Memorial Day Weekend in Barcelona, Spain

Friday, May 27

So excited to finally be traveling to Barcelona!! We have been to, Mallorca, the island off of Spain but nothing inland. I couldn't wait to go explore, as everybody I had talked to loved Barcelona and would go back if they could.

Our flight left the afternoon on Friday, so it made it an even better day because Preston and I could get off work early that day :)

When we first got there we had to figure out where out hotel was, which at first we could not figure out the right direction. But luckily it wasn't too far from where we were. There were multiple buildings for our hotel. The main, check-in building was actually across the street from ours.

It is always interesting when you first walk in to your hotel to see what is actually like, as the pictures they post are not always what they really are. Our room was actually not bad. It had a kitchenette, nice bathroom, A/C that actually worked, all with a decent amount of room for the two of us. The only thing I did not like was that we were on an inside room, so we got to look out at an alley/building next to us. Other than that, I could not complain.

Once settled down, we decided to go walk around a little. We ended up walking by the Sagrada Família, as it was only about a block or 2 away from where we were staying. Amazing to just stare at!

For dinner, we decided to find the Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona. I haven't had "American" type food in so long! Everything was delicious!

After dinner we got a cab back close to our hotel so we could then walk around the Sagrada Familia at night. Very pretty!

Then it was back to our room, as we had fun activities scheduled for the next day.

Saturday, May 28

Saturday morning we had booked a tour through Viator (our go to tour site), so we didn't get to sleep in very much. The tour we booked was a guided walking tour through Park Güell, the famous Park with all the unique and interesting looking works of art with mosaic tiles.

Antoni Gaudí was given the job to start building/creating Park Guell in 1900 by Eusebi Güell; at the time nobody had ever seen anything so eclectic before, that some people were turned off by his outrageous works of art. But it ended up becoming one of the most popular tourist attractions.

When this now tourist attraction was first built and designed, it was made to be a subdivision for people to live in. But once started, the original plan of building 60 houses only turned out to having 2 built, as nobody wanted to purchase property here. Eventually in 1984 this Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now thousands of people from all over the world come to visit this Park and see all the "gaudi" works of art.

After taking a lunch break...

we had another tour later in the day for Sagrada Família. This basilica has been under construction since the late 1800s, with the hopeful completion of 2026 (more realistically it won't be until 2036 or even later).

The plot of land was purchased from various donations in 1881. But it was not until 19 March 1882 that the first stone was laid, which was also St. Joseph's day.

Also, the first design was eventually changed from Neo-gothic, which Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano came up with, to a more monumental and innovative design as created by Gaudí.

On 10 June 1926, Gaudí died from a tram accident. His work was then picked up by one of his close collaborators, Domènec Sugrañes. Which Sugrañes did not stay in charge for long, as after the Spanish Civil War, Francesc de Paula Quintana took over.

There were multiple other people who helped/took over the works being done to the Sagrada Família. They keep pushing to try and complete it as soon as possible, but no matter what, there is always something new to be added or done to it.

(Maria's column)

After the tour through the Sagrada Família, we stopped at an outside snack bar outside the basilica so I could enjoy a glass of Sangria and Preston his usual soda, while taking in the amazing views!

Then it was off to find a place to eat dinner.

People laugh when I tell them where we went for dinner as it is not the usual place you would think you should/would eat in Spain. But since we don't get much variation where we live, except Italian Preston was really craving Mexican food. So we found a small Mexican place to eat at.

This place ended up being one of the best Mexican foods I have had in a while. It could of also been since we have been deprived of this type of food for so long that any would almost taste good to us.

We started with homemade chips and guacamole. We hadn't had guacamole in I don't know how long, but this one was delicious!

For the main meal I had enchiladas and Preston had some of the best tacos I've had. They were simple but there was so much flavor in them!





















After dinner we had to find our way back to our hotel as tomorrow was another busy and exciting day!

Sunday, May 29

Today we had an all-day tour of a few different places. We found the tour on Viator, (favorite tour website!), that gave us a tour of the Montserrat and the monastery there, then we had a typical Spanish lunch with tapas, and to end the day we had a wine tour and tasting. The name of the tour was Montserrat Tour from Barcelona Including Lunch and Wine Tasting in Oller del Mas. We had to met over in front of Hard Rock Cafe, where they had a bus to drive us everywhere. But first, a quick breakfast across the street at Starbucks.

(Our tour bus)

First stop, the Montserrat, which was only about 45 minutes outside of Barcelona's center.

The Montserrat is the most important mountain in Catalonia; there are some amazing views on this mountain! Our tour guide took us to where the monastery is and told us some information about this area. Here you can also find the real Black Madonna. Unfortunately, Preston and I did not go see it as we only had a certain amount of "free time" and we did not want to wait in the line and potentially not even be able to see it.

(Preston lit the purple candle in the middle)

Once our tour guide gave us "free time" and a few different options people could take. We decided to do the hike to where the Black Madonna was found. Definitely recommend doing this if you don't mind walking a little ways. The views will make it totally worth it though!

Where the Black Madonna was originally found they had now built a small church around it.

(Where the Black Madonna was found)

By the time we walked back from this church it was time to get on the bus to go to lunch. We went to Oller Del Mas to enjoy some tapas. At this location there is the winery, restaurant, golf course, swimming pool, and multiple other outdoor activities you can take advantage of.

We had unlimited wine and so much food! I could barely finish it all. I was so happy I could actually try some traditional tapas in Spain.

After lunch we walked to the winery to see the cellars where they used to store the wine.

Once we walked around to the different areas of the winery, we went up to the tasting room in the Castle to try a few of their wines.

Before heading back, we were allowed to go up to the top of the castles and admire the views!

By the time we got back from the tour it was time to find somewhere to eat dinner. We found a small Spanish restaurant on one of the main downtown streets.

I got seafood paella, which was actually pretty good. I have no idea how I finished basically the whole skillet, guess I was super hungry. And again, Preston was craving something that you should not get in Spain, a pizza. I told him not too, but if you're craving something it's hard to change your mind to something else (he was not a fan of the pizza).

After dinner, we were walking back to the main street you can catch a cab on we saw a Dunkin Donuts. We had to stop!! This is another thing I miss when living in Italy, we do not have Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks or any of those chains. So whenever we see them when we travel, we always have to get something.

We were complete fatty's!! We ended up getting 6 donuts for the 2 of us to share. We ate a few that night and then saved the other for our breakfast in the morning, since we had an early flight.

Now we were set to find a cab to take us back to our hotel.

I did not want to go back and pack. I wish we had more time to explore, I really liked this city.

Monday, May 30

This is definitely a city that does not sleep much. As when we were heading to the airport around 5:30ish, we saw some people walking home with their party outfits still on. If we ever have a chance to come back, I definitely would not mind!

Now to see where our next adventure takes us!