At this point in our trip, we were a week and a half in and
decided we needed more time. More time to explore, to lay on the beach and
weren’t ready to head home in just three short days.
Initially, we were headed to Pamplona from
Biarritz but
luckily we cut out that city and focused on just hitting Barcelona for the
remaining trip. Four cities in two weeks was the perfect amount we thought –
slightly a little too aggressive - but I’d say three cities in two weeks is the
perfect time, averaging about 4 days in each city.
We arrived in Barcelona very late, found our flat complete
with a rooftop deck in Las Ramblas, lugged our suitcases up a narrow four
flights of stairs and needed beers. Stat. We toasted to our last city on this
awesome European adventure over some pizza and were ready to take on the city
of Barcelona the next day.
Or so we thought…
Like we did in each city, we narrowed down our sights and
set off to the La Sagrada Familia fairly early in the morning. The vibe was all
wrong when we set out to Las Ramblas from what we were used to in Biarritz. We
came from a relaxed beach town and felt like we were in the middle of Times
Square on New Years as we exited our alley into Las Ramblas. It. Was. Nuts.
There were double decker tour buses everywhere and people
following you all over to sell trinkets. It was too much all at once. The line
at
La Sagrada Familia was too long for us so we went to the Gaudi Parc instead
and with one walk through the area, we subconsciously knew this wasn’t our day
to be tourists. We stopped, looked at
each other as peddlers raced by us to avoid the police and all said some form
of “This is too much right now. We need a rooftop pool with a view and bar like
now.”
We discovered the most fabulous sangrias at this quaint little
café and plotted our return to France. We needed to go back but we paid for the
flat already. We didn’t care and wanted to be back Biarritz. Barcelona wasn’t for us.
Get us outta here!
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When we found our happy place |
After the second sangria about the size of our heads, we
decided that we would stay, find the nearest W hotel for the next day’s
adventure.
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experiencing what the Mediterranean sea has to offer |
After spending a day basking in the sun, I convinced my
travel partners to give the Sagrada Familia another try and wait in an hour
line. Luckily for us, we had two things on our side – it wasn’t too hot yet and
the line was ONLY an hour long.
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Peek inside and out of the Sagrada Familia construction |
This church was stunning. Absolutely stunning from every
corner you looked there was something new – the light streamed in different
from angles around and the outside was as magnificent as the inside. AND the
kicker – it’s not done yet. They are literally still finishing Guadi’s vision
so you can watch their work on the towers as you wait in the line that wraps
around the whole church.
Even though this trip was three months ago, it feels like we
were just boarding the plane for
Paris and I remembered I forgot the rail
tickets on my counter midway through our flight. We have thrown out ideas for
our next trip but unfortunately the next European adventure may have to wait to
2015.
In 2014, we may settle for a two five day trips to a beach and
vineyards because after all, this trip reinforced that I can’t get enough of
the world’s beaches and wine. So a second trip to Sonoma/Napa and San Francisco
to test our knowledge we learned from our very patient tour guide, Mathieu, in
Bordeaux.
Where do I want to go
next?
- London, Ireland, Scotland
- Italy, Greece and Croatia
- Road trip across the US – rent a Jeep and spend time hitting cities on our way and end in Tahoe or Seattle and fly back home
Instead of those European destinations, my family and I
booked a North Carolina beach vacation this summer. It’s been almost 10 years
since my extended family and I have been back to Corolla and this time we have
few new younger faces joining the beach house for the week.
.JPG) |
Celebrating July 4th in Corolla circa 2001 |
Disclosure – If you are looking to book a vacation, we used
Nicole at Paul Klein travel to book all of our hotels, trains and life-changing
wine tour in Bordeaux.