Barcelona Travel Diary

 

Here is my Barcelona Vlog Part 1 and Barcelona Vlog Part 2

Barcelona was the first city I went to without my parents at the age of 17. This was a long time ago so I couldn’t really remember anything about the city anymore. My sister and I gifted my cousin a trip to Barcelona for her 18^th birthday, which was two years ago before the pandemic. We couldn’t go for obvious reasons but finally it was to time for our Barcelona Girls Trip. Let’s start my Barcelona Travel Guide.

Where to stay

Hotel Acta Splendid Barcelona

We stayed at the Hotel Acta Splendid Barcelona. There are a lot of amazing Hotels in Barcelona, but it was quite difficult to find a room for three. This Hotel was quite nice. Very clean, very friendly stuff, it is located central, and the room was quite spacious for three people. The only downside of the hotel was that there wasn’t a closet and a fridge.

What to see

Barcelona definitely has a passion for culture and art, and you can really feel that. There are a lot of museums and cathedrals. It’s almost impossible to visit all of them. We tried to explore the most famous ones and the ones which caught our eye.

Antoni Gaudí

Must-Sees in Barcelona are for sure all the buildings and architecture of Antoni Gaudí. Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, Sagrada Família, Casa Vicenz and Park Güell. We went to all of them, and I was speechless. Gaudí was such a legend. What he created and all the inspiration behind his work is just amazing. He took all his inspiration from nature. Trees, flowers, animals, mountains. If you take a closer look to his architecture, you really see that. Casa Milà has an amazing architecture, but I especially loved the terrace.

Casa Batlló is much smaller and there’s not too much going on inside but the building itself is so beautiful. I really don’t know how somebody can be this creative. It’s really something else. My Highlight at Casa Batlló was the Digital Artwork “Living Architecture” by Refik Anadol. Refik Anadol is a Turkish-American new media artist. I am a big fan of his work and I was so happy to be able to see one of his AI art pieces in real-life.

Sagrada Família is one of the most important and famous buildings Gaudí has designed. It’s a Roman Catholic Church. The construction of the Sagrada Família began in 1882 and it is still not finished today. The details of this Church are amazing. The architecture is on another level. When I tell you Gaudí was a legend I don’t lie believe me.

If you have the time to see all his work, please do it. They are all so beautiful and inspiring. We got our tickets online before we left for Barcelona because you book the tickets with timeslots and that is convenient because you can plan the rest of your day according to those timeslots.

 

Other places worth seeing

You should also check Placa de Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia, which is the shopping street with luxury brands and Casa Milà and Casa Battló are on this street as well. At Barri Gothic, which is the gothic quarter you’ll see the La Catedral. The most famous street in Barcelona is probably La Rambla and there you’ll also find the Mercat de la Boqueria, which is a huge market with different foods, and the Placa Reial with the beautiful palm trees. This is also a great spot for a little coffee or lunch break.

Arc de Triomf, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, where you’ll also find the Font Màgica, Parc de la Ciutadella and Museu Picasso are other Must-See places.

 

Moco Museum

My favorite quarter was El Born, where you’ll find the Museu Picasso and Moco Museum another favorite of mine. If you love contemporary & street art as much as I do, you’ll love this Museum. They showcase art pieces of Banksy, KAWS, Basquiat, Andy Warhol and more. Also, digital art pieces, which was really nice to see. They also have a Moco Museum in Amsterdam and that’s definitely on my list.

 

Barcelona not only has art and culture but also a beautiful beach and sea. Playa de la Barceloneta is the beach where you’ll find everyone when it’s hot in the city and also the W Hotel is located there.

 

Where to eat

My favorite thing to do when planning a vacation is doing research for the best restaurants and cafés. I love food and I love trying new places and new food. It’s really a passion of mine and it makes me so happy when the places I find turn out really good. When you’re in Spain you should try Tapas and Paella and that’s what we did. I also found great breakfast spots which I’m sure you’ll love.

 

BREAKFAST

LA PAPA

Our favorite breakfast spot was LA PAPA. The interior was exactly my style, and the food was so delicious. They have a big selection of breakfast and gluten free and vegan options, which is always great. I had the banana toast with chocolate spread and peanut butter and I loved it. The Chia Bowl was also delicious. They also have a small shop section where you can get the homemade granola, chocolate spreads and the pretty plates they use for breakfast. A big recommendation.

 

Bohl

If you love breakfast bowls you’ll love this place. They offer a bunch of breakfast bowls, cold and warm. Acai bowl, overnight oats, porrdige. I had the Sophie’s Chunky Monkey which was something with chocolate and it was so good. A great healthy breakfast spot.

Brunch & Cake

Brunch & Cake is one of the most hyped places in Barcelona on Instagram. So I was not too sure if we should go or not. But I wanted to give it a try and I’m glad I did. We went there on our first day which was a Sunday and we had to queue for about 30 Minutes. You can’t make a reservation at Brunch & Cake so that could be a problem. But we went to the B&C at Sagrada Família on another day and on that day, it was almost empty. So maybe save this for the weekdays. Our favorites at B&C were the Chocolate Pancakes and the Acai Bowl.

 

Funky Bakers

Here you’ll find a great selection for breakfast especially baked goods and pastry. The Babka was delicious and also the smorrebrod with homemade spicy tuna spread was so good.

 

Pastisseria Hofmann

This patisserie is located at El Born so it was our breakfast spot on the day we had planned Moco Museum. Perfect for a quick breakfast. They have different kinds of pastries like filled Croissants and Cinnamon Buns. My favorite was the Sacher Croissant with chocolate apricot filling but the Croissant with raspberry filling which my cousin had was also delicious. The croissants were good but to be completely honest I definitely had better croissants.

 

DINNER

Ciutat Comtal

Our favorite Tapas place was for sure Ciutat Comtal. I’d say it’s very traditional. There are a lot of tourists, but we also saw a lot of Spanish speaking people. We tried a bunch of different Tapas and of course Sangria, and we honestly loved everything. We loved it so much that we had dinner here twice. Our favorites were the pan con tomate, patatas bravas, mixed fried fish, mixed fried veggies, mini hamburger, and mini hotdog. But the highlight was the French bread with beef tenderloin. You must try it. It is so good! Also don’t forget about the dessert. We loved the Churros and the Torrija Cremada de Sta. Teresa, which was a bread pudding. It was amazing. I can highly recommend you Cituat Comtal.

 

Xemei

Xemei is an Italian restaurant. If you love pasta this is the place to go. I’d say it’s a hidden gem because it’s less touristy than other places we went to but I’m so glad I found it. All three of us had different Pasta and they were all so delicious. I wish I could try all their pasta dishes. I had the Pappardelle with ossobuco ragu and It was a dream.

 

Silan

If you’re a little bored of Tapas and Co. this middle eastern bistro will make you happy for sure. I love middle eastern cuisine and whenever there’s one in a city, I like to try it out. We ordered Hummus, the Jerusalem Bagel, a Middle Eastern Chicken Sandwich, and the Spicey Tuna Toast. Everything was so so delicious. You could also come here for a little Lunchbreak. It’s worth a try.

 

Parking Pizza

One day we had Lunch at Parking Pizza, and we ordered the classic Margherita Pizza and a Greek Salad to share. The Pizza was good, and I heard from a lot of you that it’s actually your favorite Pizza in Barcelona. They have quite a few different toppings but because it was lunch time, we didn’t want something too heavy. The next time I’d go there to have dinner and try everything on the menu.

 

Restaurant Barceloneta

Of course, we also had to try Paella and when I searched for the best Paella in Barcelona Restaurant Barceloneta was recommended quite a few times. We started with a Rosé, Pan con tomate (which was always a must), Toro Carpaccio and fish croquettes. Our Main was the Paella with mixed fish. You order the Paella per person, and we ordered it for 3 but 2 would be totally enough for us. It was too much but we still managed to finish it. It was really good, but I don’t think I love Paella that much. I prefer Tapas a lot more. But if you like Paella and especially fish I can highly recommend you Restaurant Barceloneta. The view of the restaurant is stunning as well.

 

El Nacional

El Nacional has a cool concept. It’s one big restaurant but has different restaurants in it. Like a fish restaurant, a brasserie, an Italian restaurant, a bar and a Tapas restaurant. We went to La Taperia which is the Tapas restaurant. The food here was great too and instead of drinking sangria we had beer, because they had a bunch of different flavors here. We liked the food, but the vibe was much nicer. The next time I’d love to try one of the other restaurants. In some of them you have to book a table, so I’d suggest you check that out before you go.

 

DESSERT

Best Cookies Ever: Cookona

If you love cookies as much as I do you have to check this place out. It has the best cookies ever. They are really big, most of them have a filling and they are really heavy, but I loved all the cookies we tried. It was so delicious. I wish I could eat one now. We tried the one with Peanut Butter, the Carrot Cake and Dark Chocolate with white chocolate chips and macadamia. The chocolate inside the cookies was melting. Can you imagine how they tasted? Please go to Cookona and thank me later. They also had vegan options. Before you go check out the opening hours, because they are closing during the day.

Granja la Pallaresa

This is one of the most famous Churros places in Barcelona. The Churros are quite big, and they are served cold. But the chocolate sauce, which is more like a hot chocolate or pudding is served hot. You can choose between different chocolate sauces, and it was really good, but I preferred the Churros at Ciutat Comtal.

Where to shop

To be completely honest I don’t think Barcelona is the best city to shop at. Like you can’t compare it to Paris, London or Milan. Obviously, you’ll find all the Highstreet brands like Zara and Mango. These are all Spanish brands so there are a lot of these stores. But I couldn’t really find a lot of cute little boutiques or stores and we didn’t really shop there. But I still found a few cool shops, especially those with cool streetwear brands:

• Newcop Store: a very cool sneaker shop with Jordan, New Balance, Dunk,…
• 12 Pulgadas: here you can find streetwear brands like Stussy, The North Face, New Balance
• The Room: also great for streetwear
• Freetime: here you’ll find magazines from different countries. I loved this store and bought some magazines.
• La Nostra Ciutat: If you like prints and stationary this is a really cute place.

Barcelona is a beautiful city. I especially fell in love with the architecture. It has so much art and culture to show and I loved that. The food was great. We adored the food a lot and also the people were so nice and friendly. Also English was never a problem but I have to say that my cousin can talk Spanish a little. So, she was talking in Spanish whenever she could. Obviously, you cannot always speak the language of each city you’re going to, but I think it’s polite and a nice gesture to learn some basic words and we always try to do that.

The downside or what I didn’t really loved about the city was that it’s quite dirty and chaotic. It was not really my vibe I have to say. I’m glad that I went there. I loved my vacation in Barcelona with my sister and my cousin but there are other European cities I prefer. I’m sure some of you love Barcelona and it’s your favorite city and that’s perfect. Everyone has a different taste and different priorities. That’s why everyone’s favorites are different from another and that’s what makes it cool and interesting. If you’ve been to Barcelona before I’d love to hear your opinion and your experiences about Barcelona. I hope you liked my Barcelona Travel Diary.