Barcelona

Spain and specifically, Barcelona has been a place I have always romanticized. The only other language I know a bit of is Spanish and I’ve also admired the architecture of Gaudi. It was the perfect place to go next. 

I found a great Airbnb that seemed to be pretty centrally located. The one thing about Barcelona was it is incredibly walkable and easy to navigate with its grid like streets. I was never more than a 30 minute walk from most things I wanted to check out.

I did keep this trip pretty active, having at least one major activity booked each day of my 5 day visit. First up was Casa Batllo. Let me tell you that pictures don’t do it justice. The amount of craftsmanship, creativity and ingenuity is breathtaking. I would recommend signing up for the tour first thing in the morning. There weren’t that many people so everyone gave way to take unobstructed pictures as we meandered through the house. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live there. Just pure magic! 

The next day I booked a tour to travel by bus to the mountaintop retreat of Montserrat. It is a 1,000-year old Benedictine Monastery set high above Catalonia and the home of the famous 'Black Madonna' icon, which I did get to see and briefly touch. Now, I’m not really a religious person, but it was such a moving experience. I still don’t understand how people built these magnificent buildings on top of mountains with nothing around. It was pretty much a full day event but done leisurely all the same. I was able to grab myself a sweet snack before we headed back at one of the local vendors with candied nuts and local honey. There are of course full restaurants as well, but not much selection for my dietary needs.

The following day was the piece to the resistance - ¡La Sagrada Familia! Now it’s been said that if you don’t go to the Sagrada Familia, you didn’t actually visit Barcelona, and it’s no joke. It was about a 25 minute walk for me and as I got closer I noticed the pillars above the buildings, confirming I was close, but let me tell you, when I turned the corner on the block where it stood, I literally said out loud, “what the actual f…” It is UNREAL! I was silent for the next 3 hours, unable to conjure any words for what I was witnessing. I couldn’t even look up and see the entire structure at the entrance, that’s how awesome this church is. I did the audio tour and also the separate tour up to the top of one of the pillars. You go up an elevator and walk down 400 steps in a tight spiral. It is the coolest thing. I had to look away a couple of times so as to not get dizzy. It’s not something that can be missed if you’re able to do it!

I also went to Park Gael and the Moco Museum. I tried to go to the Picasso Museum, but tickets were sold out. I do suggest planning all your activities before you go!

Now, for a little bit of real life - although I truly loved everything I saw, Barcelona wasn't the city for me. Overall it was too overwhelming and the air quality got to me. I know I may be in the minority since tons of people travel and relocate to Barcelona every year. I know that I am quite privileged to be able to travel to all of these cities, but I'm also human and just because I'm somewhere new, doesn't mean I'm someone different when I'm there. I had plenty of downtime as well, just relaxing at my Airbnb when I needed some quiet. Sometimes just being somewhere different is the vacation enough.