With a weekend to spare you can wander around Barcelona, see the best museums and monuments, snap a photo of the Sagrada Familia and even stroll along La Rambla to see how the city ticks. Simonne Pace says this itinerary demands a fast pace but rewards you with a good peek into the Catalan capital.

Hola chicas! shouted a middle-aged driver who had one of our surnames splashed out in big print on a paper as he waited at Girona airport to pick us up and take us to Barcelona. We greeted him with shrieks of laughter, asking him to take a picture of us in our ‘Barcelona 2016’ shirts before setting off on our journey. He willingly accepted and off we went chatting excitedly. Our holiday had kicked off on the right foot.

La Rambla – lined with trees on either side – starts all the way from Plaça Catalunya and ends at the Christopher Columbus monument near the port.

The trip had been planned months ahead, with most of us finding the perfect excuse to celebrate turning half a century. There were eight of us – old school friends who had kept in touch – and this was our first adventure together since we finished school in 1983. I had been to Barcelona years ago just for a day, so I looked forward to seeing much more of the city this time round.

Since we were only staying for two full days, we bought a two-day hop-on, hop-off bus ticket. This is a good way to get a taste of Barcelona, especially if you’re pressed for time but want to see as much of the city as possible. This is what we did and, in hindsight, we could not have gone round the city better and done more in such little time.

Whether you’re walking around taking in the beauty of the city’s ubiquitous architecture or sitting on the top deck of a sightseeing bus in the sweltering heat watching people going about their everyday lives, something is bound to catch your eye and leave an impression

The Barcelona Bus Turistik service operates three routes – blue, red and green – which cover most major landmarks the city boasts. Unfortunately, we only managed to cover parts of the blue and red lines, which took us to the Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudí’s emblematic temple, the city’s Gothic quarters, Plaça de Catalunya, Plaça d’Espanya, the chic-looking port area with its lit-up bridge at night and its many restaurants and bars, the colourful Park Güell and Montjuïc (Catalan for Mountain of Jews), well known for hosting the 1992 Olympic Games.

The blue and red lines run the whole year and are approximately two hours long. Each route allows you to hop on and off the bus at as many stops as you like and stay at that stop for as long as you like, hopping back on the next bus when it comes along. You can even change colours at one of the stops where the routes overlap, so you are free to choose which sights you want to see.

Marisa Xuereb, Eileen Agius, Simonne Pace, Jacqueline Borg, Ruth Farrugia, Nathalie Spiteri, Angele Trahearn, who lives in the UK, and Yolanda Grixti.

Available from April to November, the green route is about 40 minutes long and drives along Barcelona’s four-kilometre stretch of beaches, shopping centres and bars and restaurants.

Plaça Catalunya.

A lively and energetic city, every corner of Barcelona is full of attractions to look at and things to try out. Whether you’re walking around taking in the beauty of the city’s ubiquitous architecture or sitting on the top deck of a sightseeing bus in the sweltering heat watching people going about their everyday lives, something is bound to catch your eye and leave an impression.

Although big and busy, the Catalan capital enjoys quite a laid-back lifestyle. Locals calmly meander through the city’s boulevards sounding their harsh consonants while young people in groups chat on street corners or stop for a nibble, lunch or coffee.

We were staying at the Happy Apartments off La Rambla, near the 60-metre-high monument built in homage to explorer Christopher Colombus. In reality, the famous street, which starts at Plaça Catalunya, consists of five boulevards, or ramblas, which together make up the long road lined with trees on either side along which people stroll, watch performing street artists or sit for a cup of coffee, lunch or dinner.

Gaudí’s Park Güell was worth the visit, even though we must have gone down at the wrong stop or taken a much longer way to arrive there. We walked and walked before we reached the park and felt extremely tired upon arriving. But what we saw took our breath away.

Crossing the harbour by cable car.

Upon entering, you are surrounded by vibrant colours of mosaic tiles. At the very top of the park is a terraced area where you can sit down on curvy mosaic seats and take in the city underneath you. It is breathtaking.

The park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. A weirdly shaped walkway supported by twisting rock pillars seemed to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks. This looked rather irregular but felt strangely natural.

No matter how limited your time in Barcelona is, a visit to Plaça d’Espanya, a lovely square just outside the city centre, is a must-see. The main attraction here is Palau Nacional, the museum of Catalan art, which stands up regally on the side of Montjuïc. It’s stunning and there isn’t a better time to see it than when it’s lit up at night with the Magic Fountain in front of it – a free music and light show which you shouldn’t miss (visit http://w110.bcn.cat/portal/site/FontMagica/index135e.html?lang=en_GB).

Barcelona has two cable cars, offering fantastic aerial views of the city and easy access to the castle and other attractions on Montjuïc. Once again pressed for time, we only managed the harbour crossing by cable car. The experience was amazing. Tiny cars whizzed along motorways underneath us, bridges strangely took a different dimension and we could pinpoint the city’s landmarks one by one, including La Rambla.

A weirdly-shaped walkway in the lush, green gardens at Park Güell.

The red and white cabin swayed softly across the port at a height of about 80 metres and before we knew it, eight minutes later, we reached the other side. To celebrate the crossing, we treated ourselves to coffee, ice cream and croissants at a bar on a terrace close by with yet another splendid view of the city and then headed back to the centre for a nibble.

The nicest memory of our spontaneous little adventure is that nothing else mattered while we were there. We all returned home a little sad that it had all come to an end so quickly but happy to reminisce those special moments we shared. We all hope life will treat us to yet another memorable experience. Who knows? Maybe when we turn 60.