Barcelona

Barcelona was the last stop on our honeymoon, and while we very much liked it, it definitely played second fiddle to Sevilla and Porto. Barcelona is a huge city, but luckily the metro is very easy to navigate. We stayed along the diagonal in La Gracia, near the popular and trendy area of L’Eixample. La Gracia was perfect, as it was a little more quiet/residential, but close enough to all the bars and restaurants of L’Eixample to walk. It’s also a quick metro ride or longish walk to the Gothic Quarter with all of its Medieval buildings, the beaches, Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell.

Barcelona is like other huge European cities in that they all feel somewhat similar, but it retains more than a splash of the Catalonian culture that sets this region apart. Speaking of Catalonia, they don’t speak Spanish here, but rather Catalan, which is something of a blend between Spanish and French.

Where We Ate

La Pepita: A very popular tapas restaurant and bar in La Gracia. Expect a wait (head over to the bar side while you do), and also expect it to be worth the wait.

Bodega 1900: Part of a compound of restaurants (the most popular being Tickets, to which we couldn’t get a reservation) run by Michelin Star chef Albert Adria, Bodega 1900 focuses on traditional tapas and great drinks in an old school grocery store-like set up.

Spanish omelette at Bodega

Haddock: Easily our best meal in Barcelona, we ended up at Haddock after a recommendation from a bartender at Mikkeller Bar across the street. According to said bartender, the owner and chef here doesn’t exactly love tourists, so he went over and vouched for us as we finished our drinks. If we were open to it, he suggested we just give the chef the number of courses we want and have him cook whatever he wanted for us. We obliged and what followed was 5 or 6 amazing seafood courses paired with some great Spanish wine. Maybe it was just becuase our new friend helped us out, but both the chef and server were incredibly friendly and helpful with the recommendations and service.

Where We Drank

Mikkeller Bar: This is a “chain” of bars run by a gypsy brewer (he does not have one space at which he always brews, he brews his own recipes at breweries around the world), and whenever I’m in a city that has one, I always make it a point to go. We ended up going here twice, as the selection (all Mikkeller beers, with a handful that are only available at this location), service, and ambiance were second to none.

Morro Fi: This establishment makes it own Vermouth and has a few locations throughout the city. It has a very low key atmosphere, amazing drinks, and enough delicious tapas to keep you satisfied.

Vermouth, olives, and spicy chips

BierCaB: To be honest, we had kind of had a meh experience here, but this place came so highly recommended from so many different people that I’m thinking our time here was the exception and not the rule. The beer list is very American-centric, so if you’re looking for local beers, you can find a couple, but not many.

What We Did

Park Guell: This park on the north western side of the city was designed by Gaudi and offers not only stunning and unique features within the park, but also amazing views overlooking the city. Tickets are necessary to get to the innermost section of the park, the area where you can get the iconic mosaic benches picture, but the vast majority of the park is accessible without purchasing anything. If you don’t care about the iconic benches, then you’re better off foregoing the ticket and just wandering around on your own. If you do decide to enter, it will likely be very crowded, but if you wait until just after the sun goes down, you’ll get all the views without the flocks of tourists just trying to get a good picture.

One of Park Guell’s many scenic overlooks
Inside the park

Sagrada Familia: This has to be the most impressive building we’ve ever seen, even though it won’t be completely finished for decades. We’d definitely recommend the audio tour as a great way to get all the information and see everything at your own pace. We splurged and bought the add-on to our tickets to go up one of the towers, but honestly, save the money and skip the towers, the views are great, but the views are just like any other high point in the city, and you can’t really see or appreciate much of the details that make this Gaudi designed Basilica so unique.

All of the light is natural sun through stained glass – no artificial lights. One side was cool tones to represent morning light, the other was warm tones to represent sunset.
The pillars are meant to resemble trees in a forest, each made of different material depending on the amount of weight they will eventually hold (there will be 18 towers once it is finished). The ceiling is meant to remind you of looking up at the trees in the forest and seeing some of the sky peak through.
The Nativity Facade, meant by Gaudi to depict Jesus’s birth
The Passion Facade. The bottom pillars are meant to represent strained muscles, the blue on top to represent ribs.
The Passion Facade shows suffering but also hope, as the gold figure of Jesus after ascension is also pictured.

Beaches: We didn’t spend too much time at the beaches, and when we did, it was too cold during our early November stay to do anything but walk around. That said, they are beautiful, and during the warmer months, we’re sure they get packed.

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