Hola. Ira Returns from Spain
 

Greetings all,


My Lady wife, Roberta, and I are back from an interesting and edifying visit to:
Barcelona, Pau, FR via Roda de Isábena, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Burgos, Salamanca and Madrid,
with various stops along the way to imbibe, indulge, sightsee and generally "ooh and ahh".

More to come after we get unpacked (or as the mood strikes us).

((I))

Sounds like a great trip, Ira. Waiting to hear more.

welcome back ira! you were so helpful when we went to paris. we head to madrid and sevilla in may so looking forward to your always entertaining reports!

ttt

ttt

We just returned from Spain too - visited Madrid, Toledo, Salamanca, Avila, and Segovia. All exceeded our expectations. Fabulous food (better than in France????). We visited Pau in July (for the second time). We were quite disappointed - especially compared to Toulouse, which we visited 3 weeks later (for the 3rd time).

Stu Dudley

Ira; We hope to do something very similar to your trip next year. I sse stu also did something similar. Will be waiting for your TR.

Next week we see the friends we are going with and will construct an outline of the itenerary and then fine tune at a later date. Have 17 nights to work with.

This should be fun! Can't wait to read these reports.

Also eager to hear more---the "S" towns are my favorites.

welcome home, Ira and Stu.

I've always loved going to Spain, and a large part of that is the food - I could happily exist on tapas more or less indefinitely.

looking forward to both of your TRs!

Cant wait to read all about it!

Hey Stu,

>We just returned from Spain too ....

I thought I saw a couple that looked like you and your lovely wife.

Dang! I should have asked.

((I))

Stu, you also provided a ton of information when we went to France. Do you have an official report for spain also? thank

Ire:
Waiting for another excellent report, as usual.

Joining in on the fun here too. Can't wait to read about your trip...Welcome Home! :-)

TTT

I don't do "traditional" travel reports - just itineraries which (rather blandly) describe our favorite sites, restaurants, towns, markets, scenic drives, etc. This was our first trip to Spain (other than an overnight to Barcelona and a few day trips into Spain while we were in the French Pyrenees). I don't believe that with only a "2-3 nighter" in a city or region, I can be comfortable recommending what to see & what not to see. Ira & others are better writers than I am - so I'll "stand back" and let them post their reports.

Ira - we were in Madrid from Sept 24 to the 28th, and in Salamanca from Sept 30 to Oct 3. We hung out at the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca quite a bit, and "pounded" the streets in Madrid. We were in San Sebastian in June.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu,

>Ira - we were in Madrid from Sept 24 to the 28th, and in Salamanca from Sept 30 to Oct 3.<

We were going the other way about a week later.

((I))

Before getting into the details of the trip, I thought that I should provide

An Ode to Pintxos.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee because you are made with Jamón Iberico, Serrano and/or Gallego,
I love thee because you are made with foie gras,
I love thee because you are made with white anchovies, sardines and <i>pescaditos fritos</i>,
I love thee because you are made with <i>morcilla</i> and other sausages,
I love thee because you are made with assorted cheeses from various places,
I love thee because you are made with potato omelet.

These are a few of my favorite things.

((I))

t

Also looking forward to reading, heading off in 8 weeks for Spain (via London, Paris, Munich & Austria!).

Hi Annhig & Stu, you've both helped me immensly on previous trips.

aussie - it's kind of you to say that, especially as I'm nothing like as expert as Stu when it comes to trip and route planning. where in Spain are you going?

Bookmarking for a delightful read later.

Hi all,

Transportation: A note on staying calm
OR Why You Should Pack a Carryon with all of Your Essentials
OR The Importance of Bringing Valium

After about 3 months of careful planning, I chose the best flights for us:
Lv ATL – Lv MIA – Arr BCN and Lv MAD – Lv MIA – Arr ATL
14:00 16:00 09:30 14:00 19:00 21:00
And purchased tickets 8 months in advance.

3 months in advance I received notice that the 7:00 PM flight from MIA to ATL had been canceled, and that we were booked on the 6:00 PM flight.

2 weeks in advance, I was informed that there wasn’t enough time to make the MIA connection, and that I had to change the MAD flight to 12:00 noon. This was done for me.

I now had a choice of waiting for 4 hours at MIA, changing to the 5:00 PM flight at an additional cost of $30 or cancelling and rebooking with another airline at a cost of $250 pp.

OK. Stuff happens. Take a pill.

We arrived at ATL without incident; went through all of the procedures; had a preflight cuppa and boarded the plane.

Two hours later, we debarked.

Four hours later we were put on a plane to BCN via Frankfurt. Our luggage was routed to BCN by some unknown route.

We arrived in BCN about 16:00 on Friday. One suitcase arrived Saturday. The second suitcase arrived Tuesday morning, about an hour before we were to leave Barcelona.

But wait. That’s not all.

We left MAD, courtesy of Iberia, about 15 min late.

We arrived MIA, about 85 min late.

AA staff greeted us with new boarding passes in bright red envelopes and “quick, quick, quick”ed us to and through passport control and Customs to our new flight.

We made it to the gate with almost ½ hour to spare.

Anyway, the very beginning, and the very end of the trip didn’t ruin the middle.

((I))

the joys of air travel, Ira.

hurry up and tell us what happened in between.

what PP said
"in between" is what counts
we are leaving for Spainin in a few hours - via CDG.
Cannot say I am looking forward to that portion of the trip.

Have a great trip, danon!

thanks, lin

Annhig,

Whole family (2 daughters & their fellas) meeting up in London for a few days.
Dh & I catching train to Munich with one night stop over in Paris, for dinner ;-) "Kids" flying direct to Munich.

Couple of days to have a look at the xmas markets in Munich, then we all head to Mayrhofen in Austria for 5 nights over xmas. Kids will then head off in different directions & dh & I will fly to Madrid, we're picking up a medium size motorhome :-o and will have 17 days to take a drive. Sticking to the coast line mainly and just deciding from day to day where to go. Obviously a lot will depend on where we can find to pull up for each night or two, but we do love the unknown.

Ira: what a finger-biting beginning you had on this Spain adventure. Sounds like the middle was better? I sure hope so!

hi Ira! Looking forward to your travel tales.

I would add to your ode to Pintxos:

<i>I love thee because you are made with delicioulsly crunchy golden croquettes<i>

I've got my glass of cava ready waiting for your report.
Bring it on!

& dh & I will fly to Madrid, we're picking up a medium size motorhome and will have 17 days to take a drive. Sticking to the coast line mainly and just deciding from day to day where to go. Obviously a lot will depend on where we can find to pull up for each night or two, but we do love the unknown.>>

aussie - i know that they are in the wrong direction for you, but we loved Salamanca, and Avila is very interesting as well.

Hi all,

My apologies for being away for so long, but Real Life has intruded.

I'll get back to the report ASAP.

((I))

Hope all is well.

Thanks, Iris.
Just very busy all of a sudden.

I did manage to write a little bit.
..............................

Barcelona to Roda de Isábena to Pau, FR.

Friday, 9/21 We finally arrived in Barcelona.

OK. It was late afternoon instead of early morning: we had only our carryon: the ATM machine at the airport had rejected 2 of my 3 ATM cards, and we used all of our euro to pay the cab – but, hey, we were in Spain – right?

At the marina View B&B (www.marinaviewbcn.com/) we were warmly welcomed by Patrick, who quickly settled us in, made us comfy and gave us time and space in which to relax.

(I cannot commend Paddy McAree enough. He was a consummate host, a reliable guide and a most accommodating and helpful concierge, who went far above the call of duty to help us retrieve our luggage. However, I don’t wish to embarrass, the man by seemingly fulsome praise.)

We had booked the Columbus room, which you can view at the website. The window on the left of the image looks out at the marina. There is a small balcony from which you can view the Columbus Monument after which the street, Passeig de Colom, is named. This same view was painted by Picasso (Passeig de Colom, 1917) and is on view at the Picasso Museum. (I think it interesting to note that Columbus is pointing toward Africa, not the New World.)

That evening, reasonably rested and no longer vibrating from our odyssey, we walked up to C/ Ferran to see the parade of gegants, beasts and performers that, for us, opened the La Mercè Festival
(http://www.bcn.cat/merce/recursos/do...aMerce2012.pdf). On the way back, we had dinner at Sinatra (http://restaurantesinatra.com/en/), a not uninteresting restaurant/lounge with decent jazz on the PA and “Some Like It Hot” on a large screen. One of us had charcuterie and, the other Oriental pintxos and sea bass. The house white wine was well balanced with enough body to stand up to the charcuterie – 67E.

Saturday morning was bright and sunny. Breakfast of Spanish croissants (shaped more like the horns of a bull, and augmented with a bit of honey), Danish pastry (not Wienerbrød), pan al chocolate (pain au chocolate), toast, cheese, butter, jams and jellies did little to reduce our waistlines. Paddy also offers a reduced calorie breakfast of fruit, cereals and yoghurt, which we had for the rest of the visit.

Off to the Picasso Museum (www.museupicasso.bcn.cat/en/) by back streets of interesting old buildings. The Museum occupies five old (13th – 15th C) palacio and houses a collection of, mostly, early works by the young man who would become PICASSO. An interesting couple of hours.

Lunch just down the street at Xampanyet, more accurately on the street outside – very crowded and lively. Pintxos of white anchovy (this became my favorite), ham, breadsticks with lardo, 3 Estrella beers (very good) – 15E.

Further along, we visited the Santa Maria del Mar church (http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Sant...2xe7rhAgUa92B0), a pure example of Catalan Gothic. We found this inspiring, but not overwhelming.

In the late afternoon, we wandered about, caught the parade of beasts, which we think would be more interesting to a younger crowd - say under 12, and went to dinner at <b>Gelonch</b>

More to come.

((I))

hi Ira - thanks for taking the time to bring us to Barcelona with you, despite being so busy.

nosy as ever, i was dying to look at your B&B, but the link you have given doesn't work, at least not for me - any ideas?

Hi Annhig! not that I am Ira; but I suggest you go with :
http://www.marinaviewbcn.com/ this works to me.

thanks, jelopez! - that works.

looks like a nice place.

annhig - Many posted links on Fodor's tend to include the last ) so they don't load. Next time you click one, in the browser bar, remove the ) and it will load.