I convinced my friend to do a stopover in Barcelona on her route from the US to her ultimate favorite destination Paris. She wasn’t due to arrive until Saturday night, but of course, I intended to make a full weekend out of it. After work on Friday I headed to the airport and arrived in BCN quite late. I made a beeline for my hostel, checked in, and went to sleep so I could wake up bright and early to start exploring one of my top Bucket List destinations.

Experience my weekend via my Instagram Stories.

Day 1: Saturday

I woke up after a not great night’s sleep having been kept awake by some snoring in my dorm room. Even though it was a nice hostel – something about the hassle of getting ready in a shared bathroom while keeping all my stuff in a locker made me realize I may be in a time in my life where hostels are a thing of the past. I struck out towards Plaza Real in the Latin District, immediately filling with joy at my initial glimpses of this wonderful city.

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I arrived in Plaza Real just in time to meet up with a free walking tour from Runner Beans Tours. Here I got my first taste of Guadi – the lampposts designed by him.

From there we continued to the next Gaudi building Palau Güell

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From here our next stop was going to be at a Cafe for some coffee which I was thrilled with, because in my rush over to the tour I didn’t have a chance to get my morning cup of Joe, which is rough for a caffeine addict like me. Even the little entrance to this cafe was chock full of architectural wonders that already had me marvelling.

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Now properly fueled, I was ready to take in even more of Barca including the famous Casa Batllo, Ramblas and La Sagrada Familia.

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Walking tour officially over, it was time to get some breakfast. I walked over to Granja Petitbo, but was immediately turned off by the line. Instead I headed across the street to Cafe Buho which I found incredibly charming and delightful.

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From here I struck out to the Park de la Ciutadella.

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I continued walking around and exploring until I built up some hunger, because of course I needed to get some tapas! I headed to Bar del Pla per the recommendation of my Runner Bean Tourguide and got the pan con tomate and a salade and a glass of cava.

Then I walked over to the Cathedral of Barcelona. It was closed, but I got to enjoy the exterior – even better – there was a live band set up on the steps playing music while a group of people danced traditional Catalonia dancing in the courtyard. It was a truly magical moment. There was also a flea market setup in the courtyard which was full of little treasures. I’m not usually much of a shopper, but I absolutely delighted in discovering all the little trinkets from the past – including a selection of vintage photographs from the 1940s which captured my heart. I bought a selection of my favorites and then headed to the Airbnb where I waited for my friend’s flight to arrive from America.

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Day 2: Sunday

We woke up to a breakfast lovingly prepared and laid out for us by our Airbnb host which was incredibly sweet and thoughtful. We headed to Parc Guell, but we didn’t have very much time until my friend’s afternoon flight onwards to Paris, so didn’t have enough time to wait in the line to get tickets to the inner part. Instead, we explored the outside areas.

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Before I knew it, it was time to say farewell to my friend and I was back on my own. I headed back to Barcelona Cathedral encountering a pro-Catalonia demonstration on my way. Sadly, it was closed yet again when I arrived.

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I continued on through Catalonia Square.

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It was time to head back to La Sagrada Familia where I had an entrance to get to see the interior. I had bought tickets to go into the top of the towers, but they had closed it for the day due to rain (and nicely automatically refunded me this portion of the ticket).

Now it’s worth noting that Guadi’s style here is not exactly my cup of tea. However, it’s still awe inspiring. Especially the brilliant colors of the stained glass.

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And now, another bucket list item successfully checked off, it was time for me to head to the airport and head home, with my first taste of Barcelona in the books. To be fair, it really was just a sampler and there is so much more to explore in this glorious city, I will definitely be coming back to soak up as much of it’s fabulous energy as I can.