The last stop on our grand tour was Barcelona, Spain. My goals for this trip were to stop by the beach (done), take a photo with Gaudi's well known mosaic benches (done), and to make it to the Bunkers del Carmel to watch the sunset over the city (done). In addition to checking off my bucket list one item at a time, I managed to fill in the rest of the weekend with copious amounts of tapas, two new pairs of earrings, and quite a bit of climate-related confusion (I learned quite quickly that the locals are all still wearing marshmallow coats in 60 degree weather... oops). Keep reading for the top ten tips from our four days in Barcelona... 1. Take a trip to the Markets. It seems like many European cities have their own food and antique markets, and Barcelona was no exception! Mercat dels Encants is Barcelona's largest flea market, and has every object imaginable, from antique books to bathtub faucets (yeah, I was a little confused by that one too). It was fun walking by the stands and seeing everything that was offered, usually for pretty cheap prices. My friends got some shoes, scarves, and other assorted objects, and I spent my time incredibly amused by some of the objects for sale - like a teacher's award plaque from 2009? 2. Tapas and Sangria When in Barcelona, you should make sure to stop in at a restaurant for Tapas. A lot of my meals consisted of a few smaller items from the tapas menu, all of which were very tasty and allowed me to try a bigger range of food. One of my favorites was made of veggies and goat cheese...I forget the name, but if anybody knows what I'm talking about please let me know! I also recommend watermelon with ham and the potato wedges with aeoli. 3. If you want to see Gaudi exhibits, buy your tickets online! They are cheaper this way because you can get an early bird discount, and you can also save yourself a lot of time waiting on the lines. We went to the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, and Park Guell. They were all very cool to see, but my favorite was Park Guell, because it was nice to be out in the sunshine to explore the park and see all of the installations. If you are going to Casa Batllo, I'd also recommend the audio tapes and app; you can learn a lot about the inspiration for different features of Gaudi's architecture, and can see the way the house looked when it was lived in.
5. Take the scenic route. As I said earlier, we did a lot of walking in Barcelona, and in all the cities we visited. Especially since it was warm out, we enjoyed being able to walk from place to place to see more of the city that we wouldn't have been able to see just riding the buses or metro. Because of this, we decided to get the ten ride metro pass, rather than the four day pass, because it was a lot cheaper and we didn't know how often we would be using the metro. This ended up being the best plan, because I used about nine passes total, including the trip back to the airport. It was cheaper than buying each ticket individually, and also much cheaper than the four day pass, which we wouldn't have used enough for it to be worth the price - but, if you'd rather metro than walk, it might be something to look into! If you decide to walk, make sure you go through the Gothic quarter, stop in the boutiques for gorgeous jewelry, clothing, and other items, and see if you manage to stumble upon an art market or two... 6. Ride the Cable Car to Montjuic Castle. The metro pass we got covers all zones, including the funicular that you can take to the cable cars. There are two in Barcelona, one over the ocean (which closes depending on the weather), and one up to Montjuic Castle, which we decided to ride. We didn't want to pay the fee to go into the castle, but had a great time walking around the outside and reading about the history on the signs. It was sufficient for us, but if you are interested in seeing the inside, it costs about five euro to get in. We also walked along the paths to the old Olympic Stadium and got to see the inside. Barcelona's Olympic stadium, unlike some around the world, has actually still been used a lot since the games, for concerts and other events. 7. Head to the Beach! If you're not in the mood to trek up a mountain, the beachfront is a relaxing way to spend the day. We started the morning by going to La Boqueria, an outdoor food market with stalls selling fruit, candies, bread, meat and fish, smoothies, and other yummy snacks. I got a fresh mango juice and homemade fruit gummies before heading to the beach. Unlike the beaches in Nice, this beach was covered in sand that remained in my shoes for days afterwards, but it was worth it for the view of the ocean on such a warm day. We sat in the sunshine, listened to music, and watched the surfers for a relaxing morning. One thing to be aware of, however, is that there are a ton of salespeople trying to sell tapestries, mojitos, and massages. They were pretty persistent. 8. See the Magic Fountain and a Flamenco show! On our last night in Barcelona, we decided to see the Magic fountain and a Flamenco show rather than going out, because we had to be at the airport pretty early. We were able to get discounted tickets from our hostel for a show, and I was excited to get to have such a cultural experience - I had never seen a Flamenco show before! The Magic fountain light and water show goes from 7-9 pm, and is full of cool arrangements, fun colors, and funky music. 9. Speaking of Hostels... If you are a traveler on a budget, hostels are one of your best bets. You should look into different options to make sure you are getting the best deal, but a lot of them offer some great activities and discounts. Our hostel offered discounted tickets to numerous Gaudi sites, pub crawls, admission to different nightclubs around the city, free walking tours, and a small free breakfast. Hostelworld is a good site to search, but make sure to check if the deposit they ask for is a part of the price, and not an additional fee - it can be cheaper to book a hostel directly from their site.
BONUS TIP: Make sure you check in and print your tickets ahead of time - especially for Ryan air, forgetting to do this could result in a 45 Euro check in fee. Also make sure you still go to the check in desks to have your passport checked and ticket stamped, otherwise it is technically not valid - not something you want to realize right before the gate. Additionally, checking in early is great because if you happen to arrive seven hours early for your flight, you can go through security and not have to try to sleep in the very uncomfortable chairs by check in...been there, done that.
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Hi Everyone!I'm Lydia, a 21 year old college student studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for the spring 2017 semester. I'm excited to spend the next few months adventuring around Europe, and it'll all be documented here! Feel free to look around. Archives
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