Well it has taken me a while but I am finally posting my blog for the May long weekend I spent in Barcelona with Nicola and Lisl.
What a fantastic weekend! Nic and I flew out of London saturday morning at an unmentionable time... however we did see an amazing sunrise in London in the taxi to the airport. Arrived in Barcelona late morning and met Lisl at the hotel 'Chic & Basic Born' (top pictures)- very cool hotel and would recommend it for anyone heading to Barcelona... thanks for the recommendation Tim!
First on the agenda was lunch... we found a cute little market where we tried some amazing local food... cannot remember what it was called but we tried boiled octopus served with an amazing sauce - very different but very yummy. The rest of the first afternoon we spent wandering... around the Old City (Ciutat Vella), along the main tourist street La Rambla, around the Born area where we were staying and along the marina. Loads of walking! And I tried my first Sangria on la Rambla watching the tourists walk by... so after all of that we were ready for a siesta late that afternoon before heading out for tapas and drinks. Following our siesta we found a great little tapas bar in the Born neighbourhood which was standing room only but amazing food... and then it was onto drinks.
Sunday we headed off to Montjuic Castle... we took the metro to Miramar and then the cable car up to Parc de Montjuic - fantastic views!!!
From the castle we started wandering down Monjuic hill via the main 1992 olympic sites (incl the stadium) and some beautiful parks. After a whole load of walking we headed for a well earned lunch of seafood paella in the seafood markets of La Rambla... unfortunately the markets weren't open on a sunday however there was a great little cafe off on a side street which served up some fantastic seafood.
Then it was back to the hotel for a little siesta before heading out to view some of Guadi's amazing (or weird) architecture... it is very different to say the least... La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's life masterpiece which is still under construction ... construction commenced in 1882), Casa Batllo, and La Pedrera... I think you get the picture - there are a heap of Gaudi buildings yet they are all so different.
For dinner we met up with my old school friend Sandi who happened to also be in Barcelona that weekend with her husband and parents in law. Very fun night with lots of good wine and way too much tapas :)
And finally monday... we checked out early and headed off to Parc Guell which is where Gaudi turned to landscape gardening - yes a man of many talents. It was a very strange yet enchanting place... it also has the house in which Gaudi lived most of his last 20 yrs in.
While the weather was quite ordinary in the morning while at Parc Guell, when it was time to head to the beach (La Barceloneta) the sun came out and the weather was amazing. I must admit - it was fantastic to be at the beach with sand (yes sand - and not pebbles) between my toes... and it was a toasty 25 degrees. Yay! We ate seafood paella at a restaurant on the beach and then just wandered and enjoyed the sunshine (and of course had a few mojitos along the way :)...
It was then time to go home unfortunately. It was a long trip home as the plane was delayed... my head finally hit the pillow at 2am with work the next day. So, overall the weekend consisted of lots of food (tapas and paella mainly), loads of drinks (mojitos and sangria), walking walking and more walking, and wonderful siestas!!!! Loved it!
So there you have it... so now I might even catch up and do my next post (or maybe not :).
Adios
x L
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