Barcelona to Cadiz

Waking up early, we caught the metro in Barcelona for the last time. Heading across the city to the train station where we would depart for our day long adventure across Spain. We we're catching the 9:04 am train all the way to Sevilla where we would switch and get on another train. Eventually finding ourselves in Cadiz at 10:23 pm. Yes. We were looking at around 13 hours on trains. Lucky us. 

I had no idea what our train would be like so we had packed some tissues which is always recommended when travelling. You never know when there will be no toilet paper or you spill chocolate on yourself. Better safe then sorry. We also brought along baby wipes just in case the situation was less than sanitary. 

I was happy to find out that our train from Barcelona to Sevilla was going to the probably the most comfortable journeys I have ever taken. We found our seats and double checked they were ours before sitting down. We had more leg room then a plane. The train was quite empty so it was nice and quiet. The seats moved and slid into recliners. It was amazing.

Barcelona's Estadio de Fran train station.

Our ride below. It was a very long train and we had to walk quite a bit along it in order to find our seats.

Jess and I were both determined to make this the best train ride of our lives. We slept, talked, enjoyed writing funny stories about really weird princesses and babies. We enjoyed the candy we had purchased in Barcelona. I crammed by box as full as I could when we had purchased them. It was quite dense and full of deliciousness.

We were quite wrong about the bathroom situation as well. There was a toilet at the front and rear of each compartment and it was clean and had lots of toilet paper. Lucky us.

Finally reaching Sevilla, we got off the train and headed through the station attempting to find which train was ours. Jess attempted to get any sort of wifi in order to contact her dad but had no luck. We finally managed to find which platform our train was on and hurried over to it. Finding our seats we slid into them and sat back for the last leg of our journey.  It was about an hour or so from Sevilla to Cadiz and we attempted to plot our route to where we were staying.

Arriving in the dark is something I don't like doing but we both hustled along through Cadiz and we looked around in attempt to find where we were and where we had to go. Passing a Burger King our stomachs reminded us of how hungry we were but seeing the line going out the door we hurried on past it. Taking the wrong street, we ended up a bit father from the hotel and had to re-route ourselves. Finally finding the correct street we found the address but nothing seemed right. There was nothing indicating that this was even a hotel. We stressed, trying to get on email to find which buzzer might be Jess' dads but email was not working. We confirmed with a woman on the street that was indeed the right building. We yelled "Steve!" up at the building at around midnight. Jess finally resorted to pressing all the buzzers. Luckily we got the right one and Chico answered. Soon Jess' dad appeared and unlocked the door for us. Leading us up into the apartment.

We did not stick around long though, our stomachs drove us out of the apartment and we wandered around for a little bit before finding a pizza place down a random street. Boy, was that pizza good. The place is called Ristorante Pizzeria Osare and is located on Calle Rosario 27. One of the best pizzas I have ever had. Might have been because I was starving but Jess and I devoured it.

After filling our bellies, we headed back to the apartment to get some rest. After such a long journey, it was nice to be in the same spot for a while.

Last night in Barcelona

With our last night in Barcelona apon us, we headed to check out the magical fountain at Montjuïc . The fountain show happens Thursday to Sunday from March 31 to October 30. With directions from google in hand we wandered or way through the streets towards Montjuïc. Exploring more of Barcelona's streets and coming across some interesting architecture. 

We walked around the fountain, having arrived early so we could get good seats to watch it. The surrounding area that had been quite empty started to fill as more and more people came to watch the show.  The show runs from 9 pm to 11 pm with a show every half an hour. The fountain show is free so I suggest checking it out if you are in the city on those days. I really enjoyed it. A lot of people were sitting on portions of the fountains that run up by the stairs across from the main fountain and got a little wet when the spray got larger. Depending on the weather and how high the sun is, I suggest going a bit later when it is darker to see the fountains better. We went for the first show and as you can see by the photos it was still very light out. It did get dark quite fast though.

Churros!

Churros, oh delicious churros. They are like a fried magical doughnut. Churros con chocolate! Even better.    I honestly can't remember the name of the cafe that we decided to duck into and see if they had churros. They had a Catalan menu. They had churros. Also had some stone walls and they said the place was quite old.

The churros we got were very tasty but the chocolate was very dark. I like milk chocolate a lot but we managed to finish our churros without much trouble.   This was the start of trend in my trip to Spain with Jess. Asking if every single place had churros. It's a valid question.

Beach day in Barcelona!

We woke up to a beautiful day in Barcelona. The sun was out. The cloudless blue sky stared down at us. Finally, it was time to hit the beach. We walked from our little apartment and walked through the streets. Stopping in shops to enjoy some shopping and were not disappointed. 

We walked along the waterfront, heading along Barceloneta where we would find some sand and surf. Finding the beach was easy and we found a lovely spot in the sun to set down our towels. Lounging in the sand we enjoyed the rays amidst the constant call of "Massage!...Sangria!....Mojito!...Agua!... Cola!" It was a bit annoying as these people wandered around you as you tried to enjoy some peace and quiet.

We did not end up swimming as our section of beach was quite full of waves which would have made it a bit difficult. Shall try not to regret too much not finding a calmer section. The fact I was not wearing my bathing suit also affected this decision. 

Can we get doughnuts now?

Barcelona is full of amazing things. You turn around a corner and discover something new. That is one of the reasons I suggest you explore the city as well as you can so that you can find some hidden gems and make amazing memories. We found Chok the Chocolate Kitchen, when we were in no mood to eat sweets. This was terrible and I am sure I could have stuffed about ten of the doughnuts down my throat out of sheer will power but we decided we would come back. 

Thank god we did as the doughnut I enjoyed was amazing. I was very surprised at my restraint in not ordering every doughnut they had in the store. They also had an amazing selection of truffles, dried fruit dipped in chocolate, kronuts, everything!

So again, check out Chok at Calle del Carme 3, you will not regret it! Enjoy the pictures and if you need more help deciding you need to go, click on the link above to their website and look at more photos of the beautiful treats.

A tasty breakfast

I really enjoy finding nice little restaurants and cafes when you're travelling. As well as when you're at home. I hope to find more in Liverpool that I can enjoy. We found this at Caravelle at Pintor Fortuny, 31, El Raval, 08001. They had a really nice bright and open space. I can't even recall what I ordered for breakfast but it was delicious. They had a really cute menu that looked like lined school paper that had been typed on by a type writer. It was very cool.   If you are ever in Barcelona and need a place to grab breakfast or lunch check this place out. You won't be disappointed.

Barcelona! Casa Mila!

After we left Park Guell, we took the metro down and hit up a nice cafe for some refreshments. Once we were finished with them, we headed across the street to visit Casa Milà which is also known as La Pedrera ( The Quarry.)

Barcelona! Park Guell!

Again the weather was not on our side in Barcelona. We wanted blue skies and sun and we got grey skies and no sun. With promises that it would clear up later in the day we headed to Park Guell. It's quite easy to access from both Vallcarca and Lesseps metro stops then a short walk. We went with Vallcarca which offers outdoor escalators to aid you in getting to the park.

Barcelona! May 20!

Barcelona! May 19!

Barcelona!!! May 18...

I left sunny Liverpool on March 18th at 1:35 pm and flew to sunny Barcelona, Spain to meet with my buddy Jess to enjoy our two week adventure in Spain.