Marcy's Spain Trip Report- Spain is !Fantástico!
 

We just got back last night from 10 days in Spain, and had a fabulous trip. In fact, anyone who doesn't like a lot of superlatives should stop reading here!

We had an overnight flight from Philadelphia on USAir, business class, thanks to Frequent Flier miles. It was a comfortable flight- I took an Ambien and basically slept the whole way.

Day 1: We arrived in Madrid and found that our connecting flight to Barcelona had been changed and had already left! Bummer! After standing in line at numerous counters, we were able to be put on standby for the next flight two hours later, and luckily we were able to get on-- It was very full! Everybody was very nice in helping us get it straightened out.

In Barcelona, we took the Aerobus from the airport to the Plaça de Catalunya (only €3.45, but packed in like sardines-- a taxi would definitely be more comfortable) and from there it was just a few blocks up the street to our hotel.

We stayed at the Hotel Omm, which is very new, and we liked it a lot. It's super modern and high-tech, trendy and cool. Every detail was Stylish with a capital <b>S</b>, and the location was superb- just off the Passeig de Gracia, with a metro stop just a few steps away. I would definitely stay there again.

The day we arrived in Barcelona(April 23) was the festival of San Jordi- the patron Saint of Barcelona and a fun time to be there! All the men give the women a single red rose, and the women give the men a book, so the streets were full of bookstalls and flower sellers.

We walked ALL over the city, just enjoying the atmosphere and everyone being out. Had some tapas near the cathedral-- pimientos del padr&oacute;n (grilled little green peppers with coarse salt- one of my favorites!) and gambas al aljillo (shrimp with garlic)- Yum!

We ended up in El Born, and old area of the city with lots of interesting little shops and bars, and went to El Xampanyet for tapas.

El Xampanyet is an old cava (champagne) bar-- packed with people, very authentic and fun. We had fantastic anchovies in vinegar, pa amb tomaquet ( bread with tomato/garlic/oil on top), sundried tomatoes and lots of cava --for &euro;15, which seemed impossibly cheap!

As we were coming out of the bar, we ran into Francis Ford Coppola! My DH, fortified by a little cava, said hello and introduced himself, and we stood there and talked to him for a minute!

Afterward we walked all the way up and down the Ramblas ( the main pedestrian street that is a big hangout-- although sometimes seedy) and then collapsed, exhausted back at the hotel.

To be continued.....

We're leaving a week from Wed. for a 17 day trip, can't wait to hear about the rest of yours.....

Although I haven't been in 7 years, I love Spain and am glad to hear about your &quot;excellent adventure&quot;. More so considering we also are taking the USAirways Business Class via frequent flyer miles from Philadelphia to Madrid, next week. But after Madrid, our trip is south, to Andalucia (via the AVE to Sevilla then by car). The problem is my wife is very nervous about the recent terrorist activities in Spain so your comments come at a good time, are very reassuring, and will be passed them along to my wife.

Continuing the trip report-- Days 2, 3, and 4:
Highlights and impressions of Barcelona:

What an amazing city! Everywhere you look there is such a variety of architectural styles-- &quot;modernismo&quot; with elegant art nouveau and fascinating and bizarre buildings by Gaudi, the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) with buildings from the 14th and 15th centuries.

We bought the two day ticket for the Bus Turistic ( around &euro;25 apiece) and thought that it was worthwhile for an overview of the city.

This is a great city for walking, although some of the sights are spread fairly far apart. I'm sure we walked over 10 miles a day. (You wouldn't have to, but we enjoy walking.)

The metro is excellent and easy to use. The ten ticket carnet is &euro;5.60. We felt safe on the metro even at night.

A word about safety-- In spite of the bad press that Barcelona seems to get as far as pickpockets and petty crime, I didn't feel any less safe than I would in New York City or any other large city in the world. There are plenty of shady characters around, but I didn't feel threatened. Just use common sense.

The Palau de Musica was incredible! We took the tour of the building (50 minutes including video presentation), which I highly recommend, and then went back for a concert at midday on Sunday.

The concert --a chamber orchestra with tenor, soprano, and chorus--was a true highlight of our trip. The music was fabulous, and in the daytime the sun streaming through the stunning inverted stained-glass dome in the ceiling was phenomenal!

We loved the &quot;El Born&quot; neighborhood in the old city. We seemed to gravitate back there every night. There is a little wine bar ( I forgot to write down the name) right across from the front of the Santa Maria del Mar church, which has a very nice selection of wines by the glass.

Other must-sees: Everything Gaudi! Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, the tour of La Pedrera (Casa Mil&aacute;)-- the recreated apartment complete with furnishings in the modernismo style was wonderful.

The Picasso museum was worth a stop. Even though I wouldn't call it a major museum, it does have some of his early works, which I found interesting.

Memorable meals (Thank you, Maribel- your information was all right on target! ):

Cal Pep (in El Born) for lunch-- My husband says it was the best lunch he's ever had!
Baby squid with chickpeas , fried artichokes, the most delicious hake, pescadito frito (little fried fish), sausage with white beans....dessert of &quot;four foams&quot;. This place looks like a hole-in-the-wall with a lunch counter, but it's great! It opens at 1:30, but get in line by a little after 1:00, or you won't get a spot. No need to order- just let them serve you whatever they're making.

Pinotxo- just inside the Boqueria market off the Ramblas. This is another little lunch counter that you would pass right by without a second glance, but don't -- it's terrific!

Pinotxo (the owner) is charming and delightful. He has published a cookbook, so we couldn't resist buying it (a personally autographed copy!) The only hitch is that it's in Catalan, so it will be interesting to see whether we'll be able to decipher it enough to actually cook something.

Set Portes-- Classic Paella, crema catalana for dessert. Very good. Nice atmosphere-- very old building, beamed ceilings.

My only regret in Barcelona is not having more time there-- three nights in Barcelona are definitely NOT enough!

We didn't spend any time along the port, or on Montjuic, or go to the Mir&oacute; museum, or the Parc Ciutadella (Sigh!)
Oh, well. There's always the next trip!

Next installment coming soon.....exploring the Costa Brava area....

Barcelona is one of those cities I have never gotten around to visiting. Your trip report just makes me want to go even more!

Your trip sounds great so far! I'm hoping to go to Barcelona this summer. My local wine shop had a tasting to the Coppola diamond series a few weeks ago and I brought home a bottle of merlot. It makes you do a double take when you run into someone like that unexpectedly. My daugher and I ran into the guy that plays Grissom on CSI in Il Greppia Ristorante in Verona last summer.

Was your connecting flight on another airline or USAir?

How many mg of Ambien did you take? I took 5 last trip and it didn't seem to do much for me.

Hi kybourbon!
Glad to hear you're thinking about Barcelona. You'll love it!

Our connecting flight was on Air Europa, and was purchased separately from our other tickets (since those were on FF miles).
We're not sure how it happened that we didn't find out about the schedule change of more than 2 hours.

I took 10 mg. of Ambien, and it allowed me to sleep, but I wasn't so drugged that I couldn't wake up and talk, or get up and go to the bathroom.

I've promised my daughter a trip to Spain for several years now but I keeping booking into other countries. I am hoping it will work out for this summer but she has an internship and I don't know if she will be able to go. If we go it will be a last minute thing.
For some reason I think I would like Barcelona better than Madrid.

I'll have to up my dosage of Ambien next time. Any problems having a glass of wine soon after or is this out of your system pretty fast?

Well, the official advice is NOT to drink alcohol with Ambien, but I have to admit to a glass of champagne before taking it.
AFTER you take it, I would just plan to fall asleep. You probably won't be wanting anything else to drink. It works pretty fast.

Day 4, continued--
After our terrific lunch at Pinotxo we wandered all around the Boqueria market admiring the incredible selection of beautiful fruits and vegetables, any kind of fish or seafood you could ever want.

It would be great to cook in a place with so many really fresh ingredients available!

We could have stayed much longer, but today we were leaving Barcelona, so we took the metro from our hotel to the train station, where we picked up our rental car. They didn't have the class of car we had reserved, so they upgraded us to a 3 series BMW, manual transmission, which my husband had a lot of fun driving.

Getting out of the city was no problem. We had a Michelin map, and the roads are well-marked.

The toll roads in Spain are very good, with nice service plazas, but boy, do the tolls add up!

We left the autopista and headed over to drive right along the coast a little. I'll have to say that some of the areas looked pretty tacky-- Go Karts, mini-golf, outlet malls, and highrises all along the beach. Yuck!

We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon- the Mas de Torrent, a beautiful converted old farmhouse a few miles inland from the coast which was our base for the next three days. It is a Relais &amp; Chateaux, and one of the kind of places where they anticipate your every need or wish. Wow! Did they ever spoil us!

Our room was gorgeous, with vaulted ceilings, rustic terra cotta tile floors, antique furnishings, a sittting room with comfy sofas and chairs, and a separate large alcove for the bed. There were fresh flowers and green plants in the room, books to read, and a tray with a carafe of wine, fruit, and biscotti waiting for us.

Our balcony had a little table and chairs, and had a beautiful view overlooking the countryside. It was so peaceful that just about the only sounds were the birds singing.

This was hotel heaven! Great linens, , a <b>powerful</b> hairdryer, fluffy bathrobes-- anything you could ever want!

We had dinner that night at the hotel-- first champagne in the lounge, then the tasting menu, which was course after course of fabulous food, beautifully presented, accompanied by a very nice Rioja.

Talk about wallowing in decadence! We felt like royalty, and thoroughly enjoyed a romantic dinner.

Coming next..... the fishing village of Cadaqu&eacute;s and a day of Dal&iacute;.

Day 5-
After a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we set off in the car to explore. First stop was the town of La Bispal, which is an industrial town where lots of ceramics are made. Nothing exciting to see there, but shop after shop selling ceramic items at great prices.

I would have loved to have bought some of the big urns or planters for our patio, but there's no way to get them home reasonably.

We did buy some terra cotta dishes like the ones they make gambas al ajillo (shrimp cooked in oil with garlic ) in and serve it sizzling to your table-- we've been working on duplicating that recipe at home, but couldn't find the right kind of dishes in the US. These were only &euro;5 for two!

Then we drove on to Cadaqu&eacute;s, through the mountains over a winding road lined with wildflowers. It was a perfect crisp, clear day for a drive.

Cadaqu&eacute;s is a lovely fishing village, all whitewashed buildings with tile roofs. The ocean was blue and crystal-clear, and there were colorful boats pulled up onto the rocky beach, and some fishermen working on their nets.
Along the waterfront there are a few basic-looking hotels, and some cafes. We picked out a likely-looking restaurant, S'Entina, and sat on the terrace drinking cava and beer and eating tapas, enjoying the beautiful day and the view of the sea.

The tapas were simple and delicious - pimientos del padr&oacute;n, grilled baby squid, fried anchovies (These are not the super-salty ones we have at home. They're more like sardines.), and the wonderful bread with tomato and garlic.

After our relaxing lunch, we drove just over the hill to Port Lligat, where Salvador Dal&iacute;'s house/ museum is. I can definitely see why artists were attracted to this area-- it <b>is</b> picturesque.

We were disappointed to find out that Dal&iacute;'s house was sold-out for the rest of the day, and that we should have reserved ahead of time. Oh, well.

Instead we decided to drive to Figueres to the Dal&iacute; museum there, and as it turned out, we were really glad we did that instead.

The Dal&iacute; museum is a hoot! Everything about it is outrageous and over-the-top! The outside has huge eggs on the roof, and the walls are dotted with rolls (as in bread). Bizarre!

Inside, the place was packed with people. But what a place! Just about every inch was covered with Dal&iacute;'s art. I hadn't realized all the different media that he had experimented with-- paintings with hidden images, holograms, sculpture, jewelry. In a central courtyard there is a vintage Cadillac with a huge nude on top, and then there is a huge glass dome (Think Epcot Center at Disney World), under which Dal&iacute; is buried.

Phallic symbols everywhere, and then there's the Mae West room. All in all , I would say it's a fascinating place, and not to be missed, even if you're not a Dal&iacute; fan.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped in the town of Girona. This is an interesting town, built right along the edges of a river-- and I mean <b>right </b> on the edge. On one side there's not even room for a sidewalk between the buildings and the river.

It was late enough that the cathedral and museums were closed, so we just strolled around the town, wandering through the old Jewish quarter with its narrow streets and little shops.

We stopped and had some tapas at a bar called Boira. The tapas were OK , not great, but the view over the river was good.

Then back to the hotel to relax and call it a day.

Next......Roman ruins in Girona, and driving through the Pyrenees.

We are very interested to hear about driving through the Pyrenees. You have given us some good tips for September. Thanks again.

Thank you marcy for the wonderful trip report. Can't wait to read more.

We weren't able to go to a concert (or get into) the Palau de Musica when we were in Barcelona, but after your description, we certainly will have to make it a must next time! Did you purchase your tickets in advance on the internet or were you able to get them there?

artlover,
I tried to buy tickets on the internet through the Palau's website, but wasn't able to get it to work. So we just went to the ticket office the first day we were there (Friday) and bought tickets for the concert on Sunday. I was amazed that they still had good seats left.

Even though I wasn't able to buy the tickets online, at least it is possible to check the schedule and find out what is offered while you're there.

First, to all those Americans who fear &quot;anti-American&quot; sentiment in Spain - let this be an example that proves your whole belief to be unfounded!

Secondly, I don't suppose you happened to pop into the Ritz Barcelona on your travels?

m_kingdom,
I'm so sorry, I did not make it to the Ritz. The last day we were there, I wanted to stop by, and asked a distinguished-looking gentleman working at El Corte Ingles where to find it, and he didn't know where it was! It seemed bizarre to me that someone who lived there wouldn't know where The Ritz was, but there you have it!

Anyway, my apologies!

No apologies required, I'm pleased you had a wonderful time.

m_kingdom,
If you have a chance, you might want to stop for a drink at the bar at the Omm. It had a nice atmosphere-- sleek and attractive, but comfortable, with great people-watching --some of the best-dressed people in Barcelona. The crowd got younger as the night went on.

Thank you for that tip, am I right in thinking it is a nightclub style bar?

I was planning to stay at OMM, but I thought the rate was too high for a 4*, did you have a standard room or an upgraded one?

I got the Ritz for 270EUR a night, OMM was 100EUR cheaper excluding breakfast, so I thought I'd go for something traditional, and some faded grandeur, or is it just faded?

I'll definitely have a look in on OMM and The Claris too, Barcelona seems to lack hotels with history, only the Ritz appears to have any, of course this has something to do with the other luxury hotels having been built in the last two decades!

As far as I know, our room was a standard room, but it didn't leave me wanting for anything.

It didn't have a sofa, but it had a table with two chairs, and a desk, and a LARGE amount of built-in storage. There was a state-of-the-art sound system, and the lights and window shades could be operated from a control panel next to the bed.

There were huge fluffy towels, great linens, and some of the best toiletries I've used at a hotel. I loved the green olive lotion! I also loved the amount of counterspace and large drawers in the bathroom.

The pool and rooftop terrace were open, but unfortunately the spa won't be open until later in the year.

I also often prefer hotels with history and a more classic style, but the Omm was fun as a departure from that.