Barcelona is a love song.
We took our first family Euro Getaway since becoming expats and Barcelona did NOT disappoint. We had a few other cities on our list of first trip possibilities, but Barcelona's boast of sun, sangria and historical significance won us over. And the whole trip was just good for the soul.
We arrived late Saturday night and had a quick dinner at a Spanish restaurant near our airbnb and then got the little babe to bed to ensure he [and we] were rested for our first full day in España. Side note: highly recommend airbnb when traveling with/without a baby! It allowed us to have some [super necessary] extra space & feel like we were living like the locals. Someone came to replenish towels & take out trash mid-way through our stay. So we had just enough hotel-like service...I made Jason make the beds ;)
We woke up bright & early on Sunday morning and headed to [Starbucks...then] Montserrat. Home of the most incredible view ever as well as the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. The legend behind Montserrat (which translates to 'saw mountain' in Catalan) is that the mountainous rock was carved by the hands of angels. On the day we visited, the air was cloudy and our position high above these clouds only added to the feeling of majesty and reaffirming the myth of angelic intervention.
If you follow me on instagram then you saw the adorable market and the festival that was also going on while we visited. Sunday is a popular day to explore Montserrat because much of Spain's shopping is closed on Sundays. Many locals and tourists can be found hiking the beautiful mountain. The interior of the abbey was equally as beautiful as the scenery surrounding it.
From there we headed to a nearby vineyard, Oller Del Mas. The most captivating part of this Spanish vineyard [apart from the wine itself!] was the history. It dates back 1000 years, back to the ages of knights & noblemen. The vineyard survived the phylloxera plague that afflicted vineyards across Europe in the 19th Century & has been owned by the same family since the 10th century. I mean...I LOVE a good napa/sonoma vineyard, don't get me wrong...but holy moly. That is history you can taste!
We took this trip with our fellow expat BFF family, the Pearsons. They are loads of fun, super amazing and helpful as we acclimate to our new German-life and awesome to travel with. They love Asher [almost] as much as we do and the kids totally kept him entertained throughout our vacay.
If you have the time, I'd totally recommend this hour-drive outside of Barcelona city. It was a fun juxtaposition against our city experience and ... wine. Duh.
ever yours,
lindsey
