Tapas, wine, more tapas, lots of coffee, and many steps taken. Our first international trip together in beautiful Barcelona, a few things were planned, but some things we did on the fly.
Travel dates: March 25 through April 1, 2019.
Day One
Airport Travel-
We flew Delta Airlines from Denver International Airport to JFK in New York for a layover, then on to Barcelona which took about seven and half hours of flight time.
Going through customs was a breeze and the signage in the Barcelona Airport was very helpful.
We had a driver, who was born and raised in Barcelona (yes, we noticed the “lisp” that Spaniards/Catalans have), pick us up from the airport to escort us to our hotel, The Barcelona Edition by Marriott. After we unloaded our luggage into our room, we went up to the fantastic rooftop bar of the hotel to enjoy a drink and tapas.
After feeling a little refreshed from our drinks and appetizer, we were within walking distance of the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gรณtic), and therefore we chose to wander around the area with no itinerary in mind. We walked by the Barcelona Cathedral, Plaรงa de Sant IU, walked underneath the Carrer del Bisbe Bridge, and then popped into La Dorotea for more tapas and beverages.
Fun fact: at the time of our visit, La Dorotea was co-owned by Will, who originally is from Philadelphia who gave us many tips and advice for what to expect during our first time in Barcelona. We enjoyed some patatas braves and sangria while we chatted with Will.
We kept walking around until we found another restaurant to enjoy pan con tomate and jamฯn with some white wine.
We walked a bit further and passed by the Barcelona City Hall (Casa de la Ciutat), the Barcelona Head sculpture, and then finally we reached a resting spot at the Arco de Trinfo de Barcelona.
To end our busy day, we had a nice dinner at Arcano with 100% Catalan red wine & gazpacho. We had ordered a sausage with truffle oil onto red beans paste to start. Then ordered grilled tuna marinated in Japanese mayo with quinoa and vegetables and a skirt steak with chimichurri accompanied by an amazing spicy sauce (mojo picon).
