We were really happy with our spot at the camp ground in El Masnou as it got super full in the evening. Which, in turn, meant that the bathrooms were really full in the morning. What felt like busloads of Italian tourists were getting ready and we picked up a new bit of cultural information…at least for us: Italians bring their super light, quite short bath robes to camp grounds; hairy, white maschio legs all around.

And then, we found out that the camera had been left on overnight and the battery was flat. Of course, today was the day I didn’t pack an extra battery. No fancy pictures of Barcelona, no selfie in front of the Sagrada Familia….I could have cried. To come up with a plan to save the day, Flo wanted to look at the map of Barcelona only to find that we had left it in the tent…back in El Masnou. Super sigh of annoyance!

Number 3 didn’t have the best of nights and I felt rather ill (Flo thinks it’s an allergic reaction to the gazillion of pollen flying around), but we managed to get ready to catch a train to Barcelona. That’s the beauty of El Masnou, you’re in the city center within half an hour. A bit of panic on my side and a train ride later, we popped up in Placa Catalunya, right in the middle of Barcelona.

Well, with no “pics or it didn’t happen” to feed this day, we started our walking tour with a stroll down la Rambla. Despite leaving the map, we still had the guide book to make the best of this day. La Rambla was very cool, even on an Easter Monday. It was cloudy, which was a bit of a pity, but just this hour or so walking down la Rambla made me want to come back for a 5 day city holiday sometime. Cool architecture, cozy cafes and great placas to get food…what’s not to love?

To calm down a bit and get over our early lunch hunger, we stopped in Le café de l’opera for a tea and croissant. Well, Flo decided to go more Spanish and got a xocamokka with churros. The churros were freshly made and delicious! Dipped in sugar, still warm…mhhhh! 🙂

Thus feeling better, at least in my case, we finished our stroll down la Rambla and went on to zigzag through Barri Gotik, the whole quarter. Little alleys with stately mansions opened up to placas with churches or governmental buildings, just to go back to winding alleys. I’m pretty sure you can spend days just in this one quarter.

I looked up a restaurant in the guide book which didn’t actually open on Easter Monday. Not too bad as everything is quite close together. We just walked to a different place, Ocaña this time, and sat down. Number 3 charmed customers and waiters alike while I devoured bravas and tempura-fried veggies. It was 2pm by the time we left the restaurant. I was already tired and quite done for today. However, we did not want to waste half a day that we could have spent in Barcelona. There were two things I really wanted to do: The Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. Both were a bit removed from the city center and tickets weren’t available any more for today. So I abandoned the idea of seeing Park Guell, or rather postponed it to the 5 day city trip that I already started planning, as well as knowing that I could only see Gaudi’s church from the outside. A city trip needs to be better planned with tickets obtained way before you arrive…nothing we can do on this trip.

Instead, we spent the afternoon in a museum to Flo’s liking: The history of Barcelona museum. Museums are a unique challenge with a baby, especially since we couldn’t take Number 3’s carrying backpack inside. We managed to do okay though and Flo and I enjoyed seeing and walking through the remains of Barcelona’s roman and early history…right underground its current historic buildings. We can highly recommend it if you’re interested in history at all.

After the museum Number 3 and I were completely knackered. Luckily, Flo had some drive left so we took the subway where he dragged us in and out at the correct stop to see the Sagrada Familia from the outside. I was close to falling asleep on my feet and Number 3 looked like hell but we made it and I am glad we did. With this highlight at the end of the visit, we took the train back to El Masnou.

A short, cold muesli dinner later, Baby and I collapsed into bed. It was a hell of a day. And definitely not the last one we’ll spend in Barcelona. Just the last one on this trip!

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