My second day in Barcelona was pretty jam packed. It was now Sunday, and I had purchased tickets to visit La Sagrada Familia as well as its towers. I slowly got out of bed and decided to take a nice walk over. The walk from Casa Gracia took me about 20 minutes but it was enjoyable. It was very hot and sunny, so I made sure to grab a drink on the walk.

The walk to La Sagrada Familia

When I approached La Sagrada familia, I came to a park. The park was full of people taking pictures, buying things from small local vendors and eating lunch. The cathedral, which is still not yet completed, was gorgeous from the front. It hailed four towers, 560 feet tall, with hundreds of people surrounding this exquisite masterpiece. I finally found the area where I needed to be, presented my tickets and went to grab a headphone set which would take me on a self-guided tour throughout. I began the tour outside, listening to the pre-recorded guide explain the massive structure that I stood outside of. I learned about the architect and the symbolism behind the craftsmanship in the cement outside the building before the tour took me inside.

Upon walking in, everything inside me perked up. My eyes got wide, my skin started prickling into goosebumps and I was completely beside myself at what I was seeing. Breathtaking does not even describe what my eyes were seeing. Photos will not ever do this architectural heaven justice. It was magical, beautiful, heavenly, and jawdropping. Colors poured into the room from both sides, due to the lighting planned specifically from Antoni Gaudi. The sight of everything nearly brought me to tears, and I am not a very emotional person. Check out some of the photos here:

La Sagrada Familia

Stained Glass Windows

After about 2 hours of wandering around, taking photos and enjoying every single part that La Sagrada Familia had to offer, I decided to grab some tea. I sat down at a local coffee shop, opened up my wifi and found a place nearby to rent a bike. I walked about 20 minutes, rented my bike for the rest of the day and eventually took off.

I wandered around the city, enjoying all the bike paths specifically set up so that bikers could get around easily. I decided to simply bike around and then make my way to the beach. Along the way I saw some beautiful, narrow Spanish streets which reminded me of Madrid, and I saw some great graffiti art (which is some of my favorite).

Barcelona Graffiti Art

When I finally got to the area near the beach (after a gorgeous bikeride), I noticed a lot of casinos in the area. I made my way down a small pier where I saw the beach, the crystal blue water and a ton of sailboats. Along the beach was a boardwalk which was busy with tons of restaurants. I took some pictures and decided to walk a bit.

Barcelona Pier

Sailboats in Barcelona

As I walked the boardwalk, I was offered free entry into several clubs. I came to find that all of the restaurants along the beach were actually restaurants/dayclubs during the day and switched into nightclubs in the evening. Several of them were having “opening parties” to celebrate the open of the season.

Barcelona Boardwalk

I walked around a bit more before deciding to change into my bathing suit and check out the water. As I was walking between the water and the sand I noticed several unauthorized vendors walking around the beach. Many of them sold icecold water and beers in plastic grocery bags. Others sold mojitos on brown wooden trays. Others had backpacks full of tapesteries to lay on, and some had books full of false tattoos in case you wanted something to commemorate your “holiday” (vacation).

I noticed a man selling some nice tapestries and decided to buy one. I began to negotiate with him, and after I did and walked away with a nice tapestrie I heard “Hey! Nice job with that, where are you from?”. Immeidately I began to chat with two men, hailing from Ireland who had recently moved to Barcelona for a job. They were nice guys, friendly, late twenties and hanging out on the beach enjoying their last day of the weekend before work.

While we were chatting, a woman came up to us asking if we wanted a massage for 5 euros. Due to the fact that I had been carrying a ton of clothing and shoes on my back during the trip, I agreed. It was a great idea because the woman was great and it was perfect for my day of relaxation in the sun. Marcus, one of my new friends, decided to do the same.

Massages on the beach!

I hung out with them for a few hours and we listened to and exchanged music, had a drink and chatted about life. I told them about my journey and they immediately told me I needed to check out Ibiza. “Its heaven,” one of them said. I agreed that I would, and around 7pm packed up all my things to return my bike at 8. I slowly biked back to the bike rental place, and at 7:59 I returned my bike.

I then walked back to my hostel to clean up for dinner, because my friend Adam told me I absolutely had to go to Ciudad Condal for dinner. I changed, got ready and made the walk to La Rambla, where the restaurant was located. Before walking in, I noticed that it was incredibly packed, which was clearly a good sign of good food. The wait was 30 minutes, but because I was by myself, I was able to find a great seat at the bar.

I ordered sangria and a ton of tapas. Everything was incredibly delicious and I was completely stuffed walking out the door. THANK YOU ADAM FOR THE AWESOME RECCOMENDATION! I recommend this place to anyone visiting Barcelona!

Ciudad Condal Barcelona

After dinner, I went back to my hotel and decided to do exactly what I said… book a flight to Ibiza! I booked my flight after looking at who was going to be on the lineup. I noticed Martin Solveig and Zed’s Dead were spinning at Pacha on the same night and I was sold. I bought my flights and bought my ticket to the club.

I then went to bed because by this time it was really late and I had my final day in Barcelona to enjoy before I made my way to Valencia.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for Barcelona day 3 and Valencia day 1 tomorrow. XO