kandn -- it was such a fun time!

Each course was small, just a few bites of this and a few bites of that.....but after 17 courses of little servings, we were completely sated.

What we enjoyed the most was the atmosphere, there's great energy in that olive oil shop -- and it's all because of Francisco. His personality, his charm and the way he presented each course was the secret ingredient to a perfect evening.

MyriamC,
Arte y Sabores de Córdoba looks and sounds like an excellent idea, thanks for making me aware of this! This is the atmosphere and spirit of a local peña/flamenco club:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4gMn1fqRf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whP0qSXAy8s

On our last day in Granada, we awoke to a morning filled with sunshine.

We had already checked off the items on our list of things to see and do, so we consulted with our Rick Steves guide to plan our day. We decided to visit the monastery and Basilica de San Juan de Dios, both of which were within easy walking distance from our hotel.

The Monasterio de San Jeronimo, although the church was beautiful.....was also really dark. There was very little lighting and even though it was relatively bright outside, we found the church to lack natural light and that took away from the grandeur of the altar and paintings in my opinion.

The cloister was quite nice, and it was interesting to read the various stones underneath our feet of hundreds of monks who are buried there.

It was very serene and an interesting place to see. Would have enjoyed it more if there was better lighting.

A few blocks away is the Basilica de San Juan de Dios. We got about 30 minutes before they closed for lunch, but we were allowed to stay there as long as we liked.

The Basilica is managed by an elderly couple and their daughter (??)....it is a beautifully preserved church and we were given the privilege of going up and behind the altar where the remains of San Juan de Dios are contained within a silver urn.

This was one of the most stunning baroque churches we visited, filled with paintings and sculptures. The tour behind the altar was truly remarkable, and the couple running the tourist desk were just so charming and amiable. I highly recommend you spend some time here, it remains one of the highlights of our visit to Spain.

We made our way back towards Plaza Nueva, looking for a place to have lunch. We picked a random restaurant -- Cafe Lisboa -- because it had outdoor seating and we thought it would be a great people-watching spot.

It WAS a great people watching spot, right next to Plaza Nueva, but....the food was mediocre. They were running a lunch special (as do most restaurants in Spain) and it was just OK.....they didn't have available the advertised dessert and we were forced to choose from their lousy selections. And we had to pay cash -- while I don't mind paying cash, this is the second time in Spain that credit cards were not accepted and both times the restaurant was mediocre at best. Maybe there's a connection...

We found ourselves with nothing really to do for the rest of the afternoon. We walked around the Realejo, bought some souvenirs, made our way down to Calle Navas, etc....

Our last evening in Granada we had a choice to either go see the Alhambra at night or go to a flamenco show. We decided to go to a flamenco show (yes, I am obsessed with flamenco). Our hotel concierge recommended La Rocio Flamenco Cave. He showed us the brochure which featured pictures of Michelle Obama with her quotes about how great this place was. So we booked it.

A bus was picking us up to take us up to Sacramonte for the show, so we stopped at our favorite Olivers for tapas and drinks beforehand.

The bus picked us up on time and we made our way up to Sacramonte.

After seeing electrifying flamenco performances in Cordoba and Seville, we were really looking forward to an authentic flamenco show performed by gypsies in their caves. But, we were really disappointed. The dances were short and there was no real passion, nothing like the previous performances we had attended. It was just a touristy attraction whose only appeal was that it took place in a cave. That part was awesome to experience. But the show was terrible.....what was Michelle Obama thinking???

The nice part of our reservation is that it included a night walking tour through the Albaycin, including a stop at Mirador San Nicolas. The view at night is simply breathtaking! Make a point of visiting here both during the day and at night!

We were dropped off at our hotel, made our way up to the Fred Flintstone bed of rocks suite, and packed up, we were ready for Barcelona!

I'd like to add that the Rick Steves book didn't really offer too much information about Granada, other than an extensive chapter on the Alhambra. Maybe we missed a lot of things to see and do, but I really think 3 nights in Granada is more than enough to satisfy.

Next up.....Barcelona!

I'm really enjoying your trip report. I have almost decided on a Spain trip for next year so I will be taking notes from your trip. I've had some fears about Spain especially Barcelona so nice to know you had a good trip.

Question on Alhambra tix: When you ordered on-line, was your credit card charged then? Or not until you picked up the tickets? Is the requirement to show the same credit card you ordered with for identification purposes? Did you pick up the tickets from a human or have to use a machine? I like to use a pre-paid debit card for these type of on-line purchases and am wondering if this is possible.

Thanks for all the good info.

I prepaid for the Alhambra tickets online. In fact I made most of my purchases well beforehand (Alhambra, train tickets, plane tickets, hotels and even some attractions) to limit the purchases I made in Spain. It worked out really well.

I picked up the Alhambra tickets from a bookstore near Plaza Nueva. Your hotel concierge should be able to give you directions as it is the official spot outside of the Alhambra itself for picking up the tickets.

You have to use the same credit card you used to buy the tickets online -- and it is a machine similar to an ATM machine -- you stick your credit card in and the machine reads your card information and instantly provides you with a print out of your actual tickets.

I plan on finishing up the rest of my TR later this week (Barcelona).

Nothing to fear in Barcelona, I loved it the most of all the cities we visited.

You will have a great time!

Fantastic TR, it really makes me want to visit Spain very soon!

Thank you for explaining how to retrieve your actual paper Alhambra tickets. It is perfectly clear to me now.

Looking forward to your Barcelona report!

as am I…great job.

((H))

Thanks for the info on the Alhambra tix. The procedures for these things are always different and confusing. I jumped thru quite a few hoops for advance tix in Italy last year but it did turn out to be worth it. Looking forward to your Barcelona report.

Wonderful reports! Thank you for taking the time to do this! Heading to Spain in about 4 weeks. You have given lots of wonderful insight! Do you think a 9 year old boy would be entertained by the Flamenco show? If so, any particular location that seemed to have the most kid friendly atmosphere? We will be in Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, Seville and a few additional cities. THANK YOU!!!

>Do you think a 9 year old boy would be entertained by the Flamenco show?>

If it's the real deal, definitely yes! My brother went with his 8 and 16 years old to excellent Casa Patas in Madrid with a couple of friends the same age last year, and they all had a fantastic time. The nine year old girl was mesmerized. Casa Patas has consistently been the best tablao in Spain in recent years. Only top artists: http://www.casapatas.com/

Belén López danced that night, and here she is in Casa Patas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHLRmL347U

Fantastic trip report! Thoroughly enjoyed all your details. We are heading there in a week and I'm busy making notes of your recommendations.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I should be finishing up my TR over the next few days.

rosebrownfamily -- I agree with kimhe, kids will love watching flamenco!

excited_confused
Pastora Galván dances in Casa de La Memória in Sevilla May 12, 15, 18 and 20: http://www.casadelamemoria.es/

She's one of the major stars in the 18th edition of the Bienal de Flamenco in Sevilla later this year, and she's nominated to the Premio Max 2014 as best female dancer in Spain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P073sNZaJro

Wow! Great report. And just in time for my trip to Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, and Granada.

It doesn't seem you had any issues with personal safety. If you were going alone, would you feel unsafe? After a long drought, I'm finally headed back to Europe, but this time, alone. I just don't want to worry anyone back home.

Also, in your preplanning, did you think of going to Gibraltar? I'm tempted, but unsure. I'll be there a week before I meet up with my friend in Granada.

I was very aware of place and time the entire trip -- but felt very safe, even in Barcelona.

As for Gibraltar, I really didn't have an interest in going there this trip -- and it didn't fit in my itinerary.

We did spend 4 nights in Granada which I thought was one day too many -- in retrospect, I would have made a stop in Ronda. I've read it's very beautiful and worth making the effort to go there.

Judy_Rosa, we leave for Barcelona on Saturday (yay!) so I hope you get to it before then! Your TR has been very informative.

Kimhe, thanks for the tip about Pastora Galván, we will be in Sevilla on the 18th so if we do not make it to a flamenco performance in Barcelona, will definitely plan for that.

The last leg of our trip was Barcelona.

I absolutely LOVE Barcelona!

We caught a morning flight from Granada to Barcelona -- we flew on Vueling Airlines, which is I believe the regional carrier for Iberia. The flight (one-way) only cost EUR80 -- we upgraded to include the cost of checking our bags.

You can get flights on Vueling as cheap as EUR69 if you book far enough in advance. I think Ryan Air also offers cost-effective flights, but the timing on Vueling worked out better for us.

We had a (thankfully) uneventful flight and arrived in Barcelona late morning. We could have taken a bus to the center of the city, but with our overstuffed baggage in hand, we figured it would be easier to take a cab. The cost was EUR30 from the airport to our hotel.

We stayed at Park Hotel Barcelona. From my research (and advice from this site), I knew I wanted to stay in El Born. The price was right (by Barcelona standards as hotels here are expensive) and the location was right off Paseo (or Passeig) del Born -- perfect!

The hotel itself was OK -- it appears that the lower floors of the hotel have been rehabbed, but the upper levels have not. We were given a room on the 3rd floor (not new) -- I went into the bathroom and found a tiny little bug (they call them silver fish in my part of the USA) -- so we didn't unpack but went down to the lobby to get a different room. Not a problem, and our new room was completely redone in a modern decor. Excellent.

The only downside to this hotel was that there was no business center, or any way to print out reservations or tickets to attractions. That said, I was able to email the concierge what I need printed out and he was very happy to oblige.

First order of business....food, of course! We were close to Barceloneta, so we headed there, walked around a bit and had lunch at Restaurante Port Vell -- this was based on a recommendation from my brother who had dined there. For EUR26 we had the plate of the day (DH had paella, I had fish) and this included wine and dessert. It was delicious! I highly recommend this place -- very pleasant sitting outside while dining.

We were off to a great start! We wandered around El Born, getting our bearings....and found our way to the Gothic Quarter -- where we wandered around some more and decided to walk up to Placa de Catalunya and make our way down La Rambla, following the Rick Steves self-guided walking tour of this street.

I soon tired of constantly trying to get my bearings and follow the book at the same time, so I chucked the book (into my bag)....La Rambla is crowded. REALLY CROWDED. Almost to the point that I didn't find it really enjoyable.

But....nirvana. In the form of La Boqueria! We wandered in. Again, really super crowded as it was now close to 4PM and tourists were everywhere! This did not diminish our enjoyment of the market -- be sure to purchase the Jamon Iberico -- many merchants offer it wrapped in a paper cone so you can walk around while eating it.

We ate our way through the market -- fruit, juice and other delicious creations that still makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

We didn't really follow a plan during our stay in Barcelona -- it is just such a magical city, we never grew tired of just walking around the various neighborhoods. We visited most of them and walked miles every day.

We made our way back towards El Born and passed through Placa de Sant Jaume, Carrer del Bisbe, down Via Laeitana, and back into El Born. We did get a little lost trying to find our way back to El Born, but it was so much fun getting lost amongst the little narrow winding lanes and streets!

We passed the Eglesia de Santa Maria del Mar and decided to go inside for a look as I had read that this was a particularly beautiful church of Catalan Gothic design. There was no entrance fee.

It was stunning. But....even better and much to my surprise, we had stumbled onto the rehearsal of the Orquestra Barroca Catalana; the orchestra was practicing for an evening performance that was taking place later that night. They were practicing the Requiem de Mozart.

The acoustics were amazing - I sat there in awe at the gift I had just received. Thank you Barcelona!

We made our way back to the hotel, rested up and went out for dinner. We wanted to go tapas bar hopping but only managed two. Both were right in El Born. In fact, we had most of our late meals in El Born as the area is full of fun places to eat and people-watch.

We started off at Taller de Tapas -- located in a square near the Santa Maria del Mar church on Calle Argentaria. Calle Argentaria is the main drag connecting El Born to Via Laeitana.

Taller de Tapas was really, really good -- we had Jamon Iberico (of course) a cheese plate and a lamb burger with some cava. Cava is the drink of choice in Barcelona, which is a sparkling white wine with a lot more fizzy bubbles in it. DELICIOUS! And at EUR33 a real bargain in my opinion.

We then made our way back towards the church (which turned out to be my absolute favorite spot to sit back, sip a cava, eat a tapa and enjoy watching the world go by), and had another cava for me (sangria for the DH) and a plate of mussels marinara which we shared.

The mussels were just OK, but sitting outside people-watching was a lot of fun. There are a few restaurants with outdoor seating immediately in front of the church -- pick one, have a seat, and enjoy yourself.

On our way back to the hotel we walked past the monument of Catalan Independence. Here, an eternal flame burns in commemoration of the massacred Catalans that took place about 300 years ago.

Made one last stop for a decaf cafe con leche in our hotel's cafe before calling it a night.

What a day. I love Barcelona!

Your trip report has me super excited! My husband and I leave for Barcelona on Tuesday with our kids. We can't wait!

You are going to love it!

What was your favorite Flamenco show? Terrific report.

((H))

My favorite flamenco show was the one I attended in Cordoba -- it was riveting.

The shows in Seville and Granada, while also very entertaining, didn't have the same impact as the Cordoba show.

Judy - what a fabulous report! I am LOVING Spain... it is 12:30 am here right now...and we just finished our 3rd day in Madrid, what a fabulous city! Headed to Granada Saturday.

I do have a question for people... the card I used to buy my tickets to the Alhambra was compromised and I no longer have it... I hope I can get my tickets some how :-?

Re: Safety - I was pretty nervous coming with just my 17 year old dd and myself. We have been out at after midnight and walking - I have not felt unsafe any place so far in Madrid.

If you have your receipt you might be able to get your tickets at the Alhambra ticket counter.

A rainy day in Barcelona is still a FABULOUS day!

We started our day with breakfast in the hotel -- we're not big breakfast types so cafe con leche and some croissants was perfect.

Since it was raining we decided to book our tickets to both Sagrada Familia and Casa Mila for the following day, keeping our fingers crossed that the rain would stop.

Because it was raining so hard -- and I mean, BUCKETS of rain that would not let up -- we kept to mostly indoor activities.

Raincoats on and umbrellas in hand we ventured out into the torrential downpour. We had booked tickets to the Palau de la Musica Catalana (you must purchase tickets ahead of time as it is accessible only via a tour) and meandered our way around puddles from our hotel to the general vicinity of the museum. We arrived way too early, so we made a detour and visited the Santa Catarina market which was just a few blocks away.

Catering more to locals than to tourists, I really enjoyed this market -- the sights and the smells of all the foods displayed was a feast for the senses. We found an eatery towards the back of the market that had two available seats and had a fantastic lunch: snails, cod, trout, delicious white wine and 2 cafes for just EUR13. It was fabulous!

We finished up and walked back to the Palace of Catalan Music with just enough time to enjoy the cafe housed within the museum. We drink A LOT of coffee...especially in Spain, it was just so delicious!

The Palau de la Musica Catalana is a concert hall built in the early 1900's and features one of the most beautiful interiors of any concert hall I've ever seen. I think we took about a thousand pictures of every facet of the place. It was absolutely stunning -- the architecture, the sculptures, the mosaics, and the skylight with its dazzling colors. I can only imagine how brilliant it looks when the sun shines through it. Simply stunning...wish we had the time to attend a concert there, it was truly beautiful.

We left the concert hall and walked across the street (Via Laeitana)...a crepes shop caught our eye! We went in and ordered one crepe for two (they are large) with chocolate and bananas and whipped cream and nuts and caramel....with a splash of port wine. And, of course, more cafe con leche. HEAVENLY!

I think this was our third meal of the day....

Next we walked back into El Born to visit the Picasso Museum. This is when the heavens opened up and it REALLY poured. RAIN like I've never seen before. As we were unable to purchase tickets ahead of time (tablet glitch and no business center at the hotel -- see previous chapter on this topic), we stood in line for what seemed like forever (it really was a long time -- over one hour) we finally got in. I think everyone had the same idea as we did (and I always thought we were so clever).....

I am not necessarily a Picasso fan, but I did enjoy visiting -- none of his great works were on display, but there were some interesting paintings of his early works and of his time in Barcelona. The manor houses that were joined to create the museum itself was really cool and worth the EUR11 admission.

We left the museum and it had (finally) stopped raining. I had read that there was free admission to the Cathedral after 5PM so we went for a visit. The Cathedral is massive -- Gothic in design -- but I found it to be really dark (maybe because there was no sunshine). Nonetheless the chapels were impressive and the cloister was lovely.

There is a square in front of the Cathedral with many little shops and cafes so we sat for a awhile -- ordered some wine -- and enjoyed the people-watching. I love this square, we gravitated to it mostly every day at some point and always sat at one of the outdoor cafes to enjoy the world as it passed by.

As we hadn't purchased any souvenirs in Barcelona, we made our way to the department store Corte Ingles. There are several in the vicinity of Placa Catalunya -- but, the one at the very top of the Placa has, on its ground level, a large department where you can purchase souvenirs (helpful hint from my brother who visited a few months earlier).

The prices here are much more competitive than the rest of the souvenir shops we stopped at.

For example, there is a souvenir shop in front of Parc Guell that has beautiful mozaic mugs, etc.....the same ones at Corte Ingles were about 30% less. We bought everything we saw! We are such tourists, LOL....(luckily I had packed an extra cloth bag in my suitcase for just this purpose).

Walking back from Corte Ingles we stopped at Els Quatre Gats -- made famous because it was a haunt of Picasso -- to have some tapas, but it was in between lunch and dinner time so they weren't serving (at least I didn't think so)...so instead we stopped at Set de Gotic which was right next door and sampled a few tapas there. Favetes (a Catalan specialty), mushrooms, sardine....DELICIOUS! And, instead of cava, we tried the vermouth (red) with a twist of lemon. Oh my!

Fully sated and finally able to shed our rain gear we made our way back to the hotel for a rest.....and made plans for dinner.

Can't remember where we had dinner, but it was in El Born. Our favorite part of town.

I think we ate 5 meals on this day -- and enjoyed every morsel.

I've got 2 days to go.....is anyone still reading this?

Yes! Wishing I were there, deluge & all!
Thanks Judy - thoroughly enjoying your trip. It's 10:20pm in Sydney & a Spanish coffee in one of those smoky little bars would be so good right now.

OMG....the coffee is just so GOOD in Spain!

The rain didn't matter one bit -- I loved Barcelona so much that I would have walked it streets and enjoyed its many gifts in the rain, snow, sun.....such a beautiful city and such wonderful memories!

Thanks for your comment -- I've taken so long to get this TR completed, thought everyone had dropped off.

I am still reading it too. Love all the details and now I have Spain on our list of places to visit.

Thank you!

Been trying to get this completed, but life keeps getting in the way!

<I loved Barcelona so much>

Then you might have a huge reading experience coming. Carlos Ruiz Zafón's outstanding Gothic Barcelona trilogy (The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven) takes you through the narrow streets and turbulent history of Barcelona from the 1920's until the late 1950's.

"Walk down any street in Zafón's Barcelona and you'll glimpse the shades of the past and the secrets of the present, inscribed alike in the city's material fabric and the lives of its citizens" Michael Kerrigan GUARDIAN

http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/shadowofthewind.html
http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/theangelsgame.html
http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/the...rofheaven.html

"Trailer" to The Prisoner of Heaven: http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/pri...en-extras.html

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Barcelona: http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/bar...ruizzafon.html

Thanks kimhe!

Still reading! We loved the Palau de la Música Catalana. For us it was the highlight of our Barcelona trip.

I am still reading too, I love this trip report.
We are visiting Seville, Granada and Barcelona in September - first time in Spain. Your trip report has helped me so much with planning,and makes me even more excited to go! Thank you for sharing!

Judy: I'm checking every day to see your new posts. please continue.

Momddtravel2: If you check back here, how did you pick up your Alhambra tix without the credit card you used to purchase them? I've had the concern about this happening. That the card used to purchase a few months before would no longer be valid when picking them up (due to credit card company replacing cards due to compromises which is happening more often).

Normally, it's not necessary to use the card again when you've purchased in advance but the Alhambra seems to require this to get the actual tix on-site.

Our penultimate day in Barcelona was all about Gaudi!

But first....

After looking at my notes and receipts I remembered where we had dinner the previous night.

Walking around in the rain that evening, we tried to find a place to grab dinner -- but because we had already eaten FOUR TIMES that day we weren't finding anything appealing -- and those that looked enticing were crowded by this time by a much younger crowd (I'm in my 50's, DH is 70).....

At last we found a place that appeared to be full of locals, at the top of Passeig del Born; there was a table available so we went right in. The name of the restaurant is CASA DELFIN and it's located at Passieg del Born #36.

We shared an appetizer and an entree (fish of the day) and drank white vermouth this time -- I am hooked on vermouth! Dinner, wine, dessert and coffee cost only EUR30 -- I highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for a great meal and no tourists!

Another thing I want to mention for those of you wavering between hotel v. apartment lodgings:

I used Google maps extensively when figuring out where to stay in all of Spain -- and in particular in Barcelona. I knew I wanted to stay in El Born, so I used that little yellow man to get a street view of apartments in El Born that I was interested in.

What stopped me from renting an apartment in El Born was because the street view made the streets look dark, small...and, frankly, dangerous. So I opted for a hotel on a larger avenue.

However, after spending 4 days in Barcelona and primarily in El Born -- I completely changed my initial opinion about the streets that looks so scary online. They are not scary, they are not dangerous. The narrow streets and and lanes are perfectly safe -- we walked all of them at all hours of the day and night and never once felt threatened or unsafe.

Now, mind you, I was with my DH. It was early April. It was not prime tourist season, DH and I were two of a relatively small number of tourists (at least that I saw) in El Born. So your experience might be different from ours. Next time I go to Barcelona, I will absolutely definitely positively rent an apartment on any street in El Born.

Next up.....Gaudi!

Great info! I've made all kinds of notes. I'm glad we've rented an apartment. I had felt the same as you after looking on Google street view but went ahead with an apartment (that has lots of really good reviews) anyway.

Elizacat - so as I double checked my receipt in preparation to go Alhambra - I used my debit card - not the card which was replaced. I now recall having to do that as the cc I generally use was declined (suspected fraud I think) ... This happened a bit w our apartment rentals as well. I got the tickets from an ATM no issues (a little confusing)

The research I did said you need to make a photo copy of the cc as well as all your id and receipt . . . I suggest you do this now and pack with you.
I found the ppl at the counter on site very grumpy & unhelpful.

Also, the audio was sold out when we arrived... But there were more inside by the palace entrance.

The other areas were my favorites, just in case the palace timed entranceway sold out for those reading/planning... The gardens & flowers & fountains wowed me...

Keep writing, Judy. I'm reading and waiting for Gaudi. :)
AZ