Favourite things in my favourite place

If there's anywhere I love more thn my home city it's Barcelona. I went for the first time 4 years ago, and have been every year since. We won't make it next year because we're (eek!) getting married, but I know that I'll miss it. Even though we have other lovely trips in the meantime. I could write forever about the things you should do while there but as a taster...

If you go in the summer the beaches are lovely, Barceloneta is the busiest and most touristy but there's still room for you to lay down a towel and enjoy the sunshine.

Visit La Boqueria - the food market on La Ramblas. There's mountains of fresh fruit, nuts, spices, fish and meats, and you can sit in at one of the in-market restauarants and enjoy a glass of wine whilst eating the delicious fresh foods prepared in front of you.

Visit the Arc di Triomf (the Catalan version obvs), it's beautiful, I've visited in the rain and it still makes for amazing photographs.

While you're there, visit the park. The fountain is another great photo opp, and who doesn't love a good photo.

And hang out with the mammoth...

Get dressed up and enjoy some tapas. We decided to go to our favourite tapas restaurant out there, Lonja de tapas. It’s not traditional and belongs to a small chain of 4 restaurants, but its modern take on tapas is some of the best we’ve ever had and we tend to recommend it to everyone and make several visits there on each trip. It’s amazing value as well.

Crispy chicken with sweet chilli and sesame dip, patatas bravas and bombas (meatballs wrapped in potato, fried and served with aiolli and spicy tomato sauce)

Ham croquettes, crispy prawns with tartare sauce

Amazing chocolate fondant served with olive oil, sea salt and crisp bread, sounds strange but is so good and really does work. And a mojito for good measure.

Dress from Missguided, boots from Office, necklace from H&M

Get dressed up and do some evening sightseeing with friends at the gothic cathedral in the Gothic Quarter.

(Dress from Missguided, boots from Office)

Visit La Bosc de las Fades or 'the fairy bar'.  A bit of a hidden gem near to the wax museum on La Ramblas that is set out like a woodland with fountains and trees swaying in a breeze.

Visit Montjuic at night to watch the light and music show then climb the steps up to the palace (or take the escalator). This really is worth a visit.

Visit the Nou Camp. I’d done the tour of the stadium on my first ever visit but seeing a game there was quite something. The sheer volume of people was staggering but the atmosphere was much more subdued and there was much more of a family atmosphere with families milling about and some with newborns in full Barcelona kits.

The crazy thing is, this is just a selection of the things you can do in Barcelona. Mount Tibidabo is spectacular if you make it to the top - the views are insane and there's a theme park up there (it also happens to be where I got engaged). Park Guell is beautiful, and again the views are amazing. There's tons of architecture but visit Sagrada Familia, which is breathtaking. I posted all about this on my old blog with a bit more detail, but if you ever want to where you should visit in Barcelona, I'm your girl!