Showing posts with label Plaza de Espana. Show all posts

BCN Day 3 - How to combine Clubbing and Sight-seeing

Thursday, 19th March 2015: Arc de Triomf, Barrio Gotico, Mercat de la Boqueria:

On my previous post I wrote about the arrival in Barcelona and our second day there which also included clubbing. Clubbing during your travels can have its advantages and, if time is short, disadvantages. However, I have heard so many things about the nightlife in Barcelona, that I wanted to experience that as well. The problematic part happens in the next day’s morning hours of course. Usually, I am a person that doesn’t need a lot of rest after dancing. On that day, however, I just didn’t want to leave my bed. When my sister woke me up at 9am for breakfast, I felt so sick that I thought to skip breakfast. In the end, I thought it would be better to eat at least something, so we went down and I ate some fruits. After breakfast, we went to bed again, but not even after an hour I woke up again to take shower. I thought that might help to come back to myself and make me stop shivering all the time, despite of the sunny weather outside. My sister’s mood was a bit down since she knew this would happen after the party. But as soon as we got ourselves ready to go, we were feeling a bit better already. We met my friend Keddy at the station Arc de Triomf and began taking photos as soon as we saw the monument :D


My friend Keddy in front of the Arc de Triomf

Panoramic Shot of the Arc de Triomf

 It was a beautiful, sunny day. As we walked into the Arc there was a man creating soap bubbles. We watched him and tried to capture beautiful photos with the bubbles flying in front of the arc. The man started speaking with us as he heard we were german. He also came from germany he told us :D

After standing there for a while we continued and found ourselves in the Parc de la Ciutadella. We walked around a little bit and found some beautiful places *o*


I looooveeee this fountain <3


This view is gorgeous

Posing with the palm trees


So beautiful <3

This was a war memorial for the people who died during the second world war. And on top of the memorial, there are 2 pidgeons kissing <3

Taking selfies with ducks that give no fucks ;D

While we were there, two friends of Keddy joined us as well. Flor, one of the Argentinian girls from the night before, and Monique, a girl who is also from Germany. Unfortunately, Flor didn’t stay too long with us. When we decided to visit Barrio Gotico, she had to return home to study. On the way there we walked past the old city walls of Barcelona as well.

We saw this on our way to the barrio



 Barrio Gotico is really a cute district with its many cafes, restaurants, little shops and tiny, old passages.





A giant palm tree
A cute little shop

 We walked around there, searching for a place to eat something and drink coffee. Then, my sister saw a shop selling macarons, but ended up buying ice cream which said to be the best in Barcelona.I tried from my sister, and it really tasted good. But I wanted to eat something proper, since my breakfast was a bit poor and I was getting very hungry. After walking for too long, we found a sandwhich shop and Keddy and me bought something to eat there. We took the sandwiches with us and sat down in front of the cathedral there. It was a good atmosphere and the sandwich tasted like the best thing ever :D In front of the cathedral, there was a man playing the guitar, and it fit perfectly to the sunny weather. It really was a beautiful moment, sitting there on the steps with the others and enjoying the sun and the music.


 After Keddy and me finished out sandwiches, we slowly set off to the city, in the direction of Las Ramblas where we wanted to go to the Mercat de la Boqueria. I was already so excited to sea this, and I was definitely not disappointed:


Every second stand was a smoothie stand. However, I didn’t like the smoothies that much :/ I was expecting more from them. Once, I had a raspberry-banana smoothie which didn’t taste too spectacular, and one day after, I had a dragonfruit-coconut smoothie which tasted like puke :S I think it was because of the coconut. I cannot recommend the ones with coconut to you, guys. You should better stick to what you know and like.

This fish stand was sooo delicious!


I bought a package of coconut and a package of strawberries from that Mercat.

The next day, we wanted to go to the Mercat as well, in order to buy some food for the flight.

 After we left the Mercat, Monique had to leave. We said goodbye and then we set off to the bay. There was a mall, so we wanted to check that out. We didn’t take too long there. Keddy just went to the toilet, and me and my sister rested a bit. But we didn’t go shopping :D
However, the view was beautiful:


 After leaving the mall, we looked for a place to eat Churros, since we still didn’t have eaten any. When we went to Plaza del Reial, we saw a little cute cafe that sold Churros with hot chocolate sauce <3 We immediately went inside and ordered:


  The interior is so cute guys! If I lived in Barcelona, I would be her every day. I forgot what it was cold, but it is in the little passage way that’s leading to the Plaza del Reial on the right hand side. You won’t miss that cute shop.

  

Seriously, I wanna eat Churros for breakfast every day now *o* that was sooo gooood!

Well, after enjoying our ‘meal’, we set off to Las Ramblas again. We planned to go to Plaza Espana. My friend told me that there was a mall called Arena where one could go up the roof and have a view over the Plaza. So we did that. On our way to the metro station, however, my sister found the Sephora Shop and went inside. Guys, it was overwhelming. Never seen such a huge shop only for cosmetics. We don’t have Sephora in Germany, and the one we saw in Prague was tiny. This one looked like a runway when you entered o.O Too much walking for me and Keddy. We decided to sit down on the sofas downstairs. It was a bit embarrassing, since there were only men sitting there, waiting for their wifes/girlfriends :’D
Well, fortunately, my sister didn’t take too long, so we set left. When we arrived at Plaza de Espana, it was about 9pm I think. We were so tired from the night before, that we had difficulties walking :’D But it was worth the walk:


At the back you can see the Font Magica. When we left the Plaza we went there, too, since we saw the water from above, but when we arrived there, it was already turned down :( Next time, I want to see the fountain show!
When we entered the metro a few minutes later, we were quite relieved to go back home/to the hotel again. It was an exhausting, yet beautiful day. Plus, we proved that you can easily combine partying and sightseeing on a short city trip ;)

What we learned: Bubbles are magical.

The next day was our last, but we still had a lot of time, so we did something as well before heading to the airport. If you want to know what we have done, stay tuned for the last Barcelona Post.

Until then,

Here to make you happy!

Today's rating:

Sightseeing: 5/5
Food: 5/5
Shopping: 3,5/5
Clubbing: 4/5
Transportation: 5/5