Great news, friends! Your girl finally made it across the Atlantic Ocean. For my first (truly) international trip, the go big or go home mentality won the day with a jump over to Barcelona before embarking on a Virgin Voyages cruise. The trip consisted of three great friends and me, a small enough group to make planning easy but enough people to distribute the travel frustrations. Let’s be honest: a week and a half of travel with anyone will lead to disputes, so choosing the right amount (and the right people) is incredibly important.
For my first long international flight, Air Canada made it as seamless as possible. My goal was to sleep through the flight and wake up landing in Barcelona. I wasn’t 100% successful with my nap-abilities, but we landed at 11 AM local time, ready to explore.
Upon arriving, we checked into our Airbnb to freshen up before hitting the town. We rented a quaint two-bedroom apartment a few blocks from the Fountain de Montjuïc, which placed us in a great location. As someone who grew up in a tiny town and moved to a spread-out city, I was blown away by Barcelona’s walkability. Coupled with the incredible public transportation, we only got taxis to and from the airport and cruise port.
Our first day was spent wandering, sightseeing, and soaking in the new city overall. We enjoyed lunch in the shopping district before exploring the Boqueria Market. The vendors were filled with a variety of foods, ranging from fresh fruit to cured meats and so much more. We ended the night with sushi at Ikibana, which was wildly delicious. I consider myself a snob when it comes to sushi (blame my stepdad for introducing me to high-quality fish at a young age), and this blew me away. While I don’t think it quite compared to Morimoto, it caught me pleasantly off guard. And, to clarify, my expectations were relatively high for a coastal city.
Our Friday morning was spent lounging around the apartment, attempting to regulate our bodies to the nine-hour time difference. After we rallied the energy, we departed for brunch and stumbled upon a quaint little restaurant a few blocks away. The food was good, but our waiter was the best. A German transplant who spoke six different languages, he was incredibly kind and gave us a long list of recommendations for our limited time before departure. Plus, any place that serves 12 oz pours of Sauv Blanc is a place I like!
That evening, we made our way to a paella cooking class with open expectations. Honestly, the wine flowed quite heavily, so my detailed description of the events faded slightly. But it was an incredible time with a very fun group of people. The paella was delicious, and the sangria was even better. We stopped by Mama’s Pizza on the way home after acquiring a few more beverages. While my drunk brain may be biased, this was hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had. A simple Margherita pizza was elevated with fresh ingredients and a beautifully crispy crust. (For those of you who remember the Maui pizza, this is fighting tooth and nail for my favorite slice.)
Saturday consisted of pre-emptive repacking before hitting the town to be on time for our reservations. We checked out the Sagrada Familia before hitting two speakeasies. At Monk, I shocked myself by ordering an oyster “martini”, which I was delighted with. The oyster-infused sherry was the perfect combination of sharp and salty, and it came with a side of frozen oyster juice to supplement more salt if required by your tastebuds.
Dinner was a whirlwind of flavors at Arcano that my pallet will miss forever. The highlight of the meal was most definitely the papas bravas, but with a shocking, unexpected twist, the mushrooms blew me away. For those who don’t know, I am an avid mushroom hater. While the flavor is relatively inoffensive to me, the texture is despicable, and I would rather have air. However, these melt in your mouth the way a great steak does. They were impeccably seasoned and, honestly, rewired my brain so that I would try mushrooms moving forward (and likely be disappointed).
Overall, Barcelona may have topped the list of cities I am dying to see again. Three days was not nearly enough to experience all it had to offer, and I look forward to returning to continue immersing myself in the culture.