Highlights of Barcelona
A few months ago we made the decision to do something we’d never done with the kids for our family vacation– a cruise! It had been since our honeymoon that Dave and I had been on a cruise and it really had not crossed our minds again until this year when we were trying to decide on a vacation adventure with our two youngest girls. And since we are huge Disney fans, it was a big draw that we choose a Disney cruise. The one that appealed to us the most was the 7-day Mediterranean because we love Italy so much and there were a few stops we had not yet seen. And so we booked! We sailed at the end of May and had the best time. I can’t wait to share the details with you as I like to do so you can hear from a friend what the experience was like and you can feel free to ask questions! Today I’m starting with where we started– Barcelona! It was our first time here and it was fun!
We arrived in Barcelona two days before the cruise departure for two reasons– to allow a time buffer in case of flight delays from the states, and to give us time to explore a new city! We arrived in the morning after an all night flight and we were exhausted, but dropped off our bags at the hotel, changed clothes, and started the day. We stayed at the SB Plaza Europa Hotel, which was clean and comfortable. Not too fancy, but did have a nice rooftop with views and a pool, as well as being in a quieter part of town near the ports.
On the first day, we took our time, strolled around Las Ramblas- the large pedestrian street with merchants and restaurants, etc, where all tourists must visit. In the area was the La Boqueria, the large food market full of colorful stalls of fruits, candies, juices, meats, and more.
We ate lunch in that area and later had an early dinner of pizza on the hotel rooftop and then turned in early to be ready for our tour the next morning!
We did a small group tour with around a dozen people with Viator and you can book the tour HERE. Our tour guide was Giovanni and the driver picked us each up at our hotels in a comfortable bus. Giovanni was very entertaining and informative, giving us plenty of information and background about each stop. We saw the Gothic Quarter, more of Las Ramblas, other markets and sites, and even a tapas lunch together in a cute restaurant.
But one of our favorite stops was the famous Sagrada Familia, a work of architect Antoni Gaudi which was the most unique architecture we’ve ever seen in a cathedral. We had about an hour of free time to tour this site (audio tour was included) and we enjoyed it so much. You can read more on its background HERE.
Our second favorite stop on the tour was at Parc Guell, another work of Gaudi, Barcelona’s most famous architect. This park is characterized by the stunning mosaics and, again, unique architectural lines and structures unlike any parks we’ve seen.
We definitely enjoyed the tour and highly recommend it to get a great overview of the city.
After that, we explored on our own some more!
The next day was my birthday, and we had the morning to explore before we boarded the ship in the afternoon.
We found a cute place called Brunch and Cake to celebrate and it was the most colorful brunch I’ve ever had! So cute and I definitely wish we had one in the States!
By early afternoon, we were at the port, getting on the Disney Dream! And from there there is so much to tell! Stay tuned if you’d like to read about it!
