Jaded images: Barcelona

I wouldn't say it was love at first sight.

As we reluctantly left Paris and devoured our last macarons, we actually had a pretty smooth flight to Barcelona

However walking to the train line and waiting for 25 minutes with a 13kg backpack is not the greatest way to start a trip. Nor is not knowing what any of the train stops mean because they're all in espanol - the limit of my Spanish is " no hablo espanol " very unhelpful.

We pulled up at a train station that looked like the name of the station our host had provided, but it was hard to tell.

After asking people if we could borrow their map we realised it was in fact our stop and we darted off the train and onto our connecting one to Sagrada Familia.

Our first view was pretty incredible -

But being lost, sweaty and still carrying the backpacks was dampening our Spanish mood.

When we got to our host apartment we only made it worse for ourselves by reading safety tips about barcelona and how not to get pickpocketed and robbed.

Sufficiently paranoid and starving by 4pm we decided to try some paella to settle our stomachs, paella was good, the gypsy man was not.

Helena firmly (I say firmly very loosely) said NO to a gypsy trying to sell us bracelets, he did not take this well. Apparently the firm no prompted this response

"No? NO? F*ck you no, this is barcelona, f*ck you"

Man walks away and comes back

"This is barcelona, you can't say no, f*ck you"

Hmm yes. Not the best start at all.

We sucked it up and decided to go to Las Ramblas, one of the busiest markets in Barcelona.

Feeling a little shaken, we figured out how to calm the nerves

Mmms sangria.

As we wandered down the markets we were suddenly taken aback as we were the centre of attention to two lovely tourists who couldn't stop taking our photo

We calmed down and tried to enjoy the rest of the afternoon by wandering around the market place, buying some art and buying groceries to make our very own (unsuccessful) sangria at home.

We decided that a good nights sleep would surely make us feel better for our second day in Spain!

Day 2 -

This morning we woke up a little late and had some innovative strawberries on toast for breakfast as we were told everything would be shut for Good Friday. As we walked down the street it was flooded with people and open bars, restaraunts and shops - perhaps a little miscommunication?

But we got our selfie with the Sagrada Familia and decided to head down to the beach.

A leisurely stroll took us to some delicious gelato

The salty beach air and warm enough weather to not wear a coat

Some tasty tapas

And of course, more sangria...

This is becoming concerning addictive

We walked around the beach and embraced the sunlight, then head back to our apartment, but not before stopping to get some fartons

Yes you read right, fartons.

All up we had a much better day and ended up feeling more positive towards Spain, baby steps!

Day 3 -

Today we decided to tourist it up and take a guides bus around the city. It was actually a really handy hop on hop off service that allowed us to see a lot of the city minus the waking...which we have done a lot of.

We saw some amazing architecture including the Gothic Cathedral

Which lead us to the gothic quarter...

Which lead us to this amazing hole in the wall cafe that we almost walked past, called Mescladis.

It had mixed colourful chairs,

old school phones and type writers

Excuse me whilst I take this call

and other bits and bobs which gave this place a really unique charisma. Plus the food was super tasty

We stopped to take some cool photos

And got back on the bus to head to Las Ramblas for a second time.

Only this time we had our sights set on Boqueira, the indoor produce markets.

And we may or may not have gotten churros on the way...

We also may have gone shopping again too..

Moving on!

When we got to the market it was absolutely PACKED but full of amazing fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, nuts, chocolate, juice - you name it!

It was full of tourists (including ourselves) but it was lovely to see locals still using it for daily Spanish life.

They even have pretty rubbish

With a juice in hand and some nibbles purchased, we made our way back to the apartment

We finished the day off with dinner down the street at La Bellota and decided to try the seafood paella as every ones been telling us to try it.

The trouble is, try getting two girls who generally don't like seafood to try and stomach it...

Struggle street my friends.

However in our time of need, we turned to our one true friend this trip. Yep, you guessed it, sangria...again

This is my *drink directly from the jug like a lady* attempt

Oh and you wouldn't believe who visited us at the dinner table... Gypsy man.

*drinks more*

All in all quite a successful day in Spain, and a good way to spend our Easter weekend!

Day 4 -

Our last day in Barcelona, otherwise known as Easter, was rather drab! We had a bit of gloomy weather but we decided to head up to the Parc de Montjuic to see the best view of the city. The park is also home to the Olympic swimming pool from 1992, such an incredible view

We took our happy snaps

Traded Easter presents

And caught the cable car over the mountain

Helena says that she was enjoying herself

And we stopped by the markets once more. Only this time we found some real goodies, an amazing vintage collection of old war medallions, vintage cameras *drools*, sunnies, Beatles nostalgia, and a pretty ring I picked up for 12€