Welcome to part one of my recent Barcelona trip :) At the beginning of October I took Mum to Barcelona as a late birthday present! We took an atrocious amount of photos so will be breaking this 3 day trip into 3 posts. Coming from London - I couldn't believe how warm it is in Barcelona at this time of year. It was such a blessing to be able to wear some summer clothes.
Even though we were only there for 3 days, we had managed to walk over 55km! Barcelona is one of the easiest cities to walk around in with everything we wanted to do within 30 minutes walking distance. It was a great excuse to get some exercise in without feeling like we were actively doing so. With the weather being so beautiful it seemed almost a crime to jump on the underground when we could walk for just a little bit longer. I easily fell in love with Barcelona.
I enjoyed probably the best fish dish I have ever consumed in my life! Thinking about it - all the best fish dishes I have eaten has been whilst I have been in Spain. Unfortunately I didn't take a good quality photo but it was at a lovely restaurant called Sucursal Aceitera - if you are in Barcelona I highly recommend seeking this place out. We were incredibly lucky or maybe Barcelona is that plentiful but everywhere we went was filled with cute cafes and delicious food!
It feel so odd to write about this trip when I am sitting in my warmest pjs whilst trying to type a little faster to warm my fingers up (we don't have any heating at the moment as the house is being redecorated).
Have you been to Barcelona? If you have, where was your favourite place to visit whilst there?
Munich. What a wonderful place. I honestly didn't think I would like Munich as much as I did. Especially Oktoberfest. For some reason I thought it would be full of unreasonable drunk people (I work in a pub, I try to avoid drunks as much as possible) but it wasn't. Oktoberfest was full of lively and happy people. Having wonderful weather and food would make anyone happy. We were meant to go to Oktoberfest only one of the days whilst we were there but we enjoyed it so much we went nearly everyday.
Marstall was the only tent we went to and it was perfect. We mostly stayed in the beer garden enjoying the sun. I had even managed to get sun burnt - definitely a feat I didn't imagine that I would accomplish at the end of September! I even drank some beer. A lot of beer. Whilst I am not against drinking, I have decided early on in my life that drinking copious amounts of alcohol is not for me. However, I figured as I was at a drinking festival I may as well try a beer or two :)
Please do not view my photos of alcohol as a suggestion to go out and drink - nor am I condoning excessive alcohol consumption. Please, please, please drink responsibly and if you aren't of age - please wait until you have come of age :)
Viktualmarket & Pschorr. I love food and I love markets - put them together and I'm the happiest person. On our last day we headed to Viktualmarket as we were given a recommendation for a restaurant there. I was so pleased as we had gone past it on a city tour bus and had hoped we would get a chance to visit. Viktualmarket is a warm, vibrant and bustling market even at 11 am in the morning. There were so many cute stalls full of different kinds of foods, handcrafted goods and flowers. I wish we had more time to explore the market properly!
Pschorr. Oh my lord - was the food good. We had a sharing platter full of different kinds of cold meats and rye bread. I really shouldn't have had as much bread as I did but it was so good. But it meant I had little room for my main course when it arrived. I had ordered the beef goulash - I was not prepared for the sheer size of the dish - it was massive. I'm still upset and ashamed of myself - I could only eat half - despite its deliciousness. One day I will go back and finish it!
Another thing I was surprised by whilst in Munich is that I really liked the coffee there. If you know me, you know how strange this is. I have a huge disliking for coffee but there....I really liked it.
Supermarket. My most favourite thing to do when I go abroad is to head to the local supermarket. Hell, it is my favourite thing to do when I'm home. There's something about roaming the aisles of foreign but oh so familiar food. Germany is the home to Haribo and we are seriously being deprived over here. There are so many types! Don't get even get me started on Milka! Aha. It is probably a good thing!
The apartment building was a minutes walk from the hotel. The architecture in Munich was so interesting - you had a stark contrast of the historic buildings in the centre and then super modern glass buildings on the city's edge towards to airport! I wish I had taken more photos!
Overall Munich won me over with it many different ways to serve potatoes. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible and I am so glad that I have now found it! Potatoes are my favourite.
