Summer in Barcelona

✈️ Flight into Josep Tarradellas Airport - we arrived mid afternoon from the UK. After a short bus to the terminal, we had around a 30 minute wait to clear immigration 👮♂️. However our luggage was ready to collect as soon as we cleared immigration. Transfer to the city centre (Aerobus 🚐) We decided to travel using the Aerobus. The stop was right outside the terminal and was easy to find. The buses are really frequent (every 10 minutes or so) and there is plenty os seats and space for luggage. We bought our tickets online in advance and showed the QR code to the driver on a mobile phone. You can also pay using cash. What to do? We spent 5 nights in Barcelona and managed to make a good use of our time getting a mix of a city break, beach and good food & wine. 1. Park Guell - this was a really good day out and we spent a couple of hours walking around taking in the scenery. Some of the phots are in this post. You also get god views across the city. 2. Palau de la musica catalana - this is basically a concert hall with nice architecture. It didnt really live up to expectations and we felt it was a waste of money. 3. Balloon museum - I know it doesnt sound like a typical thing to do in Barcelona. But it was such great fun. There are lots of different balloon exhibits including a giant ball pit which was great fun with the kids (teenagers loved it). 4. Poble Espanyol - this was a bit different. There are different streets and zones to the attraction that take you through different regions of Spain. We enjoyed it and the place is full of little shops where you can pick up interesting things. Well worth a visit. Beach visit 🏖️ If you dont like really busy beaches then dont go to the main beach in Barcelona. It is not a great beach anyway and it is overcrowded. I also spoke to a couple of tourists who had their bags stolen on the beach. Instead we went to Sitges. We got a train from Barcelona and it took about 40 minutes to get to Sitges. It is a really nice coastal town and a lot less busy than Barcelona. There are several beaches and none were overcrowded. You are able to hire sun beds and loungers and you can even pay on a card. Places to eat and drink This is a tough one because everyone has different tastes. There are so many restaurants and bars selling tapas that it is really easy to find somewhere decent to eat. I will however call out my favourite restaurant and favourite bar. 🍽️ - El Mercat - we had amazing food in here. Lots of choice on the menu. And it is so reasonably priced too. 🥃- La Whiskeria - this is a whiskey drinkers dream. So many choices on offer. Make some time talking to the staff - they will give you a tour of the place and explain about all the different whiskeys that they have.