Would you believe that the first thing we did when we arrived to Barcelona was go to the hotel gym? We were staying at the Novotel, and were obviously feeling guilty about all the indulgent food we ate in France. I can tell you that a 5km run on the treadmill just about killed me.
With that out of the way, we were super keen to eat some Spanish food! (aka: get fat again).
After a feast of food and a few beers we were wrecked and ready for bed. We walked back to the hotel, stopping at the Torre Glòries for some happy snaps.
Our first full day was spent exploring with Fat Tire Bike Tours. I’ve said it more than once; exploring a city on a bicycle tour is a great way to discover the layout, see some sites and learn more about the area. Fat Tire Bike Tours are particularly good, due to their fun guides and really comfortable bikes.
It was a stinkin’ hot day, so the sangria and food at the end of the ride was well timed and delicious. Matt and I decided to head back to the hotel to have a shower, get pretty and go for a wander around once the day started cooling down.
We found a hostel bar showing a soccer game so we stopped there, had a few drinks and made some friends. We meandered up La Rambla, stopping to look at the tourist traps and buskers. We grabbed some pintxos for dinner at a couple of different places we found on TripAdvisor. We ended up at a bar full of tourists having a great time, watching another football game and generally getting rowdy. At some point Matt trod on the back of my sandal and broke it. He felt so bad he gave me his shoe, and we walked back to the hotel, me in one sandal and one shoe, him in one shoe and a barefoot. We got some funny looks.
The next day we were a bit hungover, so we booked it to the hotel rooftop pool. A swim always fixes a hangover.
After that we spent the majority of the day shopping to replace my broken sandal, and get a few gifts for home. Shopping in Barcelona is SUPER expensive if you want anything that is going to last. Â I found a pair of sandals though, and that’s what mattered. Sandals were my “fancy shoes” in Europe; high heels and cobblestones don’t mix.
We got pretty again for a nice dinner. We saw some fancy acrobats on the way.
The food everywhere we went was divine. You really couldn’t go wrong. The Spanish wines weren’t really to my taste though. Nor was the sangria. Far too sweet.
We spent another day exploring the streets of Barcelona, as the weather was a bit iffy. More food, wine, walking, food, wine, beer…. our kind of holiday! Haha. We wandered all the way down to the end of La Rambla only to stumble upon a food festival, with food, drinks and entertainment on offer! Winning! We spent a good amount of our evening there.
The weather went from iffy to worse – our plan to go to Park Guell was foiled! We decided another day of exploring back streets… but first; La Boqueria! La Boqueria is a huge market off La Rambla. We needed some fresh fruit and veg in our lives, so we stocked up on fresh juices, fruit and a couple of salads for lunch. We explored the city to find a fancy hot chocolate, which we had heard was a must do. It was served with ALL THE WHIPPED CREAM and fancy little sponge cake fingers for dipping. Sickly good.
On our lucky last day in Barcelona the weather was perfect. Thank you weather gods! We made the journey out to Park Guell, super keen for some fancy art exploring. Park Guell is a public park designed by Antoni Gaudi, heritage listed by UNESCO in 1984. Get there early to avoid the lines and the crowds. Also, the heat of the day.
It was hot and crowded at Park Guell, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying it. So much colour… it looked like a gingerbread town!
After Park Guell, since the weather was so perfect, we were finally able to hit the beach! We strolled to Barcelona Beach to catch some rays. It was pretty busy, and after an hour or so of people watching (people are crazy in Barcelona) we decided to grab some cocktails to cheers to our final night in Barcelona.
Thank you for choosing Novotel Barcelona City!
No worries! We’re Accor Club members and love to stay when we can.