Today I am so excited to share the first of three travel guides from our trip. We started our trip in Barcelona, so I thought I'd start with sharing this amazing, vibrant city.

• Bodega 1900 - We ate here our first night and it may have been our favorite restaurant of the whole trip! It's a tapas restaurant and every plate we had was so good! We asked our waitress to bring us the house favorites along with a few dishes we knew we wanted to try and recommend doing this if you visit. Some of our can't miss favorites included the vermouth, the olives, the tomato consume with heirloom tomatoes, and the Iberico pork. Would recommend making reservations if planning to go and they can easily be made on their website. 
• Bar Bodega Quimet - We came across this restaurant when trying to find somewhere to eat on a Sunday when most restaurants are closed and are happy we did. The food was simple, but really good! Our favorites included the octopus and the vermouth. 
• Quimet y Quimet - A small place that's great to stop in for a snack. They serve montaditos which are small pieces of bread served with different toppings along with a variety of drinks. Our favorite montadito was the salmon with yogurt and honey. The place can get crowded and was standing room only when we visited, so I'd only recommend for a snack. 
• Manna Gelats - I had read good things about this gelato shop and it definitely did not disappoint! They carry a variety flavors and all the ones we tried were amazing! You really can't go wrong with any flavor, but if I had to choose the pistachio and mojito were my favorites. 

• Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria - This market is HUGE and is full of stands selling all kinds of food from fruits and vegetables to meats and seafood. It's fun to just walk around and buy a snack or two while you take it all in. Just beware of pickpockets. 
• Sagrada Familia - This gorgeous cathedral is one of the many Guadi masterpieces in Barcelona. It's still under construction, but the architecture is unbelievable with the stain-glass windows and intricate details on the outside. Definitely recommend buying tickets online ahead of time, as it gets pretty busy and they limit the number of people they let in each half hour. 
• Parc Guell - Another Gaudi masterpiece, this park has a great view of the city along with amazing mosaic details. Again, definitely recommend buying tickets online ahead of time, as they limit the number of people they let in each half hour. 
• Take a Bike Tour - Barcelona is a pretty spread out city, so it can be hard to get around just by foot to see everything. We went on a bike tour with this company and got to see parts of the city we wouldn't have seen had we not gone on the tour.
• Montjuic - It's hill on the southwest side of Barcelona and offers great views of the city. 
• The Beach - Barcelona is a city on the water, so you'll definitely want to check out the beach.