Barcelona
After a good nights sleep we packed our cases and headed down to breakfast for the last time in Calella, we were off to Barcelona today! We both still felt quite fragile and didn't have much of an appetite, I wanted quite a plain breakfast but was drawn once more to the cooked items.
I didn't really need a second plate full but the cakes were calling me!
A 90 minute train journey later and we were at Hostal Balmes in Barcelona, a double room here cost just €49 per night, this place has heaps of character.
I loved how many of the trees in Barcelona have a camouflage look to the bark.
I've visited Sagrada Familia over 10 times now, each time another section has been added, I do hope I get to see it completed in my lifetime. Its certainly Antoni Gaudi's most visited masterpiece.
Before viewing every side of Sagrada Familia we decided to cool down with an ice cream, choosing which flavour was no easy task though, they all looked delicious.
Raspberry and chocolate won me over in the end, amazing!
This is my favourite side of Sagrada Familia.
We hadn't planned on eating till much later but a menu del dia costing just €8.50 had caught our eye so we stopped for lunch.
A much needed bottle of ice cold water didn't last long and some lovely fresh bread arrived at the table too. These were included in the price of the meal.
The beer here was really good, Estrella Damm is served everywhere in Barcelona.
We still wasn't feeling quite right following yesterdays ill spell and the menu was in Spanish so we tried our best to work out the choices. I ordered what I thought was a simple salad but it arrived scattered with seafood, I cautiously ate it.
The only veggie option was egg, chips and mushrooms. My wife quite enjoyed it but still wasn't feeling on top form.
I ordered the chicken in a garlic sauce, chips and mushrooms. I struggled to finish it which was very unlike me, quite enjoyable but I really needed my appetite back again to appreciate food properly.
The dessert was a let down, you can by these in Tesco. I guess you get what you pay for though and this €8.50 (£6) meal was certainly worth it but aimed at the local workers.
In Barcelona there are buildings like this on nearly every street, its a really beautiful city.
We had tried these last year so decided to not bother this time, we sniggered at the name and made our way towards the El Raval district.
We'd discovered the El Raval district last year and was keen to explore it further. Its located off La Rambla. Many people miss it, choosing to visit the Barri Gothic district on the opposite side instead.
No visit to Spain is complete without trying Cacaolat, a delicious chocolate milk drink.
No visit to El Raval is complete without visiting Fernando Botero's stunning bronze cat.
These sugary fruit shaped treats displayed in a bakery window looked amazing.
The El Raval district has plenty of great street art.
Rambla Del Raval is lined with trees and restaurants, I prefer it to the busy La Rambla.
This seemed like a fairly good deal, we'd wanted to try some really good tapas during our time here and this probably wasn't the best choice but the location was good so we decided to stop here.
The sangria was certainly nice enough.
The tapas was much better than we were expecting too, I really enjoyed the manchego cheese. We also ordered calamari in batter, tortilla, potatas bravas, meatballs, mushrooms and green peppers. We struggled to finish it all though, this was very rare as I never usually leave any food.
Pan con tomate, bread coated with garlic and tomato.
We had a final walk around El Raval before returning to the hotel, tomorrow we were catching the train to Valencia.
Nice looking tapas, Manchego cheese is lovely.
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