How we spent 2 nights in Barcelona

How we got there…

It was that time again, our British Airways Gold Executive club membership had come to an end in early June 2024. We had just under two month grace to collect enough tier points to retain for another 24 months. Actually British Airways are changing the membership periods so the next term for us will be 21 months until end of April 2026.

In order to extend our status with BA, this was our first of two tier point runs with British Airways we had planned between beginning of June and end of July.

This first one was arguably the most torturous of the two. To earn in the region of 750 tier points, our plan was this:

Manchester to London Heathrow to Barcelona, Barcelona to Seattle (via New York JFK and Los Angeles LAX). Then rinse and repeat all the way back home.

As always, my husband had used FlyerTalk to help guide on the most cost effective ways of achieving the tier points.

On the first day of our trip, we had an early start from Manchester to London Heathrow on the 7:00 am flight.  Thankfully, with it being the first flight of the day it went pretty smoothly.  Just a little bit of holding on the landing into Heathrow.

Our flight to Barcelona was another matter.  We lost track of time and ended up doing a canter to the gate. That is not easily done in Heathrow. We made it to the flight just as boarding commenced.

Once everyone was on board our 10:25 AM flight, then came the announcement. There was going to be an hour delay due to the weather in Barcelona. The plane was kicked off the stand and had to go park up on a remote parking stand. Once there, which took about 30 minutes, there was a further announcement. It would be another 55 minutes before we going to take off. Now thanks to my A Level Maths, I had worked out that didn’t add up to the originally positioned 1 hour delay.

All of this was due to thunder storms in Barcelona. It was now looking like we wouldn’t get to Barcelona until about 3 PM Spanish time so any sightseeing time was reducing with every minute we sat on the grounded plane. To pacify the passengers, the crew offered a miniature bag of pretzels and a plastic cup of water.

Finally, at 12:05pm we were air bound.

About an hour into the flight, we were served food.  We both chose the Coconut Prawn Curry. 

The dish came with three king prawns and a generous amount of medium spiced curry sauce, which had green beans and red peppers in it.  It was accompanied with sticky rice, which never fairs well in plane conditions and always tends to be a bit stodgy.  

On the side was a warm bread roll. Along with this, was some sort of crème fresh salad pot, which also had green beans plus half a cherry tomato. Adding this to the curry helped reduced the spice levels a little.  

The dessert was a mousse layered with crumble and fruit. Not completely distinguishable, the fruit might have been mango or apricot.  The best bit was the little submerged coin of dark chocolate.

When we arrived at Barcelona airport, it was absolute carnage. This could have been a circumstance of Brexit or the fact the weather had been bad and the late arrival of many flights had caused backlog of passengers.  Who knows, we joined a lengthy trail for Non-EU passport holders.

Not long after joining the queue, there was little fracas. A couple from a Vueling flight decided to do a bit of queue jumping. Little did they know they were messing with a British Airways business class passenger, who immediately summonsed airport security to the scene.  This couple had some balls though and no amount of threats from airport staff could persuade them to take their rightful place at the back.  

By the time we got through to baggage reclaim, we found that all the checked bags were abandoned on a stationary carousel.

Where we stayed…

The Innside Melia Barcelona Apolo 4 Star hotel was our chosen residency in Barcelona.

Situated in El Poble-Sec, we selected this hotel firstly because as part of the benefits of our American Express Platinum card we get 30% off 3 stays per year with Melia.  Secondly, it was convenient for the airport, our departing flight time meant we would be leaving at 4.30am on our last day.

To get from the airport to the hotel, we hopped on the Aerobus. It took about 20 minutes, cost 25 Euros and dropped us off at Espanya, two metro stops from our hotel.  Going via Espanya Metro Station is not completely ideal when your travelling with a full sized suitcase and a carry on. Part of the descent into the station is by stairs so expect to partake in some strength training.

We arrived at the hotel with a slight sweat on.  We had chosen to check in online, which meant that when we arrived at the hotel we could collect our key from a machine using the QR code provided by online check-in.

The room we booked was a Studio with Balcony and fortunately we were allocated one on the sixth (top) floor with pretty good views over the city (as pictured above).  

The room and bathroom were light, modern and spacious.  The decor was eye pleasingly neutral with little fun extras like funky slippers and dressing gowns plus a yoga mat.  As a result of having Gold status with Melia, we were also given two free beers. These were sat cooling a small ice bucket.

Even though the hotel is fairly large, we experienced no noise from fellow travellers and enjoyed two peaceful sleeps in a comfortable king bed.

The hotel was also very well located next to the Paral.lel metro station, which given we were short on time was a Godsend.

What we ate…

Lascar 74

Having stumbled around El Poble-Sec for nearly an hour and with it being a Sunday, the couple of places we had on our list were closed.  We happened upon Lascar 74. According to google, this is “cool spot for global seafood dishes with a Peruvian focus”.  Even with it being Sunday, the place was buzzing.  We managed to get a spot on one of the small number of tables outside.

After a couple of refreshing beers we ordered the following:

Olives – an ample portion of good sized mixed olives equipped with necessary toothpicks.

Half a dozen scallops – juicy scallops served in a shell with a delicious creamy sauce.  These were served on two plates of three and were perfect for sharing.

Patatas Bravos – lovely little crispy new potatoes with squiggles of bravos sauce and aioli.

Fish Tacos – Seabass mixed with a refreshing slaw like salad on three vibrant purple mini tacos.

Prawns – large king prawns with their shells on in garlic, lemon, chilli oil.  Perfectly cooked so that the succulent prawn fell away from the shell with ease.

On our way back the following week on our tier point run, we went again and sampled some of the above (not all) plus a vegetable curry with rice and prawn.

We thoroughly enjoyed every morsel we ate and the fact we returned on our way home is testament to how good this food is.

Cerveceria Catalana

We visited Cerveceria Catalana as it was recommended to us.  The restaurant was full of fast paced waiting staff, whose persistence to force us to order was relentless.

We weren’t given a drinks menu so took the risk of ordering a couple of draft Estrella beers whilst we perused the menu.  

To start with, we ordered some Bread with Tomatoes.  We were expecting some luscious rustic bread with juicy tomatoes mixed with garlic and salt.  This is not what we received. Instead we were presented with small thin fingers of bread, which had been threatened with a tomato coating.  

The bread was bordering on stale and required a deep bite to wrench a mouthful.

Next up we went for the “Cabreoas” Egg Style.  Upon inquiring what these were, we were told that they were fried eggs with a spicy sauce.  In my head, I had imagined a dish that resembled eggs that had been baked in the oven surrounded by a rich spicy tomato sauce.

What was delivered to us was nothing like that.  The waiter appeared at the table with a bowl of the skinniest french fries. On top of the fries were two fried eggs and a smidgen of a spicy tomato sauce. He then proceeded to frantically chop up the fried egg and mix all the elements in the bowl.  

I am a person with OCD regarding how eggs should be eaten.  Other than scrambled or boiled, when eating an egg the white should be eaten first, leaving a runny yolk to be devoured last of all and mopped up with whatever it is accompanied by.  I felt unsettled that this option had been taken away from me.

Along with the “egg and chips”, we also tried the Beef Croquettes.  A crispy breadcrumb filled with shreds of beef and mashed potatoes. These definitely had Findus Crispy Pancake vibe going on.

After witnessing a neighbouring table eating the Hot Montatidos, we opted for the prawn skewer version.  

This came with four healthy sized prawns with one grilled cherry tomato on a slice of baguette.  Like the bread with tomato, this bread could have been slightly less robust and slightly fresher.

For our last two dishes we ordered what we were hoping would be the best.  Patatas Bravas (we can’t go to a Tapas restaurant without ordering these) and Codfish with Tomato, Honey and Aioli.

The Patatas Bravas came as small cubes of fried potatoes and weren’t a patch on what we had experienced the previous night.  

The potatoes were covered in a generous portion of aioli but for some reason unbeknownst to me, the Bravas sauce was served in a separate small dish and was inadequate in size.

The cod was cooked well with a flaky texture. 

It sat on a bizarrely sweet bed of tomato and honey sauce, the combination did not work.  The worst part was what appeared to be grilled aioli on top.  The texture of which made me feel slightly nauseous.

We washed this down with a very reasonably priced bottle of Albariño White Wine.

Overall a fairly mediocre meal, given what we had the good fortune to sample the night before.  On the plus side including the wine it was very reasonably priced.

What we did…

Mercat de la Boqueria

Hidden away near La Ramblas, Mercat de la Boqueria is an open air food market in the heart of Barcelona. It has a substantial number of stalls and was very much geared towards tourists. Most vendors seemed to selling empanadas, small pots of fruit and smoothies and cooked meats with bread or crisps on a wooden sticks. Here is a selection of what we saw:

Sagrada Famalia

We visited the Sagrada Famalia but made the mistake of not booking in advance so missed out on actually going inside and up into the towers.  I had been 20 years ago when it was possible to rock up on the day.  Now it would appeared that you needed to book over a week in advance.  

Don’t be fooled by the signs for purchasing tickets.  By the time you have connected to the Wi-Fi and downloaded the app, you will be disappointed to find out that there is no way to visit on the same day unless you are willing to part with many Euros.

Even if you don’t manage to get inside the church, it is still worth a visit. 

Gaudi’s church is a fascinating piece of architecture with intricate detailing.  I will be going back at some point.

Parc Montjuic

The best part of entire trip to this Spanish city was visiting the Parc Montjuic.  

If you want amazing views of Barcelona this is the place to come.  We took the Funicular de Montjuic from Paral·lel metro station and then when we rode the cable cars to Castell Montjuic.  

We did make the mistake of paying for a round trip on the cars, which wasn’t needed.  I’m tempted to say that taking the cable cars isn’t needed at all.  However, it’s quite spectacular when one first glimpses the panoramic views from the cable car.

Once at the top there are some different walking trails you can take giving 360 degree views of the city.