Leading up to our 2019 trip to Europe, everyone I spoke to who had been there before raved about how awesome and exciting a place it is to visit. As they reminisced about their own amazing travels across the continent and shared stories of the wild and wonderful things they experienced and saw, each conversation seemed to contain the same words of warning: “But be careful of pickpockets!!”
Usually, France and Spain were pinpointed as the culprit destinations for such activities. And because I had heard it so many times from various people, often illustrated with a personal tale of being (or knowing someone who had been) a victim of theft, I began to feel somewhat nervous. We had both France and Spain on our itinerary and, well…we were just going to have to have our wits about us, brave it out and hope that nothing bad happens!
Anyway, we were based in Barcelona during our short stay in Spain, staying in an airbnb bedroom of an older couple’s apartment. They spoke no English; I spoke very broken basic Spanish from what I could remember of the beginners course I did at uni over 15 years ago. Between all the hand gestures and my no-more-than-3-word-sentences, we somehow managed to understand each other!
Our time in Spain turned out to be like a specialty tour of the Gaudí monuments and architecture. OK, I lie, we only managed to tackle a small number but it was probably more than I had planned to see. Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Güell Palace and Gaudí House Museum were on our agenda this time, but I would love to check out some more of the others next time.
Other memorable Barcelona moments for me involved food, such as:
- Going to a local bakery on our first morning to buy breakfast and eating it while sitting on a park bench in front of the Sagrada Família
- Having tapas and sangria in a small cosy bar in the Gothic Quarter
- Trying out tasty empanadas at the highly recommended Old School Bakery & Cafe
- Enjoying some delicious vegetarian food at Teresa Carles in El Raval
Despite my pre-arrival wariness about pickpockets, Spain (or Barcelona, at least) turned out to be a heap of fun and I really enjoyed our time there. Very interesting culture, history and architecture, great hospitality and yummy yum yum food. Mmm….yep, I think I’m going to go and drool now. Bye!
