HOLA EVERYONE!
I wish I could speak more spanish but thats about as far as my skills go.
Last weekend I hopped on a plane with my best friend Ella and we went off to spend a few days in the beautiful city of Barcelona. Surprisingly, I've never actually been on a short city break abroad before so I was filled with excitement as to what Barcelona had to offer. The plan was to see the sights, eat good food and simply enjoy life.
We arrived Thursday night at our hostel, the hostel was called 'Urbany Hostel Go BCN' and for the price we paid, it was so lovely! I would definitely recommend it to anyone travelling as it was perfect for cheap drinks, meeting new people and it was such a central location.
We woke up early on Friday morning and decided to begin our day with food as there is no better way to start a morning! We went to Flax & Kale to try the infamous Acia bowls which tasted as incredible as they looked. I went for the gluten free, dairy free option due to my very restrictive diet but it was still incredible! The restaurant itself was so chill, everywhere you looked seemed so effortless and cool even the toilets were the most beautiful toilets I've ever seen! The overall vibe in there was definitely very aesthetically pleasing, if instagram built a restaurant it would almost certainly look like that but I'm not complaining, I loved it!
After eating, we ventured off into the city to see some of the famous sites. Our first stop was at Barcelona Cathedral which was situated in the middle of the Gothic Quarter. Our plan was to go inside but the queue was ridiculously long, so we admired from the outside instead. It was surrounding by street markets, narrow lanes and so many people enjoying the Barcelona life. Our next stop intended stop was Sagrada Familia but we accidentally stumbled upon the Arc de Triomf. I loved this area so much! The promenade behind the Arc was lined with palm trees and it looked so beautiful in the sun, like a picture postcard moment. Our approach to sightseeing was simply ambling through the back streets and seeing where they would take us. We ended up in areas that weren't bustling with tourists and it felt so much more relaxing exploring the city this way. We found so many pretty streets along with amazing architecture and it felt nice to not be in a rush.
Finally, we made our way to Sagrada Familia and it was honestly breathtaking. I genuinely don't think pictures could ever do it justice as the vastness of the building is so hard to even comprehend in real life. The architectural design is so unique and it's a building I don't think I'd ever get tired of looking at. We unfortunately didn't go inside but I imagine if the inside is any reflection of the beauty on the outside, it would be just as breathtaking. After spending a few hours roaming through the Barcelona hostel, we decided to head back to the Hostel to have a rest.
We ended up spending our afternoon on Barceloneta Beach which was so pretty! It seemed so weird to me to have a beach right next to a bustling city, don't get me wrong I loved it but it felt so bizarre. Friday was the warmest day with temperatures getting up to about 23 degrees, definitely sunbathing weather. We lazed around on the beach for a few hours, bathing in the sun rays and then decided we were in need of some more food. We ate in a cute restaurant near the harbour, sipped a few fruity cocktails and were feeling so content with life.
I'm sure the sun has magic effects on me!
We finished our food and decided to walk back to the hostel, it was only a 30 minute through the city so we thought why not? I stopped off on the way to get some vegan ice cream which had quite a questionable taste but it was okay. Once we got back to the hostel we basically crashed. We'd walked everywhere all day and were pretty much exhausted. After a while in bed procrastinating moving, we found motivation to put make up on and actually get ready.
The rest of the night was filled with vodka lemonades, meeting new people and endless amounts of chatting bullshit, the best type of night I suppose!
Our first day in Barcelona was incredible and I truly did fall in love with the place. Having the busy vibe of a city right next to relaxed vibe of the beach was something I'd never really experienced before but it was the perfect balance. Exploring new places is so exciting to me and I spent a lot of the day in awe of where I was and what I was seeing.
My first day was perfect and set the trip off to the best possible start!
Lucy Jane