Invite Me to All Weddings in Europe Please
Travel Diary: Manchester, Barcelona, and Seville
Finally! After 5 years, I was BACK in Europe. My best friend from middle school, Andie, texted me a couple of months ago and was like, “I’m getting married in Barcelona, you in or nah?” And I was like “OH HELL YA.” Slay, I’m going to fit as much as possible into this trip. I’ll hit up friends in other countries and hell, I’ll even invite my mom along! WOOHOO! Europe here I comeeeee.
Manchester City, UK
I decided to start off the trip by visiting my friend, April, in Manchester. April and I met studying abroad in Amsterdam 10 years ago, and we try to visit each other as often as possible. I left Portland Friday night, and by the time I landed in Manchester, it was already Saturday night. I ran into an issue with my eSIM and wasn’t able to text or call April once I landed. Luckily, a nice lady let me WhatsApp her, and we eventually found each other. The Manchester Airport’s wifi is seriously SUCKY. After April and I ran lovingly into each other’s arms, we drove back to her place. We had hamburgers (so American) for dinner, then I passed out by 9pm. The next morning, April’s bf, Larry, made us breakfast (so kind!) and we took off to go explore Manchester.
Manchester Day 1
I know people don’t say this much about UK weather, but we had the perfect, sunny day. The Manchester marathon was that morning, and a jazz festival was also going on, and with the perfect weather, it seemed like everyone was out in the city center. We popped into many shops, which is my favorite thing to do. And we just had to stop at a tea house for iced tea and pistachio cake after all that shopping. The one thing I requested for this trip was to be taken to a proper Sunday Roast. We met up with one of April’s old flatmates, and we had one of the best dinners I’ve ever had. The British might not have the most appetizing food, but DAMN that roast was *chef’s kiss*. After dinner, we walked over to the Jazz festival, and it was… interesting. We spent about 15 minutes there before bouncing home.
Day 2 York
April mentioned training up to York for a little day trip; she’d never been but heard good things, and I was obviously down to explore a whole new place, too. I also can’t say no to a train ride.
When we got back from our day in York, April’s bf, Lawrence, made us some delicious risotto. We shoveled it down in record time and sped over to their local pub for a Pub Quiz. I, a lover of trivia, wanted to see how they did things across the pond and was SO excited we were able to find a night to play. They did things slightly differently, like using pen and paper and not an app (I fricken hate the app), and had a whole lot more British questions that I had no idea about. We had only one disagreement over the name of a dessert; it was clearly flan, but apparently, it’s called crème caramel custard there.
Barcelona, Spain
I sadly hugged April goodbye the next day. The trip was short but sweet. I will cherish any time I get with her. Having a friend who lives thousands of miles away is hard, but hey, free lodging in another country whooohoo. After a breakfast of the iconic beans on toast, I made my way to the airport to fly off to Barcelona.
Janet Arrives, Barcelona Day 1
Wooohooo! Mom arrived early squirrely the next morning, and I was ready to show her around one of my favorite cities. Since this was my third time here, I wanted to hit things I haven’t seen yet and leave the main attractions for my mom to explore for when I am at the wedding. I also wanted to help her get a sense of the city with me as her guide. Plus, SHOPPING!
Janet slowlyyyyyy started to fade by mid-afternoon, but I couldn’t let her crash yet! We needed to get some sangria into her system ASAP! I found this cute little tapas bar that was known for its sangria. Little did we know it was WIDELY known for its sangria, to the point that we saw their bottles in every airport and grocery store after.
I don’t remember everything we had, but it was YUMMY. And now that I am writing this blog, I just realized we didn’t even get a photo of said famous sangria, but you can see the polka-dotted bottles in the last photo.
Barcelona Day 2
Mother made it to about 5pm before she passed out. Which is to say, she was WIDE awake at 7am the next day. That was ok because we were off to my f a v o r i t e breakfast place. I’ve been to this place every. single. time. I have visited Barcelona, and it slaps every. single. time. We even chatted with the owner, and I showed him pictures of my previous visits in 2015 and 2018, and he said, “ahhh yes I hated those plates.”
I only had part of the day to spend in the city before taking off to the outskirts for my friend’s wedding. Even though it was slightly rainy, we still managed to see a lot of sights.
Wedding Weekend
I left my mom to explore Barcelona on her own for the next few days to attend a wedding at La Finca, a villa located outside the city. A gorgeous place with a treacherous dirt road. 5 people shoved into a clown car with all our suitcases on a rut-filled dirt road was… an experience.
The entire wedding weekend was filled with SO much love and laughter. I enjoyed getting to know all of Andie’s and Tim’s friends and family. All 20 of us meshed well together, sharing meals, cooking, enjoying the pool, and playing games. Having 3 days to hang out and enjoy the villa meant that conversations could be long and not rushed, and I was able to sit and chat with everyone. I got to catch up with Andie’s parents, whom I haven’t seen in a hot minute. I could wax poetic about how magical the weekend was, but I’ll let these photos do all the talking.
Around the Villa
Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Day
Seville, Spain
After the most wonderful wedding, I met back up with my mom and we flew over to Seville, Spain. I was beyond ecstatic for Seville. When I was researching different cities and towns throughout Spain for my mom and me to visit after Spain, my heart kept going back to Seville. I had a feeling it would become one of my favorite cities.
And then I got Norovirus.
We landed in Seville, I wasn’t feeling the best, but I just assumed I was tired from the wedding, dehydrated, and needed some protein.
Wrong.
So, this next portion of my diary will be about how much fun my mom had in Seville. I did rally for most of it, but recovering in 99-degree weather was super unpleasant. But! We had unrefundable tickets and I wanted to see Seville, God dammit!
Day 1 in Seville
The Royal Alcazar
We adapted to the siesta lifestyle quite easily. After the morning at the palace, we returned to the Airbnb for a midday nap and cool down. Thank god for that nap because we had another timed entry to the Cathedral at 3 pm. Also, thank god again that our Airbnb was approximately 5 minutes from all of these attractions.
Seville Cathedral
Day 2 in Seville
I woke up feeling better(ish) on day 2. Luckily, we didn’t have anything to do until the evening, allowing us to explore slowly. It was still 99 degrees, and I had to siesta again in the afternoon, but at least this day I had something other than crackers! Huzzah!
For Mother’s Day, I got my mom and me tickets to go to a flamenco show. A must-do in Seville, the birthplace of Flamenco! I don’t have any pictures while the dancers were on stage, but I did snag a photo before it started. The show was underneath the Setas de Sevilla, which is another cool landmark. You can walk up it for the views, and it lights up at night. We didn’t do it because I had no desire to be CLOSER TO THE SUN. The sun also didn’t set until 10:30/11, and ya girl was in bed, so we also didn’t see it lit up. The rest of the photos are some I took while walking to and from the show.
Day 3 in Seville
I’m alive. Finally starting to feel better and we, of course, have nothing planned. My mom found this amazing breakfast place that had the best mango iced tea I’ve ever had. In the afternoon, we hit up another palace/ courtyard because it was close, cheap, and had no lines.
The rest of the day, we shopped, explored, and yes, had another siesta. Here is a collection of some of my favorite photos of the streets and sights throughout the whole trip!
The End of the trip
To be fair, I was ready to go by now. We still had a flight back to Barcelona, 1 night in a hotel, before we truly started our journey all the way back home. We flew out of Barcelona airport around the same time. I jumped over to Amsterdam, and my mom went to D.C. From Amsterdam, I went to Seattle, had a delay, and then finally made it to Portland. My mom had a longer delay in D.C., putting her in Sacramento way after midnight. Also, I ran into my friends at the Amsterdam airport, so that was a fun treat!
Overall, I had a lovely time, even with Norovirus. I mean, it would have been better without it, obviously, but I had such an amazing time seeing April in Manchester and attending Andie’s wedding in Barcelona, so it was all worth it in the end. My mom had a fun solo trip around Barcelona and then had the pleasure of taking care of me in Seville. Yay for her!
As always, I have my guides for both Barcelona and Seville, outlining all the places to eat, see and do in each city. Check them out if you plan on visiting! Until next time!
byeeeeee
