In need of a holiday? Jet off for a sunny city break in Barcelona.

As a surprise for my boyfriend’s 20th, I decided to be spontaneous and book two flights to Barcelona at the end of March. Since Adam’s birthday was in December and I booked the flights in October, I have to admit that this was a pretty big secret that I really did struggle to keep (I resulted in telling everyone other than him, just to contain my excitement – yes, I am mentally 5 years old). However despite the huge struggle to keep my mouth shut, booking the flights that far in advance really did pay off as I managed to bag a bargain and got two returns (4 nights, 5 days) on easyjet for about £120. Booking our flights was about as far as I had planned, until I booked our hotel in December which was called Century Park Hotel. I can’t remember the exact price of the hotel, but I know that it was good value for money and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona. The location of the hotel was great – about 20 minutes drive from the airport and a 10 minute walk from the city center. Our room was really nice and modern, with its own ensuite and suuuuch a good shower, like seriously. I also paid for us to have breakfast every morning in the hotel which was really lovely, and consisted of a continental buffet which included the most amazing doughnuts (yes, I did eat one every morning). The only negative I would say, is that the hotel wasn’t a massive complex or anything so it didn’t have any lounge or bar areas where you could be when you weren’t in your room. However as we were to find out, city breaks are pretty tiring as you are out and about all day, so all you really want the hotel for is a bed to collapse into anyway!

Our flight arrived late at night, so on our first full day we decided it would be a good idea to get our bearings, and go on a ‘hop on, hop off’ bus tour of the city. We booked our tickets online through the company ‘Barcelona bus turisitc’ as this was the company recommended in our Lonely Planet travel guide. The tour was really great – the bus went on three routes: green, red or blue, and you could choose and switch between which route to travel on, depending on which sites you wanted to see. The tour company also provided us with free earphones so that we could listen to the audio guide should we want to. I think this was actually probably one of my favourite days, it was a really great way of traveling around the city and getting to see places that we may not have otherwise.

On our second day, we visited the Camp Nou stadium and museum which was also a present for Adam’s birthday. I’m personally not a massive football fan, so the museum and tour wasn’t one of my favourite sights. However the stadium is apparently the biggest in Europe and is undeniably impressive, so that was pretty cool. Even though it wasn’t my favourite, Adam certainly enjoyed this experience and I would say that for any football lovers, this is a must see.

On our third day, we travelled by metro which is A LOT cheaper than London’s underground; and visited La Sagrada Familia (a large Roman Catholic church, for those who don’t know) which is obviously one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions. Although incomplete, the Gaudi designed church is a world heritage site and so is an obvious must see. The church’s interior is absolutely stunning, filled with huge stained glass windows and spiraling towers – an architect’s paradise. Once again, we previously booked our tickets for this online – and I would seriously recommend doing the same should you visit, as the queues to get tickets were ginormous, and you also save money online too – bonus!

The bus tour, Camp Nou, and La Sagrada Familia were the three main activities that we planned for our city break – which probably doesn’t sound like much, but in reality was actually really action packed and pretty tiring! Barcelona has some great shops, so we obviously did a lot of shopping inbetween as well! As our hotel didn’t have its own restaurant, we ate out every day for lunch and every evening for dinner – which was expensive, but really nice. One of the best places we found for dinner was ‘Buenos Aires Grill Restaurant’ which does the most delicious steaks – definitely worth a visit!

Barcelona was both mine and Adam’s first city break experience, and I can happily say that we both thoroughly enjoyed it! If you’re bored of Britain and are looking for a quick getaway in the sun, I would definitely recommend you considering Barcelona as your choice of destination 🙂 For those of you that are considering it, here is a list of the top 5 things I think you should take with you:

1. The Lonely Planet pocket guide to Barcelona – a great resource of information to keep on you should you need it!

2. Sunnies!

3. A cabin bag rather than a suitcase! This can save you money as it counts as hand luggage – and is plenty big enough to fit all of your clothes, and any new ones that you may bring back!

4. A good book for the flight and when you have a spare minute to chill.

5. 100ml toiletries kit for shampoo and body wash etc as you can’t have any liquids above 100ml when using a cabin bag. Don’t worry though, most makeup is usually below this anyway!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip to Barcelona, and that perhaps I have inspired you to go on a trip of your own!

Ciao for now, Laura xx

Inside the La Sagrada Familia

A food market in the city center

La Sagrada Familia

A harbour at one of the Bus Turistic stops

Camp Nou

Food market goodies

More of the food market

Oxford vs. Plymouth.

Oxford

Plymouth

Having grown up in Oxford (well I say Oxford – I mean a little village nearby), yet attend University in Plymouth, I thought it may be fun to do a blog post on which city I believe to be best.  I’ve decided to judge each city based on 3 main categories: food, affordability and attractions.

FOOD: Being a massive lover of all things edible, I felt it necessary to include a food category in order to help me weigh up the pros and cons of each city. One of my favourite places to grab a drink in Oxford is ‘Moo-Moos’ milkshake bar situated in Oxford’s covered market. Ranging from a chocolate bar category consisting of ‘after eight’ flavour to ‘nutella’; a biscuit category serving ‘custard cream’ milkshakes to ‘party rings’; a cereal category selling ‘golden nuggets’ to ‘fruit n fibr’; a cake category with ‘apple pie’ and ‘cherry bakewell’; a sweet category with ‘dolly mixtures’ and ‘apple pencils’; to a range of syrup sauces such as butterscotch or chocolate fudge – not to mention several fruit flavour milkshakes and smoothies as well, Moo-Moos is sure to have something to satisfy your cravings! Another great place in Oxford is ‘Thirsty Meeple’s Board Game Cafe’ which is literally as it says – a cafe filled with board games! With over 2,000 games to pick from, customers are welcome to spend their entire evening relaxing, eating and drinking whilst playing board games with family and friends to their heart’s content! However this cafe is extremely popular and is often full to the brim from around 12pm so it is well advised to book in advance so as not to avoid disappointment! However, whilst Oxford does have many lovely cafes, restaurants and bars; Plymouth is also full to the brim with places to eat and drink – my favourite being ‘Caffeine Club’. Caffeine Club is probably one of the most chilled cafes I have visited in Plymouth – probably because it is constantly packed to the brim with students! Perfect at any time of the day, Caffeine Club is open 24 hours which makes it ideal for drunk cravings! However don’t get me wrong – unlike many portions of food that are drunkenly consumed  after a night out, you will not regret buying from Caffeine Club! Their food is literally to die for – the nachos being a personal fave along with a 2 pint milkshake (yes I did just say 2 pint); and to top it all off, it’s super cheap too!

AFFORDABILITY: Given that Oxford is one of the priciest city’s in the country, it can be readily assumed that Plymouth will win on this category. Whilst chain restaurants/cafes/bars will usually stick to the same prices no matter what city, it is the individual businesses, along with clubs where you really notice a difference in cost. To go out clubbing in Oxford, you should expect to pay around £6 entry fee for a club e.g. Camera which is £6 entry after 10:30pm on a Saturday. In comparison, clubs such as Oceana can be as little as £3 entry fee depending on which night you go. Drinks also differ a lot in price, with Plymouth proving considerably cheaper – especially when Odd Bar is selling 50p shots! Lastly, because of where I, and many of my friends at home live, getting into Oxford late at night always proves a long and expensive affair, whereas in Plymouth I am able to walk everywhere making it 100000x easier!

ATTRACTIONS: Ok so being a major shopaholic (despite probably not actually classing as an ‘attraction’); I would have to say that both city’s have really good shopping. Quite a lot of people probably won’t agree with me that Oxford has decent shops, but I personally think that with two fairly big shopping centres, in addition to two high streets, it deserves recognition (especially now that it’s home to a massive H&M!) Although people probably won’t agree with my view on Oxford’s shopping, I am sure that the majority will agree with me in saying that Plymouth’s huge shopping centre: ‘Drake Circus’, is of value. In addition to the hundreds of shops situated on Plymouth’s high street, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for! Ok so enough about shopping. Another favourite attraction of mine in Plymouth, is the ‘hoe’ which is a huge grassy/park area overlooking the sea. This is a really lovely place to go and visit when it’s sunny and warm – a must for any picnic goers! The view is amazing and it’s a great open space for playing a game like rounders or football with friends. The only thing I would say, is that it gets incredibly cold up there on a windy day, so make sure you take a coat!

Having blogged what I believe to be the best things about each city, despite loving to live in both areas, I would have to say that Oxford is still my favourite – after all, home is where the heart is! What do you think? Enter your thoughts in the poll below.

 Ciao for now, Laura xx