The weeks leading up to our honeymoon were tiring to say the least.  We were busy organizing ALL of our stuff for the move, enjoying our time with friends and family, and spending four days in our new city to find a new place to live.  With all that was going on, and maybe because of a little procrastination too, we did not finish packing our suitcases until 12:30am the day of departure.  That does not sound too bad, except that our alarms were set for 3:00am and the taxi cab arrived at 3:30am.  We hopped into the cab and off to LAX we went.

We boarded the plane for our first leg of the flight and fell fast asleep.  We woke up six hours later in Atlanta, Georgia.  With a four hour layover, we roamed around the airport looking for some food.   Lucky for me, we found a Chick-fil-A.  Chicken nuggets for me and a chicken sandwich for Hubby.  Hubby also picked up a Cinnabon roll for dessert.  Nice and full, we headed to wait out the rest of the time at our gate.  The last leg of the flight was a red-eye into Barcelona, Spain.  With a full day of sight-seeing in Barcelona ahead of us, we needed to get some sleep on this flight.  However, the movies 500 Days of Summer and Imagine That and the food kept us from getting much sleep.

We have arrived!  Let the nine days in Europe begin!

Day 1: Barcelona, Spain

Thankfully, there were only a few people in line to clear customs, so it was quick.  I got my first stamp in my new passport (since changing to my married name)!  We went to the tourist desk and exchanged our voucher for sightseeing bus tickets.  We headed to the Aerobus to take us to Catalunya Plaza, the city center.  It was 5 euros per person, which was significantly cheaper than the supposedly 30 euro taxi ride.  Our hotel, H10 Catalyuna Plaza, was in a great location.  We got off the Aerobus and walked across the plaza square right to our hotel.  The plaza square was also one of the stops for the sightseeing bus, so that gave us easy access.  Since it was early in the morning, our room was not ready yet.  So, we checked-in, dropped off our luggage and headed out to catch the sightseeing bus.

The sightseeing bus is a wonderful way to see all the sights of the city if you have a limited amount of time.  It is also a great way to see all the major points of interest and get a feel for the city before exploring the places you like in detail later.  The sightseeing bus was 21 euros per person for a 1 day tour.  We pre-paid for our tickets in Los Angeles for $33 per person.

We started on the Red Line from Placa de Catalunya.  The next major attraction that was of interest to us was the Sagrada Family Cathedral.  A beautiful church with three uniquely different facades and lots of towers.   It was designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1883 and is still under construction today.

There were several other attractions along the way, but the one that we hopped off the bus to see was the “castle”, or better known as Pavellons de la Finca Guell.  There was a refreshing garden that lead up the path to the building in the photo below.

The next landmark was the Estadi de Futbol Club Barcelona.  Since it was a Saturday, there were a lot of people in the area playing soccer.

The stadium was the last stop on the Red Line before we transferred to the Blue Line at Francesc Macia, or Financial District.  This was also the time when I realized that I was a bad traveler because I forgot to charge my camera battery and did not bring an extra battery.  In other words, our camera died.  Sadly, we continued the journey along the Blue Line without taking any pictures.  Our memories will have to do.  In the Financial District, we tried lunch at Pans & Company.  I had a chicken baguette and Hubby had a hot dog sandwich type thing.  Neither were very good.  Turns out it was a chain fast food place.

As we continued along the Blue Line, we passed several points of interest such as the Placa d’Espanya, Anella Olimpica, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, the World Trade Center, Colom-Museu Maritim, and Port Vell.  From the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, there was a magnificent view of the city of Barcelona.  Definitely worth a stop.  As we arrived back into Catalunya Plaza, it was getting dark and cold, so we headed back to the hotel.  We went into our room and crashed for a much needed nap (and time to charge our camera battery).

Feeling refreshed, I quickly put my camera to work by taking pictures of our cozy little room.  The hotel is older, but everything was clean and well maintained.  The lobby area has a restaurant, a lounge area, and a computer kiosk area.  The room had a queen bed, flat screen tv, closet, vanity area, and bathroom.  It was perfect for our one-night stay, especially because of the central location.

It was time to experience Barcelona at night and of course get some grub.  We walked up Passeig de Gracia along the same path that the Red Line sightseeing bus took us earlier in the day.  We stopped to admire Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Batllo.

As we walked up and down Passeig de Gracia, we saw several different restaurants.  Since we were in Spain, we decided that we should try a tapas place.  We picked Qu Qu and had a pleasant meal.

 
bread with a tomato spread

assorted croquettes

chicken and shrimp entree with fries (we thought this would be a dish, not a skewer)

spicy sausage skewer (this was a skewer; so not what we imagined)

tomato, cheese, and basil salad

tiramisu

The tiramisu was FANTASTIC!  I do not always like tiramisu because it can be too bitter or have too strong of a rum flavor, but this one was light and perfect.  It was a delcious way to end our first day on our honeymoon.