Barcelona trip was a towering success!

MY first trip to Barcelona may now be a thing of the past, but it certainly won’t be the last time I visit this stunning city.

The thing is, there is so much to see and do here that it’s just not possible to cram everything in over two days my friends and I barely scratched the surface.

Never before had I been given so many suggestions for things to do when I got there as I had for Barcelona, and one landmark in particular kept cropping up La Sagrada Familia.

If you haven’t seen this building yet, you must put it on your bucket list.

It’s on my to-do list, and that’s because, although it was the highlight of our stay, it’s nowhere near finished. That’s despite the fact they started building it in 1882.

No, that’s not a mistake, they really did begin it that long ago!

For the uninitiated, La Sagrada Familia is a cathedral representing the Bible in stone.

If you think it would have to be pretty big to represent the whole Bible, you’d be right, with its tallest tower standing at 560ft.

It is hoped by some that it will be complete by 2026, to tie in with the centenary of the death of architect Antoni Gaudi, although others say it may be 2041 before it’s finished.

Gaudi is said to have remarked that his client, God, was in no hurry for the work to be finished.

I certainly hope not he’s had quite a long wait already!

With three million visitors a year, the queues can get quite long friends waited two hours so my tip would be to buy your ticket online, in order to save time.

It would be worth the wait, however, when you see the stained-glass windows inside. Simply stunning.

We travelled there via one of the official tour buses you see all over the city.

A ticket lasts a full day or two if you’d prefer and you can jump on and off as many times as you like.

If the weather permits, you should sit on the top deck, which has the best seats to admire the scenery from.

It’s worth checking with your hotel if they do discounts, as we saved just under 10 euros between three of us just by booking through the hotel rather than going straight to the bus company.

A set of headphones included in the price of your ticket plugs into the seat in front of you, offering the tour in a range of languages.

Gaudi’s influence can be seen pretty much everywhere you look in Barcelona, and if you like his style, a visit to Park Guell is a must.

Originally designed to be a gated community for the rich and famous folk of Barcelona, it was a complete fail the rich locals didn’t want to live so far away from the city centre, thank you very much.

From the point of view of a tourist, though, this colourful park is far from a flop.

It is split into two sections one payable and one free.

The latter is still well worth a visit the beautiful grounds are so expansive that we almost certainly burnt off our calories from the churros we had eaten.

If you have never tried churros before, I can’t recommend them enough.

Basically donut strips, they are served with melted chocolate, and seem to be as much a hit with the locals as the tourists.

Speaking of tasty treats, Boqueria Food Market should be on your itinerary, too.

It’s as much a treat for the eyes as your taste buds, with a kaleidoscope of colours.

Here you can buy smoothies in a wide variety of flavours. If cheese, fish and meat are more your thing, no problem. It’s all right here under one roof.

The main thing I regret not having had a chance to do was ride the cable cars.

However, that said, these cars reach a height of almost 85 metres not for the faint-hearted.

I hear that even the journey in the lift up to the cable cars is an experience in itself.

No, maybe I’m better on solid ground.

There’s plenty to see and do down there. I just hope it won’t be too long before I make it back.