Barcelona and Montserrat
Quick 2 days in Barcelona & Montserrat - September 2017
We landed in Barcelona around 6pm and took the aerobus into the city – it was super easy and had wifi!
Aerobus http://www.aerobusbcn.com/
We took the bus directly to Las Ramblas – famous street in Barcelona – our hotel was only a block off of it.
We stayed at Hotel NH Barcelona Ramblas – was a good location, just far enough off the main drag, but still walkable to great restaurants, the bus stop, and train stations. https://www.nh-hotels.com/hotel/nh-barcelona-ramblas
By the time we got to our hotel, it was later so we found a cute tapas spot and got a late dinner
Bonatapa right on Las Ramblas – wasn’t the best spot but it was late and they didn’t have a wait. The food was good.
We had 2 full days in Barcelona, and opted to take one day out in Monserret and wine country near Barcelona. We took Castle experience/wine tours and had a great day touring the monastery, and trying amazing wines. It was a beautiful day and we met a really great couple from Canada. https://www.viator.com/tours/Barcelona/Montserrat-Tour-from-Barcelona-Including-Lunch-and-Wine-Tasting-in-Oller-del-Mas/d562-5716P2
Wow! This view! We took the tram up to see Montserrat from above
Inside the beautiful church at Montserrat
Tour continues with wineries! And an amazing wine paired lunch!
We had a wonderful day out in the country. When we got back from a long day of bus touring we grabbed dinner at Mariscco https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187497-d1862304-r131186934-Mariscco-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
We sat outside on the square and had the traditional Pallea. Delicious!
Day 2 – We had this day earmarked to tour Barcelona. One big problem, we did not plan ahead at all for this trip – BIG MISTAKE! I always make plans and totally dropped the ball on this trip.
We could not get into the main site Guadi’s Sagrada Familia, however we were able to see it from the outside. I highly recommend if you have any interest in seeing these amazing places make plans and get tickets ahead of time! We did the best we could and went to see things from the outside.
So incredible - pictures do not do it justice - and hard to capture the entire structure= massive!
We did have the option to get into Parc Gruel, which was interesting, but not as cool especially since it started pouring rain when we were there! We made the most of it and saw some of Guadi’s work.
We grabbed a quick lunch at a very local spot (small but super popular) and they had the food of the day (no menus) and that was it. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d4728824-Reviews-Bar_Casi-Barcelona_Catalonia.html Fun experience.
If you get over to Parc Gruel near lunch this is a great local spot. We walked a ton and saw the sites.
For dinner we stopped for a few tapas and a drink and then ended up just staying at the spot we stopped as we had a great seat outside and the food was excellent. Bar Lobo https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d907765-Reviews-Bar_Lobo-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
Last day! We kept searching to see if any of the Guadi locations had last minute tickets and Casa Batillo had availability right at opening 9am – this was the PERFECT time to go, and with our VIP tickets we bought last minute we got escorted into the museum first. So were ahead of all of the crowds. Totally the way to go. We loved this museum. Gaudi’s work is impressive and we really enjoyed it, plus were happy we got to see some work up close since we were not as prepared for this trip as we usually are.
Barcelona was a cool city, but a huge city. NYC feeling, but we still enjoyed it nonetheless. One problem we had when visiting was that Catalonia was trying to leave Spain so there was some civil unrest which made our trip a bit uneasy – we made the most of it but tried to stay away from the protesting so opted out of some of the touristy sites. The food was great, and of course wine. Recommendations would be to just plan ahead to make sure you get to see Sagrada Familia, etc. Enjoy!
