Spain is a top holiday destination for Europeans - essentially the Florida of Europe, except with class and actual culture - so it's crazy that I never managed to visit in my time living there. The party and resort islands especially are a big draw for Brits, but although I was very tempted by 4 euro flights from Barcelona to Ibiza, I was more interested in hitting the cities with the quick week that I had.
Spain is massive, so it was hard to narrow down destinations. Barcelona was a must, but I ended up cutting Madrid in favor of the south after seeing so many glowing reviews of Granada and Sevilla online, and I think it was the right choice.
I also had meant to brush up on my Spanish skills in the leadup to the trip, but that fell to the wayside in favor of much less productive hobbies. I could pretty easily read a lot of signs which was gratifying, but Spanish accents are so different from Latin American accents that I may not have picked much up in conversation even if I had studied more. Aside from the usual "hola" and "gracias", my most commonly used word over there was "Targeta?" to ask if I could pay with credit card (in Albaycin, the answer was usually 'no,' but elsewhere it was fine).
Day 1
Land in Barcelona
We took a quick flight from London Stansted on a Sunday evening (although dragging ourselves across the city hungover the day after a wedding was its own struggle) and caught a train from the Barcelona airport into the city.
I liked Barcelona but didn't love it. There's not much I'd go back for aside from the Gothic Quarter and Gaudi architecture. On the plus side, despite being huge, it had a casual and laid-back vibe, and it didn't just remind me of any generic European city.
I booked a hostel dorm at Sant Jordi Rock Palace for the three nights we were there, and it was a quick walk from the Passeig Gracia station. Barcelona had so many hostels that it was hard to choose one, and I spent a lot of time going back and forth. I'd considered Kabul Party Hostel pretty heavily as well as some of the Hostel Ones, Yeah Hostel, and other Sant Jordi locations, but Rock Palace was a solid choice.
The lobby has a light-up floor, there are murals of rock legends and concert posters all over the walls, a communal room with guitars and stained glass windows, and a rooftop patio and pool. The dorm was pretty basic but the bunks had their own outlets and lights, the lockers were big enough to fit your whole suitcase in, and there was a big balcony attached. The location was also awesome to walk to all the big Gaudi sites or the train station, and even the Gothic Quarter was only about 20-30 minutes on foot.
It was late by the time we got in the first day, so we just hit up a taqueria around the corner and called it a night.
Day 2
Casa Battlo, La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Nightlife
Casa Battlo is one of the Gaudi houses, and it is right outside the Passeig Gracia station, so we had seen it coming in the night before. We decided to just pay for one between Casa Mila and Casa Battlo, and comparisons online convinced me that Casa Battlo would be the better of the two.
Here's the outside of Casa Mila for comparison.
You're given an audio tour as you walk through, but while the architecture is cool, I found it a little boring due to being unfurnished. I did love the circular windows, wood, shell patterns, oddly shaped doors, and blue walled inner stairwell.
The best parts were upstairs with the arched hallway, rooftop, and the art installation bits with big glowing spheres, video projector art room, and chain covered stairway back down.
The biggest attraction in Barcelona is La Sagrada Familia, and that's where we headed next. This church began construction in 1882 and still isn't finished. There are working cranes up on the towers.
There are two different themes on the front and back of the basilica - the Nativity Facade, which is a pretty and intricately carved display of Jesus' birth, and the Passion Facade, which is a really stark and roughly hewn display of his death. I preferred the Passion Facade (the death side, shocking, I know), but both were impressive.
Nativity Facade
Passion Facade
An entry ticket will also get you access to one of the two towers. I chose the nativity tower, but the only difference I think would be which side of Barcelona you're getting a view of. An elevator takes you to the top, you walk out on a bridge to see the city, then you take the spiral staircase back down.
The church interior is so colorful and cool and unique. It's got the trademark Gaudi melted look and color-blocked stained glass that sends awesome rainbow prisms across the floors. It is definitely the must-see site of Barcelona.
I somehow got drawn into an American brew hall on the walk home called Cocovail where the flights came on wooden surfboards, but it did not disappoint. This NZ style IPA they'd brewed was possibly the best IPA I've ever had, and I was raving about it so much they gave me a free half-pint.
That also left me with a nice buzz for the evening, but we soaked up some alcohol at a vegetarian restaurant in the Gothic Quarter called Teresa Carles. I had cheese croquettes and a veggie paella with fake seafood (probably mushrooms) and carrots in it, and it was so delicious.
The big shopping street, La Rambla, is right around there, so we took a little stroll after dinner. It's lined with trees and souvenir stands, and there are big name brand shops along the sidewalks. Not a big shopper here, so I wasn't pressed to spend too much time.
The Sant Jordi hostels run nightly pub and club crawls going to a different huge club each day, so we joined in Monday night to see some of the Barcelona nightlife. The crawl is free and gets you entry to the clubs, so that was a nice perk.
The night out though... not so good, and I don't think it was because of my age. Although I told some young guys outside the club I was probably the oldest one there, and they said "Oh, are you like 24?" Like they considered 24 old. Kill me.
No, there are a few reasons this overall sucked. The first bar we stopped in, The Room, was packed wall to wall on a Monday, and it took well over half an hour of standing at the bar to be served drinks because huge groups of 12 were getting rounds of shot after shot.
We barely had time to down what we got there before heading over to the club, called Opium. This really did feel like a proper European club with a great DJ, flashing lights, multiple bars, the works. The problems here were the cost of drinks - at least 15 euro each for a basic mixed drink or Corona, the waiting time on those drinks, the inability to move on the patio (we managed to get a seat after a bit but then our Swiss roommate rocked the table and knocked over one of my completely full aforementioned 15 euro drinks), and the absolute crush that was the dance floor. We tried to get out there, but you were just being flattened from four sides by bodies, and every two seconds another person was jostling you to get either to or from the back. Near impossible to actually dance. I got so frustrated that I shoved some guy pretty hard and had to run away before I got in a fight.
Add to that the clubs being near the beach area, meaning we had to catch a bus back after the trains stopped running at the end of the night, and it was a very time-consuming and unrewarding endeavor. We weren't in bed until after 4 AM meaning our whole following morning was shot.
That being said, just because I write shitty reviews about an experience doesn't mean I'm not glad I tried it.
Day 3
Park Guell, Pool Time, Gothic Quarter, Barceloneta Beach
Despite a late start Tuesday, we headed straight to Park Guell. It's a ways north of the city, so you'll want to take a train no matter where in Barcelona you're staying. From the train station, you have to climb the steepest damn hill to the entrance. Make sure to buy tickets in advance (I didn't realize tickets were needed for a park) so you can avoid spending 10 minutes pouring sweat at the gate while you're waiting for your 4G to work like we did.
There wasn't much to see at the top. All we ran into was the site of a never-constructed chapel where they had three crosses on a hill. The main attraction of Park Guell is more Gaudi architecture down at the bottom of the park.
There's a famous plaza here with a cute border along the wavy rim, but the draw is mainly the view. It looks over Barcelona with two Gaudi houses in the forefront, but getting a photo is a pain in the ass. They handled the crowd so poorly when we were here. At first, they were slowly letting people enter the plaza as others left, but all of a sudden they decided they needed to clear out the plaza completely before more guests could go in. This meant letting the last dozen people down there have this gigantic open space completely to themselves and take their time (ages) for photos, then 20 minutes later sending like 50 to rush in all at once and swarm the edges. It was so stupid. It was going to be way too long a wait to get people totally cleared out of the frame, so we did our best to photograph around the crowd before heading downstairs.
The plaza is actually cooler at the bottom. It's all held up with big pillars and a painted ceiling, then there are stairs down to the two houses lined with fountains and statues.
After some much needed tapas (patatas bravas and empanada for me), we caught the train back to the city and retired to the rooftop pool at our hostel. It was the hottest part of the day, and there were a good handful of others up there for an afternoon break. I was extremely happy spending an hour or so cooling off in the water.
We took off again in the early evening and walked over to the Gothic Quarter. This is definitely the best part of Barcelona. It's all narrow alleyways and old architecture, and it has more character than the rest of the city. Also stopped in a local coffee shop where they made the best cold brew EVER.
A bit of a walk from there (maybe 20 minutes) you can hit the beach, or Barceloneta Beach to be specific. It's crowded and not particularly clean, but there are drink stands and restaurants all around, and for a city beach it's not the worst.
I had not expected to adjust to the Spanish eating schedule, but as I was having cheese croquettes and burrata salad for dinner at 9 PM that night before heading back to the hostel, I realized I was basically a local now. *hair flip*
Day 4
Fly to Granada
There wasn't much time to fit in last minute Barcelona sightseeing on Wednesday, but we managed a quick stop at the Arc de Triomphe which is on a nice pedestrian lane lined with palm trees.
We caught a bus to the airport where I was determined to be early as budget carrier Vueling was stressing me out. I hadn't been able to check in for our flight online the night before as apparently they only offer a limited number of seats for random assignment. They open check-in seven days in advance, but I had ignored an email from them a week beforehand because what airline does that?? I refused to pay $12 for the privilege of online check-in because pettiness is more important than my peace of mind, and instead just stressed until I got to the desk and was granted my free check-in.
The flight was not a fun one due to the intense swaying of the plane and repeated circling of a random area of sky, but we did not die and stepped out an hour later into the oven that was Granada. It was over 90 degrees when we landed and hit the 100s the following day, but it being a dry heat made it more tolerable than Barcelona despite the higher temperature.
After getting off the bus in the city, I was immediately in love with Granada. We had to walk up the winding cobblestone alleys in Albaycin (I mean UP, like a lot... avoid bringing a suitcase to Granada) to reach our hostel, and the town just had such a unique atmosphere, like a mix between Spain and the Middle East.
Oripando Hostel, where we stayed, was also one of my absolute favorite hostels I've ever been to and completely matched the vibe of the city. There's an interior stone courtyard, very lounge-y breakfast room, and outdoor courtyard with ping pong, tables, and a cute pool. Also beers for 2 euros at the reception desk!
We had passed a bunch of pretty Moroccan restaurants in Albaycin on our way up, so we went back down to have dinner at one of them. The choice was mainly dictated by the interior design which included filmy tapestries, colorful hanging lanterns, and cushioned benches lining the walls. I enjoyed my first ever gazpacho (cold soup! Who knew!), a spinach pastry, rice, red wine, and an amazing smoothie with honey, vanilla, and almond.
Spent the evening walking down the Carrera del Daro, supposedly the most scenic street in Granada. We passed old buildings, a stone bridge, trees, and fountains, all with Alhambra up on the hill above. I was already upset to only have one more day in such a beautiful place.
Day 5
Alhambra & Albaycin
The free hostel breakfast was very basic, but there was oil and salt to put on the bread which spiced it up enough, and eating in the courtyard gave us a chance to chat with some other travelers.
The main part of the day was dedicated to Alhambra after another long, uphill walk. Entry to the Nasrid Palace has to be at your ticketed entrance time, so we walked through a tunnel of tall hedges straight past the gardens to go there first. This is meant to be the highlight of Alhambra, and it was good, but parts of it felt pretty bare.
There were some intricate carvings in the walls, pretty archway doors, tall ceilings, and lots of courtyards with pillars around the outskirts and fountains in the middle or long waterways. It's all Moorish architecture and you could see the Muslim influence.
Had some food and a couple radlers at an onsite restaurant after the palace, then spent the rest of the time wandering the Jardines del Generalife enjoying the pretty foliage and views until it got too hot to hang out in the sun anymore.
The afternoon was spent hanging in the courtyard pool, then an evening of souvenir shopping in Albaycin and late dinner at a jungle-themed restaurant called Global Amazonia.
Day 6
Seville Cathedral & Tapas
Our train to Seville was at 7 AM, so we were dragging my suitcase down the slippery hills in the dark on Friday morning to get to the station. Many cats were out in the early hours, but the tragedy of my trip was that none of them wanted to be friends with me.
I crashed immediately on the train to Cordoba, had an easy transfer to connect to Sevilla, and was in the city by 10. Our Air BnB was not ready yet, but our host, Luis, let us drop our bags and showed us around the place. The apartment itself was fine, but the selling point was the balcony which was incredible! Private rooftop location, comfy patio loungers, so much space, and views right over the river.
We killed some time at brunch down the road, a modern place called Greta where I had a benedict, frappe, and the most amazing cocktail with passionfruit, coconut, and vanilla.
Our BnB was ready afterwards, so we could get ready for the day. Sevilla was already hot, hot, hot - over the 100s both days we were there and hard to be in the sun for long. Thankfully, our BnB was in a perfect location in the old Triana neighborhood, and all the main sights of the city were right across the bridge.
The main stop of day 1 was the Seville Cathedral. It's so huge, there are over 80 chapels inside. We went up to the bell tower first which is just a long rotating incline to reach and feels longer when you're sweating already. It was pretty cool to be up there at the top of the hour though and hear the huge bells start clanging right above your head.
It took at least an hour to fully explore the whole cathedral. Lots of detailed carvings, marble tombstones (including that of Christopher Columbus), massive organs, paintings, expensive holy trinkets, and so on. The Catholics are nothing if not extra.
Christopher Columbus's tomb
The highlight was being very extra myself walking around the cathedral in a dramatic hat.
We stopped for sangria on a patio, did some souvenir shopping, and picked up brews for the balcony. Sevilla felt the most Spanish of the three locations I visited, and I liked it. Plazas, big fountains, pretty trees, horse-drawn carriages, lots of open space.
The tapas experience in Seville was also very cool. That night we went to a super local spot called Tipico in our neighborhood. All the tables were full, and lots of people were just standing at the bar or around the walls. Very casual, and my artichokes and ricotta gnocchi were both good.
To continue the local experience, there happened to be a festival going on right outside our BnB down on the street that night. Tons of food and drink tents were set up along with carnival games and live music, and it was packed with people.
I got tipsy just walking around downing beers, and we had manquitos (sandwiches) at midnight when it was still 93 degrees out and there were so many people on the streets and patios it felt like it should have been 7 PM. Great experience!
Day 7
Maria Luisa Park, Plaza de Espana, & Flamenco
Finding lunch the next day was a surprisingly difficult task, as restaurants all operate on a very odd schedule. May of them open for early afternoon, close during late afternoon for the hottest part of the day, and reopen again around 8 PM. There was a tapas spot across the bridge we managed to eat though (eggplant in honey and fried cheese rolls), then we continued on to Maria Luisa Park.
This is a pretty green spot in the city that's just in front of Plaza de Espana, and there's a nice duck pond as well as other small fountains.
The Plaza de Espana was one of the sights I was most excited for on this trip. It was very open with a river wrapping around the building and pretty bridges crossing it, along with a huge fountain in the center. You could go upstairs for higher views, and there was a flamenco group performing in the shade.
It was getting so damn hot at this point though, I was feeling unwell. We literally got into the giant fountain in the plaza, and I pretty much bathed in it splashing water all over myself. I also downed a bottle of cold water from a stall, but within three minutes I was overheating again and had to cool down stepping into the fountains in the park on the way back and then dipping into a Starbucks for the A/C when I felt on the verge of passing out.
I'm in this fountain to survive.
It was 108 by the time we got back to our Air BnB, but it wasn't so bad laying out on the sun loungers with beers in a bikini. Couldn't even step onto the astroturf on the balcony or shift on the lounger though without burning yourself.
Sevilla is the birthplace of flamenco, so we spent the last night going to a flamenco show at a Triana theater. There was a free glass of sangria upon arrival, and the showroom was very cute and intimate. I'm glad I saw a flamenco show, but this was not really my thing. It was pretty long and parts of it dragged. The dancing was good and very intense (those two dancers were sweating buckets), but then there would be minutes-long guitar solos or stationary singing, and I'd feel like I was falling asleep.
Had one last tapas meal afterwards at Vega10 down the road where I tried a vegan hot dog and a soup called salmorejo that is a local take on gazpacho and made with tomato, garlic, olive oil, and basil leaves. Mine was a seasonal variation with beetroot as well. It was the best thing I ate on the trip, I was raving about it.
Some of my favorite tapas in Sevilla - the salmorejo is bottom right.
I flew out of Sevilla the next day, and I really felt I made the most of my time in Spain. Being such a huge country, there is plenty more I could cover in the future, but I'm happy with the cities I saw - especially Granada. Adiós por ahora, España! Next time when people keep mistaking me for Spanish, I'll try not to be so disappointingly limited in my conversational skills.
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