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2 nights in Barcelona

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When you have two nights in Barcelona and you need to make every hour count……..

Last weekend I nipped to Barcelona for a few days, I had to shoot a campaign somewhere other than London and I wanted a bustling city to be the feature of my post so I chose to head to a familiar city, Barcelona.

For a few reasons if I’m honest, I remembered the fun hustle and bustle of Las Ramblas and the pretty winding streets from my last visit but it was also due to the fact that Barcelona is such an affordable destination and so close to the UK.

For those of you who are yet to discover the famous Spanish city I thought I would do a little wrap up of our two days to give you a head start 😉 This isn’t going to be one of my fully detailed travel reviews as the trip was more of a little girlie get-a-away to take that perfect picture but I will, all the same be sharing some of my usual C&C tips and tricks in this mini overview.

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So first thing’s first, where we stayed; The Grand Hotel Central. For a few days in the City I think we struck gold here. The rooms were lovely and spacious and the hotel staff were really attentive. The best part of the hotel was no doubt the rooftop pool. It’s such a great spot to enjoy a day in the sun. The food is yummy (I recommend the peking pork!) and the cocktails are fab, quite pricey for the portions but you are paying for that ridiculous view. It can get quite busy if you are a sun worshipper as there’s only 10 beds in the sun but as a shade queen I was super happy chilling in the bar area 😉

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It’s also a great spot to watch the sunset and have a beautiful evening meal with that great view of the city rooftops.

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The hotel is located in the Gothic quarter and for me the location was PERFECT. We only needed to jump into a cab when going out in the evenings for dinner and to get to the famous Park Guell, other than those occasions we were able to walk everywhere.

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When it came to grabbing lunch every day we would simply stumble accross a different place, there’s so many small boutique tapas spots that I wouldn’t really be able to recommend one over the other, for us though, travelling in 30 degree heat, shade was of the upmost importance. ‘Ooh there’s a place that has tables under a veranda, sold!’

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It’s all about Tapas in Barcelona and it’s only right, at least when lunching to get stuck in 😉 Order 5 or 6 dishes to share and the two cocktails for yourself 😉

In the evenings however we planned our dinner on both nights. I had heard great things about Carpe Diem and wanted to give that a try and the our concierge recommended that we try the famous Gatsby restaurant.

Carpe Diem was a great beach side spot. Very plush, expensive decor and dramatic furniture. The seating is tight, it reminded me of London’s MoMos but it helps to build an atmosphere and oddly excentuates the exclusivity of the restaurant. The food and cocktails are delicious one of the best meals we had in fact, I recommend the sushi here it was amazing and the lychee cocktail.

Book a table super later here (no earlier than 11pm) as this is a great spot to stay until the early hours of the morning as it neighbours some cool beach front clubs.

Gatsby was quite a novelty fun restaurant with live performances throughout the space when you are eating. It wasn’t my favourite food but it has a really cool laid back vibe and the dancers were great. This is also a well located restaurant to eat late, it was a just a short walk away from the club we ended up in (apologies but after two bottles at dinner, I am unable to recolate the name of the club!!). I think there’s two or three in this particular area though so you’ll be able to dance the night away regardless.

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The beach was walking distance from our hotel but having heard great things about the W Hotel we hopped in a cab to the other stretch of the beach to grab some drinks at the pool bar. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this particular stretch of beach though, I would highly recommend walking further round as this area was heavily featured with nude bathers! If that’s you thing however you are all set 😉

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Barcelona beaches are all public and in the summer very very busy, that being said I would still say it’s possible to enjoy a day by the sea. There’s a few areas and beach bars where you can rent a bed which is what I would recommend and the sea itself is lush when you are in. The wade to the swim is a bit questionable so be aware of that! This is a public beach we are talking about so be prepared to walk through a bit of rubbish and murky water before reaching the crisp clear waters. I personally took the plunge, and the entry and exit was pretty gross I’m not going to lie but the actual swim in the sea was amazing. This was, of course, before being chatted up by an elderly skinny dipper! Those of you not following me on snapchat, you are REALLY missing out 😉 (My Username is sabrina.chakici)

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Somewhere for those of you who love to see something a little different and cultural when travelling, would be the stunning Park Guell. It’s like a real life hansel and gretel escape 😉 Pretty mosaic buildings and an amazing view of the whole city. It was quite busy when we visited around 7pm but beautiful all the same. You have to book tickets at a certain time slot so I would recommend doing that online before getting there.

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And there you have the two days wrapped up 🙂

It was a little mini break, we spent the majority of our time sipping on mojitos and shopping if I’m honest! All the while I was able to create a little city break snipped guide. I hope you enjoyed the read, check out my Mykonos travel guide here if you fancy another escape, in the mean time, I’ll see you next Sunday!

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Pictures by my gorgeous girl @emmavslade

 

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7 Comments

  1. Emma
    August 28, 2016 / 6:35 pm

    Such a lovely city!! X

  2. Melodie
    August 28, 2016 / 8:19 pm

    Yes Sabrina! I have been following your blog for years but never been to any of the places you have reviewed but I am going to Barcelona next month 🙂 so excited to try these places! Thanks for the inspiration xxx

  3. Kathi / They Call Me Kitten
    August 29, 2016 / 1:04 pm

    Wonderful pictures!!! I loved Barca so much last year! Definitely want to go back someday! 🙂
    xxx Kathi
    http://www.theycallmekitten.com

  4. Gabby
    September 1, 2016 / 1:03 pm

    You did so well for two nights! I love the look of this hotel – it’s well priced too considering it has the rooftop pool?! Thanks for the recommendation, if I ever travel to Barcelona I’d like to stay here x

  5. Ron
    August 26, 2017 / 8:49 pm

    Great style, Madam !

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