Bookmarking. Thanks for all of the tips and recommendations!

YW Liluyclaire, I'm glad someone is still reading this!

Sorry, lilyclaire I meant, don't have my reading glasses on!

Still reading too, great information for our upcoming trip. We're going to Seville also and am looking forward to that part of your report as well!

Love reading your report. Curious, what's the best spot close to the apt for coffee and breakfast?

So is this report to be continued? We leave in October for Madrid and south in Spain and Portugal with Grand Circle Travel. Actually nine of us sort of got together with the idea. Anyway, I'm looking for current books on Spain, other than the travel guides. Once read The New Spaniards which was good but that is dated now (1995). Ditto Michener's Iberia. Maybe there is a good adventure or mystery story out there.

Yeah I was enjoying the read to, please continue.

Ozarksbill, you might like The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon, it is a novel, but set in Barcelona and a great story.

Not to quibble but we aren't going to B. but headed south from Madrid. Any further ideas anyone? Including Portugal? I did read a novel about Goya awhile back that was good.

Yeah, enough about Barcelona already. Let's get on to the more interesting places!

Michener's Iberia is highly over rated and in retrospect got many things wrong about the Spain that came after it.

One of the best books is Barcelona by Robert Hughes-cranky, insightful, and thoughtful. He was a well-known art critic.

If you want to get a glimpse into modern Spain rent the movie Volver written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Read about the possible allegorical implications of the film. You will probably not like his early films where he tries to prove how uberhip he was.

If you like ornate writing try an old book, Platero Y Yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez, who won the Nobel.

A funny book that takes place in northern Spain in Galicia is Everything But The Squeal by John Barlow.

And if you are interested in the Golden Age of Spanish Theater we can make some recommendations.

< I'm looking for current books on Spain, other than the travel guides>

I highly recommend Ghosts of Spain by Guardian's Madrid correspondent through many years, Giles Tremlett. About how and why the Civil War and the dictatorship have returned to the surface of Spanish public life in recent years:
http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Spain-T.../dp/0802716741 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/bo...grim.html?_r=0
http://www.theguardian.com/books/200...books.features

And regarding Almodóvars masterpiece Volver. The movie was made quite shortly after the hundreds of mass graves from the Civil War and the first years of the dictatorship - of which "everybody" knew about - started to be opened in 2002 all over the country. Then the so called "Pacto de olvido/Pacto del silencio" (Pact of forgetting/silence) from the immediate post-Franco years was finally broken. This tacit pact of forgetting and silence was very important in the relatively peaceful transition to democracy in the late 70's when very few were interested in opening the scars of the past for a greater good. The title Volver/"Return" has a double meaning that points directly to this present day drama in Spanish politics and culture. The allegedly dead mother in the movie returns from the past to the present in very much the same way that the allegedly dead Civil War and dictatorship has returned from the past to the present of Spanish public life. The daughter then has to return from the present to the past to face the horrors of her history in very much the same way that many Spaniards have had to do in recent years. As the line goes in Carlos Gardel's title song: "I am afraid of meeting the past that is returning to confront my life". Penélope Cruz enacting the title song in original voice of brilliant flamenco singer Estrella Morente:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PJiNOJsK8E

About the movie:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/mo...volv.html?_r=0
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006...pedroalmodovar
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/volver/

Tripletdad
<what's the best spot close to the apt for coffee and breakfast?>

Plenty of fine places almost right on your doorstep, AND you are only some 50-100 meters from the fabulous Santa Caterina food market. Here you'll find several excellent breakfast cafés/bars that are very popular with locals. And nothing beats the smell, taste and atmosphere of a genuine breakfast place in Spain: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...a.html#REVIEWS
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Engl...sNKs-3zg0gmGJU

And you are five-six minutes walking from my favourite breakfast place in town, very typical Navia on the outskirts of El Born. Fine, no fuss and friendly place for a glass and a bite almost 24/7 (they close at 3-4, and opens at 6.30). Also great value three course lunch menu del día and excellent soup/stew of the day: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Catalonia.html

Ok sorry, I'm back! To make it short, we went to the Palace Guell that evening which we really enjoyed. Not too many people had recommended it but I thought it was well worth a visit, admission was 12 euros per person and there were only a couple of people in line. It was very close to La Boqueria so we stopped by there after, bought fruit, cheese and chocolates to enjoy in the apt with some wine which we had bought at a small grocery store very close to the apt.
The kids went out that night to a couple of bars around 11.30 for a couple of hours but they sounded a little disappointed with the nightlife! On the whole, we did not find the nightlife as lively as we had expected. Maybe our expectations were too high but I had thought all restaurants etc would be open past midnight but that was not the case, or maybe that would be the case on the weekend.

Nightlife in Barcelona starts well after midnight, restaurants closes at 11 or 12, and then people go out to bars and cafés until 3 or so when the clubs etc starts to fill up. Next time your kids are in Barcelona, I can recommend the very friendly and vibrant El Born area or the very local atmosphere and more upscale area in and around Carrer Aribau.

Aribau: http://suitelife.com/2011/02/28/arib...treet-profile/
El Born and more: http://www.barcelona-life.com/barcelona/nightlife

Ok sorry, I'm back! To make it short, we went to the Palace Guell that evening which we really enjoyed. Not too many people had recommended it but I thought it was well worth a visit, admission was 12 euros per person and there were only a couple of people in line. It was very close to La Boqueria so we stopped by there after, bought fruit, cheese and chocolates to enjoy in the apt with some wine which we had bought at a small grocery store very close to the apt.
The kids went out that night to a couple of bars around 11.30 for a couple of hours but they sounded a little disappointed with the nightlife! On the whole, we did not find the nightlife as lively as we had expected. Maybe our expectations were too high but I had thought all restaurants etc would be open past midnight but that was not the case, or maybe that would be the case on the weekend.

The next day was Montserrat - I guess we had saved the best for last! We left at 10.45 to catch the 11.36 train, caught a cab to the Placa Espanya station. I had read that the station could be confusing and it sure was!
We know we had to take the R5 line towards Manresa. But the entrance we were dropped at did not list the R5 line, you could not go down furthur without buying your ticket from the machine and there was no live attendant. So we crossed the road to another entrance. Before we went down, we asked someone if we could take the R5 line there and he asked us to follow him. Once we went down one level, he pointed out a very obvious, manned information booth. The person there told us to proceed down one more level and buy our tickets at the machine there. At this entrance, we could go down without tickets.The machine downstairs had an attendant to help people like us! I told him we wanted the combination ticket to Aeri and he promptly pushed some buttons and asked us to slide the credit card and enter our pin. Knowing the whole chip and pin issue in Europe, ed, I told him our card did not have a pin

I am glad you mentioned Palau Guell...a stunning home designed by Gaudi.

Don't know what happened there - anyway, in the meanwhile, DH, knowing nothing of the chip and pin issue, whipped out his ATM/debit card and typed in the pin. I was just about to tell him that would not work when surprise, it did! Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Relieved, we walked to the platform and made the train in good time. (Ticket was 20 euros per person)

The train ride was less than an hour. We got off at Aeri Montserrat and walked to the cable car stop. We were so taken in by the views of the mountains that we were totally oblivious of the line that was quickly forming for the cable car. After admiring the view, taking pictures etc, we joined the very loooong line! I had read there was a cable car every 15 minutes but they seemed more frequent than that, I think we made the third one.

The ride up was amazing with breathtaking views. When we got off, it felt like being in another world! Walked from the cable car to the road where there were small stalls set up selling cheese, ham etc. with free tasting. After sampling a few, we bought a chunk of cheese and walked towards the entrance of the monastery to the left.

Kimhe, they did go around El Born and did go to a few bars, they were not just as widespread as we had thought, or maybe we were just not looking in the right places!
And I tried to get to Navia several sometimes for lunch but annoyingly DS always had something else he wanted to try or it was far from where we were! However I did not know it was a good breakfast spot as well, that would have made it easier since we could have gone there first before starting the rest of our day.
Sorry tripletdad, except for one day, we usually ate something quick at the apt before heading out since we never really got an early start!

Montserrat cont'd - The word Monstserrat means serrated edge, refers to the shape of the mountains. On entering the monastery compound, one can see the tall pillar like rock formations towering above on one side and the drop from the mountains and the scenery below on the other. Its hard to describe but the place is amazing! We sat on the steps and had our cheese and crackers, admiring the views all around us. An "I can't believe I'm actually here" moment for sure!

We had hoped to make it there by 1pm in time to hear the boys choir but that did not happen. Outside the basilica, we saw a long line on one side to go up to the upper part to see the Black Madonna (the statue of the Virgin with the child Jesus in her lap). We decided to see it from below and went around to the main entrance into the church. The basilica was beautiful, amazing architecture, stained glass windows. One thing I noticed in almost all the churches in Spain were the huge and spectacular organs and Montserrat was no exception!

Had a snack and ice-cream at the restaurant closest to the monastery. Lots of flowers and park like areas. We would have loved to take the funicular going higher up on the mountain to the cove of Sant Joan where the original statue was found but were not sure how long it would take. We had tickets for the flamenco in Barcelona so needed to head back by a certain time. I am not sure if the ticket for the funicular was included in our combination ticket.

After a slightly mishap where DD discovered she had lost her return ticket and had to buy a new one, we made it down in time for the train with half hour to spare. It was hard to time this since we did not know how long we would have to wait for the cable car but the line was not long this time. Upon arriving at Placa Espanya, we walked to the fountains and the imposing building (National Art Museum of Catalonia), it was an impressive sight. The architecture was wonderful!
Montserrat was the highlight of our Barcelona trip, I definitely feel it is not to be missed.