Europe 2018 | Days 5,6,& 7 Zurich and Barcelona
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Originally written May 21th, 2018.
Day 5: Interlaken to Zurich
We started our day packing up and heading towards the Laterbrunnen area to see Trummelbach Falls. We enjoyed a nice winding drive to the area and got out to hike up the falls. The area was full of tourists and hard to get around, and definitely very claustrophobic… but the falls themselves were gorgeous. We also got to see a few more falls as well. We really wanted to go up into the mountains to the Thrill Walk (our reasoning for choosing Interlaken in the first place) but the day was not clear enough and you could not see anything from the peaks so we decided to skip it.
We headed towards Zurich, making a pit stop in Lucerne for lunch. I found a restaurant that had good reviews and was right on the river which I thought would be great for a relaxing break. The food was pretty good and the views were nice but the highlight was getting to sit a table away from Blythe Danner (who my mom spotted).
After Lucerne, I decided we should go to a thermal bathhouse in Zurich before heading to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. The thermal baths were not at all what I imagined… they seemed more like a public pool hangout than a “relaxing spa experience” BUT it was an experience none the less and my mom seems to think the “minerals” helped her leg feel better, so they were worth it too. The baths had a pool on the top level of the building with a panoramic view of Zurich which was pretty incredible, and so easy to just sit and look around at it. We couldn’t bring our phones in or take pictures so I’ve added the one below from the website of the baths so you can see what I mean!
After the baths, we headed to the airport and waited for our flight to Barcelona.
Day 6: Barcelona
We arrived in Zurich for our flight to Barcelona and after a delay on the runway got to Barcelona around 10:30pm. After we collected all of our bags and caught a taxi to our hotel it was all around 11:45pm and we all fell asleep almost instantly.
We must have been tired because we didn’t wake up until 9:30am, which worked out considering the late start Barcelona gets. Amanda picked out a place for breakfast that had a fantastic menu including $3 mimosas… a welcome change for Switzerland’s pricing!!
After breakfast, we slowly made our way towards Park Guell which was about 2 miles from brunch. We stopped after about 1.8 miles to enjoy a pitcher of sangria as it was on Amanda’s “Barcelona list…” and it was fantastic!!
After finishing our pitcher we continued the walk to the park. We enjoyed strolling through the sunshine and seeing the panoramic views of the city. I was disappointed to find out that cool mosaic seats you see in pictures of the park cost money to get to, and the next time to get in was about 3 hours after we arrived at the park… so I didn’t get to see them up close. We still ended up with some nice pictures of the view!
After Park Guell we walked another 2 miles to the Sagrada Familia Church. This church has been under construction since the 1800’s! I enjoyed reading about its history after we saw the building in person.
From the church, we headed back to the hotel for a break from all of our walking and to figure out where to head for dinner. We struck out twice on our choices but eventually ended up at Santa Caterina’s Market. The menu was different and each dish came out whenever it was complete. I had pumpkin ravioli in a mushroom sauce and it was so good.
I loved my first taste of Barcelona! The city is huge and hard to explore in just a few days but we are trying!!
Day 7: Barcelona & Ibiza
Amanda and Heidi decided to head out for a day tour so my mom and I spent the day eating & drinking in Barcelona.
We woke up and headed to a cereal bar I had seen on Yelp. It was awesome!!! But as my mom said, not sure how it could stay in business only serving cereal combos for $5.
Even if the combos were rockin’. The place was called Corn Flakes & Co and cracked me up because it was playing old school American rock and had a bunch of potted plants with old rockers names written on them (like Janis Joplin). After the cereal bar, we headed towards a park I wanted to visit, Park De La Ciutadella stopping off at Pastisseria Hofmann that was supposed to have “the best croissants in Barcelona,” and picked them up to eat in the park. The park was a welcome oasis in the middle of a busy city, and I love the picture we got with the fountain.
The croissants were pretty damn good, the best of the trip for sure! My chocolate one was filled with melt in your mouth chocolate. After the park, we headed down towards the water. I wanted to see the city from the water and also just check out the beach area. It was a nice day to walk down to the water and the sea breeze was welcome in the 70-degree day. We walked along the water for a few minutes and left with a pocketful of sea glass!
After checking out the beach scene, we walked towards La Rambla… which was poorly timed as it seemed all of the cruise ships had just let everyone off onto the street 😂 we strolled along for a while, in search of a beer bar that I wanted to go to… until I realized it was 1pm and the bar didn’t open until 3pm… whoops! So we found another option more towards our hotel at Alsur Cafe. I will say it seemed a little “American” but the food was good & we enjoyed our drinks. I finally was able to taste a Barcelona craft beer and it wasn’t bad!
After the cafe, we strolled around waiting for Heidi and Amanda to get back and decided to partake in manicures after seeing a salon offering them for $10. They did a great job and it was nice to sit down for 30 minutes! After our manicures, we walked to the Arc De Triomf park and enjoyed a seat in the sun.
After a few misguided attempts to walk closer to where Amanda and Heidi were and/or get another beer, we stumbled into a few shops and then stopped along the way for a drink. We finally met up with Heidi and Amanda (with everyone’s phones at 2%) and figured it was time to just head to our hotel and then the airport.
When we got to the airport Amanda (after finally making it to her own terminal) learned her flight had been canceled. It appeared that many flights had been canceled due to a strike in France. The whole airport was basically out of food if you ask me… and boy was it packed. We were happy to have gotten there when we did… although security in the EU goes so quickly… you just scan your own boarding pass to be let into a lane and then put your bags up on the belt and go. They are slowly replacing humans!!! Our flight was delayed a small bit but we eventually made it on board (and so did our suitcases… a surprise considering how stuffed they have become)!! The flight to Ibiza is so short and simple I felt like we had just taken off as we began to land. When we arrived in Ibiza we caught a taxi to our hotel and then headed out for a late-night drink & a bite to eat. We found a restaurant just a minute from the hotel directly on the water with a big food and drink menu. We sat outside enjoying our drinks & the breeze!
Looking forward to a day in the sunshine tomorrow!!!
