Latest / Travel Mug Podcast / Barcelona Adventures: What Meggan Did, Ate, and Saw!

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Barcelona Adventures: What Meggan Did, Ate, and Saw! · Travel Mug Podcast

• 0:00
  hey everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Travel Mug Podcast.
• 0:05
  As always, I'm joined by my partner podcasting.
• 0:07
  Jenn, how are you today?
• 0:08
  And like what have your final weeks of summer looked like?
• 0:12
  Yeah, I mean I had my, um, annual trip to Wolfville Nova Scotia with, uh, my mom and some friends last week, so that was lovely and a nice little local getaway.
• 0:25
  But more importantly, you actually got on a plane and traveled, and I haven't heard about your trip yet, so I'm so excited to hear about what you got up to.
• 0:35
  Yes, we have return from Barcelona and I am here to tell you and our listeners about it.
• 0:41
  There has been, of course, a lot of things in the news over the last year or more about over tourism and protests against tourists.
• 0:49
  And Barcelona is also known as the pickpocket capital of the world.
• 0:53
  So what was my experience?
• 0:55
  Let's get into it.
• 0:57
  Yes.
• 0:57
  I know that Barcelona wasn't really on your radar until recently.
• 1:03
  How was your travel?
• 1:04
  I know you had a direct flight from Halifax.
• 1:06
  How did all of that go?
• 1:07
  Yeah, so we flew WestJet , direct to Barcelona from Halifax.
• 1:11
  And honestly, this is gonna sound so rude.
• 1:14
  It was one of the main reasons we chose Barcelona.
• 1:17
  You are definitely right.
• 1:18
  We hadn't really thought too much about it before.
• 1:21
  So the direct flight was quite appealing because not many people love connections.
• 1:26
  Yeah.
• 1:27
  Nah, not, it's not for me.
• 1:28
  No, uh, the flight was, you know, the flight over to Barcelona was event less on a large scale because that's definitely what you love about travel when nothing happens in that regard.
• 1:40
  But the plane was pretty cramped.
• 1:41
  It was a little bit older and the leg room was minimal.
• 1:45
  We did have a baby right behind us.
• 1:47
  It was an overnight flight, but to be honest, she did great.
• 1:50
  Her and her parents slept most of the night and like.
• 1:53
  Lucky for them.
• 1:55
  Yeah.
• 1:56
  Amazing.
• 1:56
  I did not.
• 1:57
  , So besides the leg room, I do think I had a hot flash for like the first half of the flight.
• 2:04
  Yeah, I, I did get up because I remembered our travel tip Tuesday about getting up and walking around, so I actually listened to our own advice, so I did do that.
• 2:13
  So that was a good experience to sort of get up and stretch my legs.
• 2:18
  The only real issue is there was a guy right behind Peter who literally probably bathed in his cologne in preparation for the flight, and it was all that we could breathe in for six straight hours.
• 2:31
  Like when we went to the washroom and we came back, the air was fresh at the back of the plane, but then literally within four rows of our seats, you started like, it was a cloud that like hung over the, it was, it was terrible.
• 2:47
  And I think it's like seared into my soul.
• 2:49
  I'm pretty sure the smell.
• 2:51
  Um, yes.
• 2:53
  So people just put deodorant on for flights and leave it at that.
• 2:57
  for real, this person has not listened to our pet peeves on the airlines episode.
• 3:04
  That was obvious.
• 3:05
  That was real, and he was talking to the guy next to him.
• 3:08
  Seemed like a lovely man, but I hated him immediately.
• 3:11
  I mean, that's That's He was.
• 3:14
  He was, he was an enemy right away.
• 3:18
  So on the flight home, the flight was less full and the row in front of us ended up being empty.
• 3:23
  So we did ask to move, and the flight attendant did tell us it was a paid row with extra leg room.
• 3:29
  So people literally paid to get into that row.
• 3:31
  But she's like, I'm gonna walk away, and if you choose to move, so be it.
• 3:36
  I just didn't tell you you could, but i'm simply walking away and we're like, okay, bye.
• 3:42
  So we did move to that row and it was glorious.
• 3:46
  The seats included free booze.
• 3:48
  We did not want any at this point.
• 3:50
  Um, but the leg room was amazing.
• 3:52
  The fresh air was perfect.
• 3:53
  There were zero babies within our vicinity.
• 3:56
  It was a true do-over from the flight over to Barcelona, and this one was longer.
• 4:01
  It took seven hours to get home, so it worked out perfectly.
• 4:04
  Mm. And what time of day did you leave barcelona?
• 4:08
  Our flight was at 1120.
• 4:10
  We did not leave until 1155 out of the gate, and we were on the
• 4:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: 05 PM.
• 4:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay.
• 4:19
  ground in Halifax at like 2: S five hour time change.
• 4:21
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 4:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And WestJet uses terminal two in Barcelona, which is actually the domestic terminal at that airport.
• 4:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So it was honestly a pretty chill experience overall because it wasn't all the international comings and goings.
• 4:34
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Terminal one, of course is bigger.
• 4:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , So we actually had a pretty smooth experience arriving, going through customs, literally Jenn at customs going into Spain.
• 4:44
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The man didn't ask us a question or speak to us.
• 4:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: He took our passports, he stamped our passports, he handed our passports back, and that was passport control.
• 4:55
  ground in Halifax at like 2: All right.
• 4:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Uh, amazing.
• 4:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There was not I, I said to Peter, I'm like, he didn't ask us anything.
• 5:01
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Peter's like, it's just different here, I guess.
• 5:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I'm like, okay.
• 5:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I guess I.
• 5:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: it was, I mean, welcome to Spain.
• 5:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 5:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 5:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay.
• 5:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So tell me about getting from the airport to your accommodations.
• 5:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Right, I hate this part.
• 5:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I hate planning this part.
• 5:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Like you've just landed in a new place, you're tired, you have all of your stuff.
• 5:25
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Like, it's like overwhelming.
• 5:26
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So how did that part go?
• 5:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yes.
• 5:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So I would say from the airport I had researched all of the travel options and we decided after a red eye that we wanted the most direct easy option.
• 5:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So we did go for a cab to get to our place.
• 5:44
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So in the Facebook group I was a part of, people said to be aware of some cabbie as they tried to up the cost on the meter or charge you if you had luggage.
• 5:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But honestly we had zero issues.
• 5:58
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was a lot of fear, moning, I felt like.
• 6:00
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And the ride from the airport to our street where we stayed was 35 euros, which was reasonable.
• 6:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, and we were fine to pay that because honestly it was so simple.
• 6:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was worth the 35 Euros.
• 6:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The bus would've been cheaper.
• 6:12
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It would've been like $7, but it would take you to one of the metro stations.
• 6:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We would then had to get a cab from there after zero sleep.
• 6:21
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was just fine to pay that.
• 6:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And then to get back to the airport, we actually used Uber and it cost us 32 euros plus a tip.
• 6:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And it was also a very smooth experience and as an FYI, we gave ourselves three hours in advance of leaving the Barcelona airport.
• 6:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But like I mentioned in terminal two, everything was less busy and the lines weren't bad at all.
• 6:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And this was an experience at 8:30 AM on a Monday.
• 6:46
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Again, I can't speak for terminal one, um, but terminal two was no problem.
• 6:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Sweet.
• 6:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Well that's really nice 'cause there's nothing worse than like being rushed like at the airport.
• 6:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: that's exactly it.
• 6:58
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And again, you hear, um, people saying like, oh, you should be here X, Y, and z, and three hours is pretty standard.
• 7:05
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And I kind of go by that and we were there probably two hours and 50 minutes early and had lots of time.
• 7:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 7:12
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Awesome.
• 7:13
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay, so you've taken a cab.
• 7:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Tell me about your accommodations.
• 7:17
  ground in Halifax at like 2: How did you end up picking the neighborhood that you stayed in?
• 7:21
  ground in Halifax at like 2: What was it like?
• 7:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Did you have a good experience there?
• 7:24
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So before we went and we were planning on our accommodation, we kind of actually asked chat GBT, like what were the popular, areas of Barcelona where people stayed?
• 7:33
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And there's a lot of different opinions on that because it really does depend on what you are looking for in your vacation.
• 7:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: What we usually do is look at the different neighborhoods and then take street view on Google and look around.
• 7:46
  ground in Halifax at like 2: What is, what does it look like?
• 7:47
  ground in Halifax at like 2: As much as you can tell from that, and we stayed, uh, we ended up choosing a spot in the Sant Antoni neighborhood, and I cannot recommend it enough.
• 7:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There were so many shops and bars and restaurants, and it was mostly locals and some tourist, and it was the perfect mix and we loved it.
• 8:05
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We were easily from there, able to get to other parts of the city via bus or metro, and we always felt so much like calmer when we got back to where we were staying because it was just less peopley.
• 8:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's like when, it's like in Halifax, when you go to Dartmouth and you come back to the Halifax, you just automatically like feel better.
• 8:25
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, so the vibe in the neighborhood, it really was incredible.
• 8:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And we would personally never stay close.
• 8:32
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Now that I know to the popular tourist attractions as there were simply too many people and things did cost more.
• 8:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The prices in our area we stayed, actually were quite reasonable and it felt local.
• 8:46
  ground in Halifax at like 2: As far as the accommodation itself.
• 8:47
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So we stayed in a legal flat that we had booked months ago.
• 8:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I know that a bunch of places were uh, taken offline because they were illegal illegally being rented.
• 8:58
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And we did learn though, from the proprietor who rented us the flat for the week that, and he has about 20 of those types of apartments.
• 9:07
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's kind of a business for him, that after 2028, they are no longer going to be able to do that.
• 9:13
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's literally going to be illegal.
• 9:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yikes.
• 9:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, so he has to sort of decide if he's going to sell his apartments, if he's going to rent them out to locals.
• 9:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So the government is trying to change things for better, for the citizens.
• 9:26
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So yes, we definitely didn't stay at a hotel.
• 9:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We did stay in a flat that we had booked before the whole big kerfuffle with Airbnb and stuff had come up.
• 9:34
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But it is still good to know that by that time, uh, the changes will be made.
• 9:39
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Our apartment was pretty basic, but it was quiet.
• 9:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It had everything we needed, including bars and restaurants, and , those were literally steps away from our front door.
• 9:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I do wanna mention, uh, that all accommodations in Barcelona, no matter what type you are staying in, if it is legal, will come with a tourism tax, which is generally collected separately on arrival, and it is per person up to seven nights.
• 10:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And the rates vary based on the accommodation type.
• 10:07
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay.
• 10:08
  ground in Halifax at like 2: ours was a flat, and it was 93 euros for both of us for the time that we were there.
• 10:14
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And they will also ask for your passport.
• 10:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So that is common practice, Yeah, that's a really good point because I always see people in travel Facebook groups asking if it's normal for accommodations to ask for passport info, and people are like afraid that they're being scammed and obviously like don't give out your passport info like willy nilly to anybody who ask, but like in this case of accommodations, it is like perfectly common and and necessary in this case.
• 10:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, and, and when I think of it, a lot of international accommodations from our past trips also asked for our passports when we checked in.
• 10:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Also, do resorts down south, they also want your passport information.
• 10:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So those are the types of places I feel Okay giving it.
• 10:55
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But you're right, just don't go throwing your info around willy-nilly.
• 10:59
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yes.
• 11:00
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay.
• 11:01
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So how was getting around the city once you were there?
• 11:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Did you use public transport, uh, to get around at all?
• 11:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, so Barcelona is a very walkable city, so unless you need to use cabs or Ubers for whatever reason, or bolt, I guess is also, uh, works there, you won't need to.
• 11:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Besides to and from the airport, we didn't take one taxi our entire stay, and we did walk over 10,000 steps every day we were there including our first day of arrival.
• 11:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I don't know what we were thinking.
• 11:32
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We're probably walking zombies, but anyway, we were walking, whatever.
• 11:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And that's still with us at least once a day, taking the metro or a bus or a cable car or a funicular depending on the day's activities.
• 11:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So a lot of walking.
• 11:45
  ground in Halifax at like 2: As far as the cost of local transportation, we purchased the T Casual it was called, it's a Metro Pass and it was 10 one-way rides for around 13 euros each.
• 11:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There's also a pass called the T Usual, and that is for unlimited use for 30 days, and you need to actually enter an ID number when you purchase it.
• 12:07
  ground in Halifax at like 2: You actually enter like your passport number.
• 12:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: This is a willy nilly one, so they want an ID number in the machine, and then you have to have that document with you in case you are asked for it, it's kind of serious business.
• 12:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So I understand that rarely probably happens, like we didn't see anybody doing anything like that.
• 12:27
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, but I didn't really wanna give my passport number, although that was a, probably a better deal at 23 euros for unlimited rides.
• 12:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Mm-hmm.
• 12:37
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I guess it's really up to you.
• 12:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We just went T casual and then we reloaded it once and overall spent about 24 euros each, so around the same cost.
• 12:46
  ground in Halifax at like 2: If you're staying within Barcelona, choose zone one.
• 12:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It can be confusing because there's lots of zones to choose from when you're purchasing the card.
• 12:53
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And we were able to use that card for the Metro buses and the funicular up to Montjuic.
• 12:58
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , And if you follow Google Maps for Transportation, which you should, it is amazingly easy.
• 13:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We had no issues at all.
• 13:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It literally walks you to the train station, tells you which train to get on, tells you which direction you're going, which stop how many stops.
• 13:12
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Like it can't be any easier.
• 13:14
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And I find that when you like take public transportation while you're traveling, like it feels like you've conquered travel Yeah, it does when you like successfully get where you're going, uh, with public transportation.
• 13:27
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's so true.
• 13:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It gives you like a high for it, it's a traveler's high indeed.
• 13:33
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I love that so much.
• 13:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And can I also just like say that I'm so happy that I live in the time where Google Maps can literally like walk me through exactly everything.
• 13:44
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Oh yeah, I just, I mean, I did, I did travel before having a cell phone to like literally walk you through step by step.
• 13:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But man, I'm so glad I live in this time it.
• 13:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: with Like Maps.
• 13:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: when you, right.
• 13:58
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And when you leave your apartment and it tells you which way to turn, walk seven minutes to this train station, go down.
• 14:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There's two options, of course, directions to go.
• 14:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It tells you which one to take.
• 14:08
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Like, it's brilliant.
• 14:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I mean, there's, there's trouble of course, you know, there's whatever you wanna say about big corporations, but I'm grateful for that.
• 14:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Samesies.
• 14:19
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 14:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: so let's talk about what you actually did while you were in Barcelona.
• 14:24
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I know when we were talking on a recent travel tip Tuesday episode that you pre-booked a few things and then opted to stop pre-booking because there was too many things to do.
• 14:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So how did it go and what did you get up to?
• 14:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, so this might be a little bit, uh, long-winded, but we did a couple cool things and I wanna make sure that I fill people in in case they want to include these on their itinerary or not really at the end of the day.
• 14:50
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, so of course, first and foremost, Sagrada Familia, it is from the Mind of famed architect Antoni Gaudi.
• 14:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882, Wow.
• 15:02
  ground in Halifax at like 2: still is.
• 15:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I mean, same with my house.
• 15:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Uh oh.
• 15:07
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Did Gaudi design yours as well?
• 15:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Sadly, no, no.
• 15:12
  ground in Halifax at like 2: That might be better off.
• 15:13
  ground in Halifax at like 2: 'cause his, his mind was his a wondrous place.
• 15:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, and this is the number one tourist attraction in Barcelona.
• 15:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We got there Sunday, we decided to do it Monday.
• 15:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Start off the big things with a bang.
• 15:24
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It is, I'm gonna call it a beautiful monstrosity.
• 15:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: that's Okay.
• 15:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We bought tickets two months in advance.
• 15:33
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, if you choose to go up in one of the towers, the overall cost on their official website was 36 euros per person.
• 15:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: People I saw in the group were buying tickets elsewhere and paying a lot more.
• 15:45
  ground in Halifax at like 2: They don't need to cost that much.
• 15:47
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Please try to buy them directly from the website.
• 15:50
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And there is no such thing as skip the line.
• 15:53
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So if you are buying tickets somewhere and they're like, come with us and skip the line, that's not a thing.
• 15:59
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Don't do We all have to get in line, put our bags through the metal detectors.
• 16:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's all the same thing.
• 16:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And they do have a QR code around the perimeter so you can scan it for same day tickets, but I would never rely on doing this unless you find yourself all of a sudden in Barcelona like you are.
• 16:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: could happen.
• 16:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: mean, you never know.
• 16:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, now was it worth it?
• 16:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I would say yes.
• 16:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was beautiful, especially on the inside.
• 16:26
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The stained glass was incredible.
• 16:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was very unique, lots to look at.
• 16:32
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And we did the nativity tower, which also gave us great views of the city.
• 16:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Uh, at the highest point.
• 16:37
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It of course, was busy, but in my opinion, you shouldn't skip it.
• 16:42
  ground in Halifax at like 2: You can do a guided tour.
• 16:44
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , And our general ticket also included an audio guide you can download from the app.
• 16:49
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So some things are popular for a reason.
• 16:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Does that make sense?
• 16:53
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I mean, I, I agree.
• 16:54
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, Yeah.
• 16:55
  ground in Halifax at like 2: sure.
• 16:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Now on the same day as we went to Sagrada Familia, we ended up just heading out on a walk and we ended up at the port, which is called Port Vell.
• 17:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Kind of just a peaceful, nice spot, uh, where we sat on a bench, looked at the seabirds, the marina.
• 17:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: This however, I wanted to mention, because this is where we had our one tourist trap meal, so.
• 17:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We didn't have a plan for supper that night.
• 17:17
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I try, you know, to be, to be flexible.
• 17:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , So we were just gonna find a place and we happened to be down there by the port and there was a mall, which maybe should have been like my first inclination.
• 17:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But from afar they had this sign over, this cool pedestrian bridge, which I did know about and I did wanna walk over.
• 17:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But the cool pedestrian bridge led us to what they described at the mall as food heaven.
• 17:39
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Oh, Yeah.
• 17:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Hmm.
• 17:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Okay.
• 17:42
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I, I know, I know.
• 17:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And it just wasn't, right?
• 17:45
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So, and it was unfortunate because this is where we were when we were hungry.
• 17:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 17:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: needed to eat.
• 17:53
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So yeah.
• 17:54
  ground in Halifax at like 2: anyway, we went up there.
• 17:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: All we could find at first was booze, but then we eventually found a couple places actually selling food, and we ended up getting a Frankfurter and potatoes.
• 18:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was fine, but it was also frigging for both of us, 36 Euros.
• 18:08
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yikes.
• 18:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Hmm.
• 18:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: we knew we had been had like, but we just ate in quiet and thought this is, this is not worth it.
• 18:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But the view from where we sat and ate these frankfurters was amazing.
• 18:19
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And it is where we got our first glimpse of the gothic quarter, which is where we headed afterwards.
• 18:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So I did thank it for that because I was like, what's over there?
• 18:27
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And then I was like, we must go there next.
• 18:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 18:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: the gothic quarter is where the city has its origins and also where you can find the Barcelona History Museum.
• 18:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I thought you'd be so proud that I went to a museum.
• 18:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: you go to the museum?
• 18:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I, I am very proud of you.
• 18:44
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I know, I, I thought of you the whole time 'cause I'm like, I can't wait to tell her., And it was actually really good.
• 18:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So for like seven Euros 30, you can visit the museum and go under the city to see the foundation of the original city from the first century when the Romans founded it.
• 19:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Oh, I know cool.
• 19:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: it was amazing to see and there was really old artifacts there, and it was super worth it for the price of admission.
• 19:12
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Now I fell in love in general with the gothic quarter.
• 19:16
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's spooky, yet beautiful.
• 19:19
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Uh, it has like obviously these twisty turdy streets and alleys, and this is also where you can see the Barcelona Cathedral.
• 19:26
  ground in Halifax at like 2: You can also buy tickets to that and go inside.
• 19:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We were there after it was closed because we kind of stumbled upon the area, but it was big and beautiful in its own right.
• 19:34
  ground in Halifax at like 2: We sat in front of it and gazed upon it for a while.
• 19:37
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , Also in the gothic quarter there are many bars and restaurants and shops plus the Pont del Bisbe or Bisbe.
• 19:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I apologize if I'm pronouncing that incorrectly, but it is the iconic Neogothic balcony dating back to 1928.
• 19:50
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Apparently it's Instagrammable.
• 19:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There are reasons I'm sure it was built.
• 19:55
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But to me it just looked like a Balcony.
• 19:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But I took a picture'cause I'm like, I'm here.
• 19:59
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And I'm sure I'm missing the point, but that's okay sometimes too.
• 20:03
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And also nearby in an Instagram-able moment is the mural.
• 20:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The world comes to life with each kiss.
• 20:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Peter just rolled his eyes at the whole thing.
• 20:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: 'cause you could tell there were just like teens there trying to get a picture of it.
• 20:15
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But the mural is kind of like on this random wall and it's made up of like from afar you see like mouths.
• 20:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Kissing, but when you get up close, making up the mural is tiny little other individual pictures.
• 20:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's actually kind of cute.
• 20:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But anyway, he was just like, alright.
• 20:33
  ground in Halifax at like 2: He's like, this is silly.
• 20:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And I'm like, I'm gonna get a picture anyway.
• 20:37
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Oh, Yes.
• 20:39
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Anyway, but the gothic quarter, like if you are thinking of staying there, there's nothing I can say against it because it was really, really cool.
• 20:47
  ground in Halifax at like 2: awesome.
• 20:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yes.
• 20:49
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Alright, next, uh, Montjuic.
• 20:50
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So you can go up, it's a, uh, a hill, a mountain ish and sort of in the middle of the city.
• 20:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: You can go up there by escalators at the National Palace, which is actually now an art museum.
• 21:02
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But it was originally built, uh, for the 1929 International exhibition, and then it was turned into a museum after that was over or down the road.
• 21:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Once you're up there, you can visit the gardens and the 1992 Olympic Park area, as well as the Montjuic castle.
• 21:18
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Now, the castle we also went to, and it requires a funicular from one of the train stations, which is included if you have the pass because you're already underground, uh, you've taken a train to get there, then you have to do a cable car, which was , 17 euros per person.
• 21:34
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The ride was only about 10 minutes, so I was like.
• 21:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, that's cut a little steep, so to speak as you went up in the cable car.
• 21:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , And then it's another cost to enter the castle, so 12 euros per person, Yikes.
• 21:47
  ground in Halifax at like 2: so it does give you really great views of the city from all sides, which was great.
• 21:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: But we did feel it was, the castle itself was a little bit money grab-ish.
• 21:56
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Mm-hmm.
• 21:57
  ground in Halifax at like 2: individual thing costs you to do it.
• 22:01
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And then you can get great views for free, right from the palace that I mentioned earlier, or just walk up the hill a little bit further.
• 22:08
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So the castle, which is kind of honestly just like a fort, not even really a castle, was not a highlight personally.
• 22:14
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So we did it, but I wouldn't do it again because I kind of thought it was just a little bit nickel and dime ish.
• 22:21
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I mean, that's, that makes sense.
• 22:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And it's like good to know that like if that, if people like look it up and they're like, wow, I really wanna do that.
• 22:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Just know that it is gonna cost Yeah.
• 22:31
  ground in Halifax at like 2: costs.
• 22:32
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And if you're like, oh, that is not worth it to me, then all right, move Right.
• 22:36
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And that happens for sure.
• 22:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah.
• 22:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Next I wanna talk about another area called Parc de la Ciutadella.
• 22:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So with Ciutadella, if I'm not saying that right, uh, equals Citadel in English and also in the same area was the Arc de Triomf, not the Parisian one though.
• 22:52
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And we loved this area.
• 22:54
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So there are so many parakeets and other birds flying around.
• 22:59
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There was a man there feeding the parakeets as soon as we went and I thought, this is where I'm supposed to be.
• 23:04
  ground in Halifax at like 2: , And he had like, , handfuls of sunflower seeds and we went over and I just wanted to be close to the parakeets, of course.
• 23:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And he came over with this big grin and he like put sunflower seeds in my hand and then they landed on me and ate for my hand.
• 23:17
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And I thought I can die now.
• 23:20
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Like it.
• 23:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: we're opposite people.
• 23:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: If a bird touched me, I would lose my I felt like I'd been like chosen by an angel.
• 23:29
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I was like little parakeet friend, and there was three on me at once.
• 23:33
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Oh, it was heaven.
• 23:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I loved that man for giving me those sunflower seeds.
• 23:38
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Anyway, so that was cool.
• 23:40
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The birds were awesome and there were some really great green space there.
• 23:43
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Which Barcelona, one thing I have to say, has very little of.
• 23:48
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Interesting.
• 23:49
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yes.
• 23:49
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Here you can also see the Arc de Triomf.
• 23:51
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There's a beautiful fountain, which is very opulent in the park, and uh, it was Antoni Gaudi actually worked on that fountain as an assistant.
• 24:00
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Um, the park was once a citadel, but it was demolished and made into Barcelona's first park.
• 24:06
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So this was actually the first park in the city, and it then it was transformed for the 1888 Universal Exposition and then the Arc de Triomf, which does, I mean, it is a big archway that was built as a gateway to the exposition in the park.
• 24:21
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Mm-hmm.
• 24:22
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So we went back there a couple times.
• 24:23
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Really loved the area.
• 24:24
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There were people doing like, groups of people doing group workouts.
• 24:28
  ground in Halifax at like 2: There were people feeding the birds.
• 24:30
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It was, it was actually really lovely there.
• 24:32
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I have to say, that was probably one of my favorite parts of the city.
• 24:35
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Yeah, sounds like good vibes unless you're terrified of birds.
• 24:39
  ground in Halifax at like 2: I don't recommend the parakeets for you at all.
• 24:41
  ground in Halifax at like 2: This makes me so sad.
• 24:42
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Well, we can't, we can't like, you know, all the same things.
• 24:45
  ground in Halifax at like 2: It's true.
• 24:46
  ground in Halifax at like 2: The other thing we booked in advance, besides Sagrada Familia was Parc Güell also from the mind of Antoni Gaudi, Parc Güell, uh, was started with what he envisioned being a community that he would build of like fun, fancy, whimsical houses, but it did not pan out.
• 25:02
  ground in Halifax at like 2: And now you can visit the houses that were constructed as well as really cool viaducts and other tile work.
• 25:09
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Honestly.
• 25:10
  ground in Halifax at like 2: Absolutely beautiful.
• 25:11
  ground in Halifax at like 2: His mind was a magical place.
• 25:13
  ground in Halifax at like 2: So we did buy our tickets about a month in advance.
• 25:15
  We chose the 10: 00 AM as the entry time because we didn't wanna be there, like right at opening.
• 25:21
  We chose the 10: Now that I look back, it's probably good to go early.
• 25:24
  We chose the 10: It's gonna be busy no matter what, but.
• 25:26
  We chose the 10: I, I think people were probably there at like 8:30 trying to get in because it was like packed by the time we got there.
• 25:33
  We chose the 10: You can do a tour if you wish.
• 25:35
  We chose the 10: We did not.
• 25:36
  We chose the 10: Of course, as you know, we're not tour people and our general admission tickets were 18 euros each.
• 25:41
  We chose the 10: It was warm even at that time of the day.
• 25:44
  We chose the 10: , And there's a huge, if you go into the main entrance, there's a huge, huge hill to walk up.
• 25:50
  We chose the 10: Okay.
• 25:51
  We chose the 10: And, and then there's two escalators that kind of like get you the rest of the way.
• 25:55
  We chose the 10: So once we were in there, it was only like 10:00 AM and it was boiling.
• 25:58
  We chose the 10: So we actually sat in on a bench under some trees, like cooled off, and then we went out into the fray of people to get some photos.
• 26:06
  We chose the 10: It was worth a visit and we did enjoy it, but just keep in mind you're not gonna have it to yourself like, like it was very busy and like there were lines to get into the two houses that were there and stuff, and we didn't, we didn't go in.
• 26:18
  We chose the 10: You could also go into what was originally Gaudi's house when he did live there as well.
• 26:23
  We chose the 10: So that's another option if you wish.
• 26:25
  We chose the 10: Gotcha.
• 26:26
  We chose the 10: I dunno if this is gonna come out in the recording, but while Meggan was talking, all I could hear was a bird like squawking.
• 26:33
  We chose the 10: And I'm like, it's, it's taunting me It's, or saying that.
• 26:38
  We chose the 10: I'm like, don't love it's a bird karma.
• 26:41
  We chose the 10: It's bird karma.
• 26:43
  We chose the 10: they're coming haven't hit 40 yet.
• 26:44
  We chose the 10: Maybe we'll talk again when you've hit 40 and see if you like birds better.
• 26:48
  We chose the 10: Alright, well check in in five years.
• 26:49
  We chose the 10: All right.
• 26:51
  We chose the 10: Okay.
• 26:51
  We chose the 10: What else did you get up To finish off the Gaudi attractions.
• 26:54
  We chose the 10: So there's also Casa Batlló and Casa Milà.
• 26:57
  We chose the 10: Casa Batlló is the more unique and beautiful of the two.
• 27:00
  We chose the 10: It was designed actually as a personal home for a client.
• 27:04
  We chose the 10: Casa Milà was also a private residence and the last one designed by Gaudi.
• 27:09
  We chose the 10: You can go into both.
• 27:11
  We chose the 10: You should buy your tickets in advance.
• 27:12
  We chose the 10: We chose not to buy tickets, , for that, but we did go and see the outside and his his mind really was something else.
• 27:19
  We chose the 10: And both spots are within walking distance to one another.
• 27:21
  We chose the 10: So if you go to the area, you can cover both at once.
• 27:25
  We chose the 10: And it was in an area where it was very high-end, like all the high-end shops were there, like Tiffany, like everything that you could imagine High end was also in that area.
• 27:35
  We chose the 10: Gotcha.
• 27:36
  We chose the 10: The big thing we did, 'cause I know we talked, just you and I personally about what we were gonna do, like in terms of day trips and stuff.
• 27:42
  We chose the 10: And so Montserrat, this was the only day trip we ended up taking, as we found there were so much to do in the city, which isn't a bad thing.
• 27:50
  We chose the 10: And we also didn't want to over schedule our days.
• 27:54
  We chose the 10: So we went on a Friday.
• 27:55
  We chose the 10: 'cause I fi figured like the weekend, it would probably be busier.
• 27:59
  We chose the 10: , We thought, okay, well we have Friday free, let's do it.
• 28:02
  We chose the 10: And we bought our tickets the same morning we went.
• 28:06
  We chose the 10: So that was very easy.
• 28:07
  We chose the 10: Uh, it, we did buy the full meal deal ticket and that cost us 69 .90 euros per person.
• 28:14
  We chose the 10: That included the hour long train ride to and from.
• 28:18
  We chose the 10: Uh, it included either a cog train or a cable car up and down the mountain.
• 28:23
  We chose the 10: We chose the cable car'cause it was faster.
• 28:26
  We chose the 10: There's two funiculars you can take once you're up there to get higher views.
• 28:30
  We chose the 10: Uh, all of the religious buildings, including seeing the Black Madonna, which I'm going to be very honest, we didn't really have any interest in seeing those things, but we wanted to have the option just in case.
• 28:43
  We chose the 10: And it also included a buffet lunch.
• 28:46
  We chose the 10: Hmm, Oh, there.
• 28:47
  We chose the 10: I know.
• 28:48
  We chose the 10: And we had to search for that lunch and I was finding it and I did.
• 28:51
  We chose the 10: Um, so we did just go for the views.
• 28:53
  We chose the 10: We did some hiking, we had our buffet lunch.
• 28:56
  We chose the 10: We tried to take it all in and without doing like the major hikes and I'm talking, there were long hikes to get to some of these religious buildings.
• 29:04
  We chose the 10: We didn't go into the other religious buildings that weren't on hikes.
• 29:08
  We chose the 10: We still were gone seven hours door to door.
• 29:12
  We chose the 10: So that is something to keep in mind, that if you wanna do all the things up there, you should get.
• 29:17
  And we left on the 10: 36 train in the morning.
• 29:20
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: 36.
• 29:23
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: It goes on 36 after the hour.
• 29:25
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: I would go the earliest as possible if you intend to do all of it, because it is a long day and we were exhausted.
• 29:33
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: There's also a couple of hostels up there.
• 29:35
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Oh, So if you wanted to plan ahead, you could stay if you like, but the views were amazing.
• 29:41
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: The highest funicular up, the view from there was really incredible.
• 29:45
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: It was a tiring, but a really great day.
• 29:48
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: oh, awesome.
• 29:49
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: I know.
• 29:49
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: And the last thing I wanted to mention was Barceloneta Beach.
• 29:52
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So this is a beach quite close to us.
• 29:54
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: We were able to walk there within like I think like 30 or 35 minutes.
• 29:59
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Um, there are a few beach options, so definitely do your research on that.
• 30:02
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: But we walked to this beach one evening to be able to touch the me Mediterranean sea.
• 30:06
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: This was actually our first time on the Mediterranean.
• 30:09
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: I know.
• 30:10
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So we wanted to do that and we kind of wanna just check out the beach scene.
• 30:13
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: We were there a little bit later, so we were there in the evening, but there were still lots of people on the beach on blankets playing volleyball.
• 30:19
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: It was really kind of like chill cool scene.
• 30:21
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: We did not go to the beach during the day while we were there because we knew we wouldn't be able to go into the water together because you can't leave your stuff alone.
• 30:30
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Yeah.
• 30:31
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So we were like, what fun is that?
• 30:32
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: And then we're, when you get to the beach to go into the water, it's kind of, the sand has washed up, so there's kind of a big hill.
• 30:39
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So we wouldn't have even been able to see one another while we were in the water.
• 30:44
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So we were, I, I was fine with that.
• 30:46
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Um, I didn't mind not going to the beach, but I'm really glad we went.
• 30:50
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: We sort of sat and stayed there for probably half hour, 45 minutes just checking out the scene.
• 30:55
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: It wa it, it is worth it.
• 30:56
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: It's cool.
• 30:57
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Yeah.
• 30:58
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Oh, that sounds so nice.
• 30:59
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: I'm so glad you got to do all of those super fun things.
• 31:02
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So let's talk about like one of our favorite topics, which is food, obviously.
• 31:09
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: So where did you eat?
• 31:10
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: How was the food?
• 31:11
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: What was that like?
• 31:12
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Yeah, we ate a lot of our breakfast at our flat with yogurt, bananas.
• 31:16
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: We did buy some coffee and whatnot, and otherwise we had a few meals planned, but mostly just chose to sort of eat by the seat of our pants wherever we were.
• 31:25
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: As you can tell, with the food heaven, which was not, , or based on recommendations from people that we met.
• 31:31
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Breakfast is not a huge thing there.
• 31:33
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Like our traditional breakfast in North America is really not a thing there.
• 31:38
  So there was a 9: 36 train, maybe 8: Um, they're not really into that.
• 31:40
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: 00 PM and supper is usually 8:00 PM onward.
• 31:45
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But having said that, like if you're listening to this thinking of going, like, don't fret though, you're always gonna be able to find something to eat as they do cater to other times.
• 31:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: There's always a bakery, there's always something.
• 31:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And I did kind of worry about that because we're not late eaters, but it was not an issue at all.
• 32:02
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Awesome.
• 32:02
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 32:04
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: A few places that we did try, um, but these aren't all of them.
• 32:07
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But there is a chain there called 365 and apparently, um, it is open 365 days a year.
• 32:15
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's really just, uh, sandwiches, a cafe.
• 32:18
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's quick and easy lunch at a reasonable price, but like longer baguette sandwiches that still felt European, so it didn't feel like I was at Subway, so that was good.
• 32:28
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, and there are many of those throughout the city.
• 32:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's really affordable.
• 32:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I'm not a, I don't wanna linger too long for lunch, so it was perfect that way.
• 32:36
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, we did meet a bartender at one of the bars I'll mention later.
• 32:39
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: He recommended a, he was Italian himself and he recommended an Italian place, so I felt like I could trust him.
• 32:46
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yep.
• 32:46
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And we did end up going back twice and it was called Spaccanapoli.
• 32:50
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And it was a, it was delicious.
• 32:52
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, there is another chain there called Las Muns, so this is empanadas.
• 32:58
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Empanadas are huge thing here.
• 33:01
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I love a, I love a little pastry with a delicious filling.
• 33:04
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Same.
• 33:05
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 33:06
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: are.
• 33:06
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So you could go to las Muns, but honestly, you could go to a lot of different bakeries.
• 33:10
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Just try the empanadas.
• 33:11
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I can't say this enough.
• 33:13
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, we did go to Gallo Nero.
• 33:15
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It was in the gothic quarter.
• 33:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: They had great flatbread pizza, really reasonable wine places.
• 33:21
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I highly suggest finding a non touristy bakery.
• 33:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So come to Sant Antoni essentially, but any area that's not like a really, really touristy find one of those.
• 33:31
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Stuff is so reasonable and make sure you get some gelato.
• 33:34
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I also had some really delicious gelato.
• 33:35
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: There's lots of gelato shops all over.
• 33:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: One special place we did go was Bar Cordoba or Cordoba.
• 33:42
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I'm not sure exactly how you say it, but it's just outside of what is officially the city limits of Barcelona.
• 33:47
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And it is a place that Anthony Bourdain had been.
• 33:50
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: He talked about it on one of his shows, and I really wanted to visit.
• 33:53
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We had good tapas while we were there and it was very local, which was nice as well.
• 33:57
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: A quite a long train ride to get there, so that was also good.
• 34:00
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And then groceries, super reasonable.
• 34:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Wine is super cheap.
• 34:04
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like we had a good bottle of wine and it cost us 2 99.
• 34:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Oh, Europe.
• 34:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Right?
• 34:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Every video we've watched of Europe, it's almost the exact same thing I say every time.
• 34:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I'm like, oh, Europe.
• 34:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I know.
• 34:20
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Anyway, I I, the food was great.
• 34:23
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: You know, tapas is like a, like a religion there.
• 34:27
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, I do wanna mention some bars that we went to that I, I would recommend, um, most of them in the Sant Antoni area, which is Mr. White Cocktail Bar.
• 34:36
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Really inventive drinks there.
• 34:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Vinito, it was a place for tapas but also wine, uh, right in Sant Antoni as well.
• 34:43
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It was literally like 20 paces from our place.
• 34:47
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, one place in the gothic quarter we did go was Creps al Born.
• 34:51
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's a really fun place with like swinging lamps and they had like Hawaiian type shirts on and it was a fun environment with really fun drinks.
• 34:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Plus they make you crepes if you want some.
• 35:02
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: What could be better All right.
• 35:04
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And then the last place I wanna mention was called Bitter Cocktail Bar, also in Sant Antoni.
• 35:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, we sat at the bar.
• 35:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We met local people, including one of the owners, Nacho, who was from Seville.
• 35:14
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, we had incredible conversations with him and laughs.
• 35:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: He loves Canadians, so whenever his friends would come in, it was a very locals bar, but it was a very high-end, cool drink bar.
• 35:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But when his friends would come in, he would always tell them that we were Canadians and then people would cheer.
• 35:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I was like, I'm like, I guess that's better than booing.
• 35:33
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, but yeah.
• 35:34
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Bitter cocktail bar.
• 35:35
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Can't recommend it enough.
• 35:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Awesome.
• 35:39
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So how did you find the language was, were you able to like get by?
• 35:45
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Obviously Meggan and I don't speak Spanish, as you can tell by our pronunciation in Yes.
• 35:51
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, how did you find that aspect of the trip?
• 35:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Very fair question because in Barcelona they do, they're in the Catalonian region, so they speak Catalan.
• 35:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: , But most people speak Catalan and Spanish or just Spanish.
• 36:04
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It really just depends, obviously, as far as for us, I did find if I started or Peter started our conversations with people, we were trying to be polite as possible.
• 36:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So if we started with hola, they would start talking to us in Spanish, and then there would this be this awkward silence of like.
• 36:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: What?
• 36:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: What the hell did you say?
• 36:21
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 36:22
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: then we would be like, I'm sure we were like deer in headlights.
• 36:25
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It probably looked so stupid.
• 36:26
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So what we started doing after a while was just saying, hello.
• 36:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 36:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: English and then we would mix in, uh, Spanish words to be polite in the rest of the conversation, like Gracias is, or whatever the case might be, because I just found that, of course, if you start with that, they may assume that you speak it.
• 36:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: They don't know.
• 36:45
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So, which makes sense.
• 36:46
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So we made out find, there were a few conversations where, of course.
• 36:51
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It gestures came in, but overall it was fine and a lot of people spoke English.
• 36:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: One thing I did notice was funny, our cab driver from the airport said she didn't really speak English, like maybe two or three words, but she had an English language radio station on, and she sang every word of every song.
• 37:10
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Amazing.
• 37:11
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I know.
• 37:11
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I was like, you know those English words?
• 37:15
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But yeah, it was fine.
• 37:16
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: They're used to a lot of tourists.
• 37:18
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It was, it was.
• 37:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We made out fine.
• 37:20
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Now, if you go to like a really locals tapas bar, you're probably gonna need to like bring out like maybe a couple of phrases because those are some serious places.
• 37:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, but you know, overall you'll be fine.
• 37:36
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Awesome.
• 37:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 37:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I wanna kind of finish off with just some other tidbits that I think could be helpful for travelers getting ready to go to Barcelona.
• 37:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like I mentioned, breakfast, uh, not a thing.
• 37:48
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Late lunches, suppers, they still kind of have siestas, like there was a bakery really close to our place and I kept wanting to go there and it kept being closed.
• 37:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But then I kept realizing I was going during siesta time.
• 38:00
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Hmm.
• 38:01
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: on it would be open.
• 38:01
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So that's just something to keep in mind.
• 38:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And also, apparently there are lots of restaurants closed on Mondays.
• 38:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Okay.
• 38:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Good to know.
• 38:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Again, lots of bakeries for breakfast, so don't panic, but you're probably not gonna find as many places serving eggs and bacon and waffles.
• 38:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Gotcha.
• 38:18
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: day drinking is very acceptable.
• 38:20
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah, There are people out at tables on the roadside all the time, and as in a lot of Europe, lots of people smoke.
• 38:27
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So just, it's not a big deal.
• 38:29
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But, just something that happens.
• 38:31
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: As for shopping, uh, the sticker price on clothing that we bought, it comes with the tax included.
• 38:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Sweet.
• 38:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So when you get to the cash register, there's your price'cause you already know it.
• 38:42
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: That is a better system I thought so as well, because seeing as tax is 21%, I'm glad I already knew what my final price was.
• 38:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 38:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I mean, fair.
• 38:55
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I.
• 38:55
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: A and that goes for prices on the whole menu as well.
• 38:57
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So menus that is your price.
• 38:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It includes tax, so it is a better system.
• 39:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Nice, Restaurants must legally provide you with tap water if you ask for it.
• 39:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So Europe has this thing about if they bring you tap water in a bottle, they're charging you like two or three euros for it.
• 39:14
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But in Barcelona, they must legally provide it.
• 39:16
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: If you ask it, it's agua del grifo.
• 39:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So ask for that and they'll have to give it to you free of charge.
• 39:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: sweet.
• 39:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We did not need cash one time we took 200 euros just to be safe.
• 39:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We paid for, literally we, we did spend the cash only because we had it, Right.
• 39:34
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: but we did not ever need it, and we paid for everything literally with Apple Pay on our Apple watches, and right as rain had no issues at all.
• 39:43
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Sweet.
• 39:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like I referred to earlier, there's not much green space in Barcelona, but there are so many dogs.
• 39:50
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And like not homeless dogs.
• 39:52
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: There are people that own dogs, but I felt bad for the dogs.
• 39:55
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like they mostly literally have to pee and poo on the concrete.
• 40:00
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 40:01
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I'm like, if you knew Nova Scotia little doggies, you'd be living your best lives.
• 40:06
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I mean, I'm sure they were loved, but they don't know real grass, you know?
• 40:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 40:10
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, tips are not expected, but of course appreciated.
• 40:14
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, they will just hand you the machine with the number already typed in.
• 40:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: There's never an option for a tip, so if you want to tip them, you are gonna have to ask them before they key in the price or give them cash.
• 40:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Gotcha.
• 40:25
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Makes sense.
• 40:26
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Something I did not foresee coming.
• 40:27
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Intersections are very confusing at first.
• 40:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: They are not square.
• 40:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Okay.
• 40:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So to walk across, you actually have to go down each street a little bit and then cross.
• 40:39
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: You do not cross anywhere near the actual intersection.
• 40:42
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So when you're looking at Google Maps, there's all these little dips in your instructions and you're like, where are you taking me?
• 40:48
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But they're actually just trying to save your life.
• 40:51
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I mean, You, you will get the hang of it, but it took us a few days.
• 40:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We were very confused.
• 40:55
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 40:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, so like I mentioned, tapas is a big thing there, and some of them are per piece.
• 41:00
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So when you are reading the menu, some will come with eight, some will be, you know individually priced.
• 41:07
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So just make sure you're watching for that.
• 41:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: There is lots to keep in mind with tapas bar.
• 41:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Tapas bar is the culture.
• 41:13
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So there is a, uh, a YouTuber I'm gonna refer you to and they have some great tapas videos to sort of understand the culture.
• 41:20
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It is serious, can be intimidating, especially when the locals know exactly what to do.
• 41:25
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But I say give it a try anyway.
• 41:27
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And a good piece of advice we received is don't go into a spot for tapas that has tapas in the name.
• 41:34
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Okay.
• 41:34
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: That is usually a tourist trap.
• 41:36
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: He's like, we know what tapas bars are.
• 41:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We don't need to be told.
• 41:39
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Those are for tourists Okay.
• 41:41
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Fair.
• 41:42
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: fair.
• 41:43
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: yeah.
• 41:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Now, speaking of food, there are around 6,000 restaurants.
• 41:48
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Wow.
• 41:49
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So you're, you can ask for recommendations.
• 41:52
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: People can give them to you, you can follow them.
• 41:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But if you're out and about, you're just literally, literally going to have to read Google reviews or like, like we did, belly up to a bar, meet some locals, and then they'll tell you where to go.
• 42:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And we did that a few times and the food of course, recommended by the locals ended up being the best.
• 42:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 42:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, and this included a tapas bar I wanted to shout out called Bar Bodega Gol in Sant Antoni.
• 42:14
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Best tapas we had, and of course, most locals were there.
• 42:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But yeah, with 6,000 restaurants, I mean, you're just gonna have to trust your instincts at times.
• 42:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah, for sure.
• 42:25
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: That's, Um.
• 42:26
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: a.
• 42:27
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, it's a, it could be confusing.
• 42:29
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So the YouTube channels, I wanted to reference, uh, to check out in advance of your trip to Spain and or Barcelona.
• 42:35
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: The first one is called Spain Revealed.
• 42:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's with a guy named James Blick.
• 42:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: He's from New Zealand, lives in Madrid, but he does cover Spain in general with some amazing tips, so I can't recommend enough.
• 42:46
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And then for local recommendations, Barcelona with Marta.
• 42:50
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Peter found that literally right before we left and it was like cheap eats, but local, that kind of thing.
• 42:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It was really, really great.
• 42:58
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Amazing.
• 42:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Those are all super great tips.
• 43:01
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I did wanna ask you about the weather.
• 43:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So you were there the first week of September-ish.
• 43:07
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: How was the weather?
• 43:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I will put it to you this way, and yes, my packing is a problem, we know.
• 43:13
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I, however, should have packed as if I was going to Mexico in February.
• 43:18
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I see.
• 43:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It was between 25 and 30 degrees every single day, which is about 77 to 86 Fahrenheit midday heat was, oh, she was strong.
• 43:28
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: , And it was quite humid most days and there were really warm evenings.
• 43:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like we did not wear a jacket once and not a long sleeve one time.
• 43:36
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Sweet.
• 43:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I mean, lovely.
• 43:38
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But if you didn't pack the right clothes, then it's little bit challenging.
• 43:41
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: we did.
• 43:41
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I just didn't use some of the other things I brought.
• 43:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And I mean, that could be a me problem 'cause I didn't really.
• 43:47
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I didn't really, I guess, look to make sure that I didn't need them, but also again, I have a problem.
• 43:53
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's fine.
• 43:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: for sure.
• 43:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: All right.
• 43:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So I wanna get sort of your overall impression.
• 43:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I know we talked a lot before you left about keeping yourself safe from Pickpockets and how there kind of they could be everywhere.
• 44:09
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Uh, how did you feel there?
• 44:10
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And did you also feel any of the, like, hostility towards tourists while you were there?
• 44:15
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Very good question.
• 44:16
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So first and foremost, uh, spoiler alert, we had a great time.
• 44:22
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Before we went, and you're exactly right I did get caught up a bit in the stories of other travelers in the Facebook group I was a part of, which was super helpful in general, but they had either witnessed or experienced scams or pickpocketing, and I'm gonna be very honest not one time did we feel unsafe.
• 44:41
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Nor did we have any experiences with crime, scams, nothing.
• 44:46
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I know that we were probably lucky, um, but we tried to look confident while we were out walking around.
• 44:52
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Even though, um, we were navigating with our phones, we still tried to have an air of confidence about us.
• 44:57
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I wore a cross body bag the whole time.
• 44:59
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Peter had everything in his front pockets.
• 45:02
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We kept our wits about us in crowds, as you would anywhere.
• 45:06
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And then we had zero bad encounters.
• 45:07
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So, um, a lot of worry for nothing.
• 45:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: All right.
• 45:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I mean, fair.
• 45:13
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Yeah.
• 45:14
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: But also it's probably still good to be aware of because we did make sure that we were doing the right things when we were in crowds and that kind of thing.
• 45:22
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So yes, it's good to be aware of it, but I probably focused a little too much in my own pea brain before we left.
• 45:28
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Mm-hmm.
• 45:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I would also say just as general Catalonians and Spanish people in general are vibrant and alive and live life out loud, and the place had such an amazing vibe and no matter the hour there was someone out at tables on the streets, like I said earlier, having beers and cigarettes and conversation and people were friendly.
• 45:50
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I do find that if you don't speak the language, like I said, you can still, um, you can still get around.
• 45:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's fine.
• 45:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: You're not gonna stress, and if you only speak Spanish, which is some of the questions I had in the Facebook group, obviously you are also going to be fine, like we speak English and Spanish.
• 46:06
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: That that's gonna be, you're gonna be good.
• 46:08
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: My French should, for me, Yeah.
• 46:12
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: surprisingly, we actually heard from a few residents, uh, that tourism in Barcelona was down this year.
• 46:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Okay.
• 46:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Find that the city wasn't as busy and we found it busy, but not crazy.
• 46:24
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: The Las Ramblas area, which is kind of a famous area for shopping and stuff, which I didn't mention, is the main walking street.
• 46:32
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Also kind of tourist trap type restaurants and it was mostly under construction and like just insane and we just avoided it.
• 46:39
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Otherwise, the crowds weren't bad and in less tourist areas like ours.
• 46:43
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Even better.
• 46:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And every night there though, felt like a weekend night here in Halifax.
• 46:49
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Like the vibe was a Saturday night on a Tuesday, and then on the weekend it was just like Saturday night here, cranked up.
• 46:56
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Overall there was history and culture and great food.
• 47:00
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We loved it and would recommend it definitely.
• 47:03
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Um, and we know we have so much more of Spain to see, but in general, this was a really great introduction, but do tune in to the next travel tip Tuesday to hear something that did not work out on our trip.
• 47:13
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: It's nothing huge, but it is a little bit thought provoking.
• 47:17
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Ooh.
• 47:18
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: All right.
• 47:19
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I cannot wait to hear all about that one.
• 47:21
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So thank you so much, Meggan, for sharing all of this.
• 47:25
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: I think this is going to be really helpful for anybody who's planning their first trip to Barcelona.
• 47:30
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: So if you wanna see some pictures, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Travel Mug Podcasts.
• 47:35
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: We'll be sharing those.
• 47:37
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: You can also find us on our website, travel mug podcast.com.
• 47:41
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: You can support the show through Buy Me a Coffee.
• 47:44
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Or by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or by sharing the show with a travel loving pal.
• 47:51
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: And until next time, bye everyone.
• 47:54
  Lunch is very late between two and 3: Bye.