This was Jim’s first time to Barcelona and Spain for that matter. I had been to Barcelona but it was back in 1993 when I did a semester of college in Seville. I loved Barcelona the first time I saw it and I loved it just as much this time.
Sabine slept the whole flight so that part of the trip was easy. We had bought a bottle of wine in duty free just in case it was a nightmare and we needed some vino once we arrived.
While the subway system is pretty easy to navigate in Barcelona, it is not stroller or roller bag friendly so the trip to our rented apartment was accompanied by lots of swearing on Jim’s part.
I had booked a two bedroom apartment (everyone sleeps better if Sabine has her own room) in the El Born district. El Born (a.k.a. La Ribera) is known for its winding pedestrian streets that are littered with restaurants, bars and boutiques. The area is a perfect home base for exploring Barcelona.
The check in to our apartment that evening was almost comical. As we approached the apartment, a guy speed walking past us, shouted “Habitat Apartments” over his shoulder as he continued walking. It took me a few moments to realize what he said and that he was talking to us. When I said, “Yes”, he didn’t even slow down or turn around but continued his speed walking to the apartment.
The guy went through the check in so quickly that we assumed he was either really late for another check-in or was taking speed. He was so frantic that he almost left without taking our money. Of course, Jim being Mr. Ethical, reminded him.
The apartment was disappointingly dingy but I hadn’t been expecting too much. From the pictures online, the apartment looked basic. However, the pictures must have been old because the place was a lot more run down. We have had the worst luck lately with deceiving photos in holiday apartments.
That night Jim ran out to get some pizza slices to enjoy along with our duty free wine while I got Sabine to bed.
The next morning, Sabine obviously didn’t get the memo that nobody gets going until after 10:00 in Spain because she was up at her usual – 5:15.
Our plan for the first day was to wander through El Born, Barrio Gothic and the long pedestrian street known as Las Ramblas. We were lucky enough to have sunny skies and 60 degree weather.
We first visited the Santa Maria del Mar cathedral that was just around the corner from our apartment. I quickly realized that I had brought the wrong camera lens with me and much to Jim’s chagrin, I ran back to get a different lens for the day.
Our next stop was the main Cathedral in the Barrio Gothic. It was under construction as many old churches are so the pictures weren’t all that great.
As we explored the Barrio Gothic, we found a little bakery on Ferran a few blocks off of Las Ramblas. We had the best croissants we’ve ever eaten and we found ourselves going back in to the bakery three times to get more croissants and bread. The name of the bakery was El Fornet and we went back every day to get a post breakfast croissant and to pick up great bocadillos (sandwiches) for the road.
After gorging ourselves on croissants, we stumbled across Plaça Reial: a pretty little plaza lined with cafes and palm trees. On that day, there was an antique coin and stamp market in the middle of the square as well as a photo shoot. We stopped for a quick espresso before continuing on to explore Las Ramblas.
Las Ramblas looked a lot like Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence. It is a wide tree lined street with a large pedestrian walkway in the middle. There were some vendors selling leather goods, jewelry and artwork near the end closest to the water. After I made a few purchases, we headed to the Columbus monument to check out the harbor.
We walked back up Las Ramblas to look for a spot for lunch. Luckily Sabine had fallen asleep so we figured we might actually get a long relaxing lunch. Since it was only 12:30, we found a restaurant named Arcano that was completely empty in the Barrio Gothic. They had a three course meal for only 15 euro that included a glass of wine. We enjoyed a great lunch of pumpkin walnut risotto and Thai Dorado. Sabine didn’t wake up until we were finishing our coffees. The wait staff was nice enough to cut up a bowl of fruit for Sabine and we had saved some of our lentil soup appetizer for her.
After lunch, we decided Sabine needed to get some exercise so we headed to the Parc de la Ciutadella which was on the other side of El Born. The day was perfect for relaxing in the park and lots of other families had that same idea.
We stopped at two different playgrounds to let Sabine play before walking up the Arc de Triomf to stop for an almond magnum bar.
We headed back to the apartment hoping Sabine would take her second nap. The nap didn’t happen but we all rested for a bit.
Once it was dark, we went for a walk hoping Sabine would fall asleep in the stroller so we could enjoy some tapas for dinner. After about 5 laps of the El Born neighborhood, we were about to give up. Just as we were headed to the grocery store to pick up a pizza, she fell asleep.
On our many laps around the neighborhood, I had scouted out an upscale tapas restaurant that looked like it wasn’t too busy and was roomy enough for a stroller. The restaurant was Lonjas de Tapas and had outstanding tapas. It was by far the best tapas I’ve ever had. We got a plate of grilled calamari with garlic and parsley which was amazing.
Jim and I fell in love with Spanish wines on this trip. Whatever we ordered was excellent. Even the house reds by the glass were great and cheap (always a winning combo).
Our second day in Barcelona was our Gaudi day meaning we were going to go see most of the modernist Gaudi buildings. Gaudi’s most famous work is La Sagrada Familia which was started in the late 1800s and is still under construction. Jim’s running joke for the day was that every time he saw a building designed by Antoni Gaudi he would say, “Wow that building is really gaudy.” It seemed to entertain him to no end. He even laughed at the joke again, when he read through my blog.
After our daily stop at el Fornet to get our croissant and sandwich fix, we stopped at the market, Mercat de la Boquieria.
We got a coffee at a stand since Sabine wasn’t sleeping so a sit down coffee wasn’t going to be very relaxing. I had to take a picture of this poor pig below. It was bad enough that he was killed but then they irreverently put a baseball hat on him.
We decided against taking public transportation up to La Sagrada Familia and walked up Passeig Gracia to see some of Gaudi’s other buildings as well as some other modernist architecture.
Passeig Gracia was a gorgeous tree lined avenida with high end shops and ornate lampposts. We both decided that we could very happily live in Barcelona while walking down this street.
We stopped at the ubiquitous Desigual to do a little shopping and stopped for a coffee/ bathroom break.
We decided against going into Casa Batillo or Casa Mila as Sabine was awake and a bit antsy. Seeing the outside architecture was enough for both of us.
Between Casa Mila and La Sagrada Familia, we found a playground and let Sabine play for a while before finding a tourist trap hole in the wall near the church to give Sabine some lunch. She wasn’t very interested in the ham and cheese sandwich we ordered for her and I don’t blame her.
Instead of waiting in a long line to see La Sagrada Familia and the construction zone that it continues to be, we played in the playground right in front of the church.
Since Jim and I hadn’t had lunch at the restaurant near La Sagrada Familia, we found a great tapas place on the way home on Ramblas Catalunya. Again we had a server who was so friendly and nice to Sabine even though it wasn’t really a kid’s restaurant.
About 2 blocks before we got back to the apartment, Sabine fell asleep and we were “forced” to stop at a restaurant for a few glasses of wine while she slept.
We were so tired from walking all day that Jim and I decided it would be a frozen pizza night back at the apartment. Neither of us had the energy to walk around for 40 minutes trying to get Sabine to sleep so we could have dinner.
We didn’t really have a plan for our last day in town. We made a stop at our favorite bakery and then did a little shopping.
We enjoyed the tapas so much at Lonjas de Tapas that we stopped at their sister restaurant near the Picasso museum. Sabine was awake for this lunch but she did pretty well. She tried a bunch of our tapas including calamari, octopus and beef tenderloin with foie gras (sorry, Stacy). She only really liked the foie gras and tenderloin.
After lunch we went back to the Cuitella park so Sabine could play before we had to get on the plane to go home. After 90 minutes of playing on the swings and slide, we headed back to El Borne to wander around so that Sabine could take another nap.
To end our marvelous mini vacation, we stopped at Cellar de Tapas for some vino and our last plate of Patatas Bravas.
On our way back to the apartment to pick up our luggage I felt something hit my head. I didn't realize that it was actually bird poop until we got to the airport. Jim said that it was a sign of good luck. If you consider having a screaming, wriggly baby on a two hour flight good luck, then the old wives tale is true.
I’ve decided never to try saving a few euros by taking a later flight. I thought that because it was a late flight, Sabine would sleep. Unfortunately there was no sleep and we just ended up with a tired and very cranky toddler. However, three or four hours of pain was well worth the amazing time we had in Barcelona.
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