The Best View In Barcelona

I woke up on our last day of Barcelona with a pounding head and dry mouth, regretting every drink that I had guzzled the night before. With just a few hours before we needed to leave for the airport, I prayed for an easy day where we wouldn't be rushing to see every last tourist attraction.

Relief washed over me when my friend said we were just going to grab some lunch from a supermarket, perhaps heading to a park for the afternoon. Lying under a big tree with a large bottle of water sounded exactly like what I needed. Unfortunately my friend failed to mention that this was no ordinary park, we were actually heading to Parc Güell. Designed by Gaudi and set within a natural park on El Carmel Hill, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Not really the kind of park I had imagined!

The climb began as an easy incline, growing steadily into a road that was pretty much vertical.  Thankfully there were several escalators to help with the journey up the so called hill.(it felt like more of a mountain). I was doing okay at this point, the headache hadn't quite relinquished its hold on me and the sun was scorching, but I had an ice lolly to distract me and I wasn't the only one suffering.

Then the escalators ended and the road continued.  

Everyone else ploughed on but I suddenly felt the urge to cry, genuinely considering turning back round and meeting them at the bottom. Then I remembered that I was the only girl on this trip. There was no way I was going to let them think of me as weak and pathetic, so I gritted my teeth and decided to continue.

I'm so glad I didn't turn back.

The view was breathtaking. 

We ate our lunch sat on a little wall before making slowly making our way back down, past Gaudi's spectacular designs. The queue to get into the monumental precinct was pretty staggering and sadly we didn't have enough time. For future reference, I now know that it is possible to book tickets online! All that we had left to do was to buy some souvenirs and head back to the hostel to get our suitcases.

Barcelona, it was a beautiful but brief visit. I hope to see you again!