Come celebrate Christmas with us in Barcelona! We’ll be starting on Christmas eve, Dec 24th, and continuing until the night of the 27th. On December 28th we’ll be taking the train to Tarragona to continue our New Year’s eve celebration there! TARRAGONA NYE EVENT: https://www.couchsurfing.com/events/tarragona-nye-bash-2024-25 PROGRAM: (to be updated) [EXACT LOCATIONS WILL BE SHARED CLOSER TO THE DATE] December 24th: - 18:30: CHRISTMAS LIGHTS @ PASSEIG DE GRACIA. Dec 24th & 25th are expected to be quiet days, as shops close early and virtually none of the Christmas markets are open. However, the Christmas lights themselves will likely still be on and so we’ll walk on Passeig de Gracia, see the lights and try to find somewhere open to have a bite of food and a couple of drinks. Christmas mass will be happening at select churches around the city, so we might pop in the Basilica to see the ceremony! If there’s interest, we could try to enter La Sagrada Familia for the mass that’s happening there at 19:00, but it’ll require queuing outside earlier. Meeting point: Tourist info cabin - "Cabina Sagrada Famila" https://maps.app.goo.gl/tHnWSpHsFpPoBvey8 December 25th: - 11:00: NADAL AL PORT. We’ll meet up by the Port Vell to watch the Copa Nadal, a 200m swimming race next to the port. The Christmas fair at the port will hopefully be up and running on the 25th, so we’ll try to visit it and wander around on the morning of the 25th. Meeting point: "El Cap de Barcelona" statue. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dh3DhdPr4tUuJrbJA - 14:00: RANDOM CHINESE FOOD LUNCH. Following an odd tradition, Heidi will guide the group to some random Chinese restaurant in the vicinity. https://maps.app.goo.gl/kguPUW4M2NfypN - 16:00: QUIET CHRISTMAS DAY BCN WALK. We’ll walk past the chic neighbourhood of El Born towards Parc de la Ciutadella to enjoy the last hours of sunlight. Afterwards we’ll stroll back up, passing the Arc de Trimof and heading to Placa de Catalunya, where one of the city’s Christmas markets will be happening and a few concerts will be held from 19:00. - 20:30: CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER AND DRINKS. We’ll finish off this tiring day by searching for a place to grab dinner and then stop somewhere for some drinks. December 26th: - 10:00: BREAKFAST & WALKING TOUR. The official holidays are now over, which means we’ll finally be able to see the city the way it’s meant to be seen. We’ll start by having coffee and breakfast somewhere and then spend the rest of the morning visiting markets, stopping for more coffee, seeing some of the famous Gaudi spots, wandering the Ciutat Vella and perhaps walking down to Barceloneta beach. This won’t be a proper walking tour that aims to cover all the important historical and cultural hotspots, rather a combo of nice spots that we like in the city, stopping somewhere along the way for lunch. - 19:00: PRE-DINNER DRINKS. As the night is now upon us, we’ll beat the rush hour crowds and have a few drinks before figuring out where to grab dinner. - 20:00: DINNER & MORE DRINKS. We’ll carry on to find something to eat and then, assuming we’re still standing, we’ll look for somewhere to have drinks, eventually stumbling back home. We’ll try not to end the night too late, in order to be able to go on a day trip the following day! December 27th: - 10:00: MONTSERRAT DAY TRIP. We’ll meet up at 10:00 to take the train to Montserrat and then decide whether we hike up or else take the cable car to the top to see the monastery. The area of Montserrat is full of hiking trails, but as it’ll be the end of December, it’s hard to currently predict what the weather will be like. Therefore, this event is fully weather dependent. - 19:00: CRAFT BEER PUB CRAWL. Back in Barcelona, we’ll meet up to explore Barcelona’s booming craft beer scene, checking out some of our favorite spots and exploring some new ones. We’ll likely be able to grab some bar food at these places. We'll end the event here and then head to Tarragona the next day!