We got into Barcelona Friday night and it was absolutely down pouring. After we got to the apartment we were staying in, we had to run around to find somewhere to eat. Of course, none of us prepared for the rain (oops) and so we were running around in the pouring rain trying to find a restaurant. We ended up at a place called Petit Pot minutes before their kitchen closed. Thankfully, they were so so nice and squeezed us in before closing up. The meal was well worth the running in the rain and we got pink lemonades with some Spanish liquor syrup stuff in it (I don't really know what it was, but the waiter swore by it so we all just rolled with it), it was amazing. We went to a fun Irish bar right next to the restaurant called George Payne. Lots of people recommended it to us and we certainly saw why. It was loads of fun and though it wasn't very Spanish-y, it showed us a great time (we went back the next two nights!).
The next morning, we went to grab brunch at a place called Brunch & Cake. A good word to sum this place up is 'heavenly'. Getting away from the Italian culture of eating just pastries for breakfast was a very refreshing break! As much as I love myself a chocolate croissant, sometimes you just want some eggs and pancakes for breakfast. I got the ricotta pancake which was a pancake covered in loads of fruit and sprinkled with ricotta and it had some sort of syrup on it (not really sure what it was, but it wasn't maple) and their homemade blueberry coconut yogurt (which also came with loads of fruit... yum!). It was incredible. Exactly the break from Italian food that I needed. The rest of the day was followed by lots of exploring (aka walking aimlessly) around the city. We saw La Sagrada Familia and then went to Parc de Ciutadella and found some other cool stuff along the way, then we rounded out the night getting paella. So delicious!! Ha, pretty much the first half of my trip was all about food and I am not the slightest bit upset by that.
Sunday, we went to Barceloneta Beach! On our way there, we stopped and grabbed lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant (authentic, I know hehe) called Rosa Negra, then we took our time walking to the beach. I got a pretty tapesty from 10 euro and then we all just laid out and enjoyed the sun for a couple of hours. There were vendors EVERYWHERE on the beach; one came up to us every couple of minutes selling tapestries or drinks or massages (so weird if you ask me), so that was fairly annoying, but overall great time. Then we went to the aquarium, which is always fun! That night we went for tapas at Bar Lobo... So good! We ordered a bunch of stuff and then ordered it all again because it was so yummy.
The next day we were up and at 'em because we had to check out of our apartment and move onto the yacht we were staying in. The boat was in Port Olimpico, so it was extremely close to lots of good restaurants and bars/ clubs and also the beach. It was quite an experience staying on a yacht for two nights! Very tight quarters, but nice and cozy nonetheless. The bed cabins had enough room to stand in front of your bed and that was about it for space beside the actual bed itself. It was really awesome though and getting to say I lived on a yacht for three days is pretty awesome:) Then it was fish and chips for dinner at a place called Marina Bay, which was about a 5 minute walk from the boat. That night we went out and adventured to a well known bar called Opium... It was so fun! It had great music, so we danced the night away :) (All fun and games until we get home at 4am and have to be up early the next day... ugh)
Tuesday, we paid for a skipper to take us out on the yacht. It was sooo beautiful! It was very weird getting to take your "house" out sailing. It was incredibly relaxing and the weather was perfect! It was nice and sunny, but the breeze from sailing was strong so it was a little chilly. Safe to say, sunburn was the outcome of the strong sun and cold breeze, but what are ya gonna do?! (More sunscreen next time!!)
We adventured to Ibiza on Wednesday! Ibiza is so, so beautiful. We went during off season, so a lot of places were closed still for the winter, but we made due. The nice part about that was that it wasn't crowded anywhere we went! We practically had the beach to ourselves and we were never waiting to sit for dinner. We stayed in San Antonio, in an apartment above Cafe del Mar on the beautiful Sunset Strip (where there's the best view of the sunset on the whole island). The view from our apartment had a perfect view of the water right below the sunset every night, so it definitely lived up to the name. One guy was telling us that during peak season, Sunset Strip gets so packed with people during the sunset that you can't even see the ground! Wednesday night we found a place called Bondi and had dinner there (turned out to be probably our favorite restaurant... I think we were there every single day whether it was for pinxchtas or dinner or smoothies).
Thursday, we went to the beach in San Antonio. It was another day of strong sun, but just breezy enough that you never got too hot (not too much sunburn this time, though!!). The boys were brave enough to dive into the water, but I was satisfied with just going up to my knee (and I don't know if I even made it in that far), the water was FREEZING. After a relaxing day at the beach (and getting drained of energy from the sun), we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the rest of the night. Trent and I ended up going to grab a drink at Mint Lounge (really cool lounge on Sunset Strip!). Really good drinks, but real expensive (living on that college study abroad budget is a struggle), so we didn't stay too long. Then Thursday night, we got to experience pintxas! Basically, it's a bunch of different restaurants all across San Antonio that have a deal where it's 2.50 euro for a drink and a small appetizer type thing. It was so fun! You go to each place and order one of their few options and then pay and head onto the next one. All the food was AMAZING. There really was not a place that we went to that I thought the food was subpar, I wish I could do it all over again, just to experience the food.
The next day we took the bus to Ibiza Town and explored around there for the day. Again, not a ton was open, but we found ourselves a cute little tapas restaurant and grabbed a quick lunch. We found a really cool area that was sitting above the city and overlooked the water and the rest of Ibiza Town. It was very old and charming in that part of the city; very cute!
Saturday, we took the ferry out of Ibiza Town to Formentera. Formentera is an island off of Ibizia that actually can only be accessed from Ibiza, so it was really cool to get to do that. We rented bikes for the day and rode around on the island. We rode to Playa de Illetes (which was the most beautiful beach according to Trip Advisor... Shout out Trent for your dedication to looking everything up on Trip Advisor!) and it absolutely was the most beautiful beach. The water was a bunch of different shades of blue and you could see the other parts of the island in the distance. The ride to the beach was absolutely breathtaking, pictures don't even do it justice. After we got back to Ibiza Town, we were searching for a place for dinner, but our search failed. We ended up at a restaurant called La Bodega and had drinks and a few tapas (we decided tapas restaurants are unavoidable and sometimes you ust want a hearty meal, so that was a little frustrating), but our server was so so nice! He gave us some shots and extra bread for the table, so we were happy customers :) We got back to San Antonio and headed straight to Bondi (naturally) for an actual diner after that.
Sunday was the unfortunate departure from Ibiza. It really, truly was so beautiful in both cities. They're both definitely at the top of my list of favorite places that I've been this semester. Getting away from school and all the seriousness of life was so refreshing, I'm really struggling to get my head back in the game for school (*insert eye roll emoji here*). I think I could've stayed in Spain forever, to be honest! Definitely a perfect trip that will never ever be forgotten. Great places with great people and loads of delicious food, so there is not one single complaint here :)
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