30 Hours in Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

I would like to premise this post by stating that in no way am I telling you how best to spend your time when visiting the places I write about. Why am I saying this? Well I am sure it will largely become evident in the following post.



Day One

We began the morning at 4:30am, and still riddled with the flu I struggled to pull myself out of bed. A quick jot up to our local National Express bus stop and we were on the 5:20 am to Luton Airport. I found myself sat next to a girl who was less than impressed when I asked for the seat she had assigned her bag (no it wasn't Adrienne). Thankfully, for the first time in recent weeks, we weren't running through the airport to make our flight. I certainly didn't feel like running that's for sure.

We arrived in Barcelona a little after 10am. This being our third trip to Spain we have learnt that the Spanish are lacking when it comes to signage, but after a few detours we found the train station. The train itself was very easy. There are two options from here to get into the city, the Metro or the R2N line. We chose the R2N, bought our tickets and were off.

Casa Batlló

Our first stop was Casa Batlló, the famous apartments designed by Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi. We emerged from the metro at Passeig de Gràcia to find a sea of people and a line that stretched around the corner. We found a few different vantage points where we could stand to take a few snaps and then headed to find food.

Tip 1: Pre-book tickets online!

Casa Batlló

Lunch had to be paella of course!! And as much as I like to avoid very touristy dining spots, it was hard to find anything on our walk from Casa Batlló to La Sadrada Familia. While I very much encourage the consumption of paella, I recommended doing some research before sitting down.
Tip 2: If there are pictures of the food, its aimed at tourists and probably over priced. (I learnt this one of another European adventure years ago.


La Sagrada Familia

I was beside myself with excitement to walk inside the beautiful basilica designed by Gaudi. I had seen photos and knew we were in for a treat. I had pre-booked tickets the night before hoping to fast-track in. However, we waited in line only to be told we had been scammed. What I thought I had bought were two adult tickets, what I had in fact received were child tickets. Thank you Tictac Tickets for ruining my day!

The helpful staff at La Sagrada Familia informed us while they are trying to take legal action against companies like this, there was nothing they could do and made some suggestions on where we could purchase tickets. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out for the next 5 days. So we picked ourselves up and headed to the water.

Tip 3: Only buy tickets from the actual legitimate website or ones that they recommend.

Sagrada Familia

We picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off and headed to the beach. After buying an ice cream, we parked ourselves on some steps overlooking the ridiculously large boats in the marina. Utterly exhausted, we decided to call it a day and headed back into Barcelona city to meet Adrienne's family who put us up for the night at the Dally Flats.

Finding a dinner location proved to be an interesting task. While there are endless options, restaurants in Barcelona seem to be scattered across the city. After walking around in circles, we landed on a place (whose name we didn't note) that ticked the dietary requirement box of all five travelers; a share paella, a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, and a large serving of beef and chips.

Day Two

La Rambla

Up and out at 9am, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Pans & Company, before heading to La Rambla.
This particular day seemed quiet, however there were still plenty of restaurants with fancy drinks and market stalls with nifty souvenirs.

Along La Rambla

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to visit Mercat de la Boqueria as it is closed on Sunday. I have heard it is incredible and highly advise to prioritise a visit for a day it is open.

Tip 4: Check opening times.

Along La Rambla

Gothic Quarter

A wonder around Gothic Quarter was a wonderful way to end my time sightseeing Barcelona. This is the place to find the more traditional spanish architecture and some amazing plazas including Plaza Real.

Plaza Real

Before I left Adrienne and her family, and headed to the airport we had a farewell lunch at Restaurante Nuria. Conveniently located at the northern end of La Rambla, the food was excellent with very generous servings. Of particular note, the calamari was the best I have had in a long time.

It had been my hope to also see Parc Guell on this trip, however tickets were sold out for days in advance. It was now I accepted I would be returning to Barcelona in the future, and I'm totally fine with that.

The journey back to the airport wasn't without confusion, only in purchasing tickets having forgotten you can simple take the metro. The signage in reverse was no better on the airport side of the return trip, but I made it el solo with plenty of time to spare.

Until next time Barcelona,  it's been real..brief!