10 days / 5 people / 5 countries / no sleep...

you can skip straight to the full gallery here. but, let me tell you a lil bit about it below:

what's good barcelona

the five of us arrived in barcelona on thursday evening. ronny, our resident spaniard, chatted up our cab driver for the entire 40-minute ride from the airport to our airbnb. yes... we soon realized we greatly fucked up – our airbnb ended up being over a 30 min train ride to the center of barcelona. this was surely my oversight; i control the gps like a pro but tend to neglect the scale on a map. it was definitely an inconvenience, but speaking for myself, i’m quite glad that this was the case because it produced some incredibly memorable stories (even though they caused a lot of in-the-moment misery, more about that later).

the airbnb was gorgeous! the time spent in the home was relaxed, comfortable, & our hosts were so kind – they drove us into the city the first night since the trains had already stopped running. they were such a lovely couple; the man was at least fifteen years older than his beautiful, lively partner. i could tell that they both led the most interesting of lives, and that they were so deeply in love. the way they spoke with one another made me melt back into my seat, they were full of laughter & intense admiration for each other, it was obvious that dull moments were nonexistent in their relationship. they’d kiss during red lights & then take a break from their intensity almost as if they had innocently forgotten we existed, to tell us of another market or church we must see.

i forgot to take photos of the airbnb – but, if you'd like, you can check out the listing here. the couple owned this house in vilassar del mar, a two minute walk from the coast where the nearest train station was. their home had three stories, with a rooftop deck where we enjoyed our mornings with fruit, bread & plenty of coffee whilst catching each other up on all of the mischief that occurred the night before.

we spent the mornings sipping espresso under the barcelona sun on our airbnb's rooftop deck

view from the roof - just a few steps to the sea

FIRST STOP: TAPAS @ CIUDAD CONDAL

straight away we ordered a pitcher of sangria for the table, it was deliciously sweet & fruity. even more sweet was the ambiance of the eatery - every single staff member was top-notch & full of smiles! they really couldn’t have been any more hospitable.

what we discovered

quick glance at the menu and you realize how cheap the food is in barcelona. yingying agreed to split plates with me and of course, we ordered far too much for two to consume without falling into a 24-hour food coma.

what we ordered

patatas bravas, pescadito frito, pimentos de padrôn, calamarcitos melagueña, camembert crujiterie , & croquettas

consensus

delicious, but for the dishes we’ve previously tried – great, flavorful, but nothing special. however, the new ones, like the cheese on sticks covered in delicious nuts and sauce – we were amazed by! for dessert, yingying & maria let me try some of the dessert wine that was served with their almond cake and it instantly brought me back to domaine sigalas in santorini, where i was so enchanted by their dessert wine that i brought home a bottle that i still have hidden away for my wedding reception.

now that we've eaten, let's dance

with new friends after dancing the night away @ jamboree in plaça reial

After dinner we did as anyone would on their first night in Barcelona - scout out a place to get wasted! Strolling down one of the main roads just off of Plaça reial were young people scattered for blocks & blocks. Drinks were being consumed, laughter & conversation filled the air, there were far too many men advertising free shots in exchange for checking out their bars. It was past midnight, yet the streets were shockingly lively. We ended up at a bar/club in Place de Reial with two separate dance floors: the upstairs where we entered played a funky/jazzy array of jams from the beach boys to twist & shout, and downstairs which was more of a basement atmosphere where they played hip hop throughout the night. We had so much fun drinking & dancing the night away until our legs felt like jelly & the morning sky told us it was time to begin our trek back to Vilassar Del Mar.

day 2

la boqueria

Far too full from the snacking we had done that morning at the Airbnb, we agreed on finding a light meal at la boqueria. It's an outdoor market hidden right off of one of the main roads, tucked away between some buildings. there we found endless booths of meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, sweets, & more. Stacked rows of fresh juice cups, each for 1 euro, caught our attention immediately. I bought myself a coconut juice & It was the best damn coconut juice I’ve ever had aside from hacking open one myself.

seeing all the things

The rest of the day was spent walking through the city, from La Boqueria to the Fontana. We managed to hit several landmarks along the way; this was probably the best impression I had from the city in terms of aesthetics. The palm trees and mild yellows and reds that painted the buildings against the clear blue skies were pleasant to my eyes. having been away from it so long, i was reminded that sunshine is my comfort zone.

check out the landmarks we saw:

we found several courtyards to explore throughout the afternoon

more tapas @ bormuth

I had made a reservation here for later in the day, but we all agreed that it was time for a meal after all of the walking we had done. So, we snagged a table outside & ordered a round of sangria (basically our new protocol).

the decor & ambiance of the restaurant was also quite cool – there is a café area as well as the bar/restaurant. i definitely recommend bormuth if you're ever in the city - you can check out the restaurant's blog here!

What we ordered

patatas "mojo picón", patatas bravas, albóndigas bormuth, alitas y muslitos de pollo al ajillo, choricito asturiano a la sidra, boquerones, sepia a la plancha, pimientos padrón

Consensus

the meatballs were so tender & flavorful - i don't think i've ever had such a positive reaction to balled up meat. the anchovies were probably my favorite, though! I could snack on their tanginess every day.

night out @ opium

basically, maria & i lost the others, pulled off being 'french' for most of the night, became dragons, & then dealt with all of the chaos that went down getting home.

if you've got twenty minutes to spare - ask me about the night. i'd love to relive the crazy again :)

day 3

flax + kale

flax + kale is part of a group of resaurants under the teresa carles brand. it was an easy choice after all of the heavy tapas we had been eating! check out their menu here

what i ordered

salmon sashimi toast, raw zucchini blossoms, the hulk smoothie

consensus

i've never really had zuchinni blossoms besides a vietnamese variation my mum used to make, but these were so tasty! they were stuffed with a creamy macadamia nut mixture that were actually quite savory. i didn't crave any meat after this dish, and the combination of guacamole, greens, & sauce came together beautifully in my mouth. i also had 'the hulk', a smoothie based off of avocado which reminded me of the avocado popsicles my grandfather used to make for me as a kid.

"knee deep in the sagrada familia" -moose

a trip to barcelona would be incomplete without checking out the famous works of gaudi. with so many works of his lingering in the streets we had to be picky, so of course la sagrada familia was on the top of our list.

to be honest we didn't understand a lot of his work, sure it was revolutionary but we felt like the architecture in barcelona as a whole didn't mesh well together for us. hey, what do we know? but the basilica is definitely a must-see & after visiting i can honestly say i see his genius.

the outside didn't appeal much to me, it seemed like several different themes colliding together in a way that didn't please me aesthetically. but a venture inside, & i had to go off on my own to appreciate every nook & cranny.

gaudi gaudi gaudi

it took us a while to find it, but we trekked to parc güell during sunset to see gaudi's whimsically designed playground

end it all w/ a family dinner

finally, we enjoyed a beautifully put together family dinner on our last evening. we gathered wines, breads, meats, cheeses, and fruits from la boqueria and reflected on all of the chaos that occurred over the weekend on our rooftop deck. it was the perfect end to a very busy weekend, we partied hard & still managed to see a lot of the can't miss places.

stay tuned for our next stop: amsterdam!

spring break 2016: barcelona, spain