Barcelona
SPAIN
A Spanish "Babymoon"
By LYNDI
Friday, November 22, 2019
It’s been close to a decade since we were true “backpackers” – eating as cheaply as we could, staying in total dumps to save a buck or two a night, and bargaining prices down until the seller cried for mercy.
Nowadays, we have a sufficient travel budget, use hotel points to enjoy some comfort, and don’t need to worry about an unexpected cost here and there. But you’d never know it by the great lengths we went to in order to get free baggage on our way to Barcelona.
Traveling with just carry-on luggage has never been a problem – we can pack light. What we didn’t know was that Norwegian Airlines physically weighed your bags – anything over 10 kilos (between your carry-on and your personal item) would be charged US$120 – which was about a quarter of what we paid for the actual intercontinental flight.
Knowing that our bags were at least 20 kilos, we had our work cut out for us. So as I waited in the luggage weighing line, Aaron hid around the corner with nearly the entire contents of my bag spread out across the floor of LAX. After I had my bright yellow tag certifying I was under-weight, we switched out and Aaron used the same trick. And we were on our way!
We landed in Barcelona around 6pm and grabbed an easy cab to chic&basic Ramblas Hotel. Committing ourselves to staying up until at least 9pm, we set down our things in our nice and simple room and headed out on the town.
Spain is a great place for a babymoon for a few reasons: it’s safe, has a decent hospital system in case of a pregnancy emergency, it’s easy to travel around, includes daily siestas, and it still feels exotic. On the other hand, with the trip landing squarely in the middle of my second trimester, the 10pm dinner times were totally out of reach, and seeing midnight when things really get started didn’t have a chance.
But out we went to try to find some nice tapas on an Early Bird menu! After wandering Las Ramblas and the Barrio Gothic for about an hour, we found a small little place called El Baron with good tapas, good wine (and alcohol-free beer!) and great music. Our successful first day wrapped up by 10:30 and we were passed out right on schedule.
And awake right on schedule… somewhere in the U.S. Both of our eyes sprung open around 4am and between jet lag and noisy, drunk Brits in the alley by our window, sleep was futile. So we got an early start with some coffee and a walk to the Sagrada Familia – our main destination while in Barcelona.
After years of traveling through Europe and Latin America, Aaron and I can usually give churches a miss – but I was warned that we’d regret passing on this one. So we bought tickets online ahead of time and skipped right through the blocks-long line to the entrance.
The Sagrada Familia is Antoni Gaudí’s labor of love – started 135 years ago and nearing completion in 2026. If you wonder what in God’s Good Name could take 140 years to build, just step inside. Neither Aaron or I know much about architecture, lighting, or overall aesthetics of anything, but we still spent close to 2 hours admiring the intricate exterior, perfectly formed interior and genius lighting and acoustics inside the temple.
The audio tour we bought was great, and by the time we had explored to our hearts’ content, we felt justified in taking the metro back to our hotel for a 3 hour nap. That no doubt further exacerbated our jet lag.
Feeling refreshed, we next headed out to Park Güell – yet another masterpiece by ol’ Gaudí. The park sits on a hill overlooking the city of Barcelona and includes whimsical features and colors inspired by nature, and it was a must-see while we were in town.
So “technically”… we saw it. In pitch black. By the time we got there, the sun had just begun to set, so we bee-lined for the ticket office to get in while we still could. But apparently these tickets also sell out days in advance, so we were out of luck. But! We could wait until 6:30pm and walk around for free – what a deal!
So Aaron and I walked along the ground outside of the park for about 30 minutes and then got in line as the clock crept closer to 6:30. And the sun crept closer to the other side of the planet. By the time we got in, I could barely see my feet in front of me, much less any of the park’s legendary architecture and playful surroundings.
After that epic fail, we walked back to Las Ramblas, stopping for some photos at the Casa Pedrera and catching part of a soccer match at a snooker club.
As we laid in bed that night – eyes wide open after terribly timed naps earlier that day – Aaron got his highlight of the trip. I had been feeling our baby’s little kicks for quite some time, but that night the little womb-dweller was doing some serious shadow boxing, and Aaron got to feel the kicks for the first time. I think we were likely to remember when we felt our first kicks, but with a successful start to our Spanish vacation underway, the day felt especially memorable.
