My last day in Barcelona was a beautiful sunny day (even though it was the end of December). One attraction that many of my friends had visited, but I hadn’t, was the famous Tibidabo. Tibidabo is a mountain that provides a spectacular viewpoint of the city. You can reach the mountain by taking a T2B shuttle bus that departs at Pl. Catalunya. Took roughly less than 30 minutes, and it went around and around and up the hill. Up on the mountain is an amusement park, and most notably, a Catholic Church. This is called the Temple de Sagrat Cor.

The Church is translated to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It took 60 years to construct it. The interior is rather small, but beautifully decorated with stained glass windows and mosaics. Very colourful and filled with details.

The amusement park is the oldest in Barcelona, and features some pretty cool rides and I would assume you would get some breath-taking views high up on those rides. We didn’t go on any rides, but there are various viewpoints on the mountain and the view is beautiful. I’m so glad I got a chance to come here on my last day as it really wrapped up my 4 months in Barcelona. I cannot wait to be back! It’s like my second home now!

After a relaxing morning up on the mountain, we decided to grab some lunch. I did some searching on Tripadvisor and we ended up at Santa Anna. It was just tucked into one of the streets along La Ramblas. Santa Anna is a place filled with both locals and tourists. They have an awesome lunch menu for 10,70 euros which includes bread, a drink, and a 3 course meal. You will be super full from the meal! It’s also great for tourists since they have an English menu and can converse in English very well.

Lemon Fanta

For the choice of drink, I went for the Lemon Fanta. I was always a fan of Fanta, but it’s not super popular in Vancouver. I swear I drank Fanta the most in Spain, other than Sangria. I couldn’t believe that they gave us a huge bottle of Fanta though. It comes in the glass bottles, but this was one size larger than the usual. I was beyond filled up just by the drink and fizz itself.

Broth Soup with Meat and Vegetables

C got the Broth Soup with Meat and Vegetables. It was filled with corn, meat and pasta. She said it was a nice light soup and wasn’t too salty. For me, it sort of reminded me of chicken noodle soup. You could get semi full just by the soup itself already!

White Rice with Tomato Sauce, Fried Egg, and Fried Banana

K and I got the White Rice with Tomato Sauce, Fried Egg, and Fried Banana as our appetizer. Yup, rice for an appie! Okay, I sort of laughed when I read this on the menu, but I wanted to try it anyway. It’s such a weird combination, but somehow it didn’t taste too bad! The fried banana are basically like banana chips. You get a good amount of tomato sauce on your rice, and then a sunny side up egg. This would make a pretty good breakfast actually!

Salt Cod with Tender Garlic Sauce

For the entree, I got the Salt Cod with Tender Garlic Sauce, which is one of their popular dishes. This was so delicious!! The fish was so tender and moist. It came with some lentil beans, which I wasn’t a big fan of, but the garlic sauce was very light and added a bit of flavour without being too overwhelming.

Grilled Veal Steak with French Fries and Green Peppers

C and E both got the Grilled Veal Steak with French Fries and Green Peppers. I find it odd, but the steak in Barcelona is often cut very thin. Hence, I find that the meat is a lot more tough since it gets overcooked really quickly. They both agreed it was just average.

Roast Pork Chop with Honey and Mustard

K got the Roast Pork Chop with Honey and Mustard. You’ve got to get messy eating this one! A nice honey glaze on the meat, but as usual, the pork chops didn’t have too much meat on them. It also came with some potatoes.

Catalan Creme

For dessert, we wanted the Pineapples with Cream, but they ran out of that. Instead, we got the Catalan Creme, which did not look too appetizing. It was slightly torched so there was a thin layer of caramelized sugar on top. I found it average, and I was too full to finish this.

All in all, Santa Anna has some pretty good deals for lunch. I hear that their regular menu is also really good! Service was also very friendly. And that was it for my stay in Barcelona! I cannot wait to be back! Before returning to Vancouver, we took a trip to London, which will be featured in my next post!