BARCELONA

Spain has yet to disappoint! We’ve been loving the Spanish culture, lifestyle, tapas, and sangria. The countryside is filled with mountains, yet has a desert like appeal; while the coastline is covered in countless historic towns and some of the busiest beaches we’ve ever seen. Barcelona was the first stop on our Spain tour and set the bar high for the rest of the attractions and stops to come.

Upon arriving, we were immediately in love with where we were staying, and the surrounding area. We were located just off a side street of La Rambla and the Plaza Real. This is the start to the Gothic Quarter, which is rich in history, restaurants, and lots of energy and life…It did however, lack space to move due to the time period in which the buildings were established and the busyness of it now. After settling in and having some sangria (customary to do so upon arriving in Spain), we settled in our Airbnb and planned out the following day.

Since we are lucky to have several friends that have been here, we asked around, and a couple of the places that were highly recommended were the Guell Park and Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Both had ties to the inspirational Antonio Gaudi, and we later found he had influence on a majority of the Barcelona’s top attractions/monuments in the city. So we headed to the park first, but found out that the main area we wanted to see required payment and was sold out for the next two days… so we decided to go to the Cathedral next… Most cathedrals we’ve visited have had a wait and some large lines, but this was also sold out for all but 2 time slots for the rest of our stay! So day 2 ended up being a long walk along the beach and another relaxed night at home where Jacke cooked us dinner. *Side Note: After rummaging through our Airbnb host’s kitchen and fridge, she comes in the room and says “crap! we don’t have any salad dressing…thats ok! I know!” and as I follow her into the kitchen, she is pouring red wine on her salad… followed by olive oil….I literally was at a loss for words, but she insisted “WHAT?! its a red wine vinaigrette!!”…. I guess her famous homemade red wine vinaigrette didn’t turn out as planned, as she ended up throwing away her entire salad… We don’t recommend trying this at home.… Thankfully all I had to do was look on top of the fridge, and found some Italian for my salad before it was no longer edible as well.

The next day was Jacke day. We were heading to Barcelona beach to hang out and have some cocktails that we brought. For those of you not familiar with Spain’s beaches, they are nude (.)(.)  <- yea, I’m real mature….Anyways, we started walking away from the crowded area that we saw the previous day, and headed to the more desolate area. Still crowded, but nothing compared to yesterday evening and some of the other spots. Come to find out, this end was a little less family oriented and a lot more appealing to the “nudist colony type”. I was hyped to find what I thought was the perfect spot, until about 30 seconds after setting up camp and pouring our first drink…. this naked man runs out of the water trying to look like Pamela Anderson in Baywatch, and low and behold we were the lucky individuals that sat directly behind his little spot. We quickly realized why there was a random 10 yard radius and un-occupied circle in the area. This guy starts practicing penis aerobics/yoga in front of us before rolling around on the ground like he’s on fire to cover himself in sand. Next, he heads back out to the ocean in flippers and starts swimming around the bay like a dolphin, mooning the “crowd” every 3 seconds when he came up for air… *chugs drink and moves location*

The rest of the day was fun and we enjoyed being immersed in the local culture. We found an off the beaten path Tapas place that was out of this world and put us in a food coma for the rest of the evening. Although we don’t eat out much, the food here has been so so good.

Later that night, we made a last second decision to head to the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. It is Barcelona’s version of the fountains in Vegas or Dubai, but have been around since 1929. It is a little touristy, but definitely worth a stop. Jacke mentioned it was one of her favorite things we’ve seen all trip! I guess that’s why she kept saying “oooOOOooo, ahhhhhhh, and wowwwwww” the entire time and I was convinced she thought this was the 8th wonder of the world. This oversized sprinkler system playing Bruno Mars is definitely worth a visit and something fun/free to enjoy in a beautiful part of town (lasts about an hour)!

Our last day in Barcelona was dedicated to visiting some of the attractions we were unable to see at the start (because as previously mentioned, you have to book online in advance), as well as some other places that we found appealing. We started off with a walk down La Rambla to Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. Both were designed by the infamous Gaudi and provided an architectural style unlike anything else. We opted not to enter either of them, due to the hefty price tags, but were still impressed by the interesting building styles and views. From there, we got lost in the Gothic Quarter and visited a few of the lesser known churches in the area. We then stumbled upon the Pablo Picasso Museum. It provided a wide array of artwork and styles from his childhood all the way until his last pieces of work. He was extremely talented from a very young age and it was cool to see his style transcend over the years before he turned….I don’t know how to put this nicely, but weird as sh*t. Don’t get me wrong, he is an unbelievable artist and one of the most talented of our era, but the quality and lifelike properties he was able to bring to the canvas at such a young age was insane. Then he gradually started turning his work into a style that looked to have taken minutes for each painting, instead of weeks like his previous masterpieces. Obviously we aren’t the most artistic of people, but we both enjoyed the museum A LOT, and it was crazy to see these paintings in real life, after so many years of learning about him in school.

Finally, we visited the Sagrada Familia Cathedral (again) and were just as impressed with the interior as we were the exterior. This church has been under construction since 1892 (for all of you youngin’s… since Abercrombie was created – *mind blown*), and will be the tallest cathedral in the world upon its completion! We then made our way back to the Guell Park for sunset (as entry to the area we desired was free afer 9:30pm). Although we were able to see this for free, the light was scarce and we would definitely recommend paying to see it in the daytime for those of you planning a trip to the area. That’s pretty much it for Barcelona, and Madrid was our next stop.

MADRID

Madrid isn’t like most of the spots we’ve seen as it isn’t covered in massive cathedrals or world renowned monuments, but it is just as beautiful in it’s own way. We only had a little over a day here, so I wanted to make the most of it. Although I like to always be on the go, Jacke is a great counterbalance to my lifestyle, as she encourages me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the moment. So instead of running from one place to the next all day, we set up shop on a nice plaza and enjoyed people watching for hours. We even got to see a couple Spanish ladies scream at each other before almost turning the plaza into a WWE ring. 🙂 We then continued our journey to the park and walked around aimlessly that evening before heading home.

The next day was much of the same, but we rented some row boats at Retiro Park before casually making our way to the Prado Museum. We were both impressed with the museum’s ability to provide so many different pieces of work from around the world, different eras, and the attentive details to their Spanish heritage. Madrid has been less touristy, but more relaxed, homey, and very clean. We cant say enough positive things about both of these cities, and we are excited for our upcoming two spots to finish out our trip in Spain!!

Takeaway from Spain:

1.) Although the concept of a nude beach sounds cool, be wary of who you sit next to.

2.) Don’t cut corners with saving money on dressing if Jacke is making dinner and drinking wine.

3.) It’s not worth it to try and see everything everywhere you go. Some of the best memories will be created from doing what you least expect.