spring break in Barcelona-places to go, eat, and see

This past spring break, after much late-night flight-booking and last minute-planning, I went to Barcelona with one of my friends to go visit our other friend, who was studying abroad in Barcelona this past semester. I only had one week really off from school, which seemed awfully short, but regardless, I was determined to make the most of it, and leave Friday night, since I don’t have classes on Fridays, and come back Sunday night, the night before my classes began again. We decided to first visit Barcelona for a couple days, and since flights within Europe are absurdly cheap, we also decide to fly to Paris, and from there, rent a car, and we(my friend, since I do not know how to drive), would drive to Normandy, to indulge our inner history nerds. Obviously this is a lot, so in this post I’m only covering my trip to Barcelona.

On the day of our flight, I only really had a meeting in the afternoon, so we went to our club in Queens for a pre-plane dinner.

Then it was time to head to the airport, where due to COVID-19 regulations, the check-in line took 30 minutes, as they needed to check everyone’s forms, and it seemed like half the passengers were just finding out about the entry requirements for Spain upon reaching the check-in desk.

But I got there with ample time to spare, and I even had enough time for me to grab a donut for the plane, while I waited for Zoe’s subway to start moving again. Once on the plane, we realized we were sitting in separate rows, but luckily, someone agreed to switch, and landing me in the middle of the middle aisle, next to a slightly overly chatty Spanish man.

Nevertheless, the flight passed fairly quickly, although I hope to never sit in that spot on a plane ever again, and before we knew it, we were in Barcelona. After many precarious escalators without steps, we acquired an Uber to our AirBnB, which we struggled to get into as it began drizzling. When we got there, the cleaning lady was still there. So we dropped our stuff off and braved the drizzling rain in search of some lunch, as Iberia airlines does not provide any food.

I decided to drag Zoe to the famous La Boqueria, as I figured it would provide us a lot of options for lunch. What I forgot was that famous markets tend to attract a lot of tourists with the exact same idea, and thus are very crowded, especially around noon.

Zoe is also allergic to even more things than I am, and so the best our tired, impatient, hungry selves could scrounge up was a little cone of ham, cheese, and breadsticks, which was perfectly adequate.

We then hopped on over to Caelum, a cafe that only serves only food and drinks made in monasteries or nunneries, that happened to be in the area. There I got a mysterious fruity, floral, sparkling wine cocktail, and a really good warm cinnamon-bun esque pastry that was perfect for a gloomy day like that day.

We then headed back to our AirBnB, making pitstops for coffee and groceries along the way. At the store, I stocked up on tangerines and marveled at the inexpensive prices of alcohol. I also learned that Spanish self-checkout kiosks will ask you to pay extra for a bag, and the appropriate response is not to panic and try to speak English to the cashier, who is an old lady that clearly is baffled by the dumb American tourist who is freaking out and trying to summon back her friend who has already finished paying and speaks some Spanish. Definitely don’t do that.

peep the rainbow after the rain finally ended🌈

But unsurprisingly, Zoe did an excellent job of choosing AirBnBs. Honestly, I would love to live in this apartment. It looked like an IKEA showroom, but in a very aspirational way, that would make me buy a shelf or something in the hopes of emulating. There was even a little balcony with a table and chairs, and very fancy appliances, including a washing machine.

Of course, when in Spain, I had to try churros. So while we waited for the dinner place we wanted to go to to open up, we went to La Pallaresa Xocolateria Xurreria, which supposedly has some of the best churros in Barcelona. There was a bit of a line, but it moved surprisingly quickly. Can confirm, they are pretty good, and surprisingly not super sweet, as neither the chocolate or whipped cream seemed like they were sweetened.

Finally, it was 8 pm, so we headed over to Bar Ramon for dinner, a Barcelona staple that has been around since 1939. To start, we had some mandatory pan con tomate. Amazing. I mean, can’t go wrong with good bread, tomato, and olive oil.

Then we got some langoustines, which were juicy and delicious and perfectly cooked. Even the sauce was delicious. Yum.

all I can say is, thank god I got over my shellfish allergy.

Of course we got some patatas bravas as well, which were equally good. Not as crispy as I would have liked, but the sauce made up for it.

We also got some normal garlic shrimp, but to be honest, I liked the langoustines, which we got to suck out of their shells, better. Basically, please go here if you’re ever in Barcelona.

On the way back, I also grabbed some more Spanish tangerines, because I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as too many tangerines. Especially in Spain, where they are so so cheap and sweet.

We rounded out our night on our porch, drinking the wine our lovely AirBnb host left for us, while I forced Zoe to watch one of my favorite shows ever, A Very Secret Service. It takes place in 1960s France and is in French, so I thought was fitting for this eurotrip, and was a lovely end to our first day in Barcelona.

The next day, we once again had to get up bright and early at 7:30 am. This is because literally days before we left, while I was supposed to be studying for my Chinese test, I had a stroke of inspiration. I was missing Ithaca, and specifically wine tours, and I remembered something. There is wine in Europe! And vineyards! Therefore, you can do European wine tour. And I knew my friend wanted to take a day trip to Montserrat, a monastery outside of Barcelona. So why not do both? And that day, I found a fairly affordable wine and Montserrat tour we could do.

And that’s how we ended up rolling out of bed bright and early for our 9:30 am departure. It was only a one hour bus ride, but the tour guide Daniel made the most of it, giving us a fascinating and enlightening overview of the history of Barcelona. I appreciated the crash course, as to be honest, I didn’t know too much about modern Spanish history beforehand. However, this also meant limited nap time, a common theme throughout this trip.

It was foggy and chilly when we got there, another common occurrence during this trip. This was fine for everyone, except this family of Americans, who kept on interrupting our poor tour guide, who was amazing and pretty entertaining, while he was trying to explain our plan to ask where they could buy jackets.

We then walked over the monastery itself, while Daniel explained how the monastery survived the Franco era. The cathedral itself was stunning, and still actually holds services. However, we kept on hearing some loud obnoxious noises coming from behind where we were sitting. It turns out, the son from the same American family, who we found out later was studying abroad in Barcelona at the time, was watching and listening to his friends Snapchat stories of their nighttime adventures at full volume, with no headphones, in the church right behind us.

After that, we perused the local farmer’s market, where we were offered many samples of various sheep and goats’ milk cheese, before settling on mató, a creamy, ricotta-esque cheese local to Catalonia, that Daniel had recommended and is served topped with honey. To be honest, I was not the biggest fan of the cheese, as it was kind of bland.

We also went to the gift shop, where we tried some very sweet liquors, to round out our little pre-lunch snack. Soon enough, it was time to depart for the winery, and on the way, Daniel told us some more interesting facts, such as that if we paid attention, we would notice that one of the nunneries that we passed by on the drive to the winery has a massive pool in the back. I guess nuns need to cool off sometimes too.

Once at the winery, Oller del Mas, we got a brief tour of the vineyards before heading inside for our wine tasting and lunch. Minor disaster struck as I was getting off the bus at the winery, as the strap of my bag broke just as hopped off the last stop of the bus. Talk about comedic timing. So I had to cradle my bag as I got off the bus. The winery was actually started in 937 CE, and the family’s coat of arms, has a bunch of clay pots, because (I think) that’s how the original family made its money. They only produce organic wines, and actually you can now stay at the winery, which seems like a fun future vacation.

Even the room where the tasting was was very sleek and well designed, and our lunch was all ready and laid out for us. Here, the American family, which we later discovered was from Long Island, decided to kick up another fuss. We got asked about allergies and dietary restrictions multiple times, from when we booked the trip to when we checked in that morning at the bus station, and right again before we got on the bus. Yet upon seeing how good the vegetarian option looked, some members of the American family decided to demand that they be served the vegetarian option. Despite giving multiple opportunities, they had never communicated any vegetarian preferences beforehand, and got rather upset when told it was not possible, since, you know, all our food was already on the table. I don’t know how our tour guide didn’t snap, as he must have the patience of a saint.

The meal was pretty decent, and consisted of some preserved hams and meets, manchego cheese, potato salad, Spanish tortilla, these tiny pig-in-a-blanket-esque things, and of course, generous amounts of olives, crushed tomato, and crusty bread. We tried three wines, a rose, and two reds. I am basic and not really a fan of dry wines, so my favorite was the rose. They also had some cakes, which were just okay, so we skipped dessert and enjoyed our final glass of wine on their outdoor deck, just as the sun, and the winery’s adorable dog came out. We then made a mandatory pit stop at the winery’s shop, where I impulse bought a magnum of their rose, as that was the only size they had. Oops. No regrets though.

After a pleasant nap fueled by good wine and food, we arrived in Barcelona all too quickly. We popped by our AirBnb to drop off our goodies, where I also switched bags, and then headed off to watch the sunset at the Park Güell.

It was quite the trek, even with the bus, and the official park actually was sold out of tickets, which we did not know we had to buy in advance. Oh well. So we climbed the many many steps up to the lookout, which was beautiful. You can see all the way to the coast, and also what seems to be an amusement park up in the mountains behind. Unexpectedly worth the trek.

Of course, when in Spain, I had to try paella, so after climbing down, we headed to the docks. But alas, the place I picked turned out to be closed. The next place I frantically found out also happened to be closed, and eventually, we settled for Restaurant Salamanca, which seemed to be kind of touristy, but we were hungry and tired, and the other tourists that left reviews seemed satisfied.

When we sat down, they immediately plopped down a massive plate of pan con tomate (which mind you, we had to pay for) and some olives, which was pretty solid, and honestly needed at that point. I ordered a sangria (because why not), and we also got patatas bravas and the obligatory paella. The potatoes were just meh, although I enjoyed the spicy ketchup that came on the side, but the potatoes were sadly not that crispy. The paella was delicious, because you obviously cannot go to wrong with rice and seafood cooked together, but sadly much too massive for us to finish.

Afterwards, they gave us free almond cake, which I did not partake in, and some sweet, syrupy grappa, which I did partake in, and was an excellent end to our meal. I will say, this was the one meal in Barcelona that we had that was distinctly mildly pricey, but to be fair, it was a lot of food.

We did plan to go out after, and even bought tickets, but we made the mistake of stopping back at our AirBnB to take a “quick nap.” This nap turned into me accidentally falling asleep while watching Below Deck: Mediterranean, and waking up with a start at 12:45 am. Needless to say, we did not make it out.

The next day, after a much needed late start, we grabbed a late-ish brunch at Cafe Menssana, near where some of our friend’s classes were. I got a huevos rancheros-esque dish, which was okay, except the chicken was a weird texture. The smoothie hit though. I always forget to eat vegetables on vacation so this was perfect.

We then walked around, and did a bit of shopping. I got a really nice dress from Mango that I have absolutely no occasion to wear at the moment. We also grabbed a much-needed afternoon coffee, and I had this really delicious espresso mixed with condensed milk. To be honest, I am a fan of pretty much anything with condensed milk.

We then picked our friend up from classes, and stopped by Forn Mistral for some baby chocolate croissants as an afternoon snack. Definitely would recommend these flakey, buttery, sugary bites stuffed with chocolate.

For dinner, we went out with a big group to Ziryab Fusion Tapas Bar, one of our friend’s favorite restaurants in Barcelona, which was great because we got to have a whole spread of food. We obviously got a massive pitcher of sparkling sangria, the mandatory and pretty crisp and flavorful patatas bravas, along with a pretty tasty cheese plate, and a bunch of other things, that to be honest, I cannot remember that I was also allergic to. We also got the “Zaatar Parmigiana” aubergine bake, which was one of my favorite dishes, it was a slightly different take on one of my favorite Italian-American dishes.

Overall, a pretty decent meal, but not a place I would specifically want to go back to the next time I’m in Barcelona.

For dessert, I got some sort of berry cheesecake gelato in the area, which was tasty, albeit unmemorable.

We then prepared to drag ourselves to go out, which involved pregaming at a bar popular amongst Americans studying abroad due to their sets of six slightly watered-down shots that cost €6. Anyways, I will not go into detail on the rest of the night, but here are some photos.

After a much too early start to the day at 10:15 am, we basically laid around like potatoes until 3 pm, when we finally ventured out for a very late brunch/lunch at La Papa. The cafe itself is beautiful, but the menu is vegan-ish, which meant very limited nut or seed-free options. I got the quiche of the day, which was butternut squash and spinach, and was adequate, and a smoothie, which was tastier, although I’m not sure the dried orange on top really added anything.

We then meandered around some more, and went to Lukumas, which our friend Emily had promised had “the best Portuguese donuts.” They were pretty solid donuts, but as soon as you walk in, you are greeted by a map of Greece. So not sure how she thought they were Portuguese donuts, but they are pretty solid Greek donuts.

For dinner, we headed to Rao, where we had a whole feast. We got some patatas bravas, which were, as always, pretty delicious, and actually the perfect combo of crispy potato and creamy aioli. We also got a runny Spanish tortilla with a truffle puree, which was such a decadent, almost creamy, take on the classic dish. The truffle sauce was also not super overpowering, like many truffle dishes, and instead, added extra delicious richness to the dish.

There were some misses. The much-hyped ceviche was mediocre, while the spicy chicken wings were too heavily doused in sauce, and the octopus, most disappointingly, was kind of chewy.

I really liked the scallops with parsnip purée and bacon, as the scallops were just barely cooked, and went well with the mild, creamy parsnip, and smoky, fatty bacon. The petite paella was also delicious, albeit not the best paella I’ve ever had. Again, in my opinion, pretty hard to go wrong with seafood and rice cooked together.

All in all, Rao proved to be a satisfying end to an extremely satisfying, albeit chaotic stay in Barcelona. While we were sad to leave Barcelona, luckily for us, the chaos had only begun.