Hope you’re not hungry or thirsty, because this post will make you hangry! Not sure the the drink equivalent of hangry, dranky? Sure that works.
You’ve been warned~
Gin drink made up by bartender, Barcelona. So good we had to have two rounds. Little did we know when your bartender is making up the drink, the price is also made up $$$
Little embarrassing but everything is Madewell besides my shoes, which are Converse. Well and the glasses. So that’s not thaaat bad! (sorry not sorry..)
It’s hard to pick a favorite day on such an amazing trip but if I have to choose for the sake of this blog post, I’d choose the day we went on a 7 hour bike ride around Barcelona. It was one for the books!
Through a company called WeBarcelona we took a full day tour on bikes seeing Barcelona from land, air and sea!
After all the Gaudi sight seeing, the following day we got up early to board a bus that would take us to three stops: Girona, Pals and Costa Brava (location names are a clickable link that will take you to a Google map to visualize + maybe even DIY if you have an upcoming trip!)
First stop: GIRONA!
After we parked our big dorky tour bus we walked across the canal to get inside the city. This is the view you’ll first see walking in *heart eyes*
I survived my first trip overseas with my in-laws! I kid, they are a breeze to hang around. Dustin, his parents, youngest sister and I had a fantastic trip exploring Madrid and Barcelona for six days! Since Rebecca Joy’s Spring Break fell a little earlier than we could make it out there, they went ahead to explore Seville for a few days then met us in Madrid late Monday night. We landed around 9:00am and went straight for the hotel, which wasn’t ready yet but we dropped off our luggage and sleepily walked what felt like 399 miles all over Madrid until we were let in to sleep a few hours and get cleaned up. That night we joined up with the rest of the gang and went to a really nice dinner near our hotel.
The following morning we had tickets to tour the Royal Palace of Madrid and then a private tour of the Prado Museum. I would recommend the palace tour (I mean it’s a palace, can’t go wrong with looking at past royalty’s belongings) but the museum I could have done without. I feel a little bad about saying that especially since it’s been said to be the best single collection of Spanish art but the European 12th century – early 20th century art just isn’t my jam. One thing that did stand out that I enjoyed was The Garden of Earthly Delights because not only is it risque but our tour guide spent about 30 min (or more, no joke) just covering this one painting and the result was pretty hilarious though one or more of the Winchesters felt pretty uncomfortable..I think if I only went in there and saw all of Hieronymus Bosch‘s art I would have been just fine. However, Dustin and I have a friend who’s an art history buff and loves the place so do some research and see if it’s up your alley.
After a full day and one night in Madrid we hopped on a high speed train to Barcelona. We bought some wine to bring with, sipped on that and checked out the sights till we all fell asleep. Then we were in Barcelona!
Spent that evening getting our bearings on our neighborhood which was just North of the Gothic Quarter and then walked down to explore that area and get dinner. The next day was all about Gaudi!
First stop was Park Guell. When we arrived it was raining so we bought some cheesy tourist umbrellas, cause ya know, we’re prepared like that and set out to learn all about Gaudi and Eusebi Güell‘s attempt at a gated community turned municipal garden. You didn’t know it was originally supposed to be a high-end neighborhood either? Yea, that was news to me too! Apparently they couldn’t get investors and the construction just sorta stopped after only two houses were built. neither of which were designed by Gaudi but he did end up buying one.
Last portion of the Greece trip to cover is the exploration of downtown Lefkada’s narrow roads and shop-lined alleys.
The day we went walking and shopping around was raining on and off some times pretty hard. Which probably sounds like the most unideal time to go, which it is but when it comes down to choosing to use a clear day for shopping or beach-I’ll always choose beach!
Each stop on our Greece trip was a different neighborhood and shopping district experience. In Athens it felt like a big European city, Santorini was pure magic and unlike anywhere I had ever been and Lefkada was a sprawling island of smaller beach towns saturated in cafes and shops.
It was easy to get lost but with the help of Eagle Scout master navigator, Dustin, we cruised from one plant-lined alley to another and actually made it back to the car despite it starting to all look alike.
All these photos were shot on my phone and are unfortunately not the most clear but if you look closely this gate is so beautiful!
This moment was one I was happy to capture. Perfect timing, no one else around. Just Dustin and I huddled under the world’s cheapest umbrella and two friends making due on their moped.
Cactus gets a bath :)
See what I mean by ‘all starting to look the same’?
Since it was raining it was very quiet. But it opened my imagination to think of friends having conversations between the two buildings outside the windows or a curtain blowing out in a Summer breeze with no interruptions. I appreciated the streets to ourselves :)
If the three posts don’t already show it, Lefkada is out-freakin-standing!
On the way back to Athens to our cheap hotel room for the short night before flying home we made a pit stop in Corinth. First we got one last Greek salad and chicken kabobs then we went to the archaeological site.
Did you know a traditional Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce but is rather on a bed of tomatoes? We didn’t! Neither of us can eat many raw tomatoes so we shared the feta/onions/cucumbers/olives every time we ordered :P
This site was pretty free-range. Only a few things roped off allowing you to get really close to structures. There was also a museum that was loaded with artifacts. Not pictured (because I got in trouble) are the real remains of two soldiers they discovered in the early 2000’s in the real grave! That was really cool as was all the treasures, housewares, statues and snail shells we kept finding around outside by the hundreds if not thousands. Def snuck a few of those home, shhh!
If you’re on a Greece trip and can swing this DO IT but it’s not something to go way outta the way for. With 227 inhabited islands there’s plenty to see and do there ;)
Greece, DONE! Whoop!
Hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day! We sipped champagne, made a good din and did household things. The fancy dinner is set for Saturday!
Back-logged outfit posts to come <3
