Oooooh man are we excited to be here. We’d heard such rave reviews about Barcelona that we actually almost came here for our honeymoon. Two of our closest friends, with taste we totally trust, have said it’s one of their favorite places. A cousin of mine, who is not easily impressed, has said one of the basilicas here is the coolest thing he’s ever seen. The bar was set high if you get what I’m saying.

The flight from Sydney was 24 hours of travel time so we were totally tuckered out. Our host needed to finish work before he could meet up to help, so we ended up hunkering down in a neighborhood bar for a celebratory “we’re here!” drink before finally getting into the apartment and taking our bags off and getting a good. nights. sleep.

Our Airbnb here is in a really perfect location. We’re in the Gothic Quarter, the corner of Carrer d’en Gignas and Carrer del Regomir. We are walking distance to plenty of notable sights and also close to both bus and metro stops. Nailed it!

Day one, we headed out for the beach. Our morning stroll took us past the boardwalk and Port Vell.

We were a little surprised it was so empty at Barceloneta Beach. Technically we entered at Sant Sebastia beach further south, but it was a single stretch of sand and we eventually worked our way up to the more popular northern portion. Crowded or not, it’s still a soft sand beach with cool city scenery.

The walk on the beach was a great start to the day. Definitely not ready to head home, we did quite a bit of wandering around and passed by several more notable sights. The Arc de Triomf was especially lovely. It was designed and built to be the main entrance gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair.

Also, it gave me one of my favorite pictures from the trip so far. What a city.