Final Stop: Barcelona, Spain

We disembarked our cruise ship in Barcelona, Spain and spent the day there before flying home the following morning. Here’s how we got 20,000 steps! Check out my Explora II cruise post here, and previous port stop in Mallorca, Spain.

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Barcelona, Spain

It’s always sad getting off a cruise ship! It feels like your home for the days you’re at sea, and then suddenly it’s not! My mom and I both feel cruise ships have a coziness about them, and I always look forward to getting on! Getting off is a bit sad to me.

We had one final breakfast on our balcony before we left at 9am (Room service is complimentary any day you want, but it’s especially convenient for the final day!).

Cotton House Hotel

We took our luggage to the Cotton House Hotel via Uber and dropped them with the valet since the room wasn’t ready yet. I actually booked this room with Marriott points and you’d never know it was part of a large company. It was GORGEOUS!

Urban Hike

We set out to explore Barcelona without much of an itinerary.

Mid-morning snack!

We walked a couple of miles up to Park Güell, but alas we were not prepared that tickets were sold out for the day.

So, we walked the perimeter and then headed back down the hill.

At this point we were ready for lunch, so we went back to Cotton House to check on our room and enjoy lunch at their restaurant. It was too hot to sit outside, but the inside was just as charming. I was seriously obsessed with this hotel!

We had fried oysters, croquettes, and a really delicious hummus.

Afterwards, we went to the rooftop pool for a nap!

By 3pm our room was ready, so we went there to rest a little, unpack for the night, and freshen up. Loved our room!

We headed back out for more walking and exploring, but we went south to the Gothic District. The Sagrada Família was in the opposite direction as our dinner, but now we regret not going! We did get to see the Cathedral.

I loved this part of the city – the buildings were beautiful and there was tons of shopping!

Happy hour

We sat down for a drink around 5pm and chatted with another couple next to us who were from Germany. Cocktails were €14 and wine was €4!

On the hunt for good tapas, we had a resy at El Chigre and sat at the bar window (This was recommended by our lunch waiter).

We had Spanish wine and the best sparkling water with lemon (it was a thing and I loved it!)

I didn’t take pics of everything, but we will admit this meal was a little disappointing. Thomas didn’t love the stuffed dates or tomato toast. I was just so full from the cruise week that I didn’t have the biggest appetite, but I thought the food was still good. We ended up having a lighter dinner and kept walking.

Our tour de Barcelona ended at Las Ramblas, the famous pedestrian street. There were so many people out!

It was only fitting we ended our trip with more gelato.

We were up at 5:30am the next morning for our flight home through Paris. It was a LONG day of travel, but we also got so lucky with a partially empty flight from Paris to Raleigh where we didn’t have anyone sitting between us.

Couldn’t wait to hug my boys when we arrived!!!

They had the best time with Grammie and Pea, and I’ll be sharing more about their adventures next week!

We had such an amazing trip, but I am glad to be home sweet home!