Backpack Mack

Apologies for the delay! The last month has been a whirlwind but I’ve finally gotten to editing and posting…

Heading to meet up with my people! 

This leg of my trip was maybe the most structured and planned because I was meeting up with my boyfriend and dad to travel through Spain and Portugal. I had spent days researching, sending over draft plans, scouting transit routes etc. to ensure they had a great time. In my opinion there is way more pressure planning a trip for someone else vs. solo travel. 

For this segment my boyfriend’s plans were the most extreme. He is a flight attendant but also does a significant amount of corporate work for his airline and given some impending deadlines he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to come on the trip at all. As the date approached, he was able to swing a weekend trip from the west coast to Barcelona. He arrived Friday afternoon and left on Monday to go back to work. When I told one of my new girlfriends from the hostel this, she responded with “Damn. If he wanted to, he would.” and a truer statement has never been made. Major effort was expended to find standby flights and cross an ocean for three days of fun, but we made the most of it! 

Thursday – 

The day before my people arrived, I had some time to explore Barcelona on my own and get my bearings. My only reference point for this city is a brief visit during my study abroad trip in college (over ten years ago!). Although that trip included lots of bars and watching a sunrise from the club “Opium” on the beach, I remembered it as a really beautiful and fun city. My recollections were accurate – the winding narrow streets and endless Gaudi architecture combined with waterfront views and perfect temperature makes this an easy repeat visit. 

With my more mature and slightly more cultured mindset on this trip, I had the realization that I had totally missed the museum and food aspects of Barcelona the first time. As a twenty-one year old (on a limited budget) I had spent two days seeing the important landmarks like Sagrada Familia, Parc Guel and the Gaudi House, zipping around in one of those little yellow city tour cars and frequenting spots like Chupitas and Opium. This trip I had more of a budget and appetite (no pun intended) to explore the world renowned food and art scene. 

I opened up the hostel map with all the icons and realized there were about one thousand museums I hadn’t even realized existed. I opted for the Picasso museum but could have spent multiple days just exploring museums. I would definitely recommend it if you are visiting and was truly surprised by how much art he produced that didn’t fall under the standard wonky face drawings he is most well known for. 

Friday – 

I must admit here I made these guys hit the ground running, but it was for their own good! In an effort to stave off jet lag I wanted them to get onto the Spain schedule of eating dinner late and going to bed around midnight (or later). Given that the weather was so warm it made walking around at night in a tank top very pleasurable. 

Highlights for the afternoon and evening include walking through the Mercat de la Boqueria and eating dinner at L’Alcoba Azul. The Mercat or Spanish market/food hall is incredible. You can get anything from a glass of wine to a whole pig leg at the dozens and dozens of stalls packed in there. L’Alcoba Azul is a tapas restaurant with really delicious and authentic options and given that we were in Spain we got a ton of cheese and cured meats as well as delicious seafood and bread with tomatoes (don’t knock it till you try it). 

Saturday – 

This was our big city exploration day. A few months prior I had booked tickets to tour the Sagrada Familia (the famous Antoni Gaudi designed cathedral) because they are notoriously booked out. Construction of the cathedral began in 1882 and is still being worked on today. Given that my last trip here was ten years ago, there were some noticeable changes to the towers and north facade although the plans look like they still have a long way to go. Before the trip my dad didn’t seem fully sold on visiting the cathedral, not being a big “church” guy… but he was blown away by the unique architecture, the incredible vaulted ceilings and the colors used throughout. 

One minor fail for the day was our visit to Parc Guel. This is a beautiful hilltop park also designed by Gaudi with very cool ceramic mosaic sculptures. What I didn’t realize had changed in the last ten years is that you now need a reservation and dedicated time slot to visit the park which was unfortunately not available that day. Instead we enjoyed a drink and view from our hotel’s rooftop pool. 

For dinner we met up with one of my boyfriend’s friends who lived in the city and took us to a very nice upscale tapas place where we got to try the most delicious razor clams. This was a new one for me as I’ve only had regular, round shaped clams usually in a stew or pasta. Razor clams are almost a cross between a clam and a scallop and are very light and fresh. We finished up the evening at what would become our regular (for the three days we were there) haunt, Gats. Gats was this very cute courtyard bar where we were able to sit comfortably outside with other small groups enjoying a cocktail and a small dessert. I love this specific aspect of European culture where you can enjoy a night out somewhere other than a club or crowded bar. 

Sunday – 

On Sunday we scheduled a wine tasting tour in the Penedes region, about an hour outside of Barcelona. This was another part of my planning that took a lot of time. Spain is filled with clusters of different wine regions. Priorat and Penedes are the most renowned around Barcelona. Initially I was eying the Priorat wine tours (known for their bold red wines) however this region is about two and a half hours away from the heart of Barcelona which turns into a ten to twelve hour tour. I needn’t have worried though, the tour that we did take was incredible. Our guide was an American named Craig who had lived in Barcelona for twenty years. He had a ton to share about Spanish culture, the wine region, and the wine making process. We visited three wineries where we tasted reds, whites and sparkling wine and had a delicious lunch. The hot take here is that the Spaniards insist that Cava is better than Champagne or Prosecco!