Finally!

As a big fun, to see a Gaudi in Barcelona has been a total goal of mine for years and it seems impossible that Barcelona, or Spain even, had been missed off my travels for so long! If you were to dream up your perfect place, this Catalonian destination surely would come pretty darn close; dynamic city meets beach life, world-class art, and culture, phenomenal food, the sunny buzz of the streets one minute, then relaxing into sleepy siesta mode the next, and then when the sun sets, bars re-energise and it’s a party town until the early hours.

At least this is what I’d been told.

“You’ll be amazed by Barcelona, or you’ll want to move there, you’ll fall in love…!”

I literally hadn’t heard a bad word about this town, and it is definitely on my top 3 favorite city list!

 La Sagrada Família

The construction of this church started in the late 19^th century, halted in 1926 when Gaudi died, and continues even today with his style in mind. They say it will still take another quarter of a century to complete!

We booked the Skip Line Tickets and went inside to visit, and it’s even more surprising! Again, it’s an amazing blend of the contemporary and the traditional; the design that works with so much light and colors is just mind-blowing.

Park Guell

It is located in the north of the city center. A fair chunk of the park is actually FREE to enter, so it is possible to just take a walk around the bulk of the grounds without a ticket, but if you want to take a closer look at the main area or the ‘monumental zone’, you’ll have to purchase a timed ticket for 7 Euro.

Casa Batllo

We arrived at Casa Batlló around late morning and luckily the line to get in wasn’t too long. That didn’t reflect the number of people inside, though, as it was really crowded. Something to take into account if you plan on studying the details of the house or if you want to take some photos (mine didn’t turn out great because I constantly had to try to keep other people out of them and it was soooooo dark inside).

Once we got in, we got audio guides that told us something about each room of the house and especially about why Gaudi designed everything the way he did.

The explanations were detailed yet never boring. Basically, the audio guide takes you from the ground floor through every room all the way to the roof of the building, which is accessible as well. I’m really glad that we visited Casa Batlló and think it’s a must-do for anyone visiting Barcelona. Even when you’re not that interested in architecture you’ll learn some things that will bedazzle you.

We stayed at the W Barcelona, and it was a great experience since the hotel room there is with a lot of heavy metal elements which I enjoyed. I highly recommend staying there since it is a super short walk to the beach area and you could enjoy the best view you could get in Barcelona. Also, the rooftop bar at the W Hotel Barcelona is worth to try. Make sure to order the Coconut Mojito 😉