This was a trip I had been waiting for since the moment I knew I was going to study abroad in Madrid, and I think honestly since I saw Cheetah Girls 2 when I was 6 years old. So, understandably, I was pretty impatient about setting up dates for Barcelona once I got to Spain. In the end, it became my first weekend trip of the semester.

For a little context: Barcelona is in Spain, but more specifically it is part of Catalonia. This is a region, or autonomous community, of Spain with a very distinct culture. They speak a different language and have their own government. Catalonia has been trying to gain independence from Spain for a long time. I didn’t see any protests during my time there, but they are very common. This information is not extremely relevant to my trip or literally anything else about this post, but I think it’s good to remember and a little of bit of history and/or context can never hurt.

Day 1 (Thursday, January 30): Madrid to Barcelona

My friend and I decided to take an overnight bus to Barcelona, although looking back now I’m not sure if that was the greatest idea. The price made it seem desirable, but the 8 hours on an uncomfortable bus with a snoring man, a sick woman, and a crying baby were certainly not as great as I thought they might be. At the end of the day, we got where we wanted to go and that’s all that really matters.

Day 2 (Friday, January 31): Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona just after 7 a.m. After 8 hours on the bus, we both needed to rest before tackling the city. We headed straight for the AirBnB, which was not too far by the Barcelona metro. Once we arrived, we settled in and took a quick nap to recharge. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat, and ended up finding a great taco place in a beautiful square near where we were staying. Afterwards, we headed to Montjuïc and walked around the park for a while. on the way there we saw some pretty views of the city. We also encountered a cat in a tree that we were pretty concerned about until some students from the area told us that she likes to hang out there. We ended up getting dinner at a great restaurant in the Gothic Quarter. The food was really good, and it definitely solidified patatas bravas as my favorite tapas. We ended the night with some ice cream from a small bakery near the restaurant and then headed home to rest up for the next day.

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Day 3 (Saturday, February 1): Barcelona

This day turned out to be our busiest (and coincidentally our longest) day in Barcelona. We woke up early and decided to try a brunch place near where we were staying called Caravelle. They had a dish called cheesecake french toast, and I swear when I tried it I saw a little bit of heaven. After breakfast we launched straight into our activities for the day. We started with the Arc de Triomf de Barcelona, which was an easy metro ride from Caravelle. Directly behind it was Ciutadella Park, which we strolled through for about an hour. There was street performers lining the walkway and plenty of beauty to take in. From the park, we decided to start a walking tour we had found online of all of the Gaudí architecture in the city. I think my favorite building that we saw was probably Casa Milá. Once we had finished the walking tour, we headed to Park Guëll (also Gaudí’s work). This was where my Cheetah Girls dreams really came true. Seriously though, this park was stunning. We went right before sunset so we got to see the view of the city in daylight and as the sun slowly went down. We enjoyed this view for while before heading back towards our AirBnB and grabbing a quick dinner and heading home. Once again, we rested to prepare for another busy day in Barcelona.

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Day 4 (Sunday, February 2): Barcelona, and later Madrid

Once again, we woke up early to get as much as we could out of the Barcelona before we had to leave later in the day. We wound up getting breakfast at the same restaurant as we did the day before, but I do not regret that at all. Immediately after we headed straight for the Picasso Museum, which is free the first Sunday of every month. Unfortunately, when we got there we found out that all of the tickets for the day had already been reserved and we had to adjust our plans. Even though we were disappointed we couldn’t go into the museum, we ended up getting to go down to the beach, which we wouldn’t have had time to do otherwise. It was beautiful, and the half hour or so that we got to sit and enjoy the breeze rolling over the ocean was absolutely worth any disappointment we might have felt earlier in the day. After the beach, we decided to go to the Museum of Contemporary Culture. The exhibit was also free at certain times that day. Afterwards, we eagerly headed to Sagrada Familia, a beautiful church designed by (once again) Gaudí. Fun fact: construction on the church began in 1882, but halted in 1936 at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. After the Civil War, construction was at a standstill until the end of Franco’s dictatorship in 1975. They are still working on the construction of the basilica, and it is set to be completed in 2026, 100 years after Gaudí’s death. The inside was like nothing I had ever seen before. Rainbow stained glass played with the light and cast incredible colors across the inside of the basilica. I could have stayed there all day. Finally, we strolled along La Rambla, a famous street in the center of the city. As sad as I was to leave, we finally had to go to the bus stop to catch our bus back to Madrid. By 8 am the next morning, we were falling asleep in our beds catching up from yet another 8 hour bus ride.

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Barcelona lived up to all of the anticipation and pressure I placed on it. Almost 14 years of wishing I could go to Park Guëll and be a Cheetah Girl myself made the experience even better, and I am so happy and grateful that I had the opportunity to go.

P.S. So far, this blog is basically just an open love letter to Spain. I am not mad about that fact.