Simply Emma: Si! to Barcelona

Firstly, my all-time favourite band, Kings of Leon were in town to headline at Glasgow Summer Sessions and I’ve been lucky to have seen them live around ten times in different cities all over the UK.

Last year we even managed to follow them on their UK tour, which included Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Our favourite being at Hyde Park in London during a stunning night in July with our friends.

We would love to make it to a few of the European dates on their next tour.

Some people may even call us crazy for following them so much, but life is for living and doing what you enjoy.

Besides it would be really exciting to go on a mini European tour while seeing them perform each night.

Mixing my love of travel and Kings of Leon. Win-win!

September kicked off nicely with a trip to Barcelona for four nights with Allan.

We visited last year and fell in love with the city.

Travelling as a wheelchair user can be challenging and involves a lot of research beforehand.

This is especially important when it comes to finding accessible accommodation. What a hotel deems as accessible may not actually mean wheelchair accessible.

However, after staying at a fantastic accessible apartment in Barcelona last year we knew we had to stay there again.

The apartments at MICs Sant Jordi felt like returning home when we arrived and saw the staff again.
We dropped our bags and immediately went onto the balcony. Even though it was 10pm it was still lovely and warm outside.

The perfect way to end our first night back in Barcelona.

We had seen most of the main attractions during our first visit so we planned on taking things a little easier this time around.

This is quite unusual for us as we normally try to cram in a million things in a very short space of time.

You can’t go to Barcelona without seeing some of Gaudi’s masterpieces.

We’d already toured Sagrada Familia, so decided this time around it would be Parc Guell.

I found it manageable in my powerchair, despite being on a hill and there is even a wheelchair accessible route to make it easier.

Everywhere you look in this park is beautiful and the views are magical.

Neither of us had been on a cable car before and being a little unsure of heights I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it.

When we started our journey up to Montjuic we realised there was nothing to worry about.

We strolled around the castle grounds and I braved the cobblestones – a wheelchair user’s worst nightmare.

Again the 360° panoramic views of Barcelona are amazing from so high up that it made it all worth it.

We sought out some of Barcelona’s best vegan restaurants and they didn’t disappoint.

I know this might be a bold statement to make, but the quality and taste made for the best food we’ve ever eaten.

We would happily go back to Barcelona for the food alone.

On our last day we spent some time at the beach. I love how wheelchair accessible Barcelona beaches are.

Last year I even got to go on the sand and in the water by using a beach wheelchair – one of my most memorable moments.

And Barcelona will always have a piece of my heart.