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September 7, 2018

BACK IN BARCELONA


When I went to Europe in 2014, I thought it was a once in a lifetime trip.  I was enchanted with Europe and it felt like I was in a dream the entire 16 days we were there.  It was just my daughter and I, alone on this exciting adventure.

I raised her as a single parent and we lived vicariously through Rory and Lorelai Gilmore.  We always dreamed of going some place exciting and far away, never dreaming that it would actually happen.  

I should say that I never dreamed it would happen for me.  My daughter had always wanted to study abroad and knew that she would go some day but for me it was always just a dream.



We both had just graduated from college.  I had a year left and waited until my 40's to finish but I now have a business degree!  Yay


This was a gift to ourselves since we had struggled for so long.  It felt like we had finally finished a long race.  

    


Barcelona is a pretty easy city to navigate and is one of the cheapest places to fly into from the United States.  If you watch, you can find flights throughout the year for around $400.  

Once there, you can catch a cheaper flight to another country if you would like.  We flew from Barcelona to Rome, Rome to Malta, and then back to Girona for under $75. 


I mentioned in my 2014 tour of Barcelona that I loved the Gothic Quarters and  would say that it is still my favorite place to visit.  It's just a short walk from the Placa Catalunya which is where you are going to want to stay if you want to be in the middle of everything. 

You can read about where we stayed when we arrived in the city HERE and about public transportation to and from the airport HERE.




PLACA CATALUNYA


My daughter  had read about eating tapas around Barcelona for only 1 € so we were excited when we found a place on la Rambla.  We tried a variety along with some freshly made potato chips.



Of course, there were other options if you were looking for more than tapas.


We stopped in a little shop similar to Goodwill. I love seeing shirts with US cities when visiting other countries.  Especially one for Arizona. You would expect to see New York or Las Vegas. I googled to see if there was really a city called Calma but could not find anything.


I loved standing out on the balcony at night look at the city below.


Another shot of the city at night.  

TRAVEL TIPS

  • I think I have covered most of my travel trips of Barcelona in other posts but I'll try to sum up some of them here.
  • Barcelona is an easy country for someone's first time to a Europe country.  If you have plenty of money and can take a taxi wherever you go, you won't have any problems. If you are on a tight budget like me, some of these tips may help.
  • Take aerobus from the airport to the Placa Catalunya. It is centrually located and is the perfect place to find lodging.
  • This brings me to my second tip.  Find lodging within walking distance from the  Placa Catalunya which is where you will find tour buses and public buses.  
  • If you fly in to Girona, you can take a bus from there to Barcelona for around 17 euros.  The station is about a mile to the Placa Catalunya which is not a bad walk unless it is pouring rain.  You can watch this VIDEO and he will show you where to go and how to get your bus ticket.    
  • Hop on Hop off buses are awesome for getting around the city.  I have information on How to find bus stops in Barcelona HERE.

If you are taking a cruise and have limited time in Barcelona, check out 

TOP PLACES TO SEE IF YOU ONLY HAVE 1 DAY IN BARCELONA


Here is where we stayed on our last two visit to Barcelona.  You may want to check them out.  I added photos along with pricing.











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