As the winner of Superdrug’s brilliant competition last summer, I got to go to Barcelona for the weekend in February. And what a weekend it was. In the cold late of day, back in England, it almost feels like it was a dream…

This is perhaps because Barcelona itself, has a dream-like quality about it – a surrealist element, made even more bizarre by having gorgeous Gaudi buildings mingling with every-day architecture and a welcoming bunch of locals that usually only exist in movies.

When On The Beach first emailed to say, ‘Hey, here’s £700 to spend on a weekend in Barcelona courtesy of Superdrug – have fun!’ I literally bounced off the ceiling with excitement. Wasting no time, I went holiday shopping, exploring the site with ease, and soon found ideas for hotels and suitable flights for Barcelona.

Luke at On The Beach was extremely helpful – securing our chosen flights with British Airways and assuring me that the 5* Eurostars BCN Design hotel I had selected on the Paseo de Gracia, was not only an excellent hotel, but in an excellent location, too. And, all this was done on email, not a single phone call was needed, which as a deaf person was brilliant.

So anyway, bags packed with Superdrug miniature toiletries – we took hand baggage only – London Aunt and I set off excited about the weekend ahead. The hotel website illustrated luxurious rooms, decadent décor and a fabulous location and, as a perpetually-poor person, this excited me.

We arrived, three hours late – thank you French Air Traffic Controllers – and found our way effortlessly onto a waiting airport-to-city bus. Five euros later and we were deposited just 5 minutes walk from our hotel at the Plaza Catalunya.

At 11pm on a Friday night, the city was just beginning to wake up, so we were eager to get checked in and then check out Barcelona. The staff were friendly and helpful and the entrance hall of the hotel, entrancing. They gave us our room key and we skipped upstairs eagerly awaiting our luxurious 5* room.

Erm…

Yes, well it would seem they’d checked us in to the one room that wasn’t fabulous – and seeing as the rate on rooms was a flat one, I marched straight back downstairs and politely asked where my nice room with a bath in the middle of it was…

…only to be informed that you had to request one of those rooms especially when booking. ‘But how could I do that?’ I replied. ‘I didn’t book the room, On The Beach did.’

She sighed and told us it was the only room available. I didn’t believe her and asked again, and sure enough, magically, another room became available. This time, three floors up. With a slight trepidation, we traipsed after the concierge and peeped around the door to the new room.

Bath in middle of room – check

Amazing view – check

 

Roof terrace and hot tub just across the corridor – check

An added bonus was the free wi-fi, which my iPhone immediately found, enabling me to keep in touch, tweet and access maps and information on Barclona.

‘We’ll take it,’ I said quickly before they gave it to someone else. And then the holiday really began.

I love Barcelona because, like London, it has easily identifiable districts, that are all within walking distance, although I think London Aunt would disagree…

After the fifth, ‘It’s just around the corner, I promise,’ she rolled her eyes and hailed a taxi.

We were staying in Eixample, which boasts three of Gaudi’s best-known buildings, La Pedrera, Casa Batló, and the formidable Sagrada Familia. But I will come to all them in a minute.

Exhaustion and hunger meant that Eixample was our chosen dining destination on the Friday night and we stumbled upon a little tapas bar tucked away down a side street, hams hanging from the ceiling and a smiley waiter ready to show us to our table.

Thirsty we requested wine and water – and keen to save money, as the Euro is still not fabulous, I asked him for tap water. He raised a worried eyebrow and scuttled away before returning with two glasses.

We thanked him, but he continued to hover nearby, before returning and snatching up the glasses before declaring, ‘I give you free water that won’t make you sick!’ and so he did from a bottle!

After a delicious dinner of crispy artichokes, obligatory patatas bravas, pork with Roquefort and Russian salad, we made our way to another bar and toasted my competition success and our fortune of being in Barcelona.

This meant that on Saturday morning, we woke up with heads as cloudy as the sky outside. Breakfast was a hilarious affair as no one, including us, knew our room number, on account of the move, and they kept trying to charge us for it, in spite of the fact breakfast was included.

We then went off to ‘do’ some Gaudi, and what a ‘do’ it was.

First stop was La Pedrera – a fabulous apartment block on the Passeo de Gracia. Here entrance costs a reasonable 10 euros and queuing is done with military precision.

 

Then you are escorted up on to the roof where an amazing sight greets you – chimneys disguised as Darth Vadar, amazing flutes rising from the smooth tiled floor. Steps up, steps down and everything curved and undulating it’s way across the horizon. This is when I first discovered that Gaudi is for touching, and the best thing is, you can!

We spent about half an hour inspecting the master’s handiwork and squealing with delight at the sight of the Sagrada Familia before making our way down to one of the show apartments – the building is still lived in, so it’s not completely open to the public.

This apartment, apart from its vast size, was breathtaking also for its smooth lines, arched doorways, fabulous paintwork and incredible light – we later discovered that Gaudi was both obsessed with light and ventilation in his work.

It was a magical place, and I couldn’t help wishing that I lived there, too.

We then wandered our way to the next Gaudi house, Casa Batló, which is sometimes called the Dragon House as there appears to be a dragon on the roof, and it’s handily, just a few blocks down on the same street. At 17 euros to get in, it’s not cheap, but I can’t recommend it enough. It’s amazing!

 

On arrival you are given a audio guide, and immediately on my request I was handed a complete transcript of the whole thing especially for deaf people – English tourist destinations, take note! – and the tour began.

Entering Casa Batló is liking walking into the torso of a prehistoric animal. Scale-like paint effects adorn the walls and the curved wooden staircase takes on the form of a vertebrae. Everywhere you look there is something beautiful – the central staircase is tiled in shades of blue, giving the feeling that you are underwater. It was here that London Aunt took the most pictures.

Perhaps the most amazing bit however, was the top floor – this had been designed for the inhabitants of the apartments as storage and clothes-washing rooms. Clad in white plaster, it took on an almost dream-like quality and it was here I felt like I really saw what Gaudi had wanted to achieve. It gave me goose bumps and neither London Aunt or I wanted to leave.

But with stomachs rumbling we did, and went in search of food and did a spot of shopping…

The afternoon saw an adventure around the Barri Gotic – with its narrow streets, cathedral and tiny squares. I loved this area far more than Las Ramblas, the tourist trap, which we made a brief, but compulsory visit to.

Dinner that evening was in Taller de Tapas in Eixample, which features in the movie Vicky, Christina Barcelona and is just a stone’s throw from the Eurostars BCN Design. It’s a fabulous little restaurant that was packed to the rafters and has a great selection of, erm… good looking waiters and food of course.

After this, while our hearts told us to head to the Barri Gotic and check out Manu Chau’s bar, our feet told us to head to La Fira – a club in Eixample, decked out in fairground memorabilia and full of locals dancing the night away to a mad mix of Spanish and pop tunes. Black-Eyed Peas were played after some flamenco-sounding number and everyone was going mental.

It was great! And it seems the smoking ban has yet to reach this little venue – it was honestly like going back in time.

At 4am we emerged and I convinced London Aunt that our hotel was just around the corner, which it kind of was – around 20 minutes worth of corners!

So Sunday was quiet. After a quick read of a book on Barcelona,

we checked out the port – by taxi, the Barri Gotic again, by taxi and made our way back to the hotel to check out, by taxi – London Aunt had put a ban on my walking directions!!!!!

It was with sadness that I left Barcelona – I longed to stay a while longer in a hotel that was just a few yards away from Gaudi’s Caso Batló – a place that will stay etched in my mind forever.

It was a weekend of pure class, sophistication and… an eventful plane journey home.

*Blush…

…but that’s a whole other story!

Thanks Superdrug, I had a fab time!