NOTE -> This trip occurred pre-COVID-19 and feels like 100 years ago

My wife and I woke up just before my alarm went off and I went to get the boys up. They did NOT want to get up so it was a struggle. We had to get breakfast and get ready in time to get to Parc Guell in time before our tickets expired. Our entrance time was 10:00am and gave us a window between 10:00 and 10:30 to arrive or else the tickets wouldn’t be valid.

Breakfast downstairs in the hotel was good and we filled up on a leasurely paced meal. We got ready back in the room and headed out for the morning activities.

Parc Guell

The taxi stand by the hotel was empty so we started walking in the general direction of our destination hoping to hail one. After about 10 minutes we finally found an empty cab. It took about 15 minutes to get to our destination, or at least close to it. The taxi stand where we were dropped off was at the bottom of the hill. It was a short walk up and we managed to get to the ticket entrance area at 10:25. We just barely made the 10:30 cutoff.

We picked up a map of the area and the different sights. There was a long line at the first two buildings with one having a sign that it was a 45 minute wait to get in so we decided to skip that one. We walked through the park enjoying the fantastical architecture and the views of the city. It was hazy so the views weren’t as pristine as many pictures we had seen, but we could imagine on a clear day it would be spectacular.

La Boqueria

Once we did the loop of the park and visited the gift shop,we decided we had had enough of the crowds and headed for our next destination. La Boqueria is a famous food marketplace in the center of town. We picked up a cab and the driver was quite chatty (in Spanish). He warned us (okay, the rest of the family who actually speaks Spanish) to be aware of pickpockets as they a re rampant in that part of town. We had been warned by several people by this so we hoped we were properly prepared. He also talked a lot of soccer with my oldest.

When we arrived we could immediately see why it was so famous. There were tons of stalls selling everything from candies to fresh fruit to fresh fish. Other booths had beef and exotic meats such as ostrich and kangaroo available. Others sold whole rabbits, chickens and ducks, still with the fur/feathers on!

We found different prepared foods to try and eat. We particularly enjoyed the fruit juices. Our favorite was the strawberry-pineapple combination at one booth. It was yummy, though we tried it again at a second booth and it wasn’t nearly as good. We also tried some candies and got some gelato before we left.

Game Time!

Back at the hotel we got ready for our afternoon adventure to see a Barcelona match! We aimed to get there about 2 hours before the game to make sure we had enough time to get our seats and take it all in. Tomatico also wanted to make sure we got to see the players warm up.

The taxi driver dropped us off at the stadium and we needed to figure out where to go to get in. Since it holds nearly 100,000 people, there are multiple entrances. It took about 20 minutes to find our gate. My wife asked the security guard where we should go and he pointed us to the gate that wasn’t open yet. He said it opened at 3:00 though sometimes they opened it early. It was about 2:30 at the time so we waited in line. After about 10 minutes the gates opened and 10 minutes after that we had found our seats. The seats were right down close to the field and were amazing.

The grass looked so good I thought it was turf (but knew it wasn’t). The stadium filled up over the next hour until it was game time. Tomatico was loving every second of it and was texting with his uncles who are huge Barcelona fans and were going to watch the came from home in NYC.

The stadium wasn’t completely full, but it was close to 90% full. The opponent, Getafe, didn’t appear to be a strong team in comparison. The match was exciting, though. The visitors scored an apparent goal in the first half to go up 1-0 . The fans were pretty upset, but were excited when the video review showed the player that scored had fouled the defender before the goal so it was back to 0-0. The home team pulled ahead a few minutes later and scored a second goal just before half. The second half had the visitors pull within one goal to make the final few minutes more exciting but couldn’t tie it up.

We had amazing search though all the action happened at the opposite end of the field so we were unlucky in that respect, but we did get to see Messi up close a couple times when he ventured to our corner. The crowd was phenomenal and much more knowledgeable and into the game than I’m used to in the U.S. While the tickets were by no means cheap, we have no regrets and would do it again without a second though. It was an amazing experience the boys will remember for a long time. My wife was even happy the WiFi was good (she’s not a sports fan…)

Getting Home

At the end of the game we rushed out of the stadium to try to beat the crowd and grab taxi, but had no luck. We couldn’t find any taxis for the longest time and once we did they were all full. Apparently 100,000 people also had the same idea.

We started walking back in the general direction of our hotel so we’d at least be headed in the right direction, but there were mobs of people everywhere and we weren’t going to find an empty cab.

We decided to pivot and find a place to eat since the boys were getting hungry. We found a burger place for me and the boys while my wife went to a Turkish restaurant next door for more interesting food. After dinner we started walking back towards the hotel again, hoping to find a cab. Within a block we found two empty cabs and took one back to the hotel.

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth

Once back in the hotel we all felt like some dessert so we decided to walk around the area to see what the options were. The hotel was at the end of a large Main Street with lots of shops and restaurants so there we found lots of options! It was a Saturday night and the roads were mostly closed to vehicle traffic so there were lots of people out. Even though it was close to 9pm there were still families with young kids out and lines waiting to eat dinner (dinner is much later than in the US).

We found a place that had sweets and gelato. My youngest and I had strawberry gelato which we both loved. Tomatico had a piece of red velvet cake and my wife got some churros that the kids helped her finish. We walked off our dessert on our way back to the hotel and then settled down for the night. We have one more full day in Barcelona before moving on to Valencia for 2 days.