Having been to Barcelona a few times now, this trip mostly consisted of a lot of repeats of my favorite activities. The hostel we stayed at was pretty much the only thing I haven't talked about in my blog already. With that being said, here is a list of my favorite things to do in Barcelona...
Hostel
Like I said, I'd never stayed at this hostel before. I'm pretty sure it's not the best hostel in Barcelona but I liked it a lot and would recommend it to others. It was called Mambo Tango, with a pretty central location and a great price. I loved the bright decor of the hostel and the openness. Our stay came with a free breakfast every morning, although, it was mostly just fruit and toast. The only few negatives i noticed were the showers had a button that you had to push every few minutes to keep the water running (the temp. varied a lot) and the wifi was a little spotty. Overall, it was a good hostel that i'd recommend to anyone visiting Barcelona.
Cozy little hostel common area
Colorful tiled bathroom
Activities
Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is probably the most well-known attraction in Barcelona. I have visited the outside of Antoni Gaudí's gothic style cathedral on three different occasions, but have never seen the inside (because of long lines and the cost), although, I hear it's beautiful. Every visit I am astounded by its impeccable size and countless details.
Park Güell
Park Güell has two different parts to it. There's the free part that's open to everyone with beautiful architecture and landscaping. There's also the central part that has all the mosaic work, which you need a ticket to access nowadays. I'd suggest buying the ticket online, since you are given a specific time slot to enter the mosaic section of the park. If you buy your ticket in the park, you'd either have to leave the park and come back later on or wait around for hours before your time comes. Nico and I just visited the outside park for this visit. We did see a pretty cool flamenco show, however.
Nightclubs
Opium was the nightclub I first attended with a group of study abroad friends during Carnival. The place was packed and the music was good that night. To get in without paying a cover, we just asked a promoter on the street who told us a codeword to use. I later found out, this just could be looked up on Facebook. When I visited this second time with Nico, we didn't have nearly as much fun. The full dance floor wasn't open and the music wasn't as great. Maybe nightclubs are better experienced with a group of friends rather than as a couple. Opium is probably more fun to attend anyway during a holiday or when a more well-known artist is performing.
Food
La Rosa Negra
Still my favorite Mexican food restaurant in all of Europe (although I've only tried a fraction, if you can even call it that), La Rosa Negra has been a hit with everyone I've recommended it to. I enjoyed my favorite dish, enchiladas rojas, with a tasty margarita.
This photo was taken from this blog post
Brunch & Cake
This hip French bakery and brunch restaurant is home to what might be my favorite French toast. Brunch & Cake also offers both sweet and savory breakfast dishes that are both healthy and delicious. Nico got an eggs benedict with extra hollandaise sauce that came in a syringe.
The most amazing French toast, also taken from this blog post
Happy Pills
Of course we made a stop to Happy Pills, a cute little candy shop where you fill up a pill bottle with candy and pick your own custom label. My favorite are the sour candy wrenches (idk why someone decided on this shape).
Read more about Happy Pills in my first post about Barcelona
Other Food Spots
Nico and I spent a lot of time at the beach so one restaurant we went to was called Blue Beach Bar. It had tasty food and refreshing sangria. The beach was lovely as well, but a bit crowded. I'd recommend visiting during a slower season (aka anytime but Summer).
The marina
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