HOLA


 Currently suffering with a cold, I am going through my pictures from my trip to Barcelona last week, trying to lift my mood, and to finally do a post about it! I've been to Spain before, many years ago when I was younger and I don't remember it too well, partly because of my age, and the trip was for my Dads work. Years have passed and I've learnt Spanish in school and grown to love the Spanish/Latin culture. Spain is one of the many places I had desired to explore, and I was so excited when my Mum told me that as a gift for my 18th, we will be going to Barcelona!

 As this was such a last minute trip, I barely prepared and planned. So the best photographs I took were on my iPhone 5. So I decided to do an "Insta diary" of my trip to Barcelona.


So here's something you might want to know about me -- wan.der.lust 
I want to travel. I desire to, it's what I am definitely going to do... But, I'm also an anxious traveller. I get nervous and homesick, bad combination for someone with that wanderlust fever. So I was very unsure of how to go about this, but once we had gotten to the hotel my first thoughts were -- "mm this is very nice...", I started feeling very relaxed, happy and just ready to go out into Barcelona and embrace it all.

 Of course we travelled there at the end of November, and although it's Spain that didn't mean it'd be boiling hot, but to my surprise that didn't change my view on this amazing city.

 Taking a taxi from our hotel, we head to the Placa De Catalunya, the centre which is surrounded by many streets. Overwhelmed by the gorgeous festive lights and the livelihood, we head down the Av. Portal D'angel. A street filled with stores, including my favourite brands, which Spain is their hometown, Zara and Mango. First thing we do -- shopping. Second thing we do -- eat.

 Continuing down the street, we are headed straight for a beautiful bar and restaurant, called the Cer el Cle. With indoor seating, sushi bar, terrace seating, with views of the streets and beautiful buildings and an outdoor bar, I felt utterly delighted that was the first place we had stumbled across on our first evening. Wine, tapas, a view -- all on the first night, no wonder I felt so at peace.






After a perfect first night in Barcelona, we were up and ready the next morning to get out and explore the many, many streets in the city.

 Oh how I wish I was able to name the exact street we went to, the exact locations of shops and bars, but with all the streets drawing you in, some small and narrow, some big and wide, like the Las Ramblas -- I just couldn't keep track. & In all honesty, half the time, most of the time I had not a clue where the heck we were.

















Graffiti and street art, are frowned upon by authorities and perhaps some people as well, but with that beautiful artistic ability, I don't see why. I loved seeing places, walls, old broken buildings, being brought back to life with images and art.

 This is one of the things I loved about the streets of Barcelona, the need for life, liveliness -- there was something new, something interesting in every place you looked.



I am a sucker for outdoor bars and restaurants. The whole atmosphere I just find perfect, it's so refreshing -- connecting indoor living with outside. There's nothing better than this in the right location and time. 

Drinks at 2:00pm... Talk about the right time, eh.



I was the happiest girl when I found this place. It was in a movie I had seen when I was younger. It was this place, as to why I fell in love with Barcelona. There's no point in me explaining as to why I did. It's all there in that picture.

One thing I found out about this place is that they do Flamenco shows there in the evening. Unfortunately I didn't get to go to one, as the trip was quite short, and we hadn't enough time to do this. But I can assure you when I return to Barcelona next year... *fingers crossed*, I will see one of the shows.





This was without doubt the cutest little local bookshop I have ever come across. This picture does not do it any justice, for which I am partly to blame, oops.

For our last night we trekked down one of Barcelona's famous streets, the Las Ramblas, where we found a beautiful large square, surrounded by restaurants and bars, it was decorated beautifully and felt like typical holiday nightlife, just not the clubbing kind...





On our last day, was the first we'd actually eaten in our hotel, because we had been so eager every day to get on with it and go explore, we'd eat out. 

After this breakfast buffet in the hotel -- I was quite gutted we didn't eat there more. Mainly because my favourite part of any hotel is the breakfast buffets... There's always next time!
We had a panoramic view of the city around us, which was absolutely incredibly. 





The last thing we did before leaving Barca, was head back to the Cer el Cle, where we spent our first night, and had a few drinks and tapas! 

This terrace bar, is the number 1 place I'd recommend you go to if you're visiting Barcelona. 

One thing I have not mentioned is that, we had also gone on a bus tour that took us through the major parts of Barcelona, such as the Sagrada Família, the marina, the football stadium etc -- The reason there not being photographs of these, is because I filmed this part of the sightseeing instead. So hopefully, if my film editing skills aren't too bad, I shall be able to share that with you soon. 





Adiós mis amores