Plaça Reial

Just got back from an amazing, adventurous honeymoon in Barcelona. Due to a flight cancellation and overbooked flights during spring break, we almost didn’t make it. We were nearly stranded in Fayetteville, Arkansas for several days. But, after spending several hours at the counter, crying, and explaining that it was our honeymoon, they managed to find a way to get us to Spain after all. A day late, and with an overnight stay in Memphis, but we got there! We were very close to canceling the whole thing and driving 11 hours back to Minneapolis. I’m so glad we didn’t. And we learned that airlines care a lot more when you tell them it’s your honeymoon. They gave us meal vouchers, flew us first class for one leg of the trip, paid for our hotel stay in Memphis, and gave us each $400 vouchers to spend on future plane tickets. So, it all worked out after all.

la Sagrada Família

Montjuïc

What I learned from this: fly direct whenever possible to avoid getting stranded in some tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and avoid flying during spring break and major holidays if possible. It was a total mess on several airlines. Not just ours. There were tons of cancellations and delays. We heard a passenger complain about one flight, which was in transit for 12 hours, that got stuck on the runway for another 5 hours! Yuck.

Arc de Triomf

Joan Miró's "Dona i Ocell"

Now, about SPAIN!! It was a totally fantastic, busy trip. We did tons of touristy stuff: went to the Picasso Museum (amazing), the Museum de Xocolata (crappy), went to cathedrals, rode a gondola, two funiculars, took a boat ride and a bus tour, hiked up a mountain, walked a ton, went to markets, parks, restaurants, and pubs. We really packed a lot into five days.

One afternoon, as we were wandering back to our hotel after a long day, totally famished, we stumbled into a tiny alley and my husband said “Hey! Vegan!” We had found a little all-vegan cafe called Gopal. We each got big, fresh sandwiches on homemade bread and a slice of strawberry cake for desert. Totally amazing! And the owner was so sweet and nice. Had our hotel been closer, I probably would have gone there every day. Lo-and behold, when I looked on my Happy Cow list of veg-friendly restaurants in Barcelona, it was first on the list! If you travel to Barcelona, it’s worth going out of your way to get there.

Gopal

Inside Gopal

Another really yummy restaurant is Rossini’s in Plaça Reial. I had totally amazing pasta with pomodoro sauce, and we shared an order of tomato and olive oil bread. Delicious!

And if you’re looking for a market with tons of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, etc. you must check out La Boqueria, just off of Las Ramblas.

La Boqueria

La Boqueria

And you MUST eat an orange while you’re there. Spain is one of the largest producers of oranges in the world. So you’ll be getting the freshest, yummiest oranges ever.

And a tip: if you’re used to eating dinner around 5 or 6, you should know that most restaurants don’t open for dinner until 8. I remember this also being true in France. Many restaurants will be open for lunch, close early in the afternoon, and re-open at night.

Savia

I also made a discovery! It’s Savia. It’s a non-dairy Activia. Made 100% out of soy. It helps with digestion. I hope this catches on in the U.S. It’s a little thicker than soymilk and tastes like yogurt.

What a great trip. I think this was the first time since my husband and I have been together that we were able to just do whatever we wanted, for a whole five days. No work, family, or other obligations. Just us, spending time together. I understand now why honeymoons are so important. And great news! We’re still not sick of each other. Hooray!