Carnival Pride Europe Cruise Review: Day 3 – Barcelona & La Roca Villagefeatured

There’s a little phrase I came up with to help myself cope when things don’t go our way when we’re traveling: every misadventure is a story to tell later. I think back on all of the things that stressed us out (like the time we got detained by immigration in China) and I remind myself that some of our biggest travel woes have become some of my favorite stories to tell.

They’re less fun in the moment, though, that’s for sure.

Our jetlag ate into our first day in Barcelona, so we were determined to make the most of our last two days here. We had them loosely planned out but we knew that we wanted to start our day with some shopping and then finish with either a ride on the Hop On Hop Off Bus or a trek up to Tibidabo. We walked through them over breakfast, which was included in our room rate at our hotel. The spread was decently expansive with hot options (eggs, bacon, sausage), cold options (yogurt bar, cheeses and charcuterie), a large bread selection and even local favorites like tortilla española and pan amb tomaquet.

There are few things I love more than a good deal on designer bags and Stephanie had found this incredible outlet mall on TikTok that was, like, just under an hour outside of Barcelona. There’s a shopping express bus that picks up on the Passeig de Gracia, not far from our hotel, for around €30 but me being me, I was convinced I could get us there quicker and cheaper on public transit. Why I do things like try to save a few dollars on my way to spend a small fortune on handbags is beyond even my own comprehension. We took a short walk from our hotel to a bus stop on Diagonal and used our Hola Barcelona cards to hop on the bus.

The first bus ride took us a bit further into the city, where we transferred at a bus depot near a train station. Easy enough — we had about ten minutes to make the transfer. The bus pulled up and we learned quickly that there are special buses in and outside Barcelona that do not accept the tourist pass. We tried to buy tickets onboard but he couldn’t accept bills bigger than a €50, or a credit card, or Apple Pay. I asked him where to buy tickets and he gestured into the train station, but when I asked him if we had time to buy tickets he told us no. So that was a bust — especially since the next bus wasn’t until 4:00 PM (more than six hours later!).

But I like to think I’m resourceful, so I found us another route with another bus. We had to wait around a half hour for that one. These special buses don’t run regularly. We’d have to transfer to another bus at another bus depot, but we could buy tickets onboard and the ride started seamlessly enough. About halfway in, though, we were on the highway and everything came to a screeching halt. Apparently, there was a significant motorcycle accident, which shut down all of the outbound lanes for nearly an hour. Not like a creeping by inch by inch thing — everyone was outside their cars, playing fetch with their dogs, walking around — everything stopped. So we missed our connection on the next bus (which only ran hourly) and once the accident was cleared away, we pulled up to the bus depot to watch the next bus leave, which gave us exactly another hour to wait. We’d have taken a taxi at this point, but we couldn’t find one anywhere near the station.

So we settled in. I watched Grey’s Anatomy on Hulu (which DOES work in Europe!) and we lamented about how hot/tired/hungry/thirsty we were. We couldn’t lament too much — someone got really hurt to make us this late and it’s just unfortunate. Stephanie pointed out that it’s also why we generally take excursions through the ship when we dock outside port cities — this can happen anywhere (it’s actually happened to us in Italy a few times). When they happen, if you’re on an excursion booked through the ship, they wait for you.

Exactly an hour later, the bus we needed finally pulled into the bus depot. We paid for another round of bus fares and hopped on for a shorter, 20 minute drive to our final destination. Five hours after we left our hotel for what should have been an hour long journey outside the city, we pulled up to La Roca Village, an outlet mall known for high end designers at steep discounts.

The videos we saw of this mall on TikTok were incredible — the mall looked gorgeous and the discounts seemed almost too good to be true. Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Burberry, Prada — all the bigs were there. And this mall? It was stun-ning. It might be the most beautiful outdoor shopping mall I’ve ever been to.

We were starving at this point, exhausted and weary, but we rallied up and out, straight to the Gucci store. We’d seen videos on YouTube about special pricing and all these deals and the reality was far better than anything we’d seen. This Gucci outlet had a killer selection (even better than the Gucci outlet we’d visited in Florence!) and the deals were too good to turn down. So good that Stephanie and I both bought two bags each and still spent less than what we typically spend on a bag in Europe. A floral Ophidia bag that I’d seen at my Nordstrom Rack for more than $2500? €550. A soft leather disco? €800, from a retail more than double that. They had belts and shoes, collections and GG monogrammed classics. I couldn’t believe how good these deals were.

Afterwards, we started crashing a bit so we hopped to Starbucks for a late lunch and caffeine infusion. We don’t have Cappuccino Freddos at the Starbucks back home but every time we’re in Europe, they hit the spot!

Once we were caffeinated and full, we headed back out in search of YSL. The service in YSL wasn’t as friendly as Gucci. It took forever to get an associate’s help and the selection was smaller but the deals were just as great. Stephanie found me a beautiful leopard print Bellechasse bag bag, something that’ll look gorgeous on display in my closet and even more beautiful on my arm, for $775 — more than 60% off the original price!

We hopped into a few other stores to check out the deals, but I was more enamored with everything outside the stores. This mall was truly something beautiful — the Spanish architecture, the colorful facades and the sky-sweeping palm trees. I was immediately enamored and, given how often we visit Barcelona, I knew I’d become a regular visitor when we’re in town. We’ll take the shopping express next time, though. Or rent a car. But we will not spend five hours transiting on buses!

We took a more direct bus route back, which picked us up in a motorcoach and dropped us off at the Barcelona Nord train station, not far from the Sagrada Familia. It was well past 6:00 PM at this point so our half day shopping trip was a full day (and then some!). We hopped in a taxi for a quick seven-minute drive back to the hotel.

Mom was wiped and she stayed in for the night. Stephanie humored me and we dropped off our bags and headed out again. We hopped on the Metro near the Passeig de Gracia and ended up on Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is this beautiful tree-lined street, but it’s also the most notorious spot for pick-pocketers in the city, so you have to keep a tight eye on your belongings.

I wanted to browse through the Boqueria, the city’s most famous food market, but so late in the day most of the stalls had already closed down. We browsed the open stands — vibrantly colorful fruits, delectable chocolates and some very…distinctive…seafood booths. We snapped pictures and bought some jugos frescos and…it was a quick visit but it was enough.

Not far from the Boqueria is one of our favorite bistros, Balmes/Rosselló, which has renamed itself Casa Masana sometime between 2019 and now. Still, the menu is the same, the interiors are the same and best of all, the sangria is still exactly the same (and still €15 for a large pitcher)! We feasted on tapas and grilled meats and enjoyed every bit of our late dinner.

Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the hotel. It wasn’t a long walk — maybe 15 minutes or so — but I was fascinated by how much this city lights up at night. The cafes were packed, every patio table full, at 10:00 PM. At home in Chicago, I rarely walk around after dark. Crime in Chicago these days is unlike anytime I can remember (there was a mass shooting a block from my apartment a few days before we left that killed two and put eight others in the hospital) and I find myself caught off guard by how different the world is outside of Chicago. That walking around at night in even the grittier of cities (like Barcelona) is like being in another world where you don’t worry about guns or getting shouted at or chased down the street by someone who doesn’t have their faculties. Places where walking around on a beautiful night and feeling safe isn’t the exception but the rule.

We picked up some ice cream bars (Mom’s favorite!) at a bodega down the street and brought them back to the room, where we ended the night with BBC News and ideas of what we’d see and do the next day in our final day in this city!