Pero Like, We Went to España: Madrid and Barcelona
Welcome to my Madrid and Barcelona TRAVEL DIARY!
I recently went on a fantastico adventure with my cousins to Madrid and Barcelona, Spain and Athens and Mykonos, Greece. The idea sprouted from the fact that our cousin Haleigh was studying abroad in Seville and when the semester ended she had extra time to explore Europe. So our other cousin Alexandria, Amanda and I figured this was a perfect time to ditch the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and take a trip of our own!
We had such an amazing time together and we are already thinking about where to go to next. So sit back and enjoy the adventures of Grammy and Papa’s offspring’s offspring’s trip to Spain and Greece!! I decided to split this blog into two, because we just had so much fun that it’s worth two blogs. Read about Greece here! But let’s start with Madrid and Barcelona first!
Off to Madrid, Spain
Amanda and I figured out that the best way to avoid jet lag was to fly to Europe was on a red-eye from LAX -> London -> Madrid. And it worked. Only the first day I was wide awake at 7am. Which really isn’t bad at all, except that Spaniards prefer to sleeeeeeep in. So after that, we took our sweet ass time waking up everyday since nothing was open very early.
Day 1: Madrid, Spain
The first day in Madrid it was just us sisters. We walked around and checked out the sites. We didn’t want to do tooooo much before the cousins joined us. My friend Roy and my friend Tegan, both lived in Madrid and were suuuuuper helpful with places to eat, see, drink and visit. We also had our good ol’ friend Rick Steves. Shout out to the home boy Rick Steves coming in clutch with the recommendations.
Buen Retiro Park.
I highly recommend checking out the Parque (spanish for park, duh) if you plan on going to Madrid. My friend, Tegan, suggests if you have time, to rent a paddle boat and cruise around the the little lake.
Lunchtime in Madrid
Next, Amanda SOMEHOW TALKED ME INTO THIS CUISINE. PIG’S EARS.
Pigs ears? Did you read that right? YES YOU DID. And they were… Interesting. Very Salty. And whyyyyyy did we pick there? BECAUSE Rick Steves said it was AUTHENTIC. We love to try new cuisines when we travel to new places. However, I’d skip the pig ears. They had some other good stuff though. Look at the fresh lil shrimpies.
At one point Amanda called the non-english speaking waiter over and was like, “Ummmm could we get like two aguas, that would be great. Graciasssss.”
I looked at her like
YOU KNOW BASIC SPANISH. I KNOW YOU KNOW DOS MEANS TWO.
So I proceeded to make fun of her the rest of the trip. She only took four years of spanish….
That evening our cousin Alexandria arrived! And the fun, food and drinks continued.
Dinner with Alexandria
Day 2: Madrid, Spain
Yo recomiendo getting your tickets for the palace online before hand so you don’t have to wait in the long ass line. I also recommend that when you buy the non- refundable tickets online YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DATE. Don’t you agree, Amanda????
Madrid Market
We headed over to Mercado de San Miguel. It’s like a food court for tapas. And Drinks. And Dessert. I could spend many, many Euros there.
After the market we went home and took a wheeee little food coma nap before we prepared ourselves for dinner.
Dinner in Madrid
After a delishhh meal, it was recommended to us that we go watch the sunset from The Temple of Debod.
After the sunset, we scurried home because Haleigh was about to arrive after taking a train up from Seville.
Day 3: Barcelona, Spain
The next morning we woke up bright and early to take a train to Baaaaarrrrcelonnnnnaaaaa!
We obviously played games the whole time because DUH, we are Dunk decedents.
Some of you may be wondering, waittttt didn’t you go to Barcelona August 25th-28th in 2015 with two girls who had met in your dorm while studying abroad in Amsterdam??? The answer is YES! Great memory! If you would like a refresher, you can read it HERE. So since I had been to Barce before, I became the official guide.
Back in Barcelona!
Our airbnb wasn’t quite in the city center so we had to metro in and out. Just a quick reminder that Amanda and I are metro queens and could navigate a metro with our eyes closed. We wouldn’t. But we could. If there was braille. And if we could read braille. METRO QUEENSSSSSS. I started off our afternoon with stroll through the Parc and over to the Arc before stuffing our faces with mas tapas.
We walked to the top of the fountain and people were dancing!
And as we walked to dinner… we stumbled upon more dancing!
Like whhhaaa da fuhhh. Errybody was doing some dance for IDK what and IDK why. But we stopped to watch for a bit.
We went to Elche for dinner because I was ready for some darn paella.
Day 4: Barcelona, Spain
Park Güell was our first stop!
I just love this place. It was my favorite from my last time and favorite this time too!
I believe I could replace Raven as the fourth new cheetah girl here.
La Sagrada Familia
We didn’t feel like paying to see the inside of La Sagrada Familia…
…so we just looked at from the outside. I, being a lover of architecture, wasn’t bothered that we didn’t go inside because I went last time I was here. Buttttt I did make them go inside Casa Batlló the next day.
Day 5: Barcelona, Spain
Petit Pot was my favorite cafe I went to last time I was in Barcelona. I had no idea what it was called but I remembered sortaaaa where it was. But I found it! And it did not disappoint!
Casa Batlloooooooó
Was there no other architects in Barcelona besides Antoni Gaudí? He designed Parc Güell, La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo and I’m sure other things around the city.
The rest of the day was spent exploring and shopping around. We went down La Rambla Barcelona and over to Mercado de La Boqueria like all the tourists do. Walking down La Rambla is a little crazy so keep an eye on your belongings. I prefer wandering off onto the side streets off of La Rambla instead.
Dinnertime
We HAD THE BEST dinner that night. I can’t believe I don’t have a single photo of it. But let me set the scene… We were four hungry travelers looking for a delicious final spanish meal before we departed the next day for Athens. Amanda, being the most fantastico food finder in all of the land found Maitea Taverna credit: Andrew Zimmern. We walk in to a completely empty restaurant. Confused. Bewildered…. Was it open? Yes, it was. We, being non-Spanish, were eating at 7pm and not the normal 10pm like the Spaniards do. We awkwardly sat along the bar and had all 5 servers serve us personally. But we didn’t even need a server! At this place, you grab your desired tapas straight out of the display case! They count your tapas skewers at the end of the dinner and charge you by the stick! So, being the only ones there our tapas selection was LITTTT. We started gracefully stuffing our faces. It was so delightful. Best meal of Barcelona. Check out the TripAdvisor. Bookmark that shizzzzz.
El Fin.
That’s the end of the Madrid and Barcelona, Spain portion of our trip!! We took off the next morning for Athens, Greece. So stay tuned for the next episode of The Cousin’s Takes Europe coming out….. whenever I find time to write it. K baiiiiiii! Update: I’ve written the next part! Find HERE.
ADIOS BETCHES
