So for my birthday this year, I decided I wanted to go somewhere warm, with a beach and a loooooot to see. I didn't have to think too long before coming up with Barcelona which is super easy to reach from my home airport of Nuremberg too! We headed out on Friday 13th of April (like the fearless people that we are haha!) and stayed for 6 nights which is a good amount of time to get the bulk of sightseeing in!

We stayed in a little apartment in an old town house in Eixample, close to the Passeig de Gracia and Gaudí's famous Casa Batlló. So the location was awesome as we could literally walk almost everywhere and it was perfectly easy to get there from the airport too! I recommend you book the Aerobús in advance when you visit as it makes your life so much easier and really, it's cheap as chips as well! So when we arrived we unpacked our essentials and made our way to the nearest supermarket that we were recommended. Afterwards we ventured out for burgers as we were starving and headed down to La Rambla. The plan was to walk all the way down to the beach but after all that travelling we were way too tired and turned back about half of the way down. And lucky that we did as well! On our way back it started POURING it down with rain so we were literally soaked through by the time we reached our apartment! It was crazy!!

So then on Saturday it was MY BIRTHDAY! The weather was disappointing to say the least. So we had a pretty chill day of sleeping in, breakfasting like kings and then venturing out in the rain for some shopping (mainly in shopping centres though - we spent a good amount of time around Plaça de Catalunya). Seeing as the weather wasn't too great we decided to head back to the apartment for a late lunch and to chill with our books for a while. Later on the rain finally stopped and we made our way down to the beach for the first time, along the Rambla, through the Mercat de la boqueria, along the old harbour and the promenade. It was lovely! And even though the skies were still on the greyish side and the wind made angry waves in the sea, that rolled out splashing on the beach, it was quite a lovely way to spend a birthday! It was followed by a little walk through the beautiful parc de la Ciutadella and then huge glasses of Sangria and a maaassive portion of the most delicious veggie Paella at Los Gomez!! Just thinking about it right now makes my mouth water! So, full of good food and tipsy from all the sangria we made our way back home.

Sunday was beeaautifully sunny. We had pre booked visiting Parc Güell that day so we were relieved that the weather was finally playing ball. Parc Güell was one of the main things I definitely wanted to see so I was really excited to go. We headed up the hill early to do the main bit of the park and take in all the views before visiting the Monumental Core. I was a bit disappointed to see that vast parts of the Monumental Core area (which is what you pay entry for if you want to see it) was in fact sealed off for restorations. However I was still in awe of all the lovely mosaics that were out on show. Park Güell like many of the famous Barcelona landmarks was also planned and designed by Antoni Gaudí. We had an amazing time there basking in the sun, taking in the amazing views over all of Barcelona all the way down to the sea. Absolutely stunning! And all the nature in that park!! We all agreed that we would love to have Parc Güell in front of our houses back home. I took a gazillion photos of course so that I can dream myself back there whenever I wish to do so :) Once we finished exploring every last bit of that amazing place we decided to get our walking shoes on and follow the signs all the way down to the Sagrada Familia which so far we had only seen from far away. It was quite a walk I'm not gonna lie! But boy! That is one impressive piece of architecture!! We had a look all the way around to see all of the different facades then decided to head back home for a little change of outfit and to then head down to the beach. The beach was packed as everybody was out enjoying the gorgeous weather. I braved dipping my toes into the sea which resulted in me declaring all the people swimming in there in actual bikinis and bathing shorts INSANE! It was bbbrrrrr! However it was the best feeling to have my toes in the fine sand that was all lovely and warm from all the sun!! It seems not only do I need Parc Güell outside my house back home but also a sandy beach ahah! :) We ended the day with perfectly delicious pizza and a beer at Restaurante Rossini in the Barri Gòtic before slowly strolling back up the Rambla towards home, stopping for postcards, souvenirs and of course: ice cream!

Monday was for shopping! I finally got myself some new running shoes from Nike, went from Stradivarius to Bershka and Pull and Bear, Lefties and on and on before finally ending my spending spree at the Mango outlet which is a literal dream come true!! I didn't go too crazy but I got a few lovely summery pieces that luckily with the amazing weather we've been having here in Germany for the past three weeks or so I can already wear - YAY :) We also finally went for tapas (which I had been craving since arriving in Spain!). We decided to get our tapas fix at Tapa Tapa on the Passeig de Gracia and we were not disappointed! We definitely over ordered slightly but when in Spain eh? :) Everything was bloody delicious and I'm planning on recreating a little tapas night for my friends back home as I think it's such a lovely way to get together and eat lots and lots of different but delicious food!

Tuesday was our last full day in Barcelona and we were treated to yet another day of gorgeously sunny weather! We had tickets to visit the Sagrada Familia around mid day so had a slow morning packing up most of our things before catching the metro to the cathedral. Getting in there feels like more of a hassle than getting through security at the airport, it's literally crazy! But we made it in eventually and it was well worth the hassle. I had never seen anything like it before! It is massive, extraordinarily detailed inside and out and the stunning stained-glass windows in all different shades and colours make the space look unreal!! Once we had explored everything and had marvelled at the grandeur of the whole thing for long enough we decided to hop on the metro once again and head all the way down to the harbour from where we had it set in our minds to hike up Montjuic, for even more beautiful views and to pay a little visit to the Castell (if only from outside). I'm not gonna lie there was a time when I was close to giving up as I got so out of breath but once I have my mind set on something it's usually gonna happen. So I just got on with it and again, found it was all worth it in the end. We spend a lot of time up there sitting on a bench overlooking the Costa Brava with the wind tangling our hair and the sun tanning our skin. It was perfectly simple yet absolutely amazing. For dinner we decided to pick up some goodies from the supermarket and head down to the beach to watch the sun go down over the sea while eating our picknick and drinking our beers. It was the perfect fnish to a perfect little holiday.

Have you ever been to Barcelona? Which were your favourite places? Where did you love to eat? Or is Barcelona still on your bucket list? In which case I highly recommend you book a trip already :)

Lots of Love,
Jess xx