Last year, we spent the Easter holiday in Cinque Terre, Italy and this year we decided to check out Spain, since neither of us had ever been in the country for more than a day and/or an airport layover.
We chose the city of Barcelona in Spain because multiple people have told us that it is their favorite city in Europe (a lofty title!). And indeed, Barcelona did not disappoint. The city has a multitude of characteristics to fit any and all tourist interests - a fantastic combination of history, architecture (old and new), art, beaches, beautiful surrounding areas, unique Catalonian culture, and fantastic food (helloooo tapas!). The city provides a bustling vibe of a major metropolitan city combined with a relaxed beach town atmosphere - a difficult feat to accomplish!
Apologies for the poor picture quality - I somehow managed to forget to pack our camera for this trip, so all of my photos from the trip are from my iPhone...
Taking a tour in the old town of Barcelona on our first day
Cathedral of Barcelona in the old town
I recommend "Runner Beans" tours in Barcelona, they run by donation only and they provided a great introduction to the city on our first day
The weather was beautiful on Friday, so we headed to the city beach. Ryan had a friend from the US in town that tourist-ed around with us on this day
Sangria and paella overlooking the mediterranean on a beautiful day, the best!
Beautiful architecture throughout the city
Checking out the "magic fountain" at night - it was built in the 1920s for the world fair and every weekend it hosts a special water show with synchronized colors and music
On Saturday we took a day-trip tour to nearby Monserrat, a beautiful monastery in the mountains near Barcelona - it was a very spiritual place to visit during the Easter holiday
A little chilly on top of the mountains....
We took a hike on a trail below the monastery - this is the view of the monastery from the trail
One of the highlights of Monserrat is hearing the boys choir sing - they live at the monastery all year long perfecting their choir skills - they gave a special performance on this day because it was Easter weekend
Paella for lunch after our morning adventure in Monserrat - it almosttttt looked too pretty to eat ;)
In the village below Monserrat
In the afternoon our tour took us to an all organic winery, Finca Parera, for a tour and wine tasting
Wine tasting!
At the cathedral of Sagrada Familia - we were blown away by the architecture and modernism of the church. It was clearly unlike any other church (or even building!) we have seen in Europe thus far
A significant majority of the church is still being actively built - the construction is anticipated to be finished sometime before 2033
Don't let the grumpy face fool you - we rented bikes for our stay in Barcelona and we loved taking leisurely rides around the city and discovering hidden gems like this fountain
Barcelona's own "Arc de Triomf"
Below is a compilation of a few video clips from our stay in Barcelona - check out the magic fountain and the flamenco dancing!
Dinner: El Tablao de Carmen (flamenco dancing + dinner, highly recommend) Lunch: Pez Vela (famous Paella, on the beach), the street of Carrer de Blai (a string of $1 local tapas restaurants) Hotel: Confortel Auditori (basic, business-type hotel, no character, but cheap and a good location) Tour: Spanish Trails - Montserrat & Wine Country day trip (highly recommended, excellent tour guide and an efficient way to see the highlights outside of Barcelona)
Last year during spring time it rained cats and dogs for not days, not weeks, but months before the weather finally turned to pleasant in June (right in time for my vacation in June). It was so dismal that the local news stations actually hypothesized that summer "may never come" due to some sort of weather apocolypse where moisture from melting snow gets "stuck" in clouds over the Alps and can't escapes until the following winter. So naturally last year I started to develop a severe case of cabin fever and drove Ryan crazy for a few weeks with my complaints of "severe" boredom.
This spring has been entirely different - thankfully we have had absolutely gorgeous weather so far. In fact, all of the trees, grass, and flowers here are already in full bloom and summer has fully arrived. I feel lucky to be able to have an extended summer this year to explore more of our beautiful surroundings! Below are some of my iPhone photos from the past few weeks/months of spring in Switzerland.
Tulips in the early spring in Lausanne, Switzerland - looking over Lake Geneva onto the Swiss Alps
Spring skiing in the French Alps (Les Menuires) with Katelyn and Keegan - this was the view from the chair lifts (i.e., no snow!) - but remarkably most of the trails still had compact snow on them to ski on
Spring skiing in Les Menuires
Carolina blue sky day on a drive out to the French Alps
Up next on the blog post circuit this week - I will be blogging about our recent trip to Barcelona, Spain!
Let me tell you, it is immensely difficult to choose favorites out of 600+ wedding photos; but, below is an attempt to show some of our top picks. Ahhhh.... how I wish I could just teleport myself back to this day/week!!!
