If great tasting food, endless shopping sprees and unique architecture is what you're after then Barcelona is the answer!

I had always wanted to visit the city, so you could imagine how happy I was when my man told me to pack my suitcase for my birthday!

We had 4 nights and just over 3 days here which was certainly enough. It was early-October so we had a mixture of weather but it was mostly mild and dry which was the main thing.

Barcelona is similar to Berlin on the bases that you can just walk around and come across something amazing to look at, such as Antoni Gaudi's creative and distinctive designs all over the city of Barcelona. We did a lot of walking, 25,063 steps to be exact on one day! We even had a 4-day tube/bus pass (recommend - see below) and we still managed to walk that much, just shows how big the city is on foot!

You can witness Gaudi's impeccable architecture along the top of Passeig de Gracia (above), at Sagrada Familia, Parc de la Ciutadella and Parc Guell amogst others http://www.globotreks.com/dest.... If you would like to go into Sagrada Familia, which I highly recommend as it is absolutely stunning inside, then you need to pre-book online (€15 euros each for a fast track visit) otherwise you may have to wait hours. The queue for Parc Guell isn't as bad and you can go in every 30 minutes. Here you can see views across the city and admire the architectural designs and variety of textures that Gaudi used to create this park.

Parc de la Ciutadella is a beautiful park located walking distance from the Arc de Triomf, it was here Gaudi helped design the Cascada Fountain (below).

As much as I love shopping, when I come away it's something I do lightly (unless I'm in New York), this is probably because I'm surrounded by shops in London. However, if you come here to shop then head to Passeig de Gracia. The top end is full of designer shops, where as the bottom in Catalunya is high street central and has about three Zara's in the space of about half a mile, including the biggest one I have ever seen! Unfortunately for us Brits, with the current exchange rate as it is (October 2016) shopping isn't as fun in Europe as it used to be. If food markets are more your thing, head to Mercado de La Boqueria, we picked up some tasty chorizo and fuet to take home. The market is off off La Rambla and takes cash only (there is a cash machine next to the entrance). 

When it comes to night-life, Barcelona seems to kick into action at around 10pm. So if you haven't booked a restaurant you better get out before then. However, if you want to live like the Spanish, I recommend booking because the city comes to life at night (this is why they need their afternoon siesta's), especially at the weekend and around La Rambla.

Recommendations: -

I don't quite know where to start as we never had a bad meal in the 4 nights we were there. I'll go with my favourite, which has to be Paco Meralgo (tapas restaurant). We made the mistake of coming here on our first night because then it was impossible to beat. We were also very lucky to get a seat as this tapas restaurant is buzzing with a constant array of people coming through the door. They sat us at a lovely table overlooking the streets of Barcelona. The service was impeccable, bringing us two dishes at a time that complimented one another. The food was delicious, combined with great wine and the best gluten free tomato bread I have tasted!  I also loved La Tasqueta De Blai (pintox, below). We came here on my Birthday for lunch after intending to go to Quimet & Quimet, however although it has fantastic reviews, if you are in need of a sit down then unfortunately Quimet & Quimet isn't ideal as it's the tiniest place ever and you can only stand. The food at La Tasqueta De Blai is amazing (and actually rated higher than Quimet & Quimet on Trip Advisor). The style of food isn't great for me being gluten intolerant (pintox is basically a canape on a piece of bread) but I just ate everything on top of the bread. The flavours were fantastic and the whole concept of picking pintox from the bar whenever you felt like it made it fun, it reminded me of being at Sushi Train in Australia or Yo Sushi. It was also, in my opinion really reasonable at €1 or €1.50 per pintox. They may have even supplied gluten free bread if I had asked, but I didn't as we were so hungry we wanted to dive straight in.

I also recommend dining at La Pepita, the liveliest tapas bar i've ever seen! You will most likely have to wait for a table but it isn't so bad as they send you to their sister bar, La Cava a few doors down where you can have a drink and even some tapas whilst you wait for your table and they come and grab you when it's ready. We only had to wait around 20 minutes. It's very kitsch inside La Pepita i.e graffiti on the walls so if a romantic dinner is what you are after then you're in the wrong place (head to Paco Meralgo instead), but definitely worth a visit another time. We actually came here on my Birthday and it was a great night. Do try the beef carpaccio if you like raw meet, the combined flavours of the dish are amazing! I recently ended up back in Barcelona and dining at Impar, part of Hotel Sofia (see section 'sleep' below). If you fancy something other than tapas and more of a relaxing dine in an attractive-contemporary designed restaurant then this place is for you! They focus on Mediterranean fusion cuisine and the chef understands what works well together and pairs food beautifully. I recommend their tuna fillet and tomato salad as a starter, the combination of the salad dressing, the juiciness of the fresh tomatoes and saltines of the tuna is sensational!

Drink

I'm a massive sun-worshipper but for some reason I felt guilty at the thought of lying on a beach during a city break, so what made me feel more productive was sitting at Moma Beach Bar sipping a large g & t whilst watching the world go by! It's a great spot to catch the last of the days sun. You can't miss it if you are headed towards the beach from Catalunya. As mentioned before, La Cava has a good atmosphere if you want a drink and a nibble. We also enjoyed a few cocktails at El Ciclista which is a bar filled with reused bike parts. Barcelona are a huge fan of large drinks, i.e fish bowl sized gin & tonics and jugs of beer, you will pay for this with a very sore head as well a hole in your wallet. If you're on a budget best stick to wine!

Transport

Out of all the cities I have travelled, Barcelona is one of the best when it comes to public transport. Their tubes run from 5am-midnight (2am Friday and Saturday) and they are really easy to navigate. Transport passes are also really cheap so definitely worth purchasing if you are there for 3/4 days. We paid €26.50 euros each for a 4-day travel card (a single trip costs €2.15).
Airport transfers are frequent, fast and reliable. The Aerobus runs from 5.35am at the airport every 10 minutes max until 1am and costs €5.90 for a single trip or €10.20 return which you can either pay for by bank card at a machine or with cash on the bus. We landed at terminal 2B, so all you have to do is come out of the airport and turn left and the bus stop is right there (T2B) for the T2 bus (if you land at terminal 1 you want the T1 bus at the T1 stop located at the front of the building). It takes no longer than 30 minutes to get to Plaça Espanya or Plaça de Catalunya and then you can get the subway from there if you need to. For the journey back to the airport from either Plaça Espanya or Plaça de Catalunya you would need to get the A1 (to terminal 1) or A2 (to terminal 2) bus, this runs from 5am and every 10 minutes until 00:30. For more info visit https://www.barcelona-tourist-...

Sleep

We stayed in the bohemian district of Barcelona at a hostel called Casa Gracia. Think 1940's American diner, paternoster lifts and cool Scandi interiors, this is no 'ordinary' hostel. Unfortunately we drew the short straw and had a rather small bedroom (not shown in the website's gallery), however the bed was really comfortable and the shower was so good I never wanted to get out. We paid €6 each for breakfast every morning which included a hot drink, juice, yoghurt and a freshly made baguette (gluten-free available) or a croissant. Just what we needed every morning before we set out exploring the city. The service isn't the fastest though so get down to the bar early if you want to make the most of your day. If you are a back-packer and you have time to chill, this hostel has great communal areas such as a large dining room, modern kitchen and lounge area. 

Unexpectedly we ended up in Barcelona again recently. Some would call it a disaster (my father-in-law), I called it a bloody good disaster. After a connecting flight with Vueling from Barcelona to London got cancelled, Vueling put us up at newly renovated Hotel Sofia for two nights and what an amazing two nights it was. We happened to be away for my Birthday (again) and there are definitely worse places you could have a cancelled flight, what was not to be happy about? No work, more sunshine, shopping, good food and even more Rioja. We had just come from Seville so it wasn't as though I hadn't had enough (sun & Rioja) but very happy to have more! Instead of waiting for the shuttle to escort 100 odd angry passengers, we decided to cab it straight to the hotel, bearing in mind it was 9.30pm and after 5 hours queuing I needed a stiff drink! So by 10.30pm we were showered, dressed and sitting at the stunning bar in the hotel with a large g&t in hand. Taking advantage of our 'full-board stay' we then moved on to the restaurant. To our surprise we were offered a 3-course meal and a glass of wine. They were very accommodating to my gluten and dairy intolerance and designed a menu to suit. The service didn't stop there, the next morning for breakfast they had a whole basket full of gluten-free goodies from bread to cookies and the breakfast buffet was vast, this was alongside a choice of eggs and bacon! I was very impressed with the hotel and considering the stay wasn't coming out of our pockets they continued to treat us as paying customers and made us feel very welcome. I would highly recommend eating or staying here and I hope that I get to come back again one day.