We stayed at Apsis Aranea (pretty decent hotel in a nice area and convenient to the metro station) which was really close to the La Sagrada Familia, so after we checked in the hotel we grabbed our first bite to eat near there. We actually went to the La Sagrada Familia several times (as you might be able to tell from the pictures), each time with the intention of going inside, but that never happened. Each time we went the line was extremely long and since we only had a short time in Barcelona (2 days) we wanted to make sure we saw as much as possible.
Our first day in Barcelona was absolutely beautiful! It was a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine, minimal clouds, and a nice temperature. After checking out La Sagrada Familia, we took the metro to the area around La Rambla Street. We walked down La Rambla Street to Port Vell. La Rambla Street was really neat with a lot of cool things to see. It's an extremely touristy area with street performers and tons of stands with various items to purchase, but probably overpriced. I would recommend just enjoying the street and waiting until you're in a different area to purchase souvenirs. I recommend checking out Mercat La Boqueria while you're on La Rambla; it's a really cool food market. (It's closed on Sundays though so we had to go back the next day.)
The Port area is really cool. When we first arrived there were lots of people dancing in the streets to American music just having a great time. We caught a jazz cruise on the Orsom which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was a 1.5 hour trip for 14 or so euro and well worth it. There are other boat trip options but this one was great because it was smaller than the others and less "touristy". We were able to lay on the front of the boat and just relax while taking in Barcelona from the water. I highly recommend this cruise.
After the cruise we checked out the Picasso Museum (which is free after 3PM on Sunday's). This is certainly a must-see if you're in Barcelona. 
Since we were only in Barcelona for two days, we figured a great way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time was to do a sightseeing tour on a hop-on, hop-off bus. There are a couple of different options but we went with Barcelona Bus Turistic and had a great experience. It's well worth the 22 euro. We used it to go around the city and stop at places / areas that were of interest to us. 
One stop we're glad we made was at the Parc Güell; a park by the famous architect Antonio Gaudi. It was very cool to see and offers great views of the city from the top. There are also local musicians playing throughout the park which definitely adds to the experience. One of my only regrets from the trip is not buying the CD of a local guitarist playing there. I figured we'd have other opportunities throughout our trip, but we didn't. Oh well, maybe next time! Since pictures don't do cool sites like this justice, here's a quick video at the park:
Another cool stop was the Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC); it also has great views of the city. It's close to the Montjuïc area (where a lot of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games venues are). This is definitely worth checking out as well.
Overall Barcelona was my favorite city. I really could have spent the entire week there and been happy. Like I previously mentioned, it would have been better if we were there when it was warmer and could have taken advantage of the beach, but overall we had a fantastic time and I would highly recommend a visit to Barcelona.Here is a link to all of our pictures from Barcelona if you're interested in seeing more. Next post on the agenda -- Seville, Spain!
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