I couldn’t leave town for more than 8 days. California to Spain, however, is quite the journey (11-13 hours by plane, to be specific). But my best friend lives in Barcelona and I hadn’t visited her there yet. It was time. And what really sealed the deal was the cheap, nonstop flight I found through Level Airlines, a Spanish carrier. Ever heard of Level? I hadn’t either. The flight was $435 total, so I bought it.
My flights were fine, albeit barebone as far as amenities, and lengthy. I arrived in Barcelona late afternoon, navigating my way to Rosanne’s rental in the Eixample district. That evening, we had a most fabulous dinner in El Born, but only after a cava and pan con tomate to kick things off. Side note: lots of cava was consumed in Spain. We went to bed early; me, tired and jetlagged, Rosanne with an early work start the next day.
Since she was busy working, I enjoyed several hours solo in the city. My Barcelona backstory is that a decade ago, I was newly salaried post grad-school and accruing PTO, and with the right level of curiosity, set off for my first independent holiday abroad (with Stephany, to Spain and Portugal). Ancient pics below 🙂 That trip was where I became enchanted by the concept of fast, budget travel and the warmth and excitement of hostel culture. I loved returning again 10 years later, sans hostel!
On this first full day, I walked a whopping 10 miles in my Chucks (and yep, I felt it later). I saw Casa Batllo, Sagrada Familia, and the Arc de Triompf. Rosanne met up a few hours later and we went for a squid paella lunch on Montjuic. Oh, the memories I have from there in 2013! That evening, we left for the airport to catch a flight to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Tenerife is the largest and most populated island of the eight that make up the Canaries. And although Spanish territory, it’s nearly a 3.5 hour flight from Barcelona. Upon arrival, we secured our rental car and I drove an hour south to our rental. We stayed in the south as it guaranteed warmer temps and sunnier skies (desirable for our winter holiday), but I’d recommend staying in the north of the island if you’re interested in culture and closer proximity to some of the better hikes.
Our next few days were adventurous. We hiked Teide Volcano, dormant and the highest peak in Spain. We hung out on our balcony taking in the view, drinking wine and snapping photos. We drove up the coast for an incredible hike at Parque Taborno (one of my all time favorites)! We had the freshest of fresh seafood in a small, coastal town. We had oceanfront cocktails and drank limoncello with locals. We experienced sunset and a dance performance at Boca Negra. We sat by a natural rock pool, and drove extremely narrow, windy roads to arrive at Masca, a rocky mountainside village. As the driver, I’ll never forget that route! lol.
When our visit was up, we flew back to Barcelona where I spent the night, before leaving again the next day. I crave solo experiences, and wanted to make sure I visited a new destination while in Europe. Vienna was the chosen city, an easy two-hour flight from Barcelona. I booked myself a lovely Innerstadt hotel for three nights.
Vienna is gorgeous. The architecture is stunning and grand and hardly translates in photos. I enjoyed learning about Viennese history through a walking tour, covering topics from Mozart to WWII. I climbed St. Stephen’s Cathedral and heard church bells over town. I escaped the cold for a few hours at the incredible Kunsthistorisches art museum (or as I call it, the K museum). I walked under sunny skies to the Belvedere Palace. I went to my first opera! Thankfully there were English subtitles because it was entirely in German. I tried some new foods including belegte brote and pfiff (open sandwiches + tiny beers, so cute), frittaten soup (beef soup with crepe slivers), and drank gruner veltliner.
It was a go-go-go kind of holiday, but that’s sort of how I have to do it these days because of Harry. I can’t leave him for too long. As exhausting as it is though, I’m willing to forgo some sleep if it means maximizing my time away. Another fab Eurotrip in the books!
Love living vicariously through you, dear daughter! ❤️