towers in the Sagrada Familia

We saw all of the important sights like the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, the aquarium, Font Magic, the beach, the Parç de la Ciutadella, the Port, the Picasso museum, the Gothic Quarter, all other things Gaudí and we were wowed by all of them, especially Gaudí's collection. The Sagrada Familia is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and we have agreed that we have to go back with the finally finish it in "2026."

Candies in the Mercat

Spending a week with them in Barcelona was great. I am so glad that they got to come visit me in Spain and that they got to experience it with me. I made them try all kinds of new things, taught them a little Spanish and made all kinds of memories that we will never forget! Next time they will have to come to my absolute favorite city in Spain- Granada. Then they can experience the relaxed, slow-paced Andalucían lifestyle that I enjoy (almost) every day.

A big shout out to you guys. I'm so glad you came to visit me and I will forever cherish that week we had together! It was great just to hang out, catch up and have no distractions/responsibilities. Come back soon!!