More news when I wake up to tomorrow or Sunday, but we just had two weeks of good weather and fairly small crowds on a tour of Spain and Portugal. What follows is related to things we read on this forum before we left.

BEST ADVICE: The best advice from this forum was to take Febreze. It not only freshened the clothes one had to wear day after day but was a lifesaver in removing smoke odors, which were almost universal.

SAFETY: Our pockets remained unpicked despite not wearing waist belts or other security devices, but we saw plenty of tourists who seemed to be inviting pickpockets, so maybe the pickings were easier elsewhere. Our taxi driver cheated us on the way to the airport at 4:30 AM, but you can't ask to be dropped off at the next corner at that time, and he knew it.

LANGUAGE: English was nearly universal in Spain (less in Portugal) among those who deal with tourists daily and not widespread at all among those who don't -- employees in supermarkets and small non-tourist shops for example. However, graciousness does not seem to be widespread among those who deal with tourists (something I can sympathize with since I live in a tourist destination) but graciousness, courtesy, and kindness are widespread among most other people one encounters.

DRIVING: Despite massive construction and development in urban areas, the highways are not very busy between cities -- truck traffic is nothing like the US northeast or northern Europe, for example -- but the cities are very dense. If I should return on a driving tour, I will try to find places outside the cities to stay and commute by train or bus to the centers. It was the driving, esp chaotic motorbikes, rather than lack of parking that was the daunting factor, though don't expect to park on the street anywhere. Non-existent.

FOOD: We were on a tour, so many of our meals were included, but we also ate out a lot. Delicious simple meals with bottled water or wine were readily available for 10-12 euros per person and could be had for less. In Portugal and in some parts of Spain, large arrays of appetizers will be brought to your table unasked. They are not freebies. If you do not send them back untouched right away, you will double the cost of your meal. Don't be surprised if you have to pay for bread, even if you don't want it. It is like the cover charge you pay in Italy and will be in fine print somewhere on the menu. At the same time, most bars and cafes will set out a free tray of olives or some other nibbles if you order a glass of wine or sherry. Food in meal-sized quantities was readily available at all hours of the day, despite the Iberians eating much later than we usually do. Only fine dining restaurants didn't open until 9 or 10 PM. Service was generally not included, but no one sneered at tips in the range of 8-10%.

DRESS: Wear what you want, but I felt like a hillbilly when I arrived in Madrid, and I always wear a blazer and dark trousers to travel in. At our hotel, all the older women dressed like Brooke Astor, and all the older men dressed like Rossano Brazzi. Great style. All the fabulous international shops, plus the Spanish department store chain El Corte Ingles will remind you what shopping used to be like when ladies dressed up to go downtown for the day. Nice clean toilets and both restaurants and coffee shops at Corte Ingless as well.

TRAVEL: We flew through Frankfurt on Lufthansa. They were strictly following all the security procedures you have read about here, and they were adhering to weight restrictions for both checked (22 kilos)and carry-on (8 kilos)bags. You can make a 45 minute connection in Frankfurt because there is a special shortcut between Gate 30 in Terminal B and Gate 17 in Terminal A with very short security lines.

Hope this helps. It's what comes to mind while it is fresh!

Hello Ackislander, post like this are invaluable in my opinion. One can read about sights and sites in books, magazines and on websites so easily but it is information like you posted that will help travellers know what to expect and consequently cut down on frustrations and confusion. Have a good rest!

Hi

Thanks for your notes. What tour company did you travel with? Any comments about them. We did Spain using Cosmos. We had an awesome holiday.

Hi! I'd like to ditto what LoveItaly said.. this is great info for someone who has never been.. good stuff to know beforehand. Thanks for sharing.. i hope you had a great trip!.. looking forward to details. My son will be in Spain (well, thats the plan today) this summer and i definitely plan on visiting.

A few more notes from the Portugal-Spain trip, again, focussed on the kinds of things people ask about on this forum.

FLYING: We took Spanair from Madrid to Barcelona. The Spanair Barcelona flights only have just moved from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3, so we had a bit of confusion there. Most of the travelers were businessmen, like the USAir Washington and Boston to LaGuardia Shuttles. This is apparently a discount airline,and the only refreshment in Economy was a peppermint, yes, a single (1) peppermint. No water, no soft drinks, no coffee, no tea, no churros. A peppermint.

We noticed some flying procedures in Europe that could provoke anxiety if you did not expect them. In general, there were very few people, staff or passengers, in the gate area for any of our intra-European flights until right before the plane was scheduled to board. Boarding was open: no preboarding for first or business class, families with small children, or "those who might need a little more time." Nor did we board by rows or by sections like Southwest or Air Inter. They called the flight, we got on, found our seats like responsible adults, and the plane took off. It was remarkably easy and efficient, and the plane was loaded ten minutes before departure.

EATING OUT: We had a competent and very cheap meal in the cafeteria in the basement of the Prado Museum. This was a cafeteria in our sense: you go through a line to get food. Most cafeterias in Spain are what we would call coffee shops -- places that are open all day where you can get a casual meal. But you don't normally go through a line; you stand at a bar or sit at a table (often in a back room or upstairs) and order from a menu. Corte Ingles, the department store chain, has both AND a fine dining restaurant as well.

There is an interesting chain in Madrid (it may be elsewhere) with a name something like TIBS (please correct this if you know the real name; I forgot to write it down). In the front, it is like a 7-1l - candy, gum, a newstand. In the middle, it has CD's, small electronics, and gourmet foods. At the rear is a casual restaurant sort of like Friendly's in the northeaster US. It has three advantages for norteamericanos: no smoking, low prices, and pictures on the menu so you can see what you are getting if you don't speak Spanish.

If you want to see someone look mystified, ask to have your salad with the dressing on the side. Even if you know the Spanish words, the concept is so culturally foreign that you will get a look of blank incomprehension. In fact, most simple salads come without dressing -- you mix your own from oil and vinegar on the table -- but salads with vegetables, chicken or fish may already be dressed.

Tapwater was delicious everywhere except Barcelona, where it tasted like water does in Florida -- salty and soapy. But they seem to like it because the most popular brands of bottled water there -- con gas and sin gas -- also have a lot of mineral content. Stick with national brands if you can.

Tbe chain is called VIPS. As far as I know, they are also in Barcelona and Valencia. (I mean, I've been in those places)
The dressing thing is funny. I was mystified myself while reading !! The dressing on the side of the salad ? oh, well, if I go to the states I won't have to ask what's that liquid which is on the side of my salad

By the way, the tap water here in Castellon tastes awful, too much "cloro" (I don't know how you call it in English ) to make it drinkable or if they don't put that..then it has too much calcium, which makes it very very hard and makes all your teapots go white

Very useful comments, really

Spanair is not a discount airline..not at all. They are partners of Lufthansa on Star Alliance.
It's just that the flight between Madrid and Barcelona is like a metro ride for commuters !!
Anyway, on short flights all lines are pretty much the same here...Iberia going to London doesn't give you anything...they sell it !

Thank you, Kenderina, for clarifying that the chain is VIPS! We entered one on Calle de Goya in Madrid at 1340 (1:40 US) and were seated immediately. By 1420 (2:40 US), the line stretched out the door, a good illustration of the point that most people in Spain eat lunch at 1400 (2:00) or later, something I should have mentioned earlier!

As to "dressing on the side", many Americans ask to have salad dressing served separately in a small container rather than mixed into the salad in the kitchen. Using less salad dressing is one of the reasons why we are all so thin!

Fabulous writeup--many thanks! My hubby and I are just starting to make plans to go to Spain next October and this is very helpful and inspiring. Would you mind elaborating on your favorite cities/sites? We know we want to go to Barcelona and Madrid, but are torn about what else to see (two weeks). Did you go South?

Very good practical advice. Thanks for sharing.

Barcelona is a must, but in many ways it is more like a French city than other Spanish ones. I am an architecture nut, so I was thrilled by the Gaudi and i Montana buildings, less so by the new developments. The market off Las Ramblas (on the right about halfway down as you go toward the sea) is a must.

The rest of the trip was with a tour group, so we saw what you come to see: the Prado in Madrid, the cathedral and El Greco's "The Burial of Count Orgaz" in Toledo, the Alhambra in Granada, the Mizquita in Cordoba, the Alcazar and Cathredral in Sevilla, Carmona (a hill town between Cordoba and Sevilla), Ubeda (a well-preserved renaissance town), and very scenicRonda, where we stayed in a parador at the top of the very deep gorge that splits the town.

The big surprises were the Mizquita, which combines a beautiful mosque with a high baroque church in a way I found stunning without expecting to, and the national museum of Roman Art in Merida. This is one of the most beautiful museums I have ever visited, the art is perfectly displayed and very high in quality, and most of the lighting is daylight so it photographs well. Across the street are exceptionally well-preserved ruins of a Roman theatre. The rest of the town is fairly hideous.

Unless you are interested in how to destroy a beautiful landscape, I would stay away from the coast, certainly in the area from Marbella to Gibraltar. As an example of what not to do, it is a real standout. Truly spine-chilling.

Thanks so much for that great advice! I, too, am an architecture nut, but I also love good landscape architecture, so it's sad that Spain is ruining such a wonderful natural resource.