Barcelona: Gaudi's Masterpiece
Updated: Apr 11, 2019
Itching to go to Europe I caught a deal on Expedia for a week in Barcelona two months prior to departure. I immediately booked my trip expecting to go explore on my own. Excited, I shared this news with my girlfriend who in less than 48 hours booked her trip to join me. We had a solid plan on how to explore Barcelona in such a short time as we had made plans to also visit other european locations while there. The two months of waiting felt like forever as we counted down the days before we left. The day had come and we boarded our flight where we made a plan to sleep our entire flight so that when we landed at 7 am, we would be ready to explore and be tourists. Well, that didn’t happen, typical women, we talked and laughed the entire flight and before we knew it, it was time to land in Barcelona! We hadn’t gotten any sleep! We de-planed to find out that Barcelona had a taxi strike at the time as they were just starting to reintroduce rideshare and the local taxi companies were not happy. Here it is 7 am and we had no idea what to do. Thankfully one of us spoke spanish where we were directed to the local metra and maps. We figured out where our hotel was (near the Sagrada Familia) and found our route to get there via train. We exited the metra and walked up toward the street and we were immediately graced with the presence of the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a Roman Catholic church which has been under construction since the late 1800’s by Antoni Gaudi. It is a pure work of art. What makes it fascinating is that even though it was built so long ago, it is still under construction today. We took in our views of the Sagrada and ventured to our hotel which was only a few steps away with full view of the church. We checked in, got cleaned up and immediately headed out to our first tour of the trip: The sailing, tapas and wine tour of Catalonia. What an amazing experience! We booked this tour on Viator by Winenium (https://www.winenium.com). We took the metra and walked a few blocks to get to the mediterranean sea where we were greeted by our tour guide. What an amazing lady. She greeted us and showed us the port and gave us a little bit of history. We walked over the bridge and boarded our ship where we were able to enjoy wine as we sailed the mediterranean sea. It was warm and the breeze felt amazing as we enjoyed our first serving of wine (still with zero sleep). We eventually docked where we were taken to Alta Alella Winery. The vineyard was placed at the highest point in the wine country region with a clear view of the mediterranean sea. In Barcelona their wine process is completely natural and organic. This is completely different than what I am use to in America as preservatives brings hangover. Can you imagine drinking wine without consequence? I do because I did and I drank a lot of it! We enjoyed spanish tapas and a selection of 9 different wines with Spanish Cava being the highlight. Spanish cava is a sparkling wine with a light finish and crisp after taste. Several wine bottles later we headed back to our hotel where we took our first rest in 30 hours since leaving for Barcelona.
On our last day in Barcelona we decided to do a hop on hop off bus which takes you on an informational tour all over the city. We saw Park Guell, Casa Mila, Camp Nou, Casa Batllo which are all works of Antoni Gaudi. The entire city is filled with his architectural genius work and it's worth the time to visit and explore all of his works of art. We explored, enjoyed spanish tapas, got our fill of cafe bon bons and walked the city streets before taking off to explore Ibiza.
Barcelona is a giant work of art. You see art and culture all through the streets of the city in architecture, sculpture, food and graffiti. It's a really neat city to truly explore and learn its rich history. If you are a wine lover it is a must you do a wine tour with Winenium, tell them Travelntorres sent you, we have become good friends. Immerse yourself in culture, food, wine, rooftop bars and restaurants with mind blowing views and art in Barcelona for the ultimate experience
