appletea

Hi all,

We just got back and I wanted to thank everyone for all of their help in planning. Our trip pretty much went according to plan. My original post http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...p-planning.cfm

DAY 1 MADRID - will arrive at 10am
- checked into room mate alicia - got totally lost trying to find it, walked around an hour with our luggage.
-visited the reina sofia
- siesta
-dinner/lunch- lateral - unfortunately la sede was closed so we ended up at lateral, in the plaza near our hotel. it was ok.
- got totally lost after dinner trying to find our way back to the hotel. we wandered around some not so nice areas which made me a little nervous

DAY 2 - TOLEDO day trip (we bought the tickets online before we left)
- visit cathedral, santa cruz, santa tome and just wandered around
- stopped by caixa forum in Madrid when we got back- pretty cool museum
-dinner?? honestly i think we didn't eat. exhausted.

DAY 3 - MADRID -
- thyssen - this was our favorite museum in madrid
- shopped at agatha ruiz de la prada - one of my favorite stores
- prado
- el cenador del prado for dinner

DAY 4 - to SEVILLE by train, arrive at 1:30
- alcazar - i loved the alcazar - it was a beautiful palace
- dinner at la alqueria at hacienda benazuza

DAY 5 - SEVILLE
-walking tour - we were supposed to do this, but we overslept a little and couldn't find the group
- cathedral and bell tower - this is where christopher columbus is buried
- dinner at el rinconcello

DAY 6 - to GRANADA at noon
- bus to granada, we book the alsa tickets online the night before and preferred this because it was easier for us to get to the stop from our hotel and because there were more time slots to choose from
- picked up our tickets for the alhambra - really helpful since its pretty far from the other entrance we went through
- los italianos horchata - excellent!
-wandered around el albaizin and the town and visited st. nicolas point for the sunset
- dinner at oliver

DAY 7 - GRANADA
- alhambra - my husband loved the alhambra
- lunch at the parador cafeteria
- dinner at taberna del baco

DAY 8 - to BARCELONA by plane in the am
- casa mila (la pedrera)
- cerverseria catalana for light snack around 4pm
- concert at 18:00 at palau de la musica - beautiful, beautiful building and wonderful concert
- dinner -paco meralgo

DAY 9 - BARCELONA
- sagrada familia
- boqueria for snack - jamon iberico and some cheese
- dinner at senyor paradella

DAY 10 - BARCELONA
- casa batllo - my favorite of the gaudi sites - he is just amazing. i want to make everything in my place curvy and colorful now.
- cinc sentits for lunch
- shopping all over at agatha ruiz de la prada, cacao sampaka, kukuxumuxu, carre d'artistes
- dinner at cal pep

DAY 11 - FLY HOME =(
- it was the day of the championship league finals and we had to leave. everyone in barca was dressed up in their jerseys and singing and chanting. very exciting to be there. people were wearing roman hats. very fun atmosphere. wish we could have stayed through the win.

Overall thoughts: I loved Barcelona the most, and think one more day there would have been perfect. Also one more day in Seville would have been really nice. Otherwise, I am really glad we did go to all these cities, even though it was a pretty packed schedule. I think the food in Barca was some of the best we have eaten in all of Europe. It was helpful to have the hotel make reservations ahead of time for Paco and Senyor Paradella. I made the reservations for Cinc Sentits online.

Thank you Maribel and all for all of your help. We used the Rick Steves 2009 Spain book and Maribel's guides for all of the cities.

appletea

My food report:

Madrid:
Lateral - close to our hotel and open on a Sunday evening. it was ok, everything was a little salty. the jamon iberico was kinda tough
El Cenador del Prado - good squid ink rice

Seville:
El Rinconcello: good salmorejo, tallerines, gambas
La Alqueria at Hacienda Benazuza - 30 min from Seville by taxi - I really wanted to love this place as they serve dishes that El bulli has served in the past. At 110 Eur a person not including beverages plus the 70 Eur round trip taxi from Seville, I found it to be really unremarkable. The things we ate were inventive, but did not taste good together and at that price I was expecting a lot more. For examples - crab meat with a chocolate horchata like soup; razor clams with lemon foam on top; thinly sliced iberico jamon wrapped over a crunchy bread; rabbit in a sweet sauce - pretty good; the olives with the burst of olive oil? were probably my favorite thing. the dessert was one of the most inventive desserts we've ever had. it looked like a block of ice, but it was some crazy dry ice or foamy thing and they sprinkled dehydrated yogurt on top and you had to eat it very fast. it tasted kinda like air. it was really cool.

Granada:
Oliver Dinner: good tapas, gambas, salmorejo
Los Italianos: best horchata - so light and refreshing and not that sweet. made from chufa root.
Parador cafeteria for lunch: we went here out of convenience since its pretty much in the Alhambra. the food was not that great, fried calamari, gambas in oil, and tuna fish sandwich. however the sangria was wonderful - tasted like juice!
Taberna del Baco: fried eggplant with honey - I also really wanted to love this but it was really kind of bland. salad was good, tasted like fresh veggies. cream of meat with mushrooms tapas, it was alright too.

Barca: overall, we loved the food in Barca. We thought it was the best food in Europe of all the places we have visited (Paris, London, Amsterdam, a bunch of Italian cities). For 3 days we ate A LOT!

Paco Meralgo - great tapas and great setting. perfect for a sunday evening when a lot of restaurants are closed. the chefs were so friendly cooking in the back. we enjoyed all we ate, but for some reason right now I cannot remember.

Cerverseria Catalana - thank goodness it was open on Sunday and during siesta. We were starving and had a great snack. the chef was super fun too. nice octopus on top of potatoes. a really good lightly grilled mushroom salad with some jamon, and the third dish was hmmm. i am blanking at the moment

Boqueria - unfortunately both Pinoxto, Quim were closed by the time we got there at 4pm. We did however, have some of the most excellent jamon iberico and great manchego cheese as well as a few slices of serrano. for 100 g? each, and a nice slice of cheese it was about 30 Eur. Some nice fruit and juices as well.

Senyor Parellada - we had the senyor parellada rice which was really tasty - like paella with a lot of seafood. we also had the duck with figs (the duck was a little over cooked, and the figs were excellent but the dish overall was really sweet) and a cod with some clams. the cod was very tender and the clams were so so. For dessert, we accidentally ordered a frozen horchata type ice cream thing with a side of creme brulee type custard and chocolate fudge on top. It was really refreshing. We also noticed that two other tables ordered it as well. Also had a cheese plate that wasn't too memorable.

Cinc Sentits - We had the tasting menu at lunch and it took about 2.5 to 3 hrs. It was excellent. We loved the foie gras on top of the thin flaky pastry. The wine pairing was excellent as well, it complemented every dish perfectly. The suckling pig soue vide? for 24 hours and then seared was so succulent and delicious. the maple syrup shot with the salt on the bottom, I thought i would dislike, especially after the experience at La Alqueria, but it was wonderful as well. Overall a great tasting menu at 65 Eur a piece. The wine pairing was 30 Eur.

Cal Pep - we happened upon this place after walking around after Senyor Paradella so we decided to revisit on the last evening since we were in the area shopping. It was a great last meal. We had the most delicious large gambas (shrimp) grilled with sea salt. then the torta espagnol was my favorite thing - just delicious. we also had hake, which I saw on every menu, but didn't know what it was and it was a nice white fish, kind of a cross between cod and sea bass. We also had really a lightly fried seafood platter with shrimp, calamari, fishes and that was the most excellent fried food i've had. I'm not a big fan of fried foods and this was so light and airy and crispy and the batter was not too strong at all. We also had tallerines, which when Pep walked by and saw me eating with a fork, he was like no no no, you pick it up with your hands and eat it directly with your mouth. It was quite amusing.

Thank you all for all the recs. Overall thoughts: In Madrid, Sevilla and Granada, it was more about proximity to where we were vs. venturing out to find some of the restaurants. For instance, we couldn't find some of the restaurants listed and we were soo tired and hungry, we just tried to eat at wherever it was kind of convenient. However in Barcelona, everything was really easy to find and I'm really happy we planned ahead since there were quite a few restaurants closed on Sunday and Monday's.

yk

I can't believe you're back already, appletea! I'm glad you and your husband enjoyed your trip.

amsdon

Me too , thank you for reporting back. I agree, as a general rule one may expect a havier hand with salt in Spain in the traditional restaurants.

Maribel

Welcome back, appletea,
Really enjoyed your food report. Did you have to wait to grab a bar stool at Cal Pep or did you arrive just as it opened?

appletea

maribel, we had to wait to grab a bar stool at cal pep. but it was our last night and we had done all we wanted to do so we really didn't mind the wait. it was well worth it! =)

yk, i can't believe we're back already either. it feels like we just left. i read your other post about loving barca and feeling warm about seville and lukewarm about madrid. i feel the same way =)

appletea

My hotel report:

~Madrid - Roommate Alicia~ 125 Eur/night (inc. breakfast)
I had forgotten to ask the hotel for directions on how to get there prior to leaving. We walked around for an hour with a poor map and asked multiple shop owners, and when we finally found the street, we walked right past it because the Hotel sign is only visible from one side.

The hotel itself was modern and comfortable. We stayed on the 3rd floor and didn't find it too noisy from the plaza. The breakfast served scrambled eggs, sausages, fruit salad, toast, pastries, cereal and coffee. It was a decent breakfast to get you going the day.

~Seville - La Casa del Maestro~ 174 Eur/night (inc. breakfast)
After getting on the bus (#32) going the opposite direction and touring the whole city (45 min), we wandered around for about 15 min trying to find the hotel because it's on a tiny little pedestrian only street that looks like an alley. We saw another couple lost with their GPS and they ended up finding their way to the same hotel.

This hotel is very charming and charismatic. We enjoyed the colorful decor and guitar strings in the opening courtyard. We had the room on the ground floor, which may have added to the noisiness. The staff we helpful and the breakfast was simple, but good. Slices of meat, cheeses, fruit, very good coffee were served for breakfast. The toiletries were by Hermes (but I'm not sure they were any better than the ones offered by Roommate Alicia). Our room came with room slippers and bath robes, but also with a heftier price.

However, a clock tower nearby chimes every hour according to the time (8 o'clock, 8 chimes). This took a while for me to get used to, or I would suggest ear plugs. Also there is a lot of construction going on next door.

~Granada - Carmen de la Alcubilla~ 150 Eur/night plus 8 Eur/breakfast per person
We took a cab to a restaurant near the hotel restaurant carmen, and walked 100 yds to this hotel, so it was rather easy to find. Overall, a great base for the Alhambra. It was a charming b&b. My husband has allergies, so he was slightly allergic as there were cats roaming around outside.

~Barca - Hotel Pulitzer~ 109 Eur/night plus 7% tax
This was our favorite of our stay. It was really easy to find a really a great base to explore the food, architecture and culture of Barcelona. The hotel room was modern and comfortable.

amycyma

Bookmarking

just started planning a trip to Spain

amy

lilaki

bkmk!

Sdlern

looks like a great trip. I am planning a trip for next june and here are my initial thoughts:

Barcelona - 2 days (then fly to Granada)
Granada - 1 day (then train??? to Seville)
Seville - 2 days (then train to Madrid)
Madrid - 2 days
Toledo - 1 day and then back to Madrid to fly home

How does this look. Should I start somewhere else? Should I spend more time in a different location and skip Toledo? Doesnt look like its easy to get from Granada to Seville. Does taking the train make the most sense between those two

CathyM

Sdlern-
This is too much for 1 week. You really need to 1) limit your time to Barcelona or Madrid/Toledo or Sevilla/Granada or 2) at the very least eliminate Barcelona.

Shanti

Sdelern, When are you going in June? I visited Seville & Granada this past June and loved it - but it got pretty hot by the end of my trip. If you're traveling in late June, you might prefer to visit parts of Spain that aren't as hot.

But I agree, your initial itinerary includes too much. I spent 8 days in just Seville and Granada.

I hope this helps.

Sdlern

Do you think I could do Madrid, Barcelona, Granada and Sevilla in 9 days. If not which of the 3 would you recommend.

Thanks

NanBug

I'd skip Barcelona. The other 3 are clustered together a bit more.

Add a visit to Cordoba, too, maybe as a daytrip from Seville.

I'd do: 3-4 Madrid (4 if doing daytrip to Toledo), 3-4 Seville (including Cordoba), 2 Granada.

greg

Sdlern,
Whether you could do or not is a function of how much you intend to do within the available time frame. If you intend to do 9 days of activities in 9 days, it could be done. It is that simple.

Read appletea's initial posting. You will notice that this type of trip often elicits "too much" or "too rushed" responses as was the case of appletea's original posting.

However, as you can clearly see from above that not only it could be done, but she was glad she did it.

Now, you have 2 less days than appletea. So you have to trim more days to cover the same cities. You will have to go beyond "so many days, so many cities."

What I do is to list what the the top activities I want to do. The list dictates the amount of time I would spend in each city. By placing cut-off at 9 days, I get how much time I spend at each cities including dropping a city totally.

In my case I would drop days from Madrid. It is not that there aren't enough things to do, but that I can (or have to) include Madrid in pretty much any future trips to Spain. It is the easiest city to revisit during future trips to Spain. Barcelona and Granada, on the other hand, must be specifically included in an itinerary. They are not a freebie way point like Madrid.