Plaça de Catalunya

Barcelona is hands down my favorite big city in all of Europe!! I didn’t know what to expect and hadn’t thought much about Barcelona before arriving but I totally understand all the hype. Because we decided go to Barcelona earlier than planned so we could fit in Valencia, we ended up booking hostel accommodation right by Las Ramblas. I didn’t realize it was one of the biggest hostel chains in Europe and the place was fully booked every night. Nana and I had two bunk beds in an 8-person mixed dorm and everyone in our room was surprised to see an old lady bunking in their hostel dorm!! Our first night in Barcelona we walked down Las Ramblas and saw the memorial site for the recent terrorist attack and it was horrible to think of the chaos that occurred just a few weeks before we arrived. We did a walking tour on our first day to get our bearings and little did we know, it was actually National Catalonia Day and the whole city had shut down for a public holiday. It was absolute madness as everyone was protesting and demonstrating for the independence of Catalonia from the governing body of Spain! We saw parades of horses, soldiers, huge dolls and flags, and thousands of people all supporting the referendum to become a separate country to Spain. The police were out in full force all day, with helicopters circling during the protests, I’d assume for terrorist reasons. It was a really interesting morning getting lost in the city amongst all the people and we hadn’t experienced anything quite like it before. After the excitement of the protests, we visited the ‘92 Barcelona Olympic Stadium which was cool but because it was a public holiday, nothing was open! We got back to our hostel and walked into our room which smelt like it had been hotboxed with marajuana!! I’ll never forget the look on Nana’s face when she realised, it was hilarious! We couldn’t do much about it except go to sleep and have happy dreams. I’d booked us in to see La Segrada Familia on our second day and because I hadn’t researched much, I had no expectation for the cathedral except friends who had said it’s amazing but OH MY GOSH it is absolutely incredible and blows every other cathedral in Europe out of contention. Photos can’t do this place justice and I’m so thankful I got to see it with my own eyes. It’s not expected to be finished until 2027 and I’d love to make a trip back to Barcelona once it’s finished. We also visited Gaudi’s House Museum in Park Güell where his unique artistic style was evident. To top off a great day, Nana and I went to the FC Barcelona vs Juventus game at Camp Nou!!! The tickets were super expensive but it was definitely a highlight of the trip and totally worth it. Just like everyone was so passionate about the referendum of Catalonia, they were crazy passionate about FC Barça and it was so cool to be a part of! We also enjoyed tapas, sangria and La Barceloneta but definitely didn’t have long enough in this incredible city. I’ll be back for sure!Read more