Part 1: Oh, Barcelona...

Have you ever been somewhere and just immediately realised this was the place for you? I've felt it in London a fair few times, but my god, I'm sorry London but I'm cheating on you with Barcelona. It hasn't been long, but we've kind of fallen in love. 

I'm kind of broke after a week of travelling around two different countries, but as someone once told me 'visit as many places as you can, because you can always make more money but you can't always make more memories', and hey I think they may have hit the nail on the head. Half term does not, and will not ever serve the purpose of a week of studying and catching up on everything you've missed. No. Look it up in the dictionary...

half-term noun

(the period when students are given) a holiday about the middle of a term to do fun, outrageous things, spend money and drink cocktails

Okay, so I made the last half up but we did spend the week doing fun, outrageous things, spending (too much) money and drinking cocktails (and Veuve Clicquot... all will be revealed). It was a 'see ya France, I think we need a break' kind of thing.
Coach journeys have never been something I've particularly enjoyed, but I've never had a horrific experience. Until now of course. 10pm coach, takes 8 hours and arrives at 6am in Barcelona! Perfect! She says. I can sleep on the coach and wake up bright and early ready to tackle the day. Dream on gurl...
2 hours in and I've already moved seats twice because my reclining chair was non-reclining and I'm so indecisive that I couldn't decide whether I preferred the back or front of the coach best. I decided on the front, but then it turns out I had 0 leg room, my reclining chair kept slowly creeping back up and the driver insisted on playing music you'd hear in Tiger Tiger for the whole journey. YAY.
Around 2 hours of sleep later, and we arrive in Barcelona. I'm tired, I'm hungry but I can't help but be bloody excited and strangely chirpy...

The metro is pretty damn clean, less busy and easy to navigate. (London, maybe it is you and not me after all) Our hostel turned out to be right by the metro stop, in a pretty great location and after all the horror stories I've heard- really clean and kind of resembling a Spanish version of Ikea. There was also a coffee machine. Smiles all around.

We seemed to embark on a bit of a Church tour of Barcelona (which I could not complain about, beacause I LOVE a good church) but nothing had prepared me for the splendour of the Sagrada Familia... In-cred-ible.











Do not, for the love of God, queue for tickets. For almost every monument/ place of interest in Barcelona, you can buy tickets online before visiting and you avoid all queuing time (which is usually around 45 mins-1 hr). If there is anything you must visit, then this is it. I have always been a sucker for beautiful architecture, but I can say for certain that this blew anything that has ever impressed me beforehand completely out of the water.

Other must see's are: Gaudi's modernist park, Park Guell (although a little different to what I expected, as it really is just a park, but with beautiful architecture and mosaics all the same) but also with the most stunning views of the city too. It's worth it even just for that. The Picasso Museum is also fascinating, and houses a huge collection of his work. It's also free after 3pm on a Sunday. Visit the Santa Maria Del Mar, and the Cathedral too. Two breathtakingly beautiful churches.

                       (View from the top of Park Guell, Carmel Hill)



The food market located on Las Ramblas (and Las Ramblas itself, although touristy) are both a must see. The market hosts around 200 stalls of fruit, tapas, meat, chocolate and even some animal brains (I will not divulge). But the fruit is cheap and SO good, and the smoothies are even better and cheaper. This was potentially what fueled my love affair with the city... (of course it was something food related)

Talking of food, every trip I go on seems to swiftly turn in to a food tour of the city. With me eating as much as I can to gauge where is best for food/ not to miss out on ANYTHING which might taste remotely good. I kid you not. But, as a result we found a few places which were pretty amazing, and if you visit Barcelona, should most definitely make the to-do list:

1. For paella and Tapas, a small quaint restaurant located in a small backstreet named Escudellers, just off Las Ramblas  called 'Colom Restaurant'. 11 euros for 3 plates of tapas and a huge dish of paella, with pretty cheap Sangria too.

2. For Mexican food (No I didn't get confused and think I was in Mexico), 'Rosa Negra'. Margaritas and Mojitos are 3 euros all night and pretty much everything else is under 10 euros. The tacos are amazing, and the restaurant has a tonne of cute lampshades.

  

3. Churros. You go to Spain, and you eat churros. It's an unwritten rule. There are so many touristy places offering them, but in true language student style we opted to find something a little more rustic and traditional, and after (letting someone else) ask for a local's advice on the best place to go, we found a little cafe full of Spanish people. Always promising. I didn't note the name of the place, but there are a lot of cafés offering the traditional Churros and Spanish Chocolate combination.



4. Buenas Migas. Big statement, but potentially the best food that I ate in Barcelona. Foccaccia equivalent of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, with a pretty awesome view of the Sagrada Familia whilst you're eating. Oh, and good coffee too.



I could go on for days about how much I love the place, but I would probably end up boring you to tears. So don't just take my word for it- go to Barcelona, eat loads of food, see the pretty buildings and drink ALL the margaritas. You'll thank me for it later.

A x