Barcelona

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Almost 5 years in Europe and I hadn't even been to Spain yet!

In between jobs, we found an opportunity to go visit Barcelona for 4 nights. We found a nice AirBnb near Rambla del Poblenou which was in a good location and easily accessible by the metro.

Barcelona is well known for it's architecture and the three main places that are a must to see is the infamous Sagrada Familia which is stunning from inside and outside with complete contrasts in style. It's pointy and rugged exterior is transformed in to a grand emporium with colourful windows and towering pylons.

It is preferable to book tickets online and a few days before as they limit the amount of people that can visit inside these sites every 30 minutes. The same goes for Park Guell which is the other famous site in Barcelona with its colourful tiling accompanied with city views.

One other place is Casa Milo and Casa Batllo which are also included in Gaudi's Barcelona footprint. These are only few of the many attractions throughout the whole city that we saw and which are all great. La Rambla area is nice with a cool market just off the side called La Boqueria. The gothic quarter was also great with all of the little typical European streets and lanes with all kinds of hidden treasures, shopping and restaurant wise.



We hired bikes and went for a ride along the coast. We also went for a few swims in the sea which was perfect temperature and the water was pretty clear as well. Granted the beaches were quite packed as we had some good weather for the whole time we were there. Sunny and warm but not too comfortable for when we wanted to sleep!

We sampled a bit of night life too in El Born where there are some nice bars. We aren't the night club kind of people so it was ideal for us. If you wanted night clubs, it's best to go to the beach front.

We enjoyed the food as well. Tapas is one of our favourites as well as paella, stock standard Spanish dishes but very delicious. There were some nice restaurants near where we were staying and we mixed it up with some home cooking at our AirBnB.

It was a great unexpected getaway to Barcelona which is why Europe has its benefits of being able to go to a different place and culture in a matter of a few hours by plane. So much still to explore...

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