A city trip to sunny and beautiful Barcelona

 

My final exam was over and I had obtained my VWO diploma. The summer holidays were in sight, but I still had no idea where and with whom I wanted to go on holiday. One thing I knew for sure, I wanted to go on holiday without parents. My niece hadn't booked a holiday yet either, so we decided to look for a holiday together. We both wanted to go to a city. The choice fell on Barcelona, ​​because the weather is very nice there in the summer and there is a lot to see in the city.

Off to Barcelona

Quickly put the last things in the suitcase and on to the airport. At the airport it turned out that I had been a bit too enthusiastic with the liquids… They didn't all fit in the special 1 liter bags they had at the airport, so I unfortunately had to throw half away. After a short flight of almost 2 hours we were in Barcelona. The hotel where we stayed was not big, but fine for just overnight stay. After unpacking the suitcases, we quickly got some groceries at the Carrefour that was around the corner. It really was a madhouse there, it was so busy…. And that at a quarter to 9 in the evening when the store was about to close!

start slow

The first real day in Barcelona we started slowly. In the morning we had breakfast at a bakery that was located in the street of the hotel. Here we ate delicious toasted sandwiches with a glass of fresh orange juice. Then we went to look at some shops and walked past beautiful buildings. It is highly recommended to walk on the La Rambla. This is a very long street with many cozy terraces and nice souvenir shops. You can also buy a delicious ice cream or if you prefer something healthy, you can buy fresh fruit in the market hall located on La Rambla. Then we walked through the beautiful parks in the city and in the afternoon we went to the zoo. The zoo was still quite big, but we managed to see all the animals and take some nice pictures. That way I could have taken a nice picture of a huge bear. We ended the day with a delicious meal on a terrace. I had a Burrito with Nachos and my niece opted for a pizza. We still had time after dinner. Sitting in our hotel room was not really an option. The hotel room was not that big and it would be a shame not to use all the time you have in Barcelona! So we decided to visit the aquarium of Barcelona. The aquarium was located on a separate part in Barcelona, ​​namely a small island. On that island were all cozy shops and restaurants. In the aquarium itself there was a section where you could view the sea creatures very well. There was a conveyor belt that went right through the aquarium. This was very impressive! You could just see the sharks, rays and other sea creatures swimming all around you at a short distance!

The huge bear at the zooThe huge bear at the zoo

The delicious Burrito with NachosThe delicious Burrito with Nachos

Sagrada Familia and Park Guell

We planned to see the Sagrada Família in the morning, but unfortunately it was so busy that you had to buy the tickets first and only come back later. That's why we went to Park Guëll after buying the tickets… Unfortunately we had bad luck there, because Park Guëll was just as busy as at the Sagrada Família. That's why I bought tickets for Park Güell to be able to go back later. We really kept traveling up and down, because we could almost enter the Sagrada Família in the meantime, so we went back there. Once in the Sagrada Família we were amazed, what a beautiful church! It was very modern inside, we really didn't expect that. The stained glass windows had beautiful colors and patterns and the church was also very light and open inside. Park Guell was also really beautiful, especially all the mosaic there was very beautiful! After that we had - very cliché - been in a tourist bus that drove past some sights of Barcelona. We were quite tired from all the walking, so we could still see some things that way. At the end of the day we went to Corte d'Ingles, which is a very large department store of 8 floors where you can buy everything from groceries for food to clothing, electricity and home decoration. Such a great department store!

The beautiful stained glass windows of the Sagrada FamíliaThe beautiful stained glass windows of the Sagrada Família

Park Güell has a lot of beautiful mosaic Park Güell has a lot of beautiful mosaic

The fountain show

In the morning we had breakfast again at the bread shop. We had returned to the bread shop every day because the toasted sandwiches were so good there. The employees therefore already recognized us and they knew exactly what we were going to order. Then we went to the beach. We didn't bring any swimsuits, so we took off our slippers and had a great timeWe walked our feet through the sea to cool off a bit. Unfortunately today was our last day in Barcelona. We had been told by our hotel receptionist that there was a fountain show Thursday through Sunday. We were just able to attend this fountain show, because today was Thursday. The fountain is also called the 'magic fountain' because during the show the fountain is lit up with pop and classical music in the background. The show was really wonderful! Also the location of the fountain was very nice. The fountain was located next to a huge palace that now serves as a museum. And press that it was there! We were there more than half an hour in advance, but could hardly sit down. There were people everywhere, on the fountain itself, but also on the walls and stairs of the palace. The fountain show was a great end to our vacation in Barcelona!