Selfie on the Clifton Suspension Bridge
In mid-April, Linnea and I hosted my parents in Bristol for a long weekend. Having just finished an action-packed cruise down the Danube, they wanted to spend the end of their trip to Europe relaxing. I happily agreed to a more relaxed weekend; between hosting my parents, two work trips to London, and a trip to Barcelona, April was a busy month. With relaxation in mind, the weekend was full of long strolls through Bristol, cooking dinners at home, and getting our garden ready for spring. While you may not think of gardening as a vacation-worthy activity, but my dad certainly does. Once he realized that the garden needed some love, he couldn’t help but spend a couple hours on Sunday afternoon weeding and giving me pointers. As I write this I’m sitting in the garden surrounded by a lovely mix of flowers and vines, so the springtime effort was well worth it.
The following weekend was Easter weekend, meaning Friday and Monday are public holidays here in England. Because April was so busy and we had recently returned from my sabbatical, we did zero planning for our Easter weekend trip to Barcelona. This is very unlike me. I don’t build out super-specific hour-by-hour itineraries when travelling, but I nearly always have a few activities picked out. The winding, narrow streets in the Gothic Quarter are great for wandering, so our lack of plans wasn’t a problem. Well, not a problem except that we weren’t able to get tickets to Gaudí’s most famous creations, the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell (both of which I’ve been to but would happily see again). If you want to see these places, make sure to buy tickets in advance.
Basilica view. Zoom in on my right shoulder for the Sagrada Familia.
Upon arrival at our Airbnb we got the wonderful news that our ‘private room’ would be a ‘whole apartment’ because our host was out of town for the weekend. The next morning, we joined a free walking tour of the city. Free walking tours are an integral part of how I get to know a city and I highly recommend them. They seem to be everywhere - I’ve joined them in Sydney, Seattle, and Buenos Aires, to name a few. Tour guides describe the culture and history of a city while they show you various landmarks. They are typically about 2-3 hours, and while they aren’t truly free because you’re expected to tip the tour guide at the end, they are very affordable. I like to join free walking tours early in a trip as an introduction to the city, which is what we did in Barcelona. After the walking tour, we had enough recommendations from the tour guide and our Airbnb host to keep us busy for the rest of the trip. We enjoyed a delicious (and inexpensive) tapas dinner at Fa Patxoca, a restaurant where we were the only tourists. We had Spanish tortilla (egg, potato, and onion - so simple, so tasty) for breakfast at a counter at the Santa Caterina Market. At the top of the Basilica of Saints Justus and Pastor, we found a nearly tourist-free view of the city. We indulged in a late lunch of seafood paella and wine on the beach in La Barceloneta. We dined on pintxos during a flamenco show at 23 Robadors. Finally, we took ourselves on a self-guided tapas tour of the Gothic quarter, including a stop at Bar del Pla. Put briefly, Barcelona is a great place to eat, drink, and immerse yourself in the local culture. If I had to guess, Linnea and I will visit again while we live in Bristol. Other than buying tickets to the Sagrada Familia, we will probably plan very little and see what restaurants and activities we stumble upon.