The Guideless Traveller: España: Days 87 & 88 (Barcelona)

Day 87:
Happy 1st of October (aka ALI-tober)!
We are driving from Valencia to Barcelona and picking up my friend, Farida! She arrives at the Barcelona airport in the morning so we tried to leave as early as we could. The drive takes 3 hours, más o menos. The sunrise was beautiful during our drive and of course, the music was on point.

Ali's Barcelona Road Trippin' Playlist:

Morning sunrise along the road to Barcelona!

The Barcelona airport pickup was quite confusing and we ended up with parking as our only option. We found Farida and headed toward the city where we parked somewhere near a university and went to a bar/cafe close by. We were all slightly hungry but it was so early in the day that I did not want us to fill up before lunch. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of our food at Bar Estudiantil...

Morning cava at Bar Estudiantil

Garlic bread at Bar Estudiantil

Pimientos de Padron at Bar Estudiantil

Delicious churros at Bar Estudiantil

Our Airbnb is in the neighborhood called Gracia. Here is a link to the place and I have copied the review I wrote for our stay...

Gracia Loft 1 in Barcelona

This loft is funky and fun! Depending on the style of your stay, you could love it or just be ok with it. If you have a difficult time sleeping in general, this may not be the place for you. The walls and windows to the street and surrounding units are very revealing (sound & silhouette). This also provides a fun quirk to the place. If you can be easygoing and accept the quirks, this place is amazing. It is also very spacious! There were 3 of us and my small dog and I felt like we could all have space to hang out without feeling like we were on top of each other. We really liked the vibe of the outdoor terrace off of the living room but we were disappointed about the mosquito and fly possibilities if leaving the door open... All in all, this loft had beauty, funk and comfort!

Gracia Loft 1

Gracia Loft 1 living room & patio

Coco really liked all the couch space at the Gracia Loft 1 in Barcelona!

Everyone was pretty tired so we actually slept through lunch. When we ventured out, we walked around Plaça de Catalunya and Las Ramblas then made our way to the Gothic Quarter.

Plaça de Catalunya

Some of the biggest El Cortes Ingles I have seen!

Farida, Coco and me around Plaça de Catalunya

Taking on the streets of Barcelona

I have bad anxiety in crowds and really dislike Las Ramblas but it is my friend's first time in Barcelona and we wanted to give her the proper experience so I braved through it. On a positive note, she found a pair of sneakers for all the walking we will be doing the next few days. Like Campello, Barcelona has an insane number of street slangers that come straight from Africa but the difference between the two cities is the professionalism of the illegal goods. When the policía come, these guys have a system to pack everything up in less than a minute and run. It is quite interesting and I have become more and more fascinated by it. I think Farida was shocked by the craziness of Las Ramblas and we were very hungry so we went in search for something to eat in the Gothic Quarter. Where we ended up was a huge mistake. I should have done some research ahead of time because it really sucks when you have shitty food in España. The restaurant had outdoor seating, which is a must with Coco but that was about the only great thing about ATN Restaurante.

Mont Ferrant 2010 at ATN

Runny hummus at ATN

Rubbery, tough calamari at ATN

Overcooked spaghetti at ATN

Seabass at ATN

Day 88:
Today I plan for us to do some sightseeing! First we took a taxi to Park Güell where Coco was able to join us. Dogs are allowed throughout the park, just not allowed in the historical portion. I figure one of us could stay with Coco while we go through this portion however, you now have to pay to go through this part. Not only do you now have to pay for this, you have to reserve your time. Well, the historical portion is where I really wanted us to go but the times available were not until later in the day and we already have plans for later. The park itself is still beautiful with great views depending on how high up you hike. you can see Tibidabo on one side and then pretty much the whole city of a Barcelona from the other side. Park Güell was designed and built by Count Eusebi Güell and my favorite architect, Antoni Gaudí.

Ready for some Park Güell!

Farida needed a boost in order to get a good shot of the city

Casa Martí Trias i Domènech in Parc Güell

Perros Sí at Park Güell!

Farida and me at Parc Güell

Viewing Barcelona from Parc Güell

Sangria de cava at Restautant Parc Güell

From here we took another taxi to the port to have lunch at a place Scott and I went to 6 years ago called Cal Pinxo Palau de Mar. I was really hoping to show Farida a good Spanish meal however they really fell short this time. None of us finished our food and actually, I almost threw up because there were mushrooms in my food. On a positive note, the pimientos de padron were cooked perfectly.

Pimientos de Padrón at Cal Pinxo

Raventos De Nit Rosé Cava at Cal Pinxo

In good company at Cal Pinxo

Puerta de Barcelona

I prefer street art over museum art 😆

Looking back on this day, I cannot believe how jam packed it was with activities! We went back to our Airbnb for a bit because we had to drop off Coco since she is not allowed to our next stop, La Sagrada Familia. I bought our tickets ahead of time on their website and was able to get a time slot that coordinates with another time slot to go up one of the towers. You have to buy 2 separate tickets: one for general entry of the basilica and one for one of the towers. I highly recommend buying tickets ahead of time because it makes the process so much easier and quicker. I have been here before but because the basilica has been in construction for 115 years, every visit one will see something new. The construction is expected to be completed n 2026. Oh and did I mention it was designed by Antoni Gaudí as well?! Another reason you will always see something you have not seen on a visit before is because the design is so intricate.

La Sagrada Familia

Exterior of La Sagrada Familia

Interior of La Sagrada Familia

Farida and Scott in La Sagrada Familia

Jesus hangs out in La Sagrada Familia

One of the towers in La Sagrada Familia

Natural lights created by the stained glass windows

An entrance door at La Sagrada Familia

View from the tower

I am so proud of my friend for climbing this spiral staircase which was very narrow and high up. Quite the accomplishment or someone who is afraid of heights!

Tower view

You can see Antoni Gaudí's vision being carried out everywhere in and around La Sagrada Familia

A look down the narrow spiral staircase

Apparently this is holy water

La Sagrada Familia

I read about this tapas fusion place called Ziryab and I knew Scott would dig it. I loved the pita served with different dips / hummus and the chicken kebaps! I will definitely be back here the next time we are in Barcelona. After dinner we headed over to a very special place: Jamboree. This is a club that Scott and his late friend, Randy, went to 15 years ago! I know my friend Farida because of Randy. They had been dating for about 3 years before Randy suddenly passed. It was important to me that Scott takes us to this club. Scott was excited to see that the club still exists and is just as popular as it was back in the day! Farida and I absolutely loved the music and the vibes. Unfortunately it is underground and I started to get really hot to a point that I thought I might pass out so I had to run up the stairs and outside to breathe. I lasted about an hour, dancing, before I had to throw in the towel 😂