Spain pictures and mini trip report
 

It's taken me a bit of time, but finally after being back almost 2 months, all my pictures of my trip to Barcelona, Sevilla, the Alhambra in Granada, Madrid & Toledo are on line.

I went the first 2 weeks of September, spent 5 great days in Barcelona, absolutely fell in love with the city, what a marvelous city! I will definitely return because I feel like I've just scratched the surface of that city has to offer. I stayed at a small bed & breakfast called L'Antic Espai, it was fabulous http://www.anticespai.com they're located in the in the district of Eixample, which was within walking distance to so many of the areas that you want to see when in Barcelona. I also took a day trip to Montserrat, I was awestruck by the natural beauty of the area.

Then I took the AVE train to Sevilla and was there for 4 days, stayed at Hotel Puerta de Sevilla, in the Bario, http://hotelpuertadesevilla.com/ My highlight in Sevilla is the Alcazar...wow

then I went to Granada and only stayed 2 days, my only purpose was to see the Alhambra, it is AMAZING!!! I stayed at the Hotel Puerta de las Granadas, just a 20 minute or so, though uphill, walk to the Alhambra http://www.hotelpuertadelasgranadas.com

Lastly I went to Madrid, I only spent 1 1/2 day there with an additional daytrip to Toledo. I think I'd like to one day go back to Madrid and explore a bit more...but I saw the Royal Palace and was in awe. I stayed at the Hotel Room Mate Mario http://www.room-matehotels.com a very modern hotel, which was a lot of fun

If you go to my picture website http://lynnsview.com/Gallery/
I go into more details along with many pictures as to what and where I went and many pictures of what I ate.

I really like Spain alot, and if it's a country you've been considering to visit, I'd say, yes do it! If you've already been to Spain, you know what I'm talking about.

If anybody has any questions about the hotels or location I've been to, more than happy to help.

Lynn

glad you enjoyed Spain. I keep going back year after year.

lyb,what a great site - gracias. Loved the pic of the beautiful, classy bride in Madrid (?)This may be off the point, but I loved her dress, not strapless as so many brides choose in the US. To me, a stapless wedding gown, no matter how beautiful and slim the bride is, always reminds me of a bathing suit. Now I must run and hide.

Lynn, I really enjoyed looking at your photos of Barcelona. We were there in October & love it!!! Unfortunately, we only had a couple hours to spend at Parc Guell so we didn't see all of it. We must have entered from a different entrance than you because I don't recognize the photo of the entrance you took. We spent a lot of time photographing the colorful serpentine bench & stayed pretty much in that area.

What was your favorite city?

Danon, every year? I'm jealous..do you live in Europe?

Kwoo, Barcelona was my favorite city without a doubt...I did like all the other cities I visited, but Barcelona is now one of my 4 favorite European cities along with Venice, London and Prague.

LatedayTraveler, the bride you're referring to was in Sevilla, I agree about her dress so elegant and different than most of the wedding dresses brides are currently wearing.

Lyb, I have enjoyed your photos. Could you please e-mail me? See my e-mail in my profile, clicking on my name. Thanks.

Lynn,
Prague is one of my favorite cities, too. We've been there twice & absolutely love it. My daughter studied there one semester so our first visit there was to see her. And we just had to return!

Thank you for the photos!

Joselee,

Do you have some specific questions? How can I help?

Your photos are fabulous. I am contemplating going to Barcelona so I would like to know more about your B&B. Your room looked lovely. Was it a single? I can't believe those prices!! Am I reading right? 65 euros?? You said the location was good. Was it really only a 6 minute walk from the Plaza Catalunya? Is there an elevator?

hi Barb,

Yes, the prices were great! and the 2 guys who own the place are very attentive, without being intrusive. Yes, my room was a single and it was small, and if you're thinking of getting a single, do ask for the room that has access to the patio, it makes it feel much larger. I haven't seen the other 2 single rooms, and they do have windows, but having the patio to go and sit at night or whenever, was really fantastic.

It's probably 6 - 10 minutes at the very most, also the same to Gaudi's houses....the location really is fabulous.

There is no elevator, but they'll come down and help you with your luggage when you get there and when you leave, it's a flight and a half up.

I loved Barcelona!!!!

Lynn, I would like to ask your permission to use some of your photos.

wow! fantastic pics!! We seem to have taken similar pics :) I too absolutely LOVED the alcazar in Sevilla and we did not see the entire thing. it's way too extensive!! must go back ;)

thank you for sharing your wonderful pics and impressions of your trip to Spain. It is truly an enchanting country. I wish I could go back year after year, truly. We were just there in May and will be returning next March to celebrate our 20th anniversary. After that....may have to wait another 5 years for the 25th anniversary in order to save enough to go again. I cashed in some company stock in order to make this next trip....and hoping hubby gets the nice bonus he usually gets in Feb.....

ah.....me encanta Espana.....thanks again!!

love your travel pics. I am planning my first trip to southern Spain in March 2011. Just curious, how is Spain compared with Italy? Is one paled by the other? I always love Italy so much that I am skeptic about other places. I really want to be excited with Spain as I was with Italy. Would like to know your opinions. Thanks.

Great photos, lyb. And the captions really convey how happy Spain made you. Thanks for posting!

lyb,

Thanks so much for the info on the B&B. Having a little patio would be wonderful. It is definitely going on my list.

thefengs,

Italy and Spain have a very different feeling, at least the parts I have seen. It's hard to explain, I wouldn't say that one is better than the other. In Italy, in 2003 I did the grand tour of Italy and only spent a couple of days in many cities, since I've returned to Venice twice, spending 9 days and the last time 4-5 days, so I'm more familiar with Venice, which of course, is very different than the places I've visited in Spain.

Spain, like Italy, is filled with history, great architecture and beautiful scenery. The food was good, the people watching was great and the people were all very pleasant.

I'll admit that until a few years ago I had never thought about going to Spain, don't really know why, but I saw a TV show, okay, I'll admit, The Bachelorette, :) and they went to Spain... I thought, wow, how beautiful! I started reading up on Spain and got very excited about going.

Barcelona, in my opinion, has something for everyone, history, architecture, shopping, beach, etc... I didn't connect with Sevilla at first, maybe I was tired, but on the second day, I grew to really like it ..... in Granada I only really saw the Alhambra and it is amazing!

I think maybe we know more about Italy, more movies are shot there, and it all very romantic. I'm actually surprised that movie makers haven't taken to Spain more, it has so much to offer, maybe the difference is that Spain is little bit more gritty, in a good way.

Basically, I think you should give Spain a try, I'm very glad I did and do intend to return, especially Barcelona, but I also want to go explore other areas of Spain.

In fact there were years (the 60s)in which many films were located in Spain, filming was cheaper and weather suitable. Movies such as Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, The fall of the Roman Empire, Patton, and even How I won the War (feat. John Lennon). But the scenery pretends to be somewhere else, I agree that not many show Spain itself.

For anyone interested, the movie "Vicki Christina Barcelona" shows different parts of Barcelona, and a little bit of nearby towns. It gives a little taste of the city for those of us who haven't visited there yet. Greg

I watched Vicki Christina Barcelona, not only did I enjoy it for itself, but it was fun to see Park Guell and a few other areas of Barcelona