We left super early Friday morning and left behind torrential downpours. The only hiccup of the trip was our departure flight. When booking our travel we booked our outbound on RyanAir because we needed the early flight time. Well they aren't known for being the most accommodating airline, in fact they nickel and dime you for everything! You even pay for toilet paper and ketchup:) After we checked in we went down to our gate where we quickly boarded, but boarding consisted of standing outside under the hanger for about 20 minutes. Once the plane was ready for its passengers, we had to walk, or should I say run, about 200 meters out onto the runway in the pouring rain to board our plane with luggage, stroller and Annabelle in tow. Needless to say we all looked like we just got out of the shower and the plane smelled of wet dog. I don't think we'll be flying RyanAir much in our future.
Once we arrived in Barcelona we had to take a train to the metro to then our hotel. Not being "city folks" public transportation doesn't come as second hand to us. We were able to navigate around the train and metro stations pretty smoothly, but Andy got one hell of a workout carrying the BOB stroller and our luggage up and down a bazillion flights of stairs. I think they missed the memo on escalators over here. We did take the metro the wrong direction initially but realized it after the first stop, so only had about a 15 minute detour. We met up with Abbey and Eric immediately at our hotel and it was so amazing to see them. We stayed at a cute little B&B and our rooms were right next to one another, so it worked out perfectly. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia and we quickly realized once we approached that the line was never ending. After hearing it was going to be a 4+ hour wait, we decided to capture some pics, take in the picturesque view and proceed on with the day. We sat in a cute little courtyard area and dined on some wine and tapas. We were serenaded with music and entertained by various dance groups. Of course they all ask you for money after their "show". We spent most of the day winding on and off of La Rambla, shopping, eating and stopping for frequent drinks. We ended our day down at the water, where we ate dinner at a quaint restaurant that was known to have the best "paella" in town. Andy and Eric weren't as impressed, as they said they had to work too hard for their food :) Our bottle of wine that we choose came out and was silver with KState purple polka-dots, I think it was a sign. Seeing that Abbey and I met 12 years ago in good ole' Manhattan Kansas, we never thought we'd be living aboard, let alone spending a weekend together in Barcelona. Annabelle did such a great job sticking with us throughout dinner and feel asleep as soon as we got her in the stroller for our long haul back. She did manage to spill an entire glass of wine all over Eric's mustard color pants at Happy Hour, but thanks to some magical wine remover, it came off. With Annabelle asleep after dinner, it allowed us to stop and get beers along the way and take in the city. Abbey and I sang "La Bamba" the entire way home on La Rambla and Andy and Eric tried to ignore us at all costs.
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the B&B served by Gracelia. We then decided to walk to Park Guell, which ended up being far further than any of us anticipated. With Starbucks in hand it made the long trek much more enjoyable. We even stopped at an outdoor futbol (soccer) field where there was numerous games going on, kiddos all under the age of 10 or so. Park Guell was super cool and well worth the walk. Details and photos of the park adventure in its separate blog post. We spent the rest of the day walking around, eating, drinking and letting Annabelle run wild. The girl has an obsession with chasing birds, so found ourselves constantly running after her telling her to not get too close. Saturday night we dined at an adorable Italian restaurant down from our hotel where they had the big futbol game on. It was fun to watch the game in that atmosphere and had the best pizza of our life! We ended the night meeting back up with Abbey and Eric at our hotel for some night caps and soaking in every last minute we could with friends.
Overall Barcelona is WAY more Americanized than Porto, so the multiple English speaking conversations we had were so refreshing. While the culture seems very kind, they do not cater to children like Porto does. Had to change Annabelle on the bathroom floors the entire weekend, as no where had changing tables. We have a new found love of churros! We got to eat guacamole and it has never tasted so good. The architecture and cobblestone roads make you want to constantly be snapping photos. You can walk around with beers in your hand, so beautiful weather, great company and cold beverages makes for a pretty fabulous weekend! If time allows we most definitely will go back to Barcelona and further enjoy everything the city has to offer!
Day 1:
La Sagrada Familia -
Yep, chasing the birds.
Abbey and I getting down on some churros (spanish donut, deep fried, rolled in sugar pastry that you dip into a cup of thick, hot chocolate)
Square off La Rambla, filled with restaurants lining the perimeter and open area with palm trees and fountains in the middle.
Down by the harbor.
Day 2:
We had to go back so we could get a picture with Annabelle awake in front of La Sagrada Familia.
Starbucks - it tasted AMAZING!!! Although I must say it wasn't 100% like the Starbucks back at home.
La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila - another one of Gaudi's inspired buildings. Was a controversial design at the time (early 1900's) for the bold forms and wrought iron.
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