Barcelona

Tapas, the beach and sunny skis! Barcelona treated us well. We arrived in the afternoon on Kevin’s 30th birthday - what a great place to celebrate! We checked into Ibis hotel and headed straight for the beach with a couple Spanish beers to hydrate. Our next stop was Black Lab brewery that actually had a draft bday boy IPA; it’s like they knew Kevin was coming! To end our first night in Barcelona, we enjoyed the views from the rooftop pool and shared some paella.

Day 2, we walked through the Arch de Triumph (their version), wandered through the Picasso Museum, the Gothic Quarters and hit the Sagrada Familia around sunset - with the setting sun hitting the stained glass windows inside beautifully! We were able to go up the Passion Tower at Sagrada and had views of the city below and of the higher aspects of the cathedral you can’t see from the ground! We had the absolute best cheesecake - biscoff flavor to end a great day!

Day 3, we attempted Park Guell but sadly it was closed for some event. We instead wandered streets near the park and then ended up at Casa Vicens - the first house Gaudi designed. The colours and attention to detail was superb and tied in nicely to seeing the Sagrada the day before. We then made our way to Montjuic Castle - enjoying a beer within the castle walls. Out last dinner in town was tapas - you order different individual tapas at the bar and they charge you based on the foods toothpick color.

Other details: Other than a few showers, the weather was nice while we were here! We had purchased a Barcelona card during our 3 night stay and found it helpful - it came with both a transportation card (able to use bus, train, tram and vehicular during our stay) and a museum card - which we used for free entry to the Picasso Museum and Montijuic + reduced fee for Casa Vicens. We really enjoyed the Ibis Hotel and would stay here again - great location to the metro; we got a great deal on booking.com and was so close to a great bakery we went to 2 mornings in a row (La Torrada).

The photos are from the Arch, the brewery, of the rooftop pool at the hotel, Casa Vicens, the best sandwich at the bakery near the hotelLeer más