BARCELONA: weekend travel

Barcelona: Birthday weekend

Another weekend, another place to be discovered. Our next adventure was Barcelona to celebrate my 20th birthday. And what a weekend of celebration it was.

This was our first time to fly somewhere for the weekend. We finished class, took the train to Brussels and flew to Barcelona. This was also the shortest travel weekend so we crammed as much as possible into our time in Barcelona.

AIRPORT ADVENTURES: Barcelona here we come!!

DAY ONE: June 14, 2019: We woke up early, and headed out on our bike tour of Barcelona. If you have read my other posts, you may notice a theme. We fell in love with riding bikes all over Europe. While Barcelona is not the most bike-able city, we still made it work. We went to “local” stops and went to all the different neighborhoods.

First stop: kissing wall mural. This can be found all over Pinterest and I was so excited that our bike tour stopped here.

We then stopped and had coffee at a local coffee shop. This was one of my favorite moments. We sat and talked with our new friends from the bike tour. We sipped on coffee and discussed life. It was so crazy to talk to people from all different walks of life and just talk. It was so eye opening. I might do a separate blog post all about the conversations with random strangers turned friends.

After our bike tour, we went to Park Guell. Insider tip: BUY TICKETS AHEAD OF TIME. We were able to see the mosaic parts of the park thanks to our ticket we bought ahead of time. Barcelona is stunning from up here. I’m obsessed with the small details and the views of the city. OH, and the Cheetah Girls “Strutted” all over the park.

Post card shopping time :)

We ended the night by eating dinner (tapas) at a local restaurant by our hotel and then sitting outside on our balcony and just hanging out.

DAY TWO: June 15, 2019: MY BIRTHDAY!!! We started the day off by touring Sagrada Familia . Another thing that we booked tickets for ahead of time. A MUST!!!

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! One of my FAVORITE things in Europe. Gaudi’s work was truly breathtaking.

My birthday wish: A CHURRO!!! With a view!!! the best ever!!!

Then to La Boqueria. This was also one of my favorite spots. We ate empanadas, tried to find our favorite and just took in all the color and flavor.

Then… some birthday Sangria and exploring El Born neighborhood.

Birthday dinner: The black lab. Some good ‘ol American food.

Sunset boat cruise: I LOVED THIS!! Spanish guitar and sunset cruises was so fun. The best views and company. The perfect way to end off my 20th birthday.