Crazy Digest: 4 Days In Barcelona

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

Barcelona is now my favourite tourist destination city. It has the perfect balance of sights, shopping, food and a great transport network linking all of them together. The whole city embraces the work of the famous architect Antoni Gaudi and his modernisme ways. And which other city can you find a church under construction since year 1882?

Day 1
We woke up in Rome at 4am to catch the flight to Barcelona, and landed at 10am. From here, grab the RENFE train from the airport to Passeig de Gracia and walk 200m to Hotel Europark. Though it was in the middle of winter, the weather was very pleasant, approximately 15°C, making the walk very pleasant. Hotel Europark was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the 3 of us at only €61.60 per night (excluding the €0.72 city tax per person per night).

Triple Room for €61.60/night without breakfast (Off-peak in Winter). Extra bed slightly too soft

Bathtub very important to soak your aching muscles away

We were dead tired and just wanted a quick meal nearby the hotel before taking a nap. Moral of the story is, not every restaurant is nice :) There was a supermarket just 2 minutes walk from the hotel to get all our daily supplies. We later found this hotel to be perfectly situated for a walk around Barcelona city. Highly recommended for future travelers.

This Cannelloni was the star of the meal. Everything else was salty, though fresh.

Total for lunch was €23.95 for 3 persons, including drinks and salads. Very reasonable for a simple meal. We then had our nap and left the hotel around 5pm for our walk to Casa Mila. Unfortunately, Casa Mila was closed for renovations!

Casa Mila closed for renovations.

So we ended up at Casa Batllo instead. Both of these buildings were designed by Gaudi, and should be just as interesting. The entrance fees of €21.50/person was rather high, but they are independently run and receive no sponsor from the government. Still, it was worth the price going in and listening to the audio tour. Here are some photos of this awesome building. To fully appreciate its splendor, please pay a visit to Barcelona!

Who can resist dropping by Desigual when it's just across the road?!

Can you see the mess of wires? It's actually art! Seriously!

Casa Batllo looks innocent from the outside, but it's packed with wonder inside!

This fireplace reminds me of Hobbits!

An airwell located in the middle of the house brings light and ventilation and so much more

On the rooftop of Casa Batllo

After spending about 1.5 hours inside Casa Batllo, it was time for dinner. Though it was a long walk, it was the best darn meal we had in the entire trip! Want to try? Go to Barcelona tomorrow! :)

La Flauta
Carrer d'Aribau 23,
8011 Barcelona.
+3488612541