barcelona trip report (overdue and LONG)

sorry this took me forever!

we stayed at the hotel barcelona universal and would definitely stay there again. one of the best hotels i've stayed at in europe in terms of size/comfort, etc. it's part of the navarro nunzz hotel group so you i'm pretty sure you couldn't go wrong at any of their hotels. we liked the location because we could walk everywhere but we didn't hear much city/street noise and were literally above a stop on their subway. you could walk to the heart of the gothic quarter in like 10-15 minutes.

our first day, we mostly walked around the boqueria,, la rambla (touristy, we mostly avoided it after the first day), and the gothic quarter. had a very early dinner at taller de tapas. it was good but it was also a chain so i wouldn't say it's a must.

the second day, we went to parc guell, passeig de gracia, and then back through to the gothic quarter and el raval/la ribera. that was actually my birthday so we did a little bar hopping at 33/45 and marmalade then had dinner at biblioteca, which was fantastic. not traditional catalan/spanish but it was one of our favorite meals of the trip.

day three was thanksgiving and our wine tour, it was through spanish trails and i highly recommend it. we went to eudald and felix in the penedes region. felix is owned by the brother of our tour guide and their wines and cava were excellent. we also had our lunch at felix, which was all local jamon, chorizo, cheese, and other dishes made by the family. not traditional for thanksgiving but so delicious. we learned about the cava-making process and got to label some cava bottles. i loved that we got to visit smaller, boutique wineries. if we'd had one more day in barcelona, we probably would have booked another day trip with spanish trails. they may be a little more expensive than other tour companies but i think we also had a more unique experience. that night we had dinner at cal pep. lots of fresh fish and they just kind of bring you things (which is a little tough for a picky eater like me) but given that you sit at a bar with strangers, it was a little pricey. still, the fish you are eating was caught that afternoon.

the next day was sagrada familia. there are no words or photos that can describe how amazing this is. We aren't religious at all, it's still and awe-inspiring sight. going up to the top was not as impressive so if you are afraid of heights or claustrophobic, i'd probably skip that part. we didn't get tickets in advance but we were in line *maybe* ten minutes. if you are going at peak season, i'd book ahead of time. we had lunch in the l'eixample neighborhood at this place called flauta. we had one flauta with cheese and one with jamon. both were delish. and i think the patatas bravas there were really good too. we then went to the science museum, cosmo caixa, but that was kind of bust. a lot of exhibits were closed and it was a trek. we had dinner at cafe del born. it was pretty good and had cheap wine but it wasn't anything special. we loved el paraigua for wine after dinner. great art nouveau architecture. wish we'd found it before we'd eaten dinner. we also went to bubo for chocolate that night. do not miss this place. chocolates, macarons, cookies . . .

on day five we had crepes at the boqueria then went the christmas markets and barcelona cathedral. more traditional of gothic churches and totally different from sagrada familia. for the afternoon we went up to montjuic for a picnic. the funicular railway stop is essentially below the hotel we stayed at. walking down wasted a lot of time/energy, i'd skip that next time. we took the metro to placa d'espanya to see the font majica (only fridays and saturdays, i think). this is where the catalan art museum is and i definitely want to go there next time. we had dinner at la bodegueta de poble sec. this was more off the beaten path (but close to our hotel) and was really good.

day six we went to the barcelona history museum (very cool) and the museu frederic mares (quirky but so interesting!), walked around a lot, and ate ourselves silly (ok, we did that every day). for lunch we thought we were at tapac 24 but learned the next day it was actually george & dragon. happy accident because they had a great beer selection and this "secret pork" that was so, so good. for dinner we went to xaloc. i hadn't read about it in any of my guides but we saw it our first night and snapped a photo to remember it. it is in the gothic quarter and we thought it was a good find amid places that seemed touristy and overpriced. the jamon was some of our favorite and the bombas (chorizo & potato balls) were also delish. we had some dessert with cinnamon fritters and ice cream that we also loved.

on our last day we went to casa battlo (i loved seeing gaudi on various scales/different kinds of structures) and mostly wandered around and shopped. that day we did have lunch at tapac 24 and if we'd gone sooner, i probably would have had lunch there every day they were open. their patatas bravas rocked, they had a special chimichurri steak that was so good, and their bikini commerc was essentially a mini uber-grilled cheese (jamon iberico, truffles, and mozzarella). OMG. we ordered a second round of that. we had some cava and tapas at bubo (there's a little bar next to the chocolate shop) and then went back to xaloc for our last dinner. they remembered our names, so points for that. we did the bombas again, tried gazpacho, manchego and had riserva jamon, chorizo, etc.... basically, ate as much jamon iberico as possible.

you can easily do more or less than we did. i want to go back in warmer weather to enjoy the beach but we had ideal walking weather (high 50s to mid 60s) every day. even if you aren't a big art/architecture geek (i am) seeing gaudi's buildings in person is such a cool thing to experience. and i am officially in love with and addicted to jamon iberico.

i posted these already but lots of photos & a few videos