Plaza del Sol

Even after living in Barcelona a week, I knew that Gracia was my favourite neighbourhood.  There is an air about Gracia.  It’s the ‘cool’ part of town that houses all of the students. One person once told me it was the Shoreditch of Barcelona, I really dislike that comparison now.

A little bit further out of town, Gracia doesn’t attract too many tourists. Of course there’s nothing wrong with tourists, I make a great one myself, but sometimes it’s nice to walk around without being bombarded with Irish pubs, people taking selfies and cheap fast food.

Gracia has kept it’s cool, and it’s grace. It seems that even on the cloudier days, a little sun can be found in the pockets of this district. Plaza del Sol especially, which literally translates to sun square.

Due to only having a few days left on my own in this beautiful city, last night I decided that I wanted to go to Gracia for dinner, even if I was by myself.  This is something I quite enjoy doing, I can please myself, do what I want and I don’t have to worry about splitting the bill or buying someone a drink!

When I arrived at Plaza del Sol at around 9pm, the whole square accommodated revellers sitting down drinking and eating their takeaways. It felt like a festival, and I could feel it in my soul that summer really was coming.  Even if you only get to visit Barcelona for a week or a long weekend even in the summer, I can’t stress how much you should pay Gracia a visit and find one of these busy little squares to enjoy some on the street drinking with friends.

I went to Mucci’s on the corner of the square for my dinner. I got a slice of caramelised red onion and brie pizza and a goats cheese one, and it came to €3, that’s around £2.25 for two big slices of homemade pizza guys.

What’s really bloody cool and handy about eating and drinking at this square is Bodega del Sol, a beer shop that sells pretty much any kind of beer at supermarket price. I am not good when faced with that much choice however so went for two Estrella’s which cost me another €1.60.

So that’s two beers and two slices of pizza for under €5! Not a bad start to my night was it?

Like I said, the square was heaving with young people, so I made a smart move and thought if I sat down in the middle with my beer and pizza, someone was sure to befriend me. And so they did! Before I’d even finished my second slice, Carlos had waved me over and I was suddenly sharing his and Miguel’s liquor. They were two guys from southern Spain, and so very friendly.

By the end of the night I had made friends with an Argentinian, a Venezuelan, A girl from Turkey and a group of Italians. We all sang along to Bob Marley songs whilst the others played their instruments.  Talking and meeting with different people isn’t always easy, you just have to put yourself out there sometimes and be friendly.

I would say ‘Sods Law’ usually that this happened just as I was leaving. But the reality is that this situation probably only exposed itself to me because I was in a mind frame that I wanted to be exposed to it, and that has come from deciding to leave the city and visit my dad, a decision that has made me very happy.

Lowttie in Barcelona

I am a coffee drinking, city strolling, sunday morning bruncher.  I also love good company, and living in Barcelona alone has sometimes meant I have not been able to enjoy as many lazy Sunday mornings in the city as I would have liked. I don’t mind a coffee and a walk on my own from time to time, but enjoying brunch and laughing about life? That’s much better with your best friend.

My other, other half paid me a visit this weekend, and it could not have been timed more perfectly. I admit I am homesick, I am trying to understand why I’m feeling like this and how to cope with it, but truth is it has been a struggle.  Apparently we Welsh experience homesickness more so than other nationalities. We call it ‘hiraethu’ which is a more powerful emotion than just homesickness, and is a mix of longing, yearning and nostalgia.

We had a lovely weekend, and a balance of relaxing and partying. We ate about a weeks worth of food in three days, and one night we even had three ice creams each after the night out and half a packet of oreos. On paper, this sounds like a binge right? I know it’s excessive and very unhealthy, but emotionally it did not feel like a binge. I was following my friends lead, who doesn’t have any issues with food and is also very very slim.

So that’s what I did for the whole weekend, which turned out to be extremely indulgant and I spent a lot of time nursing a food baby. But we only had three days and both of us wanted to catch up, have a good time, drink wine and eat cheese. I wanted to go to some restaurants (reviews to come soon) and not having had a partner to go with in a while, I obviously made the most of having her as such great company.

We didn’t do much sight seeing. But that was never the plan anyway. The plan was to catch up with my best friend, who I am so very lucky to have.  She is an amazing, funny, kind person and in many ways we are like two peas in a pod. Although I love Barcelona, living here without my friends, family and boyfriend has taught me that it’s not about where you are in the world, it’s about finding what’s important to you and makes you happy.  Having my friends nearby is what’s important to me.

We both promised that come summer we would make the most of living in the Uk and prioritise seeing each other and plan to do some fun things like camping on the beach or little day festivals.

I am emotional tonight now she has left, but I must remember what a wonderful weekend it was, and that my real friends are not going anywhere.