Barcelona is constantly mobbed with tourists. I love being in the middle of so many diverse people and cultures, but sometimes it's nice to get away from the crowds (and all the selfie sticks). Kayla and I were in the mood for something outside of the city, so we got some recommendations from our host and ended up having the most wonderful days at these places...
- Tibidabo is the tallest mountain in the region, with amazing views of Barcelona. Oh, and by the way, there is an amusement park at the very top. There was a bus that went directly from Catalunya square to the amusement park, but it was a designated tourist bus and we wanted to try out the other public transportations to see if we could make it there! We first got on a super comfortable metro, then off at our stop which led directly to a cable car that took us up the mountain and to an ice cream shop, which we happily enjoyed while waiting for our final bus to take us to the amusement park. The streets were empty, the ice cream was delicious, and the weather was perfect up there. This was seriously such a cool day!!!! At the top of the mountain there was a cathedral overlooking the amusement park, which overlooked all of Barcelona. We rode some pretty terrifying rides all day long and left after watching the sun set over the city :)
- Sant Pol de Mar is a cute little fishing village about an hour north of Barcelona. There is an old castle, a nice pier, and all the homes/ buildings were white! It looked just like Greece (not that I've been there or anything). There were zero tourists there and it was a very relaxing day getting a good lunch, meeting some sweet locals, and bronzing on the beach. I will offer this piece of advice for anyone who may go there.... if you go to the beach to the left of the bus stop, be prepared for a whole lot of nudity. The beach to the right has stronger waves but no surprises!
- Ocata Beach was our final "excursion" of our Barcelona vacation. It was just thirty minutes north of Barcelona and we took the same tram we took to get to Sant Pol de Mar. I stupidly didn't take any pictures of it, but you can take my word for it that this beach was beautiful. It was clean, calm, with white sand and the bluest water. We spent the whole day just lounging and getting crispy..
I was also going to include in this post about the Barceloneta beaches and clubs, the Gothic Quarter, and the hours that Kayla and I spent sitting on the steps of the Barcelona Cathedral (photobombing everyone's pictures). Although every moment there was great, those were not my true highlights and can probably be better described on touristy sites!
Tomorrow morning Kayla and I are splitting up... I'm going to France and she's going to Italy! We both have never flown with Ryanair before, so we will see how it goes. We are both sad to leave Barcelona and each other, but excited for our next adventure!
Gotta go pack for now. Paris awaits!!!
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