Okay, so I know this has nothing to do with Paris, but I was in Barcelona last week for my friend M’s wedding, and I thought I’d quickly share a few photos from the streets of this lively city in a post I will call “Travel Fun” (because why not)! They’re from all over the city, and they all make me smile for different reasons! I’ve also reviewed two yummy Spanish restaurants at the end of this post, for those of you who are in need of a good recommendation!

The weather was not the greatest while I was there, but I managed to walk around the city and see the Mediterranean before catching a cold! It was also cool to be there on Sant Jordi Day, the Catalan equivalent of St. Valentine’s day. Apparently the tradition is for men to buy women roses, and for women buy men books (a little sexist, but so are many traditions), which is why there were vendors in the streets everywhere selling roses and books. A little boy even offered me a rose while we were walking around Park Guell, which I thought was really cute. Okay, Ill be honest when I say that a rose in a book would have been even better, but I won’t complain!

Finally, for those of you who are thinking of visiting Barcelona soon, and want to find some good food (because there are lots of tourist traps that you should try to avoid), I MUST tell you about these two restaurants that really impressed me:

Sagardi BCN Gotic: We actually dined here twice, once for the wedding reception dinner and then on another night because we were desperate to try the steaks that we had previously seen cooking on their huge grill! This place is divided into two parts: a crowded pintxos bar and a classy restaurant. In case you don’t know, pintxos are small snacks that usually consist of a heap of yummy ingredients (such as Iberian ham, crab meat, goat cheese etc.) on a slice of bread, and held together with a toothpick. They are spread out along the bar and you can select these artistic creations as you like. The steak and fish dishes (the turbot in a butter, garlic and parsley sauce was my favorite) were equally mouth-watering and were ordered to share between two people. Service was exceptional. I will definitely go back for a third round next time I’m in town. Dónde: Carrer de l’Argenteria, 62, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

Koska Taverna: Located in the El Poble-Sec neighbourhood, I really enjoyed the authentic and fresh dishes served at Koska. The waiter was super friendly (and tattooed) and we sat outside in the bar-filled pedestrian street of Carrer de Blai with (what I think was) mainly hip but laid-back locals.  For the first time since we had arrived, I felt like we were in a non-touristy zone and I loved it. The food was equally delicious, featuring a good selection of tapas and pintxos (displayed on the counter inside). I ate fresh anchovies like I had never tasted before, delicious octopus on a thin layer of creamy potatoes and tender beef cheek cooked in a tasty sauce. For my last meal in Barcelona, it was definitely a memorable one. Dónde: Carrer de Blai, 8, 08004 Barcelona, Spain

There you have it! A quick photo/foodie report from Barcelona. Hasta tarde amigos!