It was time for the second crazy Spanish wedding of the year. This time it would be near Barcelona so me and Maite took the opportunity to explore the city a bit.  When we arrived it was sunny and 23 degrees Celsius and it stayed that way the whole time we were there, not bad for the end of October!  As soon as we got off the bus from the airport we were treated to some pretty impressive architecture near Placa d’ Espanya.

We soon dumped our bags at our Airbnb and started exploring the Gothic Quarter. I really loved all the little alleys and I do like a nice gothic cathedral!

We found a really good vegan restaurant called Cat Bar where we had some delicious burgers. It was pretty quirky with a, as you may have guessed, theme of cats.  I don’t tend to actively seek out bars with a cat theme but the food was sooo tasty.

We had also picked a pretty interesting time to visit Barcelona. As we wandered around there were quite a few marches happening and gatherings in the main square related to Catalonian Independence.  At no point did it feel hostile but we didn’t hang around these areas too long to find out.

The next day we used a tourist bus to travel around different parts of the city. Our first stop was Parc Guell which is Gaudi creation.  Gaudi was known for his appreciation of nature and his architecture mimicking it.  Parc Guell takes this idea to another level where his architecture and nature goes hand in hand.  It was very beautiful, super touristy at the bottom but could escape the crowds the further up the park we climbed.

In the afternoon we passed by Casa Mila and then visited La Pedrera, another two Gaudi creations. La Pedrera is a crazy looking building that houses offices and luxury apartments.  It has stunning architecture both inside and out.

We then ended up down at the port near to the Cristobal Colon statue, right at sunset time. We then nipped into a very cool bar called El Bosc de les Fades (the fairy’s forest) which was decorated like a forest on the inside and even put on a wee thunder and lightning show at some point in the form of sound affects and flashing lights!

The next day was wedding day in Sant Felu where we met up with Maite’s family. It was a really good day and the lunch / dinner went on as long as a Spanish meal typically does (6 hours or so) :P. This was then followed by drinking, chatting and dancing.

Our last full day in Barcelona consisted of breakfast and lunch with Maite’s family which was really nice. Then in the afternoon we visited La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi is at it again).  I was completely amazed at the scale of it and that it is still being constructed 150 years or so after it was started.  Inside was really beautiful.  I really liked how the light came through the giant stain glass windows and how the pillars looked like giant tree trunks.

That night we had dinner at Dolce Pizza and Los Veganos. This was an amazing vegetarian pizza restaurant and a really nice way to finish off our trip.  Barcelona is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. From the quirky Gothic Order, the endless amount of terraces & tapas, great vegan food and Gaudi’s mental buildings.