Barcelona

It felt like such a long time since the girls and I got away together so I was looking forward to our trip to Barcelona very much. It had been planned quite some time ago and then almost forgotten about - until, suddenly, the time was upon us to get packing and make the journey!

Of course, the flight being rather short it did not take long until we were touching down in Espana - one of my absolute favourite countries. It was easy enough from the airport to get on a city bus and it took less than an hour to reach the city centre.

We had booked a big apartment using a company called Oh! Barcelona - the same one we had used on our trip to Berlin (which was Oh! Berlin) and we were very impressed with. We had a little bit of a ball ache this time as we were advised that to get the keys for the apartment we had to go to the head office - which added a bit of a trek to the journey. However, when we got there we were told we could have just met them at the apartment, which of course was in the other direction. We also had a bit of trouble trying to get into the apartment (turns out we were at the wrong one!) but once in we were happy and had a lovely apartment. We were staying next door to an old person's home which was a little unusual - one of the gentlemen living there tended to wail throughout the night which kept Kerry awake and I got to practise my rusty Spanish with a little old lady who loved to try and talk to us - but generally it was fine.

By the time we got into the apartment and got ourselves ready it was pretty late so we went straight out for tea. One of the best things about Spain is being able to sit and eat outside, which we did. The street was busy with people walking around and music and a great atmosphere. I had a paella which was gorgeous! After the meal we went for a little wonder and came across a building which had lots of little bars inside. Words cannot do the place justice - it was just beautiful! There were lights everywhere and one wall was full of wine bottles. It had a huge staircase at the end of the room too - the whole effect was just brilliant. We spent the rest of the night there drinking cocktails!

The next day we decided we had to spend a morning on the beach, so to the beach we headed. The weather was lovely and the beach was very pretty. There were a lot of people on the beach trying to sell things (drinks, towels, blankets etc) which was a little annoying as they were constant, but apart from that it was a lovely morning.

On Saturday afternoon, we had booked to go on a boat trip and we spent quite some time trying to get to the correct place at the right harbour - a lot of walking was involved! And, unfortunately, once we did get there we were told that the trip had been double booked and we could not go on it until tomorrow. This threw all of our plans off but we went ahead with it. We spent the next few hours wandering the markets on the harbour and eating ice cream and then headed back to the hotel to get ready and get out.

In the evening, we went to see the Magical Fountain of Montjuic. This is a huge fountain that is moved to music and was gorgeous to watch! We went out for a meal and then headed to Las Ramblas - probably the most famous street in Barcelona. Everything is happening on this street and the atmosphere is fantastic, very energetic. We went into a square just off Las Ramblas which was full of bars and spent our evening there drinking far too much. We ended up in an RnB club which played the best music and stayed out until 5/6am!

The next morning - needless to say it was not an early start and there were a few bad heads - eventually we got going and went to do a bus tour of the city. As our time there was limited we thought this was the best way to see as much of Barcelona as possible. It was great to be able to see a huge amount of the city but I will admit we were all a little worse for wear and a bit tired and, because of this, we only actually got off the bus once (it was a hop on/hop off bus tour) which was a little bit of a waste, but we did still get to see a lot. The one stop we managed to make was at the Sagrada Famillia, a huge church designed by Gaudi. We knew the church was due to appear at any time and were on the look out when you can see the top through some buildings and then suddenly you turn the corner and there it is in all its glory. It was a breath-taking sight and one I will always remember. It is such a beautiful, different building and it is HUGE! The only downside to it was it had scaffolding all over it which was a little disappointing, however, the church is not yet finished. This is a sight I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

The final part of our trip saw us finally getting on the boat trip. I have been on a lot of boats in my life and all different types and never have I felt sea sick. However, on this boat something was different and about an hour in I had started to feel a little queasy. I had not said anything but Kerry mentioned that she did, as did Clare and before you knew it all three of us were hanging off the back being sick. I think this may have had more to do with the alcohol the night before but it did slightly ruin the trip! Once I personally had been sick, I was fine and even ended up driving/sailing (?) the boat back to the harbour which was great fun!

Overall, Barcelona was fantastic and a really good trip. Everything we did was great and my only regret is not having any longer there as I feel there is still so much more to do. Somewhere I definitely plan to visit again!