When I moved to Europe in 2006, I was torn between two potential new homes: Prague and Barcelona. I had reasons for my interest in each that were very different. Prague was a city that had long intrigued me, where several people I knew had taught English and had good experiences. It seemed a logical choice to transplant myself to for a year or so and sample life overseas.
But Barcelona tempted me too, for less practical reasons. Something about this city I’d never visited just seemed to call out to me: sunshine, tapas, sangria, beaches! If Prague was a stalwart Central European city weighted down by its own momentous history, Barcelona felt to me like it represented the other end of the spectrum of travel: lighthearted, magical, just plain fun.
Once I settled on Praha as my home for the year, I knew I still wanted to make it to Barcelona at some point while I was in Europe, and I did—twice. The first time, I went with a fellow teacher friend from Prague, who loved it so much that she announced (while we were still in the airport) that she wanted to move there. And so she did. The next year I returned to crash on her couch and re-experience the city with her as my savvy local tour guide.
Both trips were amazing, though I think as with most places, nothing tops the first visit. But regardless, Barcelona has become one of my favorite European cities, and I’m constantly advising friends to go there. So what do I love about it so much? Many, many things…read on.
Melissa’s Barcelona Hits, Misses, and Mehs
Hits
- La Bouqueria—I love outdoor food markets, especially in Europe. And La Bouqueria is probably my favorite market of all time. It’s beautifully laid out, featuring displays of bread, cheeses, meats, fruits, vegetables, and my personal favorite—fruit juices in all hues and flavors, spread out in a vivid rainbow splash of color. For just a handful of euros I would buy a lunch of bread, cheese, and strawberries and take it to a nearby placa and eat my picnic under palm trees while watching the city go by.
- Gaudi architecture that is NOT La Sagrada Familia—While I’m no fan of the (in)famous Barcelona cathedral-to-be (see my thoughts on that below) I do love the Park Guell, where many of Antonin Gaudi’s sculptures are displayed in bright sunshine on a hill overlooking the city. It’s a bit of a hike up, but worth it for the views and the fun, bright splashes of artwork littering the grounds. If only he’d stuck to sculpture….
- Sitges beaches—The second time I visited Barcelona, my friend and I made a pilgrimage to the nearby beach town of Sitges, just a quick train ride away. We were lucky enough to have swimmable weather in late April, the beach was lined with beautiful golden sand and cafes dotted the shore, where we grabbed drinks post-swim and pre-tapas. This beach day came at the end of a week spent traveling through Spain, and it was a perfect end to my journey before I had to return to rainy London to finish out my school year. There’s nothing better than a vibrant, culturally rich city which also boasts a glorious beach just a hop, skip and jump outside of town!
- Food!—Chocolate con churros for breakfast. Bread, cheese, fruit picnics for lunch. Dinners composed of every type of tapas you can shake a stick at, washed down with sangria and cava. Not to mention an extraordinary cookie shop, whose name I’ve sadly forgotten but which has taken on mythical proportions in my memory and chocolate fantasies. Really, what’s not to like? Barcelona is a place I could visit for the food alone, do nothing but eat and drink for days on end, and still leave feeling satisfied that I’d experienced the best the city has to offer.
Misses
- La Sagrada Familia—I’m sorry, Barcelona, I know this is one of your biggest tourist draws (though I do not understand why). Bottom line is, this cathedral-in-progress may be an architectural feat to behold, but it just isn’t very attractive. In fact, it’s pretty damn ugly. I love cathedrals; some of my favorite European city memories include exploring them in Praha, Krakow, and throughout Italy and taking a million photos of the stained glass whenever I was allowed to. But this building’s frumpy exterior doesn’t do a damn thing for me, and my friend and I weren’t about to pay 11 euros of our teacher’s salaries to enter it. Instead, we sat on a bench, had a picnic, and looked at it from a distance while discussing how little we wanted to go inside. A much better plan, if you ask me.
- Absinthe—When I visited Barcelona it was still one of the few places where you could buy this super-potent liquor, associated with Hemingway and his drinking cohorts, legally. So of course, my friend and I saw it as a quintessential Barcelona experience and had to at least try it. After a few sips I realized what a mistake that was. Blame me, not the absinthe; I am just not cut out for a hard-partying, up-till-dawn Catalan lifestyle.
Meh
- Museum of Chocolate—Anyone who knows me at all knows that to me, chocolate is life. I didn’t hate the Museum of Chocolate in Barcelona—that could never be—but it wasn’t quite as exciting as I had hoped. That’s probably not really the museum’s fault; as much as I love history, when it comes to chocolate, I’d rather eat or drink it than learn its biography. Luckily, the museum features a café which sell some of the best hot chocolate you will ever taste, and a gift shop that lets you bring some of the cocoa goodness home as a souvenir. I’d say skip the museum and check out these instead.
- Picasso Museum—Didn’t personally wow me, even though I like Picasso. If you’re a diehard fan, it’s probably worth seeing, but if your interest is only casual (or nonexistent), don’t feel compelled to go; save your entrance fee for chocolate con churros and you’ll probably be happy you did.
Have you been to Barcelona? Any thoughts on things you loved, were surprised by, or thought were overhyped?