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!