This is part two of the three-part series covering my recent travel to Spain. In this post, I will be guiding you through the Catalonia region, where we stayed at Barcelona and visited the medieval city of Girona and Salvador Dali’s hometown, Figueres.
Chilling at Parc Güell
On the road to Barcelona
A destination that has been in my top 5 for many years, Barcelona was definitely a must during our trip to Spain. We took the high-speed train from Madrid and traveled to this beautiful city while the scenery changed from arid lands to green pastures and valleys of olive trees.
The high-speed train station in Madrid: nice green area
Visiting Barcelona
This city is known worldwide for all its architectural attractions, including modernist masterpieces by Antoni Gaudi and the historical Gothic Quarter. It also a great spot to shop for renown colorful designer clothes and shoes on the famous pedestrian street, La Rambla. We skipped the Barceloneta since we traveled during winter and sunbathing at the beach was not an option. However, our itinerary was filled up with exciting activities and we had just enough time to see and enjoy every one of them.
First stop: Gothic Quarter in the old city
As we headed out of the metro station, a large variety of vendors lined up welcoming us as we walked down the very long La Rambla Avenue. This street gets a lot of traffic especially during the evenings and weekends, where local and tourists walk and stop for tapas and sangria at one of the street-food stands.
We walked down several miles and saw the “Mercat de la Boqueria’’ or Boqueria Market. It caught our attention, so we decided to go in and treat ourselves to a snack.
Inside the Mercat La Boqueria. Notice I am speaking in French (the language I speak with my partner)
Palau Güell
Our first contact with Antoni Gaudi’s architecture was Palau Guell.
This huge mansion was built towards the end of the 19th century and was home to the rich and famous Eusebi Guell. This man was highly respected in the Catalan region for his success during the industrial revolution. He and his family lived at the Palau Güell, where they hosted receptions and invited members of the Catalan high society.
Rooftop of Palau Güell, where you can admire the colorful mosaic towers built by Gaudi
Barcelona Cathedral
As we continued down the cobbled streets of the Gothic Quarter, we came upon the Barcelona Cathedral. It is truly an eye-candy. However, like every single attraction in this city, you have to pay a fee to visit the inside of the Cathedral. We preferred saving our money for other visits like the Sagrada Familia.
Barcelona Cathedral, view of the facade
As I looked away from the impressive gargoyles that hanged over the Cathedral’s roof, we enjoyed our walk through the small market surrounded by ancient Roman ruins and had our last stop of the day at the Picasso Museum.
La Sagrada Familia: A romantic adventure
Probably the most important architectural attraction of the whole country, La Sagrada Familia is an unfinished basilica built by Antoni Gaudi in 1882. The construction of the basilica is an ongoing project that is aimed to be completed by 2026. There are people constantly working on it and you can get a glimpse of their work by visiting their 3D workshop inside the temple.
View of the entrance to the Sagrada Familia
Unlike any other of its kind, this breathtaking basilica has more to offer than the eyes can allow at a glance. It takes a couple of hours to absorb such indoor and outdoor beauty.
And why a romantic adventure, you might say?...
Well…
HE PROPOSED!!!!!
And of course, I said YES. So now we are a loving engaged couple. I must give it to my partner, what an incredible idea to propose at such a marvelous place. I never suspected, it was a total surprise!!!!
Parc Güell
After I finally caught my breath from the proposal, my fiancé and I (ohhh, love the sound of that!), headed out of the Gothic Quarter and on to the next Gaudi architectural attraction: Parc Güell. A huge green land where Eusebi Güell and his family moved to and where Gaudi had his home. Later, this park was donated to the city of Barcelona and become a worldwide tourist attraction. It is the city’s most colorful park with gingerbread-like houses and a huge tiled mosaic bench where you can have one of the best views of Barcelona.
An overview of the park's main entrance
Fan of Game of Thrones? Meet Girona
Spoiler alert! Do you remember the walk of shame, where Cersei walked naked through the streets in hopes of having her sins forgiven by the High Sparrow?
Girona Cathedral
Or when Arya almost got killed on a bridge as she fought completely against the Waif?
Scene from GoT when Arya gets attacked on the bridge in Girona
This medieval city was part of out day-tour bus during our stay in the Catalonia region. Our first stop, Girona, hosted the filming of certain scenes in Game of Thrones during season 6 and has become a hot destination ever since.
Girona has a very Mediterranean feeling, with its colorful Venezian-like houses along the Onyar river.
Figueres: Home to Salvador Dali’s theater & museum
Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists, so visiting this surrealistic monument was the highlight of our day tour. Born and died in Figueres, Dali created this theater-museum where we got to view and enjoy the masterpieces of his imaginative mind.
Outside view of Dali's Theatre Museum
He wanted the museum to be a theatrical experience, where visitors could contemplate and interact with surrealist art.
Feeling as though we were in a dream, we continued our exploration and ended our tour in Dali’s jewelry museum. A section of the theatre-museum, it offers an exhibition of extravagant jewels that truly deserves everyone’s attention.
“If someday I die, though it may never happen, I hope that the people in the cafes in Figueres will say, Dalí has died, but not entirely” Salvador Dali
I hope you have enjoyed this travel series, as I have walked you through our trip to Spain. Join me for part 3 next week, where we traveled to our final destination in the Andalusian region. Discover flamenco birthplace Sevilla and the Granada famous Alhambra Palace.
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Magnifique voyage, La Sagrada Familia, les oeuvres d'Antoni Gaudi, le Parc Guëll ainsi que ses autres constructions sont vraiment des incontournables. Nous avons aussi visité sont musé à Reus, la ville vaut le détour.
Nous avons fait le Mont Juif de notre côté qui donne une magnifique vue en hauteur sur Barcelone en particulier lorsqu'on prend les gondoles pour y monter, la vue est magnifique.
une autre activité très intéressante à Barcelone est d'aller prendre un verre sur une terrasse et de marcher en ville. Les autobus touristiques sont bien, mais la marche apporte une autre vue sur la ville et son énergie.
Un des restaurants incontournable près de la Sagrada Familia est la Paradetta qui servent des fruits de mers frais et cuit sur place. C'est un peu comme manger chez son poissonnier, c'est frais et excellent.
Ahhh oui on a fait le Montjuiq aussi! Voir image plus bas ;) Seulement que je ne l'ai pas inclus dans mon article. J'en ai profité pour voir le Musée de Miro aussi, mais mon copain n'a pas aimé son style hihihihi.
On a marché presque tout le temps à Barcelone ou pris le métro. Je me suis trouvé bonne a marcher des 8 heures par jour enceinte de 6 mois!
Ahhh je n'ai pas visité les alentrours de La Sagrada, pour les repas on essayais d'économiser puisque c'est cher Barcelone alors on a été chanceux de trouver de bon petits endroîts à manger dans le quartier de Gracia.
Love Game Of Thrones and didn't realize this. Very interesting. Love the architecture, the photos here. You have awesome photos. Love your style too. Lovely. Great trip. Thanks for sharing, hehe. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. You can call me Joey.
Hi Joey! Yeah, if you are a fan of Game of Thrones, you would be hyped to visit Spain. Girona was the city of Braavos and a part of King's Landing. In my next post (I'll try to post the upcoming week), I talk about my visit to the Andalucian region (southern Spain) and the Alcazar of Sevilla was where they filmed certain scenes of Dorne. Thanks for your comments, glad you enjoy the read :)
Awesome. Thanks for letting me know. Is there anything you see related to Harry Potter?
Well, I did find a shop where they make replicas of the original swords for the Harry Potter movies in Toledo! That city is known for their talented bladesmiths. It was awesome to explore.
Awesome.
very interesting articles, perfect journey, a very complete story, and very inspired me. thanks
Thank you so much for your feedback, glad I inspired you!
Wow! A lot of amazing colorful pictures of a lot of works of art at Spain! And wow! Your husband proposed to you right there for Spain for Marriage?! Congrats on that, Jessica!^^ I can tell you really had an amazing time over there!
Spain is definitely the place to go for the amazing architecture and art. Glad to see you enjoyed my post. Thanks for the blessings, yeah, I never saw the proposal coming, quite the nice surprise! :D
Hopefully one day I find a woman I can propose to through traveling... I really need a travel partner soon to be honest :P
I've never made it to Barcelona! STILL! Great write-up and can I just say, you look BEAUTIFUL! :-)
Oh then you should go to Barcelona! But prepare your budget. It is quite expensive for all the activities and the restaurants. But if you stay at an Air BnB, you can save up and enjoy your stay there with less cost. Thanks, I wanted to make it a smooth sailing read for everyone. Travel blogging is not that easy, you're pretty great at it though! Thanks, I do feel that pregnant glow :)
Really helpful info. I'll keep that in mind! When are you due? :-)
May 31st :)
Wooooowwweeeee so soon! Wishing you the best of luck with it all @jessicapixie! How exciting!
Thanks :)
Wow, congratulations jessicapixie!!!!! Did your fiance get down on one knee in Sagrada Familia, oh my gosh, that's amazing! You look absolutely fabulous. Cheers to the happy couple! p.s. Looking forward to reading Part 3, I've heard so many great things about Andalusian region from my friends (I've never been!).
Awww thanks! Hehe, naaahh he just pulled the ring-box out of the pocket, he's a pretty shy guy. But still, I was floating on clouds for days, very romantic and totally unexpected. Yeah, part 3 will be the cherry on the sundae. I'll be sharing soon ;)
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congratulations hope you had a very nice time;-)
Thanks, sure did! :)
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