7 years ago I spent 6 weeks in Barcelona doing a study abroad program. During these 6 weeks we basically got to make cool things out of glass and be tourists while sketching in our sketchbooks. All this for college credit 🙂 After about 3 weeks there, I fell in love with the city and it’s art and architecture and people and sangria 😉 Coincidentally, I left a piece of my heart there when I had to go back to the States. I know that sounds beyond cheesy and dumb, but so true. This thing is, I never thought I would go back. Life is short and you want to see new places, so going back to a place you have already been seems silly because you’ve already been there.

Anyways. When Nate and I were planning our Italy trip, we toyed with the idea of also going to Switzerland or Austria. But then I was like, we’re gonna be ONE minute plane ride away fro Barcelona, can we PLEASE go? And Nate said but you’ve already been there! and I said PLEAASEEE but you haven’t been there! And he said OKAY let’s do it. So we booked our flight from Rome to Barca for the last 3 days of our adventure. And if I can be totally honest with you, those last three days were what I was looking forward to for the entire trip.

When we walked up the metro stairs to the familiar square, I had to fight back tears. Sidenote: THIS IS THE CHEESIEST BLOG POST EVER. Don’t care. I was so happy to be there. I kept saying “I can’t believe I’m back!”, I swear it took me almost 24 hours for the reality to actually sink in! I really can’t explain just how good it was to be there, so just know that I was REALLY happy.

Over the next 2.5 days I took Nate to all my favorite tourist spots. I hate being a tourist, I’d much rather find the cool unknowns, but Gaudi’s Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia are both REALLY beautiful and worth it to explore. Mosaics and unique architecture and big ideas! The artist in me loves it. This photo was taken from the very, tippy top of a big hill in Park Guell, and it’s one of my favorite views on earth.

For the rest of our time in Barca was spent walking around and exploring! Barcelona is a big city, but I remembered my way around my favorite areas pretty well and how to get to a lot of not-as-touristy spots. We hung out in the Barceloneta beach/boardwalk area and at Parc de la Citudella, a huge park with a gorgeous fountain/statue in it (below). We also went to the top of the Catedral of Barcelona for another great view. La Boqueria, which is a massive food market, was another stop we had to make because I knew Nate would be amazed at the rows and rows of fresh, colorful, yummy food! We ate empanadas from the market for lunch one day, and also enjoyed a few cups of fresh kiwi and strawberry juices.

One of best part of our days in Barcelona was being able to catch up with friends I had made 7 years ago. Pau and Debbie welcomed me into their friends group at the church I went to and they were dating at that time. Now they are married and have the cutest baby! It was so great (and kind of surreal, as the whole 3 days were) to be able to be there talking and laughing with them in person and not just through a Facebook message!

Showing Nate around Barca was nothing less than awesome. I loved seeing him so amazed at some of my favorite things. He let me reminisce about my summer there, but I somehow managed to hold back from too much reminiscing so that we could make new memories together. And there are so many. Eating really delicious tapas and sangria for dinner our first night. Setting our new Fitbit record on our first day! (26,560 steps!) People watching in the park. Eating the most amazing chocolate croissant. Eating the most amazing roasted chicken with plums (sounds weird but GUYS). Walking to the beach and sitting on the rocks. And so many other things!

Thanks for reading! And let me know if you ever need recs for Barcelona, I could write a novel 🙂 <3