The amazing beaches at La Barceloneta
Our first (and only) full day in Barcelona – we opted for Sandeman’s free walking tour again, this time with Ricky, who led us throughout the city on an interesting and history-filled journey. In the late afternoon we enjoyed seafood and sangria next to the beach as we relaxed for a bit before heading to Madrid.
The tour took us through several historically-significant sections of town, with stops at Barcelona Cathedral (a gothic-style building rising up from the ground), the Gothic Quarter (some of the best restaurants in the area), and La Boqueria (a famous farmers’ market).
We bought some fresh fruit cups and juices at La Boqueria, walked by a Roman Necropolis, a gravesite of ancient Romans, plus some Roman ruins (more columns like the ones we saw in Rome). Our guide also shared with us the history of Catalonia, which is an autonomous community of Spain made up of four provinces including Barcelona.
At the end of the tour, we were pretty tired and hungry so we decided to walk over to La Barceloneta, the fishermen neighborhood with a nice beach and a lot of fresh seafood. Our dinner included seafood paella (rice dish) and was the most filling meal I’d had in a long time.
Enjoying Sangria next to the beach!
After dinner we enjoyed sangria next to the beach and just relaxed and people-watched. It felt really, really nice – one of the first extended “breaks” we’ve had on this trip, not having to worry about our flight/bus/living situation. We walked next to the shoreline and ended up at the end of the boardwalk.
I hopped a fence and stepped out to a bunch of rocks extending into the water, which gave one of the best views of the entire area. The sun had set by now and I watched the last bits of daylight along with the lights on buildings turning on. I love moments where I’m living in the here and now, and at that moment I definitely felt it.
It was getting late so we had to head out and catch our overnight bus to Madrid. Barcelona has been a lot of fun and we’ll have a little over half a day to do some more exploring once we bus back from Madrid. In the meantime, we’ll be checking out the beautiful city of Madrid over the next couple of days!
Watching the sunset from the rocks
Stay tuned and read about my other adventures in London, Paris, Berlin, Italy, and Spain!
Steps taken: 25,277 | Miles walked: 8.37
—
Beach House at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
I won’t be traveling to Spain this time, so it’s great to read about your adventures. I’m been waiting for the opportunity to eat seafood paella! (Also, don’t mean to be nit-picky, but I think “historicall” is suppose to have only one l?)
I’d definitely recommend the paellas (I also had the meat paella and it was equally good). And good catch – I meant to write “historically-significant,” even though I don’t know if that’s a real phrase. 😀