Barcelona - day one

We landed in Barcelona just after lunch. It was a little gloomy on the first day - plus it was already starting to get dark so we didn't have a lot of day light left to sight see. From the airport we got on a bus transfer to the other terminal, from which we could get a train direct to the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Torre Catalunya which is right next to one of the main stations (Barcelo Sants). You can read other reviews for it here. Honestly, the room was one of the most spacious European hotels I've ever stayed in. The room was like having your own flat. With a ridiculously inviting looking bed:

And wooden panelling everywhere, giving the room a lovely minimalist feel:

The bathroom was stocked with goodies and was hands down, the biggest bathroom I've ever had in a hotel before. As well as a bath tub with shower attachment, there were two sinks:

... and two other separate rooms behind doors as you can see:

One of these was yet another shower (and it was huge). The other was the loo (not that you really wanted to know this!). The seating area (below) was perfect for breakfast we purchased daily from the supermarket:

The supermarket was literally two minutes away from the hotel and as we arrived late afternoon and were starving by that time, we grabbed some snacks there and brought it all back to the room:

We feasted on freshly baked bread, black olives and chorizo. With some chocolate afterwards as the perfect pick-me-up. It was extremely muggy in Barcelona so big two litre bottles of water rarely lasted long!

If you haven't tried piling up bread with chorizo and olives, you're missing out - the flavours work together so well. After a well deserved lunch, we explored the local area:

So many stairs! My legs really took a beating and this was only the first day! 
We finished up at the Olympic stadium in the Montjuic region:

We spotted these cats lazing around in the balmy heat of the day:

For dinner, we stumbled across this cute little place called Pura Brasa which was near to Plaça d'Espanya:

With over-sized sunflowers outside, cheese grater lighting hanging from the ceiling, and comedy sized bottles of wine gracing the windows, this was one quirky place you wouldn't forget in a hurry.

We ordered paella on the very first day - as no one does a paella quite like the Spaniards do. Also, sangria:

Compared to the other sangrias we tried, we found this one quite fruity. You couldn't really taste the wine in it, but it was still nice and refreshing after a day of travelling.

Stay tuned folks for Barcelona - day two!