CITY
Something I find so lovely about Barcelona is the huge doors lining the streets, leading to their own special collection of randomly used spaces spread across different floors; apartments, offices, and in the case of Carrer del Bruc 123, a hostel. I was a little bit nervous about sharing a 6 bed dorm room with my sister and a group of strangers, but having stayed in various dodgy hostels in London, Berlin and Amsterdam, this felt like a palace. Unfortunately I only stayed for two nights, but if I was there any longer I definitely would’ve taken full advantage of the bikes and other extras that the hostel offered. It’s hard to tire of exploring the city, and I’d never visited at the height of summer, so although some places were absolutely full of tourists it was quite exciting to see Parc de la Ciutadella (for sure my favourite place) and Parc Güell in the sunshine.
Of course I had to make my obligatory Brandy Melville purchase; every time I visit a city that’s home to a Brandy store I buy one item as a souvenir (quite sad really) and as I waited in the fitting room queue I watched the unpredictable August sun turn into a thunderstorm. To escape the rain my family and I set out to visit my absolute favourite restaurant in Barcelona, a tiny little place called Morryssom, which was unexpectedly shut when we visited. Nevertheless we tried out another restaurant La Neura around the corner which was super cosy and had an amazing tapas menu.
SEA
As loyal Eurocamp customers it was only right that a portion of our holiday was spent in a mobile home on a campsite, so for the second part of our trip we stayed in Lloret de Mar, further up the Costa Brava on the steepest site ever with the loveliest views. These places are often situated perfectly for visiting the beach, so the four days were spent by the pool or on the (burning hot) sand at the beach.
After cramming in activities in the city it was pretty nice to relax, but I’m not used to just sitting around on holiday anymore, and by the last night we decided it was time to explore a nearby town. Tossa de Mar was undoubtedly beautiful, with a huge castle and picturesque little streets through the middle. We ate at Pizzeria Anna below the castle walls which was so cosy and beautiful, but as the night went on decided that it was best that we were staying outside of the town in a quieter area.
MOUNTAINS
Quieter area is an understatement for the last place on our trip- this place was silent. Like I said, my family is one that always stays with camping companies, and I can’t remember a time where we stayed in a hotel. So I felt like a princess when we were shown our rooms, and the pool with ready folded towels right next to huge rock faces and incredible views at our hotel in Peramola. I'm forever feeling disrespectful when I visit a new place and can’t speak the language of the people. Sure, Ciao and danke are nice gestures, but I still feel like a let down when I have to ask for an English menu. In this respect studying Spanish but visiting Catalonia, was a frustrating combination. I thought that the locals would be frustrated with my awkward Spanish attempts, but everybody actually seemed to appreciate it, making me feel a lot more confident to keep going.
Little walking tours into the Pyrenees made me even more in awe of the incredible landscape, and we were only on the edges. Some of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen were also in the surroundings of the hotel, like Rialb reservoir and the mountain views in Sant Llorenç de Morunys. Overall in the little tour of only eight days we’d experienced three really different types of holidays in one, all in Catalonia. Surely that’s got to make it one of the best destinations for a short summer holiday 'with everything’ in Europe.
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