Guildford

Recently, we took a day trip to the town of Guildford, a 45-minute train ride from Reading. It had been at least 17 years since I last went there on a trip with my aunt and uncle, and I remembered liking the place a lot. I specifically remembered sitting in the café at Debenhams looking out over the river and the willow trees. Though the Debenhams has since been knocked down, at least I got to see the view again!

However, nostalgia was not the only reason I wanted to return to Guildford; I was also very excited to see its castle! I love visiting castles and palaces, and even though Guildford's one is quite small, we really enjoyed visiting it. It sits on top of a hill in a park, which is beautifully looked after, and even has a dragon!

We then had a great time window shopping around the town centre. It's a really pretty place with a lot of old-fashioned charm.

We then wandered back over to the river to see the Yvonne Arnaud theatre and to explore a nice little park.

After it got dark, we bought hot chocolates and went back to the castle to see the Christmas lights. There was a big line of people queuing to buy tickets to go inside the park, but you could actually get a pretty great view from the outside. With the different coloured lights and decorations, the castle and the park looked really beautiful and magical.

I feel it's still a little early to celebrate Christmas, as it's not yet December, but to be fair, that hasn't stopped us from seeing these lights in Guildford or from going to the Winter Wonderland in Caversham twice! This is the first place we've lived where we've had the opportunity to go to these sorts of seasonal events, and we're looking forward to visiting more over the Christmas period!

Barcelona Day 5: Arc de Triomf, a Tram Ride and Bogatell Beach

Our fifth day in Barcelona was unfortunately our last! We didn't want to leave the sunshine, beaches and relaxed vibe of the city and return to cold, grey England, but such is life! Our flight was in the late evening, so at least we had almost a full day to enjoy before leaving.

First of all, we had yet another tasty breakfast at Spice n Brunch, a short walk from our hotel. Being both millennials and Chilean/having lived in Chile, of course we love our avocado on toast!

Now fed and caffeinated, we began a leisurely walk over to our last sightseeing stop of our trip, passing through some attractive areas, including Parc de l'Estació del Nord, with its very Catalan sculpture, the striking Estació del Nord, and this cool staircase, which brought back memories of Valparaíso. 

The Arc de Triomf was the last of Barcelona's iconic landmarks that we were yet to see. At 29.8 metres tall, it is nearly 20 metres shorter than its Parisian counterpart and you can't go inside it, but it has an interesting Spanish/Moorish architectural style and is definitely worth seeing.

During the rest of the morning, we did some souvenir shopping and also took the tram, just for fun! Taking the tram is always a great way to see a city and feels like a very European experience.

We then headed back to the Poblenou neighbourhood where our hotel was located. For lunch, we decided we fancied something a bit different, so went to a Mexican place called Matt and Marshall. My burrito was spicy and full of flavour, and I feel like it was a lot better than most of the Mexican food you can find in the UK.

For dessert, we enjoyed ice creams sitting on the hotel's rooftop terrace, next to the swimming pool - something I could definitely get used to!

Our last activity of the trip was a final paddle in the sea at Bogatell Beach. It was so nice being there in the sun that we really had to drag ourselves away to go back to the hotel and collect our things.

We both felt a bit sad to have to return home, especially as it wasn't the easiest journey to get back. We eventually arrived back in our flat at almost 2am the next day, feeling very cold!

Despite the negative experience of Claudio's phone being stolen on my birthday, we had an amazing time overall in Barcelona. We wished we could have stayed longer and will definitely try to go back at some point in the future. In fact, we could even imagine ourselves living there!

It was also super nice to enjoy a last bit of warm, sunny weather in the middle of autumn, especially as we didn't go abroad over the summer. Though we like the UK, it definitely does us good to go somewhere else from time to time! Hopefully, it won't be too long before we'll have another adventure like this!

Barcelona Day 4: Montjuïc, Tapas and Another Birthday

After the not entirely positive events of my 30th birthday the previous day, I decided that our fourth day in Barcelona would also count as my birthday!

This second birthday didn't get off to the greatest start, as the piña coladas we'd had the night before had been the size of a pint and probably about half vodka. I woke up in the night to use the bathroom, and felt the room rocking like a boat! And when it was time to get up in the morning, we both felt a bit worse for wear.

Fortunately, after a very aesthetically pleasing and tasty breakfast at Mono Cafè, we felt ready for the day!

Our activity for the morning was visiting Montjuïc Hill. To get there, we took the metro to Paral·lel and then were able to continue our journey on the funicular railway without paying extra (we found the public transport in Barcelona such great value compared to London).

Once at the top of the funicular, we queued up for the cable car to go up to the castle at the top of the hill. The ride was a lot of fun, with amazing views of both the city and the sea.

I've always loved castles so I enjoyed the visit to this one. It has a sort of medieval aspect to it that reminded me a lot of places like Mdina and Valletta in Malta.

We chose not to go inside, as it has been converted into a military museum that you have to buy a ticket for, and that didn't really interest us. But we had a nice walk around the outside of the castle, taking in the great views of the shimmering blue sea.

We took the bus back down the hill, which gave us an opportunity to pass by some other interesting sights, including the Olympic stadium and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. We got out of the bus at the bottom of the hill, by the Venetian Towers.

By this point of the day, we were super hungry, so popped into Tapa Tapa. Here we tried several different Spanish dishes, including patatas bravas, tortilla española and pa amb tomàquet (a traditional Catalan dish). My favourite was the tortilla española and Claudio's was the mussels, and we both also loved the patatas bravas.

With renewed energy, we entered the nearby Arenas de Barcelona, a former bullring that's been converted into a shopping mall. It has a rooftop terrace that offers great views of Plaça d'Espanya, across to the Venetian Towers and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, as well as other parts of the city.

We headed back to the hotel and spent the late afternoon at Bogatell Beach (bringing only our towels and room key!). This time we had a long, drama-free swim, which was one of the highlights of the trip. Swimming in the sea is something we both absolutely love, and Bogatell Beach is a beautiful, peaceful location.

In the evening, we both fancied some more tapas, so went to a different Tapa Tapa over at Westfield Glòries, where we ordered a couple of our favourites from earlier (tortilla española and patatas bravas) and tried a few new dishes. We also enjoyed big glasses of sangría!

It was the perfect way to end my (second) 30th birthday!

Sadly, we only had one more day left in Barcelona after this, but we made the most of it, mixing a last bit of sightseeing with some time relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. A post will be on its way soon!