Hello darlings,
I hope you loved seeing my adventures in Spain! I sure enjoyed seeing the museums and eating the traditional foods. Allllll the paella and tapas. Let me tell you though, you can definitely find a bad meal in Spain. Ya know how people say “you can’t find a bad meal in Italy?” Well, first off, you can. We stopped at a spot in Italy for a late lunch one day and it was legit frozen, microwavable gnocchi. After that experience, we learned to follow the norms for what time of day to eat. haha Anyhow, SPAIN.
You can find a bad meal in Spain so don’t just give in and eat at a spot because you’re starving and it has room to seat you. Look at the menu, look at what the other diners are eating, take note of the ambiance and look at prices. I’m breaking down city by city for you so you have at least 1 restaurant recommendation in each. Spain in general is very safe. Barcelona and Seville I would say are safer than Madrid but all of them I’d feel comfortable walking around alone.
BARCELONA
Okay, so not only is this city full of incredible Gaudi architecture but it’s also the home of beautiful beaches, people and amazing paella!! The 3 places I’d recommend you go to are:
- Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. This is Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece. It’s a breathtaking, unfinished church that, after Gaudi’s death in 1926, the plans to finish were taken over by trusted craftsmen and architects that had the pleasure of working with him. They followed his plans and models. It’s still not done but getting closer. Truly magnificent!
- Eat at Restaurante Salamanca located at Pepe Rubianes, 34. There are many restaurants with similar names so make sure you type it in right! Get the seafood paella and sangria. The paella was the best we had in all of Spain!! I usually don’t like calamari unless its fried to a crisp. This calamari was simple, un-breaded squid and it was incredible. It wasn’t chewy at all, it wasn’t rubbery. It had a similar consistency to tofu. A MUST!
- Go to Dux Gin & Cocktail Bar. This place very quickly became our home away from home in Barcelona. It not only had an amazing atmosphere and instagrammable drinks, but the bartenders were the best. So funny and charismatic. They can make you something off the menu or, tell them what you like and they’ll craft a cocktail just for you and your tastebuds. I miss this place already! If you go, tell Yann and Secilia that Tessa says hi!
SEVILLE
*sigh* Seville…it holds a special place in my heart. I wish we had more time here for sure but that just means I have to go back at some point. We honestly could’ve been better about seeing the sites here. We walked past a few of the main ones but we really enjoyed walking around, eating the tapas and drinking. haha!
- You must eat tapas at Laherre Tapas Bar. This was hands down the best meal we had in all of Spain!! We loved everything we tried and actually went twice in a matter of 2 days because we couldn’t get enough of it. Their Cordon Blue tapas was…just indescribable. SO GOOD. We would’ve eaten that 5 more times before we got our fix for it. You must go if you visit Seville! (Cordon Blue and other tapas from Laherre pictured below!)
- Stay at the hotel Overland Suites Catredal. This place was the cutest! Right in the middle of everything. Great prices, clean, apartment style hotel rooms.
- Explore the nightlife! On our last night there we got a bottle of rose and some plastic cups, sat on the steps of the famous Cathedral in Seville, drank and people watched. I felt like I was back in college for a second. Carefree and with my best friend. We played music on our phones and danced in the streets. It was exhilarating and as carefree as it gets.
MADRID
We barely had any time in Madrid (really only 1 day) so I can’t give you too many honest recommendations for this.
- You should definitely visit the Prado Museum. 3 floors filled with magnificent Spanish art. Go spend an afternoon there and take your time. You don’t want to miss anything.
- Explore the nightlife!! Madrid had the best nightlife by far and they’re all so interesting and unique! The first place we went was a disco-tech themed club. Toooootally not my style. haha But still fun to see and experience. You will find other bars and clubs that play international music as well. Go with the flow, assess your surroundings, meet people and see where the night takes you. That’s my favorite way to travel.
Long post but I didn’t want to skip anything important!! I hope this was helpful and inspired a Spain vacation. I definitely have the travel bug now…hoping to squeeze in a couple more trips like this!
xox
Tessa
