On Tuesday morning we headed to Barcelona. Once we got into the city we headed to grab some grub and some craft beers at a place called Biercab. Barcelona has this amazing craft beer scene - we seriously had no idea the beer scene was so great here! We kicked off the day by doing a walking tour with Sandeman's. It is the tour company that we usually use if they have a tour in the city we are visiting. It is the best company and I will always recommend them! We had this cute little tour guide who showed all around. After we finished the Sandeman's tour, we walked down to the beach. It is so funny to me that the beach is man-made in Barcelona specifically for the Olympics in 1992. After walking around for awhile, we then headed to the Barcelona Cathedral to take in the beautiful sights. On the first night we went to see native Catalonia music at Palau de la Música
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| where christopher columbus stood after he got back from his excursion and where the first cigarette was smoked in Europe |
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| that catalonia flag of independence |
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| man made beaches! |
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| the beautiful barcelona cathedral |
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| tiles <3 |
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| the insanely gorgeous Palau de la Música Catalana |
On Wednesday, we woke up and headed out to Park Guell. On the way we stopped by the Gaudi Museum to get a look at the exquisite architecture outside. I would just like to point out the fact that this guy had to be mental but he was a dang near architecture genius! After walking around the park for awhile we went to Sagrada Familia! This place was just absolutely insane & definitely one of the best things we did on our entire trip! Every detail of the place was incredible. We had an audio tour and it was very informative but I spent most of the time just staring at the incredible mosaics and architecture. After we wrapped up our time at Sagrada Familia, we walked around in the park for a while and grabbed a bite to each at a vegan craft beer place. We also checked out the Arc de Triomf. Then we headed to the stadium to watch the soccer game between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. We got to see Messi play and it was incredible. The crowd adored him. It was a blast to see him play and FC Barcelona in general. The crowd was a ton of fun to be around and the energy was great.
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| gaudi museum |
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| park guell |
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| sagrada familia |
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| sagrada familia <3 |
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| views from top of sagrada familia! |
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| the gaudi weirdisms... so weird! |
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| amazing organ |
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| this church is so weird |
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| me & my man in front of the amazing cathedral |
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| the arc |
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| yummy vegan burger |
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| fc barcelona game!!! |
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| messi himself! |
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| rocking my Messi shirt |
On Thursday morning we woke up and headed to Madrid via train. We yet again started off the day with a Sandeman's tour. We had another great guide who was one of the most informative we have had thus far. After our tour, we went to go see the ancient Egyptian ruins called Temple of Debod. This was a very interesting temple in the middle of Madrid. And then we headed off to the oldest restaurant per the Guinness book of world records. This place is called Botin. It was quite delicious! Afterwards, we just walked around for a bit more and grabbed a quick nap. Then we went to see an authentic Flamenco show at Tablao Las Carboneras. Before the show, we did a tapas tasting with the group. This was through another tour in Sandeman's called Spanish Inquisition.
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| main square in Madrid |
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| egyptian ruins |
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| nick soaking up that sun! |
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| oldest restaurant in the world, supposedly! |
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| the gorgeous main square |
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| the flamenco show |
On Friday we headed to Toledo which is a small town outside of Madrid. It was one of the richest towns in the past and still is a gorgeous small town. We did a walking tour and went into the gorgeous Toledo Cathedral in the center of town. This is considered to be one of the oldest Gothic churches. Nick and I spent some time just walking around the town and down by the water to get some gorgeous views of the city. All in all, a great day in this small town. Then we just headed back to Madrid. We ate at this amazing place called Tacos y Tapas. I highly, highly recommend this place if you are ever in Madrid. You definitely need to check it out. Super authentic Mexican food.
