My Trip to Barcelona, Spain | Barcelona Series

BLOG 3: Trip accomplished!! There and back in a week…

About a week ago I was sharing my list of places I wanted to go while I was in Barcelona, Spain. As of Tuesday, I have completed the whole trip including packing, a six hour flight there, a week at a the hotel, beautiful walks on the most amazing beaches, jumping off cliffs into refreshing waters, shopping on the most elegant & aesthetically pleasing streets, sipping ‘café con letche’ at jewelry shops, and an eight hour flight back to Boston. A lot has happened, so let me rewind and catch you guys up!

**This was a family trip taken with MY family of four and my aunts family of five. I did not pay for the travels as I am a broke college grad who can barely pay her school loans. I am not posting this to brag or gloat about my vacation. I am simply sharing my experiences as I like to look back and remanence from time to time. enjoy.**

THE PACKING

This is the part that will most likely shock you guys. Now, most of you can probably guess that I am an extreme over packer. I may have only been going to Spain for six days, but normally that would mean I would be preparing about two weeks worth of outfits ( two outfits a day *cringe* ). This time around, I wanted to pack light. The airline that I was traveling with unfortunately only allowed one carry on and one personal item. If I wanted to bring a checked bag, I would have to pay $50.00 each way. There was no way I was going to spend $100.00, so I took on the challenge of traveling with only a carry on and a backpack.

While packing, I also had to keep in mind that there was a large possibility of shopping while in Spain. I remembered, from when I was in Portugal, that clothes were a lot cheaper than they are here in America. For example, A graphic tee in Europe runs you about 5€, which converts to about $6.50 Where as in the US, that would probably cost about $19.99 at the same retailer. Packing light allowed me to shop with a clear conscious and not worry about how I would fit it all in my carry on coming back.

THE TRAVEL

Traveling there and back was the hardest part for me. Heights have never been my favorite thing (I don’t even go on rollercoasters) and I really don’t trust planes over all. Basically I’m a scaredy cat *shrugs*. When I flew to Portugal last year, we did connecting flights and I actually liked that better because it broke up the time and it didn’t feel as long. I know most people look to have direct flights, but I just have an issue with sitting still for over 4 hours.

The flight there was six hours and it turned out to be ok. I watched Netflix for the first four hours (four shows of “Stranger Things” season Three) and then sleep for the next two hours. Worked out perfect! The flight home was a totally different story. It was a whopping eight hours, the plane was freezing cold (literally am sick now typing this), and I didn’t sleep a wink. You also had to pay for any food or drinks that you wanted, and I wasn’t used to that. All the overnight international flights I’ve been on had come with a meal so I was a little shocked by that, but not a big deal.

THE HOTEL

So when it came to booking a place to say, we booked very last minute. Im pretty sure we booked this hotel about a month before we arrived in Spain. We originally wanted to stay in a Airbnb that had that Vintage, European vibe but we waited too long and ended up booking two rooms in a hotel which ended up being perfectly fine. Really all that mattered was having enough beds for all of us to sleep comfortably. It wasn’t like we would be spending much time in the hotel anyways, it was really just to sleep.

My favorite part of the hotel, by far, was the balcony. We couldn’t really spend much time out there at night because the outdoor light didn’t work, and they wouldn’t come replace it no matter how many times I asked. But thats ok! If we got back from our day trips early enough, I would hang out on the balcony for a few before bed.

Luckily, the location of the hotel was perfect. I swear it was like a fifteen minute taxi ride to anywhere we wanted to go. There was also a taxi stand right by the hotel which was awesome considering there were times we would have to wait almost an hour to catch a taxi anywhere else. Having a taxi stand near by where we were staying made for an easy start to our days. Taxi’s were tough though and I never got used to the fact the people would literally steal taxi from you right under your nose. That was terrible! And then there’s really nothing I could do or say cause I don’t speak spanish…

THE SIGHTSEEING

I don’t even know how to go about explain the whole week of sightseeing you guys. I’d be here forever! I guess i’ll just speak on the highlights, maybe my favorite three things.

1. Shopping (duh)

Who could have guessed that the shopping would be in my top 3?? through out the whole trip we would stop in cute boutiques along the way, but on Day 2 we specifically went to a main shopping area called La Rambla. It’s a beautiful street filled with shops and beautiful architecture. It was kind of like the Newbury Street of Spain! I loved walking from street to street and taking in all the beauty of the area. The coffee shops, the music, the smell of fresh bread in the bakeries, it was beautiful!

I was not ready for the amount of walking we did this day though. My feet were hurting so bad that I swear I wasn’t walking normal for the whole second half of that day hah! And to think, that was only day two and the walking was only going to get worse as the days went on and my choice of shoes were not going to cut it for the days to come lol.

2. Costa Brava

Costa Brava was not in our original itinerary when planning our trip. We didn’t even know this place existed until a kind local told us we couldn’t leave Spain without taking a trip here. Costa Brava is a Beautiful area about an hour and a half away from Barcelona, driving down the coast. It’s a strip of neighborhoods that have the most beautiful beaches. The coast is lined with shops, restaurants, and quaint and quiet streets that were so picture perfect I could cry!

I wish we could have spent more than one day here because even though it was something we sort of stumbled upon, it was still my favorite day out of the whole vacation. It was relaxing, and walking around here was absolutely breath taking. The best part of vacation is having no time restriction and just taking everything in, even if things aren’t going as planned, being able to appreciate the beauty of something you aren’t used to is absolutely amazing!

3. Trying New Things!

I did two things on this trip that Im still shocked that I did. They are so out of my comfort zone and soooo “not Tayla” but I did them anyway and im very proud of myself. Remember when I talked about being afraid of heights at the beginning of this post? Well….despite my fear, I WILLINGLY jumped off the rocks at the beach into the Mediterranean Sea! I was terrified, but I did it and don’t regret it a single bit.

The other crazy thing i did, I know I’m gonna be judged haha! There was this huge park in Barcelona with hundreds of birds! I guess the whole point was to feed them and there were people all around the park feeding and holding these ugly pigeons! Here in Boston I hate these stupid things, but you know I had to try it!! It was a weird feeling, and very overwhelming, but I didn’t get pooped on, so id say it was a success!

THE FOOD

This is where it got a little interesting. The first two days, we were terrible at picking out places to eat. I think the issue was that we waited till the last second to find somewhere to eat and ended up compromising because we were so hungry. We didn’t give ourselves enough time to look up recommended places in the area, so we ended up eating pretty crappy food for the first two days. After that though, we learned our lesson and we scoped out the best places.

The coffee however was always good and I already miss it! I ordered one everywhere we went, without fail. I mean how could you not when they taste so good AND they look so pretty??

And don’t forget about my favorite dessert….

RANDOM PICTURES

I think thats just about it! I don’t dare write anything else cause I know I’ve already written a book to you guys haha! I hope you enjoyed it!! I had an awesome vacation with my family and am already looking forward to my next adventure! I thank God for blessing me with this opportunity and blessing me with an amazing family to share it with!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Tayla S.

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