Barcelona Day 1 - Travel Day & Our Barcelona Hotel
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Following our time with my (K's) family we decided to take a last minute trip down to Spain. M had a little over a week before he had to return to school. We decided to take advantage of the time and visit a few countries that have been on our bucket list for a while.
We started our Spain adventure in Barcelona. A short flight from Paris and we arrived in the late afternoon. The first thing to hit us was the weather. After being in nearly freezing temperatures for the past couple months Barcelona felt like a tropical getaway. For a while. After about a day we realized that 50 F is still cold.
After settling down in our hotel, Soho hotel, we decided to wander the streets in search of tapas for dinner. Lining the streets were Christmas markets left over from the holiday season. They were very different from the ones we experienced in France and GB. The vendors were filled with cheap toys, pinyatas, and Spanish desserts.
Following the markets we saw a very crowded street a block down. We walked over and realized people were preparing for a parade. M looked up Spanish holidays and found out Spain was celebrating the arrival of the 3 wise men to Bethlehem. There were no signs of floats so we decided to grab some dinner first.
Fortunately, we found a pretty incredible tapas restaurant. We started with some Sangria. Both of us were very unfamiliar with Tapas so we decide on tapas roulette and pointed to other tables that had good looking food. We started with some hot peppers. Oddly enough they weren't spicy and had a bit of a surgery/saltyness to them. We also enjoyed some fried potatoes with an aioli sauce, calamari, and tomato bread. We finished off our meal with a big bowl of fries covered in two fried eggs. Our waiter graciously mixed the fried and we inhaled them.
On our way back from dinner we came across the Parade. While walking around we noticed something strange. A woman walking towards the parade with a giant ladder. We shrugged assuming she had some last minute house work she needed to finish. We walked on looking for a better spot. Another man with a ladder! Turns out people were bringing ladders to watch the parade....clever girl. Unfortunately we were enjoying our tapas for a bit too long and only got to see the end of the parade. The Spanish love to party.
Our Hotel - SOHO
M recently came across this website called Very Chic. It is amazing. Without a doubt the best hotel booking site out there.
Dare I say....better than AirBnb???
M and I loved AirBnb summer of 2016 when we were traveling to exotic locations and there were really unique options. However, since we have been in Europe the options have been significantly lower than average. Not only are they expensive but crappy. They are still the cheapest option but you get what you pay for.
Not the case with Very Chic. They basically hand select the best hotels out there and offer you fantastic deals. Sometimes you even get upgraded rooms or free chocolate tastings included! Now the only real downside is they typically only have a handful of offers for even a bit city. But honestly, the hotels are so fantastic that I trust whatever they post.
Back to our hotel...We booked Soho with Very Chic and it was super Chic;) Loved it!
Location: Soho has a pretty great location was pretty great. It was close to the center of the city and we just had to take a few short subway rides to get where we wanted. When we arrived it was fairly close to the Airport shuttle and there were a bunch of fun street vendors right outside our hotel!
Room: Very clean and high tech! The room had buttons for different lighting like "Sleep" and "low lighting". There were fun buttons to change the shades in the bathroom and outside windows. The place seemed completely modern and up to date.
Breakfast Buffet: Soho has a fantastic breakfast buffet. For me, the difference between a good and a bad breakfast buffet is if they actually cook some food. Bad buffets just put out come croissants from the grocery store and yogurt cups. They had an excellent selection of warm food, fruit, baked goods, and juices! I am a fan!
Cons: It is near a college. While we did not see large groups of students or drunk kids walking around, thee were some people sitting just outside and talking loudly pretty late into the night. Also, while they have a fantastic breakfast the room service is not great. On our last night here we ordered room service. I asked for fruit and yogurt - got a whole orange, whole pear, and a plain yogurt cup. Not what I was picturing. Not bad but not great either.