I’m not a huge fan of big cities but I still love to visit them. Before Christmas, I had the chance to visit one of the beautiful cities in Spain. BARCELONA. (THANKS PA! 😃)
I wanted to spend more time with my friends from my french class before they head back home to Taiwan. Coincidently, my awesome friends Gloria (from Gloria is Hungry) and Diego (from DiegoVista) were staying in Barcelona, at that time. So, I made sure to meet them too, not like the last time when we were all in Hong Kong. (SORRY!)
Before I came to Barcelona, the only thing I know was the Sagrada Familia. Other than that, nothing. I relied mostly on my friends in where they want to go and see, and I just went along with them. It was a relief when Diego and Gloria picked me up at the airport because I did not even researched on how to get around the city. We took an express train to get the city centre, by the way.
Once we arrived in the city, they showed me a bit of the El Born neighbourhood and passed by a little Filipino community area where you can find Filipino restaurants and stores. It’s also close to the Barcelona Cathedral, which has a stunning architecture design. As we were walking around looking for a place to eat, we were all surprised to find ourselves right at the heart of the city, the Plaça Catalunya. We, eventually, found ourselves back in the Filipino restaurant that we passed by earlier for dinner. LOL.
I only had 2 full days to enjoy Barcelona, and I made sure that I got to spend time with my friends. We went to see Antoni Gaudi’s work like the Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, Parc Güell and the most famous, la Sagrada Familia. We also went to Mercado de la Boqueria and Picasso’s Museum. We also made time to see and chill by the beach, which is also a surfing spot.
You can get inside Gaudi’s different museums but only if you’re willing to pay the entrance fee. The only museum that we went to see for free was Museo Picasso because we have a valid student ID. We were just amazed how magnificent the architecture is from the outside.
Everything is a walking distance. In one of our walks home, we even passed by the Arc de Triomf. Though some places like the Parc Güell, you do need to take the metro train. But if you are not in a hurry, you can just walk to your destination plus you get to see the amazing architecture of the city.
There was a point where we started walking from Parc Güell and all the way to Plaça Catalunya, without even realizing how far we had walk. From Plaça Catalunya, you can walk until to the beach too! This way you can see treasures like this:
I came to the city without any itinerary nor did I know anything else other than the Sagrada Familia but thanks to the help of my friends, I had a lot of fun discovering Barcelona even for a short time.
Love, J.
PS. To the people I was with in Barcelona, THANK YOU!!
PS. Pour les gens qui j’étais à Barcelone, MERCI BEAUCOUP!!
It was a pleasure hanging out with you Jane! I’m glad you had a good time in BCN. Your photos reflect your trip pretty well 🙂
Hope to see you somewhere else soon… take care!
See you somewhere else soon! Cheers!
It’s a good thing that there’s a Filipino restaurant out there. I don’t think I’ve seen a Filipino resto (save for Jollibee) in countries I’ve been to. So hearing that they have it in Barcelona surprised me. It’s good that you met with Diego and Gloria, they probably saved you a lot of trouble in speaking in Spanish lol.
Barcelona looks like a beautiful place. I really want to go there too someday.
Yes! I let them do all the talking when I was with them, even when we went to the filipino restaurant. Haha.
La Sagrada Familia is a holy sacred church and it’s amazing. I heard stories about this church, being a Filipino, I also want to see and experience visiting some churches around the world. And of course, spending Christmas vacation abroad. It’s awesome that you still got a chance being in Barcelona for a short time, it’s worth it. Happy travels! xx