Seventh Week in Barcelona + Staycation (with family!)

[Monday and Tuesday of this week are in my Week 6 + Paris post as we were still in Paris.]

Wednesday, March 4

I attended my classes as usual today and after dropping off my stuff at the apartment, headed to meet my family at the hotel. We stopped at a local place down the road from the hotel and I got a salmon dish while we all shared a jug of cava sangria.

I then took them in the direction of Olympic Park on the metro and showed them the National Museum of Catalonian Art. We sat on the edge of the Olympic Park to watch the sunset.

After that, we headed to 360 Las Arenas to see the whole city and get some dinner. We decided to go to Mussol, a seafood place up there, where we split croquettes and I ordered a tuna dish. My sister would not stop talking about churros and chocolate, so we went to a place with good reviews and go some, but they were not made fresh.

Thursday, March 5

I had a usual day at my internship and once I got home my family met me at my apartment. We taxied to the W Hotel because I had been told to go there but knew it would be a bit boujee. We each ordered drinks (although I forget all the names), as well as frutas secas (dried fruit) and a dim sum variety of dumplings. We had a view of the whole beach coast, but the sun set on the other side of the building.

Since we were close to the water, I figured we should get paella for dinner. We walked down the beach and decided to eat at Barraca where we inhaled a regular seafood paella and a black ink paella. The servings were huge so I got to take some leftovers back to my apartment. After dinner, we all taxied to their hotel and I walked home from there.

Friday, March 6

After work, I met my family at their hotel. We took the metro to Plaça Catalunya and headed towards La Rambla. In La Boqueria we bought fruit juices and I showed them the place with the best croquetas.

We walked around and found Plaça Reial, where we had been to last time we were in Barcelona. Eventually, we sat down to eat dinner at La Terrasa, a super touristy place with huge drinks right on the strip. However, they had outdoor seating that was heated and covered, so we were comfortable. We all got the menu of the day which included two appetizers and an entree. I chose green peppers, calamari and a pasta dish.

We were walking back towards Plaça Catalunya to find a sign I saw earlier and wanted. We decided to stop into a fun museum and get a snack that was just as funny before heading back to the metro.

Saturday, March 7

Some. of the food I grabbed at breakfast.

Today was my family’s last full day and since I didn’t have work, we ate breakfast at their hotel, Ayre Hotel Rosellon. Once our stomachs were full, we headed to the metro station. One of my pairs of jeans had ripped, so on the way we stopped in a shop that looked promising and I found a replacement pair.

After metroing to the Gothic Quarter, I took them straight to Barcelona’s Cathedral. There was a market set up, Mercat Gótic, and the place was bustling. We wandered around and bought some stuff. My sister and I each got a ring and we bought some old stocks/bonds for my brother. There were so many buskers playing music and lots of locals out today.

We saw an interesting building with a colorful roof and decided to check it out. It was the Mercat de Santa Caterina, similar to La Boqueria but not quite as big and touristy.

Needing to eat lunch, we headed to Rose Negra as I knew those tacos would hit the spot. They were pretty busy, so we sat at the bar with margaritas for about 10 minutes before being seated. The four of us split three orders or the fish tacos and each got another marg.

Some photos from that afternoon.

We then walked around and did some damage. I got a pair of boots from Vanilla, black flare pants from Pull + Bear, and sunglasses from Ale-hop. My sister was on a mission to get a tie for her boyfriend so we headed to El Corte Ingles. After finding one, we decided that we needed another snack and retraced our steps to Oggi, a gelato shop we had passed earlier. Naturally, I ordered stracciatella, but this time with a chocolate-orange-rum flavor as the other scoop.

We stopped in a few more shops as my sister continued the hunt for the perfect scarf. I ended up convincing my mom to let me get a white hair scarf. We also wandered around Natura for hours and I love that store but didn’t buy anything.

Needing to relax and sit for a bit, we headed back to the hotel to get a good view of Sagrada Familia as the sun set. It was pretty busy so we didn’t have a great view, but once people left we made our way to the prime spot, along with our jug of sangria.

For dinner, we headed to Carrer de Blai, the tapas street, and got dinner at Boca Oreja. Just like I did with my friends last week! We also headed to Dino’s where I got stracciatella and coffee.

Rebekah, my high school friend, was visiting for the weekend so after dinner I got ready and met her at her Airbnb. We headed to Espit Chupitos, a well-known shot bar that had been recommended to us. We were the only ones not speaking Spanish and the menu (that is written on the wall) has a too many shots to choose from, so we just ordered whatever ones other people got that looked interesting. I was ordering for us in Spanish and then he would walk Rebekah and I through how to take the shots in English. Some of the shots were on fire, some had chips in them, and one we even had to roast a marshmallow.

After pregaming a bit there, we headed to Opium. This is probably one of the most famous clubs, but I had never been. It was Abroadfest weekend, so it was packed. We got some drinks and messaged Aashi but were too busy having fun to check if he replied. We made out way into the mosh pit and somehow made our way to the DJ, while making numerous friends along the way.

After realizing it was almost time for Rebekah to pack up and head to the airport, we headed to the beach where there was this creepy local teenager bugging us, but eventually we got him to leave. As we waited for our cabs, I befriended some Lithuanian guys and we started talking about how I was Lithuanian. Rebekah got in her cab and I said I would see her next weekend as I was going to visit her in Prague. My cab came shortly after. I got home around 5 am. (Again, that is an early night in Barcelona.)

Sunday, March 8

I had made plans to meet my family for breakfast before they left at 7 am, so I slept for less than two hours and walked to their hotel. We ate and said our goodbyes before the taxied to the airport.

I slept for a few hours and ate leftovers for lunch while watching YouTube. Later, I decided to be a bit productive, so I prepped for a paper and listened to an audiobook for class. Jojo and I talked for a bit and decided that we wanted to do a little picnic at Parc de la Ciutadella. Our one professor told us that Sunday afternoons were a good time for people our age to hang out there.

We got some snacks (berries, chips, chocolate) at the grocery store close to us and walked to the park. There were lots of cops out and I remembered there beings some closed roads and barricades when I walked back home from breakfast this morning. We didn’t think much of it; it was probably just another protest. Under Arc de Triomf, there was a stage - maybe it was something for Abroadfest? We weren’t sure. Lanie met us in the park and we put a blanket down where we just relaxed as I caught them up on everything I had done with my family. There were many people who came up to us and that was a bit uncomfortable.

We heard music and people singing/talking/yelling so we decided to see what was happening. There was a MASSIVE crowd all up the street and most people were wearing purple or had purple writing on their face or signs. We realized that it was International Women’s Day and I started to read the signs. It all made sense. They were writing on restaurant windows and metro stations and chanting. It seemed that everyone was involved - men, women, children, elderly people. We couldn’t help but think that if this happened in America, not even half of these people would have come. We grabbed some stickers to remember this night and headed home.

I had some leftover paella for dinner and cleaned my room while I listened to an audiobook. I prepped for work the next day and went to bed.