If you want to travel but it intimidates you, maybe some of these stories will make you think, “well, hell if she can do it, so can I!” And if so, then my job here is done. For this story I’m going to take you back to Barcelona in 2014 when I was still a relatively new solo traveller. Fakin’ it ’til I makin’ it…
35 years old and I’d never stayed in a hostel before but with recent house renovation bills coming in and two weeks in Europe already booked I was feeling poor and hostels were cheap. “It’ll be an adventure!” I told myself though I wasn’t sure I really believed it. Wasn’t I too old to be getting on with this foolishness? “You’re booked into a four star hotel in Paris and now you’re looking at a hostel in Barcelona? And a dorm room no less! Foolish.” But you know, curiosity (and my wallet) got to me in the end and that’s how I became a first time hostel guest – booking myself into an 8-bed female dorm at the St. Christopher’s Inn in Barcelona for two nights. I researched hostels carefully and shuddered when I’d see photos of open bunk beds in a room. The thought of sleeping in an open…
I thought I’d want to stay close to Las Ramblas when I was visiting Barcelona but after one visited I actually wanted to stay far, far away. Thankfully my Devour Barcelona food tour introduced me to a whole new neighbourhood. Gracia is only a mile away but world’s apart from the tourist traps.
A lot of people will claim that their favourite smell is freshly baked bread. Boutique hotels are starting to get on with having a unique fragrance in their lobbies. What do the two have to do with each other? At the Praktik Bakery Hotel in Barcelona they combine a scented lobby and the smell of fresh baked bread. Except this scent doesn’t come from a factory. It comes from the real live bakery in the lobby, producing bread and sweets all day, every day.
