And that's no surprise with its fantastic location on the Mediterranean, its vibrant street life, fascinating Gaudi architecture, superb cuisine and its world famous football team.

Indeed, wherever you go in the capital, there is always a reminder of Barcelona Football Club.

My mum and I decided to have a girly weekend away as a pre-wedding treat and to find mum the right outfit for her for the big day. So we booked our flights to Barcelona and headed for the Sagrada Familia district of the city.

Shopping was the main point of the weekend but our apartment was a two-minute walk from the famously unfinished Gaudi church that has been in the process of building built since 1883.

Trying to walk past that without marvelling at it is not easy. Drawn by its charm, we had to go and see the monument for ourselves and learn a little more about Antoni Gaudi.

His works can be identified all over the city but the greatest of all has to be the Sagrada Familia.

Gaudi knew that what he conceived as a '20th Century Cathedral' in 1883 would never be completed in his lifetime. In fact it is estimated that it will take a further 50 years from now for the cathedral to reach competition.

In 1926, Gaudi died at the age of 74 when he was hit by a tram in Girona. Work continued but was halted in 1936 as a result of the Spanish Civil war and did not continue until 1952.

During the war, many of Gaudi's original plans were destroyed, which created much debate as to how future development of the building should continue.

During the course of the weekend we did, naturally, head for the shops as well with the Ramblas offering everything we could possibly want from interesting market stalls to modern up and coming Spanish designers and high brow Dior and Gucci.

In the evening, there is plenty to do as well. There are lots of trendy little cafés and restaurants all over the city and particularly around the Ramblas, but head down to the harbour to dine at Port Olímpic or in a traditional paella restaurant in the Barceloneta area and you won't be disappointed.

We opted for tapas at traditional Spanish restaurants for our two day stay and ordered as much as we would back here in the UK. H

owever, the Catalans are slightly more generous with their portion sizes so we got a lot more than we bargained for.

Our guide book had recommended Xocoa, a boutique chocolate shop on Carrer Petritxol, where you can buy all sorts of chocolate from traditional to beer flavoured and lavender and green tea flavours.

On the last day, we stocked up on these Spanish treats before one last look at the Sagrada Familia.

If you only have time to visit one monument in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia should be it.