My Spanish Adventure Part One: Barcelona

In case you didn't already hear.....I made it safely to Barcelona! I had the craziest/ longest travel day of my life but I made it without any major catastrophes! Thank goodness!

So here's the play by play of my time in Barcelona:

Step 1: I got on a plane in Chicago at 2pm. The plane was surprisingly not crowded and I only had to share a row (of 4 seats) with one other person! I watched 2 movies. Most notably I watched Austenland and The Immigrant which were both really great. I had a hard time staying asleep for very long so I read a lot and listened to music! My favorite part of my plane ride was watching the sun rise from the window across the way! It was so gorgeous! I would later regret not getting any sleep....

Step 2: When I finally arrived (after a 7.5 hour flight) in Barcelona I could not believe how flipping hot it was! I couldn't wait to take my shoes off and switch to sandals! From the airport I grabbed a cab and headed to my Airbnb location. It was a short trip there and the cab ride was fun because I knew all of the music that was on the radio! When I arrived to my bed and breakfast there was some confusion about my arrival time and my friend Melissa was out for the whole day (at her kick off meeting) soooo I waited around for about 6 hours for the owners of the bed and breakfast to let me into the place! I definitely overstayed my welcome at a pizza cafe as I waited! Oh well! 

(View from our window of the courtyard)

When I finally got into the B&B the owner couldn't find the other set of keys to our room so once again I waited. This time I waited for Melissa to come home! I was so glad to see her when she finally arrived around 7pm! I was exhausted of all the waiting! After a quick shower though I felt loads better and we went out for Paella and wine! 

Step 3: The next day we accidentally slept until noon! I guess you could say we were a little jet lagged! Once we pulled ourselves out of bed we got ready for a day out. And you know what we did for our entire day.....we gawked at food and then ate some :) Yes its true that's how we spent the whole day! We went to the coolest market called El Mercat de Sant Josep de Boqueria. 

(The entrance to El Mercat de Sant Josep de Boqueria)

This place is seriously a foodie's paradise! Melissa and I were going nuts in there! They had everything from cured ham still on the bone to all kinds of sweets! Of course we had to try a little of everything so we started with a juice (i had pineapple and raspberry) which was so refreshing! Then we got empanadas con chorizo y pollo. Everything was muy sabrosa! One of my favorite stands was the stand with the chocolate. She had the most gorgeous looking sweets! Naturally I had to get one!

(I mean look at those!)

Later that night we headed back out in search of dinner! We went to a place called Las Platos on a recommendation from the owners of the B&B. They told us that it was a Catalunya style of tapas and we had not yet experienced such a thing! The place was extremely tiny and there was only room enough to stand at the bar. I have to say though it was the most delicious tapas I've had so far. I know I still have a lot of time left and a lot of tapas to consume/compare, but the fried sardines and vino blanco was yummmmyyyy! We then had more tapas at a plaza located down the street from us! 

(Melissa looking cute!)

I couldn't have asked for a better Barcelona buddy! I had so much fun exploring with Melissa and eating our way through Barcelona! It was sad to part this morning as we both headed for new places! But the short two days we had were wonderful! 

Today I traveled from Barcelona to Valencia. This journey was a 5 hour long train ride which is always fun :p I will have to tell you more about it later! 

Until Next Time!

Carley