TRAVEL JOURNAL - THE VINTAGE ADVENTURE: BARCELONA

Barcelona, Spain was the first stop of our summer adventure! It was full of culture, history, art, architecture, tapas, and good wine!

Smoot found a flat though airbnb that was located in the Eixample district. The flat had a modern vintage style and AC, which was a very good thing since they were experiencing an intense heat wave.    

Antoni Gaudi's story and works were magnificent! We visited the Block of Discord, Park Guell, and Sagrada Familia, which brought us to our knees and tears to our eyes. It's a structure that has been under construction from 1882 to date and is slated to be completed in the year 2025.

It's hard to believe that one man could have had that much creativity and impact on one city and its culture. If you don't know Gaudi's story, you can find more information on him here. You'll be glad you did!  

A great Instagram we follow called Hilton Family told us about The Mercantic, a vintage village about 30 minutes from Barcelona filled with rows and rows of vendors. Make sure to visit on a weekend.       

Each child got to choose one place they wanted to visit throughout the entire trip that was not already planned. Our son chose Camp Nou, the Futbal stadium and shrine to Messi and his team of soccer players. Our son was in hog heaven! Even in a place like that, the Spanish culture and creativity is evident.  

Another highlight was Tibidabo, a century old amusement park that sits at the highest point of Barcelona with amazing views of the city and ocean. The magnificent church called Sagrada Corazon sits right behind the colorful rides and creates an ethereal tone to roller coaster riding. After a fun day and as the sun was setting, we walked to The Gran Hotel La Florida, an urban resort for an alfresco dinner on their terrace.  

We found amazing restaurants and shopping throughout Barcelona and got hooked on gelato which became an evening ritual. Las Ramblas, Avingada Diagonal, Barri Gotic, El Born were some of our favorite areas. The alleyways were magical and full of small shops. We lucked out since mid-June through the end of August is their sale time.  

Barcelona ended up being one of our most favorite cities out of all of the ones we visited. We did have to get use to their 4 hour siesta breaks, where the town literally shuts down in the heat of the day. But then it picks back up for late night shopping and dining into the cool of the evenings. We celebrated the Catalan lifestyle, embraced their culture and had the time of of our lives.

Stay tuned for our recap of our next stop, which was Provence.