After looking for a last minute deal found through booking separate flights and accommodation, my best friend and I were beyond excited to meet up at the airport for this short break away.
As I live in Nottingham and my best friend lives in Bristol we decided to meet at Luton airport, where we would fly from. Arriving at the airport around midday we started our journey by having a classic pint in the duty-free. The flight was only two hours and cost £35 for a return ticket through Skyscanner and returned us back to Stansted on the way back. The problem was on the other side, trying to navigate to ourselves through the airport to find the train station, which we found out, was at another terminal. Luckily, a man helped us find our way whilst practising our Spanish which was fun. Eventually after 2 trains and a bit of walking we made it to the beach where our hostel was situated and I am not exaggerating it was right on the beach. I definitely recommend buying 10 trips for 10 euros to save yourself some money. We stayed at a place called Safe stay hostel, this costs around £22 a night for a 6 bed all female dorm. As we were hungry we wasted no time and went across the street to a cute burger restaurant, which was surprisingly full of a mixture of locals and tourists.
After calling it a night and waking up early to the sun shining the next day, our decision was to walk as much as we could to get a taste of the city and not miss out on anything. The gothic quarter was around a twenty-minute walk which was full of beautiful architecture. There were a gothic cathedral and many narrow streets that you could explore; luckily it wasn’t too overcrowded as I can imagine it would be in August. From there we walked to the Arco de Triunfo, it had a beautiful park behind which is worth a visit whether that is for a picnic or a quick visit. From there we strolled to the La Sagrada Familia, one of the most famous cathedrals in Barcelona and were designed by the renowned architect Gaudi. The walk back to the hostel was around an hour, it was worth it but exhausting therefore we spent the rest of the afternoon by the beach having a few beers. The evening was filled with visiting Las Ramblas the famous 1km strip filled with bars and restaurants trying to coax you in. However, we stepped off the street and found ourselves walking into an Irish bar; it’s always the spontaneous ones that are the best.
The next day we got up a bit later and hiked up to a viewpoint whereby there are two main ones you can visit. The first is Park Guell where the majority of tourists visit, but further out there is the Bunkers de Carmel where you can see the whole city. It has a history of being built during the Spanish civil war to protect the city. It can take around 40 minutes to reach it by train and then there is a 20-minute walk up the hill which was tiring but worth the views. After this, we headed back to the city to get ready for the night ahead, which entailed a few bars and a club.
The third day was our last and was a more relaxed day due to all the walking we had been doing, the weather also was not very good either. We walked into the city back through La Rambla and off into the side streets to look for somewhere good to eat. We stumbled upon a more gothic setting which had paella and other various dishes; this was a great way to finish a fun holiday. The next morning was spent travelling back to Stansted, although it was a tiring journey it was overall a blissful holiday and I would recommend anyone to go to Barcelona and immerse yourself into their culture.
By Abi Trünk