Trip Diary: Barcelona Finale.

This is it. The last post. All about Barcelona!

First things first, our apartment that we found on AirBNB and I blogged about here, was amazing! It was gorgeous. The location was fantastic. We ended up meeting the owner and she was so gracious and nice. So, if you are headed to Barcelona and looking for a place to stay, let us know and we'll connect you.

We had a great time in the city with Ben's parents. We ate our fill of jamon of course...the best of which we tasted at Bar Canete (near the Boqueria).

Our apartment was right around the corner from the Santa Maria del Mar, a gorgeous 14th century church. Ben and I waited for his parents on Saturday morning on the steps, enjoying our coffee and watching the foot traffic pass by. 

And this was the beautiful scene by the church one evening walking back to the apartment...

We also stopped in to the Picasso Museum which we all loved! It tracks the evolution of Picasso's work and most interestingly shows how he was trained as a very traditional, classic artist before developing into such an eccentric artist. It was fascinating.

I also definitely got my fill of Gaudi. We went to a number of his houses, of course La Sagrada Familia and we also walked through Park Guell.

And, we had an incredible day of eating on the Sunday before we left. We went to Betlem for lunch, a great little restaurant that Ben's parents happened upon and absolutely loved it. It is small and charming and beautiful. We had a feast of food including some brilliant cheeses. 

And in the evening, Ben had picked out several great places for a tapas crawl. We started at Sagardi. I loved the culture of eating here! There were plates and plates of gorgeous tapas all over the bar and you take what you want and just hold on to your toothpicks. When you are all finished, they count up your toothpicks and that is how you pay. Also of note, the chorizo was unreal!

 

We then walked just a couple blocks over to El Xampanyet. This place was amazing! Ben found it and it is known to be one of the best champagne bars in the city and has been owned by the same family since 1930. It has this old school bar and was packed to the brim with people. We somehow managed to snag a table and also tried these unbelievable stuffed peppers!



This is the short version but you get the idea. Sadly, mixed in here was my passing my head-cold on to Ben somewhere between Fes and Barcelona, so it was time to get a move on by Monday and head back to real life! But while it lasted, we loved walking the streets, speaking Spanish, and eating and eating and eating!