If You Go: Barcelona

This was our first visit to Barcelonaof what I hope will be many.  Below are the recommendations we have on the hotels, sites, and restaurants of the city.  It's hard to go wrong in such a beautiful spot!   What is more complicated is the dispersed nature of the city and making the most of your geography.  Also, a few more notes:

• Pre-Book Everything Online: Barcelona is a true world-class city and the crowds follow it.  We booked nearly all of our tours and some restaurant reservations before we left.  This was critical to avoid wasting time in lines and making the most of our time there. 
• Cruise Ship Season:  After our experience in Venice, we will avoid any destination during the height of cruise ship season.  Apparently this season is between April - October in Barcelona, so if you can avoid it - you should!  December weather was just lovely - mid 60's and perfectly sunny. 
• Public Transportation: The metro system is very efficient and cheap.  In addition, there is a wonderful bus to/from the airport that is very inexpensive and direct to Plaza Cataluna. 

Hotels 

• Alexandra Hotel: This is a Doubletree property so we finished out our free Hilton nights here in Barcelona.  This hotel in incredibly centrally located and pretty modern.  One personal complaint, our room smelled moldy / mildewy, but it may have been room-specific.  In the summer months, it has a lovely outdoor pool (Price: $160/night)

Things to Do

• Tickets to Palau de Musica: We went to see a lovely 90 minute guitar / flamenco show at the Palau de Musica.  It is an architectural wonder from one of Gaudi's proteges and the mosaics are just stunning - as is the stained glass.  We loved seeing a concert in the daytime and having the opportunity to admire the beautiful space.  Price was ~$35/ticket - so not terribly expensive. 
• Wine Tour - Spanish Trails: Barcelona sits in the middle of wine country.  P and I never miss a chance for a good wine tour.  We visited the Pendes region to stop at two wineries as well as a wine lunch.  I had no idea that the Cava making procress in Spain replicates that of the Champagne region because when a blight hit Champagne, the French turned to Barcelona to continue their production so they passed along all of their 2nd fermentation techniques.  It was a very informative tour - highly recommend this company!  Wine tours are never cheap, but we never regret going! 
• Sagrada Familia: It's impossible to come to Barcelona and not visit Sagrada Familia.  We fully enjoyed the self-guided look at the architecture, but also appreciated signing up for a guided tour.  We learned a tremendous amount on the tour that we would never have picked up by visiting each of the signs in the church. 
• Park Guell: As I shared in the pictures, this was a beautiful and impressive park that further expands on Gaudi's architecture.  This is another spot to pre-book ticket if you want to see the bench and architecture up close. 
• Casa Battlo: We both really enjoyed this tour through the seven stories of the house.  Getting the opportunity to see the intricate detail Gaudi used inside the house was amazing.  This was the most tourist-packed place we visited and despite pre-tickets, we had to wait in line ~25 minutes.  If we were there in high-season, we would have DEFINITELY needed / wanted the fast pass. Also, it has an alternative reality tablet device that also includes the audio tour.  I didn't really get it, but P thought it was very cool. 
• Barcelona Cathedral: This was an impressive gothic Cathedral in the center of town.  You don't need to pay to get in in the mornings or evenings - only between 1pm - 5 pm.  Note that the coolest part of this was actually the elevator ride to the roof where you could look at the spires up-close-and-personal.  That is not something to do if you are afraid of heights as it is pretty scary. 
• Miro Museum: We are big fans of Miro - and the museum had a very, very impressive collection of his work.  We loved it, but I do admit that Miro is an acquired taste. 
• Montijukic Castle: This is an impressively preserved port castle.  Compared to the British castles, it's quite large and in some ways, unprotected.  There is not much of a history lesson within the castle, but the views of the city are vast.  In addition, you take a very cool funicular to the top that has beautiful views...but again - not for those afraid of heights. 
• Picasso Museum: This was my least favorite of our visits, even though I am a big Picasso fan.  Apparently most of it is from Picasso's home, so much of it is his early painting and drawing - very few famous pieces as most of these are at major art galleries around the world. 

Restaurants 

All of the food in Barcelona is excellent - even the little corner bakeries are fantastic.  So jump into any yummy looking restaurant for some great tapas or sangria.  Below are a few of my most favorite spots that we visited (substantiated by Trip Advisor!) 

• Paco Meralgo: This was one of the best meals I have had in my life.  If you love fresh, creative tapas - run to Paco's! We popped in one night without reservations and waited a bit to get a seat at the bar.  The food was awesome - amazing garlic steak, patatas bravas, vegtables.  Highly recommend - good times for reservations take 2-3 weeks, so call ahead if you want a table. 
• Fred y Elsa: This spot had great ambiance - a nice fire, cute tables, neat lighting - very romantic.  They also had fantastic food and cheap wine.  A short menu, but the tapas we had were very good.  Their cheese plate was particularly good!
• Buenos Aires Grill: We both love a great steak and Argentine beef is still the best.  This restaurant flies its beef in from Argentina and the food is very good. Not quite like a brasserie in Buenos Aires but pretty darn close.  A bit pricey, but good food!