Barcelona & Sitges, Spain

Hello there, gals! Long time coming, buuut I am so excited to finally share a little photo diary from our stop in Sitges & Barcelona, Spain during our Mediterranean getaway in June! For those new to LL, Blake and I had the absolute pleasure (…more like vacation miracle of a lifetime…it was magical!) of going on a Princess Cruise through the Mediterranean – starting in Spain then venturing to France and Italy (if you haven’t seen my wrap-up posts for those stops, you muuuust! I swoon and simultaneously get depressed every time I go back and read through them…ha! Depressed because it’s over, obviously..! 😉 ).

Today I’m sharing a little glimpse at our time in Barcelona (towards the end of this post) and the little seaside town southwest of Barcelona called Sitges, where we stayed the night before boarding the ship. We flew from Austin to Barcelona and were able to explore for two days (one night) before hopping on the boat to officially start our cruise. What a treat it was to have a couple of days to see these beautiful places – we were in heaven!

First up in this post is Sitges, a small town directly along the water (y’all, the view was incredible!) – it’s about 45 minutes outside of Barcelona, so really just a quick bus or train ride away. But trust me, well worth visiting or staying the night because the town is so quaint and beautiful (just wait until you see the view from the cafes) and the people are incredibly kind! Highly recommend visiting Sitges, it was one of my very favorite places we got to see, overall just super relaxing and insanely beautiful.

(Ps. I’ll share all my outfit details at the end of this post, too!)
^^My favorite travel buddy! Blake is such a go-getter and was up for anything during this trip…not to mention he’s really good at Spanish so it was super cool to see him navigate & talk to locals during out time here!
  ^^Y’all know Blake and I are big beer drinkers, so we made a point to try the local beer in every city/town we visited throughout the trip. Two Estrella’s & this view? Seriously y’all, this was 110% my happy place! The cafes in Sitges generally face all of their patio chairs to the ocean or street – you’re supposed to sit side-by-side so you can admire the view & people-watch. Loved being able to slow down and just soak it all in! ^^This is what Sitges looks like once you walk through the town – beyond gorgeous! Lots of restaurants, shops and museums. We grabbed cappuccinos and croissants after strolling around for a bit – it was wonderful (…and an energy boost after a day of travel and an early wakeup call was definitely necessary! 😉 ).
^^Onward to Barcelona! Blake snapped this one while we were exploring the famous Park Güell in Barcelona. From this park, you can see a 360 degree view of the city, it was stunning! However – you definitely have to work to get to that view, lots of power walking up hills and stairways…we felt so proud once we made it to the top!
^^Ta-da! See what I mean? Well worth the hike! ^^After Park Güell, we took a cab to Basilica Sagrada Familia, which is a MASSIVE catholic church designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí – and has been under construction since 1882. It’s truly a magnificent work of art – and often is referred to as a “giant, real life sandcastle” because it is really does have a playful, sandcastle look to it… the architecture is incredible and the overall structure is SO large. It’s a must-see if you visit Barcelona!
^^Gotta end on a good note, right? 😉

That sums up our quick two days spent in Spain before cruising on over to France! I’d been to Madrid and Blake had visited Barcelona before, so experiencing Sitges together was really wonderful and it was fun to explore a new town together. It also helped that Blake already knew what to do and how to get around in Barcelona, so that made seeing all the sites quick & efficient in our short time there.

Overall, the culture and food were amazing in Spain – definitely a place we’d like to return to one day and stay for longer! We didn’t have a chance to actually hit the beach (…however, dining while staring at it wasn’t so bad, ha!) but it would be really fun to put on our swimsuits and get into the water, etc. – basically just be beach bums for a minute and soak in that part of Barcelona. Guess that means we’ll have to go back, though! 😉

Tapas, gelato, sangria, local beer…there are a ton of local foods/drinks to try if you visit. We thoroughly enjoyed going into a food coma to try it all, ha! If you have any questions about our trip with Princess Cruises or any comments about our time in Barcelona & Sitges, please leave a comment below! And don’t forget to check out the rest of my travel diary posts from our Mediterranean cruise:

Marseille & Aix En Provence, France
Portofino & Cinque Terre, Italy
Cartagena, Spain

Outfit details here:

Sitges: dress – GOODNIGHT MACAROON / wrap-up sandals – REBECCA MINKOFF / handbag – BRAHMIN / sunglasses – RAY-BAN / denim jacket – similar BLANKNYC

A huge thank you to Princess Cruises for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.