After a chaotic booking process, we had a group weekend trip planned to Nice, France! I was there with Mallory, Carson, Kristina, Winnie, Cassie, and Jackie. Kristina had been in Bulgaria visiting family for 2 weeks before coming to Barcelona to visit for a week. Winnie, Cassie, and Jackie are friends of Mal’s who I just met on this trip to Nice & Barcelona. They had gotten to Barcelona a few days earlier and were staying for a week.

Friday, October 7th:

I got to Nice on my own since I was coming from Madrid, while the rest of the group was traveling together from Barcelona. I got to our Airbnb in the early afternoon and just relaxed until the rest of the group showed up. I showered, called my mom, and took a little nap. The rest of the group didn’t show up until nearly 11:00pm because their flight kept getting delayed. They had some crazy stories to share when they finally arrived including sprinting to their gate and having someone on their flight projectile vomit everywhere.

By the time they arrived, we were all starving. We got ready and headed out in hopes of finding somewhere to eat. It was midnight by this point, and there were nearly no places with an open kitchen. We walked all over trying to find somewhere that was open, but it seemed like every restaurant was closed. There was one last place on Google Maps that said it was open. We decided to head there and try our luck, but if their kitchen was closed then we would just settle for snacks from a convenience store.

The odds were in our favor, and this restaurant was able to seat and feed us at 12:30am. Not only were we lucky to find seemingly the one and only open restaurant in Nice, but we were also lucky that it was delicious. We had some burrata salads to split as a table and white wine. Most of us got the ricotta ravioli. We couldn’t have been more grateful for a tasty meal, especially all my friends who had had a hectic travel day.

Saturday, October 8th:

We were staying in a super cute Airbnb apartment. It was really nice, but it only had one bathroom. So you can imagine that getting ready in the morning was a bit of a challenge with seven of us sharing one bathroom. We trickled out the door in small groups once we were ready, but we eventually all met up at a cafe for breakfast and coffee. I got a tofu avocado toast that was incredible. We planned out our day, and in similar fashion, left the cafe in smaller groups as we finished eating.

We made our way to the waterfront and enjoyed the views. The weather was a little overcast, but it made for great lighting for pictures. We took a bunch! We walked along the waterfront and up the coast, and we turned around to see the beautiful coastline of Nice. There was a big staircase that we walked up, which took us to a waterfall hidden in the mountain. After we came down from the waterfall, we found a restaurant on the beach where we sat and had drinks and snacks.

By this point in the day, it had started raining, so we started heading in the direction of the Airbnb. Kristina and I ventured off on our own to do some shopping. We didn’t end up buying anything, but we got to familiarize ourselves with Nice as we window shopped. Kristina even got a crepe on the way back to the Airbnb.

Back at the Airbnb, we relaxed for a little bit and then got ready for dinner. We found a restaurant in one of the narrow cobblestone streets where we could sit outside. There was even a street musician providing some background music as we ate. We loved this place! They had a great deal where for 25 Euros, you could get a starter, an entree, and a dessert. Most of us, including myself, did this! I got ratatouille, mushroom gnocchi, and raspberry sorbet. We also shared a few bottles of wine.

After dinner, we were in such high spirits. We had just eaten a delicious meal with good company, and we were planning to quickly stop by the Airbnb to drop off our jackets and leftovers before heading out to go dancing. Our Airbnb only had one key ring, which had a fob to get in the building and two keys to unlock the apartment door. Since all 7 of us weren’t always together, we had decided as a group that whoever was last to leave the apartment would put the key in the lockbox outside the front door. That way, if someone wanted to go back to the apartment it would always be available in case the group wasn’t all together. Sounds like a solid plan, right? Until the last person to leave the Airbnb for dinner forgets to put the key in the lockbox… We were quite literally skipping and singing back to the Airbnb after dinner. I knelt down to open the lockbox, and saw that it was empty. 

We had a moment of panic… Our only key was locked inside the Airbnb and it was 11:45pm on a Saturday night. Everyone who had service tried calling and messaging our Airbnb host to see if they could help us, but all of our efforts went unanswered. We weren’t surprised by this, considering the time, but we didn’t know what to do. My anxious brain was starting to panic thinking that we were going to have to sleep on the street.

Somebody noticed that above the front door was an opening with a grate covering it. From the inside, you had to push a button to open the door on your way out. Kristina found a long stick nearby, and Cassie hopped on Carson’s shoulders with the stick in hand. She stuck the stick through the grate and was trying to press the button to unlock the front door from the inside. However, from way up there, Cassie couldn’t see what she was poking at, so Kristina and Jackie were down below trying to guide her. “Up! No… too much, down a little more. Okay, yes right there! Now to the left… little more…” It was actually so funny looking back on it now. After 3 minutes of this, Cassie was able to hit the button and unlock the front door. We celebrated and ran inside and up 5 floors to our apartment door.

Of course, we still didn’t have the keys so we were still locked out of our actual apartment. We tried using bobby pins and credit cards to unlock the door, but none of these were successful. Jackie even ran down to the main street (with a buddy to hold the front door open for her) and asked a nearby restaurant for a knife. The knife didn’t work either, but we all laughed at how strange it must have been for the restaurant workers to have a random girl run in, ask for a knife, and then run out.

We had noticed that the front door had a sticker in the top corner with the phone number of a locksmith service. We had called them and were trying all of our own locksmithing ideas while we waited for them to arrive. The locksmith finally arrived around 12:30am. The group that had been waiting downstairs for him had grabbed a couple bottles of wine while they waited, and when he unlocked the door (in about 2 seconds with a paper-thin sheet of plastic) we toasted and even offered him some. He declined and instead asked for 200 Euros. Ouch. Although, of course, we had no choice, so we handed over the cash. We recouped a little in the apartment while we drank our wine and laughed about our “group activity”, as we came to call it.

Eventually, we made our way out (after triple checking that the key was with us) and to a nightclub down the street. I stayed for about 5 minutes and then remembered how much I don’t like clubs and left to go to bed.

Sunday, October 9th:

Our Sunday had a very slow start, partly due to the craziness from the night before, but also because it was a stormy, rainy day. A few of us braved the rain to quickly go to a nearby bakery and snag some croissants (both regular and chocolate) for all of us. We brought them back to the apartment and then got promptly back in bed.

By the time we finally motivated to get out and seize the day, we were ready for some more food. We found a nearby creperie that had a great deal of 2 crepes (one savory and one sweet) for 12 Euros. I got a cheese, egg, and mushroom crepe and a Nutella crepe.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking through town, exploring, and window shopping. We had branched off into smaller groups as the day went on, but we all met up to go to the port together and look at all the boats docked there.

For dinner, we wanted to have a charcuterie board in true French fashion. We headed back towards the main strip of restaurants along the water and ended up at a restaurant that we had tried to go to on Friday whose kitchen had been closed at the time. We got cocktails, charcuterie boards, olives, salads, and fries. After dinner, we went back to the Airbnb to pack for our flight the next morning. We hung out and played Spot It before calling it a night.

Monday, October 10th:

We had an early morning flight back to Barcelona. We took the metro to the airport and ate croissants that Jackie had gotten before leaving Nice while we waited at our gate. To our dismay, the same man who had projectile vomited on my friends’ flight to Nice was on our same flight back to Barcelona. He ended up sitting across the aisle and one row behind me, but thankfully, he did not throw up this time.

For some reason, we were all so exhausted by the time we made it back to Barcelona. Most people took a nap to recoup. Carson, Kristina, and I went out to go on a walk and run some errands to get things like shampoo and conditioner. The three of us plus Mallory later got lunch at a Japanese restaurant near our apartment. I got okonomiyaki gyozas and edamame. 

Some people went to the beach for the afternoon, but Kristina was working remotely that afternoon so I went back to the apartment with her. I had been feeling overwhelmed and just all over the place because I had been so go-go-go since I had gotten to Spain. I took the afternoon to get my life together and reset a bit.

One of Mallory’s coworkers used to live in Barcelona and had recommended a restaurant called Pez Vela, so we went there for dinner. We took the metro and walked along the beach to get there. The food was incredible! A group of us shared one of the special sangrias. We got a bunch of tapas, and Kristina and I shared a massive paella.

Tuesday, October 11th:

Tuesday was an exciting day because we had tickets to go to La Sagrada Familia! I had been to La Sagrada when I was in Barcelona in 2016, but I was so excited to go again. I remember being mesmerized by its beauty when I went for the first time. Jackie and Cassie had gone out earlier to explore the Gothic Quarter, so the rest of us slept in a bit before we all met at La Sagrada at noon.

As I expected, I was just as blown away by La Sagrada’s beauty as I was the first time. It is amazing to me how from the outside, it is so… brown and colorless, but the second you step inside it’s like you’ve stepped into a kaleidoscope of color. The stained glass windows all over are so incredibly detailed and beautiful, but the way that the sun shines through and reflects the colors everywhere is like magic. We walked around and sat and admired and took 5,000 pictures for about 45 minutes. La Sagrada Familia is one of those places where I took so many pictures, even though half of them all look the same because I simply can’t fathom how gorgeous it is and I need to capture it in a picture just in case.

Something cool about this visit that I hadn’t done before was that we went up one of the towers! We got to take an elevator up the Nativity Tower, which was really cool. There was a little bridge connecting two of the towers, and you get to be really close to some of the spires and even see the construction that is still being done on the church. We had to walk down a very narrow spiral staircase to get back to ground level. There were a couple places where you could poke your head out and look into the main part of the church. Every corner of this church is just stunning, and it was cool to see if from a different perspective up in the towers. When we made it back to ground level, we walked out of the church and explored a bit of the museum that is underneath it. It was interesting to read about the history and construction.

By this point, Carson and Kristina had to go back to the apartment to work, so the 5 of us that were left found somewhere to eat. We got lucky and found a table outdoors that was right in front of La Sagrada Familia, so we had a beautiful view while we ate. We all got sangria and split some tapas. I also got a Margherita pizza.

After lunch, we walked to a bar that a friend had recommended to Mallory called Dow Jones. It was a themed American bar based on the stock market. The electronic menus listing all the drink options made it look like you were looking at the stock market. We hung out here for a few hours playing pool and darts.

Once we got back to the apartment, we had a very chill night. We got pizza from a nearby restaurant for dinner and just hung out.

Wednesday, October 12th:

Cassie left to fly back to the U.S. today, and Carson stayed behind, but the rest of us took a day trip to Montserrat to see the monastery there. We left the apartment around 9:30am to go to the train station. We bought our tickets and then got some breakfast. I got a spinach and cheese empanada. We made it to the train just in time to find 5 seats together in the very last car.

The train ride to Montserrat was an hour, and once we were there, we waited in a very long line to take the cable car up into the mountain. The line itself for the cable car took us nearly another hour. Once we were in the cable car, it was a short ride up and the views were incredible. The mountains everywhere were gorgeous and green.

Once getting off the cable car, it was so cool to walk around Montserrat. From the ground level, it is hard to even see Montserrat hidden in the mountains because it is so small and high up. But once up there, it is a full fledged little town. There were shops, restaurants, a museum, hiking trails, and even a hostel up there.

We walked up to the basilica and saw a massive line. There was a service going on inside the church at the time so they were only letting in small groups at a time. A sign notified us that the service would be ending soon, so we decided to get in line a little bit later. We walked to the side of the basilica and admired the long walkway filled with votive candles.

By the time we were done admiring the votive candles, the service was over and the line was moving. We got in line and admired the outside of the church while we waited. Once inside, we were again met with so much beauty it was overwhelming. We sat down and took in all the ornate details for a while.

After leaving the basilica, we found a store and bought some things for a little picnic lunch. We got crackers, cheese, meats, chips, apples, and a jar of olives and pickles. We sat on a bench in the sun and ate. I was feeling really grateful during that lunch. Sitting and looking around at all the beautiful nature, architecture, and culture that surrounded me while eating a cute, wholesome picnic lunch with good people made me really happy.

We took the cable car back down and caught the 3:45pm train back to Barcelona. We rested at the apartment for a while while Kristina and Carson worked on their laptops before leaving for our dinner plans. Jackie had made reservations for us, and we were also meeting up with a friend of hers at dinner. Once again, our dinner was delicious. We shared several bottles of cava (sparkling wine) and many different tapas. I got a seitan entree that was so so good and a lemon and basil sorbet.

Once we were back in the vicinity of our apartment, we went to a bar around the corner that Mallory and Carson had been to before and loved. The bar is called Orient Express, and it is a cool themed bar based on the Orient Express train. All of the employees are dressed in stereotypical train conductor outfits. At each seat along the bar, there are little “passport” booklets with different countries on them so you know which one is yours. You use a stamp to order your drink on your passport. On the bottom of the passport, you can choose one of the specialty cocktails, or you can use the top two rows to choose your alcohol and flavor and then be surprised. I went with a fruity tequila drink. The “conductors” come around and collect your passports. When your drinks are ready, they are delivered to you on a train that rolls right up to you along with your passport. Most drinks came in a unique glass too. Overall, the whole experience was really fun and the drinks were good too!

Thursday, October 13th:

Jackie and Winnie left to go back to the U.S. today, so it was just Mallory, Carson, Kristina, and I left. The main thing on our agenda today was to go to Park Guell. We planned to have another picnic lunch in the park, so we took the metro to a nearby stop and picked up cava and flatbread pizzas. When we got to the park, there was a long line and tickets weren’t available until 2:00pm. So we found a bench nearby to sit and eat while we waited.

It ended up just being Kristina and I that went into the park. Carson had to leave shortly to be back in time for work, and Mallory had just been at the park last week with Cassie, Winnie, and Jackie. Kristina and I went in together and walked around, took some pictures, and admired all the pretty mosaics. Afterwards, we met up with Mal again and went back to the apartment.

Everyone was working in the evening, so it was a pretty chill day. Everyone’s “lunch break” aligned perfectly with a late night dinner for us. We walked to a nearby restaurant called Avocado, and had a yummy dinner. I got a feta avocado toast. It was massive and so good. We then headed back to the apartment, turned on a movie, and went to bed since Kristina had an early flight home the next morning.

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Now that we have no visitors, it’s just me, Mallory, and Carson! We are getting ourselves settled here in Barcelona. While it was so much fun having friends here, it has been nice finally having time to settle down and get our lives together. So far, the three of us have been enjoying exploring our new neighborhood, going to the beach, and trying lots of new restaurants. In the meantime, we’re all trying to figure out where our next trip will be… 🙂