tour de spain: barcelona.

i am so excited to share photos of our trip to spain last week! as you may remember from last year, we took a quick jet to madrid, and i have been itching to explore more of spain ever since. it was quite a whirlwind 7-day holiday and we crammed in as much as we could. but after 4 cities, 3 plane rides, a car rental, and a bag of carsickness later, it was totally worth it!

our first stop was barcelona. oh sweet sweet barcelona, where do i begin? if you haven't been there, the best way to describe it is an amped-up southern california. the weather was supreme, the palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze, you're within walking distance from the beach, and everyone is super chill and relaxed. not to mention the FOOD! tapas, empanadas, gelato, crepes, goodness. now i'm going to make a pretty big statement; you ready for this?

out of all of our euro travels, this is our favorite large city! sorry paris… but you got schooled.

i have to say "euro" because new york is always number one in my eyes. in neeeew yooooork. but i digress.

***the teeny stone-paved streets were so enchanting. every street was different and unique. i kept reminding myself to look up as i walked along***

***our first day we rented bikes for a few hours. but as it was time to return them we just couldn't. we ended up keeping them the entire 3 days, and it was the best decision we made. barcelona by bike is the only way to go!***

***fresh empanadas anyone?***

***am i the only geographically-challenged one {which i totally own up to} not realizing that barcelona was a major beach town? and man their beaches are GORG! best surprise of my life.***

***swim. roll around in the warm sand. and repeat***