We had an appointment in the morning that took a bit longer than expected so we had a bit of a late start in our city tour. we first heading to Mercado de La Boqueria, which was extremely busy as it was closed on Friday and would be closed on Sunday and Monday. We watned to sit down for some tapas but each open stall was full with people waiting, so we decided to have a few snacks before finding somewhere else to sit down.
we found a small tapas bar not too far away and ordered a few dishes and had some beer, it was a nice and simple small lunch. We then walked to palau güell The Palau Güell which was a mansion that Antoni Gaudí designed for industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell, the audio tour takes you around the mansion explaining all the details and intricate design, each so interesting and unique. we then walked back to the hotel to take a little late afternoon break.
on the way to dinner we made a few quick stops at some other famous gaudi buildings such as Casa Calvet, casa batlló and casa milà. as our time was short and some time slots to visit were booked up, we didn’t have a chance to go into any of these buildings but we will certainly do it the next time. but it was still amazing to just look at exterior architecture, it appears almost surreal and somewhat magical like they belong in storybooks or movies.
we then had a lovely meal of more typical spanish tapas at Tapas 24, with dishes like Iberian ham croquette, and Anchovies with fresh tomato and basil. on the way home we actually wanted to go to another bar which already had a line to get in and right next door was dux gins & cocktail borne, which actually turned out to be a nice little surprise.
Day 3 - April 7 2022
As we had a late night, we then had a late morning start but found a nice breakfast place cafe Menssana, to start the day off right. we then walked around to enjoy our last full day in barcelona and as our lunch reservations were near the beach, we ended up walking up and down enjoying the views.
We then had an amazing easter lunch at Enoteca Paco Perez, obviously had high expectations of this two star michelin restaurant but it definitely exceeded in both service and quality of food. we went for the lunch option as it is half the price of dinner and is probably not as much food but still plenty. it was also nice to sit outside enjoying the nice ocean breeze and people watching.
after that we went to the famous la Sagrada Familia, i would highly recommend to book tickets early especially on a weekend and during peak season. what an extraordinary building from inside and out, the great attention to detail and the magnitude of the building is so impressive, i am always in awe or these grand old buildings to think that they were all build without modern machines and technology, like how did they place these large single columns, sculptures, etc..
we then took another little break before heading to our last meal in barcelona, besta was on many top restaurant lists and we were able to get a reservation so we had to try and see what the hype was about and it did not disappoint. It is very fish and seafood based so if you don’t eat most of that then selection is very limited, also dishss are too share.
as we had an early flight back to munich, we didn’t stay out too late. There was definitely more than we had wanted to do and see but I am sure we will be back very soon!