8:00 a.m. A lazy morning for us today, as we both enjoyed a much later than typical wake up call.
9:00 a.m. We skipped breakfast at Ca La Maria, and instead decided to head out right away to our first stop, in hopes that we would find something to snack on along the way.
9:20 a.m. Luckily we came across a cute little bakery selling bocadillo’s and so we picked one up to share.
9:45 a.m. We arrived at Segrada Familia, our first touring point for today.
Our visit left us with mixed reviews. First of all, as you can see in the pictures, it is truly a work of art, and a beautiful example of Gaudí’s work. The church itself is huge (taking up one whole city block), and we were really impressed with how different and interesting each part of the church was. However, we were also a little surprised at how under construction it still is. Apparently in a lot of the pictures that we had seen before we traveled, either it was not under construction or the cranes and trucks were photo-shopped out. Regardless though, we really loved touring it. It is more different than anything either one of us had seen before, just be prepared for the construction zone.
11:15 a.m. We left Segrada Familia and started walking to our luncheon destination, La Cova Fumada. Yes, if you followed me on Instagram Stories, then you know that it was the same restaurant that we ate at yesterday for lunch. But I have to say, we really normally don’t double visits to restaurants on our travels, but this place was way too special to pass up for another lunch.
11:45 a.m. Coincidentally, as we were walking to lunch, we happened to pass by the same little bakery where we enjoyed our “snack” yesterday. And really, like I said, we normally don’t do this, but the pastry that we had had yesterday was so good. So we decided to pick up another one for a late afternoon snack.
12:05 p.m. We arrived at La Cova Fumada and were lucky to be sat right away. And pretty much immediately the feasting began. Pane tostada, bacalao fritters, a bomba, fried white beans with sausage, grilled squid, a tomato salad and bacalao baked in tomato sauce with chickpeas…each course was as good as the last. And we were actually really lucky with our ordering too. Since neither one of us speaks Spanish, half the time we weren’t quite sure exactly what would be coming out, but everything was fabulous. The food is very simple, very straightforward, and very good. It’s the kind of place that you don’t want to leave.
1:45 p.m. We reluctantly left La Cova Fumada and started to wander towards the Catedral de Barcelona.
2:10 p.m. We arrived at the Catedral and started exploring it right away.
Now, I know that this is all up to personal preference, but we both ended up enjoying the Catedral much more than the Sagrada Familia. We both really liked the more medieval architecture and feel to the Catedral, as well as the interesting history behind some of the cathedral’s features (Google: 13 geese).
3:30 p.m. We left the Catedral with no real plan of what to do next. So, we just decided to walk the tiny streets of the Old City until we came up with our next stop. Eventually we came across a little bench and decided to sit down and enjoy our pastry, before heading back to our hotel for a siesta.
4:00 p.m. On our walk back towards our hotel, we became completely drawn in by the beautiful Holiday decorations at the Hotel El Palace, and felt compelled to stop in and take a look around.
I’m not sure what was more beautiful, the lavish interior of the hotel itself or all of the Christmas trees and decorations. We felt a little bit like we were Kevin McCallister walking into the Plaza, except we were us, walking into the El Palace. Oh, and we were in Barcelona, not New York.
5:00 p.m. We finally got home, and here we are. I’m doing a little bit of writing, and the hubby is enjoying a cup of coffee and very sweetly giving me a foot massage. Tonight’s plan? Too soon to tell. I guess that we’ll just have to see where the wind takes us.
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But what I do know for sure is to make sure to tune into Snapchat (kmiabellavita) tomorrow, to follow along on our entire day. We will be changing cities tomorrow, and no doubt, probably eating our way through the day. Don’t forget to follow me and catch all of our fun!